The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) recently completed a project to document some of these effects of the recent boom in energy-related activities in Texas.

While these energy-related activities enhance the state’s ability to produce energy reliably, said TTI, many short- and long-term effects on the state’s right-of-way and infrastructure are not properly documented.

“The purpose of the project was to measure the impact of the increased level of energy-related activities on TxDOT’s right-of-way and infrastructure, develop recommendations to reduce and manage TxDOT’s exposure and risk resulting from these activities and develop recommendations for potential changes to business practices,” said TTI Senior Research Engineer Cesar Quiroga.

“Pavement was a big part of the project for the researchers,” said TxDOT project director Dale Booth. “The researchers focused their efforts in Abilene, Lubbock and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And they found quite a bit of distress in those areas related to those industries.”

The researchers focused on the infrastructure impact by heavy trucks and machinery moving in and out of oil and gas well sites, as well as wind farms. Some of the problems observed included the following:

* Failures, surface ripples;

* Tire tracks on unpaved shoulders;

* Drainage problems at driveways;

* Mud tracking;

* Alligator cracking;

* Shoulder patches;

* Cracked seals; and

* Loss of surface.

The researchers also collected ground-penetrating radar and falling-weight deflectometer data. Considering the increasing level of activity in connection with the Eagle Ford Formation in south Texas, the researchers also met with officials from the Laredo, San Antonio and Yoakum districts.

“After we gathered the data, we conducted an evaluation of impacts of energy developments on the transportation infrastructure, including pavement impacts and remaining pavement life, roadside impacts, operational and safety impacts, and economic impacts. We also developed file geodatabases of relevant energy and transportation-related data sets and provided TxDOT with recommendations on how to alleviate potential problems that may arise with energy-related activities,” said Quiroga.

Critical recommendations at the end of the research included the need to maintain the geodatabase of energy developments to help TxDOT forecast and manage future developments, the need to engage and coordinate with energy developers earlier in the process and the need to strengthen certain protocols and requirements (e.g., those dealing with triaxial design checks, cross sectional elements on rural two-lane highways and driveway permits).

“As energy development continues in our state, especially in the gas-bearing shale formations which have become so busy in the last 10 years, having statistical basis to show their impacts serves as a springboard for additional funding,” said Booth.