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(graphics swoosh)

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(mellow music)

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- [Narrator] Traffic Speed
Deflection Devices, or TSDDs,

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reduce safety hazards associated

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with traditional stop
and go weight devices

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by measuring conditions

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while traveling at normal
speeds on the road.

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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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has incorporated TSDD data
from over 1,000 miles of travel

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into a tool for project level

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pavement management applications.

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- We're trying to make better decisions

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on how to fix roadways.

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We want to do the right
fix at the right time,

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so for that, to make that possible,

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we've gotta know the
strength of the highway.

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We've got more and more
trucks on our roads

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that are tearing things up.

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We need to know the strength
so we know how to fix them

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and how to strengthen them.

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To the regular, just general
person in the public,

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there'll not be as many repairs

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and as lane closures as
you're seeing right now.

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- The current technology we are using

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is called the falling
weight deflectometer,

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that requires traffic control

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and then a stop and go operation.

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So this new technology
bring in the potential

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to improve the safety,
not to the general public,

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but also our operation team,
and then be more efficient

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since it doesn't really
require stop and go,

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it runs at the highway speed.

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- [Tom] TxDOT, on an annual basis,

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rates the conditions of its roadways.

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They rate it by the amount
of cracks in the roadway,

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how rough the roads are,

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but they don't have any
structural strength data.

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How strong is the road?

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- [Jenny] The traffic
speed deflection device

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is a new technology that
introduced to US market

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about, like a decade ago.

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Different from the traditional

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deflection data collection technology,

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this new technology
can go at highway speed

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and collecting continuous deflection data.

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- [Tom] These devices will give you

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the same information at 60 miles an hour.

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So with this device, you
can cover 400 miles a day

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with a falling weight, that
would take you 10 days to do.

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So it really makes things faster

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and it makes things safer.

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- [Jenny] It allows engineers,
look both, surface conditions

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and the structured conditions

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to make pavement treatment decisions.

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It opens the possibilities to utilize

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the structure condition
data for the entire network.

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- The benefit to the public

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is that providing this information,

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TxDOT will be able to
make better decisions

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about how to repair the roads.

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In the background, TxDOT
spends a lot of time

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maintaining roads

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and they do some very thin
treatments like seal coats,

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and the road may look good,

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but when they come and do
the strength measurement,

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you see it's not good.

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So they can now make better decisions

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on how to do long-term
repairs to highways.

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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.