Traditional methods of condition assessment on the bridge decks have been achieved by visual inspection and drilled cores. Conventional techniques are, however, slow, labor-intensive, intrusive to traffic, and unreliable. As a result of these limitati...
Traditional methods of condition assessment on the bridge decks have been achieved by visual inspection and drilled cores. Conventional techniques are, however, slow, labor-intensive, intrusive to traffic, and unreliable. As a result of these limitation, the new technique which can provide rapid and accurate condition assessment for bridge decks has been needed. In this study, the usefulness of Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR) by means of assessing deck data-pavement thickness, top concrete cover, deck thickness, and dielectric constants of concrete decks, etc.-was tested on the highway bridge. The obtained GPR data were compared with values measured from drilled cores and damage mapping by the visual survey. It is shown that GPR can provide highly accurate measurements of layer properties of concrete decks and can map areas of deterioration in bridge decks by dielectric constants. The deck condition can be grouped into categories of "good" or "distressed". The ground penetrating radar data shows promise for producing rapid and accurate condition assessment for bridge decks. And these data can be used to evaluate highway bridge condition and make cost-effective bridge deck rehabilitation by accurately estimating the quantity of deteriorated concrete.