BDI Company Background & Experience

In the late 1980’s, two bridge research projects were conducted at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The first was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and required the implementation of an efficient technique for developing highway bridge load ratings based on load test results. The second project was funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and furthered this initial research to include recording the dynamic behavior of various bridge types. Approximately 50 highway bridges were tested and evaluated during the course of these two projects, and hardware and software delivered to each of the sponsors.

Based on the results of this extensive experience, the key personnel from the two projects founded Bridge Diagnostics, Inc. (BDI) in October, 1989. BDI has gone on to test and evaluate another approximately 200 structures around the U.S., Asia, and Australia. While most of these tests have been conducted on highway bridges, BDI has run many tests on railroad bridges, lock gates, and amusement park rides. Some of the clients that BDI has worked with are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York DOT, Seattle DOT, Louisiana DOT, and many government municipalities and universities.

The individual members of BDI have had a great amount of field testing and structural evaluation experience. The President, George Goble, Ph.D, P.E., first began field testing bridges in 1972 on a research project funded by the Ohio DOT in which 10 structures were tested. He also led the project that developed the Pile Driving Analyzer, and helped found Pile Dynamics, Inc. and Goble Rausche Likins and Associates, Inc. (GRL), of Cleveland, Ohio. He was on the faculty at Case Western Reserve University for 15 years and is Professor Emeritus of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Jeff Schulz, P.E. is the Chief Testing Engineer and a co-founder of BDI. He was responsible for the development of the instrumentation and performing the tests on both the PennDOT and FHWA bridge projects. In all, Mr. Schulz has supervised the testing operations on more than 250 structures around the U.S., Asia, Australia, and India. He is also responsible for the development of the Structural Testing System (BDI-STS).

In addition to the extensive field experience of the firm members, Brett Commander, P.E., another co-founder and Chief Analysis Engineer, adds a significant dimension with his analytical modeling and correlation abilities. His experience includes the modeling, analysis correlation, and load rating for the previously mentioned structures, and development of the BDI-Structural Analysis and Correlation software (WinGen, WinGRF, & WinSAC).

In addition to providing load testing and analysis services, BDI manufactures the BDI-STS which has been developed specifically for the purpose of testing highway bridges and other structures subjected to live load. Several customers in the U.S., Asia, and Australia are currently using the new STS to perform their own testing and evaluation. In addition to the STS, BDI has implemented several long-term monitoring systems and developed a laser-based overhead clearance measurement system for collecting clearances at highways speeds.