Development of an integrated assessment tool for concrete infrastructure

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Canadian concrete infrastructure is aging and faced with many forms of deterioration including corrosion of**steel reinforcement, freeze-thaw damage, creep, shrinkage, fatigue, and alkali-silica reaction. Most**deterioration mechanisms gradually develop over an extended period of time, and regular inspection processes**are an important component of asset management and maintenance programs. Conventional practices rely**almost exclusively on routine visual inspections which typically occur approximately every two years. These**inspections are generally subjective, time-consuming, and labour-intensive. More importantly, they may be**restricted by access or may result in risk of technician exposure to radiation, chemicals, or bio-hazards in**certain facilities. Many signs of damage remain unnoticed until very late stages when the damage is extensive**and visible from the surface. Various non-destructive tools are available to assess the internal condition of**concrete elements, but their use is often limited by cost and experience, and usually are only introduced when**issues are reported during the visual inspection. There is a need for improved proactive monitoring strategies**that can provide advance notice of damage development which are low cost, easy to implement, simple to**interpret, and integrated within an automated tracking system to monitor changes over time. The proposed**project aims to develop an automated assessment tool which combines data from non-destructive**measurements (internal mapping) with external images (non-contact external mapping) to provide a holistic**evaluation of the condition of concrete infrastructure. This technology will increase the speed and precision of**inspection processes to provide a cost-effective solution for infrastructure owners.**