Concept to assess the performance on degrading concrete structures components

The infrastructure of ASFiNAG is mainly built from reinforced and prestressed concrete, which despite all regular maintenance measures, is subject to ageing and degradation. The major degradation process is chloride attack, followed by carbonation, which both lead to corrosion of the reinforcing steel. A new method, which represents a significant improvement on previous assessments, is used in this paper to analyze chlorides in concrete. The paper also introduces a new concept for the durability assessment by using objective indicators, like chloride content, electrical resistivity, and corrosion potential. For objectivity and a reliable determination of the condition state, an overall performance index derived from the condition indices using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is adapted. The model is applied to excellent and dense data from a monitoring system and investigations taken from reinforced concrete components beside a motorway.