As crews rebuild U.S. 169 south of Iola, a pair of testing grounds will determine if added protections can help the new highway withstand water damage.
According to Priscilla Peterson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation, water penetration is a key factor in how quickly highways deteriorate.
With that in mind, KDOT has authorized a pair of 1,000-foot-long test sections of wicking geotextile fabric.
The fabric is designed to remove moisture from the roadways base and subgrade soils.
Ryan Barrett, KDOT pavement design leader, said moisture and temperature sensors with data loggers have been set up on the test sections to monitor the effectiveness of the wicking geotextile fabric.
The data collected will be used ot determine if the geotextile fabric can be utilized more with future projects.
U.S. 169 is closed from Minnesota Road south of Iola to Tank Farm Road south of Humboldt through 2019.
