A large experimental program has been carried out with the reinforcement in a 16 years old, S40 m long bridge at the coast of Northern Norway, in alkaline solutions and in mortar slabs with and
without chloride additions. The electrochemical techniques covered are: potential mapping with reference electrodes at the surface, corrosion potential monitoring with reference electrodes embedded in the concrete, potentiodynamic scans, potentiostatic polarization, galvanostatic pulse technique, AC-impedance spectroscopy and monitoring of electrochemical noise. The standard electrochemical techniques for determination of the corrosion rate in aqueous solutions did not function well for steel in concrete, at least not for routine applications. This is caused by a very complex electrochemistry of iron in alkaline media and the very low volume of pore water in contact with the steel. Due to the low
volume even very small impressed polarization currents alter the composition of the environment adjacent to the steel. This complicates the interpretation of the electrochemical tests, leading to a series of problems. Keywords: Corrosion, corrosion rate, steel, concrete, electrochemistry, polarization resistance