CMU Wall Inspection at UCONN School of Law, Hartford, CT

Whiting-Turner Construction Company hired IMTL, Inc. to inspect the concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls of an occupied building at UCONN School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut. They began the inspection by drilling pilot holes into the blocks to visually inspect inside the wall. Visual inspection revealed that many blocks were not grouted properly and many of the grouted blocks did not contain rebar. Inspecting the entire wall with this method would have wasted too much time and caused too much damage. To avoid these problems, IMTL hired us to perform a non-invasive Level 2 concrete inspection survey using ground penetrating radar technology. This technology enabled us to see inside each block and determine whether it was empty, grouted with no rebar, or grouted with rebar, and this information was recorded and documented in a written report. During the remainder of the project, Whiting-Turner used the information supplied in the report to pinpoint areas of the wall in need of repairs, dramatically reducing the number of pilot holes that needed to be drilled into the walls.