Non-destructive Testing (NDT) plays a critical role in the understanding of existing structures. Investigative techniques available offer practical, efficient, and cost-effective solutions to obtaining information on quality, construction, and performance that may be otherwise hidden to the naked eye. The use of NDT tools vastly reduces the need for exposing embedded structure through probing, and assists in making more informed decisions when samples or probes must be performed. …
Author Archives : Charles ‘Chas’ Bransby-Zachary, MRICS
Charles Bransby-Zachary is a Partner at Echem Consultants LLC. Mr. Bransby-Zachary is a member of the International Association for Preservation Technology [APT], a Board Member of the Association for Preservation Technology North East Chapter (APTNE) and a Professional Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors [RICS]. He may be reached at cbz@e2chem.com.
As the stock of American bridges averages an age of forty three (43) years (Figure 1), it is clearly of great value to understand their remaining service life. When you consider the theoretical design of these bridges was for fifty (50) years, it is inevitable that a high proportion of them will now be deficient. In fact, the number of deficient bridges today is 1 in 9. Within the next ten years this will become 1 in 4. …