Evaluation of Unknown Foundation Depth Using Different NDT Methods

Abstract

Many of the older bridges in the United States have no original contract documents available, and about 26,000 bridges that are rated as scour critical have unknown foundation conditions. Thus, no information is available regarding the type, depth, geometry, or material of these scour critical bridge foundations. The unknown bridge foundations pose a significant problem to bridge owners because of safety concerns. This paper presents the determination of an unknown bridge foundation depth at Forth Worth, Texas. The bridge was supported by driven steel H-piles. Three nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques were utilized: (1) the parallel seismic (PS) method, (2) the sonic echo (SE) method, and (3) resistivity imaging (RI). The main objective of this present study was to compare the suitability of NDT techniques to determine the unknown bridge foundation depth. Based on the field test results, both PS and RI methods provided foundation depth close to actual foundation depth. However, the SE method was determined to be unsuitable for determining the unknown steel H-pile depth.