Middleton VA Hospital GPR Project, Madison, WI

At William S Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison, WI, a major renovation of the radiology department is underway. A new CT scanner is being installed, modifications are to be made in rooms with other radiology equipment, and adjacent areas of the hospital are also undergoing a thorough overhaul. These renovations require many holes to be drilled for new electrical wiring, cables, plumbing, and other conduits and pipes. In order for these cores to be drilled, the rebar and especially any electrical conduits in the floors needed to be identified and marked.

GPRS technicians Nathan Machel and Dave Schaff scanned the proposed core locations to identify any rebar and conduits which the drillers would need to avoid. The ground penetrating radar was able to locate rebar and conduits within the concrete, and was often able to detect ducts mounted to the underside of the slab as well. These rebar, conduit, and duct locations were marked directly on the concrete, allowing the holes to be drilled safely and without causing any loss of power in the hospital.

Nathan Machel is the manager of GPRS operations in Wisconsin. He can be reached by phone at 414-795-6485 or by email at nathan.machel@gp-radar.com. Concrete scanning for the purposes of identifying the location of rebar, electrical conduits, and post-tensioning is the most frequent service performed by the GPR technicians at GPRS.

A conduit was found running through the concrete near a proposed core location. The GPR system was able to locate the conduit precisely, allowing the concrete to be drilled without hitting the conduit.