Lane closures and work zones are a nuisance for both commuters and the workers who work within them. In our heads, however, we understand that it is a necessary evil... Somebody has to maintain the roads and bridges we drive on. While the workers who keep our roads safe are our unsung heroes, the work zones themselves may be more 'evil' than we realize.

According to the FHWA, a work zone crash occurs roughly every 5 minutes in the United States. Just setting up a work zone increases the chance of an accident by roughly 25 percent. Every week, 12 fatal work zone crashes occur that can result in the death of workers, passengers, and/or pedestrians. If we can save even one life through the work that we do, it would make it all worthwhile.

There is one group that we know we can help. Bridge deck and road pavement inspectors currently employ hammer sound and chain drag methods to detect delaminated pavements. Visual inspection is used to map cracks on the roads. These require lane closures, increasing the risk of a fatal accident occurring for both inspectors and drivers. NEXCO-West USA's Deck Top Scanning System (DTSS) accomplishes both delamination and crack mapping without the need for lane closures. The DTSS is able to scan the road at highway speeds, utilizing infrared thermography and high definition visual technology. Because there is no need for lane closures, this would be creating a safer working and driving environment. DTSS could be the difference between having a healthy road and an avoidable tragedy.

Click the link below to view the DTSS brochure.

From September 4 - 6, International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering - IABSE - is holding its international congress on the topic "The Evolving Metropolis", in New York City.

NEXCO-West USA's paper, entitled "Bridge Health Monitoring by Infrared Thermography", was approved by the Scientific Committee and will be discussed by an expert panel on September 4, during the "Camera-Based SHM Bridge Techniques" session. Though Infrared Thermography (IRT) has been implemented in Japan to scan the underside of bridges for the past 20 years, the technology has found a new home in the United States due to its capacity to accurately generate images at highway speeds.

The session will offer an in-depth technical description of our technology as well as details on the successful validation projects in Virginia and Pennsylvania. IABSE NY promises to be a place to exchange knowledge of the latest technologies and an opportunity to advance the discussion on affordable and sustainable solutions to tackle the problems of our aging infrastructure.

Click below to view the IABSE website