Several linear cracks were found on the slab at a telephone switching facility in Tennessee. The plan specifications required a certain minimum slab thickness at this facility that housed several racks of batteries, each weighing approximately 300 lbs.

Ground Penetrating Radar evaluation of the slab in a number of the battery-holding rooms was required to provide information as to the cause of the failure.

From the GPR data collected in the areas our GPR specialists were able to determine that the fractures were caused by stress concentrations along lines of weakness in the slab. This allowed us to make valuable recommendations for properly distributing the load over the entire slab, thus eliminating the areas of stress concentration.