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This paper describes the results of research conducted at the Transportation Research Centre with the focus on the use of infrared thermography regarding inspections of concrete bridges in the Czech Republic. Infrared thermography has a potential to detect subsurface delaminations before spalling develops, and could be used as a tool to enhance the visual inspection of concrete bridges. This method has several advantages, e.g. measurement is non-contact, non-destructive and is not time consuming. The main aim of the presented research is to evaluate the possibility of infrared thermography to detect defects on bridges in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a numerical model of the main phase (370-335 Ma) of the Variscan orogeny in the central part of the Bohemian Massif. The crustal deformation in our model is driven by radiogenic heating in the felsic lower crust, the lateral contraction of the Moldanubian domain due to convergence with the Saxothuringian plate (in the early stage of orogeny), and the indentation of the Brunovistulian basement into the weakened orogenic root (in the late stage). Our model explains the main geological events inferred from the geological record in the Moldanubian domain: formation of the orogenic plateau and onset of sedimentation at about 345 Ma, rapid exhumation of the orogenic lower crust at about 340 Ma and subsurface flow of crustal material (∼ 335 Ma and later). The results of our modeling suggest that delamination of the lithosphere, often invoked to explain the high temperature metamorphism in the orogenic lower crust of the Bohemian Massif, is not the only physical mechanism which can transfer a sufficient amount of heat to the crust to trigger its overturn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]