Modern technology and robotics can save billions in infrastructure cost

The world has become a global village because countries are now interconnected, more people are travelling and business is expanding in multiple nations. All of these things are happening at an ever increasing pace and to stay competitive on the world stage today our infrastructure needs to keep up. Without a modern, safe infrastructure our ports will not be able to handle the new deep water cargo ship, goods will not be transported from factories to shipyards in a timely manner and people will be constantly late for work. Today more than ever, growth and development is not possible if the nations infrastructure lags behind.

In the 19th and 20th century, America focused mainly on expanding its transportation network by building roads, bridges and other concerned structures. But the inspection and maintenance of those structures have not kept pace. Many of those structures entered the end of their useful life years ago. Traffic loads are 10 times what they were when some of these structures were built. Because they now support more traffic, the loads place additional wear on them. In addition, due to antiquated inspection methods the corrosion and deterioration has outpaced repairs. Due to this deterioration we need to find alternatives to just replacing or re-building these structures.  There is just not enough money in the system to replace all of the bridges for example that are in a state of disrepair.

How modern technology and robotics can revive the infrastructures?

Use of technology and robotics is a proactive step in the maintenance of our infrastructure. For example, if you know that you are having symptoms of any disease in its initial stage then you can effectively treat the disease and regain your health. Similarly, if we know where deterioration, water intrusion and corrosion  is occurring in a structure we can make the minor repairs to them before they become a threat to the whole structure(Movable Bridge Inspections).

Modern technology plays a major role in inspecting the deterioration and other deformities developing in the structure. It accurately assesses the condition of a structure like bridge, road, dam, tunnel in a non destructive manner. In traditional might I say the current antiquated methods, inspections are performed on selected areas which is known as lot sampling and samples are collected through methods like coring and cutting which is a destructive method. Once you core or cut we are exposing these areas to air and moisture which further causes corrosion. 

The inspection and monitoring process of infrastructure needs to change. With todays modern technology and robotics we have the capability to make our inspection processes more accurate. Modern robotics integrated into the inspection process can not only provide more quantitative data but can prevent lane closures, increase the safety of both the inspectors and the public and more accurately assess the infrastructure they are inspecting.

Modern technology combined with robotics has many advantages over traditional methods of infrastructure inspection and maintenance. Some of the benefits are:

• No more lane closures or temporary closing of the bridge

• Eliminates the need for night time inspections

• Increased safety of public and inspection crew

• Quantitative results instead of subjective results

• Real time data analysis on site

• Data history of structure condition can be stored for later detailed analysis

• Accurate condition assessment of surface, super surface and sub surface layers

• Determine density of concrete cover and location of rebar without damaging the surface 

• Find out minor cracks, voids, water intrusions inside the surface and visualize it through 2D and 3D illustrations

• Reduce labour expenses and saves time

• Collect data from dangerous heights from every angle with the help of robotic equipments

• Thoroughly check each and every component of the structure and find out more minor and major problem areas as  compared to visual inspection

• Helps in recommending and prioritizing the repairing work

Infrastructure Preservation Corporation is determined to provide utmost safety to public and staff during bridge and road inspection and provide accurate condition assessment report to the Department of transportation and bridge owners. Therefore, we use customized and patented products for inspection and monitoring of the infrastructure that we are tasked with inspecting.  We use experienced certified bridge inspectors along with robotics to offer the asset managers a far better deliverable then they have ever received before. For example, we have CableScan® which utilizes robotic technology to gather detailed information of a cable stayed bridge in short time. Similarly, we have additional advance technologies developed in house like PoleScan®, TendonScan®, CrackScan® and others which reduce not only reduce the cost of bridge inspection or inspection of any other structure significantly, but provide the quantitative data the department of transportation needs to allocate assets.

Infrastructure Preservation Corporation will provide a free estimate of our inspection services. If you want to find out more about our services go to https://www.infrastructurepc.com/ or email info@infrastructurepc.com.

Insights Of Bridge Preservation

Rise in number of vehicles with each passing year has affected the environment but it has also increased the load on nation’s bridges and roads. Extra load and other environmental factors like leaking joints or chloride penetration from salt water further damage these bridges and reduces their service life.

