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Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No.

1. sss 29 3 4 The Framework of the ForenSys Database sse 33 CHAPTER 4 PAVEMENT FORENSIC INFORMATION SYSTEM SOFTWARE Sua acia 35 4 1 System Components and Menu Structure 35 4 2 Op ration ot FOFeSVSs seo dea etta is 36 2 21 Getting Start d odo emet Mp p adipi egre desde me queda MEE M adea 36 4 2 2 Setup Ml ias 38 DD NUES SS a NA LAUR UR NES PORUM HN E M SH MO NUI 38 AD Dod System Setup var edocet d ene ae a Pang e A ONU IN RR din 39 4 2 2 3 Printer SUDAR tado tad ab Quee es 40 22 3 Mii IC A ei 41 42 2 5L A esee HAS 42 4232 PMIS os Aa 61 Ch De BiB VAD eain cras ode dea Mp ad NR D NON NOH oS 62 4234 PA e bt nr dl uds 63 XV CHAPTER 5 PILOT DATA IMPLEMENTATION ooccncoccoonconnnconnconnnconanonnaccnnoconnconnnonnnss 67 5 1 Study the Source Databases e a id 68 5 1 1 Pavement Management Information System Database suse 68 21 2 deaver Daciae sc ode idet t DOR E RE c Piedad puedo dde 71 5 2 Compare the Location Reference Systems ooooonoccnoccnoncconnccononnnnconn cono noconocnnn cono non nocnnss 73 5 2 1 The Location Reference System of the PMIS Database ooooconocnnnoccicccconncnnos 73 5 2 2 The Location Reference System of Layer Database suse 75 5 3 Select Source Data Tables and Source Data Items ooooonccnnncniccnnocnoonconnconcnonncconncnnnos 75 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS eee eee seen eene
2. _View Picture _ Save Fatigue Cracking DN c Report Close ATB Asp Penetration ATB Asp Viscosity 2 Distress Data Entry J 120 suma Block Cracking _ JI Figure 4 24 Distress Data Entry Window for Block Cracking 56 120 0 ISH114 986 Bleedin Bleeding Figure 4 25 Distress Data Entry Window for Bleeding 37 The user can click the View Picture button to view the sample picture of the selected distress type For example if the selected distress type is Fatigue Cracking the photo of a sample fatigue cracking will pop up as shown in Figure 4 26 when the View Picture button is clicked KE Fatigue Cracking 2m x Figure 4 26 Picture of Fatigue Cracking The Edit Report function is used to view and edit the electronic version of the forensic report of the pavement section whose general data are currently displayed in the ForenSys Database window The usage of this function is the same as the View Modify Report function in the Distress Data View window To edit the forensic related data the user should first select the desired distress type and then click the appropriate cell to modify the information To store the modification permanently in the hard disk the user should click the Save button For some distress types there is an available function called Set
3. 15 x Select Layer ID os Original Surface y Original Surface and Overlay Data Entry se al Ed Material Type Asphalt Concrete Pavement Thickness 3 00 Width 6 00 OK View Layer Data Figure 5 1 Layer Database Software User Interface The layer database software uses Sybase Database to store data The extension name of the database file is db The Layer database contains the layer_main table This table is used to record the pavement section location information the pavement construction date information and the layer information The primary key of this table is the control_section_job and the box_name 5 2 COMPARE THE LOCATION REFERENCE SYSTEMS 5 2 1 The Location Reference System of the PMIS Database As discussed in the Chapter 3 the PMIS data tables use the same location reference system as the ForenSys The location of the pavement section in the PMIS database is determined by the combination of the Highway ID the Roadbed ID the Begin Reference Marker the Begin Reference Displacement the End Reference Marker and the End Reference Displacement The definition of these data items are acquired from the Pavement Management Information System Rater s Manual for Fiscal Year 1999 TxDOT 98 33 1 Highway ID The highway ID is composed of two parts the route description and the number The route description describes the ranking of the route There are 9 possible route
4. sss 10 Lab Investigation Methods for Flexible Pavements sss 12 Lab Investigation Methods for Rigid Pavements se 13 Sample Location Reference Data in ForenSys Database 23 Application Tasks for ForenSys Database essere 30 Desired Functions for ForenSys Database sss 30 Shortcut Icons and the Corresponding Menu Items sess 36 Candidate Source Database Tables i ie Se eder o Eu Pei ETE 70 The Source Data for the PMIS Menu of the ForenSys sss 76 The Source Data for the Forensic main Table of the ForenSys Software 77 xix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 BACKGROUND Pavement forensic engineering is an essential part of the integrated pavement management process The forensic investigation can help pavement engineers determine the cause of the premature failures of pavements develop the rehabilitation strategies and improve the future design and construction By reviewing the objective and the task of pavement forensic engineering it is clear that data and information play a crucial role throughout the forensic investigation process Thus it is important for TxDOT to have an advanced system to manage its data and information related to pavement forensic investigations To fulfill this requirement a framework of forensic database software was developed in 1998 This framework accommod
5. Specify Sort Columns Window Modify Expression Window Distress Data View Window for Fatigue Cracking Distress Data View Window for Long Cracking Distress Data View Window for Unspecified Distress Distress Data Entry Window for Fatigue Cracking Distress Data Entry Window for Block Cracking Distress Data Entry Window for Bleeding xvil Figure 4 26 Picture of Fatigue OCIO AA ade 58 Figure 4 27 User Defined Data Item Window essent ene 59 Figure 4 28 Distress Data Entry Window with Defined Items sess 59 Figure 4 29 View Comments WI Wise tipici Ene eh Eri tee UR a bet i Ret ed A 60 Figure 4 30 Modify Comments WIN Wins di MD 61 Figure 4 31 PMIS Logon Windows ueri Urt E aet iN P PRIMER iab ete t dad 61 Figure 4 32 PMIS Database WOW ota desee en dde 62 Figure 4 33 Plan Logon WIndOoWw ustedes illa 62 Figure 4 34 Plan Database WI Wii ARANA d 63 Fipuie 4 35 Graphs Widow Itata 64 F19ure4 36 Attribute Graphs oa de EOS eed tod e bent is ede EP IR D ia 65 Figure 5 1 Layer Database Software User Interface esee 73 xviil Table 2 1 Table 2 2 Table 2 3 Table 2 4 Table 3 1 Table 3 2 Table 3 3 Table 4 1 Table 5 1 Table 5 2 Table 5 3 LIST OF TABLES Field Investigation Methods for Flexible Pavements esses 9 Field Investigation Methods for Rigid Pavements
6. Knowledge Base future 5 T T Analysis and DM eu Reporting SOLConnection LEA j i Functions ER Multimedia Information Forensic Database Sarvar Multimedia a Database Functions Client Server Connection o Layouts Views Tables Charts Graphical User Interface GUI Figure 1 Conceptual Framework Designed for TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System Victorine 97 This framework illustrates that the forensic database is the center component of the proposed forensic information and analysis system The forensic database will perform the regular database functions like storing retrieving and manipulating data Besides that the forensic database will also implement the system analysis function and the report writing function on a knowledge base The output of the forensic database will be in multiple document interfaces such as views tables charts and layouts The whole system will be encapsulated in a user friend graphic interface xi 4 CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this study is to improve the 1998 version of the ForenSys software and implement it by using real data obtained from TxDOT The enhanced ForenSys database software can serve as the center component of an integrated forensic information and analysis system for analyzing forensic related data and information and producing forensic reports 5 The
7. Import button the Select Import File window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 15 Only the backup file with the text without header type or Dbase type can serve as the import source of the database Select Import File El x Look in S Forensics Ff ck Er foren com Z foren layer foren main E forensys E ForensysO Sl pris E readme File name back noheader Files of type Tab separated file txt Cancel Openasread only Figure 4 15 Select Import File Window 47 6 Update All the changes including insertion deletion importation and modification are stored in memory only and will be discarded when the user closes the User Setup window unless the user performs further actions To make these changes permanently stored in the hard disk the user should click the Update button 7 Delete Data The Delete Data function is used to empty the database Since this function is to delete all the data in the database 1ts result might be catastrophic Thus the software will prompt the user to confirm the operation by popping up a window message as shown in Figure 4 16 If clicking Yes the database will be emptied If clicking No the software will return to the ForenSys Database window without doing anything x 2 Do you want to delete all the data w Figure 4 16 Delete Confirmation Window 8 Filter The Filter function allows the user t
8. data item name for the Forensic main table of the ForenSys Software Table 5 3 The Source Data for the Forensic main Table of the ForenSys Software Target Data Item Source Source Data Table Source Data Item Name Data base Name County no PMIS pmis data collection section county nbr Highway PMIS pmis condition summary signed highway rdbd id Beg rm PMIS pmis condition summary beg ref marker nbr beg ref marker disp End rm PMIS pmis condition summary end ref marker nbr end ref marker disp Constr year Layer Layer main Date completed Adt PMIS pmis data collection section aadt current Current date Use Today function to get the current date Thickness Add thickness of all layers to get this data item Si N A N A N A Sn N A N A N A Comments N A N A N A Pav_type PMIS pmis_data_collection_section pvmnt_type_ broad_code Lane PMIS pmis_data_collection_section Number_thru_ lanes Failure_ mode N A N A N A Analys_exis N A N A N A Rep_directory N A N A N A Experiment _ N A N A N A section Layer_n_ name Layer Layer_main Uncertainty Layer_n_ Layer Layer_main Uncertainty Thickness Layer_n_ Material Layer Layer_main Uncertainty Yr CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 61 CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this study is to improve the 1998 version of the ForenSys software and implement it by using real data obtained from Tx
9. Exp i 0 1_thicki 2_thicki ayer 1 thickness layer 2 thickness CENE Functions Columns avg x for all bitmap s ceiling x case x when a then b whe thickness constr year current date Figure 4 19 Modify Expression Window By double clicking the functions the columns and the arithmetic operators can be added into the expression After finishing the editing Verify can be used to check the validation of the expression The user can then click OK to return to the Specify Sort Columns window The expression the user has just created will be shown in the Columns portion of that window After all the sort columns have been specified the user can click OK to return to the ForenSys database window At this time the records will be displayed in the order specified by the user The user can move the scroll bar to view them 10 Close The user can click the Close button to minimize the Forensys Database window and return to the mainframe of the ForenSys software The user can return to the Forensys Database window at anytime by selecting the menu item Main gt ForenSys or clicking the ForenSys button in the task bar of Windows operating system 51 The function groups that manage the detailed forensic related data forensic report and comments on the pavement section at project level include four function keys View Forensic Data Report Edit Forensic Data Report V
10. as shown in Figure 4 31 E PMIS Logon District Name Fort vvorth User Name administrator Password I M RN Figure 4 31 PMIS Logon Window To view the PMIS data the user can select the target district name from the District Name drop list and click OK to enter the PMIS Database window as shown in Figure 4 32 61 A Database ES County Highway Beg Rm End Rm ADT 18kip si Pav Type El DBIDO35v 0000 0 0 029240 0 ofBioossy 0232 0 0 0292 0 5 O Bin s5v 029240 5 0292 1 0 DBIOO35v 0292 1 0 0292 1 5 ojBioos5v 0292 1 5 029440 0 ofBinos5y 0294 0 0 029440 4 OBSDO101B 023240 0 023240 5 0850101 B 023240 5 0232 1 0 ojBS0101B 0232 1 0 0232 1 6 ojBso1 14H 0000 0 0 0530 0 0 DBSO114H 0530 0 0 053040 6 OBSO114J 10546 0 0 054640 4 ojBso1 14L 0668 0 0 0668 0 5 0 8s01 14L 0668 0 5 0668 1 0 oa Insert Import Update Data Filter Close Backup Delete Data Sort Exit Figure 4 32 PMIS Database Window In the PMIS Database window the pavement management data of the target district are displayed in a tabular format The user can move the horizontal scroll bar to view more data items and move the vertical scroll bar to view data of other pavement sections The Insert Delete Import Backup Update Data Delete Data Filter Sort Close and Exit functions are avai
11. descriptions IH Interstate Highway US US Highway SH State Highway includes NASA OSR BI Business Interstate BU Business US Highway BS Business State Highway FM Farm to Market BF Business Farm to Market and PR Park Road The number identifies each highway from other highways with the same route description Roadbed ID Roadbed ID provides the information of the position of the roadbed central line relative to the highway centerline For the single main roadbed highway the roadbed ID is K which means the central line of the roadbed is overlapped with the central line of highway For multiple roadbeds the left frontage roadbed ID is X the left main roadbed ID is L the right main roadbed ID is R and the right frontage roadbed is A Beginning reference marker and ending reference marker The highway is divided into many sections The section is typically 0 5 mile long although some are as long as 1 0 mile and some are as short as 0 1 mile The reference marker specifies the boundary of the sections The first marker number represents the beginning of the route It is the same as the nearest grid location that is derived by imposing a grid on the Texas State map The following marker number is generally increased by 2 subsequently until the end of the route is reached In general the reference marker increment direction is from west to east or from south to north for straight routes and clockwise for circular loops with th
12. 2 thickness layer_3_name Figure 3 3 Field Design for Forensic_main Table Dec represents the number of digits after the decimal point in a decimal number Null tag indicates whether the field can be blank 3 3 OPERATION RELATED ISSUES OF FORENSYS DATABASE SYSTEM DESIGN The operation related system design determines 1 what operations should be applied onto the data 2 what functions the database should provide and 3 how to design the user interface This section describes the general operation design procedure The software functions will be introduced in detail in Chapter 4 In order to determine the desired functions of the ForenSys database the tasks that the database is to perform should be identified first Table 3 2 shows the required tasks for the ForenSys database 29 Table 3 2 Application Tasks for ForenSys Database Manage the user information Manage the system information Manage the forensic information of the pavement section Manage the pavement management information of the pavement section Manage the plan information of the pavement section Visualize the pavement section information Transfer data between the ForenSys database and other TxDOT databases Each general task then should be split into specific functions as descriptive as possible Table
13. Forensys About Setup Main Exit Figure 4 3 The Main Frame of ForenSys 37 4 2 2 Setup Menu The setup menu is used to setup the user information and the system information It includes three submenu items User Setup System Setup and Printer Setup 4 2 2 1 User Setup The first item in the Setup menu is User Setup This item is visible only when the user logs on as an administrator It allows the administrator to setup the user logon information of the authorized users As seen in Figure 4 4 the logon information of a user includes the name the password and the user s right to update delete insert print or view the database ipi xi Update User information User Hame Password Update Delete Insert Print View 4 pam fuel Yes ves ves ves uest No No No Yes Delete Update Close Figure 4 4 User Setup Window To authorize a new user the administrator can click Insert and input the information of that new user in the newly displayed line To remove an existing user the administrator can click anywhere on that user s record and then click Delete To modify existing user information the administrator can click the appropriate cell and modify the information It should be noticed that all the changes including insertion deletion and modification are stored in memory only and will be discarded when the user closes the User Setup window unless the user takes further actions To
