The Straightforward Finding Of The Concrete Slab Thickness Applying The Ground Penetrating Radar

By Victoria Strong


Ground penetrating radar is a beneficial tool for determining concrete slab thickness easily and accurately. Determining slab thickness is vital in seeing how concrete pavements will perform over their service life. Remember that even a decrease in the thickness of the slab simply by as little as one inch may halve its service life. Calculating the thickness of concrete slabs is also essential in figuring out if contractors have complied with the job specifications whenever developing concrete pavements.

GPR can be technology that is currently being used in many states as part of their pavement evaluation systems, which includes North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Michigan along with Louisiana, plus numerous European nations such as the UK, Finland and Denmark, with much success. The radar transmits short pulses of radio waves directly into the concrete and then uses the arrival time and strength of the returning echoes to compute thickness as well as properties including moisture content. Nevertheless, GPR might not be in a position to make accurate measurements in the event that there's not enough contrast between the concrete and also the underlying base.

What happen to be the benefits of using GPR in measuring concrete slab thickness?

1. Thickness data coming from the GPR may be instantly imported into pavement management systems so that they can determine the rest of the life of the concrete pavement and also figure out the right maintenance along with repair actions. Radar readings can end up being converted into visual representation for straightforward interpretation or as ASCI file output.

2. Measurements may be done by GPR equipped cars with nominal disruption to typical traffic since there is no more any need to shut down lanes while measurements are generally being taken. Vehicles may cover approximately 200 miles per day of pavement at typical highway speeds. And automatic data collecting considerably reduces the time required to complete the survey.

3. The cost of GPR is more affordable in comparison with traditional methods of identifying slab thickness for example taking core samples. Concerned agencies have the option of purchasing their own equipment and also training personnel to man it or even contracting services from service providers, with respect to the spending budget available to them for these functions.

4. Highway personnel tend to be completely safe whenever taking measurements because they are no more exposed to hazardous situations such as high-speed traffic, inclement weather or air pollution.

5. GPR has a high range of precision in its measurements of concrete slab thickness. Depending on the type of layer being calculated, you can enjoy precision within range of 3 % to 5 % (for completely new asphalt). However even measuring thick granular base can provide results precise to within range of 8 % to 15 %.



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