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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1976)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1976 R pressway controlled Pavement stops hydroplaning f computer system /i! -2916 ssion s -nt, Id life »ur tal 'offee oneo dition, onda( iouse ( Office ixas A&M University has de- a major computer facility in which controls the North tral Expressway corridor, lis corridor consists of arterials, is to the expressway and fron- roads that parallel it. These 39 ance ramps, 15 frontage road in- •ctions and 14 arterial intersec- keep traffic moving in a 30 re mile area from downtown as to the surrounding LBJ way. lie system employs a system of ninicomputers; (.14 more to he ^1 this summer) and a medium Jhost computer to keep the traf- aoving toward town in the morn- lid out of town in the evening,’ lained Senior Systems Analyst les VV. Blumentritt of A&cM’s as Transportation Institute (TTI). II works with the Federal hway Administration in coopera- with the Texas Department of ifiways and Public Transportation the City of Dallas. The group from a central control center he Central Expressway. The control periods are from 7 to in. and 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. The is to maintain a steady flow of icalong the freeway so that it ean teat capacity, but not so loaded tit breaks down to stop and go, mentritt pointed out. If the freeway is loaded, the sys- lallows the driver to use alternate iteslike the frontage roads or arte- ssohe keeps progressing along route," he said. We have nine TV cameras in a mile stretch so that we have a bird’s eye view of conditions,” Blumentritt noted. “We have a cent ral telephone number so that drivers can call in for a traffic report.” There are also 300 vehicle detec tors that measure volumes and speeds of traffic. These detectors print out any rapid drops in the flow of autos which indicate an accident or congestion. “By having the frontage roads under computer control then a di version of this type will allow traffic to proceed down the frontage road or some other alternate route,” he ad ded. Other innovations are in the works for the near fixture. Sixty-two inter sections will be added to the compu ter control. Bus detectors in the pavement will pick up signals from a transponder on the bus and either shorten the red light or extend the green light to get the bus through the intersection more rapidly and decrease bus travel time. Other TTI teams are working with displays to motorists to tell them of problems further down the freeway and to suggest alternate routes,” Blumentritt said. ‘They are cur rently looking at what motorists will respond to. “When you add up the memory sizes of the computers on the project it makes it one of the larger facilities around,” he said. “The system is one of the largest on which the university is providing ongoing research and the largest designed by TTI. The facility will have a total of 35 com puters at its first stage of comple tion.” Texas A&M University engineers may have licked the problem of hyd roplaning. Professor of civil engineering Bob M. Callaway is presenting the A&M findings to the International Sym posium on Porous Asphalt this week in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Callaway is a member of a blue- ribbon international group for the symposium at the Study Centre of Road construction. There are par ticipating representatives from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Bel gium, Denmark, Switzerland, Ja pan, France, Sweden and Germany. The results of the A&M team’s work can be seen on West S. H. 21 near Bryan. A sample of the free- draining pavement has been laid there and is currently being tested with an overhead arrangement of sprinklers to simulate rainfall of up to three inches per hour. “This type of open-graded asphalt mixture offers promise for improved safety on the nations’ highways,” Callaway said. “At this point it ap pears that high friction porops road surfaces offer one of the best methods available to minimize hyd roplaning and maintain good, un iform friction during rainy weather. ” “Also, in many areas selected local ingredients can be used to cut the costs of this new type surface and make it quite economically competi tive,” he added. “We think the road will be free draining in rains up to the point where one could no longer see to drive safely,” Callaway said. “Appli cations would be made on a priority basis in areas of heavy traffic, poor drainage and considerable rain like Houston, for example, where it would find extensive application.” The surface is laid down about one inch thick over the existing road. The results of the Texas A&M re search will be presented in the paper by Callaway and Jon A. Epps, pro fessor of highway safety research. It is entitled “Laboratory and Field Evaluation and In-Service Perfor mance of Free-Draining Pavement Surfaces.” cShalas (Shoes Flight completes dedication ofEasterwood control tower xtension Service given ew