Electrochemical corrosion protection systems have been used in Australia for many years for the corrosion protection of concrete infrastructure assets in marine environments.
Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) can be highly effective for the corrosion protection of reinforced concrete structures, however, some of the potential shortcomings of these systems are their performance in high resistivity concrete, anode installation defects in tidal zones, premature failure of some system components and the requirements for ongoing monitoring.

For galvanic-based anode systems, most of the recent innovations have been associated with backfill materials and the development of systems that incorporate a temporary impressed current phase followed by permanent galvanic protection. While the long-term performance of some of the newly developed systems is still subject to ongoing assessment, the overall performance data from galvanic-based systems indicates that one of the potential shortcomings is the inability of these systems to deliver sufficient corrosion protection over time, especially in highly corrosive environments.

This paper presents guidelines related to the selection process of the corrosion protection system for concrete structures. These guidelines have been developed based on the author’s experience with the design, installation, and monitoring of various corrosion protection systems installed in Australia for the protection of marine infrastructure assets.