Procurement of RABIT™ Bridge Deck Assessment Tools

Through their Performance Management of Bridges IDIQ contract with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Pennoni’s Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (IIS) is working with Infratek Solutions Inc. to design and build the commercial version of the RABIT™ Bridge Deck Assessment Tool.

Pennoni and Infratek are providing the services necessary to manufacture, calibrate, validate, prepare operations documentation and deliver maintenance and warranty services for four RABIT Bridge Deck Assessment Tools. This also includes technical support and training for Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) program field personnel on the proper deployment, operation, and maintenance of the systems.

RABIT is a robotic nondestructive evaluation (NDE) platform designed to enhance the assessment of bridge decks and was developed as part of the FHWA LTBP program. RABIT includes high resolution cameras and imaging systems, electrical resistivity to characterize the corrosive environment of concrete, impact echo and ultrasonic surface waves to evaluate concrete delamination and concrete deck strength, ground penetrating radar to map rebar and other metallic objects below the surface, and a global positioning system to record and mark location data.