Monitoring the condition of steel corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC) is imperative for structural durability. In the past decades, many electrochemistry based techniques have been developed for monitoring steel corrosion. However, these electrochemistry techniques can only assess steel corrosion through monitoring the surrounding concrete medium. As alternative tools, some physical based techniques have been proposed for accurate condition assessment of steel corrosion through direct measurements on embedded steels. In this paper, some physical based monitoring techniques developed in the last decade for condition assessment of steel corrosion in RC are reviewed. In particular, techniques based on ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) and Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) are emphasized. UGW based technique is first reviewed, including important characters of UGW, corrosion monitoring mechanism and feature extraction, monitoring corrosion induced deboning, pitting, interface roughness, and influence factors. Subsequently, FBG for monitoring corrosion in RC is reviewed. The studies and application of the FBG based corrosion sensor developed by the authors are presented. Other physical techniques for monitoring corrosion in RC are also introduced. Finally, the challenges and future trends in the development of physical based monitoring techniques for condition assessment of steel corrosion in RC are put forward
