Establishing a Mobile Laboratory for Transportation Research and Education

The need to replace or upgrade transportation infrastructure is typically based on the interpretation of data collected in the field. Often, the types of data that are available to decision makers are limited by the severe environment of the site (temperature, dust, moisture). Thus, although engineers and technicians currently have many sophisticated tools and devices that can give detailed information about the performance of the infrastructure, these are often not employed to their full extent due to the difficulty of dealing with site conditions and also because of the increased effort required to set up and take down test systems (data acquisition, etc). The focus of this project is to develop a mobile laboratory for use in transportation research at Kansas State University. To do this, Dr. Peterman was able to acquire a decommissioned mobile laboratory from the Federal Highway Administration. The laboratory consists of a 1997 International Navistar Truck with only about 50,000 miles of prior use. The box portion is complete with a hydraulic lift-gate, heating and air conditioning, counter space, and an onboard generator. As part of this project, the University Transportation Center (UTC) Mobile Laboratory will be customized to include a window and access panel installed in the box portion of the truck, and then custom painted to proudly display the name and new logo of Kansas State University and the University Transportation Center. In addition, the lab will be outfitted with a data acquisition system. Dr. Peterman is currently in the process of obtaining a commercial driver's license in order to operate the vehicle.

• Record URL:
  http://transport.ksu.edu/files/transport/imported/Annual%20Reports/transportation_report07-08.pdf
• 

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $32650.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RE-040-05; HPD-R043

  KSUTC-08-01

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Kansas State University Transportation Center

  Kansas State University
  Department of Civil Engineering
  Manhattan, KS  United States  66506

  Kansas Department of Transportation

  Eisenhower State Office Building
  700 SW Harrison Street
  Topeka, KS  United States  66603-3754
• Project Managers:

  Stokes, Robert

• Performing Organizations:

  Kansas State University Transportation Center

  Kansas State University
  Department of Civil Engineering
  Manhattan, KS  United States  66506
• Principal Investigators:

  Peterman, Robert

• Start Date: 20070228
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20110630
• Source Data: RiP Project 15288

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Laboratory tests; Research projects
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mobile data terminals; Mobile laboratories; Mobile testing facilities; Site conditions
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01462761
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Kansas State University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: RE-040-05; HPD-R043, KSUTC-08-01
• Files: UTC, RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 2:09PM