PSI - Issue 84

Irene Matteini et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 677–685

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2.4. Survey Results Part II: Deterioration Analysis Building on the collected data, a further analytical step was undertaken to identify potential deterioration areas and degradation patterns within the bridge deck. This analysis was performed by applying dedicated algorithms based on the analysis of signal reflections associated with the first layer of reinforcement bars, enabling a more targeted evaluation of deterioration conditions to set of data collected during the two survey campaigns. It is in fact well accepted in the industry and detailed into international standards [11] that the intensity of the reflection of thefirst layer ofrebars(particularly when they are at similar depths)is an indicator of the state of the steel itself and its immediate environment. Strong reflections are indicative of a sound reinforcement in a protective environment, whereas a local decrease in intensity may be due to actual corrosion and / or a wet saline environment.

Fig. 8. Example of B-scan showing first layer rebars identified with an AI-assisted auto-picking functionality, where all first layer rebars are automatically identified by the software (green color triangles) under human supervision (yellow color triangles). Image from the first survey.

A Deterioration map provides an overview of the possible areas at risk (red areas), potentially indicating delaminated areas, corroded reinforcement and / or areas with high moisture.

Fig. 9. Deterioration Maps from the two surveys. Left, survey conducted in the winter. Right, survey conducted in the summer.