Chloride induced deterioration on concrete bridges

Chloride ingress is an important aspect of durability design and maintenance, especially in regions where winter salt application for traffic safety is common, e.g. for highways. This paper presents a short overview of a feasible approach to analyze possible chloride induced deterioration by the example of a real highway bridge. It was demolished in 2008, samples were extracted and the necessary chemical analysis for chloride concentration in concrete carried out. The numerical 1D model has been utilized for an inverse analysis leading to surface chloride supply assessment. Subsequently the simulations by the Cellular Automata technique provided the comparison of laboratory results with the numerical model in 2D space. This paves the way to more effective lifetime assessment and the maintenance planning of engineering structures