Abstract
It is noted that the rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure, not new construction, will doiminate the 1990s. For such rehabilitation, accurate condition assesment is crucial, and high-tech nondestructive testing can complement tedious visual inspection and destructive coring. The article discusses how NDT techniques are evaluating an array of materials and structures, from concrete arch bridges to wood transmission poles and offshore steel platforms. Progress, however, has been slower than has been desired. The cost of equipment, data interpretation and the need for highly trained personnel is one of the problems. Technologies described here include testing decks in New Hampshire with noncontact GPR (ground penetrating radar), and infrared thermography to locate and quantify delaminations and voids in Wisconsin. Canadian experience in the use of NDT is also described. This includes the application of radar to civil structures. The use of impact echo testing to locate delaminations, cracks, cold joints and voids in aging bridges in Kansas is noted. Application of NDT to steel and wood structures is also discussed. The European testing of offshore oil platforms with penetrants, magnetic particles, the eddy-current technique, radiography and ultrasonics is noted.
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