Minnesota Road Research Facility
- Minnesota Road Research Facility
-
The Minnesota Road Research Facility (also known as Mn/ROAD, pronounced MinROAD), is an outdoor research laboratory operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) that specializes in testing different types of pavement. Said to be the largest such facility in the world, it is located 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul near the town of Otsego, Minnesota along Interstate 94. Minnesota is a good site for such a project, as the state experiences some of the largest seasonal swings in temperature in the United States, and has a spring freeze-thaw cycle that can heavily damage roadways. More than 4,500 sensors are embedded in and under the road surfaces to measure stresses while the test segments are in use. The facility opened in 1994.
A three-mile stretch of the interstate is redirected onto test pavement at the site, and a test track simulating a low-volume rural roadway loops through the facility. Real highway traffic is used for this mainline test area, but traffic is simulated on the low-volume road by a semi-trailer truck. A bypass is available to shift traffic off the mainline testing area so researchers can closely examine the pavement without disrupting flow on the highway.
Many different organizations have partnered with Mn/DOT to conduct research at the facility, ranging from fairly obvious partners such as the University of Minnesota, Federal Highway Administration, and Wisconsin Department of Transportation to others like the National Road Administration of Finland.
Coordinates: 45°15′43″N 93°42′35″W / 45.26208°N 93.709774°W / 45.26208; -93.709774 45°15′43″N 93°42′35″W / 45.26208°N 93.709774°W / 45.26208; -93.709774
External links
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Minnesota Department of Transportation — (Mn/DOT) Agency overview Jurisdiction Minnesota Headquarters … Wikipedia
Interstate 94 in Minnesota — Infobox road state=MN type=I route=94 maint=Mn/DOT length mi=259 length round=2 length ref=Fact|date=July 2008 established= direction a=West terminus a=Jct|state=ND|I|94 at North Dakota state line junction=Jct|state=MN|US|75 in Moorhead Jct|state … Wikipedia
List of Minnesota state highways serving state institutions — In 1951, the state of Minnesota commissioned a number of short state highways to serve state institutions such as hospitals and penitentiaries. Contents 1 Trunk Highway 288 2 Trunk Highway 289 3 Trunk Highway 290 4 … Wikipedia
List of Minnesota state highways — … Wikipedia
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory — Established 1 February 1961 (1 February 1961) Research Type … Wikipedia
Pequaywan Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota — Infobox Settlement official name = Pequaywan Township, Minnesota settlement type = Township nickname = motto = imagesize = image caption = image |pushpin pushpin label position =left pushpin map caption =Location within the state of Minnesota… … Wikipedia
Bloomington, Minnesota — Infobox Settlement official name = Bloomington, Minnesota settlement type = City imagesize = image caption = City Hall in 2006 image mapsize = 250px map caption = location in Hennepin County, Minnesota mapsize1 = map caption1 = subdivision type … Wikipedia
Music of Minnesota — The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of native Americans, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Their relatives, the half breed Métis fur trading voyageurs, introduced the… … Wikipedia
Milner Pass Road Camp Mess Hall and House — U.S. National Register of Historic Places … Wikipedia
Frost weathering — A rock in Abisko fractured (along existing joints) possibly by mechanical frost weathering or thermal stress Frost weathering is a collective name for several mechanical weathering processes induced by stresses created by the freezing of water… … Wikipedia