14. and the lab investigation The initial site observation can determine the possible distress types occurring in the pavement section Crampton 00 Only after the possible distresses occurring on the pavement section are recognized can the candidate methods of the field investigation and the lab investigation be developed For example if the distress of a section of the flexible pavement is recognized as alligator cracking the field investigation may include the GPR Ground Penetrating Radar method the defection test and material sampling using pavement cores On the other hand when the distress type is polished aggregate the valid investigation method will be to test the skid resistance to determine if the friction coefficient satisfies the specification The detailed discussion about the description the possible mechanisms the field and lab investigation method and the repair strategy for various kinds of distress of both flexible and rigid pavements can be found in the Diagnostic Manual for Flexible Pavement and the Diagnostic Manual for Rigid Pavement CTR 00 Review the previous data The previous data include the design data the construction data the maintenance and rehabilitation record data the performance related data the environmental related data and other data which are related to the failure facility and can be obtained from the record files or the field measurements records The resources of the previous data inclu
15. bar to view them 9 Sort The Sort function is used to reorder the records according to the order specified by the user When the user clicks Sort the Specify Sort Columns window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 18 49 Specify Sort Columns a x 1 Drag and Drop items 2 Double click column to edit Cancel Source Data Columns Ascending Figure 4 18 Specify Sort Columns Window The columns that are expected to serve as the order keys are dragged from the Source Data portion into the Columns portion The software allows the user to specify more than one order key As shown in Figure 4 18 the primary key is county_no the first minor key is layer_1_thickness layer_2_ thickness and the second minor key is highway In this case the records will be sorted according to the primary key first The records with the same primary key value will be sorted according to the first minor key value and so on The user can choose to check or not check the ascending box following the column name to define whether the records are sorted ascending or descending according to that key The key can be either a single column name or an arithmetic expression like layer_1_thickness layer 2 thickness in Figure 4 18 To edit the arithmetic expression the user can double click the column name in the column portion the Modify Expression window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 19 50 Modify Expression xj
16. base property data and ad hoc data According to the pavement type the pavement section may include one or more of these data groups for every possible failure type to this pavement type n Hot mixed asphalt content HMAC property data mix design stability asphalt content asphalt penetration asphalt viscosity aggregate gradation aggregate absorption aggregate shape aggregate surface texture air void content thickness n Subgrade fill property data liquid limit plasticity index volume change properties consolidation properties fill slope stability fill shear strength underlying pavement condition n Base property data gradation stiffness triaxial class thickness asphalt treated base ATB stability ATB asphalt content ATB asphalt penetration ATB asphalt viscosity ATB aggregate gradation ATB aggregate absorption ATB aggregate shape ATB aggregate surface texture ATB air void content cement treated base CTB compaction strength CTB tension strength n Ad hoc Data 24 1 2 3 Although for each distress type some data items such as those listed above have been predefined because of the complex nature of the forensic investigation there are always some data items that cannot be predicted and included in the ForenSys database software The ad hoc data function is used to solve this problem With the ad hoc data function the user is allowed to define the name of the desired data items Once defined t
17. comprehensive realization of these special characteristics is very important for a forensic engineer to perform his or her task effectively and efficiently The following is a list of the main attributes of forensic engineering 1 Forensic engineering does not deal with the proposed infrastructure but with the existing infrastructure that has premature failures 2 The task of forensic engineering is not planning design or construction but the investigation of the causes of failures 3 Forensic engineering always involves legal problems Forensic engineers solve the problems not only in technology and engineering fields but are also involved in dispute resolutions One of the primary objectives of forensic engineering is to determine the responsibility of the failure The report of the forensic investigation is often used as proof in the court vii 4 Forensic engineers usually face urgent deadlines to fulfill their tasks The problem recognition step and the field data collection step should be performed as soon as possible for example debris should be removed in time to prevent the blocking of traffic from causing further danger Also meeting the deadline on a report may be critical in jury deliberations and verdict outcomes 5 Forensic engineering always includes uncertainty The final conclusion of the forensic investigation may be drawn on the basis of insufficient information Sometimes the most important proof of the failure mechan
18. database management component stores displays analyzes and visualizes the forensic data and other related data such as the pavement management information system PMIS data The primary menu of ForenSys software includes four parts About Setup Main and Exit Each part has its own submenu items that perform various functions The software also provides shortcut icons for some frequently used menu items to make those functions easily accessible These shortcut icons are docked on the main frame of the forensic database software Figure 4 1 shows the detailed menu structure of the ForenSys software 35 About Setup Main Exit FORENSYS Setup Main aaa ue User Setup Forensys VERSION 1 0 System Setup PMIS cacon Plan Printer Setu 1998 The University of Texas at Austin p Other Data Transfer Graphs Figure 4 1 Main Menu Structure of ForenSys Table 4 1 shows the shortcut icons and the menu items they represent Table 4 1 Shortcut Icons and the Corresponding Menu Items T About PMIS Database nu Database Setup ag Plan Database e Forensic Database fs Exit 4 2 OPERATION OF FORENSYS 4 2 1 Getting Started To start the ForenSys software the user uses the Start button on the Windows task bar and selects Programs Then the user selects the ForenSys program group and clicks on Forensic icon amp Upon starting the ForenSys software the Opening ForenSys windo
19. developed Major work of the procedure development includes 1 The data structure of the PMIS database and the Layer database was studied to identify the data items that can serve as the data source of the ForenSys 79 2 3 The location reference system of the three databases including the PMIS database the Layer database and the ForenSys database was compared Since the Layer database uses the control section and subsection to identify the pavement section location while the other two databases use the combination of the Highway ID the Roadbed ID the Begin Reference Marker the Begin Reference Displacement the End Reference Marker and the End Reference Displacement to identify the pavement section location a methodology to synchronize the two location reference systems was developed The program that automatically performs the data import has been developed The program follows the following steps 1 register the source database names to the system Open Database Connectivity 2 create transaction objects for the source databases 3 locate the data items that are spread throughout the different data tables of the different databases but describe the same pavement section combine these data items together to form a new record in the ForenSys database and 4 synchronize the two different location reference systems during the importing process 6 2 RECOMMENDATIONS The ForenSys database software makes t
20. for five districts of TxDOT are stored in a single database This makes the database very large It is time consuming to retrieve insert or update data It is desired that this large database can be split into relatively small separate databases each containing the pavement layer data of one district As part of the effort under this study these problems have been eliminated Therefore the Layer database can serve as one of the data sources of the ForenSys database Figure 5 1 shows that the top part of the interface is used to input the general information of the pavement section After inputting the layer number the lane number and the shoulder information a graph of the pavement cross section will be displayed The user can then click the cells to input the layer type such as the Original Surface the Base the Overlay and so on After that the Data Entry window for the specified layer type will be displayed The user can use this window to input the thickness the material and other information of the layer 72 Layer Information BEE Control Section Subsection 0007 07 001 Control 7 Section 7 Subsection f Job District 2 Beg Rm 0 Date Completed ooo County No 182 Beg Rm Disp Kind Of Work Highway 516 End Rm 3 Roadbed y End Rm Disp 356 Direction __ v Insert Delete Update Import Export Close Select Pavement Structure of Layers oflanes 3 v Shoulder yos y ox _Undo
21. is used to view and modify the existing comment associated with the pavement section whose general data are currently displayed in the ForenSys Database window If the comment of the pavement section does not exist this function will be disabled and the user cannot click it Whether the comment for a pavement section exists is indicated by the Comment tag data item which is displayed in the General Information part of the ForenSys Database window Figure 4 29 shows the View Comments window The user can modify the existing comments in the edit box and click Update to save the modification HE View Comments zi x This is a sample comments for the pavement section wf Figure 4 29 View Comments Window 4 Edit Comments The Edit Comments function is used to append comments to the pavement section whose general data are currently displayed in the ForenSys Database window The user can click the Edit Comments button to open the Edit Comments window as shown in Figure 4 30 After modifying the comments in the edit box the user can click Update to save the modification 60 MH Edit Comments ERI TET x a Update Close Figure 4 30 Modify Comments Window 4 2 3 2 PMIS The second item in the Main menu is PMIS This item is used to manage the PMIS data for forensic use When the user clicks the PMIS item the PMIS Logon window will pop up
22. of swelling and the drainage factor of the base materials 2 Inspect the soil boring for freezing and thawing damage 3 Check the weather records and the construction record Corner Break 1 Determine the resistance to weathering and drainage factor of the base materials Crack Spalling 1 Check the weather records for recent severe weather 2 Observe the concrete core for freezing and thawing damage D Cracking 1 Observe the core for freezing and thawing damage 2 Determine the drainage factor of the base materials Faulting 1 Determine the resistance to weathering and the drainage factor of the base materials 2 Observe the soil boring for freezing and thawing damage 3 Check the weather records and construction records Joint Failure l Determine the resistance to weathering and the drainage factor of the base materials 2 Check the weather records and the construction records Joint Sealant 1 Check weather records for recent hot weather Extrusion 2 Determine the adhesion and or cohesion properties of the joint sealant Joint Separation 1 Check the construction records Settlement 2 Determine the degree of compaction the moisture content the resistance to weathering and the drainage factor of base materials 3 Perform a triaxial compression test on the base materials Joint Spalling 1 Test the concrete core to determine the compressive strength 2 Check the weather reco
23. pavement core 2 Test the modulus of subgrade reaction Tex 125 E Rippling Shoving 1 Material sampling Corrugation 2 Determine the moisture content of bituminous mixtures Rutting 1 A pavement core can be taken 2 Perform a test to determine modulus of subgrade reaction Tex 125 E Settlement 1 Sampling pavement cores 2 Deflection testing Dynaflect FWD etc 3 GPR may be used to estimate void locations 4 Inspect the distress areas to see if frost action exists Slippage Cracking 1 Pavement coring Transverse Cracking 1 Pavement coring Weathering Raveling 1 Sampling of the pavement cores Table 2 2 Field Investigation Methods For Rigid Pavements CTR 00 Distress Type Field Investigation Method Bump 1 Soil boring of the underlying layers Corner Break 1 Deflection testing Slab Shattering 2 Soil boring of the underlying layers Punchout 3 Observe the base materials below the failure Crack Spalling 1 Pavement coring D Cracking 1 A soil boring of the underlying layers 2 A concrete core can be taken through the cracking Faulting 1 Deflection testing Dynaflect FWD etc Joint Failure 2 GPR 3 A concrete core can be taken 4 Soil boring of the underlying layers 5 Observe the base materials below the fault Joint Sealant 1 A knife blade may be pushed down along the joint Extrusion face and then twisted 2 Compare the actual joint width with the
24. previous data review step according to the distress information acquired by the initial site observation Tables 2 1 and 2 2 summarize the distress type and the corresponding field investigation methods for flexible pavements and rigid pavements The information is retrieved from the Diagnostic Manual for Flexible Pavement and the Diagnostic Manual for Rigid Pavement CTR 00 During the field investigation process the debris should not be removed until photographs have been taken the in place study has been performed and the necessary data have been recorded This is because in some cases transferring the full size components is impractical and the material properties might be changed during the transport process ASCE 86 Table 2 1 Field Investigation Methods For Flexible Pavements CTR 00 Distress Type Field Investigation Method Alligator Cracking 1 Material sampling of the pavement cores 2 Ground Penetrating Radar 3 Deflection test FWD Dynaflect etc Block Cracking 1 A pavement core can be taken Bump Swell 1 Material sampling or checking the pavement design 2 Soil boring 3 Pavement coring Edge Cracking 1 Soil boring Flushing Bleeding 1 Material sampling of the pavement Longitudinal 1 Sampling of the pavement beneath the asphalt Cracking layer 2 Inspect the cracking area Polished Aggregate 1 Test skid resistance Potholes 1 Visual inspection of a
25. record Flushing Bleeding 1 Pavement core 2 Check the record of construction Longitudinal 1 Check the recent record of daily temperature Cracking 2 A pavement core can be used Polished 1 Check the design traffic Aggregate 2 Examine the components of the surface mixture Potholes 1 Triaxial compression test 2 Petrographic analysis 3 Determine the degree of compaction of base materials Tex 115 E Rippling Shoving 1 Test the temperature stability of pavement surface and Corrugation base Rutting 1 Test the pavement core 2 Test the degree of compaction of sublayer and course 8 Test the compressive strength of base and subgrade 4 Check the record of daily temperature or test pavement temperature 5 Check the record of design traffic Settlement l Perform a triaxial compression test on the base materials Tex 117 E 2 Determine the degree of compaction of the base materials Tex 115 E 3 Determine the moisture content of the base materials 4 Check the construction records and traffic records Slippage Cracking 1 Test the asphalt mixture Transverse 1 Check initial records of pavement design Cracking 2 Check the daily temperature records Weathering 1 Check the record of traffic Raveling 2 Test pavement cores 12 Table 2 4 Lab Investigation Methods For Rigid Pavements CTR 00 Distress Type Lab Investigation Method Bump 1 Determine the moisture content the potential
