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For those of you who know us and our services, we want you to know how much we have changed since incorporating in 1989. We started as a small engineering firm that sprouted from a research project conducted at the University of Colorado in the late 1980’s funded by PennDOT and FHWA. Developing methods for collecting data on bridges and using it to better understand the performance of the structure were the heart of our research.
The results and extensive experience gained during testing and evaluating 50 highway bridges in 13 different states, formed the ground upon which the Principal Investigator, Dr. George Goble, along with graduate students Jeff Schulz and Brett Commander founded Bridge Diagnostics, Inc. (BDI) in October 1989.
UNIQUE ABILITY TO DEVELOP FIT FOR PURPOSE INSTRUMENTATION AS WELL AS INTEGRATE INSTRUMENTS FROM OTHER MONITORING COMPANIES
BDI focused on diagnostic load testing of bridges for many years to follow and very soon branched into other civil structures. We started to manufacture our own data acquisition hardware dedicated to improving field applications for diagnostic load testing and that decision of developing our own hardware has laid the foundation for BDI to maintain an in-house team of 
design engineers, electrical engineers and technicians which give us the unique ability to develop fit for purpose instrumentation as well as integrate instruments from other monitoring companies with whom we partner to provide a solution for all the challenging projects we encounter.
Why Change?
WHAT MANY OF OUR EXISTING CLIENTS SEE AS NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO BDI, WE HAVE BEEN OFFERING FOR YEARS.
In a nutshell…our name and logo no longer fully represented our products and services. What many of our existing clients see as new products and services to BDI, we have been offering for years. Even after doing our best to market these new products and services, we were still coined the “bridge strain gage folks”. We recently took a step back and recognized that our legal name and logo did not properly represent who we are and the products/services that we provide; however, we also recognized that nearly 30 years of history, business relationships, and successful projects have given us a very positive reputation that we want to maintain. It was obvious that we could not completely change our name, so the decision was made to simply use our legal name’s acronym, BDI, which we also have been known by and then to complement that name with a new tagline.
This change to our brand reflects the range of products and services we offer and goes much further than just “bridge strain gage folks”, so if you are an existing client, we want you to take a second look to see what you might have been missing:
• STS4 as permanent monitoring equipment
• Geodetic survey monitoring (ATS)
• Nondestructive evaluation services
• Environmental Monitoring • Blast & Vibration Monitoring
• OEM or Contract Strain Gage Services
• Static Pile Load Testing
• Web Based Data Hosting
Likewise, for perspective clients, we want you to see that our expertise is far reaching and that we are given the opportunity to earn your business. We are positive that you will be impressed with what we can offer and how we deliver.
What does the new brand represent?
As any good engineer understands, a model is only as good as its worst assumption. With modern engineering’s statistically refined safety factors pushing the limits of both new design and extending the service life of existing structures, a little data goes a long way. With this thought and ultimately our mission to “provide engineering solutions through instrumentation, testing, and monitoring”, led us to the tagline “Raw Data. Refined Results.” We feel this tagline encompasses what we are all about at BDI and look forward to continuing to support asset owners. Refined Results are provided through identification of complex structural behavior with Raw Data and value-added analysis; whether it be finite element model calibration, simple mechanics, or a statistical data presentation.
BDI is here to support asset owners, engineers, and scientists in refining their understanding of data through the use of practical, cost effective, and precise instruments.
BDI is here to support asset owners, engineers, and scientists in refining their understanding of data through the use of practical, cost effective, and precise instruments. However, it is important to note that the data collected by those instruments is rarely the end-all/be-all in understanding performance. Collecting Raw Data and ultimately providing Refined Results is an iterative process that typically involves modeling or other high-level analysis, institutional knowledge, and understanding asset performance. This process is signified with negative space bidirectional arrows within the center of the logo—through better understanding of the data comes better understanding of the asset, which, in turn, leads to a more refined product for our client. This iterative process is where the industry is moving in developing machine learning algorithms that can better understand asset behaviors. Another aspect of the bidirectional arrow is that it is the symbol used for data transfer, an important aspect of our STS4 data acquisition equipment. Whether it is Raw Data from our data acquisition nodes, processed data on our data loggers, or presentation of the data on our secure website, the data must be transferred and done so securely and without error so that data is never lost.
Finally, and equally important is the color. For years we have included different shades of red in our logo and products and with re-branding, we wanted to make a clear statement with a change in color. The bright and vibrant green that we selected suits our business well, we are moving away from some of the subconscious associations of red in our sector of work (redlining CAD plans, red warning on sensor data, STOP, etc.) and moving forward with our new products and services.
Our goal is to support Owners, Operators, and Engineers in maintaining the use of an asset.
BDI is not in business of stopping work or red-flagging infrastructure assets. Instead, our goal is to support Owners, Operators, and Engineers in maintaining the use of an asset-based on the Raw Data we collect and Refined Results we provide, which ultimately green-lights a justifiable decision to safely keep the asset in operation.
Where are we going?
Instruments are developed through our experience working in the field, a unique aspect of BDI’s capabilities and one we pride ourselves on.
You can only trust data when you can trust the people who provide it. Founders Jeff Schulz, Brett Commander, and Dr. George Goble have instilled work ethic, intellectual superiority, and most importantly, integrity as the foundation of BDI. We understand that every measurement must be explained and the public’s safety depends on the accuracy and precision of our measurements. Our in-house electrical design team ensures that we are achieving this requirement through the custom instruments that we design and develop to the instruments integrated through our partners to supply industry-leading solutions. These instruments are developed through our experience working in the field, a unique aspect of BDI’s capabilities and one we pride ourselves on. This capability continues to drive us to develop the next generation of instrumentation to support our projects and lead the industry data collection.
Engineers don’t monitor an asset because it’s perfect, rather, maintaining use of said asset may depend on what the data says about its performance. As such, BDI’s engineers and technicians are always ready to achieve the most unrealistic timelines to ensure measurements can be obtained on the most critical and potentially hazardous asset. None of this happens without a superior team backing the company mission. Our men and women, from laboratory technicians, to administration, to PhD level engineering staff are the best in the industry. Working as a team, we jump into action to establish realistic measurements to add certainty to an otherwise uncertain engineering decision.
Please visit our new website and explore the products and services that we are offering. Never hesitate to give us a call, even if it is something we don’t offer we are happy to point to others within our professional network that will. We look forward to earning your business and supporting your team on the next project.
