New Technology Update

FHWA Reference Profiler Research Study at MN Road 2007

Last fall the Federal Highway Administration sponsored a study researching the accuracy and repeatability of reference profilers at the Minnesota Department of Transportation's research facility in Albertville, MN. Ames Engineering was invited to participate in the study with our lightweight profiler equipped with a TriODS and RoLine sensor. The results of the study show the TriODS and RoLine sensor have excellent accuracy and repeatability with two of the reference profilers. These continued strong results of Ames Engineering profilers again demonstrate how well we achieve the highest level of quality for our customers. Please take a few minutes to read through the FHA's full report listed below.

2007 FHWA Reference Profiler Full Report
2007 FHWA Reference Profiler Highlights



Three types of sensors depending on your needs

Ames Engineering is at the forefront in the development of sensor technology for pavement smoothness measurement. Over the past four years, we have worked side-by-side with the paving industry and government agencies to develop a sensor that will eliminate texture from the pavement profiler readings and provide accurate PI and IRI smoothness values. The paving industry has expressed deep concern over this issue because a contractor's pay is based directly on their smoothness numbers. Profile features caused by texture can distort the profile, cause significant false roughness and inflate smoothness index values in your pavement.

We currently offer three types of sensors depending on your type of pavement surface. Our standard single point laser works well on dense close-graded asphalt surfaces. If your pavements are more porous or heavily textured, our TriODS sensor may be a better solution for those more difficult surfaces. The TriODS uses 3 closely-spaced lasers to eliminate errors caused by tining and texturing. We also offer a sensor based on the LMI Selcom RoLine laser. The RoLine uses a transverse laser scan line to eliminate tining and texturing errors.

Ames Engineering is the only profiler manufacturer to develop and extensively test all three sensor types. Depending on your needs, we can help you choose the proper sensor for your application.

TriODS & RoLine Laser System	Model 6000 Lightweight Profiler during RoLine development

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