Cathodic corrosion protection for reinforced concrete structures
Reinforced concrete structures from earlier decades usually show signs of concrete damage after 20 – 30 years of service life, depending on the environmental conditions, general condition and construction quality at the time.
Corrosion damage to steel in concrete often occurs in parking garages, bridges, tunnels, seawater structures, cooling towers, waste water and process water tanks. The penetration of de-icing salts (chlorides) into the concrete up to the reinforcement and the exceeding of a critical chloride content at the steel/concrete phase boundary leads to reinforcement corrosion with high erosion rates and the resulting structural problems.
To repair reinforced concrete structures contaminated with chloride, construction companies often have to remove concrete to a great depth. This causes enormous costs, represents a considerable intervention in the building and leads to loss of use during the repair. As a result, cathodic corrosion protection of steel in concrete, a virtually non-destructive repair method, is used as an economical method for reinforced concrete structures at risk of corrosion.
The success of a repair measure essentially depends on the coöperation of a qualified specialist planner, qualified experts for cathodic corrosion protection and the right choice of materials.