• Contents

• A Definition
• Corrosive soils contain chemical constituents that can react with construction
materials, such as concrete and ferrous metals, that may damage foundations
and buried pipelines. Electrical resistivity, chloride content, and pH level are
indicators of the soil’s tendency to corrode ferrous metals.
• Case Histories
• According to a resident of Delta, Colorado, a one-inch-thick steel pipe was
nearly dissolved after only one year of burial two feet below the ground. The
resident lived near Sweitzer Lake State Park in an area known for its corrosive
soils that are derived from the Mancos Shale.
Generally, buried steel pipelines and tanks suffer from soil corrosion
because one or more of the following conditions:
• High moisture content
• A pH value less than 4.5
• A resistivity less than 1000 Ω · cm
• Presence of chlorides, sulphides and bacteria
• Presence of stray currents.
3.1 Acidity of the Soil
• Soils usually have a pH range of 4.5 – 8.0. In this range, pH is generally
not considered to be a
• problem for stainless steels. More acidic soils may represent a serious
risk to common construction
• materials including some stainless steel grades. Soils acidity is
produced by mineral leaching,
• decomposition of acidic plants, industrial wastes, acid rain and certain
forms of micro-biological activity.
• Soil resistivity generally decreases with increasing moisture
• Based on limited experience to soil conditions, stainless steel could be
subject to corrosion if the soil resistivity is less than 700 Ω · cm
indicative of a wet soil containing chlorides
• Sandy soils have a high resistivity (more than 20,000 Ω · cm) and
therefore considered the least corrosive.
• clay soils with a resistivity of the order of 1,000 Ω · cm are considered
to be highly corrosive.
• On a practical standpoint, well-drained soils are recognised to be less
corrosive than poorly drained ones.
A generally accepted corrosivity index for soils according to resistivity is:
• • Very corrosive under 1,00 Ω · cm
• • Aggressive from 1,000 to 5,000 Ω · cm
• • Middly corrosive from 5,000 to 10,000 Ω · cm
• • Slightly corrosive from 10,000 to 20,000 Ω · cm
• • Progressively less corrosive over 20,000 Ω · cm
• • Not corrosive from 30,000 to 100,000 Ω · cm
• Low resistivity indicates that a soil will be a good electrolyte. Soil moisture plays
a large part in
• resistivity.
6.3 Recommendations
• The following recommendations are based on the results of different
experiments in soils. In a soil
• for which the resistivity is less than 1.000 Ω · cm, the chloride content
is higher than 500 ppm, and
• the pH less than 4.5 should be considered as an aggressive one.
4
• Aggressive soils are identified in terms of electrochemical properties
including pH,resistivity, and salt content.
• The level of compaction and grain size distribution of backfills placed
around reinforcements have an effect on corrosion and corrosion
rates
 Soil Compaction
• Compaction of soil is defined as the reduction of air voids between particles
of soil and is measured by the mechanical compression of a quantity of
material into a given volume.When soil compaction occurs evenly, soil
resistivity is consistent and corrosivity is generally decreased. Soil permeability
is reduced with compaction and provided drainage is adequate and the soil is
non-aggressive (neutral or alkaline), corrosion should be decreased.
However,the effect of compaction is related to soil cohesiveness. In clay soils,
the corrosion rate shortly after burial increases with compaction. Well-
drained, granular soils with moisture contents of less than 5 percent are non-
aggressive, but drainage decreases with increasing compaction, leading to
marginal increases of corrosion. These theoretical marginal differences have
not been quantified to date.
Moisture Content
• Soil structure, permeability, and porosity determine the moisture content of a soil. Where the
• moisture content of a soil is greater than 25 to 40 percent, the rate of general corrosion is
• increased. Below this value, a pitting type corrosion attack is more likely.
• The corrosion of mild steel increases when soil moisture content exceeds 50 percent of
• saturation. This may be compared to the critical relative humidity (rh) that occurs above
• ground in atmospheric corrosion. Research data strongly suggest that maximum corrosion
• rates occur at saturations of 60 to 85 percent (Darbin et al., 1986). This range of saturation
• for granular materials roughly corresponds to the range of moisture content required in the
• field to achieve needed compaction levels.
• A survey of 14 California sites found saturation levels in MSE fills to be between 30 and 95
• percent, with most samples exceeding 65 percent (Jackura et al., 1987). Therefore the
• placement compaction requirements for MSE structures will be subject to the maximum
• corrosion rates consistent with all other electrochemical criteria.
• Soil resistivity is defined as the inverse of conductivity.
Effect of Resistivity on Corrosion
• Aggressiveness Resistivity(ohm-cm)
• Very corrosive < 700
• Corrosive 700 - 2,000
• Moderately corrosive 2,000 - 5,000
• Mildly corrosive 5,000 - 10,000
• Non-corrosive > 10,000
3
• Moderate corrosion occurred on several piles exposed to fill soils
which were above the water table level or in the water table zone.
• The data indicate that undisturbed soils are so deficient in oxygen at
levels a few feet below the ground line or below the water table zone,
that steel pilings are not appreciably affected by corrosion, regardless
of the soil types or the soil properties.
5
• Key Findings
• The impacts of soil corrosion on buried infrastructure can be
economically,environmentally and socially high.
• The corrosive action of soil cannot be eliminated but can be managed.
• Definition of soil
• Soil scientists define soils as the unconsolidated layer on the earth’s
surface that contains living matter capable of supporting plants.
2.3.2 Critical moisture content of soils and
impact on corrosion
• However Ismail and El-Shamy(2009) have shown that 50-60% is the
optimum moisture content for maximum corrosion rate (Figure 7).
Norin and Vinka (2003) found higher corrosion rates with increased
rainfall,especially if the precipitation is more conductive to corrosion
(Kizhlo and Kanbergs, 2010).
• Ahmed (2011) suggests that soil humidity and consequently soil
moisture is an important factor for corrosion rates in soils,
Figure 8: Effect of moisture content on soil corrosivity (From: Ismail and El-Shamy, 2009)
2.4.3 Influence of differing soil
environments
• A pipe passing through differing soil environments can generally be anodic within clay
due to
• the lack of oxygen in clay soils and cathodic in loamy soils (greater aerability). This results
in
• the formation of a ‘corrosion cell’ (Bradford, 2001) as shown in Figure 10. Velazquez et al.
• (2009) suggest an increasing corrosiveness potential in sandy clay loam, clay loam and
clay
• 22
• respectively. These corrosion cells can vary in size from very small (i.e. centimetres) to
many
• miles depending upon the soil properties (Paul, 1994).
Figure 10: Corrosion cell formed by pipeline passing through differing soil types, arrows show
direction of corrosion currents (From: Bradford, 2001)
 2.5 Soil resistivity
• Soil resistivity indicates the ability of a soil environment to carry corrosion currents. It is
subsequently a function of the soil moisture content and the concentration of the current
carrying soluble ions (Palmer, 1989).Soil resistivity is generally controlled by ‘spaces, fractures
and the amount and composition of fluids that fill the pore spaces within a soil mass’ (Alhazzaa,
2007).
Tiba and de Oliveira (2012) identify the following as influencing soil resistivity:
• Resistivity of the minerals and gas that fill the pores;
• Humidity;
• Porosity;
• Texture, shape and distribution of pores;
• The absorption of ions on the surface of the mineral particles.
• 2.5.1 Resistivity measurement
• The unit of soil resistivity is the ohm-centimeter (ohm(Ω)-cm) and is a
measurement of the resistance of a cube of soil one centimeter in
dimension as measured from opposite faces.
• Whereas Palmer (1989) suggests that resistivity is a major controlling
factor in the corrosion rate. Later Bradford (2000) regards the method
of soil resistivity as being the most commonly used indicator of soil
corrosivity.
• Soil Resistivity (Ω cm) - Corrosion Classification
• Up to 1000 Very severely corrosive
• 1001-2000 Severely corrosive
• 2001-5000 Moderately corrosive
• 5001-10,000 Mildly corrosive
• > 10,000 Very mildly corrosive

