Reinforced concrete bridges deterioration processes: A review

During their service life, reinforced concrete bridges are repeatedly subjected to an aggressive environment, which adversely affects the structural members. In order to prevent any serious damage from occurring, it is important to understand the factors and processes that have a negative effect on reinforced concrete bridges and might worsen the bridge's performance. The purpose of this paper is to review and identify the most common causes of reinforced concrete bridge deterioration. Initially, an in-depth review of a large amount of literature is conducted to identify the most relevant forms of degradation processes in reinforced concrete bridges. Then a detailed description of each process is provided in order to understand how it affects the bridge structural members. Finally, an analysis of the possible consequences regarding the bridge's normal function, serviceability, and safety is conducted. The findings in this paper show that there are a lot of negative processes occurring in reinforced concrete bridges that may cause damage to the structure. Moreover, different processes may have the same undesirable effect on the bridge and thus increase the severity of the damage. The comprehensive study and understanding of reinforced concrete bridge deterioration processes play a key role in preventing structural failures and ensuring the bridge's reliability during its service life.