Use of Infrared Thermography to Detect Defects on Concrete Bridges

This paper describes the results of research conducted at the Transportation Research Centre with the focus on the use of infrared thermography regarding inspections of concrete bridges in the Czech Republic. Infrared thermography has a potential to detect subsurface delaminations before spalling develops, and could be used as a tool to enhance the visual inspection of concrete bridges. This method has several advantages, e.g. measurement is non-contact, non-destructive and is not time consuming. The main aim of the presented research is to evaluate the possibility of infrared thermography to detect defects on bridges in practice.