26. specified width 3 Measure the joint spacing Joint Separation 1 Deflection testing Dynaflect FWD etc Settlement 2 GPR may be used to estimate void locations 3 Soil boring of the underlying layers Joint Spalling 1 A pavement core can be taken through the joint and near the joint Deflection test Dynaflect FWD etc Longitudinal Soil boring of the underlying layers Cracking Deflection testing Dynaflect FWD etc Measuring longitudinal joints spacing Loss of SR Measuring skid resistance Loss of Surface Pavement coring Material Visual inspection of the core Pumping Soil boring of the underlying layers Reactive Material A concrete core can be taken through a crack Transverse Cracks Video R ET E D ET e cto ee Soil boring of the underlying layers Deflection testing Dynaflect FWD etc A core can be taken through the concrete slab A cover meter can be used Determine the proper spacing of transverse joints and compare with the actual spacing 10 4 Conduct laboratory material tests The majority of the tests on the samples taken from the field investigation are performed in laboratories The laboratory test methods are also determined by the possible distress types The commonly used methods include moisture content tests compressive strength tests long term creep tests petrographic studies long term shrinkage expansion tests split tensile strength tests aggregate matr
27. the compromise of the expected serviceability of the infrastructure According to the time of occurrence failure can be classified as pre service phase failure service phase failure and post service failure Failure can also be the result of improper design or construction disqualified materials environmental factors or external overload Other objectives of forensic engineering include determining the responsibility of the failure writing the report determining the rehabilitation strategy and summarizing the lessons learned to improve the future design and construction 2 1 2 Tasks of Forensic Engineering To implement the objectives of the forensic investigation the following tasks need to be fulfilled initial site observation and problem recognition previous data review field investigation material testing analysis of the collected data establishment of a failure theory establishment of the candidate hypotheses development of the conclusion and the report ASCE 86 Some of the tasks are not necessarily performed in the listed order For example the problem might not be recognized clearly until the field investigation and the material testing have been performed And sometimes the previous data review can be performed in parallel with other steps l Perform initial site observation and problem recognition The initial site observation is the precondition for the tasks which follow especially for the field investigation
28. the output of every step of the forensic investigation are some kinds of data Since data are so important to the forensic investigation it is desired that TxDOT have a database system to manage its forensic related data instead of managing them manually Compared to manual data management a computerized data management system is both convenient and effective Some advantages of database system have been summarized by Hudson et al in the book Infrastructure Management Hudson 97 1 Data are stored in a compact space like a computer hard disk or a CD ROM These computer storage devices occupy much less space than paper does and cost fewer natural resources Data can be stored and retrieved much faster than a manual method Some of the data can even be imported directly from the existing database Standards can be guaranteed by the data format and the value validation automatically detecting function in the database system Security restrictions can be set to ensure that only the authorized users can access the data Other advantages of a database system include 1 Data are accessible to all users simultaneously Processing data by one user does not prevent other users from accessing them Data validation can be maintained by assigning different users a different access right Only the users with a high level right can update the data in the database Data can be displayed in many forms such as the table form the sca
29. user can then focus on any section of the selected highway by inputting the beginning position of that section into the Beg Rm box and the ending position of the that section into the End Rm box The beginning position of the specified section should be larger than the beginning position of the highway and the ending position of the specified section should be smaller than the ending position of the highway After the desired highway and section have been defined the user can select the attributes that he or she wants to visualize using the Select Attributes drop list The Graphs window can display three graphs simultaneously From the graph the user can understand the overall situation of the specified highway section To get the exact data value of a particular point the user should move the cursor in the scroll bar to the appropriate position and double click the box which is located under the cursor and shows the location information The exact value of the data will then be displayed 64 Graphs Lolk Selected Highway Properties Highway FIMO077 Beginsat 0232 00 0 Endsat 0206 00 1 Roadbed Types f Select Attribute si ss PS ADT A Roaabed x Highway BegRm mi End Rm JFaroots 0240 00 0 0243 00 5 0260 00 0 Figure 4 36 Attribute Graphs Figure 4 36 shows a sample of finished graphs The selected highway is FM0011 which begins at 0232 00 0 and end
30. 3 3 shows the desired functions of the ForenSys database application software Table 3 3 Desired Functions for ForenSys Database Manage the user Insert a new user record information Delete an existing user record Update existing user record information Manage the system Insert new database information donada Delete existing database information Update existing database information Input the Microsoft Word execution file directory Input the MS Word template directory Set up printer property 30 Table 3 3 Desired Functions for ForenSys Database Cont Manage the forensic Insert delete and update the general information of information of the a pavement section pavementsecuon Import the pavement general information from a text file Backup the pavement general information to a text file Sort and filter the pavement general information Delete all existing pavement general information records For each existing pavement section record a view the forensic related data and the forensic report b edit the forensic related data and the forensic report c view the forensic photo For each existing pavement section record view and edit the comments Manage the Insert delete and update the pavement pavement management information of a pavement section management information of the pavement section Import the pavement management information from a text file Backup the pavement ma
31. 6 rating cycle code PMIS SKID The pavement skid related Empty 1 fiscal year data of the pavement section 2 d highwa such as the skid test date the icon id ES skid comment the skid B speed etc 3 beg ref marker nbr 4 beg ref marker disp calculated distance me as 6 rating cycle code 5 1 2 Layer Database The Layer database software is designed to manage the pavement layer information It has a user friendly interface as shown in Figure 5 1 for inputting the layer related data including the layer thickness width name material and stabilization status of a pavement section The software was developed in 1998 however the original Layer software has the following problems l From the database design point of view in the 1998 version of the Layer database the word length of the control item is three characters and the word length of the section item is also three characters But according to TxDOT s definition to a control section it is required that the word length of the control item be four characters and the word length of the section item be two characters 71 2 As a result of this problem the control data and the section data are stored incorrectly because of the inappropriate word length For example if the control is 1330 and the section is 01 the control data are stored as 133 and the section data as 001 in the 1998 version 3 The pavement layer data
32. 79 6 1 ConclusiQns a oo htt i or a oes RE tq du ad Pb dae etat 79 6 2 Recommendations s Lee ceat oe d eto pul EO ere ced eee ie DEN A C ae 80 REFERENCES pec 83 xvi Figure 2 1 Figure 3 1 Figure 3 2 Figure 3 3 Figure 3 4 Figure 4 1 Figure 4 2 Figure 4 3 Figure 4 4 Figure 4 5 Figure 4 6 Figure 4 7 Figure 4 8 Figure 4 9 Figure 4 10 Figure 4 11 Figure 4 12 Figure 4 13 Figure 4 14 Figure 4 15 Figure 4 16 Figure 4 17 Figure 4 18 Figure 4 19 Figure 4 20 Figure 4 21 Figure 4 22 Figure 4 23 Figure 4 24 Figure 4 25 LIST OF FIGURES Conceptual Framework Designed for TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System Typical Tables in ForenSys Database Primary Key of Typical Tables Field Design for Forensic_main Table The Framework of the ForenSys Database System Main Menu Structure of ForenSys Logon to ForenSys Window The Main Frame of ForenSys User Setup Window Save Window Setup Window Printer Setup Window Printer Property Setup Window ForenSys Database in Freeform Format ForenSys Database in Tabular Format Magnified Pavement Layer Structure Graph esses Error Message for Unexpected Format Save AS Wmndo Wn stre ba dn ve ossa o fei eae oap a iud Partof the Back p Fle a dedi egesta opu ean eet tie neo hei aia Select Import File Window Delete Confirmation Window Specify Filter Window
33. DOT The enhanced ForenSys database software can serve as the center component of an integrated forensic information and analysis system for analyzing forensic related data and information and producing forensic reports The major research efforts under this study are summarized as follows 8 10 11 12 13 14 A literature review on the basic concept and current practice of forensic engineering has been performed The literature review summarized the attributes objectives and tasks of forensic engineering studied the current practice of forensic investigation within TxDOT and presented the necessity of ForenSys database software The system design concept of the relational database has been applied System design of the database software always concentrates on two important issues the data issue and the operation issue These two issues are discussed by using the ForenSys database software as an example The 1998 version of the ForenSys software has been debugged The software problems and unstable factors were located and corrected The software interfaces were enhanced Some new functions were added to the 1998 version of the ForenSys software The guidelines for using the ForenSys software have been developed The layer database which is one of the databases to provide data for ForenSys has been debugged and improved An automated procedure for importing the PMIS data and Layer data to the ForenSys database has been
34. EWLETT PACKARD Figure 4 8 Printer Property Setup Window The user can setup the print effects the paper source the paper size the print layout and other properties of the printer The detailed instructions of how to set up the properties of the printer can be found in the Windows help file 4 2 3 Main Menu The main menu is used to manage the pavement forensic data the PMIS data and the other related data It includes four submenu items ForenSys PMIS Plan and Graphs 41 4 2 3 1 ForenSys The first item in the Main menu is ForenSys This item is used to manage the pavement forensic related data and the pavement forensic report The pavement general data are displayed in two presentation formats the freeform format as shown in Figure 4 9 and the tabular format as shown in Figure 4 10 The user can switch between these two formats by clicking the tag Form or Table E Forensys Database 5 x Form s Table ection Definition Layer Information County No pag Layer Layer Material No Name Thickness Source Highway 51 1j EA Beginning Road Mark p 0 Construction Year e he da Ending Road Mark fs 900 Current Year ECM MOS A General information ADT Pavement Type Thickness Lane si Failure Mode SN Forensic Analysis Comment Report Name Experiment Section Thickness Insert Impor
35. Formal Forensic Investigation Procedure for Pavements M S Thesis The University of Texas at Austin August 2000 CTR 01 Detailed Diagnostic Manual for Flexible Pavement Research Report 0 1867 2 and Detailed Diagnostic Manual for Rigid Pavement Research Report 0 1867 5 Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin June July 2001 Hudson 97 Hudson W Ronald Haas Ralph Uddin Waheed Infrastructure Management McGraw Hill 1997 Mayne 83 Mayne Alan Wood B Michael Introduction Relational Database The National Computing Center Limited 1983 Noon 92 Noon Randall Introduction to Forensic Engineering CRC Press Boca Raton 1992 Sybase 97 PowerBuilder Getting Started Windows Version 6 Sybase Inc 1997 83 Saunders 93 Saunders Kimberly Maughan The Paradox Relational Database Advisor Elements of Database Design Windcrest McGraw Hill 1993 Teorey 82 Teorey J Toby Fry P James Design of Database Structures The University of Michigan 1982 TxDOT 93 Texas Department of Transportation Division of Highway Design Pavement Management Section D 8PM Managing Texas Pavements An Introduction to TxDOT s Pavement Management System and Concepts January 1993 TxDOT 94 The Texas Department of Transportation Pavement Management Information Systems User s Manual 1994 TxDOT 98 The Texas Department of Transportation Pavement Management Infor
36. RY 1 BACKGROUND Pavement forensic engineering is an essential part of the integrated pavement management process The forensic investigation can help pavement engineers determine the cause of the premature failures of pavements develop the rehabilitation strategies and improve the future design and construction Forensic engineering synthesizes the art and the science of engineering to investigate the causes of failures It deals with the knowledge of many fields including mathematics statistics structure engineering dynamic mechanics corrosion chemistry hydraulics soil mechanics and infrastructure management Noon 92 A comprehensive definition of forensic engineering has been provided by Milton F Lunch former General Counsel to the National Society of Professional Engineers Forensic engineering is the application of the art and science of engineering in the jurisprudence system requiring the services of legally qualified professional engineers Forensic engineering may include investigation of the physical causes of accidents and other sources of claims and litigation preparation of engineering reports testimony at hearings and trials in administrative or judicial proceedings and the rendition of advisory opinions to assist the resolution of disputes affecting life or property Carper 89 From the definition it can be seen that compared to other engineering fields forensic engineering has some special characteristics Having a
37. Technical Report Documentation Page 1 Report No 2 Government Accession No 3 Recipient s Catalog No SWUTC 02 167203 1 4 Title and Subtitle 5 Report Date IMPLEMENTATION OF A DATABASE AND INFORMATION September 2002 SYSTEM FOR FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OF PAVEMENTS 6 Performing Organization Code 7 Author s 8 Performing Organization Report No Zhanmin Zhang and Chunrong Zhou Research Report 167203 1 9 Performing Organization Name and Address 10 Work Unit No TRAIS Center for Transportation Research University of Texas at Austin 3208 Red River Suite 200 Austin Texas 78705 2650 12 Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13 Type of Report and Period Covered 11 Contract or Grant No 10727 Southwest Region University Transportation Center Texas Transportation Institute Texas A amp M University System College Station Texas 77843 3135 14 Sponsoring Agency Code 15 Supplementary Notes Supported by general revenues from the State of Texas 16 Abstract This report describes the implementation of a database and information system for forensic investigation of pavements by enhancing the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software The enhanced ForenSys database software can serve as the center component of an integrated forensic information and analysis system for analyzing forensic related data and information and producing forensic reports In the study a literature review on the basic concept and c
38. The user can modify the User Number User Name User Code and Date information The user cannot modify the authorized privileged information which indicates whether he or she has the right to update delete insert print or view the database The user does not have the right to view or change the information pertaining to other users 39 lolx Update Database Information Update User information User No 1 User Name zo User Code p Date Bn9nesa Database Name Directo PMIS d pmis MMIS d mmis Insert Delete Update ok Enter Microsoft Word Directory Enter Report Templates Directory C Program Files Microsoft Office Office F database F orensic report doc Browse Browse Figure 4 6 Setup Window The third function group is Enter Microsoft Word Directory The user can either enter the directory and the name of the Microsoft Word execution file directly into the edit window or use the Browse button to locate the execution file This information will be used later to open the forensic report The fourth function group is Enter Report Template s Directory The user can either enter the directory and the name of the report template directly into the edit window or use the Browse button to locate the template file This information will be used later to open the template file for the forensic report The user can
