Deicer Effect on Concrete Bridge Decks: Practitioners' Perspective and a Method of Developing Exposure Maps

This work illustrates a method of developing exposure maps that can be used to better understand the potential effects that deicers and other relevant variables may impart on an agency’s concrete infrastructure. To capture the practitioners’ perspective on the subject, two surveys were conducted with participants from Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) winter maintenance and bridge management practitioners. Subsequently, the method was established using the ODOT as a case study and the study involved the collection of relevant data for developing exposure maps for select 12 representative ODOT concrete bridge decks. Through the ODOT case study, issues with data availability and quality were identified and it is recommended that deicer type and application rate, traffic volume, weather condition (air temperature, precipitation, etc.), and bridge mix design data should be documented into an integrated bridge preservation program; or should be added to the existing bridge management systems, for any agency planning to investigate the role of such variables in the durability of its concrete bridge decks.