Ground penetrating radar applications and implementations in civil construction

ABSTRACT The ability to evaluate civil structures without altering or damaging the materials is becoming increasingly important and useful for the maintenance of infrastructure. The technique to analyze and test materials for weaknesses without causing destruction is referred to as non-destructive evaluation or testing. Specifically, a common method of this type of inspection is called ground penetrating radar (GPR), which is desired in many construction applications. With use of electromagnetic energy, GPR has the capability to locate buried objects in materials because of the differences in electrical and magnetic properties that are encountered. Valuable data can be obtained on these subsurface objects, allowing for an understanding on the properties and making proper judgment on the structure possible. This study explores the approaches in which GPR has been implemented for the assessment of the following structures: pavement, reinforced concrete, railway ballast, soil and buried pipes. Through different data acquisition and processing techniques, results show that there is great success when using GPR for collecting information for verifying the state and condition of these materials.