it was manmade.

Legend, as well as

Life-Cycle Cost archeological studies, indicate that the

bridge was built about the time of the first
signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka,
some 1,750,000 years ago.
The concrete road bridge discussed
here is very near the site of the ancient
bridge, and is thus of historical impor-
tance. Apart from the rail bridge, this road
bridge is the only link between the main-
land and Rameshwaram Island, a famous

Concrete Road pilgrim center that attracts tourists

throughout the year. Consequently, this
road link is also of strategic importance.
A study of this bridge has shown that

Bridge Across
in spite of adhering to the construction
specifications, the life of marine structures
can be adversely affected by aggressive
environmental conditions, especially the
chloride ion concentration on the struc-

Open Sea
R BHASKARAN,
ture's surface. The corrosion initiation
period for various structural components
ranges from six to 28 years, depending
upon the concrete grade and concrete
N. PALANISW~&, AND N.S. RENGASWAMY~ The life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA)
cover.
Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu used in this work shows that galvanic
protection is a cost-effective technology
for this structure.

he U.S. National Aeronau-

tics & Space Administra-
t i o n (NASA) r e c e n t l y
discovered an ancient, 30-
km-long bridge in the Palk
Strait between India and Sri
A view of the road bridge along with the rail
Lanka.' The bridge's unique bridge.
curvature and composition revealed that
--
 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE BRIDGE
spans. T h e concrete bridge is of pre-
(VISUAL OBSERVATION) stressed cable construction.
Period of Actual Table 1 describes the present condi-
Elements Construction Visual Observation tions of the various structural elements as
Electric lamppost 1987-1988 Fifteen lampposts have been severely affected visually observed.
by corrosion from the aggressive saline atmosphere
prevailing at the bridge site. Figure 3 shows the
condition of a corroded lamppost.
Prediction of Design Life for
Handrails 81 posts 1987-1988 The majority of them are apparently in good Bridge Components
condition. Cracks in the concrete cover have started Design
appearing at a few points. These locations need - life normally consists of two
maintenance repair. components-the initiation period and
propagation period. The initiation period
Footpath 1986-1988 The major maintenance problem appears to he is the time taken for the chloride to ac-
related to finger-type expansion joints. Some of
the joints need replacement, while some of them cumulate and reach a threshold value at
need corrosion protection. the steel reinforcement/concrete interface,
initiating corrosion of the reinforcement.
Kerb 1986-1988 Even though the majority of kerbs are apparently in
good condition, the road kerbs at certain locations The propagation period is the time taken
need maintenance repair. for corrosion to proceed and reach an
unacceptable level, causing cracking and
Roadway surface 1987-1988 Potholes have started appearing in some locations.
Minor cracks have been seen. Obviously, the spalling of the adjoining concrete.
roadway surface needs periodic maintenance. T u t t i 5 observed that the initiation of
corrosion in reinforced concrete in chlo-
Deck slab 1984-1986 Some locations have shown cracks, which need
immediate attention. ride environments normally occurs within
a period of 10 years. For concrete with a
Expansion joints 1987-1988 Expansion joints have suffered corrosion. In warerlcement (wlc) ratio of 0.32 and a
particular, expansion joints at the footpath portion
need special attention (Figure 2). compressive strength of -75 MPa, corro-
sion attacks began within a period of four
Girders Box 1984-1986 Some of the portions have shown cracks requiring years with normal concrete cover. Practi-
Girder immediate attention.
cal experiments carried out in the United
I-Beam 1974-1978 Diaphrams need special attention at certain States also confirmed this. Bridges with
Girder (45 Nos.) locations. low W/Cvalues and a concrete cover of 100
1984-1986
(34 Nos.) m m had been damaged within a period
of 20 to 30 years and extremely expensive
Bearings 1985-1986 Some of tetron spherical as well as polyterrafluor- repairs were required.
ethylene sliding hearings need effective corrosion
protection treatments. Neoprene bearings also need In 2000, Pfeifer6 presented a state-of-
immediate attention. the-art paper titled "High Performance
Concrete and Reinforcing Steel with a
Piers 1974-1988 Cracks in the capping beam and column faces.
(48 Nos.) Bottom portions of pier legs need immediate 100-Year Service Life" based on a five-year
1984-1986 attention. study (1993 to 1998) by the U.S. Federal
(31 Nos.) Highway Administration. According to
Foundations 1974- 1978 Certain locations need immediate attention. this article, type 316 stainless steel (UNS
(55 Nos.) S31600) reinforcing bars should be con-
1984-1986 sidered at the design stage as a potential
(24 Nos.)
method for obtaining a 75 to 100-year
design life. According to the same report,
the critical acid-soluble chloride concen-
to traffic in October 1988. Figure 1 shows tration or chloride threshold for black
Structural Details the road bridge after completion, along reinforcing bars is -0.2% of chloride ion
T h e structural details are based o n w i t h t h e 90-year-old steel railway by weight of cement for externally applied
published information2-*as well as per- bridge. or admixtured chloride. This is -0.8
sonal observation. The total length of the The bridge has 79 spans of various kg/m3 or 330 ppm (i.e., 0.033% mass
bridge is 2,345 m. The work commenced lengths, comprising non-navigation weight of the concrete).
in November 1974, was suspended from spans, anchor spans, the central naviga- For concrete subjected to marine ex-
1979 until 1983, and the bridge opened tion span, suspended spans, and viaduct posure, the chloride ingress into concrete
 CALCULATION OF LIFE PERIOD TO REPAIR FOR VARIOUS COMPONENTS IN THE BRIDGE
Total Life
Clear Initiation Period to
Cover Period Propagation Visual
Concrete ("x" in ("t" in Period Cracking
Component Grade cm) Years) (Years) (Years)
Hand rails & posts M-30 4 8 25 33
Footpath M-35 4 8 25 33
Kerb M-35 5 13 25 38
Deck slab Non- M-45 3.5 6 25 31
navigation
Navigation M-40.5
Box girders Inner soffit M-45 3.5 6 25 31
Outside of web M-45 5 13 25 38
Inner side of web M-45 4 8 25 33
Bottom deck M-45 5 13 25 38
I-Beam girders Top flange M-43.5 3.5 6 25 31
Web M-43.5 5 13 25 38
Bottom flange M-43.5 5.5 16 25 41
Piers H-shaped M-35 9 28 25 53
Rectangular- M-35 9 28 25 53
shaped
Foundations M-35 9 28 25 53

