The collapse of a concrete section of a Montreal bridge in the
summer of 2011 sparked a debate about concrete infrastructure
repairs, and highlighted the need for more accurate inspection.
Now the founders of Giatec Scientific Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario,
have responded with a revolutionary new device that may
represent one of the greatest breakthroughs in the construction
industry in recent years. The have introduced a high-tech sensor
that, in a matter of seconds, could have informed Montreal
inspectors about the level of risk. Giatec’s device is a hand-
held unit that determines how fast the support steel inside a
concrete structure is corroding. Steel corrosion destroys
concrete from the inside out. When the rate and degree of
corrosion is determined, prioritizing the need for repair or
replacement is easier. The technology was developed at Dr.
Burkan Isgor’s research lab at Carleton University, where a
decade of research has been converted into a handheld sensor
that can tell a structural inspector the degree