ABSTRACT
A reliable operating method was developed to characterize the durability of concretes with respect to carbonation. As part of the National Project on 'New Developements in Concrete', and more precisely, during the construction of the Joigny Bridge using high performance concrete, the Lafarge Coppee Recherche laboratory carried out a study on the carbonation of high performance concrete (HPC). The initial task was to develop equipment and an operating method capable of causing accelerated carbonation of concretes. The concretes were on the one hand the HPC used for pouring the Joigny Bridge deck, and secondly an ordinary concrete (OC) consisting of the same aggregates and the same cement and without admixtures. The value of storing concrete test pieces in a damp room is, in addition to getting closer to the compression test standards, to carry out carbonation tests on well matured concrete that have already reached the major part of their intrinsic strengths.
