In my day we just bought a length of chain. Don't remember the weight. It was easier to hear than a multi-chain rig another crew used. We also used a steel rod (length of rebar) which I preferred. Basically like a hammer that can used standing up and while walking. The ASTM standard for sounding may have more information.

I used to use a 6’ piece of chain and would sweep it across the deck. When I get home tomorrow I’ll measure the link. The chain has been hanging in my garage for the last 20+ years. I remember some guys I worked with years ago had small lengths of chain attached to a 2x4.

I like the idea of the rebar, thanks for that!

I would be curious what size of link you used bridgebuster. If I do this, I only want to do it once instead of making several trips to the hardware store.

I've used a chunk of 25M (#8) x 5' long bar, and it works better than a chain. Using a chain can be faster for locating areas of delamination, but the bar works well.

Dik

I purchased one of these about 20+ years ago. Works real well - and very quick. Especially good for overhead soundings:




From Sounding Technology: Link

Not associated with them - just a happy user.

Ingenuity, that does remind me we used a crayon on a stick to mark out the area. Saved bending over. It might have been one of those old-timie wooden sticks used to hold chalk for teachers to write high on a blackboard.

@BridgeEI - 2 x 1.5 x 0.375

If I find myself needing to chain drag a bridge deck again I think I will look into some sort of Infrared Scanning.

30 years ago I was working as a resident engineer on a bridge rehab with a lot of deck patching. The scan was extremely accurate.

bridgebuster you used Infrared Scanning back in the 80's? I didn't know it had been commercially available that long.

OSU - yes, infrared scanning. Construction started around this time in 1988; the scanning was probably done about a year or so earlier (don't have the drawings in front of me). I saw photos of the operation: A van with a scanner mounted on a 15' pole. It had to travel at slow speed. The scanning was done by Donohue Associates from Wisconsin (that name might ring a bell with some of my fellow old-timers). Oddly enough, a couple of years later, the fellow who did the scanning and I wound up in the same company but different locations. The result of our respective companies being bought and sold.