Currently, most pavement monitoring solutions are based on periodic inspections of the condition of the wearing course. However, the pavement foundation (subgrade, capping, sub-base) and granular layer are essential components of the road structure. The foundation acts as a building platform for the upper layers and must support the traffic loads once construction is complete. Similarly, the base course supports the construction of the asphalt course and spreads the loads to reduce the stresses on the foundation. Failures in the base course will inevitably jeopardise the pavement and become much more difficult to detect visually along the wearing course, which is usually bituminous.
The project therefore aims to monitor this foundation layer using innovative technology based on piezoelectric sensors (Bender Elements).
BUILT CoLAB is taking part in WP4, with the aim of developing the necessary conditions for the tests to be carried out in a real environment. It will develop the hardware and software conditions for the experiment, thus transforming the domain of physical quantities into the digital data of the experiment (data acquisition, pre-processing, transmission and storage). BUILT CoLAB also ensures the consortium’s connection to Mota Engil, its associate, which will support the experiment in a real environment.
