GPR Concrete Scanning & Imaging

Here is a table to better understand the differences between concrete scanning using GPR and concrete X-ray

We advice our clients against concrete X-ray and there are multiple reasons for it.

X-ray requires gamma radiation which poses a huge safety and health risk to the operators and anyone else around it. Therefore, the whole building is usually evacuated and very stringent safety standards must be met. Both sides of the slab must be accessible to place a film to block off radiation. This also requires security personnel to be placed at entrances to the building to avoid liability issues.

X-ray data also requires huge amounts of post processing and film developing and real-time results are not available.

X-ray can only find ferrous materials while GPR can find ferrous (rebar) materials and also other metallic and non-metallic (PVC enclosure for conduits) materials.

Concrete x-ray can only be done on a small 16"x16" area for upto a depth of 16" whereas GPR can be done a much larger area (infinite area of continuous digital images) and has a high depth of penetration depending upon the antenna used.

Another important factor is that concrete x-ray cannot be done on slab on grade since it requires access on both sides of the slab to place the film. Not to mention the evacuation required on top 3 and bottom 3 floors to avoid hazardous radiation.

If your customer is specifically asking for X-ray I highly recommend that they chose the 3-D option of GPR instead. They will receive a report with post processed images and a summary of type, depth and location of the targets / anamolies. This digital report can be shared with building engineers, architects, owners and other contractors. A typical full-day charge for this 3 dimensional concrete scanning runs from about $950 to $1200. This price includes off-site post-processing, the report from our engineers and their expert opinions and is well below the market average price.