Monday, February 24, 2014

WSU Prof Researching Better; Cheaper Asphalt

Haifang Wen, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University could make my job easier in the future. One thing I hear regularly when out talking to members of the public about local transportation issues is that there must be a better, longer-lasting material with which to pave our roads. Wen is looking into it- researching new ways of making asphalt better and cheaper.

One alternative to traditional asphalt that Wen and the people in his lab are looking into is bioasphalt. Instead of using petroleum, waste cooking oil can be processed into asphalt.  A Spokesman-Review reporter visited Wen's laboratory and tells us what is underway there.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.