Equipment World published an excellent article on intelligent compaction: Night Vision: Intelligent Compaction giving paving contractors better results in the dark.
Intelligent compaction is a no-brainer! It helps roller operators to take the guesswork out! According to the Oregon DOT, “There’s not too many technologies that I’m aware of where you could do a 10-percent increase just by using technology,” says Larson. “But that’s exactly what we do with intelligent compaction.”
Pavement engineering firm The Transtec Group led Australia’s first Intelligent Compaction (IC) workshop in Brisbane to share what agencies in the US have learned and experienced in the past 15 years of IC implementation.
IC is a roller-based technology that measures roller passes, compaction temperatures, and stiffness of compacted materials in real-time. It allows for the real-time detection of paving and compaction issues so paving crews can adjust the operation to improve the final pavement quality. Using IC improves construction quality control (QC) and efficiency to make pavements last longer and to reduce maintenance costs.
The workshop, held on May 8, brought together Australian agencies, research groups, contractors, and vendors. It was organized by the Australian Geomechanics Society and co-sponsored by Monash University, the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), FSG Geotechnics & Foundations, Insitu Test, and the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA). Topics covered included IC basics/theory/models, how IC can be implemented, lessons-learned from implementation in the US and China, a demonstration of Veta software, IC case studies from Australia, and a vibrant panel discussion.
Those in the panel discussion included an executive of AAPA, which plans to support road agency and industry members in the introduction of IC and address any barriers.
“The Australian Asphalt Pavement Association and its members are interested in IC as part of our industry’s commitment to continual improvement,” said Dr. Erik Denneman, AAPA Director of Technology and Leadership. “We expect that IC will lead to increased uniformity of compaction.”
Peter Evans, the Deputy Chief Engineer with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) of Queensland, was also member of the panel discussion.
“It was interesting to see how well-developed IC technology is now and its increasing use in the US,” said Evans. “I look forward to working with the industry to introduce this into TMR.”
Dr. George Chang, Director of Research at The Transtec Group, led the workshop.
“The main takeaway from Transtec’s IC workshops is for agencies, groups, and companies to fully understand IC’s benefits and see how it can be a great quality control tool,” said Dr. Chang.
The Transtec Group recently provided complete consulting support to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) during a year-long IC and infrared scanning (IR) demonstration project. Because of the success of the project, MoDOT has committed to fully implementing IC by 2021.
Other agencies or companies interested in IC or IR—also known as paver-mounted thermal profiling (PMTP)—can get started with the Intelligent Construction Technical Support Center. Services offered include online HelpDesk support for Veta software, training workshops, field project support, and complete support packages.
The National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) has joined The International Intelligence Construction Technologies (IICTG) as an Academic Partner.
This strategic partnership between NRRA and IICTG will focus on research in various areas of intelligent construction technologies that mirror the IICTG Task Groups:
TG1- Intelligent Compaction
TG2- Paver-Mounted Thermal Profiling
TG3- High Precision Surveys/LiDAR/Drones
TG4- 3D Design/Modeling and Automated Machine Guidance (AMG)
TG5- Underground Utility Positioning
TG6- Building Information Modeling (BIM) for pavements
TG7- ICT Data Standards/Exchange/Management
TG8- 3D Printing for Pavements
TG9- Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning
Here the photo shows the IICTG president, Dr. George K. Chang, with the NRRA Chair of Executive Committee, Mr. Glenn Engstrom. Check out the IICTG website for further details!
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) executed a year-long project throughout 2017 to demonstrate the use of intelligent compaction (IC), infrared scanning (IR) and Veta software to improve pavement construction operations. Read more about this Road and Bridges article.
The 40th Years of Continuous Compaction Control (CCC) (or called Intelligent Compaction – IC in the US) Symposium will be held in Vienna, Austria, on November 29, 2018. The abstract will be due on April 30th!! Check out the conference website for further information (www.igb.tuwien.ac.at/en/ccc/).
TRB is cosponsoring the 2nd International Intelligent Construction Technologies Group Conference (IICTG 2019) on April 23-25, 2019 in Beijing, China. (http://www.trb.org/Construction/Blurbs/177396.aspx ) This conference provides a forum for the dissemination of knowledge concerning the collection, analysis, and application of information relating to intelligent construction technologies (ICT). ICT consists of real time quality monitoring and process control during construction of the foundations and pavements for highways, airports, railroads, dams, cities, and ports. It involves construction equipment technologies such as pavers, rollers, and other devices. Registration will open June 9, 2018.
The American Surveyor magazine has posted an article on “Taking Action on Compaction” on March 25 2018. It reported the significant improvements of asphalt in-place densities and smoothness at I-5 construction, Oregon, by using the Intelligent Compaction (IC) and Paver-mounted Thermal Profiles (PMTP). Here are some quotes from the article “While the roller operator benefits greatly from what IC brings to the machine, the value of the data gathered via IC might be where the real advantage can be found. …. a key benefit is using the solution to maintain a high level of confidence with … ODOT.” Check out the complete article for details . For more information on IC and PMTP, check out the IC website (www.IntelligentCompaction.com)!
A Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) report documents a field demonstration of intelligent compaction and infrared scanning (IC & IR) technology resulting from the TRB-administered Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2), funded by the FHWA Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) program and MODOT. This IC & IR project includes all aspects of implementation and technical support from the Transtec Group team, led by Dr. George K. Chang (president of IICTG). Check out this AID IC & IR report for further details. The full MODOT IC & IR report is also available.
Veta is a map-based tool for viewing and analyzing geospatial data. Download Veta for free.
