Action TU1208
Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar
COST Success Story
Training School on Ground Penetrating Radar for the assessment of transport infrastructures
Osijek, Croatia, March 6-9, 2017
The COST Action TU1208 organised a Training School on "Ground Penetrating Radar for the assessment of transport infrastructures."
This course was held in the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Osijek (Croatia), on March 6-9, 2017. Trainees from all over the world were welcome to attend the school for free.
This Training School was targeted to Early-Career Investigators, PhD students, Master students and engineers interested in Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and its civil-engineering applications. The main focus was on the use of GPR for the non-destructive assessment of roads, bridges and railways, as well as for the detection of utilities in urban areas. Several practical sessions took place. Discover the class scheduling, reported below!
Here is a document explaining how to reach Osijek and the Faculty of Civil Engineering. This document also includes some basic information about Osijek and suggestions for accommodation. A private bus was available for Trainers and Trainees, on 5 March 2017, to travel from Zagreb airport and city centre to Osijek. Moreover, the same private bus brought back Trainees and Trainers from Osijek to Zagreb airport and city centre on 10 March 2017 (see page 9 of the document).
Coordinators of the Training School were Prof. Damir Varevac (Faculty of Civil Engineering of Osijek, Croatia, TU1208 WG Member) and Prof. Lara Pajewski (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, TU1208 MC Chair).
Trainers were Prof. Lara Pajewski, Prof. Damir Varevac, Dr Sonia Santos Assuncao (Murphy Surveys, Ireland, TU1208 WG Member), Dr Kevin Banks (KB GPR Surveys, United Kingdom), Dr Simona Fontul (LNEC - Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Portugal, TU1208 MC Substitute Member), Prof. Miro Govedarica (Faculty of Technical Sciences of Novi Sad, Serbia, TU1208 MC Member), Prof. Ivica Guljaš (Faculty of Civil Engineering of Osijek, Croatia), Dr Aleksandar Ristic (Faculty of Technical Sciences of Novi Sad, Serbia, TU1208 MC Substitute Member), Prof. Tatjana Rukavina (University of Zagreb, Croatia, TU1208 WG Member) and Dr Carl Van Geem (BRRC - Belgian Road Research Center, Belgium, TU1208 WG Member).
Equipment used during practical sessions:
- Pulsed GPR and air-coupled/ground-coupled antennas by IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi, owned by the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Osijek, working at the following centre frequencies: 200 / 600 MHz (dual system), 900 MHz, 2 GHz.
- Pulsed GPR and air-coupled antennas by GSSI, owned by the University of Zagreb, working at the following centre frequencies: 1 GHz and 2.2 GHz.
- Pulsed GPR and ground-coupled antennas by GSSI (SIR 3000), owned by the University of Novi Sad, working at the following centre frequencies: 400 MHz and 900 MHz.
- RD8000 electromagnetic locator of utilities and GPS Trimble 5800 for geolocalisation, owned by the University of Novi Sad.
- Equipment for infrared and ultrasound inspections, owned by the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Osijek.
- Equipment for ambient-vibration measurements, owned by the Faculty of Civil engineering of Osijek.
