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(swish sound)

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- [Narrator] Texas's oil
and gas industry is booming,

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but the development of these
new energy sources often occurs

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in regions accessible only
by roads never designed

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to handle the heavy loads associated

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with fully loaded semi trucks.

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The Texas Department of Transportation

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with the help of the Texas
A&M Transportation Institute

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recently evaluated new pavement designs

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for implementation in TxDOT
districts across the state.

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- The bigger 18 wheelers
that transport oil and gas

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from remote areas in the state
can be very, very, very hard

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on roadways that are not
originally designed to handle them.

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- The energy sector
pavement regular is FM Road,

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and very thin layers,

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thin asphalt layers with
flexible based pavement,

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so they cannot handle so heavy traffic.

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I think there are three major things

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came out from the previous project.

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The first one is a six step
pavement rehabilitation

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and design strategy,
specifically for energy sector.

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We have a new-

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we call Texas MAE

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to handle the heavier traffic,
the low spectrum traffic,

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and also can allow the pavement designers

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to see how the pavement performs

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along the 20 year design life.

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And we also have a specific
pavement design program

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specifically can be
applied to energy sector.

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We also had training workshops
to train district people

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how to follow the six step
pavement rehabilitation

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and design strategy and
how to use all the tools

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to design the pavement.

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- So TTI's new design is helping TxDOT

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build more durable and
long lasting roadways.

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So that means less taxpayer dollars

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are gonna be spent on maintenance,

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and the roads are gonna
be way safer for drivers

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because the pavement
does not fail as often.

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- The tools we provided to districts,

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to TxDOT

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can help them to design the pavement,

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and to design adequate pavement

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to support the heavier traffic.

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And in that way, they can save
millions millions dollars,

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of taxpayer money.

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- For more information, and
to find the publications

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for this project, please visit
the TxDOT research library

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at the link shown below.