Establishing a Rational Inspection Criteria for Composite Materials Used in Waterfront Structures

The recently released ASCE Manual of Engineering Practice No. 130—Waterfront Facilities Inspection and Assessment (MOP 130) has quickly become the standard reference when it comes to above-water and underwater inspections. The manual covers a wide range of issues related to these inspections, including inspection types, service life estimation, reporting of inspections, structure types, materials, causes of damage, and specialized inspection techniques. There are presently no specific inspection criteria for plastic composite structural members, including ratings of different type and size of damage, similar to what is provided for more traditionally used materials such as timber, reinforced concrete, or steel. The goal of this paper is to develop and provide a suggestion for ratings that can be used in inspection of plastic composite members.

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