Motorists on northbound U.S. 301 will soon play an important role in an effort by the Florida Department of Transportation to identify the most effective concrete pavement designs for statewide usage.

The agency said its new concrete “test road” is the first of its kind in the southeastern United States; a field laboratory that uses “live” traffic flow to test concrete pavement and base designs.

Pavement testing equipment and monitors are strategically placed along the four-mile roadway segment, allowing Florida DOT engineers to monitor pavement conditions as its subjected to vehicular traffic in real time, including heavy truck traffic.

The concrete test road’s design also uses the existing U.S. 301 northbound lanes to divert traffic off the test road when needed, providing agency engineers with full access to the test areas – allowing for new test sections to be constructed without interruption to U.S. 301 traffic.