This month ES Denver was contacted to solve a unique problem for a customer. The customer’s property contained 18 light poles in a parking lot. One of these poles had fallen down due to rusting at the base of the pole. It appeared the pole had rusted from the inside due to water intruding and pooling inside the pole base. The customer wanted to know if any other light poles on the property had experienced internal rusting and needed to be repaired.
Detecting rusting and degradation of the steel inside the poles required a non-invasive testing method, as any invasive testing would damage the poles or allow water to intrude inside the pole base. ES Denver came up with a solution for the customer: use an ultrasonic metal thickness gauge to check the thickness of the steel in the remaining 17 light poles. The ultrasonic gauge is non-invasive and can detect the thickness of steel to the nearest 1/100th inch.
Using the ultrasonic thickness gauge to test the steel thickness of a light pole base.
The remaining poles were examined with the ultrasonic thickness gauge, with a minimum of 20 measurements taken around the base of each light pole. If the steel was measured at less than the required 1/8 inch thickness, this indicated likely deterioration of the steel from internal rusting.
Metal thickness data from each pole was plotted to determine how much of the base had experienced internal rusting.
An example of a pole which failed the structural integrity test and is showing deterioration of the steel in multiple sections around the base.
After carefully examining all 17 light poles, it was determined that 3 poles had experienced significant deterioration from internal rusting and were at risk of collapse. 2 other poles were found to be marginal. The other 12 light poles showed full thickness of metal around the entire base and were deemed to be structurally sound.
This analysis by ES Denver saved the customer money, as they can now proceed with repairing or replacing only those poles which showed internal rusting.
ES Denver is always looking for creative solutions to your unique engineering problems. Give us a call today so we can discuss your needs!