Class Scheduling
Monday, 6 March 2017
Time | Trainer | Activity |
08:30 - 09:00 | Registration. | |
09:00 - 09:15 | Local Authorities | Welcome to participants. |
09:15 - 10:00 | S. Fontul | Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) basic principles, capabilities and limits. Applications of GPR in civil engineering. |
10:00 - 10:45 | L. Pajewski | |
10:45 - 11:00 | D. Varevac | GPR activities in the Osijek Faculty of Civil Engineering. |
11:00 - 11:30 | Tea & Coffee Break | |
11:30 - 12:30 | C. Van Geem | GPR applied to roads and bridges. |
12:30 - 13:00 | S. Fontul | GPR applied to railways. |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 - 14:45 | C. Van Geem | Pavement management. Combined use of GPR with complementary non-destructive testing techniques. |
14:50 - 15:35 | M. Govedarica A. Ristic | GPR applied to detection and localisation of utilities in urban areas. Guidelines and good practice in Serbia. |
15:35 - 16:00 | K. Banks | The point of view of a private end-user: Overview on GPR services offered by KB GPR Surveys, in United Kingdom. Case studies. |
16:00 - 16:30 |
| Tea & Coffee Break |
16:30 - 16:45 | S. Fontul | GPR applied to airports. |
16:45 - 17:10 | S. Santos Assuncao | The point of view of a private end-user: Overview on GPR services offered by Murphy Surveys, in Ireland. Case studies. |
17:10 - 17:30 | T. Rukavina | GPR activities in Zagreb University. |
17:30 - 18:00 | All | Discussion. |
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
Time | Trainer | Activity |
08:30 - 09:15 | L. Pajewski | Choice of GPR equipment for different applications. GPR system performance compliance. |
09:15 - 09:40 | S. Fontul | An in-depth look into structure and function of pavement structures. |
09:40 - 10:40 | M. Govedarica A. Ristic | GPR applied to the detection and localisation of utilities in urban areas: More details and advanced case studies. |
10:40 - 11:00 | Tea & Coffee Break | |
11:00 - 12:00 | K. Banks | The point of view of a private end-user: Advanced case studies by KB GPR Surveys. |
12:00 - 13:00 | S. Santos Assuncao | The point of view of a private end-user: Advanced case studies by Murphy Surveys. |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 - 16:00 | All Trainers. Activity coordinator: D. Varevac | Practical Session: Use of GPR on a 100 m long section of the main road, in front of the University building. Evaluation of pavement thicknesses. Detection and localisation of utilities. The road section will be secured and we will have the support of Osijek Road Service and Traffic Police. |
16:00 - 16:30 |
| Tea & Coffee Break |
16:30 - 18:30 | C. Van Geem | Practical Session: GPR data processing - Roads. |
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Time | Trainer | Activity |
09:00 - 10:00 | L. Pajewski | Electromagnetic modelling for GPR applications. Introduction to freeware electromagnetic simulators developed in TU1208. |
10:00 - 11:00 | C. Van Geem | Combined use of GPR and deflection measurement devices, on roads. |
11:00 - 11:30 | Tea & Coffee Break | |
11:30 - 12:15 | C. Van Geem | Structural evaluation of existing pavements based on deflection measurements and GPR data. |
12:15 - 13:00 | C. Van Geem | Practical Session: Backcalculation of E-moduli and evaluation of remaining life of road structures, by using the freeware tool Qualidim. |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 - 16:00 | All Trainers. Activity coordinator: D. Varevac | Practical Session: Use of GPR on a secured section of a tramway, with ballast (5 min walk from the University). |
16:00 - 16:30 |
| Tea & Coffee Break |
16:30 - 18:00 | C. Van Geem | Pavement management. |
19:30 - 21:00 | Big Band Jazz concert, in the University. |
Time | Trainer | Activity |
08:30 - 09:00 | S. Fontul | An in-depth look into structure and function of railway structures. |
09:00 - 10:00 | S. Fontul | Combined use of GPR and other techniques for track-condition evaluation, on railways. |
10:00 - 11:00 | S. Fontul | Practical Session: GPR data processing - Railways. |
11:00 - 11:30 | Tea & Coffee Break | |
11:30 - 12:30 |
| Poster Session |
12:30 - 13:00 | S. Fontul | GPR applied to airports: Advanced case studies. |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 - 16:00 | All Trainers. Activity coordinator: D. Varevac (GPR) and I. Guljas (other techniques) | Practical Session: Use of GPR on a prestressed concrete pedestrian bridge, over the railway station, nearby the University. Use of infrared and ultrasound inspection techniques. Ambient-vibration measurements. |
16:00 - 16:30 |
| Tea & Coffee Break |
16:30 - 17:00 | D. Varevac, L. Pajewski | Final discussion and closing. |
Thursday, 9 March 2017
A Poster Session will take place on Thursday, with posters prepared by Trainees to present their research activities.
Training School Grants
for PhD students & early-career investigators
The COST Action TU1208 offered 10 x 400,00 EUR grants to PhD Students and Early-Career Investigators willing to attend the Training School. The COST Action TU1208 is proud to offer free courses: this Training School did not have a registration fee and Trainees from all Countries are welcome to attend for free.
