Rapid chloride permeability testing : a critical review

During the first great construction boom in the Gulf from the mid-1970s to the early-1980s, the major concern of all parties involved in construction was focused on the availability of sufficient concrete quantities, whereas quality concerns were relegated to a back seat. Only when the end of the boom coincided with the first visible signs of premature concrete deterioration was it realised that the prevailing climatic conditions in the Gulf region are extremely hostile to fresh and hardened concrete. At the same time, chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement was identified as a major cause for the premature deterioration of concrete structures.