39. Type forensys comments distress names county no distress no highway distress name beg m end m comments bd Ed Figure 3 1 Typical Tables in ForenSys Database 2 Identify the primary key In each table every record should be unique The primary key is used to guarantee and identify the uniqueness of the record in the table Either a single data item or a combination of some data items can serve as the primary key whenever it is unique to each record All the tables in the ForenSys database that describe the pavement section entity use the combination of County number Highway ID Roadbed ID section begin position Begin Reference Marker Begin Reference Marker Displacement section end position End Reference Marker End Reference Marker Displacement as their primary key The table that describes the user logon information uses the user name and the password as 21 the primary key The table that describes the system information uses the database name as the primary key Figure 3 2 shows the primary key of some typical tables county_no distress name user name highway user definel user pwd beg rm user define update grant end rm user define3 delete grant adt user define4 insert grant thickness user define5 print grant constr year user defineb view grant current date user define si user define8 sn user defines pav type user definel Figure 3 2 Primary Key of Typi
40. User Defined Item This function is designed to accommodate situations where some required data items are not anticipated by the forensic database software developer The function allows the user to set the name of those data items that are not defined in the software For example in Figure 4 25 all the data items in the left column are predefined items and all the data items in the right column are user defined items Each data item in the left column has a fixed name such as Mix Design Stability and Asphalt Content On the contrary the names of the data items in the right column can be set by the user To set the name of the user defined items the user should click the Set User Defined Item button The Set User Defined Item window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 27 58 Set user defined item Bleeding user define1 user define12 user define13 TAC user define15 user define16 User definei ser define8 user_define18 Figure 4 27 User Defined Data Item Window The user can edit the characters in the cells to define the desired item names and click OK to return to the Distress Data Entry window The defined name will appear in the name column as shown in Figure 4 28 H Distress Data Entry Figure 4 28 Distress Data Entry Window with Defined Items 59 3 View Modify Comments The View Modify Comments function
41. a filtering data computing data and comparing data Taking into account the advantages of the database system over the paper based system and the fact that TxDOT did not have a forensic database system led to the development of a forensic database system for TxDOT The framework of this forensic database system was developed in the year 1998 Although the framework implemented most of the required functions 1t cannot serve as the final product of the forensic database software because of the problems discussed in Chapter 1 Therefore it is necessary to develop a stable and fully implementable forensic database software on the basis of the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software 17 With the developed forensic database serving as the core component the framework of the TxDOT forensic analysis will be an integrated system as discussed by Zhang in his Ph D dissertation A GIS Based and GIS integrated Infrastructure Management System Zhang 96 Figure 2 1 is an illustration of the framework for the forensic database by applying the concept of an integrated system TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System ForenSys oo MN 4 Other A ay Knowledge Base future TxDOT nalysis and T Reporting SOLConnection Functions Rees Multimedia Information Forensic Database 4 i Mutimodia Server x go Md Database Client Server Con
42. a future study efforts should be made to enhance the current ForenSys database software so that it can be operated under the Internet environment where the authorized users can access the forensic software interface through the Internet by using a web browser 81 REFERENCES ASCE 86 The American Society of Civil Engineers Forensic Engineering Learning from Failures New York 1986 ASCE 89 Greenspan F Howard O Kon A James Beasley J Kimball and Ward S Joseph Guidelines for Failure Investigation Technical Council on Forensic Engineering The American Society of Civil Engineers 1989 ASCE 00 Rens L Kevin Rendon Herrero Oswald and Bosela A Paul Proceedings of the Second Congress Forensic Engineering American Society of Civil Engineers 2000 Brown 95 Brown Sam LeMay lain Svalbonas Vytes Weinstein Alvin Fromson David Lyons Jerry Sweet Justin and Zamrik Sam Forensic Engineering Part I An Introduction to the Investigation Analysis Reconstruction Causality Prevention Risk Consequence and Legal Aspects of the Failure of Engineered Products ISI Publications 1995 Carper 89 Carper L Kenneth Pritzker E Paul Hendry Ron Manning Lindley Hicks T Joel Kapustin Rudolf Bell R Glenn Taylor H Fred Hyzer G William Morris M D and Ward S Joseph Forensic Engineering Elsevier Science New York 1989 Crampton 00 Crampton D Douglas Development of a
43. and failure status of each pavement segment The general traffic data and the highway geometric data of each pavement segment 70 Population Status Populated Populated Empty Populated Populated Empty Populated Populated Table 5 1 Candidate Source Database Tables Rh Un A U BO ee ie Re Dee incide E E Primary Key Detail Pavement Type fiscal year responsible district signed highway id control section beg mile point responsible district signed highway id ref marker nbr Broad Pavement Type Distress Id fiscal year signed highway rdbd 1 d beg ref marker nbr beg ref marker disp calculated distance me as rating cycle code fiscal year signed highway rdbd 1 d beg ref marker nbr beg ref marker disp rating cycle code signed highway rdbd 1 d beg ref marker nbr beg ref marker disp Table 5 1 Candidate Source Database Tables Cont Table Name Content Population Primary Key Status PMIS_ The traffic data the Populated 1 fiscal year MANAGEMENT SECTI geometric data and the 2 signed highway rdbd i ON maintenance history of the d T E pavement maintenance section 3 beg ref marker nbr 4 beg ref marker disp PMIS RIDE The ride related data of the Empty 1 fiscal year pavement section such as the doi ride service index the ride f E Fan id Saway test date the wheel path etc uy beg ref marker nbr 4 beg ref marker disp 5 calculated distance me as
44. ase 5 Insert grant tag indicate whether the user has the right to insert new data into the database 6 Print grant tag indicate whether the user has the right to print the database information 7 View grant tag indicate whether the user has the right to view the database information 3 2 2 Database Table Design The listed essential data items should be grouped into data tables of the database The database table design method recommended by Saunders Saunders 93 and the database structure design method recommended by Teorey Teorey 82 are followed in the ForenSys database table design process The following are the steps adopted in the ForenSys database table design procedure 1 Identify the entities This step is to assess which entity each information element listed in the Section 3 2 1 describes The elements that describe the same entity are then grouped together to form a table Entity here refers to a thing that has a definite individual existence in reality or in the mind anything real in itself Saunders 93 Figure 3 1 shows some typical tables or grouped data items in the ForenSys database and the corresponding entity they describe 26 User logon Database User general info a user information user name db names user no user pwd directory user name update grant anal date delete grant user code insert grant print grant view grant El Pavement Section comments Distress
45. atabase 3 Identify the data items in the PMIS database and the Layer database that can serve as the data source for the ForenSys software 4 Write programs that would automatically import data from the source databases into the ForenSys The difficulties for developing such a program are 1 The source data items are spread throughout the different data tables of the different databases The program should be able to locate the data records that describe the same pavement section but are located in different positions of different data tables in different databases The program should be able to integrate these records together to form a new record in the ForenSys database 2 The location reference systems are different between the Layer database and the other two databases the PMIS database and the ForenSys database The program 67 should be able to translate one location reference system into the other location reference system 3 The primary key of the source data table and the target data table is different So it is possible that two records which have different primary key values according to the primary key definition of the source database may have the same primary key value according to the target database primary key definition Thus the program should take actions to prevent the insertion of the record whose primary keys are duplicated with an existing record 4 The data type of the source data item and the target data it
46. ated most of the user requirements However it cannot serve as the final product of the forensic database software because of the following problems l Some user interfaces of the 1998 version of the ForenSys software are only shells They are not executable as scripts were not written to carry out the functions under these interfaces 2 Some executable user interfaces of the 1998 version of the ForenSys software do not work in a stable mode or even correctly sometimes 3 Some required functions are not included in the 1998 version of the ForenSys software 4 The ForenSys database in the 1998 version of the ForenSys software is not populated There are no real data in it It is necessary to develop an efficient procedure to import data into the ForenSys database This procedure should be a computer automated process so that the user s workload can be minimized and the errors caused by manual data input can be avoided 5 The portability of the 1998 version of the ForenSys software is not satisfactory It can only be installed under the default directory in the computer Otherwise there will be database register errors and the program cannot be executed These problems lead to the demand for developing a stable and fully implementable forensic database software with real data in it by enhancing the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software 1 2 OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE The objective of this study is two fold 1 to develop a stab
47. cal Tables Design field Each column in a table is called a field A field describes one attribute of that entity The field design is to determine the data type and byte length of each column in a table The candidate data types in PowerBuilder 6 0 include char varchar numeric integer smallint tinyint double binary long binary date time and float If the attribute a field 99 describes is a name a directory or a comment character types like char varchar or long varchar character with longer allowable bytes are the appropriate data types If the attribute a field describes is a quantity the numerical types including the 99 66 numerical integer smallint integer with fewer allowable bytes tinyint integer with the fewest allowable bytes double binary long binary and float are the appropriate data types The width of a field is determined by the maximum required length of that field of all rows Figure 3 3 shows part of the field design result for one of the tables in the ForenSys database called forensic_main 28 Data De integer sd varchar Ixl varchar Ixi varchar Ixi integer sd numerc Ixi integers date sd numeric w numeric w integers integers varchar Ixi char lw char lw fexperiment section char w layer 1 name varchar Jlaver 1 thickness numeric w Ja layer_2_name id layer
48. ce GUI Figure 3 4 The Framework of the ForenSys Database System Figure 3 4 shows that the ForenSys database is the central component of the ForenSys information and analysis system The ForenSys database performs the system analysis functions as well as the system setup functions The data of the ForenSys database are acquired from other TxDOT databases like the Layer database and the PMIS database and the documentation file The output of the ForenSys database can be displayed in various formats such as the freeform format the tabular format and the graph format 33 CHAPTER 4 PAVEMENT FORENSIC INFORMATION SYSTEM SOFTWARE The database and information system for the forensic investigation of pavements ForenSys is designed to manage the pavement forensic related information With the ForenSys software the pavement forensic related data can be easily accessed by the forensic engineer The software also provides an interface to easily store display and analyze the forensic investigation result The final product of ForenSys software is an executable computer program running under the Windows environment This chapter describes the ForenSys software structure and provides guidelines for using the software design 4 1 SYSTEM COMPONENTS AND MENU STRUCTURE The ForenSys software consists of two major components system setup and database management The system setup component launches the user database and printer information The
49. click the Close button to close the User Setup window and return to the mainframe of the ForenSys software 4 2 2 3 Printer Setup The third item in the Setup menu is Printer Setup which is used to set up the printer properties With a click of the Printer Setup item the Printer Setup window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 7 Printer Setup xi Printer MPRINT SERVERACOLOR_LASER on MPRINT SERVERALAC_Laserl on Nel MPRINT SERVERALAC Laser2 on Nel Figure 4 7 Printer Setup Window 40 All the printers that are installed in the Windows operating system will be displayed in the list box The user can select the desired printer by highlighting the printer name and clicking OK This will make the selected printer the default printer of the ForenSys software The user can also setup the properties of the selected printer by clicking the Setup button before clicking OK The printer property setup window of the Windows operating system will appear as shown in Figure 4 8 LRC Laser4 on PRINT SERVER Properties 21 xl Finishing Effects Paper Destination Basics M Quick Sets Factory Defaults Delete 8 5 by 11 inches m Document Options r Print Quality fi ES Pages per Sheet f Best Quality Print Page Borders C 600 dpi Paae Orde Custom Details age Order Right then Down EconoMode Save Toner H
50. collection step should be performed as soon as possible for example debris should be removed in time to prevent the blocking of traffic from causing further danger Also meeting the deadline on a report may be critical in jury deliberations and verdict outcomes 10 Forensic engineering always includes uncertainty The final conclusion of the forensic investigation may be drawn on the basis of insufficient information Sometimes the most important proof of the failure mechanism may have been destroyed or damaged In that case the forensic investigators should take the responsibility to eliminate the uncertainty by applying their knowledge and engineering experience ASCE 86 2 1 1 Objectives of Forensic Engineering The objectives of the forensic investigation are multidimensional The primary objective is to determine the causes of failures Failure does not necessarily mean a catastrophic event ASCE 86 Instead failure can refer to not only the collapse of a structure that causes the loss of life but also the loss or the reduction in the serviceability that the designer and the property owner intend the infrastructure to perform In pavement forensic engineering failure refers to the latter connotation in most cases because pavements never totally fail Failure can be classified in many ways ASCE 86 According to the severity failure can be classified as safety failure that causes the injury or loss of life and functional failure that is
