Use of non-destructive methods: Case studies of marine port and bridges structures in Surabaya

Consideration of degradation due to harsh environments, overweight vehicles, increasing traffic and frequent earthquake events are some of the challenges to overcome when designing reinforced concrete bridges. Structural elements can be affected by a reduction in strength and stiffness due to the carbonation of the concrete cover, the corrosion of the reinforcement, excessive cracking and displacement under service load and failure. Therefore, structures need to be monitored over time to ensure that they have the sufficient capacity to resist the intended design loads. The existing condition of bridges on toll roads and in ports located in Surabaya Indonesia has been investigated using non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment. Several reinforced concrete bridges of high level of importance have been chosen as case studies considering different exposure and age of structure. Typical results from the site investigation are presented and discussed in this paper. The NDT equipment utilised in this paper includes the use of eddy current, two-chamber vacuum cell and Wenner Probe principle to assess the thickness, the air permeability and the electrical resistivity of the concrete cover, respectively. In addition, Silver Schmidt hammer was also used to measure the compressive strength of the concrete.