Infrasense has been working to develop and validate an automated analysis system for detecting and characterizing dowel and tie bars in jointed concrete pavement using Kontur three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar (3DGPR) data.

Conducted through the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) research program, the project combined field data collection, algorithm development, and system evaluation across multiple sites.

The automated system processes 3DGPR data to identify the position, depth, spacing, and angular orientation of individual dowel bars at concrete pavement joints, as well as tie bars continuously throughout the pavement. It can also identify missing, misplaced, or out-of-specification bars.

Validation against manually reviewed ground-truth data from Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Maryland demonstrated 88–95% detection accuracy for dowel bars, with tie-bar performance improving following algorithm refinements.

The graphics above provide examples of the detailed data our team can capture and analyze using this technology—helping advance faster, more consistent, and more automated approaches to concrete pavement evaluation.