51. collection_section maintenance section Roadbed PMIS pmis_data_collection_section signed_highway_ rdbd_id Hwy_Dsn PMIS pmis_data_collection_section highway_design_ code Speed Limit PMIS pmis data collection section speed limit max SN N A N A N A SSI PMIS pmis condition summary Ss score SCI PMIS pmis condition summary sci adj Dist Score PMIS pmis condition summary distress score Cond Score PMIS pmis condition summary condition score Lane PMIS pmis data collection section number thru lanes Comments N A N A N A Sh Ruts PMIS pmis condition summary acp rut auto shallow avg pct Deep Ruts PMIS pmis condition summary acp rut auto deep avg _pet Pat PMIS pmis condition summary acp patching pct Fail PMIS pmis condition summary acp failure qty Blk Crk PMIS pmis condition summary acp block cracking pct Alg Crk PMIS pmis condition summary acp alligator cracking pct Lng Crk PMIS pmis condition summary acp longitude cracking pct Trn Crk PMIS pmis condition summary acp transverse cracking qty Rav PMIS pmis condition summary acp raveling code 76 Table 5 2 The Source Data for the PMIS Menu of the ForenSys Cont Target Data Source Source Data Item Item Name Database Source Data Table Name Fiscal_Year PMIS pmis_condition_summary fiscal_year Flu PMIS pmis_condition_summary acp flushing code Table 5 3 lists the results of the selected source database source data table and source
52. de the contract documents the design record construction change orders engineering reports correspondence job memoranda and daily field reports maintained by the owner s and the contractor s representatives ASCE 86 These previous data are important because the failure of the facility is generally caused by 1 inappropriate design 2 careless construction or 3 the interaction of the design the construction and the environment From the performance curve which illustrates the serviceability of the pavement section and the time and effect of the rehabilitation and maintenance work the history of the pavement serviceability can be analyzed and the performance trend can be predicted From the design record it can be checked whether the design life of the pavement has been achieved or whether the real traffic loading has exceeded the design traffic loading With all these previous data the big picture of the failure facility will be clear Acquire field data Field data are acquired by performing the field investigation The objective of the field investigation is to verify the documented data and to collect the debris information Before performing the field investigation some preparation work is required such as preparing the data collection sheet for field observation and determining the methods which are going to be used in the field investigation The candidate methods are developed in the problem recognition step and the
53. displacement and ending reference marker displacement Because the real data collection section or the maintenance section does not exactly match the sections divided by the road reference marks the beginning reference marker displacement and the ending reference marker displacement are needed to provide the information about the difference in the location of the two kinds of sections For example a beginning reference marker displacement of 0 5 means that the beginning of the data collection section is 0 5 mile from the nearest reference marker With these six data items the location of a pavement section can be fully determined Table 3 1 is an example from the ForenSys database location reference data 22 Table 3 1 Sample Location Reference Data in ForenSys Database County No Highway ID Beg Ref Beg Disp End Ref End Disp Roadbed ID Marker Marker 127 BU0067K 0450 0 5 0450 1 From the table it can be learned that the highway is a business state highway in Johnson County in the Fort Worth district The data collection section begins at a point 0 5 mile away from the mark 0450 along the increment direction and ends at a point 1 mile away from the mark 0450 along the increment direction The total length of this data collection section is 0 5 mile 2 Construction Data 1 2 3 E 5 6 7 8 Pavement type such as continuously reinforced concrete pavement CRCP jointed concrete pavem
54. e Edit Forensic Data Report function which will be introduced in the following paragraph Separating the View function from the Modify function can prevent the user from unintentionally modifying the data 5 Distress Data View 120 Fm175 Fatigue Cracking Figure 4 20 Distress Data View Window for Fatigue Cracking 33 2 Distress Data View 2 Distress Data View Figure 4 22 Distress Data View Window for Unspecified Distress The View Modify Report function in the Distress Data View window allows the user to view and modify the electronic version of the pavement forensic report in the Microsoft Word environment After the user clicks the View Modify Report button the software will use the Microsoft Word execution file whose name and directory is specified by the user in the system setup step to open the forensic report specified by the user in the ForenSys Database window 54 The user can switch between the Microsoft Word software and the ForenSys by using the Alt Tab key The user can output the forensic related data displayed in the Distress Data View window into a hardcopy by clicking the Print button The software will use the printer specified by the user in the Printer Setup step to print the data 2 Edit Forensic Data Report The Edit Forensic Data Report function allows t
55. e which is a pavement management information system database currently used by TxDOT to manage its pavement data The reason for using the similar method here is not only because this location reference system is widely used at TxDOT to collect data but also because with the similar location reference system the communication between two databases will be very convenient As it will be discussed in Chapter 5 the PMIS database is one of the most important data resources for the ForenSys database the data import from the PMIS database to the ForenSys database relies on the communications between these two databases The following is a list of the section description data items in the ForenSys database The definition of these data items are acquired from the Pavement Management Information System Rater s Manual for Fiscal Year 1999 TxDOT 98 1 County number The county number is the unique number that is assigned to each county in Texas Since there are 254 counties in Texas the range of the county number is from 1 to 254 2 Highway ID The highway ID is composed of two parts the route description and the number The route description describes the ranking of the route There are 9 possible route descriptions IH Interstate Highway US US Highway SH State Highway includes NASA OSR BI Business Interstate BU Business US Highway BS Business State Highway FM Farm to Market BF Business Farm to Market and PR Pa
56. e exception that for north south interstate highway the increment direction is from south to north Beginning reference marker displacement and ending reference marker displacement Because the real data collection section or the maintenance section does not exactly match the sections divided by the road reference marks the beginning reference 74 marker displacement and the ending reference marker displacement are needed to provide the information about the difference in location of the two kinds of sections For example a beginning reference marker displacement of 0 5 means that the beginning of the data collection section is 0 5 mile from the nearest reference marker 5 2 2 The Location Reference System of the Layer Database The Layer database uses the combination of control section and subsection to identify the pavement segment location The reason why the Layer database does not adopt the same location reference system as the other two databases is that the data are input into the Layer database according to the construction history data recorded in the R log files which use the control section and subsection as the location reference system The fact that the Layer database uses a location reference system different from the other two databases including the PMIS database and the ForenSys increases the difficulty of importing data from the Layer database to the ForenSys The location refer
57. e strategies for repairing the damaged pavement section 2 2 CURRENT FORENSIC ANALYSIS PRACTICE IN TxDOT Research Report 1731 1 entitled Basic Concepts Current Practices and Available Resources for Forensic Investigations on Pavement summarizes a comprehensive overview on the current practice of forensic investigation in TXDOT by reviewing part of the forensic investigation reports prepared by TxDOT in the past 6 years and the TxDOT Department Circular 19 93 which outlines the forensic practices within the state The report indicates that because the forensic investigation is affected by many various factors TXDOT currently conducts forensic engineering investigations on a case by case basis without having a formal investigation procedure Although the investigations are conducted on a case by case basis some common steps do exist in the investigation methodology These steps are investigation request preliminary meetings between the project coordinator and the investigation team interviews with people who are familiar with the failure work onsite investigation review of project records detailed condition survey materials sampling and laboratory testing analysis of data and identification of the most likely cause of the problem and production of a final report that documents the entire forensic investigation process in detail Victorine 97 Report 1731 1 introduces these common investigation steps in detail The following is a
58. eloper to design such user interfaces as menus windows and window controls 2 PowerBuilder adopts an event trigger mechanism The application responds to user actions like clicking the mouse button moving down the scroll bar changing the 19 position of the cursor or clicking the function button This mechanism makes it possible that after the software begins to run the next step is controlled by the user 3 PowerBuilder provides a data window object which connects the database with the window interface With the data window the data stored in the database can be displayed in the window interface The software developer can add restrictions to retrieve only desired data items which satisfy the particular conditions The software developer can also specify the data display format 4 PowerBuilder provides easy access to data stored in various kinds of relational databases This characteristic makes it possible for the ForenSys database to communicate with other databases at TxDOT The ForenSys database is designed as a relational database that operates on a collection of tables Each table is composed of many rows and columns Each row which is also called a record represents a particular entity Each column in a row called a field describes one attribute of that entity The entity is identified by the primary key which is a data item or a combination of some data items that are unique to each record The tables are related by the fore
59. em might not be consistent Importing such a data item directly will cause errors So after reading the value of the source data item the program should convert the value to the desired data type 5 1 STUDY THE SOURCE DATABASES 5 1 1 Pavement Management Information System Database The Pavement Management Information System PMIS database software is an automated system that is designed to store update retrieve analyze calculate and visualize pavement management related data in support of the pavement management decision making process The operating environment for PMIS is a combination of the Customer Information and Control System CICS and the Remote Operating System Conversational On Line Environment ROSCOE TxDOT 94 CICS is a direct access environment in which PMIS can perform the following tasks run standard reports run action reports store visual data browse data delete data and analyze data using needs estimate reports funds optimization reports and impact analysis reports ROSCOE is a batch operating environment in which PMIS can perform the following tasks print and review reports store data such as visual data ride data deflection data skid data and automated rutting data A typical procedure of PMIS includes four steps 1 collect data and transfer collected data to ROSCOE library members 2 generate raw data reports and summarized data report 3 perform need estimation function funding optimization function i
60. ence consolidation work is therefore required in the program This subject will be further discussed in this chapter 5 3 SELECT SOURCE DATA TABLES AND SOURCE DATA ITEMS The objective of examining the data tables and the data items of the PMIS database and the ForenSys database is to locate the source data item for each data item in the ForenSys database It might be possible that more than one table contains the required source data item In that case only the data item in the data table which contains the required source data item that exists only in this data table will be chosen Table 5 2 lists the result of the selected source database source data table and source data item name for the pmis_main table of the ForenSys Software 75 Table 5 2 The Source Data for the PMIS Menu of the ForenSys Target Data Source Source Data Item Item Name Database ae Name County_no PMIS pmis_data_collection_section county_nbr Highway PMIS pmis condition summary signed highway rdbd id Beg Rm PMIS pmis condition summary beg ref marker nbr beg ref marker disp End Rm PMIS pmis condition summary end ref marker nbr end ref marker disp ADT PMIS pmis data collection section aadt current 18kip PMIS pmis_data_collection_section current_18kip_ meas SI N A N A N A Pav_Type PMIS pmis_data_collection_section pvmnt_type_broad_ code Main_Sec PMIS pmis_data_
61. ent JCP flexible asphalt concrete pavement ACP and jointed reinforced concrete pavement JRCP Number of layers in the pavement section Name of each layer Eight layer names have been predefined for the database BS for base ML for milled surface OS for original surface OV for overlay SB for subbase SC for seal coat SG for subgrade and NA for not available layer type Thickness of each layer Material of each layer Total thickness of the pavement The number of lanes Construction year 3 Traffic Related Data 1 2 3 4 ADT average daily traffic ESAL equivalent single axle load Truck the percentage of truck traffic Speed limit 4 Performance Related Data 1 2 SI service index SN skid number 23 3 SSI structural strength index 4 SCI structural capacity index 5 Forensic Related Data 1 2 3 4 5 6 Forensic analysis flag to indicate whether the forensic analysis exists in this pavement section Failure mode such as cracking bleeding or raveling Comment flag to indicate whether the comment for the forensic situation of this pavement section exists Experiment section to indicate if the section is a TxDOT experimental section or not Report name the path and name of the electronic forensic report file for this pavement section Forensic investigation related data these data are grouped as HMAC property data subgrade fill property data
62. gineering may include investigation of the physical causes of accidents and other sources of claims and litigation preparation of engineering reports testimony at hearings and trials in administrative or judicial proceedings and the rendition of advisory opinions to assist the resolution of disputes affecting life or property Carper 89 From the definition it can be seen that compared to other engineering fields forensic engineering has some special characteristics Having a comprehensive realization of these special characteristics is very important for a forensic engineer to perform his or her task effectively and efficiently The following is a list of the main attributes of forensic engineering 6 Forensic engineering does not deal with the proposed infrastructure but with the existing infrastructure that has premature failures 7 The task of forensic engineering is not planning design or construction but the investigation of the causes of failures 8 Forensic engineering always involves legal problems Forensic engineers solve the problems not only in technology and engineering fields but are also involved in dispute resolutions One of the primary objectives of forensic engineering is to determine the responsibility of the failure The report of the forensic investigation is often used as proof in the court 9 Forensic engineers usually face urgent deadlines to fulfill their tasks The problem recognition step and the field data
63. he ad hoc data items can be used just as those predefined items Distress Description Data Asphalt concrete pavement ACP shallow rutting percentage deep rutting percentage patching percentage number of ACP failures block cracking percentage alligator cracking percentage longitudinal cracking percentage number of transverse cracks raveling code flushing code Continuously reinforced concrete pavement CRCP number of spalled cracks number of punchouts average crack spacing number of CRCP ACP patches number of CRCP PCC patches Jointed concrete pavement JCP number of failed joints and cracks number of JCP failures number of shattered slabs number of longitudinal cracks number of JCP PCC patches apparent joint spacing Database System Management Related Data 1 2 3 4 Database name the name of the database Database directory the location of the database file Microsoft Word directory the path and name of the execution file of the Microsoft Word Report Template Directory the path and name of the template file for the forensic report Database Security Related Data 1 2 3 User name the logon name of the user User password the logon password corresponding to the user name Update grant tag indicate whether the user has the right to update the database information 25 4 Delete grant tag indicate whether the user has the right to delete the existing data of the datab
