A Collaborative Effort for Compiling a Nationwide Soil Corrosivity Geographical Database (C2026-00114)
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM Central
Location: 370 AB
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Teddie Algorri, Mersedeh Akhoondan, Brien Clark, Sean Hoss
Soil corrosivity is a key factor impacting the durability of buried infrastructures. Soil characteristics such as moisture and salt content, pH, and electrical resistivity have been recognized for their effect on the corrosion of buried metals and reinforced concrete. Knowing such parameters in the early stages of design is valuable and allows structural and geotechnical engineers to improve design efficiency, performance, and cost. As part of a collaboration with numerous clients, including a global energy company, a large nationwide soil corrosivity database has been compiled by testing about 400 soil samples along alignments and sites across the US. Testing performed included: electrical resistivity values, pH, salt contents, alkalinity, and linear polarization resistance (LPR) to obtain a comprehensive corrosivity database. The sample locations were geographically mapped using the ArcGIS program to create a visual representation of soil corrosivity nationwide. This paper presents the compiled soil corrosivity geographical maps and provides a comparison to existing soil corrosivity databases, such as Melvin Romanoff (Circular of NBS 579-1957).
