Preventive Inspections                                                               

 INTRODUCTION

There are two basic motivations for the early diagnosis of possible problems in reinforced concrete structures. There is the financial motivation given by the need to protect the large investments made during the construction.  But there is also a social motivation and responsibility to protect the life and well being of the occupants of buildings and the users of facilities such as bridges and highways, especially in cases where there are indications of possible structural problems.

We show below, examples of disasters that could have been avoided through the use of appropriate inspection techniques.  The non destructive inspections, and in particular, the gamma ray tomography provide technical, practical and economical advantages described on the pages on Services and Technology.

August 1^st, 2007

Bridge over Mississippi River, Minneapolis

May 23, 2004  "The collapse of a new terminal at De Gaulle airport, that caused several deaths and turned an investment of many millions of dollars into rubble, dramatically illustrates the "compelling" need for RCT".

February  2004 - Turkey - 11 story bldg - 12 people killed - 150 victims

November 2000 - Beirut, Lebanon - Apartment Bldg - 4 killed, 26 injured

July 28, 2000. A bridge over El Sueño stream falls in the Tucumán Province, Argentina.

May 21, 2000 - 91 wounded when this bridge (constructed 1995) collapsed in the U.S.A. 

CAUSE:  HIDDEN CORROSION

January of 1992 - ATICA building in Pinamar,  Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.  A balcony falls killing four persons.  One can see that there were no enough rebars joining the balcony to the building.

October 2005 - Bari, south Italy - 22 wounded when this bridge  collapsed.

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