Evaluation of Several Types of Curing and Protective Materials for Concrete: Interim Report Part III: Performance

About the report:

Various curing and/or protective coatings were evaluated under three conditions: (1) accelerated laboratory freezing and thawing of specimens in 2 percent sodium chloride solution, (2) exposure in an outdoor area of slabs which were subjected to controlled application of deicers, and (3) exposure of some of the materials on three bridges. The performance of the outdoor slabs and bridge decks has been observed during the interim since the last report. Based upon observations after additional exposure of the outdoor slabs and the field test sections, the conclusions from the two previous parts of this report were confirmed. Continued observation merits emphasis on the following: (1) Properly entrained air is overwhelmingly the most effective defense against scaling caused by deicing chemicals. This fact is evident from the continued good performance of the outdoor exposure slabs that contain entrained air and by the absence of scaling on the bridge decks, which also were built with concrete that was uniformly and adequately air entrained. (2) When insufficient entrained air is obtained, linseed oil treatments delay the onset of scaling.

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