Assessing the remaining service life is vital for the planning of maintenance of concrete constructions in aggressive environments. Here we present results from testing of two concrete piles affected by sulphate attack in marine environment. A multi-method approach going from micro scale to structural level has been applied. The crack propagation was monitored during loading by means of DIC and AE. After the test crack patterns was studied using fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, non-linear finite element analysis at the structural level was used to study the influence of the chemical attack on the response of concrete piles.