Chapter 10 - Ground-penetrating radar for the evaluation and monitoring of transport infrastructures

Abstract

This chapter offers an overview on the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) for the nondestructive testing (NDT) of transport infrastructures. After a general introduction to the topic of the chapter (Section 1), particular attention is devoted to the use of GPR for the inspection of roads, highways, and airport runways (Section 2); railways (Section 3); bridges (Section 4); and tunnels (Section 5). For each application, the possible objectives of a GPR survey are listed; several practical recommendations about the methodology of application are given; complementary noninvasive techniques that can be combined with GPR are suggested; new or recent examples are presented; and finally, the relevant research activities carried out within COST Action TU1208 Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar are discussed. Throughout the chapter, the importance of electromagnetic modeling as a useful and effective tool for GPR data interpretation is highlighted. In Section 6, this subject is dealt more in detail: Recommendations are provided, for a correct implementation and execution of electromagnetic models of transport infrastructures by using the finite-difference time-domain technique; the main features of two software tools developed within COST Action TU1208 are resumed; and a new example of application is presented, where a model of a medieval bridge is built and executed, for an advanced interpretation of experimental data collected over it. Finally, in Section 7, conclusions are drawn, and final remarks are given. The chapter includes a rich bibliography, with numerous relevant and recent references for further readings.