corrosion on fresh water submerged steel members 1

[kelowna]

I have been trying to get some information with regards to the corrosion of steel members completely submerged on fresh water.
My intuition says that if the element is under the splash zone, there is very little oxigen and therefore no corrosion.
On the other hand there might be some electrolitic corrosion, although quite minimal in fresh water.

Can anybody help? I would specially appreciate some reference material.

 

[rob768]

Depending on the amount of oxygen in the water (there will always be some, otherwise how do fish survive) or pollution (especially acidity) some corrosion will occur

 

[csd72]

To be on the safe side, provide some sacrificial corrosion protection e.g. a big lump of zinc with electrical connections to the posts.

Also if the steel goes in to the soil under then you may get heavy corrosion if it is an acidic soil.

 

[civilperson]

For salt water submersion, I use a sacrifical 1/8" thickness each face on steel for twenty year life span. Easier than zincs or magnesium sacrifical anodes.

 

[csd72]

Civilperson,

Didnt think of that, a little bit of additional steel would have to be the cheapest option.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

The book "Bethlehem Steel H Piles" states that fresh water exposure is not a significant problem

Of a great many such piles examined, it was estimated that the decrease in section from the original has not been more than 1 per cent in 20 years.

You can download this book from my website at this link

http://www.slideruleera.net/Steel-Piling.html

See page 30.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net