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Title: Intermittent cathodic protection for steel reinforced concrete bridges

Conference ·
OSTI ID:899608

Thermal-sprayed zinc anodes are used for impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) systems on Oregon's reinforced concrete coastal bridges to prevent chloride-induced corrosion damage. Thermal-sprayed zinc performs well as an ICCP anode but the service life of the zinc anode is directly related to the average current density used to operate the systems. After a ICCP system is turned off, the rebar in the concrete remains passive and protected for a period of time. Intermittent operation of CP systems is possible when continuous corrosion rate monitoring is used to identify conditions when the CP system needs to be turned on to reestablish protection conditions for the rebar. This approach applies CP protection only when needed and reflects the fact that external protection may not be needed for a range of environmental conditions. In doing so, intermittent CP would lower the average current necessary to protect rebar, increase the anode service life, and reduce the lifetime costs for protecting reinforced concrete bridges.

Research Organization:
Albany Research Center (ARC), Albany, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Oregon Department of Transportation, Research Unit, 200 Hawthorne SE, Suite B-240, Salem, OR 97301-5192; Federal Highway Administration; Washington, DC
OSTI ID:
899608
Report Number(s):
DOE/ARC-2002-010; TRN: US200708%%481
Resource Relation:
Conference: 15th International Corrosion Congress, Granada, Spain, Sept. 23-27, 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English