Detecting Defects and Deterioration in Highway Structures

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has released Synthesis 118: Detecting Defects and Deterioration in Highway Structures. The need to detect defects and deterioration in highway structures ranges from reasons of safety to the prediction of load capacity to the information base for a bridge manangement system. The emphasis here is on test procedures that can be used in the field and guidance is given in interpreting the significance of measured values. Although it is usually possible to detect deterioration in a component of a structure, it is often difficult to assess the effect of the deterioration on the load-carrying capacity of the structure. Often, full scale testing is justified to measure the overall condition of a structure. A survey of current practices revealed that concrete structures are being tested more extensively than steel or timber structures.