The salt crystals can accumulate in cracks or wall pores, where they can cause erosion, flaking,
or ultimate deterioration of the contaminated surface. This is because the process of crystallization
often involves swelling and considerable forces are generated. Another problem is if the penetrating
water contains dissolved sulfates, because they can accumulate and thus increase their concentration
on the exposed wall surface, resulting in chemical deterioration of the concrete (ACI, 1990).