Laboratory evaluation of concrete decks and pavements using ground penetrating radar

This study presents the findings on the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to nondestructively assess the condition of bridge decks and pavements with and without asphalt overlay including the thickness effects. Several concrete bridge deck and pavement specimens with varying internal conditions such as with/without reinforcement and with/without delaminations were tested under laboratory conditions. In order to assess the effect of asphalt overlay on the detectability of subsurface delaminations, asphalt layers with thicknesses ranging from 1 '' to 3 '' were poured on the specimens and tested using GPR. The study also included specimens with debonding at the asphalt/concrete interface. Individual radar waveforms and color intensity plots from these specimens were compared to study the effect of anomalies (e.g. delaminations) on the radar waveforms.