|
Abstrait:
|
This paper describes the author’s views on durability and service life of concrete bridges in North America,
considering the past, present and future. Historical materials and practices have resulted in disappointing
durability and service life that does not meet modern expectations. In recent years formal service life analysis
and prediction has been implemented as part of the design process for major projects, typically involving
numerical modelling of time to corrosion, and mitigation or avoidance of other forms of deterioration by
empirical methodology. These efforts are, however, hampered by a lack of an accepted service life design
standard which is adapted to North American practice and materials. Work is under way to answer this need.
In the future, further development is needed to provide a better match between expectations and reality, a
more practical definition of “service life”, validation of design features implemented to mitigate or avoid
deterioration for which there are no available time-based models, and improved validation of numerical
modelling parameters that describe exposure conditions and material resistances.
|
