Assessing the return on investment in transportation research is crucial to ensuring program goals are met, knowledge and technology are shared broadly, and future investigations are prioritized. A recent effort leveraged existing MnDOT and LRRB tools and processes to evaluate and communicate the value of innovation and research. A new benefit monitoring and communication framework, which can be tailored to individual projects, allows agencies to reassess a project and its benefits throughout the research life cycle.
Continue reading Evaluating and Communicating the Benefits of Transportation ResearchTag Archives: MnDOT
Efficacy, Cost, and Impacts of Non-Chloride Deicers
In their most recent newsletter, Clear Roads presented the results of a pooled-fund study on alternative deicing products.
Continuous Moisture Measurement During Pavement Foundation Construction
Accurate and timely moisture measurement of earthwork during compaction of foundation layers is crucial to proper construction and long-term durability of the pavement structures. Since the traditional methods for measuring moisture are point specific, expensive and/or time consuming. None of the existing methods have been able to deliver real-time, continuous moisture measurements that would aid engineers in delivering more durable pavement structures.
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Bio-Material Maintenance Treatments
Aging pavement infrastructure and the deterioration of pavement surfaces over time remain an ongoing challenge in meeting roadway user expectations. Preventive pavement preservation treatments that are applied on sound, structured-condition pavements can extend the pavements’ functional service life and reduce future maintenance costs. Fog seals are one of these treatments. Fog seals are applied by spraying a thin layer of emulsion onto the pavement to slow or in some cases reverse the damage caused by oxidative aging. Asphalt emulsions are the most common material used in fog seals. Rejuvenators are usually added to the formulation to lower its viscosity and possibly even rejuvenate the surface of the existing aged pavement.
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Sensor and Drone Technologies Help Maintain Minnesota’s Aging Bridge Infrastructure
Reprinted from Catalyst, September 9, 2023
As bridge infrastructure in Minnesota and across the country ages, maintaining and preserving the existing bridge network becomes increasingly important—and increasingly challenging. In Minnesota alone, 25 percent of bridge-deck area is more than 50 years old, and the number of bridges rated in “fair” condition has recently overtaken the number rated in “good” condition.
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Connecting smart vehicles with traffic signals could reduce fuel use
Originally published in Catalyst, July 18, 2022.
Green means go and yellow means go faster—so goes a wry take on driver behavior at traffic signals. But it’s not just travel time that increases when you brake for a red: Fuel consumption does, too. Could transmitting signal data to connected vehicles (CVs) reduce stop-and-go cycles and fuel use? U of M researchers say yes.
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Researchers Identify Freight Data Sources, Create Guidance to Aid Infrastructure Planning
The goods that continuously move through Minnesota by road, rail, air, water, and pipelines drive the state’s economy, making efficient freight transit—and excellent freight infrastructure—a high priority for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).
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Model Helps Identify Strategic Sites for Truck Charging Stations
An influx of electric trucks is expected on our highways, but where will they charge? Few public stations today can serve large freight vehicles. The challenge? Fast chargers are expensive, and new ones need to be placed strategically to keep pace with growing demand.
Continue reading Model Helps Identify Strategic Sites for Truck Charging StationsPreparing for the Future of CAVs: Cybersecurity, Winter Weather Research
Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) hold promise for improving transportation operations—but could also provide pathways for “malicious actors” to compromise vehicle security, said Rafael Stern, a U of M assistant professor, in a recent CTS webinar.
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New Project: Assessing a New Tool for Early Detection of Endangered Turtles on Proposed Transportation Projects
As turtle populations decline worldwide, increased protections (e.g. United States Endangered Species Act) yield increased regulatory burdens. As a consequence, monitoring of imperiled turtle species is imperative to understand both their extant distributions, but also to ensure regulatory compliance.
However, conventional methods for surveying turtles are frequently costly, time consuming, require taxonomic expertise, and unlikely to yield detections without repeated visits. And these burdens are exacerbated when sampling rare, threatened, or endangered (RTE) species. In these instances, innovative technological advances may overcome these limitations, ultimately streamlining monitoring.
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Crossroads 