64. he failed pavement section The design records construction records maintenance records and soil and geological records are all important records which should be reviewed Detailed condition survey material sampling and laboratory testing are then conducted to get detailed and accurate information In a detailed condition survey procedure the main field test methods used in TxDOT include the Falling Weight Deflectometer FWD test the Dynaflect test the Dynamic Cone Penetration tests the Ground Penetrating Radar GPR test and the TxDOT profilometer test In materials sampling and laboratory testing the main laboratory test methods used in TxDOT include coring trenching and subsurface investigation The output of the investigation is a comprehensive final report and a generic report for statewide distribution Victorine 97 3 THE NEED FOR A FORENSIC DATABASE The foregoing literature review on the basic concept and the current practice of the forensic engineering indicates that data play a very important role throughout the forensic investigation process For example the data acquired from the initial site observation are the foundation of determining the appropriate methods to conduct the field investigation and the laboratory material tests Another example is that the data acquired by reviewing existing documents can help the forensic engineers grasp the overall picture of the failure pavement section Generally speaking the input and
65. he pavement related data easily accessible to the forensic engineer and provides an interface to easily store display and analyze the forensic investigation results Additional improvements can be made to this database software taking advantage of the renovated database technology It is recommended that the following issues be given additional research in the future 3 The ForenSys database is a relational database All the data items in the ForenSys database are in standard data formats such as integer double or string But in practice a forensic investigation often needs to deal with the objects such as photographs taken in the field It is desirable that the ForenSys database is able to handle objects besides the mere data In order to have such a capability the ForenSys database must be upgraded to an object relational database that combines the relational technology and the object oriented technology together Since the technology for an object relational database has not been well developed yet it is not 80 possible to apply it in this study With the rapid development of the database technology however this concept may become more realistic in the near future The ForenSys database software is a stand alone database system that runs on a single computer To input the data collected in the field into the database the users must locally access a particular computer that has the ForenSys software installed In
66. he user to view and edit the forensic related data and the forensic report as well as view the distress picture of the pavement section whose general data are currently displayed in the ForenSys Database window The user can also use this function to define new data items for various types of distress To do so the user should click the Edit Forensic Data Report button to open the Distress Data Entry window In the top part of the window there is a drop list called Select Distress Type The distress type selected in this drop list determines the appearance of the bottom part of the Distress Data Entry window For example if the selected distress is Fatigue Cracking the window will look like Figure 4 23 If the selected distress is Block Cracking the window will look like Figure 4 24 If the selected distress is Bleeding the window will look like Figure 4 25 etc There are eleven candidate distress types fatigue cracking longitudinal cracking block cracking rutting raveling striping bleeding transverse cracking pumping faulting and skid The common function keys in the Distress Data Entry window include View Picture Edit Report Save and Close In the bottom part of the Distress Data Entry window for some distress types there is a Setup User Defined Item function 55 2 Distress Data Entry Fatigue Cracking AURI 11 11 2000
67. iew Modify Comments and Edit Comments 1 View Forensic Data Report The View Forensic Data Report function allows the user to view the detailed forensic data and to view and modify the forensic report of the pavement section whose general data are currently displayed in the ForenSys Database window A click on the View Forensic Data Report button would display the Distress Data View window The appearance of the Distress Data View window varies according to distress types For example if the failure mode of the currently displayed pavement section is Fatigue Cracking the window will have the appearance of the one in Figure 4 20 If the failure mode of the currently displayed pavement section is Longitudinal Cracking the window will have the appearance of Figure 4 21 If the failure mode of the currently displayed pavement section is not specified the window will be blank as shown in Figure 4 22 Generally there are twelve kinds of Distress Data View windows for the following twelve types of distress n Fatigue cracking n Longitudinal cracking n Block cracking n Rutting n hRaveling n Strping n Bleeding n Transverse cracking n Pumping n Faulting n Skid n _ Unspecified distress 52 The data displayed in the Distress Data View window are for view purposes only The user cannot modify the information in this window To modify the data the user should use th
68. ign keys which are data items that serve as a primary key in other tables In each table of a relational database system there should be only one type of record The content of each record should be unique and the fields in the table should be distinct Mayne 83 The length of a field is determined by the maximum required length of that field of all rows 3 2 DATA RELATED ISSUES OF FORENSYS DATABASE SYSTEM DESIGN 3 2 1 Essential Data Items To meet the forensic investigation requirements both the general management data and the forensic investigation result data of pavements should be included in the database To determine the data items essential to the ForenSys database previous forensic reports and existing pavement management databases have been reviewed and the meetings with experts have been held The following data items were included in the ForenSys database 1 Section Description Data The general management data and the forensic investigation data of pavements in the ForenSys database are organized according to pavement sections The section 20 description data describe the location of the pavement section The combination of the section description data should be unique to each pavement section thus it can identify the location of the pavement section In the ForenSys database the pavement section description method also known as the location reference system is similar to the location description method in the PMIS databas
69. ism may have been destroyed or damaged In that case the forensic investigators should take the responsibility to eliminate the uncertainty by applying their knowledge and engineering experience ASCE 86 2 CURRENT FORENSIC ANALYSIS PRACTICE IN TxDOT The Center for Transportation Research CTR Research Report 1731 1 entitled Basic Concepts Current Practices and Available Resources for Forensic Investigations on Pavement summarizes a comprehensive overview on the current practice of forensic investigation in the Texas Department of Transportation TxDOT by reviewing part of the forensic investigation reports prepared by TxDOT in the past 6 years and the TxDOT Department Circular 719 93 which outlines the forensic practices within the state The report indicates that because the forensic investigation is affected by many various factors TxDOT currently conducts forensic engineering investigations on a case by case basis without having a formal investigation procedure Although the investigations are conducted on a case by case basis some common steps do exist in the investigation methodology These steps are investigation request preliminary meetings between the project coordinator and the investigation team interviews with people who are familiar with the failure work onsite investigation review of project records detailed condition survey materials sampling and laboratory testing analysis of data and identification of the most like
70. ix microcracking air content tests and modulus of elasticity tests Victorine 97 Tables 2 3 and 2 4 summarize the distress type and the corresponding lab investigation methods for flexible pavements and rigid pavements The information is retrieved from the Diagnostic Manual for Flexible Pavement and the Diagnostic Manual for Rigid Pavement CTR 00 5 Analyze data develop the failure theory and formulate the candidate hypotheses After the data have been acquired from the previous documents and the field investigation and the lab material test are completed these data should be analyzed in order to study the failure theory and to work out the candidate hypotheses The analysis procedure includes three steps summarize the observed phenomena study the possible failure mechanism and its corresponding phenomena and then compare the observed phenomena with the candidate phenomena to work out the candidate hypotheses 11 Table 2 3 Lab Investigation Methods For Flexible Pavements CTR 00 Distress Type Lab Investigation Method Alligator Cracking 1 Test the asphalt pavement core Tex 117 E 2 Check design records and traffic record Block Cracking 1 A pavement core can be used 2 Check the record of daily temperature Bump Swell 1 Determine the potential vertical rise of the base materials Tex 124 E Edge Cracking 1 Test the asphalt pavement core 2 Check the construction
71. lable to manage the displayed data The usages of these functions are the same as those in the Forensys Database window which have been discussed in the earlier sections 4 2 3 3 Plan The third item in the Main menu is Plan This item is used to manage the pavement plan data which is available in the Odessa District When the user clicks the Plan item the Plan Logon window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 33 o x District Name Houston Houston User Name Lampasas Odessa Password Figure 4 33 Plan Logon Window 62 Once a district is selected the Plan Database window is displayed as shown in Figure 4 34 IBix Control Section Job Suf 3 4 20 66200 7 0050 H 10 3 4 24 66190 70050 H 10 3 4 9 6790 7 0050 Us 80 3 5 40 8940 97180 990 iH 20 3 5 3 22770 97180 989 H 20 3 5 38 07900 1 9840 1989 H 20 3 5 39 5570 1 6050 989 H 20 3 5 35 07900 96360 1988 H 20 3 5 38 07900 8 5200 988 H a 3 5 34 sao 1 1100 1987 H 20 3 5 33 904 9 7180 1966 H 20 3 5 32 0790 97180 979 H 20 3 5 H Update Data Filter Close Delete Data Sort Exit Figure 4 34 Plan Database Window In the Plan Database window the pavement plan data of the target district are displayed in a tabular format The user can move the horizontal scroll bar to view more data items and move the vertical scroll ba
72. le portable and fully implementable forensic database system on the basis of the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software and 2 to develop an automated procedure to import forensic related data into the forensic database To achieve this goal the following steps have been undertaken in the study 1 Review the basic concept of forensic engineering so that the background knowledge of forensic engineering including the objectives the tasks and the main attributes of forensic engineering can be grasped This can serve as a solid basis for the future database implementation 2 Review the current practice of pavement forensic investigations at TxDOT This is to make sure that the ForenSys software will be consistent with TxDOT practices 3 Apply the system design concept to the ForenSys database system using the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software as the example 4 Debug the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software by correcting the errors of the executable interfaces and implementing the functions of the interfaces that are only shells in the 1998 version CA Add new functions to the 1998 version of the ForenSys software eu Develop a computer automated procedure to import data into the ForenSys database and write the corresponding scripts 1 3 ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT This report summarizes the work accomplished under the study and discusses the implementation of the ForenSys software The report inc
73. ludes 6 chapters Chapter 1 introduces the background and the objective of the study Chapter 2 presents findings from the literature review of the basic concept and the current practice of forensic engineering Chapter 3 discusses the concept of system design for the relational database using the ForenSys Database software as an example Chapter 4 provides guidelines for using the ForenSys database system software It can serve as the user manual for this software Chapter 5 describes the procedures used in the study to develop a methodology to import data into the ForenSys database Chapter 6 gives the conclusion of this study and provides recommendations for future research CHAPTER 2 BASIC CONCEPT AND CURRENT PRACTICE OF FORENSIC ENGINEERING 2 4 BASIC CONCEPT OF FORENSIC ENGINEERING Forensic engineering synthesizes the art and the science of engineering to investigate the causes of failures It deals with the knowledge of many fields including mathematics statistics structure engineering dynamic mechanics corrosion chemistry hydraulics soil mechanics and infrastructure management Noon 92 A comprehensive definition of forensic engineering has been provided by Milton F Lunch former General Counsel to the National Society of Professional Engineers Forensic engineering is the application of the art and science of engineering in the jurisprudence system requiring the services of legally qualified professional engineers Forensic en
74. luding tables freeforms and graphs The following three chapters discuss the important issues of designing and pilot implementing the ForenSys database software This chapter focuses on the concept of system design issue Chapter 4 introduces the ForenSys database software functions and interfaces Chapter 5 summarizes the procedures of importing data to the ForenSys database System design of the database software always concentrates on two important issues the data and the operation The issue on data addresses concerns related to what data items should be included in the database how they should be organized into database tables which data should be identified as a primary key and what kind of relationships should be built among tables The issue on operation addresses concerns related to what operations should be applied onto those data what functions the database should provide and how to design the user interface 3 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT PowerBuilder 6 0 for Windows NT is used to develop the ForenSys database PowerBuilder is one of the products from Sybase Inc It is a powerful object oriented application tool that provides an environment for the database software designer to develop the relational database applications Sybase 97 PowerBuilder has the following characteristics that make it a competent database development tool 1 PowerBuilder contains user interface design functions It helps the software dev
75. ly cause of the problem and production of a final report that documents the entire forensic investigation process in detail Victorine 97 Report 1731 1 introduces these common investigation steps in detail The following is a summation of the information retrieved from the report In the investigation request step the viii district or division submits a memorandum to the Director of the Division of Highway Design requesting that an investigation be conducted As a general practice the memorandum should include the pavement inventory information such as the pavement history the pavement structure the material information and the construction records The memorandum should also include the environmental data like the traffic information the weather condition records and the soil and geologic information If the request is approved the preliminary meeting will be held between the investigative team and the coordinator of the project to discuss the failure facts and to become familiar with the case Then the interviews with the construction engineer the project engineer and other people who are familiar with the case are carried out After these preparatory tasks have been performed and the elementary information has been grasped the onsite investigation is then conducted in order to gather the firsthand information about the current condition of the pavement A review of the project records is another necessary way to collect information on t
