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(dramatic music)

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- [Narrator] The information associated

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with a road surface type

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is essential for efficient
pavement management prediction

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of skid numbers and overall performance.

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While surface type is
already a data element

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in Pavement Analyst, it
lacks the necessary accuracy.

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The Texas Department of Transportation

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with researchers from the Center
for Transportation Research

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used advanced technologies

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to predict pavement surface
types more accurately

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than current techniques.

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- In recent years, TxDOT has implemented

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a very comprehensive
pavement management system.

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In Texas, it's called Pavement Analyst.

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- And it distinguishes between
asphalt/concrete pavements,

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continuously reinforced
concrete pavements,

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and then jointed concrete pavements.

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And this distinction is really
to allow characterization

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of specific stresses that we
measure on these surfaces.

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- [Jorge] Part of this system
contains a very large database

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that contains the stresses and
ride quality of all sections

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on the network that TxDOT manages.

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The system is used by
both pavement engineers

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and maintenance engineers
from every district

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to develop the so-called four-year
pavement management plan.

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And this plan is the
one that they developed

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to assign the treatment type

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that each section has to be subject to

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in the next four years.

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- [Andre] The researchers,

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they developed both hardware
and software systems

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for surface type prediction.

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On the hardware side,

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this included integrated laser scanners,

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high-speed cameras and lighting systems

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to capture high-resolution
pavement profiles and images

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at highway speeds.

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And then on the software side,

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they developed algorithms
to analyze these data

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using machine learning techniques

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towards surface type prediction.

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- First, it differentiates
it's flexible or rigid.

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Within rigid pavements,

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it differentiates the type of finishing

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that those rigid pavements have.

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And for flexible pavements,

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it differentiates the
type of mix that is used,

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whether it's a dense mix or a
fine mix or a open mix, etc.

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- The old method of identifying
surface types of pavements

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required manually looking up the data

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in different textbook
databases, all right.

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So we would look Site
Manager in the QCA database.

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We would scan the bid item lists,

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look at the project descriptions in TxDOT.

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And this information was
not always accurate, right.

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Because the mixture type can
change during construction,

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and often the districts will
perform in-house overlays

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of seal coats that are
very difficult to track.

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So this system really provides us a means

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of ensuring consistency for
better asset management.

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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.