Investigation of a New Generation of FCC Compliant NDT Devices for Pavement Layer Information Collection: Summary Report

This project summary report summarizes the research performed in Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Project 0-4820. To comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can work only in two separate frequency bands: DC-960 MHz and 3.1 GHz to 10 GHz. In this project, two types of GPRs-a low-frequency pulse GPR and a high-frequency frequency-modulated-continuous-wave (FMCW) GPR-were developed to form a hybrid GPR system, ultimately utilizing the FCC-permitted frequency resources. The system was tested both in the laboratory and in the field. Researchers found that the developed GPR system is able to collect pavement layer information accurately and in real time. The system is ready for implementation.