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Extensive concrete and corrosion evaluations are ordinary on significant infrastructure like bridges, piers, wharves, natural draft and mechanical draft cooling towers, and parking structures.

However, there are many instances when owners and engineers have simple questions that can be answered by employing testing on a limited scale and budget.  For example, coastal buildings like condominiums have balconies that can experience deterioration due to saltwater exposure. Some coastal buildings may even have cathodic protection systems that need regular maintenance or troubleshooting.

New concrete construction projects such as bridges and building construction can have defects that need concrete troubleshooting, such as misplaced reinforcing or low-strength concrete, which can be detected with non-destructive testing.

Owners can significantly benefit from the evaluation services provided by VCS. VCS uses non-destructive testing (NDT), concrete sampling, and laboratory testing to determine the cause and magnitude of concrete and corrosion problems.

The following is a partial list of testing services available. For more information, contact us!

Concrete Strength

• Removal of cores for compressive strength testing
• Ultrasonic pulse velocity for non-destructive strength determination
• Tensile strength of concrete estimated by pull-off testing per ICRI Technical Guideline No. 210.3 and ASTM standards

Post-Tensioning Evaluation

• Visual inspection
• Impact echo testing to identify voids and grout defects
• Video borescope testing
• Post-tech moisture testing of unbonded tendons in building and parking structures

Concrete Thickness

• Impact echo testing
• This information in conjunction with pulse velocity estimation of compressive strength and reinforcing steel location using GPR can be used to determine load ratings on structures without drawings

Concrete deterioration

• Visual inspection
• Hammer sounding, chain dragging and rotary percussion using Delam Tool are used to identify concrete delaminations per ASTM D4580
• Impact echo/pulse velocity testing to locate concrete delaminations, cracking and other deteriorated concrete for repair per ASTM C1740 and ASTM C1383

Locate concrete rebar or post-tension tendons prior to drilling or coring

• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

Bond of Coatings, Concrete Repairs, and Concrete Overlays

• Tensile pull-off testing per ICRI Technical Guideline No. 210.3 and ASTM C1583

Chloride Penetration

• Core or concrete powder sampling and laboratory testing to determine chloride profile in concrete per ASTM C1152 or ASTM C1218
• Can be used for Service Life Modeling as per ACI Life 365 and other methods

Locating reinforcing steel and post-tensioning in concrete structures

• Pachometers with pulse induction and microprocessor technology, Profoscope concrete cover meter and rebar locators, and ground penetrating radar can be used to locate reinforcing steel and locate post-tension tendons prior to concrete coring and to determine how close reinforcing steel is to the surface of concrete

Steel Deterioration

• Ultrasonic thickness measurements of steel plates
• Anchor bolt testing for wear and corrosion

Concrete Rebar Corrosion

• Half-cell corrosion potential testing of concrete per ASTM C876
• Corrosion rate testing using GalvaPulse galvanostatic pulse measurements
• Carbonation depth on concrete core samples

Pile Lengths

• Determine the length of in situ timber piles, sheet piles, and concrete piles using sonic or magnetic methods

Location of Voids/Void Detection

• Using impact echo or MIRA ultrasonic tomography to identify honeycombed or poorly consolidated concrete
• GPR to detect voids under concrete slabs and behind walls and tunnel liners
• Impact echo to identify voids in grouted post-tensioned tendons

Confirmation of Crack Depths

• Ultrasonic testing before and after epoxy injection crack repairs for quality assurance