Title: The United Kingdom Concrete-in-the-Oceans Program

Author(s): J. V. Sharp and P. Pullar-Strecker

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 65

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 397-418

Keywords: chlorides; corrosion; corrosion tests; immersion tests (corrosion); marine atmospheres; offshore structures; reinforcing steels; research.

DOI: 10.14359/6364

Date: 8/1/1980

Abstract:
Since March I976 the UK Government Department of Energy and twenty-four industrial firms through CIRIA have jointly funded a €400,000 programme of seven projects aimed at providing additional knowledge to improve the design construction and long-term performance of concrete oil production platforms. The programme is managed by a three-man committee which represents the sponsors. Each sponsoring organisation also has a representative on one of three technical steering groups which advise on the work on the various projects. The projects are undertaken by research design or construction organisations under contract to CIRIA and cover the following topics: the fundamental mechanisms of the corrosion of reinforcement in concrete in seawater, the relationship between crack width and corrosion, corrosion and fatigue of precracked reinforced concrete beams at 150-m depth in seawater and at the surface, surveys of the condition of reinforced concrete in existing maritime structures, the effect of temperature gradients on the walls of oil storage structures, the strength of large prestressed members in shear, and a study of the modes of failure of concrete platforms. Most of the work has been completed and more than twenty reports have been issued to the programme participants. A start has now been made on a further three-year programme estimated to cost €600,000.