RES2019-17: Concrete Bridge Deck Deterioration Assessment Using Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-destructive technique that has been used to inspect and assess concrete bridge deck deterioration. The objective of this project is to investigate the use of GPR in concrete bridge deck inspection and develop semi-automated tools to process GPR data for detecting, mapping, and visualizing potential deterioration areas of bridge decks. In this study, appropriate GPR system configuration and scanning parameters were discussed and identified to achieve efficient collection of GPR data suitable for bridge deck inspection. The GPR scans containing signatures resulted from different defects were investigated to examine the potential of GPR in bridge deck inspection. A workflow and semi-automated data processing methods were developed in this study to generate bridge deck deterioration maps from collected GPR scans. First, the random forest model was trained to detect regions in a GPR scan containing hyperbolic signatures reflected from rebars in a bridge deck. Then, a robust hyperbola fitting method was used to fit each hyperbolic signature in the rebar region to locate the rebar. Thereafter, the estimated rebar locations and corresponding depth-corrected amplitudes were extracted to detect potential deterioration areas. Color-coded maps were automatically generated to visually represent potential deterioration areas of concrete bridge decks, which could assist subsequent inspection and maintenance. The developed GPR-based bridge deck inspection workflow and methods were tested in three case studies of bridge deck survey. The workflow and tools could help expedite GPR data collection and processing for bridge deck assessment.

• Record URL:
  https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/long-range-planning/research/final-reports/2019-final-reports-and-summaries/RES2019-17_Final_Report_Approved.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $149,681.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RES2019-17

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349
• Project Managers:

  Egli, Brian

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  Knoxville, TN  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Li, Shuai

• Start Date: 20181201
• Expected Completion Date: 20210531
• Actual Completion Date: 20210531
• USDOT Program: Transportation, Planning, Research, and Development

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Concrete bridges; Deterioration; Ground penetrating radar
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Maintenance and Preservation; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01709916
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Tennessee Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RES2019-17
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Jul 2 2019 10:28AM