Professor Albert Rodger, head of Aberdeen University’s engineering department, has won a Silver Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering for his outstanding contribution to British engineering. The professor invented GRANIT (Ground Anchorage Integrity Testing), the world’s first non-destructive testing system for ground anchors.
The system was developed from observing the effect of tunnel blasting on ground anchors in the Penmaenbach and Pen-y-Clip tunnels on the A55 in North Wales. The Aberdeen University team discovered a relationship between the load on the anchor and the way it responds to dynamic impulses from blast waves.
GRANIT applies a single axial impulse to the head of the anchor it is testing and uses a neural network to analyse the "signature" of the response.
Professor Rodger is now collecting data from around the world, and will extend the technique to identify debonding, corrosion and grout voids.
He said the Silver Medal was a "great honour", and the award would give the team "significant encouragement to pursue vigorously our strategy of developing innovative artificial intelligence equipment for the construction industry".
UK contractor AMEC Civil Engineering has taken out a licence on GRANIT, and a US launch is planned for October.
