ABSTRACT
Chloride-induced corrosion is the main deterioration mechanism that governs the service life design of many concrete structures such as concrete bridge decks in Canada. The annual average surface air temperature over Canada has warmed historically and is projected to rise approximately twice the global average due to climate change. The temperature increase will lead to an increase in the probability of corrosion initiation of reinforcing steel and a shortening of service life of concrete structures. Current approaches for life cycle design of concrete bridge decks do not consider the impact of climate change. A probabilistic and mechanistic approach is proposed and demonstrated through an illustrative test case to assess the impact of climate change on life cycle design of concrete bridge decks exposed to corrosive environments. The time-dependent probability of corrosion was found to increase with temperature. In corrosive environments, corrosion-resistant steel reinforcement and high performance concrete can be used to reduce the corrosion probability significantly in the changing climate.
