Tuesday and Wednesday ODOT personnel from the Materials Division and the OU research team tested a section of Timberdell road for stability and permeability.

“The purpose of these tests is to determine the strength and drainability of a specific aggregate base layer and the overall performance of the pavement,” Khoury said.

ODOT conducted falling weight deflectometer tests to determine stability. In this test, ODOT workers dropped weights onto the pavement from specific heights and measured the results.

OU researchers Khoury and Musharraf Zaman, associate engineering dean for research and graduate education, conducted the field permeability test, which used a field permeameter designed to measure the flow rate of water through the street’s underlying layer of base material.

The road will be tested every quarter until Sept. 30, 2009. At that point, ODOT will evaluate the results and possibly use the type that was created for this study, Dean said.

“We hope to use that data to hopefully increase the life of our pavement and save the taxpayers money, ’cause that’s what it’s all about.”