You probably have heard of, seen, or visited the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA)’s Mobile Concrete Trailer (MCT), but did you know how easy it is for contractors to borrow some of the MCT as well as many of MCT’s testing equipment?
The MCT is an 18-wheel tractor-trailer that contains a complete, state-of-the-art concrete testing laboratory. Its purpose is to provide a mechanism for conducting a national effort including workshops, equipment loan programs, and technical assistance to evaluate, showcase, and promote the use of existing and new technology relating to concrete durability. The program targets interested engineers in both government and industry, promotes a thorough evaluation of new equipment and techniques being developed from research, and effectively transfers this technology throughout the United States. Central to this effort is assisting the State Highway Agencies to evaluate new equipment and test procedures on active project sites—ACI, Inc.: Design-build/Environmental/Facility-Program Management Contractor: Website page: “MCT Operation & Research – FHWA”: http://atiinc.com/projects/mcl-operation-fhwa/
There are no forms to fill out
and no excessive paperwork required, according to Mike Praul, FHWA Senior Concrete Engineer. He said if the equipment is available, it’s normally shipped within a couple days. He says there are no preset requirements for time the equipment may be borrowed. He added that one contractor “has had one of our super air meters (SAMs) for over a year.”
“All we ask is that the borrower takes very good care of the equipment and returns it as agreed. When it’s time to return the item, we may ask you to return it to us, or possibly to ship it directly to the next person borrowing the item,” he said. (The contractors pay the return shipping costs).
Some flexible training options are available, too.
“We are willing to provide training to industry personnel performing the test. The training can be over the phone or via video link or even phone/video calls. Jagan Gudimettla, MCT Project Engineer, ATI, Inc., and the technicians are well-versed in the tests and do a great job training people to run them,” Praul said.
The FHWA Mobile Concrete Trailer provides equipment loan for several pieces of equipment for the agencies to evaluate and determine if it meets their needs. This significantly increases the likelihood of adoption, because the state doesn’t have to buy an expensive piece of equipment to find out it didn’t meet their needs. The equipment loan can last from a few weeks to several months. Some of the equipment currently available for loan includes the following:
- Dowel Bar Alignment
- Pavement Thickness
- Ultrasonic Tomography
- Pull Out Strength
- Tensile Bond Strength
- Maturity Testing
- Match Curing
- Surface Resistivity
- Super Air Meter
- Box Test
- Calorimeter
- Microwave Water Content
- Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
For the equipment loan list, to learn more about all of the equipment/technology, and other links, please go to: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/trailer/resources/loans.cfm. Praul said he is currently working on expanding the inventory of the equipment-loan.
To borrow equipment, contractors should contact:
Michael F. Praul, FHWA Senior Concrete Engineer:
P: 207.512.4917 | E-mail: Michael.Praul@dot.gov
Jagan Gudimettla, MCT Project Engineer, ATI, Inc.
P: 202.366.1335 | E-mail: Jagan.M.Gudimettla.CTR@dot.gov
For the FHWA Mobile Concrete Trailer’s upcoming schedule, including Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, D.C., Arizona, North Carolina, and more—where it may be near you, please go to: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/trailer/calendar.cfm (Please note the schedule is subject to change without notice).
For the ISCP April article titled “New Tech Results Shared by the MCT Program with New “One-Pager” Publications”, please go to: https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/04/30/new-tech-results-shared-by-the-mct-program-with-new-one-pager-publications/