Background

The company was formed in 1978 and established a presence in Australia in 1992 by two of the original founders of the company. The company expanded to provide a whole range of services to the civil engineering and building industries. As a natural progression and development of services, Integrity further expanded to provide structural design with the addition of implementation and execution of projects.

Project Areas

The company carried out numerous projects in its early years as diverse as the investigation of heritage buildings in Seattle to the world famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The Australian office has concentrated on the testing and investigation of bridges with its unique DBTS™ system. Also the company pioneered the investigation of the condition of underground drains and sewers using its micro-seismic techniques. More recently the company has developed a very successful NDE system for the testing of steel, concrete and timber utility poles with its Mod-Shock™ testing system. The company still carries out building investigations and specialises in the investigation and restoration of heritage buildings.

Synopsis of Main Test Procedures:

1) DBTS Test Procedure

The methods of tests carried out on bridges whether they are concrete, timber or steel bridges comprises of the following methods, beginning with a visual survey and photographic documentation, then to a measurement of the bridge dimensions and of the main structure, then to a Mod-Shock test on the abutment and pier piles, and finally to the DBTS test on the bridge deck.

The DBTS test involves the laying of cables on both sides of the bridge. A series of sensors are then placed, usually eight on each side as not to restrict the passage of traffic. The sensors are then connected to a data collection computer. Data is recorded through an impact source, which can include either a drop weight or live traffic. Data is then analysed and reported on.

For more detailed info regarding our test procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us.

2) Mod-Shock Procedure

The MOD-SHOCK test program is used to determine the condition of the piers and abutments supporting the deck of the bridge.

The test is a version of a forced vibration test of the pile, made simpler by reducing the need for large volums of equipment usually required for such tests.

In essence the test uses the broad-spectrum frequency response from a hammer blow to the element under test, as the substitute to the forced vibration. The operator places a transducer on the element under test and then imparts sufficient vibrations into the element with hammer blows. The reflected signals are captured by the transducer and via a cable stored in a computer for later analysis.

For more detailed info regarding our test procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us.

3) Other Test Procedures

Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity/Pundit - This test is done to assess the quality of concrete by ultrasonic pulse velocity method. The underlying principle of this test is measuring the time of travel of an ultrasonic pulse passing through the concrete being tested. Comparatively higher velocity is obtained when concrete quality is good in terms of density, uniformity, homogeneity etc.

Cover Meter - A cover meter is an instrument to locate rebars and measure the exact concrete cover. Rebar detectors are less sophisticated devices that can only locate metallic objects below the surface. Due to the cost-effective design, the pulse-induction method is one of the most commonly used solutions.

Schmidt Hammer - A Schmidt hammer, also known as a 'Swiss' hammer or a rebound hammer, is a device to measure the elastic properties or strength of concrete or rock, mainly surface hardness and penetration resistance.

Seismic Refraction/Seismic Survey - Seismic refraction utilizes acoustic waves generated by an impact or small explosive source to measure depths to bedrock or overburden layers of sedimentary rock and to infer bedrock faults or fracture zones.

For more detailed info regarding our test procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us.