Concrete Monitoring System

About

Premature deterioration of reinforced concrete structures due to corrosion of the steel reinforcements is a world-wide problem, particularly in highway structures subjected to de-icing salt used on roads in winter. In many developed countries, including the UK, around 50% of the construction budget is devoted to repair and maintenance of structures with over 30% of this expenditure on concrete structures. The ability to monitor water and ionic ingress through the concrete cover-zone can provide an early warning of incipient problems enabling the planning and scheduling of maintenance programmes, hence minimising traffic delays resulting from road/lane closures. The development of integrated monitoring systems for new reinforced concrete structures could also reduce costs by allowing a more rational approach to the assessment of repair options; and, co-ordination and scheduling of inspection and maintenance programmes. This system provides such data over the lifetime of the structure allowing informed (and often timely) preventative maintenance decisions to be with greater confidence. The system can be self powered (solar etc.) and interrogated remotely using wireless links.   Key Benefits: Informs preventative maintenance schedules Indicates need for remedial action from loss of waterproofing, Ionic/ Moisture ingress etc. Real time measurement of ionic/ water ingress & temperature changes Robust, Low cost embedded sensor - no moving parts Wireless operation - suited to remote/ difficult to access locations   Applications: Preventative maintenance of concrete structures exposed to moisture and/or salt spray Condition Monitoring of Steel Reinforced Concrete structures