10/25/02
AU'S ARAN VAN
BUSY YEAR FOR AUBURN'S MULTI-TASK ARAN VAN
AUBURN -- It's been a busy year for Auburn University's Roadware Automatic Road Analyzer, better known as the ARAN van.
In addition to regular duty at AU's test track, the mobile research unit has been utilized for a variety of educational and research uses -- including a project to evaluate and prioritize maintenance needs on county roads.
ARAN, purchased with AU Transportation Peak of Excellence funding, is a specially modified vehicle that houses computers and sensors. The equipment provides information about the status of roadways including pavement roughness, surface texture, and rutting.
That information can be used to evaluate the quality of newly laid pavement or to help managers maximize the cost-effectiveness of highway maintenance programs.
"So far, the van has exceeded all of our expectations and they were quite high to start with," says Mary Stroup-Gardine, an associate professor of civil engineering and pavement materials researcher.
The van is based at the 1.7-mile National Center for Asphalt Technology test track in Lee County where it is used for weekly documentation of the wear and tear to the track's 47 different pavement test sections. The wear and tear is caused by the 18-wheel trucks that circle the track 18 hours a day for six days a week. Each section represents a variety of asphalt mix designs specified by test track cooperators.
Working around its weekly runs on the track, Frazier Parker, civil engineering professor and director of Auburn's Highway Research Center, and Stroup-Gardiner use the van for a variety of research projects.
One project evaluates the effectiveness of material transfer devices for improving mix uniformity and smoothness of newly constructed pavement. The van is also used as an educational tool in senior and graduate level civil engineering pavement design and management classes, which include coursework on the visual pavement condition surveys commonly used by the state of Alabama and roadway managers such as Lee County Engineer Neal Hall.
"Each year, we do a visual evaluation of the roads in Lee County and rank them by maintenance need," says Hall. "It's a highly subjective measure, and takes a lot of time. I was excited when I was approached by some Auburn students interested in running the ARAN van over the same roadways that we evaluate each year."
The results of the first round of tests show a strong correlation between Neal's visual ranking and those done using data from the van.
"It would be wonderful to have an objective way to prioritize road maintenance needs," says Hall. "Objective data would be easier to explain and defend to the citizens of Lee County. I'm interested in seeing the result of the latest round of student tests. The day may come when the windshield survey is replaced by a printout."
Auburn's Peaks of Excellence program is made up of seven cross-disciplinary research areas selected for their strength and ability to address priority research and development needs for the state, region and the nation.
In addition to Transportation, the areas include Fisheries and Aquaculture; Cell and Molecular Biosciences; Detection and Food Safety; Information Technology, Forest Sustainability; and Poultry Products Safety and Quality.
oct02:AU-transportation