Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Durability of Concrete
Bridges and Viaducts
Fig. 2 : A view of the deck of the Jogeswari flyover in Mumbai seven years
after construction
Fig. 5 : Abandoned hospital building in the new township of Salt Lake City,
Kolkata - a stigma on society
But because of good experiences in the past with concrete bridges and viaducts, engineers, in the absence
of visible water leakages of the type shown in Fig. 4, have
been slow to realize and recognize the fact that the innate
resistance of todays concrete structures to the elements
of nature is very different from such inherent properties of
concrete structures of earlier periods.
The inadequate resistance of recent concrete structures to
the causes of corrosion has resulted in the early development
of conditions of distress in concrete structures of recent
vintage, and this has become the norm today.
It is observed in Technical Circular 1/99 of Central Public
Works Department, Government of India that : while work
as old as 50 years provide adequate service, the recent
constructions are showing signs of distress within a couple
of years of their completion.8
Though todays concrete structures in India have a pronounced
The way, even major structures (Fig. 10) are built, can be
seen in Figs. 1 and 11 - 14.
Fig. 8 : Like the proverbial three monkeys, engineers are in the denial mode
Fig. 9 : A plane, wings and all, disappeared into one tower of World Trade
Centre; another plane on its way to enter the other WTC tower
Fig.15 : Concrete easily separates from epoxy coated rebars under vibratory loading conditions; all structures are required to resist vibratory loads due
to earthquakes
OPC
PSC
PPC
56.8
43.27
46.59
1.03
0.89
0.86
1.69
1.17
1.07
Note :
OPC ordinary portland cement
PSC portland slag cement
PPC portland pozzolana cement (generally, flyash
cement)
One consequence of the withdrawal of limits on water
soluble alkalis from Indian codes on cement can be seen
in Fig. 3.
Thus, it cannot be suggested here that the satisfaction
of codal requirements on cement in India would have
automatically guaranteed concrete structures with long life
spans.
A casual approach with rebars
Since corrosion in rebars is a problem in a majority of
cases of reinforced concrete structures of recent vintage (Figs. 5-7), rebars of recent vintage must have
a role in the context of durability of such structures.
As in the case of cement, IS 456:200012 permits equally
the use of all types of bars and other steel elements
as if strength alone was all that mattered and as if these
materials were inert even when it is evident that corrosion
in such elements is the cause of early distress in most
or many cases of concrete structures.
In essence, the code IS 456:200012 suggests that the
susceptibility of the different reinforcing elements to corrosion
need not be a consideration. Manufacturers of rebars,
engineers and constructors got the cue and no one bats
an eyelid when bridges and viaducts may be constructed
with corroded rebars (Figs. 1, 11-14 and 17)
If all bars were or are indeed equally suitable for use as
rebars, a few questions could arise, viz.,
and 24. Bend locations and the cut ends of the rebars in
Fig. 23 show that if the strains/stresses will reach or cross
the yield strain or stress levels, the rate of corrosion will
increase uncontrollably. Figure 24 demonstrates it more
vividly. The cold twisted deformed bars (e.g. Torsteel),
where the surface strains/stresses crossed the yield levels
at the manufacturing stage, corroded all over the surface
whereas pieces from the same bar, which were not twisted,
developed minor signs of corrosion at the roots of some
of the surface protrusions. All the pieces of the bars were
from the same rod and these were stored bundled together
inside a polybag inside a room for about a month before
inspection.
The writer13-15 has explained why stresses, and thus strains,
in HSD rebars inside concrete are more likely, than plain
bars, to reach or cross yield strain/stress levels and thus
corrode early, thereby leading to distressed conditions in
concrete structures early.
Fig. 23 : Fresh TMT bars (strain/stress beyond yield at bends and cut ends
invite corrosion) with surface deformations on way to delivery at site
Over the period of the last five decades, the C3S/C2S ratios
have increased from 0.3 to 3.0.17
A dramatic change indeed
It is known that C3S, responsible for early strength of
concrete, readily reacts with water, producing greater heat
of hydration at the initial stages after concreting.
Thus, the increase in C3S at the cost of C2S, though
beneficial in countries with colder climates, is generally
harmful for concrete structures in most areas of India.
In addition, alkali content in todays cement in India is far
too high (Table1) for concrete structures to be durable
(Fig. 3).
Fig. 24 : Fresh CTD bars (with strain/ stress beyond yield invite corrosion all
over the surface) and untwisted bars with surface deformations
Fig. 25 : C-bar with a plain surface but a deformed axis as a solution to the
problem of early corrosion at no additional cost
Concluding Remarks
Compared to concrete bridges and viaducts of earlier
periods, such structures, built during recent decades, have
suffered from early decay and distress.
In most cases, this decay is due to corrosion in high
strength steel rebars with surface deformations. Prominent
signs of corrosion in such rebars can be seen even before
concreting.
Inside concrete, because of very high strains and stresses,
rebars with surface deformations, compared to rebars
without surface deformations, can fall prey to corrosion
more easily or earlier.
Fig. 26 : Waterproofing treatment for substructure below water line and for
sidewalks