Field Station Visit

Under Ar2CorD project, we had a field station visit for concrete testing in a marine environment station around Bergen on 12th of January. The visit team was Rekik Derso, Bård Arnsten and Boy-Arne. The main objective of the visit was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the field station's design and operational processes related to concrete testing in a marine environment. This includes observing testing procedures, equipment operation, and data collection methods.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration established a field station for long-term field exposure of concrete in a marine environment. The field station is located at a ferry quay in the Austefjord outside Bergen. The field station has been arranged so that reinforced concrete elements with and without instrumentation can be deployed for long-term testing at the field station.

During the visit it was explained by the responsible person for the field stations that this type of field station is very important in terms of being able to document sustainability of different concrete types in an aggressive coastal climate, and to calibrate accelerated laboratory testing against true long-term properties in the field. It was also explained that the field station is expected a development towards new types of cement in the coming years, among other things because of the requirements about reducing concrete's climate footprint.

The field station is designed for a total of 72 units. Concrete elements with a size of 190 mm x 390mm x 2700 mm. For these dimensions, the lower third of the elements will be permanent submerged in seawater, the middle part of the elements being in the tidal zone and the uppermost part be above the tidal zone.

In conclusion the Austefjord field station visit holds great significance for the establishment of the monitoring station at Narvik Harbour as part of the "Ar2CorD" project. The visit provided a firsthand understanding of operational processes and testing infrastructure, crucial elements in designing a monitoring station tailored for the unique challenges of a maritime environment. It also provide  essential insights of  equipment operation and data collection system which can be applicable to our project.