Patent ID: 7548192

Claim:
A method of mapping steel reinforcements in a concrete foundation of a telecommunications tower, comprising: a. propagating waves from the top of the concrete foundation, downwardly to the bottom of the concrete foundation, and back to the top of the concrete foundation; b. determining the depth of the concrete foundation by computing the time required for one or more wave frequencies to travel from the top of the concrete foundation to the bottom of the concrete foundation and back to the top of the concrete foundation; c. transmitting radar signals into one section of the concrete foundation; d. collecting reflection data in response to the radar signals being transmitted into the one section on the concrete foundation; e. determining the general location of steel reinforcements in the one section of the concrete foundation based on the collected reflection data; f. based on the determined general location of steel reinforcements in the concrete foundation, surgically cutting into the one section of the concrete foundation and exposing at least some of the steel reinforcements in the one section of the concrete foundation; g. measuring the size of the exposed steel reinforcements and measuring the spacing between the exposed steel reinforcements; h. repeating the above steps for one or more other sections of the concrete foundation and measuring the size and spacing of exposed steel reinforcements in one or more other sections of the concrete foundation; and i. based on the exposed steel reinforcements and the measurements taken, mapping the steel reinforcements throughout the sections of the concrete foundation of the telecommunication tower by illustrating the size of the steel reinforcements, the spacing between the steel reinforcements, and the location of the steel reinforcements relative to one or more selected dimensions of the concrete foundation.