Abstract
Purpose
The limitation of bridges’ operation can cause serious social, environmental and economic losses. Therefore, the monitoring and maintenance actions of these structures must be efficient and periodic, especially for bridges located in aggressive environments, such as urban-industrial centres, where the higher volume of carbon dioxide emissions favours carbonation induced corrosion. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the utility of including non-destructive testing (NDTs) to bridges assessment in that regions as a way of obtaining more in-depth information on the conditions of the material composing the structure.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the main bridges’ damages were detected by visual inspection. Then, based on the observations of bridges design, environment and main damages, an NDT programme was executed including surface hardness, ultrasonic pulse velocity test, pH indicator spraying, half-cell potential measurements and concrete resistivity tests.
Findings
It was observed that, for the studied cases, the carbonation did not present harmful depths, except for the structural elements where segregation and wear of the concrete were noticed. NDTs, associated with visual inspection, indicated the regions where corrective or preventive maintenance actions were actually needed, bringing greater security to the decision maker in regions where repairs are unnecessary or could be postponed.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the contribution of NDTs application in structures in urban-industrial regions where the main mechanism of deterioration is carbonation-induced corrosion, demonstrating the importance of these methods in the rational decision making of investments for maintenance.
Subject
Building and Construction,Civil and Structural Engineering
Reference34 articles.
1. Corrosion degree effect on nominal and effective strengths of naturally corroded reinforcement;Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering,2016
2. Influence of global warming on durability of corroding RC structures: a probabilistic approach;Engineering Structures,2013
Cited by
21 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献