Implementation of the Texas Ground Penetrating Radar System (1233-1)

Ground Penetrating Radar is a nondestructive testing tool for evaluating pavements. The system described in this report uses an air launched antenna which is suspended between 10 and 14 inches above the pavement and has been shown capable of operating adequately at close to highway speed (ñ 40 mph). This report describes the system developed and implemented for TxDOT. The system includes a Penetradar PS-24 Ground Penetrating Radar system, a TTI developed data acquisition and signal processing system, a data acquisition vehicle housing a Distance Measuring Instrument and synchronized video recording system. The hardware, software and data processing procedure will be described together with several case studies in which GPR has been used to evaluate pavement rehabilitation jobs in Texas. These applications include layer thickness determination, void detection, base course evaluation and locating areas of asphalt stripping.