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NIST Awards CAIT $17.9 Million Project
Research to Advance NDE Bridge Deck Evaluation and New Repair Technologies
CAIT’s Infrastructure Condition Monitoring Program (ICMP) was awarded a U.S. Commerce Department grant that will support a $17.9 million project aimed at improving bridge maintenance and safety. Funding came from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under its Technology Innovation Program (TIP). TIP is a merit-based, competitive program that provides cost-shared funding for innovative, high-risk research in technologies that address critical national needs. This year’s NIST-TIP competition sought projects addressing two broad areas of national interest: 1) practical application of advanced materials; and 2) monitoring or rehabilitation of major public infrastructure systems, including water systems, dams and levees, and bridges, roads, and highways.
The ICMP team at CAIT identified a great need for advances in condition evaluation and early-intervention repairs for bridge decks. Between 50 and 85 percent of bridge maintenance costs go toward repair or replacement of decks. The need for new assessment and repair methods was confirmed by interviews with bridge engineers across the country done in connection with CAIT’s work on the FHWA Long-Term Bridge Performance Program.
“By-and-large, crews today inspect bridge decks visually and manually, looking for visible cracks or by dragging chains across the deck while listening for sounds that indicate hidden flaws,” said ICMP Director Nenad Gucunski. “While moderately effective when done by experienced crews, these techniques are slow and they rely on human interpretation and judgment.”
The NIST-TIP project is formally known as the Automated Nondestructive Evaluation and Rehabilitation System (ANDERS) for Bridge Decks. A quantitative condition assessment component of ANDERS will use nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies to identify and characterize localized deterioration. Expectation is that this data will also help shed light on how deterioration affects the bridge’s overall performance. A second component of the ANDERS project will develop materials and robotic equipment for deployment of early deterioration stage repairs.
If successful, the ANDERS project will provide unique tools that enable the sustainable management of our nation's aging bridges. The program kick off is planned for February 2010. (Dec 2009)