Telecom tower owners rely on accurate foundation information to support asset management decisions, structural analyses, and antenna upgrades. When design drawings are unavailable or unreliable, BDI helps owners determine foundation dimensions without costly excavation. For more than a decade, BDI has performed unknown foundation investigations for telecommunications infrastructure using advanced nondestructive testing technologies. Engineers first…
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) contracted BDI to evaluate unknown bridge foundations at 48 bridges across Texas. As part of TxDOT’s bridge inspection program, the project focused on assessing foundation condition and scour vulnerability to support National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) reporting requirements. To gather critical foundation data, BDI performed detailed field inspections and…
BDI partnered with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) to evaluate the foundation configuration of nearly 350 bridges across Districts 02 and 62 as part of the agency’s ongoing bridge inspection and asset management program. Because each bridge carried an Unknown Foundation rating from previous inspections, the LADOTD needed to determine foundation data…
BDI partnered with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to monitor joint and bearing performance on a critical transportation route in Virginia. The team set out to quantify abutment and superstructure movements while evaluating how the bridge bearings performed under everyday traffic and environmental conditions. To collect this data, BDI designed and deployed a customized…
When rapid crack growth forced the closure of the West Seattle High Bridge in 2020, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) engaged BDI to evaluate the structure and support repair efforts. As the primary connection between West Seattle and the rest of the city, the bridge carries significant traffic volumes and serves as a critical…
BDI partnered with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to evaluate critical structural components of the US 50A bridges over Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison, Colorado. Built in 1963, these multi-span bridges feature fracture-critical T1 steel girders and suspended spans supported by pin-and-hanger assemblies. After routine inspections identified cracking in weld splice locations on the…
BDI was engaged by the owner of the Allatoona Lake Dam near Cartersville, Georgia, to evaluate the condition of two concrete bulkheads located on the dam’s downstream side. These bulkheads provide the potential for future hydroelectric capacity expansion, making their condition an important factor in long-term asset management and infrastructure planning. To assess the structures,…
BDI partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to perform advanced nondestructive testing (NDT) on critical steel bridge connections at multiple bridges across the United States. The project aimed to identify cracking, weld defects, and other internal flaws within steel connection components to support informed maintenance and repair decisions. BDI evaluated steel connections…
AmerCom engaged BDI to evaluate the integrity of structural steel welds fabricated for the Wittpenn Bridge machinery house. Although fabricators had completed visual inspections, they applied a Firetex intumescent coating ranging from approximately 5/16 inch to 1 inch thick before performing any nondestructive weld testing. The coating made many conventional NDE methods impractical or ineffective…
BDI was engaged to evaluate the condition of the trunnion assemblies on the John T. Alsop Bridge (Main Street Bridge) in Jacksonville, Florida. The bridge’s 365-foot vertical lift span relies on four trunnion shaft systems to support the massive sheaves that transfer loads between the lift span and its counterweights, making these components essential to…