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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1975)
Page 8 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1975 LAKEVIEW CLUB Auto control deteriorates 3 Miles N.on Tabor Road Saturday Night: Johnny Lyons, Janet Lynn and The Country Nu-Notes From 9-1 p.m. STAMPEDE Every Thursday Nite (ALL BRANDS BEER 35 cents) Every Tuesday Nite LADIES FREE MEN $2.00 All Brands Beer 35c 8-12 Music furnished by the Bruos Sounds Fast driving in rain is deadly TAMU researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute, contend that persons driving in the rain tend to maintain their normal speeds while visibility and control over the auto deteriorates. Tests, conducted by a group under Dr. Don L. Ivey, were made on a test track with an overhead sprinkler system (to duplicate rain) at the TAMU research annex. “Some safety factors can be de signed into a road such as good combinations of cross slope, texture and runoff length to keep the water Ivey from building up on the road,’ said. “However, engineering options are limited,” he said. “Conclusions indicate that other aids to safety would be eliminating passing dur ing rainfall and enforcing reduced speeds, along with turning on the auto lights whenever the windshield wipers are in use. Ivey said. “The equation and the actual tests show that speeds in ex cess of 45 mph are unsafe when pas sing is done during rainfall as heavy as one inch per hour.” The group claims that informa tion is strong enough to justify re duced traffic speeds during rainfall or to attack proposals for increased traffic speeds. “An equation was developed for driver visibility which took into ac count the intensity of rain, car speed and the windshield wiper speed,” Tests make it apparent that many accidents are caused by poor visibil ity aided by speeds too fast for con ditions which “. . . produce situa- Students destroy bridges to study construction Student bridge builders have overloaded their trusses at TAMU, with education in mind. Out of the wreckage of a summer Structural Drafting Program, came better un derstanding of the basics of bridge design. Constructed of toothpicks, popsi- cle sticks, thread and glue, the HPA-inch-long model bridges held up to 81 pounds. Even the most skeptical builder saw his bridge support 25 pounds before failing. Prof. Paul Mason uses the models to familiarize students with bridge construction techniques. “They will soon be detailing beams in this type structure,” he said. Twenty-four students in the 11-week summer course sponsored by the Texas Engineering Exten sion Service chose from nine stan dard truss designs, plus modifica tions and combinations. Using no more than 75 round wooden tooth picks, they built bridges from full- scale drawings. “The limitation of structural members is similar to the financial limitations in the real life situation,” Mason said. Before loading tests took place, students were required to analyze the structure vectorially, determine the stress in each member and whether each was in tension or compression. They were also asked to predict failure points. Spanning a 10-inch gap between two tables, the models were loaded with five-pound lead weights until each failed. The students disco vered most failures occurred at joints. At more than halfway through testing, only one toothpick had splintered. When Mark Henneke’s model held 55 pounds, a cheer broke out. More weights had to be found to overload it. Gregg Ferguson’s model held 81 pounds. “We re not trying to replace en gineers. This experiment is strictly for demonstration purposes,” Mason said. jtions which require extreme skid ' inducing maneuvers. In the tests, researchers used two | vehicles, one 260 feet in front of the 'other. Photographs and light read ings were taken from the rear vehi cle to measure visibility at different intensities of simulated rainfall. “A disabled car 260 feet ahead is quite obscured even in the lowest significant simulated rainfall,” Ivey said. “Even if the driver sees the other car at this point he will have less than three seconds to interpret, decide on an appropriate response and either stop his vehicle or swerve to miss the disabled vehicle. “Although this seems critical, it’s by no means the most critical condi tion,” he said. “A passing maneuver started with an oncoming car would be much more hazardous. “For most of the driving popula tion this is not enough time,” Ivey said. “It is enough time to say briskly, ‘Is my insurance paid up?’ “The incompatibility of traffic speeds during rainfall when some vehicles slow down, in appropriate response to reduced visibility, while others proceed at the speed limit further compounds the prob lem,” Ivey said. The team estimates rains from one to 10 per cent of the time in the state. In Central Texas the exposure to rainfall of greater than one inch per hour is less than five hours per year. However, the accident rate in wet weather can be as much as 10 times the dry accident rate. This emphasizes that even though driv ing time in rain is relatively small, the probability of being unable to cope with an accident situation is much higher. Their conclusions state that visi bility is dependent on rain inten sity, auto speed, wiper speed, color and size of an obstacle, distance to it, illumination, water droplet size distribution and windshield clarity. East 29th St. WareVio'asa 371SE Z9£K Street Town & Country Center Bryan-, Texas City engineers face problems of growing urban complexity Today’s city engineer has to be more than a good engineer. Faced with a bewildering assortment of tasks, he must concurrently be a politician, public relations man, economist, manager and top-flight engineer. “The increasing complexity of managing urban centers requires an individual with both technical ex pertise and a high level of manage ment skills,” said Dr. Donald L. Woods, head of the Civil Systems ffiia UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE TEXTBOOKS CALCULATORS SCHOOL SUPPLIES AGO If GIFTS • SOUVENIRS Engineering Group at TAMU. “No longer are engineering skills alone sufficient to provide for efficient management of the public works function. Thus, individuals with good engineering backgrounds, a high level of management skills, and an adequate appreciation of the so cial, economic, and environmental impacts of public works activities are essential.” As a result of this need, the TAMU Civil Engineering Depart ment has started a two-year pro gram to provide the necessary train- ing. “The first year of training for the Public Service Education Program for Technical Managers will be con cerned with the university level academic program,” Woods said. “During the second year, we will develop a continuing education program to keep those in the field updated on the latest procedures and techniques. “This way we enlist the broad re sources of TAMU in the develop ment of the technical manager pro gram,” he said. “We will also in clude sufficient versatility to meet the needs of the small city engineer who would require a broad spec trum of knowledge or a large city engineer who would probably de sire a high degree of specialization. ” The Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare has funded the program $16,000 which the state will match. 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