Rules for Grant Applications:
COST Training School Grants represent a contribution to cover travel, meal and accommodation expenses. According to COST rules, only Trainees from COST Countries and from approved institutions in Near-Neighbour Countries can apply for a Grant.
To submit a Grant Application, the following items had to be sent to school@gpradar.eu:
- Curriculum vitae including the list of publications.
- Motivation letter written and signed by the Applicant.
- Support letter written and signed by the PhD Supervisor (for PhD Students) or by a colleague (for Early-Career Investigators, i.e., researchers who received their PhD no more than 8 years ago).
The applications will be examined by the School Coordinators and an answer will be givien within a few days. Please be aware of the following rules:
- Trainees can apply for a Grant if their institute AND residence is at least 100 km from Osijek.
- Trainees whose Institute AND/OR residence is from 100 to 300 km from Osijek can apply for a reduced Grant of 300 EUR.
- Trainees whose Institute AND residence is farther than 300 km from Osijek can apply for a full Grant of 400 EUR.
- Local Trainees, as well as Trainees from IPC and Trainees from NNC working in Institutions not participating in TU1208, are very welcome to attend the training school for free, but they cannot apply for a Grant.
- Granted Trainees will have to anticipate all their expenses. During the school they will have to sign the Attendance List everyday. After the school they will have to write a report, to be submitted by 9 April 2017. The Grant will be paid after the school and after the submission of the report.
The selection of Granted applications is based on the COST key principles of excellence and inclusiveness. COST is supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon2020 and its policy contributes to the "Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation" Horizon 2020 goal. To identify excellent applicants, we ask applicants to submit a curriculum vitae, a motivation letter and a support letter. At the same time, we aim at achieving inclusiveness. This objective is developed by COST around three main elements: support to Early-Career Investigators, fostering of gender balance and support to researchers coming from less-research intensive COST Member Countries.
List of Granted Trainees:
- 1. Salih Serkan Artagan (Anadolu University, Turkey, TU1208 MC Substitute Member) - 400 EUR
- 2. Julijana Bojadjieva (University Ss Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) - 400 EUR
- 3. Vladislav Borecky (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic, TU1208 WG Member) - 400 EUR
- 4. Željko Bugarinović (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) - 300 EUR
- 5. Michał Dąbrowski (Nicolau Copernicus University, Poland, TU1208 WG Member) - 400 EUR
- 6. Melda Kucukdemirci (Istanbul University, Turkey, TU1208 WG Member) - 400 EUR
- Miomir Miljković (University of Niš, Serbia, TU1208 WG Member) - 400 EUR - Declined
- 7. Mezgeen A. Rasol (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain) - 400 EUR
- 8. Silvestar Sesnic (FESB - University of Split, Croatia) - Near Neigbour Country
- 9. Milan Vrtunski (University of Novi Sad, Serbia, TU1208 WG Member) - 300 EUR
- 10. Hossain Zadhoush (The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom) - 400 EUR
List of further Trainees registered to the Training School:
- 11. Ivana Barišić (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 12. Sanja Dimter (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 13. Josipa Domitrović (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
- 14. David Gergely Pall (University of Szeged, Hungary)
- 15. Jelena Kaluđer (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 16. Pavel Lopour (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic)
- 17. Jelena Matijević (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 18. Kruno Minažek (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 19. Irena Ištoka Otković (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 20. Filp Ruška (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
- 21. Zdenko Samaržija (Free lancer historian, Croatia)
- 22. Ninoslav Tomljanovic (Institut IG+ d.d. - Regional Center Osijek - Geotechnical department, Croatia)
- 23. Özgür Yurdakul (Anadolu University, Turkey)
- 24. Martina Zagvozda (Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek, Croatia)
Register to the school! Send an email to school@gpradar.eu
Facebook Group of the Training School:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/254209138322371/
For information concerning COST Action TU1208 and TU1208 GPR Association, please take contact with the Chair of the Action and President of the Association, Prof. Lara Pajewski. From 4 April 2013 to 3 October 2017, this website was supported by COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology - COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme Horizon2020. TU1208 Members are deeply grateful to COST for funding and supporting COST Action TU1208. As of 4 October 2017, this website is supported by TU1208 GPR Association, a non-profit association stemming from COST Action TU1208.
