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New FHWA Facility Will Aid Highway Bridge Safety

15 October 1998

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary ~ Office of Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20590

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 15, 1998

New FHWA Facility Will Aid
Highway Bridge Safety

        Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater said that a new
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) facility, which has its grand
opening today, will provide more accurate and complete information about
the condition of the nation's highway bridges.

        FHWA's Nondestructive Evaluation Validation Center, which was
initiated by congressional funding in 1996, is the only center in the
world dedicated entirely to the evaluation and validation of
nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies for highway infrastructure.
The work of the center will result in a higher level of safety for the
traveling public and reduced maintenance cost for the taxpayer while
ensuring a safe and efficient highway system to promote economic growth
and trade.

        "Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority,
and this center is a perfect example of his vision of using technological
innovations to help create a 21st century transportation system for
America that is the safest and most efficient in the world," Secretary
Slater said. "This center highlights FHWA's unique capabilities and
resources to provide technical leadership in the construction and
maintenance of highway infrastructure."

        Today, inspection based on visible indications of deterioration
and distress is the most common way to determine a bridge's condition and
safety. Deterioration that does not manifest some visible symptom is not
detected or quantified. However, a number of NDE technologies  such as
infrared thermographic imaging, ground-penetrating radar imaging,
laser-radar scanning, acoustic emission monitors, electromagnetic
acoustic transducers, embedded corrosion microsensors and laser
vibrometers  are being tested and used to effectively and efficiently
collect quantitative data about bridge conditions.

        The NDE laboratory, located at the Turner-Fairbank Highway
Research Center in McLean, Va., provides a modern and fully equipped NDE
testing facility. In addition, test bridges in Virginia and Pennsylvania
have been made available for full-scale testing of NDE technologies under
actual field conditions. The center will also acquire a wide variety of
specimens from highway bridges that contain typical defects.

        The center's tests and experiments will fully assess and validate
the capabilities of new and existing inspection systems and methods. By
examining the reliability of NDE technologies, the center will help
define the limits of application for the technologies and improve our
ability of assess the condition of the nation's infrastructure.

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