Inspection, repair and rehabilitation of concrete structures due to corrosion

Abstract

Florida is located in an extremely aggressive environment. Its long coast line has many causeway bridges and box culverts where salt water intrusion in concrete structures has been well documented by the bridge inspection process. All bridges having an opening measured along the centre of the roadway of more than 6.0 m (20 ft.) are inspected at regular intervals not exceeding two years. One deficiency that is prevalent is the deterioration of concrete due to corrosion. The corrosion process may begin due to a number of reasons. The bridge inspection reports document the signs that corrosion has begun such as rust staining, efflorescence, cracking and spalling. This paper describes some of these bridge repair projects that have been undertaken by the District in the past few years, how each individual project was developed, how it is currently performing and measures to prevent corrosion from occurring in future structures.