Rapid determination of the chloride permeability of concrete

Techniques were developed for determination of the permeability of a variety of concretes to chloride ions in a relatively rapid period of time. The most promising method involves application of d.c. voltage in the range of 60.0-80.0 volts for 6-hours to either a section of a reinforced concrete bridge deck or a core taken from a concrete structure. Both variations involve conditioning of the specimen prior to test so as to eliminate test anomalies caused by low sample moisture contents. Core specimens can be tested at the rate of one specimen per day with a total of 2 days needed for a complete test including conditioning. The field apparatus is capable of conducting four tests within one working week on a given bridge deck. Results yield reasonably good correlation with FHWA 90-day ponding data on companion specimens. Concretes can be ranked according to high, moderate, low, or very low chloride permeability.