Matergenics’ investigation team has many years of experience in all aspects of on-site and laboratory inspection, investigation, and assessment. Our diverse group of Ph.D.s, registered professional engineers, and certified technicians can provide all of the expertise you require for your inspection needs. From electrical transmission pole corrosion, to underground pipeline explosions, to bridge accident assessment, to failure analysis of jet engine components; MatergenicsGIS has the expertise you require in the inspection and investigative field.
| On-Site Inspection | Life Expectancy Investigations |
| Dimensional Measurements and Analysis | Accident Investigations |
| Paint Inspection | Pipeline Integrity Assessment |
| Corrosion Inspection | Pole/Lattice Inspection |
| Cathodic Protection Inspection | Failure Analysis and FEA Analysis |
| Non-Destructive Inspection | Materials Testing |
| Component Inspection | Construction Inspection |
| Flood Damage Inspection | Structural Integrity |
| Quality Control Inspection | Computerized On-Site Inspections |
| Crack Growth Monitoring | Visual On-Site Inspections |
| Inspection of Large Structures | Water Damage Evaluation |
INSPECTION SERVICES
Our certified team of inspectors can perform non-destructive testing on project sites to evaluate the integrity of large structures. Our team has performed such analysis nation and worldwide, and will travel to your project site at a moments notice for emergency evaluations. Such large structure evaluations have included off-shore oil platforms, wind power generation towers, concrete domes and stadiums, large underground cooling systems, and large elevated water towers. Our projects have taken us from Aloha Stadium in Hawaii to Alyeska Ski Resort in Alaska; from bridges in the Bahamas to titanium structures in Tokyo, Japan.
Our team is comprised of certified and experienced personnel from a variety of technical disciplines including: mechanical engineering, cathodic protection, paint inspection, chemistry, metallurgy, and materials science. We also have a vast array of laboratory and field testing equipment. All of Matergenics’s testing equipment is calibrated on a routine basis in accordance with both national and international standards, and is ready to be put to use at a moment’s notice.
The Matergenics team has experience working in many diverse fields and with many different clients. Some of our clients include Allegheny Energy, American Airlines and AC Dellovade, GE, IBM, NASA, Valmont, and TVA.
We provide the following services:
* GIS Corrosion Mapping and Drone Inspection and Thermographic Imaging for Tower Condition Assessment
* Paint Coating Selection for Above Ground and Underground Applications
* Custom-designed cathodic protection systems with deep well design for tower facilities
* Remaining Life Modeling and Estimation for Underground Assets
* Monopole Fatigue, Fatigue Sensor and Fatigue Mitigation
* Why stray current is an important issue in corrosion and How to detect it?
* Corrosion Engineering Training
Our condition assessment considers:
- High Elevation Atmospheric Corrosion
- Low Elevation Atmospheric Corrosion
- Ground Level
- Shallow Burials
- Deep Burials due to low pH (not considered by many)
- Concrete Degradation
- Coating Degradation
- Stray Current Corrosion
- Copper Grounding
Condition Assessment By Climbing Inspection
Inspection Overview and Procedures
The overall condition of the tower structural members, climbing facilities, fasteners, and other components are evaluated as outlined in this section. Visual and physical checks are performed to ensure that the tower and subsystems are structurally sound and functional.
Tower load bearing members , conduits, ladders, stairways. fasteners, and all load bering primary and secondary members will be checked, documented and severity of corrosion will be reported by our experienced climbers and NACE certified corrosion engineers. Corrosion mitigation: coating selection, surface preparation and application of coating per SSPC and NACE specifications will be provided for the Client’s review.
Physical inspections and UV thickness measurements are performed to determine steel member thickness using Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge. All corners of the towers are checked at the ground level and at any location that appears questionable with a three-point check that covers the leg and the braces on either side of it Coating thickness is also checked at these points using an Elcometer 456 Coating Thickness Gauge. ASTM A-123A is referenced for coating thickness requirements. Galvanized Thickness and protective organic coatings are measured as well.
Concrete foundations and anchoring hardware are visually checked for wear and damage.Concrete hardness tests are performed using Digital Concrete Test Hammer. Two hardness measurements are taken per foundation corner – one set of four readings on the top of the foundation (vertical reading) and one set of four readings on the side (horizontal reading).
MATERGENICS provides corrosion inspection/monitoring services, and corrosion risk assessment for different types of telecom structures including:
- Guyed-wire towers,
- Self-supporting towers,
- Tapered steel monopols.
