THE FIUMARELLA BRIDGE: CONCRETE CHARACTERIZATION AND DETERIORATION ASSESSMENT BY NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING

In this paper results are reported concerning a nondestructive testing conducted in situ on a bridge built approximately in the 1930sin the province of Reggio Calabria in Italy. The study of ‘ancient’ concrete is interesting because it provides information about the materials and technologies available at the time of production and the knowledge of the main physical properties of concrete and its state of conservation. Laser scanning technology was applied to measure the geometric property of the structural elements of a concrete bridge, while the Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR or georadar) technique was applied to determine the morphology, lack of homogeneity, defectiveness and location of the steel reinforcements. This research was oriented towards understanding the composition of the mixture used in the concrete of the Fiumarella bridge and the actual state of its deterioration and strength. For this reason earth science analytic techniques were used.