1 00:00:00,802 --> 00:00:03,719 (low-pitched note) 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,020 - [Narrator] When pavements go bad 3 00:00:10,020 --> 00:00:11,870 in certain sections of a roadway, 4 00:00:11,870 --> 00:00:14,790 it's been common to completely reconstruct 5 00:00:14,790 --> 00:00:16,410 the entire corridor. 6 00:00:16,410 --> 00:00:18,980 It's costly and time consuming. 7 00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:21,490 But thanks to a series of nondestructive, 8 00:00:21,490 --> 00:00:23,400 forensic evaluation tools 9 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,860 that are able to peer below the surface, 10 00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:29,050 alternative and targeted construction and repairs 11 00:00:29,050 --> 00:00:31,710 have the ability to save time and money. 12 00:00:31,710 --> 00:00:35,070 - [James] We were looking at ways to speed up construction 13 00:00:35,070 --> 00:00:36,640 and provide the same quality. 14 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,260 We hear a lot of complaints for road construction, 15 00:00:39,260 --> 00:00:41,110 so it was really important for us to 16 00:00:42,390 --> 00:00:45,220 minimize the impact to the traveling public. 17 00:00:45,220 --> 00:00:47,880 - What we wanted to do with these tools was go in 18 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,450 and evaluate the condition of the existing pavement. 19 00:00:51,450 --> 00:00:55,030 Show which sections, structurally, were sound 20 00:00:55,030 --> 00:00:58,110 and could be reused and reincorporated into the 21 00:00:58,110 --> 00:01:01,500 new pavement structure to give the designer options. 22 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:03,650 There's some different tools that we have 23 00:01:03,650 --> 00:01:07,140 that look at different aspects of the design. 24 00:01:07,140 --> 00:01:09,570 So we have our ground penetrating radar 25 00:01:09,570 --> 00:01:11,920 and we also collect high definition videos. 26 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,250 So we have a video of the entire project 27 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:16,290 and we can look for distresses 28 00:01:16,290 --> 00:01:18,690 or problem areas on a quick scan. 29 00:01:18,690 --> 00:01:20,980 We have structural evaluation tools 30 00:01:20,980 --> 00:01:22,700 like the falling weight deflectometer. 31 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:26,850 We can go in and do an actual structural evaluation 32 00:01:26,850 --> 00:01:28,760 of the pavement layers with that device. 33 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,450 - [James] The idea is to identify 34 00:01:30,450 --> 00:01:33,104 what the existing structure, where it's at, 35 00:01:33,104 --> 00:01:37,110 and then determine the best strategy to move forward 36 00:01:37,110 --> 00:01:39,710 with a reconstruction or in this case, 37 00:01:39,710 --> 00:01:40,600 for State Highway 6, 38 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,433 we were looking at widening State Highway 6, 39 00:01:43,433 --> 00:01:47,049 and you know, optimizing the approach. 40 00:01:47,049 --> 00:01:48,690 - On State Highway 6, 41 00:01:48,690 --> 00:01:53,370 we did an extensive LiDAR survey of all of the overpasses 42 00:01:53,370 --> 00:01:55,320 because we wanted to look at clearances. 43 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,730 If we widen or we're going to have horizontal 44 00:01:57,730 --> 00:02:00,430 or vertical clearances with the bridges that were there 45 00:02:00,430 --> 00:02:02,620 or would we need to reconstruct those bridges. 46 00:02:02,620 --> 00:02:04,393 And another thing that we're looking at is 47 00:02:04,393 --> 00:02:08,350 how to set up traffic control closures. 48 00:02:08,350 --> 00:02:11,760 So you have to look at balancing how I close it, 49 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,230 how much it delays the traveling public. 50 00:02:14,230 --> 00:02:15,850 And that's one of the things that we're doing 51 00:02:15,850 --> 00:02:19,310 in this project along with the pavement evaluation. 52 00:02:19,310 --> 00:02:21,790 - So on State Highway 6, we're gonna have to move traffic 53 00:02:21,790 --> 00:02:23,481 to the frontage roads at some point. 54 00:02:23,481 --> 00:02:25,780 And some of their research helped us determine 55 00:02:25,780 --> 00:02:30,139 that most of the frontage roads are in really good shape, 56 00:02:30,139 --> 00:02:32,520 but there were certain portions that are going to 57 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,200 need to have a complete rehabilitation 58 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,910 before we turn traffic over to them. 59 00:02:36,910 --> 00:02:38,920 If not, what would have happened is 60 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:40,876 we would've turned traffic under the frontage roads. 61 00:02:40,876 --> 00:02:43,960 Basically, those roads would've fallen apart 62 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,840 before the project could have been completed. 63 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:48,290 - We're saving resources 64 00:02:48,290 --> 00:02:50,480 if we can save the pavement that's there. 65 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,350 We don't have to go out and bring in new materials. 66 00:02:54,350 --> 00:02:58,420 And so that has a lot of economic and environmental savings. 67 00:02:58,420 --> 00:02:59,470 And also, time. 68 00:02:59,470 --> 00:03:01,550 So if we're really talking about accelerating, 69 00:03:01,550 --> 00:03:04,640 if you can reuse anything that's there 70 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,570 and reincorporate it into the new, 71 00:03:06,570 --> 00:03:10,210 you save those times just off the bat. 72 00:03:10,210 --> 00:03:11,390 - [Narrator] For more information, 73 00:03:11,390 --> 00:03:13,870 and to find the publications for this project, 74 00:03:13,870 --> 00:03:16,740 please visit the TxDOT research library 75 00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:18,203 at the link shown below.