Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change
This paper assesses structural deterioration in ageing reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure assets, emphasizing the need for climate adaptation to ensure long-term sustainability. By advancing empirical models to account for the accelerating effects of climate change on carbonation-induced corros...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Case Studies in Construction Materials |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525005558 |
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| author | Nadiia Kopiika Peter Robery Jelena Ninic Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis |
| author_facet | Nadiia Kopiika Peter Robery Jelena Ninic Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis |
| author_sort | Nadiia Kopiika |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper assesses structural deterioration in ageing reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure assets, emphasizing the need for climate adaptation to ensure long-term sustainability. By advancing empirical models to account for the accelerating effects of climate change on carbonation-induced corrosion, this paper for the first time in international literature leverages material vulnerabilities, observed long-term trends degradation trends, and future climate projections to facilitate structural assessment for service life prediction. The method is then applied in two real-world case studies: a dam which also functions as a bridge in Ukraine, constructed in the 1930s, and a long-span bridge in Greece constructed in the 1970s. The models developed quantify the acceleration of carbonation rates under varying environmental conditions due to climate change, revealing regional differences of up to 25 % in degradation rates between coastal and inland areas in different climates (temperate continental and mediterranean).The study also highlights the limitations of standard corrosion models in capturing stress concentrations, cracking, and seismic effects in cantilevered structures, introducing ‘Achilles heel’ points—critical vulnerabilities in low-redundancy structures. The proposed modelling is a robust framework for predicting degradation, offering an effective approach for the global assessment of various reinforced concrete structures and informing optimized design and maintenance strategies. The findings demonstrate the importance of developing tailored adaptation strategies that align with specific environmental conditions. They provide actionable insights for engineers and policymakers to enhance the resilience of RC structures amidst evolving climatic challenges. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-07f9f4a1b02c4ba4b7b9ad58656fb6b6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2214-5095 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Studies in Construction Materials |
| spelling | doaj-art-07f9f4a1b02c4ba4b7b9ad58656fb6b62025-08-20T03:48:26ZengElsevierCase Studies in Construction Materials2214-50952025-07-0122e0475710.1016/j.cscm.2025.e04757Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate ChangeNadiia Kopiika0Peter Robery1Jelena Ninic2Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis3University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKUniversity of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKUniversity of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKUniversity of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; MetaInfrastructure.org, UK; Corresponding author at: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.This paper assesses structural deterioration in ageing reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure assets, emphasizing the need for climate adaptation to ensure long-term sustainability. By advancing empirical models to account for the accelerating effects of climate change on carbonation-induced corrosion, this paper for the first time in international literature leverages material vulnerabilities, observed long-term trends degradation trends, and future climate projections to facilitate structural assessment for service life prediction. The method is then applied in two real-world case studies: a dam which also functions as a bridge in Ukraine, constructed in the 1930s, and a long-span bridge in Greece constructed in the 1970s. The models developed quantify the acceleration of carbonation rates under varying environmental conditions due to climate change, revealing regional differences of up to 25 % in degradation rates between coastal and inland areas in different climates (temperate continental and mediterranean).The study also highlights the limitations of standard corrosion models in capturing stress concentrations, cracking, and seismic effects in cantilevered structures, introducing ‘Achilles heel’ points—critical vulnerabilities in low-redundancy structures. The proposed modelling is a robust framework for predicting degradation, offering an effective approach for the global assessment of various reinforced concrete structures and informing optimized design and maintenance strategies. The findings demonstrate the importance of developing tailored adaptation strategies that align with specific environmental conditions. They provide actionable insights for engineers and policymakers to enhance the resilience of RC structures amidst evolving climatic challenges.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525005558DeteriorationCorrosionClimate changeLong-term operated structuresAgeingRC structures |
| spellingShingle | Nadiia Kopiika Peter Robery Jelena Ninic Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change Case Studies in Construction Materials Deterioration Corrosion Climate change Long-term operated structures Ageing RC structures |
| title | Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change |
| title_full | Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change |
| title_fullStr | Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change |
| title_short | Remaining Life of Ageing RC Infrastructure for Sustainable development—Deterioration Under Climate Change |
| title_sort | remaining life of ageing rc infrastructure for sustainable development deterioration under climate change |
| topic | Deterioration Corrosion Climate change Long-term operated structures Ageing RC structures |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525005558 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nadiiakopiika remaininglifeofageingrcinfrastructureforsustainabledevelopmentdeteriorationunderclimatechange AT peterrobery remaininglifeofageingrcinfrastructureforsustainabledevelopmentdeteriorationunderclimatechange AT jelenaninic remaininglifeofageingrcinfrastructureforsustainabledevelopmentdeteriorationunderclimatechange AT stergiosaristotelesmitoulis remaininglifeofageingrcinfrastructureforsustainabledevelopmentdeteriorationunderclimatechange |