TALPA Inspection - Underground Corrosion Inspection

The inspection of buried reinforced concrete structures is time-consuming, expensive and can generally only provide very local information. Therefore, the risk that corrosion damage goes undetected is high, which can have tragic consequences. We, a team from the ETH Zurich “Durability of Engineering Materials research group”, are convinced that this problem can be solved. Since 2019, we have been researching on reliable and efficient non-destructive inspection methods for buried structures. After many laboratory experiments and successful pilot projects outside the laboratory, we are eager to apply our innovation in engineering practice. Join us on our next steps as we leap forward in developing this new technology into a useful inspection method. -Our current focus: Inspection of cantilever retaining walls: Corrosion damage in retaining walls, especially above the construction joints, can significantly reduce their load-bearing capacity and lead to structural failure, endangering lives. With our newly developed inspection probe, we can identify localised corrosion spots with electrochemical measurements by moving our probe through existing drainage pipes, which are usually in the immediate vicinity of the construction joint. This allows us to perform a continuous inspection along the entire length of the retaining wall and overcome the limitations of current approaches that, at best, can only provide randomised spot inspection information.