Scanning is a critical step to any project that requires concrete coring. Without it, you can easily damage components hidden underneath the concrete. Electrical conduits, rebar, and tension cables are only a few of the items that could fall victim to improper concrete coring methods. Mistakes can be costly, so starting your project with scanning is the best strategy to avoid damage.
If you want to learn more about concrete scanning and coring, read on.
Tendon Systems is here to provide the professional scanning and coring services you need. Give us a call at 678-835-1100 to get started today.
Concrete scanning is a vital step in ensuring the safety of personnel and the success of your project.
Many components are hidden under pre-existing concrete construction. Some of these include:
Without a proper scan, concrete coring could lead to cutting or damaging these items. Damage can undermine the strength and performance of the concrete and require costly and time-consuming repairs. Additionally, mistakes could jeopardize the health and safety of workers if cables under tension are damaged during cutting or coring.
Reinforcing steel, also known as rebar, is often essential to the structural integrity of the concrete. It improves tensile strength and helps prevent cracking and breaking.
If concrete coring damages the rebar structure, it could compromise the structural integrity of the slab or concrete member. This can be especially troublesome when dealing with concrete that is already distressed.
Scanning provides vital information for operators to use when moving forward with concrete coring. Finding the as-built layout of the steel structure means locating the correct spot to core without cutting any rebar.
Subsurface voids compromise the integrity of the concrete and can cause structural damage.
Concrete scanning is a fast and efficient way to detect subsurface voids in structures. From there, a plan can be formulated to repair the detected voids.
Post-tensioning (PT) is a method of strengthening concrete systems. Steel cables run through concrete under immense pressure and add structural strength to thin and long slabs. To give you an idea of how much pressure we are dealing with, a typical steel strand used for PT will have a tensile strength of around 270,000 pounds per square inch.
Locating these PT cables is an important step when working with concrete. Proper scanning is the only reliable way to find and map these cables without disrupting the structure.
Because PT cables are under immense pressure, improper drilling or coring can damage them with a small cut. Concrete scanning can help you avoid that problem.
Running electrical conduits within and/or underneath the concrete slab is a fairly common practice, and can also be found in columns & beam elements. Electricians will place electrical components within the slab, where they have protection.
Damage one of these conduits, and you could be looking at some exceptionally costly repairs.
Concrete scanning can provide a roadmap for concrete work that avoids conduits and other components.
Concrete scanning is a non-destructive way to assess concrete structures. It can help evaluate the integrity of the concrete and locate embedded utilities before concrete coring, cutting or drilling.
You should scan before work on any concrete surface. This includes:
To map out structures, concrete scanning relies on radar technology. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is the most common method used to perform a full concrete scan. GPR uses radar pulses to image the concrete.
It is a non-destructive method of surveying. This makes it the perfect technique for examining concrete structures and avoiding possible damage to embedded components.
Concrete experts will read scanned images from the GPR to understand different aspects of the concrete system.
This understanding will help develop a complete image of what the project entails and where workers need to cut, core or dig.
A GPR scan image may inform the scanning technician of:
Concrete coring is a method of drilling into a concrete structure. The core drilling apparatus utilize diamond-cutting segmented blades to cut perfectly round holes in the concrete.
When done correctly, the process is non-percussive, dust-free and low-noise. This makes concrete drilling by far the most popular method for cutting concrete.
GPR scanning is usually the first step in concrete coring. Without this process, workers can drill or core into rebar, PT cables or other embedded components.
Trained professionals should always perform concrete coring and scanning. At Tendon Systems, our experienced team of licensed engineers are standing by to provide both concrete scanning and coring services.
If you want to learn more, reach out online to speak with a knowledgeable representative.