Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) research at National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACoE)
Insitu Test, Global Synthetics and Foundation Specialist Group (FSG) are all industry partners in the National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACoE) research program using the Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) and Geogrid. The research is being led by QUT Senior Lecturer, Dr. Chaminda Gallage.
The research is centred around a fully instrumented 1m x 1m soil box test at QUT Pilot Plant Facility.
In February 2018, testing began at the facility.
The National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACOE) is an initiative of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and with the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), which is broadening to include partnerships with industry. Australian Road Research Board Principal Pavement Engineer, Jeffrey Lee, commented: “ARRB is proud to be participating this research.”
The program has a bias towards using research and testing that adopts international best practice to Australian / Queensland conditions.
PAVEMENTS
The Pavements program represents the largest proportion of the NACOE program, with roughly half the total projects and half the total investment. This program comprises a number of sub-programs, including asphalt, unbound granular and marginal materials, stabilised / modified pavements, surfacing and a number of technology projects.
The Pavements program has the potential to deliver very significant cost savings compared to current practices, allowing for more road projects to be constructed. Interim savings are being realised now, based on finding to date, with more to be realised at the completion of further trials.
The Pavements program has a strong focus on collaborating with industry to ensure implementation.
We have found the PANDA to be an invaluable acquisition to our company, using it on projects ranging from Remote Community Housing in Central Australia to a NASA Rocket Launch Facility in Arnhem Land, NT.
Our Plate Load equipment is getting a lot of use. We’re very happy with it. 🙂
I would hate to go back to doing the Plate Load Test using the old method using dial gauges. It would be so time consuming, not to mention manually recording and then processing all the results.
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