N° 166. 1985. Draft CEB Guide to Durable Concrete Structures

Concern in recent years about the occasionally inadequate durability of concrete structures has led to intensified research into the causes and nature of degradation processes, as well as to the development of general strategies for addressing such situations.

Since the late seventies, the CEB has been active in addressing the technical aspects of premature degradation of concrete structures.

This draft CEB Guide to Durable Concrete Structures has been prepared by General Task Group No. 20, “Durability and Service Life of Concrete Structures.” The Guide is a synthesis of two previous works by the Group: the State-of-the-Art Report, presented in 1982 as CEB Bulletin No. 148, and the International Workshop on the same topic, organised in Copenhagen in 1983 in valuable cooperation with RILEM. The Workshop Report is available as CEB Bulletin No. 152.

The Guide is intended for practising engineers rather than materials specialists. An attempt has been made to present highly simplified models of degradation mechanisms and influencing factors. However, these models are considered consistent with present-day knowledge of the very complex physico-chemical mechanisms governing the intensity of environmental actions and the resulting deterioration of concrete structures.

This Guide is presented in draft form, as it has not yet been fully evaluated in its complete version by the entire Task Group and has therefore not been formally approved by the Administrative Council of the CEB, in accordance with its procedures.

All persons interested in the subject, within the CEB as well as outside, are encouraged to provide constructive criticism on the content of the Guide, either in part or as a whole, in order to improve the final version. Such feedback would be highly appreciated by the Task Group. Comments should be transmitted to the Permanent Secretariat of the CEB or directly to the Task Group.

The members of the Task Group are warmly thanked for their valuable contributions during the preparation of this Guide and for their continuous enthusiasm, which has been a source of mutual inspiration and provides good prospects for continued cooperation within the Group.

Copenhagen, May 1985

Steen Rostam
MSc, PhD
Rapporteur and Advisor to the Administrative Council of the CEB