76. major research efforts under this study are summarized as follows A literature review on the basic concept and current practice of forensic engineering has been performed The literature review summarized the attributes objectives and tasks of forensic engineering studied the current practice of forensic investigation within TxDOT and presented the necessity of ForenSys database software The system design concept of the relational database has been applied System design of the database software always concentrates on two important issues the data issue and the operation issue These two issues are discussed by using the ForenSys database software as an example The 1998 version of the ForenSys software has been debugged The software problems and unstable factors were located and corrected The software interfaces were enhanced Some new functions were added to the 1998 version of the ForenSys software The guidelines for using the ForenSys software have been developed The layer database which is one of the databases to provide data for ForenSys has been debugged and improved An automated procedure for importing the PMIS data and Layer data to the ForenSys database has been developed RECOMMENDATIONS The ForenSys database software makes the pavement related data easily accessible to the forensic engineer and provides an interface to easily store display and analyze the forensic investigation results Additional improvement
77. make these changes permanent the administrator should click the Update button The Close button allows the administrator to close the User Setup window and return to the mainframe of the ForenSys software After clicking the Close button the software will check 38 whether there are some changes the user has made but not stored If there are the Save window will pop up as shown in figure 4 5 to prompt the user to save the changes Otherwise the User Setup window will close x A You did not save changes Do you want to save before exiting Figure 4 5 Save Window 4 2 2 2 System Setup The second item in the Setup menu is System Setup which includes four independent function groups as shown in Figure 4 6 The first function group is Update Database Information This group is used to manage database files To insert a new record the user can click Insert and input the database file name and directory in the newly displayed line To remove an existing record the user can click anywhere on that record and then click Delete To modify existing database file information the user can click the appropriate cell and modify the information It should be noticed that all the changes will not be permanent unless the user clicks the Update button The second function group is Update User information This function allows the user to modify one s own logon information
78. mation System Rater s Manual for Fiscal Year 1999 June 1998 Victorine 97 Victorine A Tracy Zhang Zhanmin Fowler W David and Hudson W Ronald Basic Concepts Current Practices and Available Resources for Forensic Investigations on Pavements Research Report 1731 1 Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin September 1997 Zhang 96 Zhang Zhanmin A GIS Based and GIS Integrated Infrastructure Management System Ph D Dissertation The University of Texas at Austin August 1996 Zhang 99 Zhang Zhanmin Rechtien R Matthew Fowler W David and Hudson W Ronald A Summary of Pavement and Material related Databases Within the Texas Department of Transportation Research Report 1785 1 Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin September 1999 84
79. mpact analysis function and 4 generate the result reports TxDOT 94 The purpose of PMIS is to assist the Districts and 68 Divisions at TxDOT to allocate the budget determine the schedule select the rehabilitation strategy and make other decisions The PMIS data are converted from the mainframe database to the PC environment by using the Microsoft Access Database to store data The extension name of the database file is mdb The data items in the PMIS database are organized into twenty six tables Some of these tables are populated with data The others are empty tables with only column names in it The features and the contents of the tables whose data items might be used as the source data of the ForenSys are described in Table 5 1 69 Table Name Detail_Pavement_Types Database_Last_Update Control_Sections Distance_From_Origin Distress_Types PMIS_ AUTOMATED_ RUTTING PMIS_ SUMMARY PMIS_DATA_COLLEC TION_SECTION CONDITION_ Content The pavement type name and the number that represents that pavement type name The latest update date of the database of each district Match two kinds of location reference systems The distance from the original point of the highway to the reference marker The distress type name of each broad pavement type and the number that represents that distress type The characteristics of the rutting failure of the pavement section The pavement general condition
80. nagement information to a text file Sort and filter the pavement management information Delete all existing pavement management information records 31 Table 3 3 Desired Functions for ForenSys Database Cont Manage the plan Insert delete and update the pavement plan information of the information of a pavement section pare menes econ Import the pavement plan information from a text file Backup the pavement plan information to a text file Sort and filter the pavement plan information Delete all existing pavement plan information records Visualize the Visualize the layer thickness and material data pavement section information Visualize the qualification highway property The user interface serves as the linkage between the software user and the functions the database application software provides therefore it should be friendly intuitive and self explanatory enough so that the learning curve of the software will not be so high as to impede the adoption of it 32 3 4 THE FRAMEWORK OF THE FORENSYS DATABASE Figure 3 4 is an illustration of the framework of the developed ForenSys database system TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System ForenSys Setup Functions PMIS System Setup File Databases Databas ForenSys Analysis j Layer PMIS Analysis _ Databases Plan Analysis Multiple Document Interface E fil Y Freeform Tabular Graph Graphical User Interfa
81. nection Functions Multiple Document Interface MDI 4 EA Views i Tables Charts Layouts ai Graphical User Interface GUI _ Figure 2 1 Conceptual Framework Designed for TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System Victorine 97 This framework illustrates that the forensic database is the center component of the proposed forensic information and analysis system The forensic database will perform the regular database functions like storing retrieving and manipulating data Besides that the forensic database will also implement the system analysis function and the report writing function on a knowledge base The output of the forensic database will be in multiple document interfaces such as views tables charts and layouts The whole system will be encapsulated in a user friend graphic interface 18 CHAPTER 3 THE CONCEPT OF SYSTEM DESIGN OF THE FORENSYS DATABASE The purpose of developing a forensic database application is to make the pavement management information such as the design construction and maintenance information easily accessible to the forensic engineer through an interface that can easily store display and analyze the forensic investigation result It is desired that with the forensic database the general information and the forensic investigation result of any specific section of highways in Texas can be retrieved easily from the database and displayed in various formats inc
82. o a magnifier A With the click of the left button of the mouse the graph will zoom out to a big scale as shown in Figure 4 11 If the cursor is e moved onto the magnified graph the cursor will change to a zoom out lens e The click of the left button of the mouse would return the graph to the original size as in Figure 4 9 E Forensys Database y Ee o x Form af Table Section Definition Layer information County No 249 Layer Layer Material Name Thickness 1 lsc Wao Jj Pavement Layer Structure Mov beo Surface Tred 3 les foo lan Stone AAA EA 5l C W 6 4 6 al I Pavement Layer Structure Thickness ELL LLL LE LLL LEE LE LE LELELETA ASS Thickness Pavement Layer Structure BS Ov EH sc Insert Import Update Data Filter View Forensic Data Report Delete Backu Delete Data Sort pait korenie Data Rapor p View Modify Comments Cose Edit Comments Figure 4 11 Magnified Pavement Layer Structure Graph 44 The freeform format window and the tabular format window share the same function keys The function keys are grouped into two parts functions that manage the pavement general data at network level and functions that manage the detailed forensic data forensic report and comment at project level The function groups that manage the pavement general data include nine function keys Insert Delete Import Backup Update Data Delete Data Filter So
83. o set up the display criteria or conditions Only those records that satisfy the criteria will be displayed After clicking the Filter button the Specify Filter window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 17 to allow the user to establish the criteria 48 xi OK E Cancel ESSI Verify county no 1 AND highway FM110 OR highway FM1434 Functions Columns avg x for all bitmap s ceiling x case x when a then b char x cos x Y current date Y Figure 4 17 Specify Filter Window The filter criteria are expressed by a relational expression The user can click any column names and use them as the relational variable There are also many functions available for use in the relational expression Four relational operations are provided including Greater Than Less Than Greater Than or Equal to and Less Than or Equal to The user can also use other relational operations like by typing it directly Many relational expressions can be connected by using the logical operators such as NOT AND or OR An example of the filter criteria is provided in Figure 4 17 The Verify function can be used to check the validation of the relational expression The clicking of OK would allow the user to return to the Forensys Database window At this time only those records that satisfied the criteria will be displayed The user can move the scroll
84. of managing them manually Compared to manual data management a computerized data management system is both 16 convenient and effective Some advantages of database system have been summarized by Hudson et al in the book Infrastructure Management Hudson 97 5 Data are stored in a compact space like a computer hard disk or a CD ROM These computer storage devices occupy much less space than paper does and cost fewer natural resources 6 Data can be stored and retrieved much faster than a manual method Some of the data can even be imported directly from the existing database 7 Standards can be guaranteed by the data format and the value validation automatically detecting function in the database system 8 Security restrictions can be set to ensure that only the authorized users can access the data Other advantages of a database system include 5 Data are accessible to all users simultaneously Processing data by one user does not prevent other users from accessing them 6 Data validation can be maintained by assigning different users a different access right Only the users with a high level right can update the data in the database 7 Data can be displayed in many forms such as the table form the scatter point diagram and the pie chart These forms can give the users more intuitional perception of the data 8 Database systems not only can store and display data but also can perform data process functions like sorting dat
85. opriate cell and modify the information 4 Backup The backup function is used to backup the general data of all pavement sections into a file After clicking the Backup button the Save As window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 13 3 xl Save in e ek Ey aa foren com zhou a foren main E back amp forensys S back_noheader amp Forensyso amp back withheader s pmis amp code readme Save as type Text with headers Y Cancel Figure 4 13 Save As Window The user can then type in the file name select the desired file type and the directory under which the user wants to store the file and click on the Save button The backup file will be created The data can be backed up in various types including Dbase 2 Dbase 3 Excel Excel with headers Excel5 Excel5 with headers Hyper Text Marker Link HTML Table Powersoft Report System Query Language SQL Text Text with headers windows metafile and other commonly used file formats Figure 4 14 shows part of the backup file using Excel with header 46 county no highway beg rm En 220 L344 0 0 ES 120 FM175 0 0 4 112 FM2425 0 0 5 213 144 0 0 6 120 SH114 0 0 182 SH254 0 0 end_rm 0 540 4 777 6 161 7 4T8 8 986 11 427 Figure 4 14 Part of the Backup File 5 Import The import function is used to restore the data stored in the backup file back to the database After clicking the
86. r to view data of other pavement sections The Insert Delete Import Backup Update Data Delete Data Filter Sort Close and Exit functions are available to manage the displayed data The usages of these functions are the same as those in the Forensys Database window which have been introduced before 4 2 3 4 Graph The fourth function in the Main menu is Graphs This function is designed to visualize three pavement data items simultaneously With the click of the Graph the Graphs window will pop up as shown in Figure 4 35 63 SEA Selected Highway Properties amos BI0035V Begins at Ends at Roadbed Types Select Attribute z Select Attribute v Select Attribute Roadbed Highway Beg Rm 4 gt End Rm Broo35v o none Figure 4 35 Graphs Window To visualize the pavement attribute data with the graphs the user should first use the drop list box at the left bottom corner of the Graphs window to select the highway name After the highway name is selected the name the beginning position Begin Reference Marker Begin Reference Marker Displacement the ending position End Reference Marker End Reference Marker Displacement and the roadbed type of the selected highway will be displayed in the Selected Highway Properties group box According to the displayed information the
87. rds for recent severe weather 3 Observe the core for freezing and thawing damage Longitudinal 1 Check the construction records and the weather records Cracking 2 Determine the degree of compaction the resistance to weathering the moisture content the drainage factor and the potential vertical rise of the base materials 3 Perform a triaxial compression test on the base materials 4 Inspect the soil boring for freezing and thawing damage Loss of Skid 1 Accelerated polish test Resistance 13 Table 2 4 Lab Investigation Methods For Rigid Pavements CTR 00 Cont Distress Type Lab Investigation Method Cont Loss of Surface 1 Measuring air content and air void system parameters Material 2 Petrographic analysis concrete core and chloride test 3 Compare the affected slab and the unaffected slab 4 Check construction records weather records and pavement records Pumping 1 Determine the resistance to weathering and the drainage factor of the base materials Punchout 1 Determine the resistance to weathering and the drainange factor of the base materials Reactive 1 Check the field service records Material 2 Petrographic examination 3 Different laboratory tests to determine if the aggregates are potentially reactive Shrinkage 1 Check the construction records and the weather records Cracking Slab Shattering 1 Determine the degree of compaction the resistance to weathering and
88. re interface through the Internet by using a web browser xiii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pii A e M iv Acknowledgments xoa a e RN e Skoti esente ipu v DIAS AAA ee iate oue e Qu P EA I Les M UU E galls tas SDERVEU iE oaos Essia tosses EIE vii List of EIGUE S sordos Eos pin orate ci xvii List f Tables cC xix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION canina diia aiii 1 lee Backero ndi E A ETA 1 1 2 Objecuve and COP deleti ee a o da AA A eed 2 1 3 Organization OF the Reprod e ceto dee tnt e siste b P tt 2 CHAPTER 2 BASIC CONCEPT AND CURRENT PRACTICE OF FORENSIC Oh E63 1 0104 3 I s dani desatada cabra bea 5 2 1 Basic Concept of Forensic Engineering ee eiae tto e era cpue ised ver Dra un AR Pee 5 2 1 1 Objectives of Forensic Engineering di id asada 6 2 1 2 Tasks of Forensic Engineering cios eo ete tog es veut ue eed tati 6 2 2 Current Forensic Analysis Practice in TxXDOT eene 15 2 3 The Necessity of A Forensic Database ii 16 CHAPTER 3 THE CONCEPT OF SYSTEM DESIGN OF THE FORENSYS DATABASE nta u ar pela 19 3 1 Introduction to the Development Environment essen 19 3 2 Data Related Issues of Forensys Database System Design sss 20 3 2 1 Essential Data Hem code sea D Da ro Nat basi sev ap DA UC a 20 3 2 2 Database Table Design scudo E Eras 26 3 3 Operation Related Issues of Forensys Database System Design
