The corrosion of the reinforcing steel in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures is responsible for most of the damaging deterioration of these structures. Repairs for this type of deterioration cost owners and asset managers billions of US dollars every year. It is well accepted that the penetration of chloride Ions (Cl-) into the sound concrete, reaching the reinforcing steel, is responsible for premature corrosion and subsequent damage when moisture and oxygen are available; thus, reinforcing steel is deemed protected when the thickness of its concrete cover is maximized. However, the required embedment makes the bars unreachable to conduct periodic assessment of their condition. Therefore, indirect methods and technologies are used to measure and predict corrosion before significant damage occurs.

The objective of this paper is to present an updated review of the most prevalent and promising technologies for measuring and predicting corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel, touching on their advantages and disadvantages as well as their applicability when alternative reinforcement such as Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE) is used. The work also includes a practical study where several methods were reviewed to determine which of them provided the most amount of corrosion condition information with the least intrusion to the structure.