Accordingly, D = 0.04 (1 ,166°.45)= calculated as shown earlier.

-
0.9595 or 1 x lo-* cm2/s. This is in con- Hobbs and Mathews9 have advocated
formity with the value suggested by minimum concrete grade M 40150,
Broomfield.' maximum w/c ratio 0.45, and minimum
Assuming Cs= 0.4% and Cx= 0.033% cover thickness 50 mm as appropriate
by weight mass of concrete and substitut- parameters for a 50-year design life. The
ing all these values in Equation ( I ) , it can design life of this bridge can be presumed
be shown that as 50 years and the life-cycle cost analysis
made accordingly.
Corroded finaer-tvoe exoansion ioints. t m years = -
" ,, . (1.;;22)
Investment Details
where x is clear cover in cm. INITIAL COST
can be described by Fick's Second Law of
For splash and immersion zones, the The total cost of the bridge excluding
Diffusion:
surface concentration will be as high as the approaches was $4.2 million.

[
Cx = Cs 1 - erf -
I (1)
1% by weight mass of concrete; therefore,
assuming Cs = 1% and Cx= 0.033%:
MAINTENANCE COSTS
Annual Maintenunce
where Cx= the total chloride level at depth $22,200 has been spent every year to
" ,>
x at age "t" in years, C, = surface chloride maintain the bridge. Generally, the work
level, and D = diffusion coefficient in The propagation period for the kind of consists of the maintenance of the roadway
cm2/s. marine exposure prevailing at this bridge surface, bearings, expansion joints (Figure
D can be calculated by using the fol- is 25 years to the state of visual cracking. 2), drainage spouts, dust cleaning, electric
lowing equation:' The initiation period plus propagation lampposts (Figure 3), tollgate, etc.
period equals the total life period or life
to repair. Maintenunce Painting
The maximum water cement ratio used Table 2 shows the life periods to repair A four-coat system of anticorrosive
in the road bridge was 0.45. for various components of the bridge, paint was applied to the entire bridge
--
 EQUIVALENT ANNUAL COST OF CORROSION
Expenditure Present Present
(US. Worth Value
Details Year Dollars) Factor (U.S. Dollars)
Direct Expenditure
a. ~nnualhaintenance Annual

