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Wyoming
andy3175:
Another article on some of the Wyoming highway upgrades at http://wyomingbusinessreport.com/highways-to-get-14-6m-in-upgrades/. Of interest is the described improvement for the runaway truck ramp on Wyoming 22 on Teton Pass. I'd not heard of this technology before and will have to look for it on US 16 in the Bighorn Mountains above Buffalo on my next visit to the area.
--- Quote ---C.M. Owen Construction of Jackson won a $3.6 million contract to build a runaway truck arrestor system on WYO 22 about 2 miles west of Wilson. The highway’s downgrade on the east side of Teton Pass is 9.5 percent, one of the steepest on any Wyoming highway. The CatchNET system to be installed will be similar to one already in operation on US 16 west of Buffalo, which uses a series of arrestor cables to safely stop trucks carrying loads of up to 90,000 pounds and traveling up to 90 mph. That system has been used successfully six times. The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2016.
--- End quote ---
roadfro:
Interesting... I've never heard of that system either. On first glance, it sounds kind of like how a cable barrier system works.
I found a link through the article to a WyDOT webpage that has a PowerPoint with a bit more info. Turns out it is more like the jet catch cable system on an aircraft carrier. It actually makes some sense–as opposed to a common traditional stop method of deep gravel or piles of sand, which have to be regraded after every use.
Another interesting tidbit is that there are not too many of these deployed yet. But apparently 2 are in design in Nevada... (Not sure where those might be)
andy3175:
--- Quote from: roadfro on August 24, 2015, 12:27:35 AM ---I found a link through the article to a WyDOT webpage that has a PowerPoint with a bit more info. Turns out it is more like the jet catch cable system on an aircraft carrier. It actually makes some sense–as opposed to a common traditional stop method of deep gravel or piles of sand, which have to be regraded after every use.
--- End quote ---
Great find. I didn't check that link out until after you posted. I am wondering now if Wyoming had innovated this practice, or if it was conceived in another state and borrowed by Wyoming. Either way, it is something totally new to me (most truck ramps I've seen have deep gravel/sand or are long enough to allow a typical speeding truck to slow down, most likely by going uphill). I wonder if these new arrangements are easy to maintain to keep them effective for prolonged periods of nonuse?
Chris:
Here's a truck ramp test in North Bay, Ontario with the 'CatchNET' system:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X70f0zzVENI
roadfro:
--- Quote from: andy3175 on August 24, 2015, 01:09:34 AM ---
--- Quote from: roadfro on August 24, 2015, 12:27:35 AM ---I found a link through the article to a WyDOT webpage that has a PowerPoint with a bit more info. Turns out it is more like the jet catch cable system on an aircraft carrier. It actually makes some sense–as opposed to a common traditional stop method of deep gravel or piles of sand, which have to be regraded after every use.
--- End quote ---
Great find. I didn't check that link out until after you posted. I am wondering now if Wyoming had innovated this practice, or if it was conceived in another state and borrowed by Wyoming. Either way, it is something totally new to me (most truck ramps I've seen have deep gravel/sand or are long enough to allow a typical speeding truck to slow down, most likely by going uphill). I wonder if these new arrangements are easy to maintain to keep them effective for prolonged periods of nonuse?
--- End quote ---
I gotta imagine for a high use escape ramp, installing one of these systems might be more costly initially, but more cost effective in the long run. It seems like this would be much easier/quicker to "reset" than to have to regrade the gravel on the ramp.
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