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The National Academies

NCHRP IDEA 20-30/IDEA 243 [Active (IDEA)]

Establishing NDE Protocols for Use in Early Age Bridge Deck Preservation Strategies
[ NCHRP 20-30 (NCHRP-IDEA) ]

  Project Data
Funds: $135,000
Authorization to Begin Work: 6/2/2022 -- estimated
Staff Responsibility: Inam Jawed
Research Agency: InfraTek Solutions, Inc., Princeton Junction, New Jersey
Principal Investigator: Amir Rezvani
Effective Date: 1/1/2023
Fiscal Year: 2021

The project will develop an early-age vulnerability detection and quantification system as an end-to-end data-driven solution that begins with data collection and ends with providing recommendation and effective timing for preservation activities for a bridge deck or other relevant concrete structures. The work will be carried out in two stages. Stage 1 will focus on protocol development as well as laboratory and field data collection. Protocols will be developed that correlate crack mapping with the expected permeability of a bridge deck. NDE tools will be utilized to rapidly predict the permeability of the deck. The intent is to determine a relationship between the amount of cracking as measured by crack length and width (as M/M²) with the expected permeability of the deck. Working with state DOT partners (Vermont, Delaware, and Iowa), several bridges will be identified. A high-speed NDE bridge inspection vehicle for data acquisition. With minimal software and no hardware modifications, this advanced vehicle can collect all NDE data sets with accuracy, repeatability and resolution needed for this project. Algorithms will be developed for data processing and vulnerability detection protocol and plots. Work in Stage 2 will focus on preparing and translating the results of Stage 1 into reusable, repeatable protocols. Existing condition state of bridge/bridge deck elements based on inspection reports will be compared with data from field tests to determine any possible correlation. Sample coring of the bridges under investigation may also be done to validate the findings. The most effective timing will be identified for the application of methods to seal bridge decks with various sealers, crack fillers and overlay systems in collaboration with partner state DOTs. The results will then be embedded in the algorithms developed in Stage 1 to demonstrate the work in an end-to-end solution that starts from data collection and ends with providing recommendation and effective timing for preservation activities for bridge decks. The final report will include all relevant data, methods, and conclusions along with guidance for state DOTs on how to use the developed early-age vulnerability detection and quantification system for decision making for bridge deck preservation activities.

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