IRISNDT personnel use GPR to scan both concrete and soil to locate utilities – metallic and nonmetallic pipe carrying water, gas, sewage, fiber optics, and others. The ground and concrete in plant sites can be quite intricate with piping, conduits, rebar, and cables beneath the surface. If embedded or buried obstructions are hit during concrete cutting or soil excavation, the results can be disastrous from worker hazards, project delays, cost overruns to disrupting services for entire plants or communities. Locating these parts helps to prevent damage and increase site safety.
Why use GPR? Traditional locating technologies such as Electromagnetic (EM) Technology can map utilities rapidly, but they generally rely on the utilities holding a current. Since GPR works due to contrasts, it potentially may map buried services of any material. GPR can be done to verify the locations and depths of targets identified with other techniques or to screen an area quickly to see if any other targets are buried that were not identified with traditional location techniques.
