Durability of Precast Prestressed Concrete Piles in Marine Environment: Reinforcement Corrosion and Mitigation Part 1: Fid-Bau Portal

Durability of Precast Prestressed Concrete Piles in Marine Environment: Reinforcement Corrosion and Mitigation Part 1

R. Moser / B. Holland / L. Kahn / P. Singh / K. Kurtis

The purpose of the overall research project is to determine methods which may be applied economically to mitigate corrosion of reinforcement in precast prestressed concrete piles in Georgia's marine environments. The overall goal is to improve the durability of bridge piles so that a design life of 100 years may be achieved. The research has four specific objectives. The first objective is to determine the extent of corrosion damage in Georgia's structural concrete bridge piling and the success of methods used to improve the durability of bridge piles in Georgia. The second objective is to fully document past research and investigations on the durability of structural concrete in the marine environment with particular emphasis on the corrosion of reinforcement and its mitigation. The latter includes learning from state departments of transportations: finding from their experiences with corrosion mitigation including the effect of concrete quality and cover and with regard to types of reinforcement, their metallurgy and coatings. The third objective is to perform a preliminary experimental investigation on the corrosion of reinforcement in concrete piles in Georgia by measuring corrosion potential and by characterization of concrete, steel, and reinforced concrete, including samples obtained from the field. The durability of these field and laboratory samples will be compared to the findings from the literature study to see how Georgia's marine environment and construction matches that found from the other states. The fourth objective is to identify what, if any, further research needs to be undertaken to determine improved methods to increase the durability of piles in Georgia's marine environment.