Serious degradation mechanisms can severely reduce the service life of concrete structures: steel reinforcement can corrode, cement matrix can be attacked, and even aggregates can show detrimental processes. Therefore, it is important to understand how damage can occur to concrete structures and to appreciate the timing of the actions leading to damage. Offering a logical flow, this introduces the different actions or mechanisms in a fundamental manner, without too many physical or chemical details. It describes the different causes of damage to concrete, including inappropriate design, errors during execution, mechanisms occurring during hardening of concrete, and actions or degradation mechanisms during service life (hardened concrete). The degradation mechanisms are illustrated with numerous real-world examples and many drawings and photographs taken of actual structures. Written as a textbook for students as well as a reference for professionals, this easy-to-comprehend book gives readers a deeper understanding of the damage that can occur to concrete during the construction process and service.

This revised version is updated throughout, with information on performance based approaches for durability design, and moving away from current descriptive approaches. A new chapter describes the risks related to valorization of secondary or waste materials in concrete. It now includes some focus on sustainability, and not only on durability.