Ageing of reinforced concrete in a natural environment

Reinforced concrete civil engineering structures are designed to last between 50 and 100 years, or even 120 years in the case of some “exceptional” structures. To increase the lifespan of these structures, engineers must understand the physicochemical and mechanical phenomena affecting them and build predictive models. To inform and verify these models, the development of problems (corrosion, swelling reactions, etc.) is studied in laboratories through accelerated ageing tests and long-term monitoring of the ageing of test structures in a natural environment.

In 1998, several reinforced concrete test structures were built as part of the French BHP 2000 project and exposed to different environmental conditions: carbonation in Champs-sur-Marne, freeze-thaw cycles in Maurienne and tidal cycles in La Rochelle. In 2013 in La Rochelle, reinforced concrete beams made with carbon or stainless steel rebar were installed in an intertidal zone to assess the possibility of using more corrosion-resistant rebar to increase their lifespan.

At Université Gustave Eiffel’s natural ageing site, on the Marne-la-Vallée campus, other concrete test structures are monitored to analyse internal swelling reactions.

Meet the researchers involved in this 20-year project to monitor the ageing of reinforced concrete test structures at Université Gustave Eiffel’s tidal site in La Rochelle and discover the problems affecting reinforced concrete structures and how scientists are studying the lifespan of these members.