Much of the  infrastructure has been built in the United States at the beginning of twentieth century when cars were becoming more popular and transportation was becoming critical to an industrialized nation. But with passing decades, development of new infrastructures slowed down while the existing structures reached their mid and end of expected life. Fatal accidents like Silver Bridge collapse in 1967 in West Virginia and Mianus River Bridge collapse in 1983 in Connecticut have drawn the public and government attention towards the poor conditions of existing infrastructures like bridges, roads, tunnel, dams etc. and numerous inspection and bridge preservation programs came into action.

Bridge Preservation consists of Bridge inspection, through maintenance and timely repair which help in extending the service life of bridges. Bridge preservation is a systematic approach involving inspection and repairing of a bridge and its components with non destructive testing methods.

Bridge preservation program may include these following processes

• Deteriorated concrete repairs

• Bearing replacement

• Structural steel repairs

• Bridge superstructure Jacking

• Deck surface repairs

• Bridge joint replacements

• Pile repairs or replacements

• Concrete sealers or overlays 

Infrastructure Preservation Corporation (IPC) offers products and services using non destructive testing methods to assess structural stability of any infrastructure by finding any deterioration, cracks, voids, water intrusion etc. in bridge super-structure and sub-structure and provide condition assessment report with recommendations for the repair.

IPC’s inspections integrate modern technology and robotics with experienced bridge inspectors to supply quantitative data unlike anything seen before. Says Doug Thaler, Partner in IPC. Our quantitative results obtained from our in house patented modern technologies are easy to understand with its 2D and 3D graphical illustrations. The results provide the asset owners or department of transportation to better allocate assets, Thaler continued. Bridges are inspected on an every two year cycle with deficient bridges being inspected every year. Without integrating modern technology into the inspection process, bridges will continue to fail.  With non destructive testing methods being utilized on an entire bridge deck or post tension tendon, problems can be identified early and repairs can be prioritized to keep our infrastructure and public safe.  “Our team of expert and experience engineers and staff provides accurate condition assessment report of the whole structure and also the detailed report of the components like cable stays or post tension tendons, even high mast light poles. We also offer mechanical and electrical inspection of the movable bridges/draw bridges. Our emergency service gives you detailed report of your bridge or road in shortest time period and without interrupting the ongoing traffic on the bridge.

IPC offers greater safety to the public and the inspection crews during the bridge inspection with our non destructive testing technologies. With their advanced technologies, IPC is able to look out for any deteriorations visible to the naked eyes and also damage beneath the surface which are generally not found during visual inspection. Our automated devices saves time and labour during inspection and our inspector is able to check all the data in real time with our computerized outputs which are stored for later analysis and also to check deterioration progression from future inspections.

For further information about our services and products, leave us a message with your contact details on our website https://www.infrastructurepc.com/ and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Subscribe to our newsletter at our blog www.infrastructurepc.com/robotics to get the latest updates and visit our site to get all the information in detail(Ground PenetratingRadar).

Role Of Ground Penetrating Radar In Bridge Inspection

Bridge inspections are critical for proper maintenance of the bridge and to increase its service life. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the most effective non destructive testing methods to assess the condition of the elements of bridge without damaging their serviceability.

Ground penetrating radar is a simple computerized device and made up of three main components: control unit, antenna and power supply. This equipment can be powered by variety of power supplies like small rechargeable batteries and vehicle batteries by using connectors and adapters according to the power source type.

Infrastructure Preservation Corporation, IPC has integrated GPR with additional technology and expertise to be able to collect reliable data which shows the deterioration, delamination and deboning of the bridge deck and other components. Although, traditional methods like visual inspection can collect inspection  data, it is subject to interpretation of the operator and provides no quantifiable data.

Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar By Itself

• It is used to determine thickness of the concrete cover

• To find out if reinforcement bars are intact or affected by environmental factors

• It is used to determine the position and depth of rebar

• To evaluate bridge deck thickness measurements in short time

• It is used to find embedment inside concrete structures prior to coring or cutting

• To collect quantifiable data about rebar and complactness of gravel

In combination with IPC’s BridgeScan® A patented process to inspect bridge decks and bridge approach ways the inspection results provide quantitative analysis of a bridge deck unlike anything seen before. This service was designed to replace the current subjective inspection and chain dragging, says Doug Thaler, Executive Vice President of IPC.

Ground Penetrating Radar is a safe and reliable method to collect data of concrete structures and can be illustrated in 2D images. It is able to evaluate surface and sub-surface layers with densities which are not obtainable by traditional lab methods like coring or by visual inspection.

