Radar tomography of bridge decks

Nigel C. Davidson; Steven B. Chase

doi:10.1117/12.300097

31 March 1998 Radar tomography of bridge decks

Nigel C. Davidson, Steven B. Chase

Proceedings Volume 3400, Structural Materials Technology III: An NDT Conference; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.300097
Event: Non-Destructive Evaluation Techniques for Aging Infrastructure and Manufacturing, 1998, San Antonio, TX, United States

Abstract

This paper presents the development of ground-penetrating radar bridge deck inspection systems sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. Two radar systems have been designed and built by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The HERMES bridge inspector (High-speed Electromagnetic Roadway Mapping and Evaluation System) is designed to survey the deck condition during normal traffic flow. Thus the need for traffic control during inspection is eliminated. This system employs a 64 channel antenna array covering 1.9 m in width with a sampling density of 3 cm. To investigate areas of a bridge deck that are of particular interest and require detailed inspection a slower, cart mounted radar has been produced. This system is named PERES (Precision Electromagnetic Roadway Evaluation System). The density of data coverage with PERES is 1 cm and an average or 100 samples is taken at each location to improve the signal to noise ratio. Images of the deck interior are reconstructed from the original data using synthetic aperture tomography. The target of these systems is the location of steel reinforcement, corrosion related delaminations, voids and disbonds. The final objective is for these, and other non-destructive technologies, to provide information on the condition of the nation's bridges so that funds will be spent on the structures in most need of repair.

Citation Download Citation

Nigel C. Davidson and Steven B. Chase "Radar tomography of bridge decks", Proc. SPIE 3400, Structural Materials Technology III: An NDT Conference, (31 March 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.300097

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available