U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| Project Information | ||
| Project ID: | FHWA-PROJ-08-0014 | |
| Project Name: | Step Frequency Ground Penetrating Radar for Location and Evaluation of In-Roadway Sensors (06-FH2_SBIR) Phase IIb | |
| Project Status: | Completed | |
| Start Date: | September 14, 2011 | |
| End Date: | October 30, 2012 | |
| Contact Information | ||
| Last Name: | Gibson | |
| First Name: | David P | |
| Telephone: | 202-493-3271 | |
| E-mail: | david.gibson@dot.gov | |
| Office: | Office of Operations Research and Development | |
| Team: | Trans Enabling Technologies Team [HRDO-10] | |
| Program: | Small Business Innovation Program (SBIR) (2% of Adjusted CA) | |
| Laboratory: | Digital Highway Measurement Laboratory | |
| Project detail | ||
| Project Description: | Traffic sensors embedded as in-roadway sensors frequently malfunction due to failure to observe proper installation techniques. Nondestructive evaluation of the installation or maintenance work has the potential to verify correct or incorrect installation procedures. Ground penetrating radar is the technique being investigated for this. The objectives of this research study are to: (1) Verify whether ground penetrating radar has the potential to identify defects in installation and/or maintenance.(2) Establish contacts with organizations that have problems with installations and dialog with them.(3) Identify critical gaps regarding the collection and processing of ground penetrating radar data, and what hardware changes or algorithms might be used to enhance the nondestructive evaluation of ground penetrating radar techniques.(4) Conduct laboratory and field tests of improved hardware and algorithms and conduct field demonstrations. | |
| Goals: | The key project objective is the detection of wires and cracks in wires and pavement. | |
| Test Methodology: | See project description. | |
| Partners: | U.S. Department of Transportation: Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA); Role(s): Other stakeholder | |
| Expected Benefits: | Better ways of diagnosing problems with pavements and sensors | |
| Project Findings: | By using advanced signal processing techniques and custom radar wavelength handling, it is possible to detect much smaller cracks than is possible with conventional impulse radar. | |
| FHWA Topics: | Research/Technologies--FHWA Research and Technology | |
| TRT Terms: | Ground Penetrating Radar Operations Research Pavements Pavement Cracking Signal Processing |
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| FHWA Disciplines: | Geotechnical Pavement and Materials Safety |
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| Subject Areas: | Construction Geotechnology Highways Maintenance and Preservation Operations and Traffic Management Pavements Research Pipelines Safety and Human Factors |
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