* Ingham J, Collery D,
Sfikas IP and Badger M.
2016 Failure of coastal
protection concrete armour
units due to alkalisilica
reaction. Proceedings of the
ICE: Maritime Engineering
169(3):115-123.
ICE Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/
jmaen.2015.32
Fig.2** Cracking in the head of a
concrete armour unit caused by ASR
Fig.3** View of a concrete core
sample immediately following
extraction
Fig.4** Indicative temperature
distribution across the section during
curing (thermal analysis by FEA)
**Figures from original paper, shared
with permission by ICE Publishing.
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Clacton Coastal Defence Works, constructed in 1993, included a 1.4km
length of sloping revetment formed of precast concrete armour units (Fig. 1).
The revetment was initially designed for a service life of greater than 50
years, but cracking of the armour units was so severe (Fig. 2 and 3) that its
entire replacement was necessary after only 22 years (in 2015).
Mott MacDonald was asked to investigate the revetment and the assessment
and findings are presented in a paper Failure of concrete armour units due
to alkali-silica reaction that was recently co-authored by Jeremy Ingham,
David Collery and Ioannis Sfikas (M899) (from Mott MacDonald Ltd.) and
Mike Badger (from the Tendering District Council in Clacton, UK), and
published in the Proceedings of the ICE: Maritime Engineering journal*.
Fig.1** General view of the precast concrete armour units at Clacton-on-Sea
The on-site investigation, further laboratory testing (petrographic
examination and determination of sulfate content, alkali content and
compressive strength) and desk studies (including thermal analysis using
finite-element analysis software to determine the risk for delayed ettringite
formation (DEF) due to high core temperatures, Fig.4) determined that
alkalisilica reaction (ASR) was the primary cause of the armour unit
deterioration. The ASR appeared to have been exacerbated by the choice of
cement, leaching action and the geometry of the units.
This case study is of particular importance, as the failed concrete armour
units complied with the current UK guidelines (BS 8500-2 and BRE Digest
330) for the prevention of ASR. As such, the paper demonstrates the
importance of considering the potential action of leaching and the associated
alkali migration when designing concrete structures to resist alkali
aggregate reactions. The paper makes recommendations to amend standards
to better consider these effects. In particular, designers of marine/ coastal
structures should be made aware of the potential leaching and alkali
migration implications of specifying hollow concrete armour units with
relatively low surface area to volume ratios.
A summary of the Proceedings of the ICE: Maritime Engineering paper will
also appear in a forthcoming book entitled Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in
Concrete: A World Review, by I Poole & AB Sims, Eds.
(Publication expected on 15 February 2017, by CRC Press of Taylor & Francis Group,
ISBN 9781138027565)