Nondestructive Testing Methods for Underwater Tunnel Linings: Practical Application at Chesapeake Channel Tunnel
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 23, Issue 3
Abstract
A field evaluation of an underwater tunnel was conducted using a variety of nondestructive testing (NDT) methods, including visual inspection, air- and ground-coupled ground-penetrating radar (GPR), ultrasonic tomography (UST), and impact echo (IE). An air-coupled GPR antenna was used along with visual inspection to identify areas of interest in the Chesapeake Channel Tunnel near Norfolk, Virginia. After potential regions were identified, a robotic scanner with pneumatically driven suction feet was used to automatically scan the area using ground-coupled GPR, UST, and IE. Regions were also evaluated using manually applied UST. These methods combined with powerful software presented the element under inspection as a 3D volume for thorough inspection. This study shows that this particular combination of NDT techniques can efficiently and effectively identify and locate reinforcement, backwall depth, and potentially delaminated areas. By analyzing the phase shift of ultrasonic waves, it is also shown that UST techniques can be used to potentially determine the condition of the backwall and reinforcement bonding.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The results presented herein represent a detailed research investigation sponsored by the 2nd Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Project R06(G) entitled “Mapping Voids, Debonding, Delaminations, Moisture, and Other Defects Behind or Within Tunnel Linings.” Along with the final report (Wimsatt et al. 2013), the authors recommend the website www.ndttoolbox.org, which provides a summary of practical advice concerning the limitations, advantages, testing procedures, and overviews of technologies accumulated by this research project as well as other SHRP2 projects.
References
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). (2005). “Highway, rail and transit tunnel maintenance and rehabilitation manual.”, Washington, DC.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). (2009). “Technical manual for design and construction of road tunnels—Civil elements.”, Washington, DC.
Krause, M., Gräfe, B., Mielentz, F., Milmann, B., Friese, M., and Wiggenhauser, H. (2009). “Ultrasonic imaging of post-tensioned concrete elements: New techniques for reliable localization of grouting defects.” Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Concrete Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting, Concrete Repair, Rehabilitation, and Retrofitting II, Cape Town, South Africa, 215–216.
Schickert, M., Krause, M., and Müller, W. (2003). “Ultrasonic imaging of concrete elements using reconstruction by synthetic aperture focusing technique.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 235–246.
Shokouhi, P. (2005). “Comprehensive evaluation of concrete bridge decks using impact echo.” Ph.D. thesis, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ.
Shokouhi, P., Wöstmann, J., Schneider, G., Milmann, B., Taffe, A., and Wiggenhauser, H. (2011). “Nondestructive detection of delamination in concrete slabs: Multiple-method investigation.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2251, 103–113.
White, J. (2012). “Ultrasonic tomography for detecting and locating defects in concrete structures.” M.S. thesis, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX.
Wimsatt, A., et al. (2013). “Mapping voids, debonding, delaminations, moisture, and other defects behind or within tunnel linings.”, Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2), Washington, DC.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 2, 2015
Accepted: Sep 14, 2016
Published online: Oct 31, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 31, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.