By Jim Davis
As Samir Shoukry sees it, SOS should stand for Save Our Surface.
With that in mind, the WVU researcher has developed technology that enables roads, bridges, and other structures to send an SOS when in need of repairs.
Shoukry is testing this technology—data-gathering sensors—on roads and bridges that cut through the rugged, mountainous terrain of West Virginia. The data inform Shoukry and his research team where the surface is most susceptible to stresses arising from traffic and weather so they can modify the design. He is conducting these field tests in cooperation with the West Virginia Division of Highways.
"Our goal is to make smart structures that can assess their conditions, report their status continuously to a maintenance agency, and call for help in case of emergency," said Shoukry, a professor in the departments of mechanical and aerospace engineering and civil and environmental engineering.
Shoukry installed sensors in a section of a bridge in Evansville, Harrison County. It is considered the most intensively instrumented section of any bridge ever built.
"The sensors record the stresses at different locations along the span to identify the reasons for any cracks that may develop on the deck," he explained. A data collection station near the bridge gathers this information and transmits it via satellite to Shoukry and his colleagues in Morgantown.
Shoukry also has installed the sensors
along a 450-foot section of the Robert C. Byrd Highway near Elkins.
The road, also known as Corridor H, contains hundreds of sensors
that record such data as vehicle weight, changes in the weather,
and resulting road conditions, Shoukry said. There is a data
collection station along the road, which is one of the heaviest
instrumented pavement sections in the world.
Besides the sensors, the highway also contains another of Shoukry's inventions: the Shok Bar. This device, made of steel and other material, is designed to relieve stress in the transverse joints.
"Transverse joints are the weakest locations where the pavement first begins to crack under the stresses of traffic loads and adverse weather conditions," Shoukry said. "The role of the Shok Bar is to absorb these stresses, thereby extending the life of the pavement," he added.
Shoukry has been exploring ways to lengthen the life of road surfaces since 1994, using computer simulations to determine the effects of various traffic and environmental stresses on pavements. Until that time, the methods of designing pavement were decades old. He recently expanded his research to bridge decks.
His pioneering research and inventions such as the Shok Bar have earned Shoukry respect in his field.
"Dr. Shoukry is one of the most innovative and hardest-working researchers I've ever seen," West Virginia Transportation Secretary Fred VanKirk said. "I think some of the things he is finding out could very well revolutionize the way we look at concrete pavements and the highway industry."
The researcher's work with the DOH has spawned other projects, including one within walking distance of his offices on the Evansdale campus.
The backyard project involves installing sensors in the newly constructed Star City bridge to monitor the development and progress of cracks in the span's deck, which is made with stay-in galvanized-steel forms.
Stay-in forms prevent deck inspectors from visually observing and monitoring the development of cracks at the deck bottom, he said. Through a sensing system, researchers will be able to determine if cracks seen on the deck surface are limited to the surface or have propagated through the deck thickness.
The Star City bridge will be used as a field-testing laboratory to train undergraduate and graduate civil and mechanical engineering students on intelligent structures, measurements, and analysis of data from a sensory system.
In another project, Shoukry and his research team are placing sensors in a concrete pavement at the DOH maintenance shop on Goshen Road, Monongalia County, to study environmental effects on road surfaces.
Shoukry envisions a new industry emerging around the technology he has developed and is field-testing throughout the state.
"This is not science fiction. This
is reality," he said. "With the sensors, we are putting
intelligence into structures, allowing them to scream for help
if they need it. With the successful conclusion and demonstrated
effectiveness of the Shok Bar, I'm hoping we can establish a
new industry in West Virginia, creating jobs and income. "
