Live Webinar April 4th, 2014 – 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT
Duration: 75 Minutes webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category A – Free PDU
Sponsored by: Utility Industry CoP (REP #S014)

The critical condition of many parts of US infrastructure has been a topic of considerable public interest over the last several years, brought into national focus with the 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis.

The 2013 Report Card published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) found that one in nine bridges in the United States is structurally deficient.

Budgets continue to be tight, requiring efficiencies wherever possible and prioritization of the most critical tasks. This often means choosing from among several “must-dos” with a common need to make structures last as long as possible.

This is also true for the nuclear industry, which is in the midst of licensing renewal applications for decades-old nuclear reactors to be extended well beyond their original design lifetimes.

The 2009 discovery of ASR concrete degradation at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire alerted the NRC to the potential for similar problems in other nuclear plants as well.

Concrete degradation mechanisms such as ASR and DEF are particularly insidious because of their tendency to propagate within a susceptible structure, and cause a reduction of properties.

Improper consideration of these reduced material properties can undermine the accuracy of engineering calculations used to design anchorage systems or can lead to ill-advised replacement decisions when a much-less expensive repair strategy can be applied.

So while the foremost skill set in many concrete projects is structural engineering and risk assessment, the detailed calculations of stresses to identify or address critical areas of concern, require accurate knowledge of structure-specific material properties.

In these scenarios, “book” values often have little value, and even well-kept construction records may have limited applicability if the age and the service conditions have caused material property degradation. As a project manager, it is critical to know when a detailed materials evaluation is necessary, and how to increase the confidence in the engineering basis of repair/replace decisions to maximize the value received with limited budgets.

Real world examples will be presented to demonstrate the important role of material properties in concrete engineering assessments and repair projects.

Note: You do have to be a PMI® member to register for this opportunity.

Presenter: Matthew J. Perricone, Ph.D. (LinkedIn profile)

Click to register for Maintaining Aging Infrastructure