April 28, 2004

Civil Engineers Turn Construction Hassles into Research Rewards

CT&I researchers helped locate buried cables and pipes prior to trenching in front of the old Field House at Riddick Stadium (left) and Mann Hall (right). (Photos: Dr. Leonhard Bernold)

It seems only natural. Place a massive construction project around the corner from a building loaded with inquisitive civil engineering professors and students and what do you get? A research project just waiting to happen.

According to Dr. Leonhard E. Bernold, director of the Center for Construction Technology and Integration (CT&I) and associate professor of civil engineering at North Carolina State University, construction activities on Stinson Drive and in the old Riddick Stadium have evolved into a giant research facility.

“We have installed a most advanced wireless communication system for the chilled water construction project,” Bernold said. “We are receiving signals over long haul directly to the roof of Mann Hall and transferring it to a project website.”

Additionally, all trenching operations are preceded by CT&I researchers using ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic induction technologies to precisely locate buried pipes and cables. “We are trying to develop sophisticated methods and algorithms that work under different soil conditions and for different types of pipes,” Bernold said. “What is most exciting is that we are able to test our developments in the real world — comparing what our sensors show to what is really underground.” The National Institutes of Health is funding this research.

The crews laying the large chilled water pipes are also testing CT&I’s remote-controlled pipe manipulator that eliminates the need for people to enter potentially dangerous trenches.

The fortuitous research will have a positive impact on the current local construction projects, if not on the industry as a whole.

— pishney —

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