Physical and Chemical Deterioration of Reinforced Concrete Reefs in Tongyeong Reefs Coastal Waters, Korea

As part of a marine habitat enhancement project, the physical and chemical deterioration of reinforced concrete reefs that were fully immersed in Tongyeong waters of Korea was investigated. For the investigation, marine environmental factors such as seawater, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, sea-bottom materials, and water depth of the targeted sites were surveyed from 1997 to 2001. Then, four reinforced concrete reefs from four different sites were recovered and tested by using various destructive and nondestructive methods. Based on the observations and test results, it was seen that the reinforced concrete reefs have sound physical and chemical properties, except for chloride concentration and its associated factors. However, because of the lack of dissolved oxygen in the targeted seawaters and its continuous supply, it is concluded that the originally designed service life will be achieved, and in fact the concrete reefs will have an even longer service life than expected. By considering an extreme event such as impact loading under installation and construction, a new minimum concrete cover depth of 40 mm is introduced into practice.