Comprehensive Condition Assessment of Concrete Bridge Decks by Multiple NDE Technologies

From all bridge components, concrete bridge decks in most cases deteriorate the fastest. Theretransportation agency budgets for bridges. The current practice of bridge deck inspection typically provides information when the deterioration is already in its latest stage. Main reductions in the expenditures can be achieved through their monitoring and assessment using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies, and timely maintenance and repair. Since the currently used NDE technologies enable detection and characterizanologies: electrical resistivity (ER), half-cell potential (HCP), impact echo (IE), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and ultrasonic surface waves (USW) method. The technologies are used to assess condition of concrete decks with respect to rebar corrosion, delamination and concrete degradation. The results presented include maps describing the corrosive environment and corrosion activity, deck delamination, and quantitative and qualitatechnologies to characterize deterioration clearly points to the need for their complementary use to address the complex nature of deterioration in concrete bridge decks.