Schinnerer's RM Blog - transportation tag

Rutgers University Designs Robot That Diagnoses Bridge Problems

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:08:00 GMT

Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) has developed a robot that helps diagnose problems in bridges before they are visible to the naked eye. The center received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help support this project. The robot uses several different techniques to test a bridge’s steel lattice core, including sound waves to ferret out micro cracks, air pockets, and splits. The grant is also going to fund a smart phone application that excavators can use to create an instantaneous underground map of wires on the spot so that they can avoid ripping out installed infrastructure.

Roads in Wisconsin

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:50:00 GMT

A new research report provided by the State Smart Transportation Initiative and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin details the sources of funding for Wisconsin highways and roads. The report aims to clear up some of the misconceptions people have about how transportation is funded. The report discusses the fact that roads in Wisconsin are not just paid for by users (through gas tax, tolls, and licensing). Rather, they are heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Between 2004 and 2008, roads in Wisconsin cost an average of $4.24 billion annually. $1.74 billion came from revenue sources unrelated to road use, such as property and sales taxes. Read the full report here.

Sun-Powered High-Speed Rail

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:04:00 GMT

Progress was made in Europe on the transportation front, as a high-speed rail line running between Paris and Amsterdam now runs partially on the sun. The train draws power from 2.1 miles of solar panels that sit atop a train tunnel.

Trains with solar roofs are not completely new; they first appeared in Italy in 2005. However, those earlier panels only served to keep the train’s air conditioning units running. The new solar panels, which are located on a stretch of rail that runs through Belgium, can power the equivalent of 4,000 train trips and cut the railway’s carbon dioxide input by 2,400 tons annually.

Other projects in Europe will incorporate solar energy as well, including London’s new Blackfriar station (set to open next year), which will obtain half of its electricity needs from the sun.

Superstreet Traffic Design

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Anyone who has felt the frustration that accompanies battling traffic to drive to work can smile at this news—engineers are working on making your drive faster and safer. One possible solution is something called a “superstreet” traffic design. The superstreet design re-routes any driver looking to make a left-hand turn or trying to cross a thoroughfare, funneling them to the right before they make a quick U-turn around a broad median.

A recent study performed by North Carolina State University researchers showed that the superstreet design results in a 20 percent overall reduction in travel time compared to conventional traffic designs. The researchers also found that the superstreet design is substantially safer than traditional intersections. Superstreet intersections experienced 46 percent fewer car collisions, and 63 percent fewer collisions that resulted in personal injuries.

The savings in time can be attributed to drivers not being stuck waiting to make left hand turns, or not having to wait for traffic from cross-streets to cross the thoroughfare. Superstreets do a better job of keeping traffic moving. The increased safety can be attributed to drivers not having to turn, from a standstill, across several lanes of traffic that are moving in the opposite direction.

While the superstreet design has actually been around for two decades, this was the largest analysis of superstreets ever performed in real traffic conditions.

Transportation Bill Expiring

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:44:51 GMT

The latest extension of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the funding and authorization bill that has governed the U.S. federal transportation spending since 2005, will expire at the end of this year. The problem is, there is currently no reauthorization or successor to the bill. This has the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) concerned. The AGC wants action to be taken.