Chloride Penetration and Corrosion above the Splash Zone in Old Coastal Florida Reinforced Concrete Bridges

Abstract Understanding the performance of modern reinforced concrete structures exposed to marine environments is important to determine its reliability. The splash zone it is usually where corrosion initiates first. However, in Florida, a few older bridges have shown deterioration due to corrosion at the atmospheric zone when exposed to ocean spray for a prolonged period of time. The focus of this study will be on conditions relevant to reinforced concrete bridges exposed to marine environment, for regions >12 ft above the mean high tide (AMHT). Concrete cores were obtained from two bridges in Florida that present corrosion deterioration at the atmospheric zones. To calculate the chloride concentration as a function of depth chloride profiles were obtained. Wet candles were deployed at relevant heights. With these results, we have been able to observe a trend in the chloride deposition at the atmospheric zone in concrete bridges exposed to marine environment. Therefore, one of the purposes of this study is to investigate chloride deposition on concrete bridges exposed to a close proximity to the ocean and no significant obstacles to marine aerosols.