Inspection Team Goes to New Heights

摘要

As U.S. infrastructure gets older, structural materials deteriorate due to weather, loads, and damage through use. The ability to perform critical and detailed inspections of structures has become a high priority; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Louis District, has a structural inspection team that does this in an unusual manner-via ropes. The St. Louis District has a large group of USACE structural engineers who are trained in rope access techniques to inspect hydraulic steel structures and bridges. Typical hydraulic steel structures in the St. Louis District are tainter, miter, and lift gates; culvert valves; and bulkheads.