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(logo whooshes)
(intense music)

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- [Narrator] Weigh stations
are an important part

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of the trucking industry and vital

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for the safe transportation
of goods across the nation.

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Usually installed in roads,

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the idea of a weigh-in-motion
system constructed

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on a bridge is being researched.

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This could potentially make
stations safer to install,

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less disruptive to traffic,
and longer lasting.

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Working with the Texas A &
M Transportation Institute,

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the Texas Department of Transportation

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is looking to identify specifications

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for a bridge weigh-in system
including truck gross weight,

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travel speed, and a type of vehicle.

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- Trucks cause the most damage
to pavements and bridges.

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Therefore, acquiring
truck data allows TxDOT

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to proactively maintain these assets.

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- We have an existing
weigh-in-motion system.

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Typically that's mounted
in the pavement itself

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and as trucks drive over that,

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it registers how heavy that axle is,

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the spacing between 'em,
those things are exposed

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to the abuse, the traffic pounding on 'em.

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And they're costly to install,

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they're costly to maintain, and
it requires traffic control.

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We always look for ways to eliminate that.

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- [Stefan] This project
developed a methodology

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for transforming a bridge
into a weigh-in-motion system.

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This included recommendations
for our sensors to be attached

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to a bridge and for data
processing algorithms.

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The key findings of the project

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are to characterize the truck traffic

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using bridge weigh-in-motion system

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including a number of axles,
axle spacing, with speed,

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the axle weight, the cross vehicle weight,

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and the truck classification.

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- This project was in coordination
with Texas A & M and TTI.

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They actually built a bridge
to take their pest truck

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and this bridge that
they knew every aspect of

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and start calibrating their instruments

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and load it up with some
concrete blocks and such,

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weigh it with more traditional scales

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and then start running the truck over this

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so they could get everything developed

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before they went out and actually put this

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on real bridges with real
traffic going over 'em.

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- [Stefan] We essentially
developed a method

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for transforming a bridge
into a scale to weigh trucks.

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- It's certainly a very
promising concept because of

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the things I mentioned,
the lower cost, the safety.

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In the future, with some improvement

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in some of the software aspect of this,

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this could really even be
like a law enforcement tool.

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And then lastly, there
is a little side benefit

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'cause we can use it to tell
us how the bridge is responding

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to these truckloads
that are going over it.

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- [Narrator] For more information

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and to find the publication
for this project,

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please visit the TxDOT Research Library

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at the link shown below.