Condition assessment of reinforced concrete structures presents a significant challenge worldwide as structures built in the post-war construction period (1950s–1970s) reach end of service life. The alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is one of several damage mechanisms which commonly affect infrastructure in Canada. Frequent freeze-thaw cycles and heavy use of de-icing salts in winter as well as high heat and humidity in summer are expected to have intensified ASR-induced damage. This work investigates five segments of a pier cap—PC, which had undergone encapsulation repair, and four segments of a pier shaft—PS, which represented dry and semi-submerged conditions, removed from a highway bridge constructed starting in 1957. Preliminary evaluation through visual inspection (conventional, qualitative and quantitative using the cracking index—CI) and non-destructive techniques (rebound hammer—RBH, ultrasonic pulse velocity—UPV and surface resistivity) was conducted on both internal (i.e., cut during decommissioning) and external (i.e., exposed while in service) surfaces of five PC segments and four PS segments. Differences in geometry, exposure conditions and repair history from the two members were found to have limited impact on the results of quantitative tests (i.e., CI, RBH and UPV results with average values of 1.6 mm/m, 37 MPa and 2.4 Km/s, respectively) while still exhibiting qualitative differences in visual determination (i.e., crack patterns, surface appearance and crack widths).
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