Abstract: This paper aims to study the effect of cracking damage on the ultimate strength of reinforced concrete arch ribs. Four reinforced concrete arch ribs of a circular type were manufactured. An accelerated corrosion test was used to obtain different cracking levels on the concrete surface and the initial crack distribution was discussed. The crack propagation, the deflections and strains at different positions, the ultimate load bearing capacity, and the failure modes were also studied. The experimental results showed that corrosion-induced cracks decreased the concrete sectional size and the stiffness, resulting in a bond degradation between concrete and steel bars. Cracking damage is one of the key factors on the strength degradation of reinforced concrete arch ribs. The decreased ratio of the bearing capacity is about 60% of un-corroded arch ribs. Cracking damage did not change the failure modes of arch ribs. All specimens occurred a brittle fracture at an arch spring. Based on the experimental results, a finite element model was established, neglecting the effect of concrete cover due to severe cracking. The calculated results agreed well with the experimental observations, which provided a reference for future finite element modelling.