• Table 2: Soil resistivity values and corrosivity effects (ASTM, 2012)

Conclusion
• From review of available literature it appears that the gas and water
and to a lesser extent the highways sectors are most affected by
corrosional processes. The electricity and telecommunications sectors
have proven little affected by subsurface corrosional processes as
cable design has often mitigated against this risk. Electricity pylons
have been subject to corrosional processes, however the use of
cathodic protection has often greatly reduced this risk over recent
decades.
9
[PERCENTAGE]
Fig. 1 Reported causes of
[PERCENTAGE]
corrosion of buried pipes. It is
reported in the literature that
major factor that contributes
to corrosion of metal pipes is
soil corrosiveness. Soil corrosiveness
[PERCENTAGE]
is increased by the
presence of sulphates, chloride,
moisture and bacterial activity.
Redrawn, originally by Romer
[PERCENTAGE] and Bell (2001)

[PERCENTAGE]
Soil properties
• Soils are classified according to their size range. Commonly
• used soils, such as clay, silt and sand, are named
• because of the size range of their inorganic content. Sand is
• classified as fine (0.02–0.2 ram) and coarse (0.20–2.00 ram).
• Silt particle size ranges from 0.002 to 0.02 mm, and clay
• particles have a diameter of <0.002 mm down to colloidal
• matter. The classification system is described in Table 1.
• Many soil properties are governed by the particle size
• variation. Other terms commonly used for soil classification
• include clay loam, loamy sand, sandy clay, silt loam,
• silty clay loam, sandy loam and gravel. Clay soil is very
• plastic by nature; it becomes sticky and impervious when
• saturated with water. It has more packed particles and less
• pore capacity for moisture and oxygen diffusion compared
• with another type of soils, meaning it has poor drainage and
• aeration. Sand and gravel have more drainage and aeration.
• In relation to the physical properties of soil, volume
• shrinkage is the tendency of the soil to start cracking on
• drying and they swell when wet. This is a property of the
• clay and loam particles in the soil. When clay/silt soil dries,
• it forms cracks that allow diffusion of oxygen to the pipe
• and hence the susceptibility of a buried pipe to corrosion
• increases. Because of the poor drainage in clay and silt, the
• capillary pores of these soils hold a considerable amount
• of water. The moisture in good conductivity soil indicates
• high ion content and the possibility of very active corrosion
• attack.
• A soil’s resistance (R) to the passage of electricity is the
• property of the soil that is an indicator of corrosion aggressivity.
• It is related to some other properties of the soil, which
• are given by the following term:
• where ρ = specific gravity, L = length of the electrical path
• and A = cross-sectional area of the electrodes.
• High compaction of the soil can change the void ratio,
• which in turn makes the soil more resistive. Moreover, soil
• with specific porosity and permeability has distinctive resistivity
• and the ability to corrode metal, which will be discussed
• in later sections.
• Corrosion behaviour of buried pipes can be influenced
• by chemical properties of soil. The chemical elements that