Estimating chloride exposure of reinforced concrete bridges using vehicle spray and splash mechanisms

Reinforced concrete (RC) bridges located in cold climates are typically exposed to large amounts of deicing salts during winter, which causes corrosion-related deterioration of RC bridges. Vehicle spray and splash are the major mechanisms of transporting deicing salts from the road to the exterior bridge surfaces. However, a systematic method for incorporating these mechanisms in the estimation of chloride exposure of an RC bridge is not available in the literature. This article aims to fill this knowledge gap. An analytical method is proposed to estimate the surface chloride concentration for an RC bridge, considering snow precipitation, salt application, vehicle type, vehicle speed, traffic volume, and distance to the roadside. The proposed method is demonstrated using an example RC bridge, and the results are compared with reported data from field tests. A parametric study investigating the effects of various model parameters on the results is also included in this article. The proposed method is expected to improve the determination of corrosion initiation time in service life estimation models for RC bridges.