Signs and Causes of Concrete Cancer in Wollongong

Water reaches the steel through cracks or pores, and the rust that forms takes up more room than the steel it came from, so the concrete is pushed apart: that is how concrete cancer begins. Rust staining, cracking and pieces breaking away are what shows from outside, and they are the later stage of that process.

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What signs and causes of concrete cancer in Wollongong actually involves

Water can seep into cracks or pores in concrete and react with the steel reinforcing, and the product of that reaction is rust. The trouble is twofold: the corrosion product takes up more volume than the metal it formed from, and the part of the concrete that gives it strength is the part that is corroding.

A corroded bar with flaking rust and small chunks of concrete below it — signs of concrete cancer, Wollongong. Illustrative example.

What happens next

Rust formation opens bigger cracks, and each new crack lets more water in, so the concrete degrades further. UNSW's newsroom describes the end of the process as the concrete fracturing apart, called spalling and more widely known as “concrete cancer”. It remains a major concern in older buildings.

Record where you see it and how long it has been there, then ask the provider whether the steel beneath it has been checked.

A row of balcony slab edges on a low-rise apartment building, one with a rust stain — concrete cancer in strata schemes, Wollongong. Illustrative example.

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