Specialty
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Radiographic nondestructive testing image of a welded steel connection
Service · Specialty

See inside without opening it up.

Ground penetrating radar, nondestructive testing, load testing and structural monitoring — for the questions that cannot be answered by breaking a cylinder or opening a wall.

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Nondestructive · in situ · monitored
01
The Brief

Existing structures do not come with drawings you can trust.

Renovation, adaptive reuse and repair all start with the same problem: nobody knows exactly what is in the slab, behind the finish or inside the weld. Cutting to find out is expensive, and sometimes it is not permitted at all.

Specialty testing answers those questions in place. Our ASNT Level II and III personnel and licensed engineers scan, test and monitor existing conditions, then interpret the result against the structure it came from.

Scanned. Tested. Explained.

02
Capabilities

What we can determine without demolition.

Scanning, nondestructive testing and instrumented monitoring on existing and in-progress structures.

01
Ground penetrating radar
Locating reinforcement, post-tension tendons, conduit and voids before cutting, coring or anchoring.
GPR scanning
02
Nondestructive testing
Ultrasonic, magnetic particle, dye penetrant and radiographic testing of welds and materials.
ASNT Level II & III
03
Load testing
In-situ load testing of slabs, beams and anchors to verify capacity where records are missing.
In situ
04
Vibration monitoring
Seismographs on adjacent structures during demolition, drilling and excavation, with threshold alarms.
Adjacent property
05
Settlement & movement
Optical and instrumented monitoring of settlement points, crack gauges and inclinometers.
Instrumentation
06
Concrete investigation
Core sampling, petrographic examination, carbonation depth and corrosion potential surveys.
Forensic

Before anyone cuts

Scan the slab yourself.

Drag the cart across the concrete and watch the radargram fill in. Every target it finds is a reason not to core blind.

Drag the cart across the slab · drag the background to orbit · arrow keys to nudge

Radargram 0% scanned

0 inDepth10 in
Awaiting scan

    Ground-penetrating radar locates reinforcement, post-tension cables, conduits, and voids before anyone cuts or cores. It is the difference between a clean penetration and a severed tendon.

    Depths and target layout shown are illustrative example values, not a specific survey.

    Ground-penetrating radar locates reinforcement, post-tension cables, conduits, and voids before anyone cuts or cores. It is the difference between a clean penetration and a severed tendon. A survey is run as a grid of parallel passes across the surface; each pass produces a radargram in which buried targets appear as hyperbolic reflections, and the apex of the hyperbola gives depth of cover.

    Illustrative targets in this slab
    TargetDepth of coverWhy it matters before cutting

    GPR surveying by Universal Testing & Inspection Services, Inc. — West Babylon, NY · Miami, FL · est. 1992.

    Three methods, one weld

    Not every method sees the same flaw.

    Scroll through visual inspection, magnetic particle and ultrasonic testing on one structural steel connection. There is a discontinuity near the root, and only one of the three can prove it is there.

    Scroll to advance

    Method 1 / 3

    Drag to orbit · Arrow keys to change method · Depth values are illustrative examples; acceptance criteria and standard references are not stated here.

      Non-destructive testing by Universal Testing & Inspection Services, Inc. — West Babylon, NY · Miami, FL · est. 1992.

      03
      Deliverables

      What you get back.

      SCAN
      Marked-up scan plan
      Reinforcement and embedment locations marked on the slab and recorded on a drawing.
      NDT
      Test report
      Method, acceptance criteria, indications found and disposition, signed by certified personnel.
      LOAD
      Load test results
      Applied load, measured deflection and recovery against the acceptance criteria.
      TRACE
      Monitoring record
      Time-stamped vibration and movement data with exceedance notifications as they occur.
      CORE
      Investigation findings
      Core results, petrography and condition assessment of the existing material.
      OPINION
      Engineering opinion
      What the results mean for capacity, repair or continued use, sealed by a licensed engineer.
      04
      How We Work

      Ask the right question first.

      Specialty testing goes wrong when the method is chosen before the question is defined.

      01
      Define the question
      We start with the decision you need to make, then select the method that can actually answer it.
      02
      Method & criteria
      The procedure and acceptance criteria are agreed in writing before testing, so the result is not arguable afterward.
      03
      Field work
      Certified personnel scan, test or instrument the structure and record indications on the spot.
      04
      Verification
      Where a finding is critical, we confirm it by a second method or a targeted core before reporting it.
      05
      Engineering interpretation
      A licensed engineer states what the data means for the structure — not just what the instrument recorded.

      An indication is not a defect until an engineer says what it means. We report both.

      Where to next

      Need to know before you cut?

      Describe the structure and the decision in front of you. We will recommend the method and confirm scheduling within one business day.