Tower Foundation Inspection & Test

New regulations require tower owners to know what type of foundation (pad and pedestal or drilled shafts) each of their towers have before upgrading or adding antennas. NDT utilizes a combination of sonic / ultrasonic and GPR measurements for tower testing to determine the foundation types, size and depth as well as the reinforcing patterns of the concrete pads and pedestals. GPR measurements are used to determine if a tower foundation is a pad and pedestal and to determine the size (areal extent), thickness and reinforcing patterns of the pad. We obtain GPR measurements along survey lines under the tower and beyond the footing to determine if there is a concrete pad and the lateral extents of the pad. We can also take GPR measurements on concrete footings and exposed pads to determine the reinforcing spacing and depth of cover. We use sonic and ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements to determine the depth of exposed drilled shaft tower footings. If it is important to know if drilled shafts are founded on bedrock or socketed into bedrock, we obtain seismic refraction data to determine the depth of bedrock at footing locations.