Decreasing bridge member's resistance due to reinforcement corrosion

Abstract

The traffic infrastructure is very important for the economy, people and progress of the country. The infrastructure consists of numerous structures and their structural members like bridges, abutments, piers, rails, guard-rails etc. This constructions are very loaded by surrounding environment. Aggressiveness of this environment is different in various areas in Slovak republic due to morphology of terrain, which causes the different corrosion depth in those areas. This corrosion depth can be calculated by standard ISO 9223, describing the calculation of the corrosion rate r(corr) for the first-year and the standard ISO 9224 describe the estimation of the corrosion rate D for the following years. The input parameters for these calculation are sulphur dioxide 502, chloride ions Cl-, temperature T and relative humidity Rh measured by Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU). The article is focused on the determining load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges changing in time due to corrosion of the reinforcement diameter. This information can be very useful not only for the design of the new bridge construction, but also for the estimation of the remaining lifetime of the existing structure.