Non-destructive Testing for Inspection of Bridges and Buildings

Unchecked damages and the potential for the failure of civil structures threaten public safety and can result in a significant economic impact. As such, buildings, bridges, and other structures should be inspected at short intervals to prevent the potential spread of damages and catastrophic failures. To address this, in addition to conventional visual inspection, a variety of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods for damage detection have been developed and practiced over the recent decades. Most often however, the inspectors have difficulty selecting the most applicable, practical, and cost-effective technique for their purpose. This book brings in one place the available NDT methods, provides a brief technical overview for each, and discusses the applicability of the methods to specific types of structures. Additionally, the book describes the expected damages/defects and the sources in structures that use steel, concrete, fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP), and timber providing guidance for the selection of the most applicable NDT method.