Effective implementation of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for condition assessment & monitoring of critical infrastructure components of bridges and highways.

Details

• Creators:
  Goulias, Dimitrios ; Scott, Michael
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Maryland (College Park, Md.). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Bridge Decks Condition Surveys Ground Penetrating Radar Pavement Management Systems Precast Concrete Quality Control Structural Health Monitoring
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MD-15-SHA-UM-3-11
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Maryland
• Corporate Publisher:
  Maryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & Research
• Abstract:
  Recently Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) started to explore use of Ground Penetrating Radar
  
  (GPR) technology to provide quantitative information for improved decision making and reduced operating
  
  costs. To take full advantage of the GPR capabilities, improved analysis techniques need to be developed and
  
  implemented. The objective of this study was to assist SHA engineers, technicians, and decision makers in
  
  their current effort to explore the use of GPR in assessing the condition of critical infrastructure components
  
  and to identify potential improvements in GPR data analysis. The research team closely interacted with
  
  representatives from selected divisions of the Office of Materials Technology (OMT) to identify potential
  
  GPR applications using existing equipment accessible to SHA, targeting critical high priority areas for
  
  analysis and improvement. In regards to pavement structures, a new methodology was suggested to improve
  
  the accuracy of GPR data analysis. The initial analysis and results indicated that Multi-scale Pavement GPR
  
  data Analysis (MPGA) has significant potential to add value and accuracy to pavement thickness data used in
  
  pavement management and rehabilitation analysis. The MPGA results indicate that pavement thickness data
  
  trends can be identified based on either automated or semi-automated procedures based on target variability
  
  levels of thickness uniformity, and thus can be used to efficiently evaluate pavement material layers.
  
  Similarly, for bridge deck analysis, techniques such as migration imaging (for concrete cover depth
  
  measurement applications among others) and Fourier analysis of GPR waveforms (for qualitative bridge deck
  
  moisture analysis) were used in addition to emerging techniques such as Short Time Fourier Transform
  
  analysis (for anticipated quantitative moisture analysis) for improving GPR data interpretation. Migration and
  
  Fourier techniques were illustrated corresponding to GPR data collected using a GPR array on selected bridge
  
  decks in the Salisbury, MD area. When applied appropriately, such techniques can provide more reliable
  
  analysis of bridge deck inspection than conventional means. In terms of precast concrete, this study has shown
  
  how GPR can be used to address several of the inspections needed in precast concrete production, including
  
  an evaluation of concrete cover depth, reinforcement location, and section thicknesses. The testing and
  
  demonstration showed significant potential for quality control using GPR.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SHA/UM/3-11
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:e898bbfd093abc4e58f6b60a4b5623b15ba0e1aa1019671587e22df56b231a33
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28443/dot_28443_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.74 MB ]