MnROAD Overview Ben Worel, MnDOT MnROAD Operations Engineer April 2014
MnROAD Overview
Ben Worel, MnDOT MnROAD Operations Engineer
April 2014
A long-term accelerated pavement testing
facility that gives researchers a unique,
real-life laboratory to study and evaluate
the performance of materials used in
roadway construction.
MnROAD Office of Materials and Road Research
MnDOT Owned and Operated Facility
A long-term accelerated pavement testing
facility that gives researchers a unique,
real-life laboratory to study and evaluate
the performance of materials used in
roadway construction.
MnROAD Office of Materials and Road Research
Interstate-94
Existing
Westbound
Eastbound
A long-term accelerated pavement testing
facility that gives researchers a unique,
real-life laboratory to study and evaluate
the performance of materials used in
roadway construction.
MnROAD Office of Materials and Road Research
Interstate-94
“Mainline”
Westbound
A long-term accelerated pavement testing
facility that gives researchers a unique,
real-life laboratory to study and evaluate
the performance of materials used in
roadway construction.
MnROAD Office of Materials and Road Research
Low Volume
Road
Low Volume Road MnROAD 5-axle Semi
80,000 Inside Lane = 5 days/week
Outside Lane Environmental
PCC ~ 300,000 ESALs
HMA ~ 200,000 ESALs
Interstate Mainline I-94 WB Public Traffic
18,900 (1994) : 29,700 (2013) AADT
12.5% (1994) : 13% (2013) HCAADT
PCC = ~ 1.2 Million ESALs/year
HMA = ~ 0.8 Million ESALs/year
MnROAD Traffic Loadings
I-94
ByPass
~ 25%
ESALS
Support “Local” Research Needs MnDOT District Support
Office of Materials, Maintenance, Design
County, City, Township Agencies
Attract Research for Area Universities
Partner with Local Industries
Support “National” Research Programs
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide
Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA)
Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP II)
FHWA Every Day Counts Initiative
Warm Mix Asphalt
Safety Edge
National Science
Foundation
2010 MnROAD 2-Lift Concrete (SHRP II)
Support “International” Partnerships Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Swedish Road Administration
Danish Road Institute
Icelandic Public Road Administration
Canadian Provinces
University of Gdansk, Poland
2011 Rolling Resistance Testing
MnROAD Development and Layout
Original Development Original Funding ($25 million) Original Construction (1992-1993) Open to Traffic (1994)
Major Experiments
Phase I (1994-2006) Phase II (2007-present) Phase III (planning for 2016)
Layout and Designs
Mainline / Low Volume Asphalt / Concrete / Aggregate 3,5,10 Year Designs
MnROAD Funding History Phase I (1994-2006)
MnDOT(FHWA) & LRRB Funding
Phase II (2007-2016) MnDOT (MEO), LRRB, States, Industry, Academia Partners
(TERRA involvement) for funds/ideas
Phase III (2016 construction) Focus on Rehabilitation, Construction, Uniformity,
Sustainability (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), Surface Characteristics
Pattern after Phase-II Development 2.5 million in STIP Cells availability LVR, Mainline, Bypass?, others?
MnROAD Overall Funding Operating Budget ~ $1.2 million/year
MnDOT & LRRB Small amount of partnerships
Research Budget 8 Pooled Funds (Discuss Wednesday) State Projects LRRB Projects
Construction MnDOT - Pooled Funds – FHWA - Partners
Instrumentation MnDOT – Pooled Funds - Partners
MnROAD Research Direction Balanced Between
MnDOT Road Research / Specialty Offices Materials Advisory Working Groups Technical Working Grouops Material Engineers
LRRB Partners National PCC and HMA Working Groups 2014 Peer Exchange MnROAD Subcommittees
Flexible – Rigid – Pavement Preservation Groups
TERRA
Flexible Subcommittee Jill Thomas - MAPA
Jim Aardema - CAT
Amlan Mukherjee - MTU
Barry Paye - Wisconsin
Brian Cox – FHR
Dan Wegman - Roadscience
Eshan V. Dave - UMD
Larry Galehouse – MSU
Mihai Marasteanu – UofMN
Ron Horner – North Dakota
Minnesota DOT
John Garrity
Jerry Geib
Maureen Jensen
Roger Olson
Greg Johnson
Curt Turgeon
Tim Clyne
Joel Ulring – State Aid
Tim Andersen
Dave Van Deusen
Ben Worel
Rigid Subcommittee
Minnesota DOT
Tom Burnham
Maureen Jensen
Graig Gilbertson
Bernard Izevbekhai
Kevin Kosobud
Maria Masten
Ron Mulvaney
Dave Van Deusen
Ben Worel
Bob Orthmeyer - FHWA
Dan Frentress - WCTA
Jake Hiller – MTU
John Brunkhorst – Mcleod County
Kaye Bieniek – Olmsted County
Kevin MacDonald – Beton Consulting
Lev Khazanovich – UofMN
Peter Taylor – Iowa State
Steve Krebs – Wisconsin DOT
Mat Zeller - CPAM
Pavement Preservation Subcommittee
Minnesota DOT
Shongtao Dai
Rod Garver
Jerry Geib
Graig Gilbertson
Greg Johnson
Kevin Kosobud
Roger Olson
Curt Turgeon
Joel Ulring
Dave Van Deusen
Ben Worel
Dan Schellhammer - Midstate
Dan Staebell - Mathy
Dan Wegman - Roadscience
Dale Harrington - Snyder Associates
Eshan V. Dave - UMD
Larry Galehouse
Brian Cox - FHR
Guy Sisler - FHR
Ralph Hodek - MTU
Jack Springer - FHWA
Jeffery Lidicker – MTU
Steven Bower - Michigan
Larry Scofield - Pavement
Jim Moulthrop
Matthew Oman - Braun Intertec
Dave Rettner - AET
Steve Bot - City of St Michael
Terry Kraemer - Diamond Surfacing
Jil Thomas - MAPA
Tony Babcock - Iowa State
Matt Zeller - CPAM
You Zhanping - MTU
Liu Zhen - MTU
Transportation Engineering and Road Research Alliance
TERRA formed in 2004 Helped develop Phase-II and will help define Phase-III Government, industry and academia members
MnROAD Benefits
Attracts key public, industry, academic partners contributions Participation in working to develop future initiatives
TERRA Board Members Government Minnesota DOT* Minnesota Local Road Research Board Iowa DOT Michigan DOT* New York State DOT North Dakota DOT Wisconsin DOT** Norwegian Public Roads Administration United States Federal Highway Association
Industry Aggregate & Ready Mix Association of MN* American Concrete Pavement Association Associated General Contractors of MN* Concrete Paving Association of MN
MN Asphalt Pavement Association
American Traffic Safety Services Association Caterpillar Global Paving Mathy Technology and Engineering Services RMC Research and Education Foundation Road Science**
Academia Iowa State University Michigan Tech University University of Minnesota
* Past Co-Chair ** Present Co-Chair
MnROAD Phase 2 Contributors Aggregate Ready Mix Association of
Minnesota
American Concrete Pavement Association
Applied Research Associates, Inc.
