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Ground penetrating radar for assessment of reinforced concrete wastewater treatment plant

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Abstract

During their long-term service, wastewater treatment plants deteriorate due to rebar corrosion in concrete structures. This paper presents a case study of ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey performed on a reinforced concrete (RC) structure in sieving unit of the wastewater treatment plant in the City of Fortaleza, Brazil. The RC structure was subjected to both the sulfuric acid attack from the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide present in the wastewater gas and the cyclic dry–wet salt-fog environment due to its proximity to the ocean. The survey results suggest that the amplitude of electromagnetic waves from a GPR scan and the determined dielectric permittivity values can be used to monitor steel rebar corrosion in a concrete structure by rapidly detecting any growth of inherent faults. The results indicate that the rebar condition can be assessed through slices at different times/depths obtained from a three-dimensional (3D) survey. Based on this study, it is recommended that the upper RC slabs in sieving unit of the plant be demolished and the lower slabs be preserved.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 and was made possible by the support of DAAD to the EXCEED SWINDON project. Finally, the authors wish to express their gratitude to the State of Ceará Water and Wastewater Company CAGECE for granting access to the wastewater treatment plant and providing support during the GPR survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Paola Machado Barreto Manhães & José Tavares Araruna Júnior

  2. Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

    Paola Machado Barreto Manhães & Genda Chen

  3. Department of Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

    José Tavares Araruna Júnior & Neil Lennart Anderson

  4. Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    André Bezerra dos Santos

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  1. Paola Machado Barreto Manhães
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  2. José Tavares Araruna Júnior
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  3. Genda Chen
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Correspondence to Genda Chen.

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Manhães, P.M.B., Júnior, J.T.A., Chen, G. et al. Ground penetrating radar for assessment of reinforced concrete wastewater treatment plant. J Civil Struct Health Monit 11, 1–14 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-020-00428-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-020-00428-x

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