Handheld Device 'Sees' Damage in Concrete Bridges, Piers--Aging structures can be inspected immediately, onsite

摘要

Engineers at MIT have developed a new technique for detecting damage in concrete bridges and piers that could increase the safety of aging infrastructure by allowing easier, more frequent, onsite inspections that don't interfere with traffic or service. The technique involves use of a hand-held radar device that can "see" through the fiberglass-polymer wrapping often used to strengthen aging concrete columns to detect damage behind the wrapping not visible to the naked eye. Such damage can occur on the concrete itself, or to areas where layers of the wrapping have come loose from one another or even debonded from the concrete.