Ground Penetrating Radar Technology Locates Reinforcing Steel in Elevated Slabs in Tampa, Florida

The Monte Carlo Towers is a condominium complex overlooking Tampa Bay in Tampa, FL.  They had a project planned to replace their tennis court net posts on their second floor tennis court.  The replacement posts would have a larger base than the original posts and therefore required anchoring into new areas in the concrete.  They knew that the floor, which was also the roof of their first floor parking garage, contained post tension cables and were concerned about the damage that could occur if they drilled their anchor into one of these cables.  They had used Ground Penetrating Radar Systems in the past for concrete locating and decided to schedule them to clear the areas for anchoring.  Ground penetrating radar is a technology uniquely setup to locate reinforcing steel in elevated slab situations.  The technology is frequently used to locate rebar, post tension cables, electrical conduits and other utilities running in elevated slabs.

GPRS mobilized to the site and mapped the four post locations in about 2 hours on site.  GPRS discovered that the cables were placed on irregular centers through each of the locations and were also running at unexpected angles.  Everything was mapped on the surface with a construction crayon (see picture below).  Overall, the project was a success.  Below you will see a picture of Jim using a 1600 MHz antenna to perform the surveying.  You will notice the red lines on the concrete indicating the PTC.  If you are interested in obtaining more information about concrete imaging or a quote please visit out “Contact Us” page for a local representative near you.