Saturday 22 December 2012

Why Concrete Scanning Is A Must Before You Cut, Drill Or Core Concrete

By Erik Schrecengost


Concrete scanning is a required technology for builders excavating a building construction site, as it assists them find and avoid potential trouble spots that can cause work slowdowns and even shutdowns.

Also called GPR, this kind of technology makes use of radar which produces quick bursts of radio wave pulses to know if there is anything inside the concrete being x-rayed. The existence of a blockage is indicated when an echo is detected and the depth that it is located can be determined by how lengthy the echo takes to return along with the strength on the signal.



Concrete scanning is often used by the subsequent applications:

1. Detecting leaks in water lines. It's not easy to look for leaking in piping that run below concrete slabs without needing to dig up the slab. By using GPR, it is possible to tell if there exists a leak and specifically where it is so plumbers can begin excavating in that location. Undetected and then leakages that are not repaired may result in inflated water bills and major damage to property.

2. Finding utility, power and electricity lines. One of the primary dangers in construction places is that you'll accidentally drill down straight into underground utility lines, which causes problems that can cause 1,000s of dollars to mend. Ground Penetrating Radar allows you to identify areas in which there exist utility lines so that they can be avoided.

3. Identifying soil structure. Ground Penetrating Radar could study the make up of the ground the place where structure is to be constructed, to guarantee structural integrity and get away from future troubles, such as the foundations abruptly sinking because the soil is too soft to take the weight.

On the other hand, GPR technology has its boundaries, the most important of which is that it doesn't work as well in certain types of soil, such as wet clay that which has been intensely contaminated by salt.

Before the location undergoing concrete scanning, there are certain things you need to do to prepare it to ensure you get the best possible outcome.

1. Take away all rubble from the section being scanned, because this can interfere with the radar and alter the result.

2. Identify substitute places to be scanned in the event the initial section happens to be not fit for the intended purpose.

3. Make certain the ground is dried out before having that scanned, as liquid reflects radar signals thereby, the radar will give unreliable results.

4. If you use GPR to be able to discover underground conduits, switch on each of the circuits as high voltage conduits are easier to find when compared with lower voltage types.




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