How it works

Ground Penetrating Radar sends small signals into the material and records the time and strength of the returned signal. A series of signals transmitted over an area scan the material thoroughly. The energy pulses or signals pass through materials different electrical conduction or dielectric permittivity. The strength of the reflected signal is determined by the difference in dielectric constants and conductivities of the materials it has passed through. All the data is recorded in the memory of the device and can be evaluated in real time or can be stored for later analysis.  


Infrastructure Preservation Corporation (IPC) provides Ground Penetrating Radar services for road and bridge inspection and monitoring. Combined with the additional technology and processes, IPC developed BridgeScan®, a complete bridge deck and bridge approach way inspection.  Moreover, we have many patented advanced non destructive testing technologies that have been integrated into standard inspections to provide detailed information of different components of the bridge like CableScan to determine deteriorations in the suspension cables, CrackScan to determine cracks in the different structures. All of these inspections have been designed to be conducted within the DOTs current maintenance budgets.

Our aim is to increase safety of bridge inspections by using modern technologies and reduce cost and labour to save time and money for the bridge owners and transportation departments (department of transportation). We provide reliable, accurate and quantitative results in the condition assessment report so that the decision makers can prioritize the repairing and rebuilding process of the bridge components.

To know more about our product and services or to get a free estimate for your bridge inspection, you can visit our website https://www.infrastructurepc.com/ (Infrastructure Inspections) or send your queries by leaving us a message with your contact details and we will reach you as soon as possible.

Role Of Bridge Inspection In Bridge Maintenance

Bridges and roads are valuable assets of any nation and therefore they must be maintained in good condition. The maintenance of bridges highly depends on effective monitoring and inspection techniques. The technology used in these processes must be able to identify the problems occurring both on the surface and inside the structures but unfortunately, methods used in conventional bridge inspection and monitoring are not very effective.

During traditional routine bridge inspections inspectors conduct manual subjective inspections that although they comply with federal and state regulations do not do enough to maintain the safety of our nations infrastructure. Both AASHTO and the FHWA need to do more to ensure that modern technology and robotics are integrated into the required inspection parameters.

The current manual methods have several limitations e.g. visual aids have limited field of view which can provide limited data. Moreover, the bridge needs to be closed during bridge inspection and the crew need to put themselves in dangerous situation during inspection.

Infrastructure Preservation corporation (IPC) has revolutionize the bridge inspection and monitoring process with its automated tools. Our patented technologies utilize non destructive methods like electromagnetic waves, ultrasonics, infrared waves, aerial imaging, laser scanning etc. to find out any kind of deterioration or corrosions occurring externally and internally in a bridge and its components.

Our advanced technologies like CableScan® and PoleScan® reduces the risk associated with suspension cable inspection and pole inspection and also improvise data collection by providing the 360 degree field of view of the cables and poles of the bridge. The difference of results can be easily imagined by looking at the methods used in traditional manual bridge inspection and our robotic technology.

For example, if we take a case of pole or cable inspections then which do you think would collect more data? A bridge inspector hoisted hundred feet above the ground and checking the poles or cables for any corrosion and damage from only one side with the help of a helmet flashlight OR a robot inspecting the structure thoroughly from all sides. It is very clear that the robot will be able to collect more and accurate data than its human counterpart. The robotic data provides quantitative data that can help the asset owners allocate the proper resources to maintain our infrastructure assets.

Similarly, our CrackScan® technology collects accurate data from the deck and under the bridge of a concrete or steel structure. It is able to find those cracks which are not visible to naked eyes and therefore not considered in the final condition assessment report. The 2D and 3D maps created with this technology depicts the length, width and position of the cracks so that these cracks can be monitored and repaired accordingly. Moreover, during inspection with CrackScan®, the bridge doesn’t require any closure of the lanes during a bridge inspection which is important in that closing lanes delays traffic and parking heavy equipment on a bridge causes accidents. Robotics need to be adopted so that  our nations bridges can be properly maintained, traffic can keep moving and products can get to market and help ensure the publics safety.

IPC’s products are non-invasive but they accurately locate the problems like voids, cracks, water intrusion, delamination and deboning in concrete and steel structures. Therefore in order to reduce the time, total cost and increase public safety and and inspection crews modern technology and robotic bridge inspections are the best way to provide accurate condition assessment reports.

