The advanced degree of deterioration on the 26-year-old Lake Maracaibo platform was viewed with considerable interest. Its advanced deterioration again points out that corrosion of reinforcing steel can be an economic factor in the use of reinforced concrete structures in corrosive environments.
The author points out an instance where reinforcing steel has corroded when the environment was apparently free of chlorides. In Shermer’s report1 of this corrosion in the apparently chloride free environment, the only data reported were that the concrete had a high water cement ratio and was porous, with low strength, and that the concrete cover over the steel was less than one inch. Also, it appears that this concrete which had a reported strength of 3000 to 4000 psi after 8 years was exceedingly poor to begin with or had deteriorated in strength since its construction.
It is common knowledge that concrete can be deteriorated by...
