Service life prediction of RC structures in marine environment using long term chloride ingress data: Comparison between exposure trials and real structure surveys

•Real wharf structure surveys show time dependency of Cs and D at the splash zone.•Height-dependency of Cs indicates the existence of a “semi-splash” zone.•Adding BFS in concrete mix improves significantly its resistance to chloride ingress.•Consistent decreasing trend of D for both OPC concrete and BFS concrete is observed. The service life of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in marine environments is mainly influenced by the chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement, and the development of chloride penetration model is essential for its assessment. The empirical Fick’s second law of diffusion provides a simple way to predict the chloride penetration in practical situations. However, the derivation of parameters of this model is mainly based on the results of laboratory experiments or field exposure trials, and these parameters need to be calibrated with long-term field results of real structures. The filed investigations of seventeen high-pile wharf structures located at the south coast of China were carried out, and the results were compared with the long-term exposure test results in terms of chloride ingress profile. The probability models for surface chloride content and chloride diffusion coefficient were derived according to these results; and finally the effects of different models of chloride ingress parameters, based on exposure trails or based on real structure surveys, on the expected service life of marine structures were investigated.