For more information Infrastructure Preservation Corporation, “IPC” our products and services, visit our website https://www.infrastructurepc.com/ or contact us through our contact form available at our site and we will contact you back as soon as possible.

Benefit Of Non Destructive Testing

The importance of bridges and roads can be easily understood by the fact that any damage to these structures can directly affect the transportion industry and ultimately the economy of the nation. In worst cases where several connecting structures are damaged, traffic is delayed, goods don’t get to market in a timely manner, commuters are late to work and economies suffer. Therefore, these structures must be maintained in working condition by monitoring and repairing processes.

Bridge inspection is a time consuming, labour intensive and costly process due to the use of destructive methods. These methods have been used from a long time to check the safety of the bridge. In destructive testing (DT) such as core test, pull out and pull off test, concrete surface of the bridge is slightly damaged to collect samples and then repaired after the test is performed. Since these tests are destructive the portions that are disturbed allow air and water intrusion which further speeds up deterioration and corrosion.

Destructive testing is generally used to assess the following physical properties of the structures like bridge and roadways including

• Impact resistance

• Yield and ultimate tensile strength

• Fr acture toughness

• Fat igue strength

• Duct ility

Although, DT is able to assess the above mentioned features of the material but it is not very effective in finding discontinuities and microscopic differences in the materials of different components of the bridge or any other structure.

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) is a modern practice used to inspect, evaluate and test materials, components or assemblies for any discontinuities, damage or deteriorations without damaging the surface of the structure. Therefore, it can be used on the whole structure and lot sampling is not required.

Non Destructive Testing methods are generally referred by the penetrating medium or equipment used in the test. Some of the common Non Destructive Testing methods are:

• Electromagnetic Testing

• Acoustic Emission Testing

• Laser Testing method

• Ground Penetrating Radar

• Thermal/Infrared Testing

• Ultrasonic Testing

• Vibration analysis

• Radiographic Testing

• Microwave Testing

• Magnetic Particle Testing

• Magnetic Flux Leakage

Visual examination is common in both destructive testing and Non destructive testing. It involves the visual observation of the super surface and subsurface of the bridge to find any discontinuities, corrosion or deteriorations. Visual inspection may be perform with naked eyes or the vision may be enhanced with the help of optical instruments like magnifying glass, boroscope, mirror, charged couple devices and computerized systems for remote viewing. Computerized consoles are used during NDT for real time inspection on site.

Infrastructure Preservation Corporation is a leader in non destructive testing and monitoring. We have patented technologies utilizing different non destructive testing methods and robotics for inspection of bridges and different components of bridges and infrastructure. Most of our core focus revolves around re-developing antiquated inspections and incorporating NDT “Nondestructive testing with advanced technologies and robotics to conduct thorough inspections on infrastructure components providing real quantitative data. Some of our service offerings include PoleScan®, TendonScan® and CableScan® to name a few.

There are several benefits of our non destructive testing methods which are

• Improved safety for inspection crew and public

• No requirement of lane closures during inspection means no inconvenience to ongoing traffic

• Collects data from all angles and also from inside the bridge surface and its components

• Produce quantitative results instead of subjective result

• Major cost saving due to less labour and completion of inspection in short time

• No damage to the surface of bridge means no unnecessary repairing cost required

• Thorough and accurate condition assessment of the whole structure and its component

• Graphic illustration in 2D and 3D for better understanding of external and internal deterioration like voids and cracks and analyzing their length, width and position in the structure

• Creation of Data history for better monitoring of minor deteriorations in future.

In short utilizing the most advanced technology available and changing the inspection parameters are the only way for the current asset managers/engineering firms to provide real data on the assets they are tasked to inspect for the department of transportation. Only by providing this data can the department of transportation properly allocate their assets to maintain and improve our infrastructure says Doug Thaler, Senior EVP of Infrastructure Preservation Corporation. Up till now visual subjective inspections have been used. A method that hasn’t changed in 50 years.  “It is irresponsible for any country to continue to inspect their infrastructure in this manner. Guidelines need to be updated to incorporate modern technology and robotics to bring inspections into the 21st century, something we are all anxious to see happen in the US. For the safety of our public and the success of our nation’s economy.”

To know more IPC and their products and services, check out their website https://www.infrastructurepc.com/ or contact them at info@infrastructurepc.com.