U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
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NDE is a means of analyzing and assessing the condition of various structural components of inservice highway infrastructure assets—pavement, bridges, and tunnels—without impairing their future usefulness.
The FHWA Advanced Sensing Technology (FAST) NDE Laboratory is a world-class national laboratory and is the keystone of FHWA’s research and testing efforts related to the application of nondestructive testing technologies for condition assessment of highway infrastructure. The mission of the FHWA FAST NDE Laboratory is:
The laboratory was originally established in 1998 in an effort to centralize and better coordinate research related to NDE of steel and concrete material, and improve the state-of-the-art and practice related to nondestructive testing. Since its establishment, the NDE Laboratory has acted as a resource for the FHWA, State departments of transportation (DOTs), industry, and academia concerned with the development, deployment, and evaluation of innovative NDE technologies for condition assessment of highway infrastructure assets, which includes bridges, tunnels, pavements, and ancillary features such as sign posts and high-mast lighting. In addition, the laboratory has been providing forensic investigation services to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), among other agencies.
In 2012, the FHWA NDE program held a two-day workshop in Alexandria, Virginia with the purpose of identifying research needs of the NDE program. The workshop included nationally recognized experts in the fields of NDE and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) from Federal and State DOTs, academia, and industry. The result of the workshop was a prioritized list of pressing needs of the NDE program. Based on these pressing needs, the following research studies were identified to be the highest priorities for the FHWA NDE program:
Based on the identified research studies, a strategic plan and roadmap, having a direct relationship with the strategic goals and objectives of State DOTs and FHWA, is being developed.
To address these needs and drive the program into the future, the NDE program incorporated the following components:
The FHWA LTBP Program developed a multifunctional NDE platform to enhance the assessment of bridge decks. The RABIT™ bridge deck assessment tool was developed to deploy a suite of NDE technologies simultaneously.
The NDE program has also applied these technologies in selected situations in order to assist the States in examining the nature and causes of anomalies or failures occurring on in‐service bridges and other ancillary structures. The laboratory, however, does not provide specific testing services nor is it a venue to be used to gain formal approval of equipment and/or methodologies for work with State DOTs.
With the new goals and objectives set for the NDE program, new collaborative studies will be planned. Please visit Planned Projects for more information.
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
6300 Georgetown Pike
McLean, VA 22101-2296