Material
Technologies, Inc. Successfully Conducts Beta Tests
on California, New York, and Ohio Bridges
Monday September 27, 9:30 am ET
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2004--Material
Technologies, Inc. (MATECH) (OTCBB:MTNA - News) today
announced that it has successfully completed beta tests
(testing before commercial release) of its crack detection
Electrochemical Fatigue Sensor (EFS) technology on several
bridges. These tests successfully demonstrated its value
for bridge inspection.
Four bridges were tested: two in California: Culver
City, a suburb of Los Angeles, and Sacramento; one in
New York, in Babylon on Long Island; and one in Ohio,
near Dayton.
The Ohio Bridge has known cracks, and their presence
clearly showed up in our EFS data. The Sacramento bridge
also has known cracks, which also clearly showed up.
Several "truth specimens," thin pieces of
bridge steel, some of which had built-in but not visible
cracks and some without, as part of a blind test, were
adhered to the steel structure. EFS accurately identified
those with cracks.
For each of these bridges the EFS sensors were placed
at presumed fatigue-critical locations, i.e., those
areas most likely to have fatigue cracks, and a heavy
truck or trains traversed the bridge to induce significant
loads. Except for Culver City, each bridge also had
strain gauges installed to monitor stress levels at
these critical locations. Each bridge was cross-checked
using an eddy current non-destructive test to verify
the EFS findings. In one location, the eddy current
did not find a crack found by the EFS.
No cracks were detected in either the Culver City or
New York bridges by EFS or the eddy current. Since their
measured stresses were well below levels that would
induce fatigue cracks, the absence of cracks in each
bridge was not unexpected.
"These beta tests are a very important step in
our development, demonstrating the value of EFS technology
for bridge inspection, and we are very pleased to have
the interest and support of the cognizant engineering
authorities. These efforts are in preparation for the
inspection of the bridges in Pennsylvania, as previously
announced in the press release dated December 9, 2003,"
said Robert M. Bernstein, Matech's President and Chief
Executive Officer.
MATECH is engaged in the research and development of
metal fatigue detection, measurement, and monitoring
technologies. As such, the Company has developed a suite
of devices for the non-destructive testing (NDT) of
metal fatigue and monitoring of structural integrity.
These technologies can be applied in virtually any industry
in which metal is a significant structural component;
i.e.: Bridges, Aerospace, Turbine Engines, Oil &
Gas, Construction, Shipping, etc.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this document looking
forward in time involve risks and uncertainties, and
therefore actual results may be materially different.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ include
activity levels in the securities markets and other
risk factors such as customer order rates, cancellations,
late delivery of customer components, late system delivery,
production delays, dependence upon certain customers,
dependencies upon key executives, competition, product
liability risk, control by management, and other risks
detailed in the applicable U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission requirements.
Contact:
Material Technologies, Inc.
Robert M. Bernstein, 310-208-5589
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