FEHRLopedia

A significant proportion of the European Union’s reinforced concrete highway structures have required rehabilitation within their intended service life at intervention levels that exceed what could be regarded as normal maintenance. The direct costs of repair and collateral costs due to temporary reduction in highway service level have been considerable. The problem is widespread in the developed world. Post-repair inspections have shown that up to 30% of repairs have failed and a further 25% of repairs have shown evidence of deterioration in advance of their planned service life. Innovative repair solutions are being brought to the market to address these problems. However a key aspect is the ease of post-repair management of the service life. Ideally the initial repair should be part of a planned maintenance strategy that allows a cost-efficient renewal of serviceability (if such be desired) at the end of the useful life of the initial repair. An innovative intervention that may address these needs in certain projects is a repair strategy based on the use of surface-applied corrosion inhibitors.