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Experts from 16 countries to discuss infrastructure corrosion at MIT meetings

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers and engineers from 16 countries will discuss the problem of infrastructure deterioration at the four-day Corrosion Conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology starting Sunday, July 27.

The conference, co-sponsored by MIT and Grace Construction Products of Cambridge, is entitled "Understanding Corrosion Mechanisms in Concrete: A Key to Improving Infrastructure Durability."

Repairs for corrosion damage to federal bridges in the United States alone cost $50 billion annually, with more than half needing major work, most of it due to corrosion. Estimates place the overall worldwide cost to repair reinforced concrete structures at $200 per meter of exposed surface area.

"For the billions of square meters of reinforced concrete, the costs of major repairs before the desired end of use is a large potential financial burden to industrialized society," the sponsors said in an overview to be presented by MIT Professors Ronald Latanision and Oral Buyukozturk and Dr. Neal S. Berke, research manager for Grace Construction Products.

The morning sessions on Wednesday, July 30, will be devoted to technologies that have been developed for the protection of metal embedment in concrete. That afternoon, methodologies that are useful in predicting the life of large, concrete civil engineering structures will be discussed. The meetings will take place in Building 6, Room 120 on the MIT campus.

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