Structural condition assessment of a reinforced concrete driveway

Abstract

The reinforced concrete structure of a driveway built in the eighties of the 20th century is under consideration. It is a single-storey structure with a length of approx. 66.00 m, made in the form of a reinforced concrete skeletal structure, consisting of 7 frames with cantilevers, spaced at 9.00 m: 3 frames in the horizontal part of the driveway are three-span ones, and 4 in the sloping part are single-span frames. The driveway frame main beams have a rectangular cross-section and are based on pillars that have been placed on the spread footing these elements form a monolithic structure. Prefabricated reinforced concrete hollow floor plates were laid on them in the central part of the driveway, and in the outer parts the driveway floor was made of hollow clay slab blocks (Ackerman type). At the time of investigation, the upper layers of the driveway consisted of a surface waterproofing layer, a concrete slab of approx. 10 cm thickness made on a 1 cm sand layer. However, no internal waterproofing layer was found as was in the original design. The paper describes the process of determining the current technical condition of the reinforced concrete driveway structure, paying attention to the design and construction of the object, its operation (including the issues of durability of concrete under the conditions of possible impacts of the marine environment). Static and strength calculations were also performed (supported by concrete and reinforcement tests) and the conditions for further operation of the driveway were analyzed as well as concepts of rehabilitation.