< Back to Session View 

Overview of Applications used in MnROAD Low Volume Roadway from Past to Present: What do they give to Future Engineers?

Date and Time: Tuesday, July 25: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Grand Ballroom A

 

Lead Presenter: Emil Bautista

MnROAD Project Engineer, Minnesota Department of Transportation

Speaker Biography

Dr. Emil G. Bautista is a Civil Engineer with over 15 years of experience in research of construction materials with a special interest dealing with highways design and construction and the use of sustainable materials such as Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Coal Combustion Products (CCP) in pavement structures. He is currently working as one of MnROAD Project Engineers for the Department of Transportation of Minnesota (MnDOT). He is responsible for working on contracted research with major pavement research partnerships that MnDOT is leading or participating in. These research efforts include many research partners national, regional, and Minnesota research efforts going on in MnDOT’s Road Research Section at the Maplewood Lab. These partnerships include current National Road Research Alliance (NRRA), National Center of Asphalt Technologies (NCAT), Minnesota DOT, and the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) and new partnerships in the future. He provides support to research contracts with NCAT related to asphalt mix and pavement preservation and takes an active role in the leadership and support of these initiatives. He also provides an expert level of knowledge on concrete/asphalt mixtures, performance testing, construction, and pavement performance as it relates to the research efforts going on with each partnership that typically relates to the MnROAD research facility and assist in the review of MnROAD database, providing input on future development and implementation of data quality checks to insure the data being shared with research partners is of the research quality expected from the MnROAD facility.

Co-Authors 

Presentation Description/Paper Summary

A task force composed of MnDOT engineers and officials, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) administrators, industry representatives, and university experts was created in the 1980’s to explore the idea of building a Cold Regions Pavement Research Test Facility. This led to the construction of MnROAD to test pavement concepts in a real-life scenario with the understanding that this would help MnDOT and its partners to better understand how to build the best roads for the state’s budget.

Since the planning stages of MnROAD, MnDOT has recognized the need to conduct experiments and collect data on low-volume roads. The LVR addressed these needs by filling knowledge gaps within low traffic volume mainline systems of Minnesota for local municipalities and counties while complimenting research gained through the high volume Mainline.

To simulate low volume traffic MnROAD uses a 5-axle, 18-wheel, tractor trailer semi to provide the loadings with a gross vehicle weight of 80 kips, 5 days a week on the inside lane for 8 hours a day (80 laps a day approximately), respectively. The outside lane is left without traffic to examine how only environmental effects impact pavement performance over time.

MnROAD relies on pavement instrumentation and field pavement performance to collect important pavement design parameters data under traffic load. Given the large number of sensors collecting data and the regular assessments of the pavement structural and environmental conditions, MnROAD’s depth of knowledge exceeds that of any other full-scale facility.

Presentation File

Poster