Browsing by Subject "Highway maintenance"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Friction Measurement System for Polk County(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2013-11) Alexander, Lee; Rajamani, RajeshA friction measurement system was developed for Polk County and installed on two snowplows in the county’s winter road-maintenance fleet. The major components of the developed system were a special instrumented wheel, a pneumatic pressure-controlled cylinder, force-measurement load cell and accelerometers, a data collection microprocessor and a data processing micro-processor. The road friction coefficient was estimated in real-time and was stored on a secure digital card along with the current GPS-sensed location of the truck. The friction coefficient information was also displayed in real-time using LED lights for the operator. Although the basic design of the friction wheel system had been used for several previous years of intermitant testing without showing significant wear, the almost identical installations on the Polk County trucks suffered bearing failures after the first few days of continuous use. The failed bearings were replaced with larger bearings in a more robust mount. Apparently, the system again failed in a few days, but the research team did not learn of this failure until the end of the project. The low budget for the project and the significant travel required to go to Crookston posed major challenges in getting a friction measurement to work effectively for Polk County.Item Highway Cost Allocation and Determination of Heavy Freight Truck Permit Fees(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2012-07) Gupta, Diwakar; Chen, Hao-WeiMinnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and other state DOTs periodically carry out studies to assess how highway construction and maintenance (HCM) expenditures ought to be attributed to various vehicle classes. In parallel, each vehicle-class’ contribution to revenues from fuel and excise taxes and permit fees are calculated. Although, the latter are determined by the state legislature, the cost-to-revenue ratio helps inform MnDOT if changes to policy could be justified. A variety of methods have been developed to apportion HCM costs to different user classes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pros and cons of different HCA methods and to identify/develop a methodology best suited for conditions in Minnesota. Researchers also carried out a highway cost allocation study (HCAS) using the latest data from Minnesota. In addition, the methodology developed in this project can be used to evaluate damage costs to the road system from permitting more than 80,000-lb gross vehicle weight trucks on Minnesota roads and the users’ willingness to pay for such permits.Item The Impacts of Deferred Maintenance in Minnesota(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2022-04) Fonseca-Sarmiento, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Jiang, Haiyue; Zhao, JerryThe roadway system is critical to social development, economic growth, and the overall quality of life. In the U.S., the condition of highways and roads is being compromised due to several reasons including age deterioration, rising costs of construction, and a decline in funding. Similarly, in Minnesota, the majority of pavements are aging and in need of significant maintenance or reconstruction, but there is an expected deficit of $17.7 billion for state roads over the next 20 years. At the local level, pavement conditions along state-aid roads and county, city, and township roads are anticipated to deteriorate significantly based on current funding levels. In addition, significant budgetary impacts on maintenance spending are expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given these budget limitations, agencies often postpone planned maintenance to make funding available for other transportation purposes, but the deferred maintenance will negatively affect asset life, leading to higher future maintenance costs and lower roadway safety. This research analyzes spatial patterns of maintenance expenditures across localities in Minnesota, explores how fiscal conditions affect maintenance expenditures, and examines roadway maintenance decision-making across localities.