When Roger Shireman, Project Specialist first heard about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis , a couple of things came to his mind.

"I was in shock that such a big bridge collapsed and had remorse for the victims," said Shireman, project specialist for Southern Radar Imaging.

The Athens-based company provides bridge inspection services that go below the surface by using radar technology to detect cracks and other deterioration in bridges. Southern Radar also can find other things invisible to the naked eye, such as buried utilities and human remains.

Kenneth Schaus, company founder and president, said he began looking for technology that could see inside concrete while working as a nuclear assurance engineer at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant.

"There were thousands of holes (in the concrete) during the Unit 1 restart," Schaus said.

He found a New Hampshire company that provided ground penetrating radar, or GPR, technology, which provides internal inspection of concrete without requiring X-ray technology, which can shut down other work nearby.

"I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread," Schaus said. "What caught my eye was, you can see the infrastructure of this country just deteriorating. I believed (the technology) had potential.

"This is a process that I thought was timely, I thought could be useful."

That was before the Aug. 1 bridge collapse in Minneapolis . Schaus founded Southern Radar last August, pulling Shireman, whom he worked with at Browns Ferry, out of retirement.

Here's how the technology works: An antenna is mounted on a three-wheel buggy that is pushed across the bridge, analyzing at 2-foot intervals. The device collects data that are interpreted by specialty software to show deteriorated areas.

Schaus said after the collapse he contacted the Minnesota Department of Transportation and offered to help analyze an adjacent bridge that officials were concerned about, but he hasn't gotten a response.

With recent reports showing that more than 25 percent of the nation's bridges need major repairs or maintenance, Schaus knows there's plenty of work to be done.

"The state can't go out and do it because it's expensive," he said.

Southern Radar has four full-time and two part-time employees. Ken Schaus is President, Matthew Wilbanks is Project Manager, and Johnny McCulley is Office Manager.

The company recently got a contract to analyze a bridge in Selma. Most of the business's work has been in Alabama , but Southern Radar also has been called to Nashville, North Carolina and West Virginia. Other states have contacted the company, showing an interest in using GPR to survey bridges.

"We are working hand-in-hand with the state to resolve the issues with the bridges, to ensure that the bridges are safe," Schaus said.

- Huntsvillie Times