Physical Acoustics Corp receives FHWA bridge contract
10/01/2008
Physical Acoustics Corporation (PAC), a member of MISTRAS Group Inc, has been awarded a contract under the Steel Bridge Testing Programme by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).The steel bridge testing programme aims to improve the quality and safety of steel bridges across the United States by using non-destructive evaluation technology to detect damages.
PAC's 16-Channel AE Sensor Highway II Acoustic Emission™ (AE) System is one of the non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technologies that was selected for the new FHWA programme. The AE Sensor Highway II System is designed to monitor cracks in steel bridges, and the effectiveness of repairs, by determining if pre-existing or known defects are active. The system also monitors the inaccessible areas where visual inspection is difficult and determines if highly-stressed areas show flaw-like activity. The Sensor Highway utilises acoustic emission sensors, as well as sensor fusion including vibration, strain gauges and crack gauges, to achieve this result.With the number of tools and technologies to detect cracks in bridges currently on the rise, the FHWA hopes their programme will be a significant improvement in this area. FHWA's main objective is to provide more information to the bridge owner and a higher level of technology in order to assure asset integrity and safety.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Center was established by the Federal Highway Administration in 1998. The objective of the FHWA NDE Center is to improve the state-of-the-art practices for highway bridge inspection.
www.mistrasgroup.com