b. Maintenance painting 4th

14th
24th
34th
Corroded electric lam~oost. 44 th
c. Maintenance repairs 3rd
6th
9th
during 1992-1993 at a cost of $444,000. 12th
15th
The bridge was repainted during 2001- 18th
2002 at a cost of $889,000. These data 21st
were used while computing the equivalent 24th
27th
annual cost of corrosion. 30th
33rd
Maintenance Repairs 36th
The repair work normally consists of 39th
42nd
1) Sealing of cracks. 45th
2) Repairing spalled portion. 48th
d. Maintenance replacement
3) Repairing wearing coat, etc. Expansion joints 20th
4) Repair work at expansion joints. 40th
5) Repairing concrete railing. Bearings 25th
Electric lampposts 10th
The repair work is done every three years. 20th
The average expenditure is -$33,000. 30th
40th
Mainmance Replacement Indirect Expenditure
The design life of the metallic compo- a. User cost Annual 4,167 22.470
nents such as expansion joints, bearings, Total Present Value
and electric lampposts are 20,25, and 10 Less: Income
years, respectively. Accordingly, provision Collection from toll gate Annual 50,000 22.470
has been made for the periodic replace- Net Present Value
Annual Cost Factor
ment of them. This factor has been used Euuivalent Annual Cost
while computing the equivalent annual
cost of corrosion.

User Cost
The user cost arises because lane clo-
sures during bridge maintenance work
increase travel time. The user cost is cal-
culated as follows:
User cost =Time to cross x increase in
travel time x days with user cost x value net present value is the most relevant
of time x traffic affected.
Accordingly, 0.05 x (1 + 1.50) x 30 x
$2.22 x 500 = $4,167.
REVENUE
Twenty to 25 vehicles cross the bridge
every hour. The toll is $0.55 per vehicle.
This toll is the only revenue derived from
the bridge.
Method of Evaluation
Different methods are available to
evaluate the financial worth or the return
on investment associated with a project
or its various alternatives. For the bridge,
method and it is used here. The expected
long-term inflation of 8% and long-term
interest of 12% were used to calculate the
discount rate.
Discount rate (Yo)=
Based on these costs, the LCCA has
been made (Table 3). The data in Table
3 show that the annual cost of corrosion,
based on a 50-year design life, is
-$43,000.
Preventive Maintenance
A galvanic cathodic protection (CP)
system based on strip anodes has been
considered. This will be used in conjunc-
tion with a single-coat polyurethane (PU)
paint system for the concrete surfaces. The
concept is that the galvanic protection will
prevent further corrosion of embedded
steel reinforcement, and the PU coating
system on the concrete will prevent further
EQUIVALENT ANNUAL COST OF CORROSION W I T H
intrusion of chloride ions, thus minimiz- GALVANIC PROTECTION
ing deterioration of the concrete. The Expenditure Present Present
LCCA is shown in Table 4. The annual (US. Worth Value
cost of corrosion under this scheme, based Details Year Dollars) Factor U S . Dollars)
on a 50-year design life, is -$40,000. Direct kmnditure

