North Texas Highway Installed Sensors That Let The Road Talk To Engineers

DALLAS. You’ve probably heard of talking cars, talking robots, talking animals, but have you ever heard of talking roads? Well, that’s what one Purdue researcher did – sort of.

According to the school, Purdue professor Luna Lu has developed concrete sensors that “talk” to engineers, telling engineers about their strength, cracks, damage and preventing potholes.

These sensors are being installed in Indiana and Texas, and one is already installed on Interstate 35E in Hillsboro.

“Congestion caused by infrastructure repairs results in the loss of 4 billion hours and 3 billion gallons of gas annually. This is primarily due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the strength levels of concrete,” said Luna Lu, Professor Reilly and Acting Head of the Purdue Lyles School of Civil Engineering. “For example, we don’t know when concrete will reach the strength required to withstand traffic loads immediately after construction. Concrete can fail prematurely, leading to frequent repairs.”

Lu has been developing sensors since 2017 and conducting research aimed at improving the condition of concrete pavement, the most difficult road material to repair.

Work in her lab began after the Indiana Department of Transportation asked for help fixing the premature failure of a newly repaired pavement by more accurately determining when the pavement would be ready for traffic.

Federal Highway Administration data shows that less than 2% of U.S. roads are made up of concrete pavement, but about 20% of the interstate system is made up of concrete.

Along with Indiana and Texas, Missouri, North Dakota, Kansas, California, Tennessee, Utah, and Colorado have signed up to participate in the sensor adoption study, with more states expected to join in the coming months.