NV5 Geospatial, North America’s most comprehensive geospatial data firm announced ahead of the 103rd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting that NV5 Geospatial’s thermal infrared (TIR) Solutions for transportation infrastructure challenges are being implemented in transportation projects analyzing concrete bridges in the Midwest. This remote sensing technology offering enables local, regional and governmental transportation agencies to identify structural problems well before they reach the surface of concrete bridge decks.
This groundbreaking work comes at a time when 42% of U.S. bridges are over 50 years old and more than 46,000 of them are considered “structurally deficient” according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) “2021 Report Card on Infrastructure.” The ASCE report also found that “178 million trips are taken across these structurally deficient bridges every day,” potentially endangering countless lives. The U.S. was ranked by the World Economic Forum 13th globally when it comes to the overall quality of infrastructure.
Concrete bridge decks are critical components of the structure that require periodic inspections for continuous maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement work. TIR is integral to non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques for analyzing concrete bridge decks and identifying potential delamination made quicker and more efficiently by aerial collection.
“For decades NV5 Geospatial has been trusted to provide on-target geospatial solutions for roadways, airports and all modes of rail infrastructure. Our clients trust us because we’ve proven time and time again that we can find a better way to ensure the right solutions for their specific needs,” said Bob Vandermeer, vice president, State & Regional Lead, NV5. “We believe that our new bridge inspection approach enabled by our TIR Solutions is defining a new path for cost effective, highly accurate analysis that is sure to reap considerable benefits for departments of transportation and more importantly, support safer roads across America.”
NV5 Geospatial recently conducted two separate pilot projects with two Midwestern states’ Departments of Transportation utilizing aerial data collection to identify thermal anomalies of potential delamination for 200 bridge concrete surfaces. Both projects were completed by flying a fixed-wing aircraft at a low elevation with the thermal sensor mounted to its floor and without having to use ground based support.
