Ames Engineering, a leader in the development of pavement profiling and smoothness
measurement, recently completed a Federal Highway Administration Long Term Pavement Performance program (LTPP) project aimed at helping states make decisions that will lead to better performing and more cost-effective pavements.
The LTPP initiative identified Ames Engineering as the firm of choice in January 2012, to provide high-speed inertial profiling equipment for collecting longitudinal pavement profile and surface macrotexture data. After a year of development, production and testing, the LTPP program recently received four state-of-the-art data collection vehicles from Ames Engineering.
The four high-speed inertial profilers are each equipped with three profiling lasers and two texture lasers mounted on the front of heavy-duty utility vans. The lasers and are linked to an on-board computer system through an Ethernet enabled network, allowing operators to collect large amounts of data at speeds of up to 70 mph. The mobile workstations installed inside the vehicles include a power rack, laser printer and space for personnel to add devices.
Final delivery occurred in College Station, Texas, in mid-April when LTPP officials tested and certified the profilers. The Ames Engineering team spent time with the new equipment operators and LTPP leadership, providing training and support on the system.
