Projects and Solutions

By: Richard B. Rogers, P.E.

The emergency vehicle tactical test track constructed for the Texas Department of Public Safety is a bonanza of a concrete pavement project, as it is one of the most elaborate and unique emergency vehicle test tracks in the world. The sixteen month, $36,000,000 project was completed in August 2010 and is located just east of Florence, Texas on SH 195.  This 150 acre facility was designed to train Texas State Troopers, Texas Rangers, and other emergency vehicle operators how to handle extreme road conditions.

Why was concrete pavement used? Jessica Rodriguez-Gomez, the Project Manager with URS, noted that the Texas Department of Public Safety wanted concrete pavements, because the DPS did not have the maintenance budget to rehabilitate asphalt pavements.  Some asphalt surfaces do exist in the facility to allow drivers to train on that surface, but these pavements are actually concrete pavements with a thin asphalt pavement overlay.

The following schematic illustrates the scope of the project that includes concrete pavements that are jointed reinforced (JRCP), continuously reinforced (CRCP) and post tensioned.

The test track features include non-standard conditions to challenge the drives skills, a multi-lane, 4.5 mile CRCP, consisting of a high speed test track, two lane rural sections designed with steep grades and tight horizontal curves, a railroad crossing, intersections, and merging roadways. To provide training on different pavement types some of the track roadways incorporate a 2 inch asphalt overlay and a portion of the roadway base was left exposed, for training on unpaved roads.


One of the most unique aspects of the project is the 6.6 ac skid pad.  To eliminate joints, the central section is a 300' x 100' PT pavement.  The surface was finished and sealed to create a slick surface similar to a warehouse floor and a water-cannon that can wet the surface to 1/8" depth in four minutes to simulate storm conditions.


Two skill pads utilize 7" jointed reinforce concrete.  19 miles of saw-cut joints, 15,000 cubic yards of concrete and 750 tons of rebar were needed for pad construction.  The 14-block urban area was constructed with 1.2 miles of CRCP.  Even the access road to the shooting range was constructed of CRCP.

The fast construction, innovative and cost-saving contracting, multiple unique design elements, and use of several concrete (and other) pavement types, made this singular project worthy of the Gold Excellence in Concrete Pavements Award for Industrial Pavements from the American Concrete Pavement Association, presented at its December 2010 Annual Meeting.