Concrete monitoring: safeguard concrete structures

Water is part of concrete. During construction it is essential together with cement, and after curing a residual moisture remains in the component. Concrete also lets water penetrate from outside to a certain depth. This is normal at first, but becomes a risk if too much moisture remains in the concrete.

That is because moisture rarely travels alone. Harmful salts enter the structure of the building along with the penetrating water. If the moisture content exceeds a critical level, the steel reinforcement can be damaged and the stability of the structure suffers. Precise measurement of the moisture level is therefore the foundation of every concrete monitoring programme.

Infrasolute’s moisture sensors record the condition inside the concrete continuously. They work without cables or external power, making them independent of temperature and delivering unaltered readings. Integrated during new construction or retrofitted to existing structures, they give a continuous picture of how moisture develops.

The real danger comes from the salts that enter the concrete with the water, above all chlorides from de-icing salt or seawater. They attack the reinforcement. As the steel rusts, it loses cross-section and the increase in volume cracks the surrounding concrete. Repairing a structure with advanced reinforcement corrosion is one of the most expensive tasks in structural maintenance.

Infrasolute’s corrosion monitoring uses the principle of sacrificial corrosion. A sensor wire is exposed to the same corrosive environment on behalf of the reinforcement. If the wire is attacked, the corrosion condition of the structure can be inferred from it, before the load-bearing reinforcement itself is damaged.

The CorroDec 2G corrosion sensor puts this approach into technical practice. It provides an early, reliable indication of a corrosion-promoting environment in the concrete and gives operators the critical lead time for countermeasures.