A new approach for the patch repair of car parks using galvanic anodes

Car parks constructed with in-situ concrete are generally characterised by very shallow (typically wafer type) slabs which enables fast construction and keeps the self-weight of the structure to a minimum. However, many of these car parks are now displaying signs of significant structural deterioration, mainly due to corrosion damage of the reinforcement leading to spalling of the concrete cover. This paper reviews the corrosion management strategy that was utilised for the concrete repairs of a corrosion damaged car park in the UK. The new approach on this particular scheme has been the positioning of the galvanic anodes. Traditionally they are positioned within the concrete patch repair however, the reinforcement that will be most at risk will be immediately outside this patch repair, and hence in this structure the anodes were placed immediately outside of the patch repair. This paper reviews the performance of these galvanic anodes based on this new approach. The findings help to improve our understanding of the corrosion protection mechanisms and provide a method of assessing performance.