Reliability-Based Nondestructive Testing and Repair of Concrete Seawall

When nondestructive testing is used to evaluate a large structure, many decisions must be made about the number and location of tests. Cost constraints work to minimize the number of tests while the desire to accurately assess the state of the structure argues for the maximum number. In the current research, reliability-based approaches are being developed that will provide the engineer with analytical tools for making informed decisions regarding the test number and location and for using the data to assess the state of the structure and design repairs. In this paper a reliability approach is applied to a case study in which a complete set of data and engineering decisions are available for a 7.5 mile (12 km) long seawall. Statistical methods are used to evaluate the test data and to evaluate various repair options. The results are presented in terms of reliability and associated cost.