USE OF NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING FOR CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

Abstract

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has promoted the use of nondestructive testing techniques for over 20 years in an effort to reduce the cost and time of construction quality control. Many of the available nondestructive techniques, however, are still under-utilized by state highway agencies. This paper presents FHWA’s experience with two nondestructive test methods that show great promise for application in concrete pavement construction; maturity and impact-echo. This paper includes a brief discussion of background and theory, as well as a detailed discussion of each of the case studies in terms of both results and conclusions.