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Information Technology: EPIC Inc.
New system eliminates guessing about
roadway surfaces
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| The system uses four
radar antennas mounted on the company's truck to collect
data, relaying information from up to 2 ft under the roadway. |
Many a heavy highway contractor has gazed across a field
of freshly laid asphalt and wished that he could instantly
see where things were not quite right, such as where the thickness
of the roadway was uneven and where dangerous voids were forming.
EPIC Inc., Tomball, Texas, has come a long way toward helping
out contractors. Dr. Randall Brown, company president, explains
that by combining physics with micromechanics, contractors
and state governments no longer have to guess what's under
their roadway surfaces.
"Traditionally, you had to take random cores to send
for testing in a lab," he says. "Then you've not
only created weak spots that you have to patch, you may be
evaluating 5,000 lengths of highway by looking at just 20
spots."
Epic provides two main services, Pavement Composition Analysis,
which calculates material properties, and Pavement Void Analysis,
which looks for holes beneath the surface. Both systems use
the company's truck, with its four radar antennas, called
Hyper Optics, to collect data. The antennas relay data from
the pavement every 1.7 ft down the roadway while the truck
travels at highway speeds.
Hyper Optics antennas are specifically designed to minimize
the signal noise, which can mask the data. Global positioning
system measurements are made continuously as the radar records
information. The central frequency of the antennas allows
it to penetrate the roadway from 18 to 24 in. on asphalt pavements
and 10 to 14 in. on concrete.
Epic has developed sophisticated software to translate the
information into a report for the customer. The Pavement Composition
Analysis uses two core samples taken from the roadway to calibrate
the Hyper Optics, which in turn establishes the volumetric
concentrations of the roadway being analyzed. Once these samples
are scanned by Hyper Optics, a CD is produced that looks at
a full-lane width of 12 ft and gives a variety of information.
For asphalt pavement, it will provide the asphalt content,
density, air percentage and voids in the mineral aggregate.
For concrete and other rigid pavement, it will provide evaporable
water content, density, air percentage and porosity.
The results of the scan are ready within 24 hours, and "our
technicians then provide the information to the project engineer,"
Brown says. The engineer can easily select any pavement section
for review.
The Pavement Void Analysis is conducted by the principle
of pattern recognition, says Brown. "We look for the
shape of where a void can occur," he says. "This
is done by collecting thousands of pieces of data using the
Hyper Optic, a task too unwieldy to do by hand."
Brown says that the Hyper Optics void detection is a significant
improvement over the existing technology. "With the other
technologies in use, the road needs to be closed, and a falling
weight deflectometer can look at just 6 ft at a time,"
he says. "With Hyper Optic, if you have 10 mi. of pavement,
you can see immediately that you have good support from mile-post
1 to 2, but in 2 to 3 you have voids, so you know immediately
where to put your money."
EPIC Inc.
P.O. Box 168
Tomball, Texas 77377
281-290-1199
www.epicpavements.com
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