Bloom Consultants
Catepillar Inc.
Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota
Diamond Surfacing Inc.
ICL Performance Products Inc.
17 State DOT’s
FHWA
Environmental Protection Agency
Minnesota Local Road Research Board
Strategic Highway Research Program 2
Innophos Inc.
International Grooving and Grinding Association
Marathon
Mathy - MTE
Paragon
Portland Cement Association
Professional Nutrient Agricultural Association of
Wisconsin
RoadScience
Western Research Institute
Natural Resources Research Institute
Center for Transportation Research and
Education, Iowa State University
U of Wisconsin Extension Service
MnROAD Staffing Road Research Staffing
~ 20 Full Time Staffing Lead By
Shongtao Dai Bernard Izevbekhai Jerry Geib Ben Worel
MnROAD Consists of 7 Full Time Staffing
MnROAD Operations Engineer 2 Engineers MnROAD Site Manager 2 Electronic Techs Truck Driver
MnROAD Operations Research project development and support Partnerships Construction coordination Sensors (9,000+ installed)
Static (Environmental) Dynamic (Traffic Loading) Install - Maintain
Traffic loadings LVR 80K Truck ML Traffic Switches
Performance monitoring
Performance Monitoring
LWP, IP, PMS- IRI
ALPS - rutting
ALPS 2 – Warp and Curl
Fault Meter
Skid Trailer
Dynamic Friction Tester
Grip Tester (FHWA)
Distress Surveys
Circular Texture Meter
RoboTex
Rolling Resistance
Sand Patch
OBSI
Sound Adsorption
Texture and IRI
Drag surface- Wet Weather Accidents
Texture and Noise
Acoustics and Pavement Rating
Performance Monitoring
Sharing of MnROAD Data
Oracle Database Over 1 Billion rows
Data Releases Data Release 1.0 (January 2012) Data Release 2.0 (Spring 2014)
Test cell parameters Monitoring/Performance Lab testing results Data Release Online (except sensors)
Custom Data Requests Example Request
19 Years of
MnROAD Data
MnROAD Phase-I Benefits
Spring Thaw
Saves 33 million Annually 8.9/1 Benefit to Cost Ratio
Seasonal Load Limits
Spring Restrictions / Winter Overloads
Improved Design Methods Flexible & Rigid Updated Designs
Environment Drives Pavement Performance Current Designs are too Conservative
Sealing Pavement / Shoulder Joints
MnROAD Phase-II Benefits (Draft Report)
We will discuss some of these calculations today Low Temperature Cracking - $1,864,000/yr Open Graded Aggregate Base - $1,734,000/yr Whitetopping - $ Recycled Unbound Materials - $900,000/yr Diamond Grinding - $6,465,000/yr
MnROAD Additional Benefits Additional Benefits
Improved Construction Methods
Concrete and Asphalt Paving Advancements Profiler Certification Center Dynamic Cone Penetrometer Development Intelligent Compaction Development
Many Non-Pavement Research at MnROAD Young Engineer Training & Education
Implementation and Benefits Survey 10 responses (1 Missouri, 6 MnDOT, 3 FHWA). 8 out of 10 said the projects were highly or moderately
effective at solving the problems identified. 7 said the projects resulted in changes/improvements:
policies, test procedures, or specifications.
7 described anticipated savings, primarily related to: increased pavement life, reduced maintenance costs, and smoother
roadways.
Few implementation plans developed for the projects. Limited experience with formal implementation processes. 8 out of 10 want more outreach products to support
implementation (2-page summaries mentioned by 4).
Design Discussion Implementation Approaches and Outcome
How have you used the results?
What additional opportunities are there to use the results?
What are the barriers to implementing the findings? How could they be overcome?
What outreach products or support would help improve implementation of this project?
Did this project solve the problem identified? Is additional research needed?
What was the single most useful outcome from this study?
What improved or changed as a result of this research?
Did this project result in cost or time savings? How did you calculate it?
Design Discussion Research Value and Benefits