Setting the bar high

When it comes to the training and development of our employees, we like to set the bar very high. This was also the case last Monday, 27 April at the Krondorf viaduct , where a very special kind of joint learning took place for all foremen, site managers and site supervisors in our civil engineering department: training on measuring concrete cover and detecting reinforcing bars using the Profometer PM8000 Pro concrete cover measuring device from and by Proceq (a subsidiary of Screening Eagle)👍.

Why is concrete cover measurement so important?

For reinforced concrete components, sufficient concrete cover is of great importance for the quality assurance of the structure. It serves the bond between concrete and steel, durability and fire protection. Bridge structures are generally calculated with a service life of 100 years. The concrete edge zone, the area between the component surface and the reinforcement, forms the barrier against damaging substances such as moisture,_CO2 or de-icing salts. If the concrete cover is too low, these damaging substances can penetrate the concrete and reach the reinforcement. The protective oxide layer on the steel would be destroyed by the carbonation of the concrete and the steel would begin to rust / corrode due to oxygen and moisture. This corrosion would in turn lead to an increase in the volume of the steel and thus to stresses within the reinforced concrete component. The result would be rust streaks, cracks and spalling. Chlorides, e.g. in the form of de-icing salts, for example, in conjunction with insufficient concrete cover, can result in localised destruction of the passive layer on the steel (pitting corrosion). Unlike carbonatisation, corrosion is often localised and not visible from the outside for a long time😮.

In Krondorf, the participants first received theoretical training on concrete cover and the measuring device used, including helpful tips on how to set up the device perfectly and how to carry out and analyse the concrete cover measurements. They were then able to put what they had learnt directly into practice: Firstly, they inspected a pillar of the Krondorf viaduct, then studied the reinforcement plans and finally used the measuring device to search intensively for reinforcing bars and measure the concrete cover💪.

A big THANK YOU to Michael Rilling from Proceq for the many valuable tips and application examples: This morning will remain in our memories for a long time and will accompany us on all our construction sites. But this training would also not have been possible without our student trainees . THANK YOU for your commitment and thank you for joining us at seid♥️.

And a very special THANK YOU from the "editorial team" to Katharina Himsel for this interesting input and explanations. Without you, this article would not have been possible👏.

In conclusion , our conclusion is clear: if you measure, you may measure rubbish - but if you forget the concrete cover, you will rust😎.