Testing of concrete in structures, 4th edition

Concrete, Apr 2007 by Barnes, Richard

Testing of concrete in structures, 4th edition AUTHOR: J H BUNGEY, S G MILLARD AND M G GRANTHAM PUBLISHER: TAYLOR & FRANCIS, OXFORD 2006. ISBN: 0-415-26301-8 PRICE: £85.00 PP.339.

Regrettably, there is an increase in the number of concrete structures showing signs of deterioration. In order to investigate this deterioration a number of in-situ test methods have been (and continue to be) developed.

Testing of concrete in structures aims to provide a comprehensive overview of this area, whilst at the same time giving sufficient detail to inform the reader of the advantages and, importantly, the limitations of the currently available test methods. Whilst primarily written for non-specialist civil or structural engineer, enabling them to plan test programmes and to assess the results, the book is also aimed at concrete technologists, designers and students.

The planning and interpretation of in-situ testing is sensibly given a whole chapter, emphasising the importance that should be given to this aspect. A chapter on surface hardness methods covers the ever-popular Schmidt or Rebound hammer test whilst Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity is covered in the next chapter (although the new transducers that no longer need a coupling agent are not covered). The next chapter covers partially destructive strength tests, including Windsor probe, pull-out, pull-off and break-off methods. So far so good, with pointers given to the limitations of the techniques and common mistakes in interpretation to be avoided by the reader.

Although the text of the chapter on cores includes reference to The Concrete Society Project Report 3, the Appendix C of Bungey et al has not been updated to take this into account. The current view of The Concrete Advisory Service is that the assessment of compressive strength in a structure should be based only on estimated in-situ compressive strength and it is recommended that the procedure to determine potential strength (as used in Appendix C) should no longer be used.

Sound advice is given in the chapter on load testing but although photography is briefly covered there is no mention of video recording, which is now widely available through the advances in digital technology and is most useful in this area. A range of testing techniques is covered in the following chapters which deal with durability, performance, integrity and chemical tests. Although it is impossible to include every known test, some guidance on endoscopy may have been usefully included.

Whilst it is understandable that no book will cover all the latest developments (the combined covermeters with half cells (as advertised in CONCRETE September 2006) are too recent an innovation to make it into the book), it is perhaps surprising that the many advances and developments in optical fibre sensors for concrete, since the previous edition, are covered with just a single sentence.

Minor errors from the previous editions have been corrected (figure 7.28 finally differentiates correctly between adsorbed and absorbed) and many of the photographs have been updated.

Over 400 references (including ten from CONCRETE and a further nine other Concrete Society publications) certainly provide enough further reading for the engineer who wishes to learn more and demonstrates that the authors are well-read in the subject area. Notable omissions are Concrete Society Technical Reports 54 Diagnosis of deterioration in concrete structures and 44 The relevance of cracking in concrete to corrosion of reinforcement.

Testing of concrete in structures has always been a valuable standard text for the non-specialist engineer and this latest edition brings it up to date and is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any engineer involved in the testing of concrete structures.

Richard Barnes

The Concrete Society