Bridges are one of the most common yet most important parts of the infrastructure that are used widely to travel to other states, countries, cities, delivering and receiving the raw materials. Bridged helps connect the cities and states and they have a long history in this regard. With this importance in infrastructures, Bridge inspection is one of the most important parts when it comes to maintaining the bridge in its good condition.
Over time, bridges may get cracks and in the case of steel structures, there can be rust growing inside the structure that can only be analyzed by experienced Bridge inspection companies. There are several ways that Bridge inspection companies perform an inspection. Here is what you need to know about.
Visual Inspection
One of the first things related to bridge maintenance is visual inspection. This is the oldest method to see how well the bridges are doing. In this process, the engineers will take a look to find problems such as potholes. They are easy to see through naked eyes. Such problems to the bridges can be detected easily with visual inspection but the downside is that this method is not so useful when it comes to detecting corrosion or any internal cracks and problems. This procedure is not good enough for a thorough assessment of the bridge which is why bridge maintenance companies don’t rely on this method.
Thermal Imaging /Infrared Inspection
The use of infrared may be obsolete in phones but they play an important role in several other fields. When it comes to the non-destructive practice, then the infrared inspection will be used to observe any changes in radiation level in infrared from the concrete surface and that may be an indication of any changes in the structure.
The good thing about this procedure is that this is a quick way to assess any changes and it can even be done in the moving vehicle. However, the major drawback of this method is that it cannot be performed on bridges or roads with blacktop overlays and the data should only be obtained when a large thermal gradient will be available between the bridges and ambient.
Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR)
Another famous non-destructive test used by bridge inspection companies is the GPR method. The electromagnetic radiation is used in this method to create an image of the subsurface of the concrete to find out any changes in the structure such as cracks and voids.
The major advantage of this method is that it provides objective and reliable quantitative data regarding the current health situation of the concrete situation of the structure rather than just the visual data obtain through visual observation. The drawback of this procedure is that its energy consumption is higher and it requires special expertise that only high-end bridge inspection services possess.
Sonic Testing Method
This is another nondestructive bridge inspection method that is performed for bridge deck inspection. In this technique, a chain or hammer s dragged on a bridge to find out any changes in the sound pitch. The test is used to detect any delamination, any separation of coating, or the cracks of a structure that may cause layers in the solid structure. The major advantage of this method is that there is a little learning curve involved in it and the tool for this method is cheaper.
The major drawback of using this method is that make the Bridge inspection companies cause them to not use is that it will not provide accurate results because of the hearing capacities of each individual, and it also required specially trained ears for accurate analysis. Asphalt layers on the bridge or roads and bridges cannot take advantage of this method.
Chipping and Coring
This is a destructive method where a drill is used to create a hole in the structure to analyze the situation of corrosion and assess the chemical and mechanical properties in the concrete through the steel reinforcement. The major advantage of this method is that there can be significant information obtained about the current condition of the structure without a hitch. However, sometimes the structure may not support the destructive technique and they can overall be more damaging to the structure’s reliability. The holes should be repaired once the data is collected from the structure.
Half-Cell Latent Test
This is another non-destructive testing method for bridge maintenance that is used to analyze the voltage between the steel supports that exist in the concrete and placing an electrode that is placed on the surface of the concrete to find out any corrosion activity in the structure. This method is highly efficient to find out the corrosion in the structure.
This method is very effective to find out the earlier sign of corrosion that will help take care of the early repair. Specific devices are used with the silver chloride electrode or silver electrode making this NDT method even more stable and accurate than the half cell devices that use copper/copper sulfate electrodes. However, the major drawback of this method is that it can cost quite a lot depending on the devices you are going to use.
Bottom Line
Though there are some other techniques as well that can be used to inspect the bridges or bridge deck inspection these are the major ways to inspect bridges for any damages or sign of destruction in them at right time. Also, the nondestructive methods are considered to be the best when it comes to Bridge Inspection as they don’t cause any harm to structural integrity.
Companies such as Infrastructurepc have a reputation for using the NDT or nondestructive techniques when it comes to providing Bridge inspection services or any other infrastructure inspection such as guy wire inspection or cable stay bridge inspection. By using the services from professionals it is possible to find out any earlier signs of tear and wear that can lead to some serious consequences and not only financially but civilian causality as well.