Conclusions b. Annual maintenance 15rh-49rh 8,889 11.278 100,250

The LCCA for the road bridge across
c. Maintenance painting 4th 444,444 0.865 384,444
open sea in the southern-most tip of India 14th 444,444 0.601 267,111
has been worked out based on a 50-year
design life. The annual cost of corrosion d. Maintenance CP 20th 555,556 0.484 268,889
and painting 30th 555,556 0.336 186,667
for the 2,345-m-long prestressed concrete 40th 555,556 0.234 130,000
bridge is about $43,000. By using a gal-
vanic anode protection system as a pre- c. Maintenance repairs 3rd
6th
ventive maintenance measure, the annual
cost of corrosion can be brought down to
-$40,000.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge
the Research Associateship awarded to Dr.
R. Bhaskaran by the Council of Scientific
& Industrial Research, EMR Division
(New Delhi, India), which allowed them
to carry out this work at the Central Elec-
trochemical Research Institute (Karai-
d. Maintenance replacement
kudi, India). They also gratefully ac- expansion joints 20 th 111,111 0.484 53,778
knowledge the cooperation extended by 40th 111,111 0.234 26,000
the National Highway authorities of the
Bearings 25th 222,222 0.403 89.555
Ramnad division.
Electric lampposts 10th 11,111 0.695 7,722
References 20th
30th
11,111
11,111
0.484
0.336
5,378
3,733
I. http:l/www.indolink.com/Religion/r091702-130924.
P~P. 40th 11,111 0.234 2,600
2. S.A. Reddi, "Pambnn Bridge: Aspccrs of Projccr
Managemenr-I," Indian Concrete J. 62, 1 l (1988): pp. Indirect Expenditure
568-579. a. User cost Annual 4,167 22.470 93,632
3. S.A. Reddi. "Pamban Bridge: Aspects of Project
Managenicu-11," Indian Concrete J. 62, 12 (1988): pp.
Total Present Value 2,004,274
629-632. Less: Income
4. D. Srinivasan, "Bridge Building-A Way of Life; rhe a. Collection from toll gate Annual 50,000 22.470 1,123,500
Story of the Pamban Bridge" (Madras, India: Indian Concrete Net Present Value 880,774
Instirute, 1996). Annual Cost Factor 0.045
5. K. Tuutti, "Corrosion of S ~ einl Concrete" (Swedish Equivalent Annual Cost 39,635
Foundation For Concrete Research and Swedish Board for e540.000
Technical Development, 1982).
6. D.W. Pfeifer, "High-Performance Concrete and Re-
inforcing Stccl with a 100-Year Service Life," PC1 J. (2000):
pp. 46-54. control and has done corrosion auditing in the N.S. RENGASWAMYwas an emeritus scientist
7. D.W. Hobbs, ed., "Minimum Requirements for sugar, pulp and paper, fertilizer, and petrochem- at the Central Electrochemical Research Insti-
Durable Concrete" (British Cement Assoc., Berks, 1988). ical industries in India. tute, Karaikudi. He has 45 vears of research
p. 52. and development experience in corrosion and
8. J.P. Broomfield, Uh'igh's Handhook, 2nd N. PALANISWAMY is deputy director and head its control, including 30 sponsored projects
.
ed R. Winston Revie, ed. (New York, NY: John Wiley &
of the Corrosion Protection Division at the and 43 consultancy assignments. He has
Sons, Inc., 2000). pp. 581-($00.
9, D , ~~, ~ b J,D, b ~Matthews,
, Require. Central Electrochemical Research Institute, developed a cost-effectiveCP technology for
menn for Concrete to Resist DcrcriorarionD,,C LoChloride- Karaikudi. He has 28 years of experience in reinforced concrete bridges and structures. He
Induced Corrosion," D.W. ~ o b b s ed. , (Blackwater, uK: corrosion and its control, with 93 papers and has a doctorate in engineering from the lndian
British Cement ASSOC. Berks. 1988), p. 60. four patents to his credit. He works in the areas Institute of Science and received a National
of CP, concrete corrosion, and biological corro- Merit Award from the Electrochemical Society
R. BHASKARAN is a research associate at sion. He has a doctorate in science from of India and the Smt. Annapurna Award for Best
the Central Electrochemical Research Insti- Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, and Publication from the Society for Advancement
tute, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu-630 006, India. He received the NIIS-Meritorious contribution of Electrochemical Science and Technology,
specializes in economic aspects of corrosion award during 2004 at New Delhi, India. India.