Electrical cables are the most common hazards embedded in concrete. Post-tension cables are also common concerns. Drilling, coring or saw cutting concrete structures without knowing where they are could be costly and dangerous.  To minimize the risks of damaging them, we provide concrete scanning services to locate them before you cut into the concrete.

One of the tools we use is ground penetrating radar (GPR). It is a geophysical tool that sends electromagnetic waves into the structure and analyzes the reflected energy. GPR has largely replaced X-Ray in concrete structure imaging as a nondestructive testing method. Unlike X-Ray, GPR does not pose a hazard to people or objects around it. As a result, GPR scanning can be done in normal business hours without significant disruption of regular business activities. Also, GPR scanning is fast and it doesn’t need off-site processing so post-GPR-scanning activities such as saw-cutting and core drilling can be done in a timely manner. In addition, GPR is ideal for scanning slab on grade because it only needs access to one side of the concrete slab.

GPR is a great concrete scanning tool, but it does has limitations. Even with the most advanced concrete GPR systems, you can not detect all targets due to varieties of reasons: limited penetration depths, limited resolutions, reinforcement interferences, similarities of physical properties between the concrete and target objects, etc. Our expertise in both geophysics and utility locating not only enable us to take the full advantages of GPR, but also give us the unique background for utilizing other tools to best compensate its limitations in concrete scanning. Besides the Cable Avoidance Tool (C.A.T.), we vigorously use radio frequency pipe/cable locators in a regular basis. A pipe/cable locator is a standard tool in underground utility locating, but unfortunately it's greatly underused in the concrete scanning industry which has much room to improve.

We can locate not only utilities embedded in concrete, but also utilities buried under the concrete slab on grade. All of our field operators have extensive experiences in both concrete scanning and underground utility locating. We found it’s often very helpful for our clients’ scanning needs. In addition, we can delineate reinforcement pattern and locate voids below the concrete for structure evaluation. Whether to validate reinforcement, locate utilities, or detect voids, give us a call!