director Pfannstiel )r. Daniel C. Pfannstiel has been led director of the Texas Agricul- Extension Service, the Texas M University System’s public ice agency which provides ag- iltural, homemaking, 4-H and sumer assistance to thousands of ans throughout the state. ,i fannstiel’s appointment was 0 Wdl’ ie last week by the Texas A&M iversity System Board of Re- oininf is .subject o concurrence of the , f : I. Secretary of Agriculture. The III LOl' ointment was effective yester- musij d pro 3 re in 628 o ns 01 lie 2,000-employe service, iclioperates offices in all but two ITexas 254 counties, is a joint mty-state-federal program which tia traditionally served farmers, 1 pliers and residents of rural ■nimities and is becoming in- fcingly popular with urban dwel- Ifr ■We have searched throughout R nation to confirm what we Rughtwas the case all along: that already have in our ranks the best :on for this key position, nted out Board of Regents pman Clyde H. Wells in an- Pfannstiel’s promotion, fannstiel, 48, has served the Agricultural Extension Ser vice tor 27 years, as associate direc tor since 1971. He joined the Exten sion Service upon graduation in 1949 from Texas A&M. He worked his way up through the ranks, from as sistant county agent in Wharton County to county agent in Matagorda County in 1952. In 1956 he became administrative assistant at the service’s College Station headquarters and became assistant director in 1959. He succeeds Dr. H. O. Kunkel, Texas A&M s dean of agriculture, who has served as the Extension Service’s acting director since Feb ruary when Dr. John El. Hutchison retired as director of the largest state Extension Service in the nation. “Dr. Pfannstiel is undoubtedly one of the most qualified administra tive officers in the' nation’s entire CoopeYative Extension Service,”' Dean Kunkel noted. “He has been eagerly sought by several other agencies but has chosen to stay and serve in Texas.” In addition to his B.S. degree in animal husbandry from Texas A&M, Pfannstiel earned a master’s in ex tension education from Michigan State University in 1952 and a Ph. D. in extension administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1959. Guy Davis, president of Davis Air lines, took a 13-minute flight and be came the last man to use the old control tower at Texas A&M Univer sity’s Easterwood Airport. After tak ing off he landed as the first to offi cially use the new control tower yes terday. After being held up a few minutes because of rain, Davis took off at 10:07 a.m. under directions of the old tower. Flying in one of his twin- engine Cessnas, he landed at 10:20 a.m. under directions from the new tower. His air controller was tower chief Bobby Clay. They were both here when the retired facility was first made operational 23 years ago. Davis’ flight inaugurated the new $320,000 facilities which go into frill swing with official dedication cere monies to be held here July 1. The new tower is 14 feet taller, with en- MANOR EAST 3 THEATRES MANOR EAST MALL HAPPY HR. TILL 7:00 IN II & III ONLY NO HAPPY HR. - 7:00-9:20 “THE MISSOURI BREAKS” 7:10-9:25 JkM the Master Gunfighter 6:10-7:50-9:30 IF IT HAD WHEELS POKE COULD DRIVE IT BETTER THAN ANYONE ALIVE! But with Mary Lee on his mind and the sheriff on his back staying alive was the problem. SAMUEL Z. ARKOFF Presents — TIMOTHY „ SUSAN . B0 BOHOMS GEORGE HOPKINS * A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS West Screen At Dusk hei East Screen At Dusk “DEVIL WITHIN HER” Plus “MARK OF THE DEVIL” “BABY BLUE MARINE” Plus (PG) “AL0H0A BOBBY & ROSE” closed stairway and transistorized equipment. The old tower was originally trucked to College Station from El lington Air Force Base to help with radar controlled traffic at Bryan Air Force Base. Now the Easterwood field has the capability for handling large aircraft such as Boeing 727’s and military C-130’s and will work up to 300 light aircraft on a football weekend. 707 TEXAS 846-1148 Battalion Want Ads A Scientific Approach to Diamonds. An Artistic Approach to Fine Jewelry. Carl Bussells Iiamond Room 3731 E. 29th 846-4708 MEMBER AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY abc INTERSTATE UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER SPECIAL PRE-ENGAGEMENT SNEAK PREVIEW SUNDAY, 846-6714 & 846-1151 JUNE 6 CINEMA II ! Starts TOMORROW! CINEMA I DAILY 3:35 5:35 7 :35 9:40 OPEN 3:10 ADULTS $2.50 CHILD (4-14) $1.25 iimKEES EVERY DAY What the song didn’t tell you ^ the movie will. A Max Baer Fi,m OdleTa J&UhtJoe A love story that’s joyous, funny and so touching you will never forget it. PG m From Warner Bros Q FRIDAY! CINEMA DAILY 3:20 5:30 7 :40 9:50 OPEN 3:10 ADULTS $2.50 CHILD (4-14) $1.25 FRIDAY "" ■■■ !l ■WINNER!!, GRAND PRIX - 1976 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL! I! ■II lctsl MATINEES EVERY DAY On every street in every city in this country there’s a nobody who dreams of being somebody. He’s a lonely forgotten man desperate to prove that he’s alive. 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