For a marine survey at Burghead, NDTScan brings the methods and the access together: ultrasonic thickness on steel from the boat or the foreshore, ground penetrating radar and condition recording on concrete, drone coverage above the waterline and ROV below it. Burghead harbour appears in the Department for Transport's freight statistics as a minor port, so commercial cargo still crosses its quays. Those structures are what NDTScan measures.
Steel at Burghead is measured on a grid the engineer can repeat: remaining wall thickness on piles and beams with calibrated ultrasonic gauges, corrosion mapping where thinning is uneven, pitting depth at the splash zone and section loss at the mud line. Concrete is mapped for reinforcement and cover, tested for carbonation, chlorides and strength, and recorded unit by unit for cracking, spalling and delamination. The readings go on a drawing, not in a list.
NDTScan concentrates most of its effort after the site visit. Thickness readings are checked against the original sections, corrosion maps are drawn, radar data is post-processed and the concrete condition record is cross-checked against the photographs. The Burghead report is written for the engineer or estates team that has to act on it, and it is written to stand up in front of an insurer, a funder or a tribunal.
One rule applies to every marine structure at Burghead: no repair, sleeving, jacketing, cathodic protection scheme or replacement should be specified until the structure has been measured and the readings interpreted by a competent specialist. Marine repairs are expensive and access is the largest part of the cost. Measuring first is the cheapest part of getting the repair right.
Scan before you repair. That is the standing advice for every Burghead client, and the reason NDTScan reports what the concrete contains before anyone specifies what to do about it.
Services at Burghead
- Ultrasonic Thickness Testing Remaining wall thickness and corrosion mapping on steel piles, sheet piles, jetty beams, dolphins, lock gates, pontoons and hulls at Burghead, measured on a repeatable grid from the boat, the deck or the foreshore.
- Concrete Condition Surveys Reinforcement and cover mapping by ground penetrating radar, carbonation, chloride and strength testing, and unit by unit condition recording on quay walls, sea walls, breakwaters, pier decks and slipways.
- Drone and ROV Inspection Drone survey of decks, fenders, ladders and superstructure above the waterline, and inspection-class ROV coverage of the piles and walls that stay submerged, all located on one plan of the Burghead structure.
Marine Work at Burghead
Typical Burghead instructions: ultrasonic thickness surveys of sheet pile quays and tubular jetty piles; corrosion mapping of lock gates and dolphins; condition surveys of concrete sea walls, breakwater crowns and promenades; reinforcement mapping and strength testing before repair; drone inspection of deck and superstructure; ROV inspection of submerged piles; and independent reports for insurers after storm damage or vessel impact.
NDTScan also surveys marine structures at The Forth, Glensanda, Sullom Voe, Aberdeen, Cairnryan and The Clyde and every other port and harbour in Scotland. The service is described in full on the marine surveys page.
About NDTScan
NDTScan is a specialist non-destructive testing company based in Oxford and led by Neil Smuts. Its marine work brings together ultrasonic thickness testing and corrosion mapping of steel, concrete scanning and condition surveys, drone inspection and ROV inspection, delivered from its own survey boat or from land. NDTScan is a Level 4 UKCSS Operator, the first in the UK to achieve that certification, and it attends Burghead and the whole of the UK coast from its Oxford base.