89. rk Road The number identifies each highway from other highways with the same route description 3 Roadbed ID 21 Roadbed ID provides the information of the position of the roadbed central line relative to the highway centerline For the single roadbed highway the roadbed ID is K which means the central line of the roadbed is overlapped with the central line of highway For multiple roadbeds the left frontage roadbed ID is X the left main roadbed ID is L the right main roadbed ID is R and the right frontage roadbed is A 4 Beginning reference marker and ending reference marker Given the county number and the highway ID the location of the highway is determined The highway is then divided into many sections Each section is typically 0 5 mile long although some are as long as 1 0 mile and some are as short as 0 1 mile The reference marker specifies the boundary of the sections The first marker number represents the beginning of the route It is the same as the nearest grid location that is derived by imposing a grid on the Texas State map The following marker number is generally increased by 2 subsequently until the end of the route is reached In general the reference marker increment direction is from west to east or from south to north for straight routes and clockwise for circular loops with the exception that for north south interstate highway the increment direction is from south to north 5 The beginning reference marker
90. rsity Transportation Centers Program in the interest of information exchange The U S Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use iii ABSTRACT This report describes the implementation of a database and information system for forensic investigation of pavements by enhancing the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software The enhanced ForenSys database software can serve as the center component of an integrated forensic information and analysis system for analyzing forensic related data and information and producing forensic reports In the study a literature review on the basic concept and current practice of forensic engineering has been performed the system design concept of the relational database has been applied the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software has been improved the guidelines of using the ForenSys software have been developed and a computerized procedure for automatically importing PMIS data and Layer data to the ForenSys database has been developed iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors recognize that support for this research was provided by a grant from the U S Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program to the Southwest Region University Transportation Center which is funded 50 percent with general revenue funds from the State of Texas EXECUTIVE SUMMA
91. rt and Close 1 Insert To insert a new pavement section the user can click Insert and input the information of that new pavement section into the newly displayed blank record It is possible that after the user clicks the Insert button the blank record cannot be seen This is because the blank record is always on top of all the other records In that case the user should scroll up to display that blank record The system will perform format validation checking after the user fills data in each blank and then the highlight is moved to another blank If the data input does not match the desired format the system will pop up a window to prompt the user to reenter the data For example in the County No blank a number is expected If the user keys in non numerical digits such as a32 an error message would be displayed as shown in Figure 4 12 Similarly the Current Year blank expects an input in the format of a date such as 08 29 1972 other formats will not be accepted DataWindow Error x AN Item a32 does not pass validation test Figure 4 12 Error Message for Unexpected Format 45 2 Delete To remove an existing pavement section record the user can move the scroll bar to display that record and delete it by clicking on that record and then clicking Delete 3 Modify To modify an existing pavement section record the user can move the scroll bar to display that record then click the appr
92. s at 0286 00 1 The graphs show the SI Condition and ADT attributes of the specified section which begins at 0240 00 0 and ends at 0260 00 0 The exact value of the data of the position 0243 00 5 1s shown in the box underneath the name of the data 65 CHAPTER 5 PILOT DATA IMPLEMENTATION Since the ForenSys was developed to manage the forensic related data 1t is critical to find an efficient way to get those data into the database To manually input the data into the database based on the history of construction and maintenance records is a possible method although apparently it is time consuming arduous and easy to introduce errors Considering the fact that the Pavement Management Information System PMIS database which contains the pavement maintenance related data and the Layer database which manages the pavement structure related data are essential to forensic studies of pavements it is reasonable to use these two developed databases as the data resources for the ForenSys database This chapter describes the procedure and the methodology developed under this to import data from the PMIS database and the Layer database into the ForenSys database The procedure includes the following four steps 1 Study the data items and the data organization of the PMIS database and the Layer database 2 Compare the location reference system of the three involved databases the PMIS database the Layer database and the ForenSys d
93. s can be made to this database software taking advantage of the renovated database technology l It is recommended that the following issues be given additional research in the future The ForenSys database is a relational database All the data items in the ForenSys database are in standard data formats such as integer double or string But in practice a forensic xil investigation often needs to deal with the objects such as photographs taken in the field It is desirable that the ForenSys database is able to handle objects besides the mere data In order to have such a capability the ForenSys database must be upgraded to an object relational database that combines the relational technology and the object oriented technology together Since the technology for an object relational database has not been well developed yet it 1s not possible to apply it in this study With the rapid development of the database technology however this concept may become more realistic in the near future The ForenSys database software is a stand alone database system that runs on a single computer To input the data collected in the field into the database the users must locally access a particular computer that has the ForenSys software installed In a future study efforts should be made to enhance the current ForenSys database software so that it can be operated under the Internet environment where the authorized users can access the forensic softwa
94. summation of the information retrieved from the report In the investigation request step the district or division submits a memorandum to the Director of the Division of Highway Design requesting that an investigation be conducted As a general practice the memorandum should include the pavement inventory information such as the pavement history the pavement structure the material information and the construction records The memorandum should also include the environmental data like the traffic information the weather condition records and the 15 soil and geologic information If the request is approved the preliminary meeting will be held between the investigative team and the coordinator of the project to discuss the failure facts and to become familiar with the case Then the interviews with the construction engineer the project engineer and other people who are familiar with the case are carried out After these preparatory tasks have been performed and the elementary information has been grasped the onsite investigation is then conducted in order to gather the firsthand information about the current condition of the pavement A review of the project records is another necessary way to collect information on the failed pavement section The design records construction records maintenance records and soil and geological records are all important records which should be reviewed Detailed condition survey material sampling and laboratory
95. t Update Data Filter View Forensic Data Report Edit F ic Data Report Delete Backup Delete Data Sort a mepa View Modify Comments _Close_ Edit Comments Figure 4 9 ForenSys Database in Freeform Format 42 ES Forensys Database EA L344 D 4 540 FM175 FM2425 5144 SH114 SH254 44777 6 161 7 478 B 986 11 427 sit FM8 FM2215 FM1885 FM156 FM219 o oro TES 20 4 505 1 182 16 013 12 672 11 4222 ojojo ACCESS FM 731 Insert Delete _ impor purzem 4 638 5 946 ooo Sl S in Figure 4 10 ForenSys Database in Tabular Format 43 In the tabular format each line describes a pavement section In the freeform format the full screen describes a pavement section In both formats the user can move the scroll bar or click Page Up or Page Down to view the data of other pavement sections In freeform format the pavement general data are grouped into three parts the section definition the general information and the layer information A graph illustrating the layer information is shown below the layer information table In the graph different layers are represented by different shading patterns The height of each layer in the graph is proportional to the real layer thickness of the corresponding pavement section of the highway If the cursor is moved onto the graph the cursor will change t
96. testing are then conducted to get detailed and accurate information In a detailed condition survey procedure the main field test methods used in TxDOT include the Falling Weight Deflectometer FWD test the Dynaflect test the Dynamic Cone Penetration tests the Ground Penetrating Radar GPR test and the TxDOT profilometer test In materials sampling and laboratory testing the main laboratory test methods used in TxDOT include coring trenching and subsurface investigation The output of the investigation is a comprehensive final report and a generic report for statewide distribution Victorine 97 2 3 THE NECESSITY OF A FORENSIC DATABASE The foregoing literature review on the basic concept and the current practice of the forensic engineering indicates that data play a very important role throughout the forensic investigation process For example the data acquired from the initial site observation are the foundation of determining the appropriate methods to conduct the field investigation and the laboratory material tests Another example is that the data acquired by reviewing existing documents can help the forensic engineers grasp the overall picture of the failure pavement section Generally speaking the input and the output of every step of the forensic investigation are some kinds of data Since data are so important to the forensic investigation it is desired that TxDOT have a database system to manage its forensic related data instead
97. the drainage factor of the base materials 2 Perform a triaxial compression test on the base materials Transverse 1 Check the construction records and the weather records Cracks 2 Determine the degree of compaction the resistance to weathering the moisture content the drainage factor and the potential vertical rise of the base materials 3 Perform a triaxial compression test on the base materials 4 Inspect the soil boring for freezing and thawing damage 5 Perform a splitting tensile test on the concrete core 6 Petrographic analysis on the concrete core 6 Draw the conclusion The final conclusion is drawn by examining all candidate hypotheses and choosing the most reasonable ones Because sometimes the most important proof of the failure mechanism may have been destroyed or damaged there always exists uncertainty in the conclusion determination In that case the forensic investigator should take the responsibility to eliminate the uncertainty by applying knowledge and engineering experiences ASCE 86 14 7 Write the report The report is the output of the whole forensic investigation procedure Thus the report should at least include the review of the documented data the valuable data acquired from the field investigation and the lab investigation the analysis process the candidate hypothesis list and the final conclusions of the study Besides this necessary information the forensic report should also include th
98. tter point diagram and the pie chart These forms can give the users more intuitional perception of the data Database systems not only can store and display data but also can perform data process functions like sorting data filtering data computing data and comparing data Taking into account the advantages of the database system over the paper based system and the fact that TxDOT did not have a forensic database system led to the development of a forensic database system ForenSys for TxDOT The framework of this forensic database system was developed in the year 1998 Although the framework implemented most of the required functions it cannot serve as the final product of the forensic database software because of the additional functions needed Therefore it is necessary to develop a stable and fully implementable forensic database software on the basis of the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software With the developed forensic database serving as the core component the framework of the TxDOT forensic analysis will be an integrated system as discussed by Zhang in his Ph D dissertation A GIS Based and GIS integrated Infrastructure Management System Zhang 96 Figure 1 is an illustration of the framework for the forensic database by applying the concept of an integrated system TxDOT Forensic Information and Analysis System ForenSys e Y Other System r
99. urrent practice of forensic engineering has been performed the system design concept of the relational database has been applied the 1998 version of the ForenSys database software has been improved the guidelines of using the ForenSys software have been developed and a computerized procedure for automatically importing PMIS data and Layer data to the ForenSys database has been developed 17 Key Words 18 Distribution Statement Forensic Investigation Database Information No restrictions This document is available to the Systems Pavement Management Systems public through NTIS National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield Virginia 22161 19 Security Classif of this report 20 Security Classif of this page 21 No of Pages 22 Price Unclassified Unclassified 106 Form DOT F 1700 7 8 72 Reproduction of completed page authorized IMPLEMENTATION OF A DATABASE AND INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OF PAVEMENTS by Zhanmin Zhang Chunrong Zhou Research Report SWUTC 02 167203 1 SOUTHWEST REGION UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTER Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas 78712 September 2002 DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation Unive
100. w will appear to prompt the user that the software is in the process of connecting the databases At the same time a separate window is created by the Sybase SQL Anywhere to show the user the database connecting status information The user can switch to the window to check the database connecting status The connecting status window will stay unless the user exits the ForenSys 36 software After the successful connection to the databases the Opening ForenSys window disappears and the Logon to ForenSys window appears as shown in Figure 4 2 User Name Po Password fo Figure 4 2 Logon to ForenSys Window At this point the user can input the user name and password then click OK to log on to the system The software checks the validation of the user logon data and assigns the appropriate right to the user if he or she is authorized If the user name or password is invalid the system will pop up a window to display The user name and password you entered are not valid and ask the user to reenter the logon data If the user fails to input the valid user name and password for three times the system prompts the user that logon failed three times please contact your administrator and exits the program automatically If the user is successful with the logon process the mainframe of ForenSys software appears as shown in Figure 4 3 At this point the system is ready for the user to use the program ME

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