SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 2000
STP14777S

Use of Seismic Pavement Analyzer in Forensic Studies in Texas

Source

Seismic nondestructive testing technology has been incorporated in two newly developed devices: the seismic pavement analyzer (SPA) and its hand-portable version (PSPA). Shortly after a prototype of the SPA was built and tested under a SHRP contract, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) acquired a second prototype SPA and several PSPAs. Each of the two devices can rapidly carry out a suite of seismic tests to evaluate pavement condition. A few short-term projects were conducted to learn when and where the use of seismic technology is feasible. The usefulness of the test methods involved in SPA and PSPA has been to some extent evaluated. In their present states, the SPA and PSPA seem to be emerging as valuable tools for forensic studies and the day-to-day operation of TxDOT. The devices have been helpful in understanding some of the complex mechanisms encountered under accelerated pavement testing with the Texas Mobile Load Simulator and have provided useful information to the engineers in a few TxDOT projects. More experience is needed to fully understand the potential and the weaknesses of the devices, and further development of their software is required.

Author Information

McDaniel, M
Pavement Division, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX
Yuan, D
The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Chen, DH
Pavement Division, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX
Nazarian, S
The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
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Details
Developed by Committee: D04
Pages: 346–361
DOI: 10.1520/STP14777S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5426-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-2858-3