Center works to improve
highways
By Kurt Esposito
Assistant
Campus Editor
Rep. Brian Kerns, R-Ind., made his first official
visit to Purdue on Friday as a U.S. congressman to learn about the University
and the Institute for Safe, Quiet and Durable Highways.
"Really, today was an opportunity for me to go
back to school and learn a little bit more about some the good programs
and projects taking place at Purdue University," Kerns said.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
from the 7th District of Indiana in the last election. He serves on
the House's Transportation Committee.
As a member of the Transportation Committee, Kerns
spent most of his visit with the directors of the Institute for Safe,
Quiet and Durable Highways.
"I look forward to working with Purdue and all
the folks involved in the program as we work to make our highways safer
for all our families," he said.
Robert Bernhard, director of the Ray W. Herrick
Laboratories and co-director of the Purdue Institute for Safe, Quiet
and Durable Highways, said the institute is working on programs to make
highways quieter by developing porous asphalt and concrete and research
on how tires contact with roads.
Bernhard said they are also working on ways of
making highway travel safer by strategically placing telephone poles
and creating collapsible guardrails.
He said many of the innovations that have been
developed are being used in Europe and will be implemented in the States
within the next five years, after the applications are modified for
use here.
Kerns said Purdue has been a leader in solving
the nation's problems and will continue to be so in the future.
The institute is run out of the departments of
civil and mechanical engineering. It was one of 17 federally funded
University Transportation Centers formed in 1998 by the Department of
Transportation. The Department of Transportation is reviewing funding
for each center.
The Center receives $569,312 per year in funding,
$262,200 of which comes from the Department of Transportation.
Kerns said the Transportation Committee is still
in the formation period and will discuss the institute along with other
programs.
"Based on past success, I know that the Congress
of the United States and the federal government will continue to support
Purdue University," he said.
He also spoke with Purdue president Martin Jischke
for the first time. He said they discussed what programs Purdue would
like to initiate and football and basketball.
|
