It’s an epic battle that has spanned decades in Texas—engineers vs. sliding hills or slopes —until now. “Slope failures” as they are called, happen when pieces of the embankment along a highway break away and collapse and pose danger to drivers. Thanks to TxDOT’s research that was recently honored for being one of the best research projects in the nation, the agency can now address these soil issues early on, either through prevention or repair, and help keep drivers safe. The researchers developed a unique system to track slopes, pavement, soil, underground pipelines, retaining walls and other structures to create an online management system that help TxDOT make repairs and keep tabs on slopes prone to failing. “The work done on this project will be vital to how we approach slope failures in the future,” said Darrin Jensen, TxDOT’s project manager on the study. “With this information now at our finger tips, those repairs will be far more permanent than they were in the past.” Slope ...