Water Sorptivity of Heat-Cured Concrete for Bridge Structures

Abstract

Performance-based specifications are increasingly used to complement traditional prescriptive specifications in an effort to improve service life performance of major infrastructure assets such as bridges. The water sorptivity of concrete, which relates to the moisture transport properties of near-surface concrete, has recently been adopted for trial application as a performance specification of concrete for bridge construction. While data on water sorptivity of concretes cured under normal conditions are available, those of concrete subjected to heat curing are not yet widely available. This is particularly pertinent given that heat-cured precast structural elements are frequently used in bridge construction. This paper discusses the water sorptivity concept, its adoption in bridge specifications in New South Wales, and the performance of heat-cured concretes that could potentially be used in bridge construction.