Performance of seawater-mixed concrete in the tidal environment

Compressive strength, mineralogy, chloride ingress, and corrosion of steel bars embedded in concrete made with seawater and tap water are summarized here based on the several long-term exposure investigations under tidal environment. Seawater-mixed concrete shows earlier strength gain. After 20 years of exposure, no significant difference in the compressive strength of concrete is observed for concrete mixed with seawater and tap water. The initial amount of chloride (due to the use of seawater) may cause the initiation of corrosion at the locations of the steel bars having voids/gaps at the steel-concrete interface immediately after casting concrete. The use of seawater results in the formation of deeper corrosion pits compared to the same with tap water. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.