ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The repair strategy is usually decided after a condition investigation. It reveals the critical cover depth i.e. the zone where reinforcement is under the risk of corrosion. If the corrosion is not widespread, the reinforcement with insufficient cover is usually chiseled out and patched. The rate of corrosion is usually not taken into account. However, the average rate of corrosion and the resulting residual service-life may vary within a wide range. In this study, corrosion rates of steel reinforcement in carbonated concrete have been monitored under the real climatic exposure in southern Finland. This revealed that the average rates of corrosion vary a lot between different types of structures. The rough residual service-lives resulting from that were found to vary from 5 to more than 50 years depending on the moisture exposure. So, in certain conditions, long service-lives can be achieved even though the reinforcement lies in carbonated concrete.
