Serviceability of concrete bridges in Malaysia focusing on susceptibility to atmospheric chloride corrosion

This paper identified the common damage types found in concrete bridges with special reference to chloride corrosion from recent inspection results on three concrete bridges owned and operated by three different organizations in Malaysia. The approach was to determine the serviceability of the concrete bridges resulting from deterioration and damage. The causes and resulting impact on serviceability were presented and methods to minimize the impact were proposed. Inspection standards, types of deterioration, methods to determine the extent of the deterioration and damage were studied and compared between the three examples. Chloride attacks were found to be a common natural cause for deterioration. Quality of construction materials and structural design were found to be in other areas which could be improved. The state of serviceability of the cases was average. More frequent scheduled inspections by skilled inspectors and proper maintenance work would further improve the overall management of these bridges.