• April 30, 2015

    Imad Al-Qadi Speaks on Uses of Ground Penetrating Radar

    Dr. Imad Al-Qadi, an internationally renowned professor in pavement materials and engineering, visited the University of Washington on April 28 to speak at the Spring PacTrans Regional Transportation Seminar. Dr. Al-Qadi, Founder Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, delivered his talk entitled “Transportation Infrastructure Assessment Techniques Using Ground Penetrating Radar.” (Watch the recorded lecture).

    Continuous monitoring of transportation infrastructure allows for the maintenance of durable and safe systems. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology, based on electromagnetic waves, is an important non-destructive evaluation method, and yet GPR works better in some situations than in others. Bridge and pavement assessment, primarily for estimating layer thickness and localizing moisture accumulation within structure layers, has successfully used GPR.

    PacTrans, Imad Al-Qadi

    However, the “images” obtained from GPR-reflected signals are dependent on the priori unknown dielectric properties of structural materials, which can make GPR data interpretation difficult. It can also prove difficult to detect layer interfaces, but signal and data processing techniques have been developed to estimate the dielectric properties of surveyed structures from GPR reflected signals. These techniques have improved GPR data interpretation and the quality of the GPR signal.

    GPR provides quick and reliable information about subsurface characteristics when appropriately used. Pavement layer thickness can be accurately predicted, for example, as well as the location of rebar.

    Dr. Al-Qadi has been working on GPR research for more than two decades, among his other diverse research interests. He is the Director of the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) and the founding Director of the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT). A registered professional engineer, Dr. Al-Qadi has authored/co-authored more than 550 publications and has delivered more than 550 presentations, including numerous keynote lectures.