Technology
14 Feb 01
'Smart' concrete meter allows remote monitoring
USA engineers in Pennsylvania have developed a 'smart' maturity meter which can measure the hardness of newly poured concrete and signal by telephone when the material has reached the required strength. A prototype has been developed by engineers at Penn State University; it is the result of integrating new digital telephone technology with an existing concrete monitoring concept, and the developers say it will save money in reduced cost of quality control and assurance testing, as well as being cheaper to make. Sensor wires embedded in the newly poured concrete are connected to the maturity meter, and in turn to a digital cellphone. By dialling the phone, engineers can download the digital data and use software they have developed to convert the temperature data into a maturity rating.