If corrosion is not detected and mitigated at its early stages, shortly it will lead to expensive refurbishment of corroded members, while in a longer time it can affect tower safety and increased risk for injuries, and fatalities. Periodic corrosion inspection and risk assessment is a cost-effective method to bring certainty to core asset safety. Team Matergenics can assist you on these tasks. At your request we can provide a comprehensive. presentation on our approach and experience in this important field
We can assist you with the following important tasks:
- Construct soil corrosivity maps for sites for system-wide corrosion risk assessment and maintenance
- Prioritize towers for corrosion risk assessment based on corrosion map, age, design/material, tower criticality, consequence of failure (high consequence areas- HCA)
- Evaluate existing aging assets (based on prioritization order) and assess corrosion damage in high elevations, low elevations, ground level, and underground and for guy wires through visual examination, drone inspection and NDT techniques
- Perform indirect assessment of towers, and galvanize anchors
- Perform condition assessment of concrete foundations by inspection and petrographic analysis
- Perform direct assessment (excavation/climbing and focus measurements)
- Measure grounding resistance and document grounding components
- Evaluate tower coating systems and select coating for various environments
- Perform failure analysis root cause determination for accidents and incidents
- Determine acceptable or unacceptable risks and provide engineering solutions for risk mitigation
- Engineering solution for material selection, coating, cathodic protection, structural repairs
- Sensor development and corrosion activity monitoring
- Post assessment and development of tailored inspection program for long-term cost-effective corrosion mitigation and maintenance
Predictive Models for Corrosion Penetration and Pitting
The following criteria are used for the recommended predictive models :
- Validation against short term and long term corrosion data
- Dependency of model parameters to relevant physiochemical parameters
Using our unique algorithms developed by expert corrosion engineers, the soil around a buried metallic asset is assigned a soil corrosivity (SC) rating that is based on a number of parameters including soil resistivity, pH, chlorides, sulfates, properties,.. and linear resistance polarization corrosion data. These ratings identify high soil corrosivity areas where assets are located and, based on these ratings, decisions for inspection frequency, prioritization, and long term planning can be made with confidence. This approach is what distinguishes us from our competition.
Based on chemical analysis and corrosion performance parameters of the soil we are able to predict the corrosion rate and pitting in the given soil. Life expectancy and remaining life is predictable in corrosive soils by our predictive model that is based on field evaluations and laboratory testing of soil.
Predictive Model/Plots for Different Soil Environments
Our capabilities also include materials testing, failure analysis, computer aided design of cathodic protection/installation, corrosion risk assessment of underground/aboveground assets and a soil testing laboratory that performs many thousands of soil corrosivity tests each year. What makes us different from other labs is our predictive model for material loss based on soil chemistry and corrosive properties. Our model is based on many thousands of field data and findings and predicts corrosion penetration with moderate to high certainty. We can implement our model for your specific site(s) and provide life or remaining life expectancy for your underground assets based on soil properties at your specific location for shallow and deep burial.
Why Matergenics
Team Matergenics is able to provide many unique services to assess the corrosion risk and to determine the remaining life of towers and anchors. We are also able to provide best-in-class CP design for helical anchors and special situations where installation of galvanic anodes is not feasible. What distinguishes us from our competition are the following:
- We are trained, academic-disciplined corrosion engineers and we have four top level certifications from NACE; our competition does not have high-level corrosion certifications
- We have successfully completed thousands of corrosion assessments projects for telecom structures to predict and quantify the corrosion rate and determine their remaining in-service life
- We have developed patent pending GIS soil corrosivity mapping for corrosion risk assessment as a system-wide maintenance tool
- We can provide computer-aided anode bed designs for optimum cathodic protection at tower foundations―we are NACE-Certified Cathodic Protection Specialists (CP4)
- Every year we perform thousands of inspections on transmission lines and communication tower foundations buried in corrosive soils, identifying deep burial corrosion where competition is unable―thickness measurements at shallow burial is not necessarily representative of the integrity of the structure
- We have a modern materials and soil testing laboratory and can perform failure analysis root cause investigation for different modes of failures at tower component
- We have published many technical papers that have been reviewed and cited by experts in corrosion field (most recently regarding galvanized anchors, which is attached for your review)
- We have repeat clients and can provide references form SBA Communications, Crown Castle, Southern California Edison, Consumer Energy, Valmont Industries, to name a few
- Our corrosion risk assessment includes grounding evaluation, concrete inspection, and petrographic analysis
- We understand budget limitations and can provide options to fit your budget if you wish
Items 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are unique to team Matergenics and we do not know of any other firm performing these tasks. Please see the onsite photos attached to this document for examples of our work.
Inspection Stages
MATERGENICS’ corrosion inspection for telecom structure, involves three different stages:
Desk Study
Prior to site visits and field measurements, based on the project requirements, a desk study must performed to complete the following tasks:
- Review of geotechnical reports,
- Review of structural drawings,
- Review of previous reports on corrosion inspection, maintenance/repair, and all other relevant information including service history.
Field Survey
Our NACE certified inspectors collect the key corrosion indicator data at tower base and anchor footings, and perform site-specific tests to characterize the service environment, including:
- Soil-to-structure electrochemical potential mapping,
- Soil resistivity tests (ASTM G57 and ASTM G187),
- Soil pH tests,
- Cathodic protection current requirement tests,
- Visual inspection of underground members,
- Coating inspection and dimensional measurements,
- Concrete inspection and hardness test (ASTM C805),
- Photographic documentation of all tests.
Laboratory Investigations
Collected samples during site visits must be examined in a controlled environment to identify:
- Soil contamination concentration,
- Microbiologically induced corrosion,
- Root cause determination.
Documentation & Reporting
All inspection findings and recommendations are included in a comprehensive report, that includes:
- Corrosion risk factor (CRF) for individual structures,
- Recommend corrosion mitigation methods such as cathodic protection,
- Remedial actions,
Engineering analysis and repair recommendations.