Winter 2008 Technology Exchange
Minnesota LTAP redesigns Web site, adds new features
Minnesota LTAP is pleased to announce the redesign of our Web site: www.mnltap.umn.edu.
Spring Expo to include bridge maintenance, safety training
The 2008 Spring
Maintenance Training
Expo will be held April
15 and 16 at the St. Cloud
Civic Center.
Research
2007 MnROAD research construction update
Several research projects required the reconstruction of pavement test sections.
Russians, Minnesotans exchange research on administrative, road issues
As part of Minnesota’s ongoing relationship with
one of Russia’s upper regions, state transportation
officials visited for the second time last summer
and welcomed Russian transportation officials to
the state last fall.
LRRB Update
OPERA project: Extending the Life of Bituminous Overlays
Washington County tested a fiberglass mat.
Best practices for street sweeping
The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) is developing a series of information guideline sheets about street sweeping best practices.
Maintenance
Fall Expo prepares workers for winter...and beyond
The annual Fall Maintenance Expo and Roadeo was held October 3 and 4 in St. Cloud. Minnesota LTAP is one of several cosponsors of the event. Below are some highlights from the sessions.
- Winter safety and survival training
A search and rescue expert presented sessions on the hazards of working and travelling during winter. - Critical steps to get the interview
Tom Struve, city engineer of Eagan, shared job-seeking tips. - Permit-required confined spaces
Jolyn Crum of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) gave an overview of the permit-required confined space standard.
Public works: It’s not just roads anymore
Mainline road maintenance is inside the box, but what’s outside? Streetscapes.
Safety
Toward Zero Deaths Conference
The summary below is from the 2007 Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) Conference, held September 17 and 18 in Duluth. Sponsors of the event are Mn/DOT, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and the TZD Program. A PDF of the proceedings is online at www.cts.umn.edu/publications.
- Proactive low-cost safety initiatives
Minnesota’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), published in June 2007, says that the best way to address safety in rural areas is to focus on a few low-cost and highly effective strategies that can be widely deployed across a system of highways. - Fingalson receives TZD award
Wright County Engineer Wayne Fingalson was honored with the Toward Zero Deaths STAR Award for outstanding engineering accomplishments in traffic safety. - Crash course in safety improvements
A fatal crash in 2004 prompted Freeborn County to examine pavement edge drop-offs.
Information Services
Events & Training
LTAP Training & Events Calendar
CTAP class: snow and ice control materials
CTAP instructor Kathy Schaefer and
Connie Fortin (Fortin Consulting)
held a concurrent session at the 2007
Fall Maintenance Expo on snow
and ice control material application.
The class is also available as a CTAP
workshop.
Register for Road Salt Symposium
The Seventh Annual Road Salt
Symposium will be held February 5
in Brooklyn Center, Minn. Minnesota
LTAP is an event cosponsor.