Over the last decade, many documents have been published on the deterioration of concrete. Concrete deteriorates as a result of both chemical and physical deterioration mechanisms. These mechanisms are often controlled by the environment. The environmental factors in discussion involve seasonal temperature variations, freeze thaw cycling, rainfall and relative humidity variations. A similar conclusion from various research papers, states that the most important factor affecting premature deterioration of concrete is the moisture ingress (Basheer, Chidiac, & Long, 1996). Based on this conclusion, it is clear that the permeability of concrete is fundamentally important with regard to the durability and service life for reinforced concrete structures.
From the fundamental characteristics of concrete, it is known that concrete is weak in tension, which leads to cracking from deterioration. The fractured strength of concrete controls the rate of deterioration. From this it can be argued that the two most important factors when dealing with concrete deterioration is fracture strength and permeability. These two factors can be used to determine and assess the durability of different structures (Basheer, Chidiac, & Long, 1996)