Client: NACE (National Association of County Engineers)

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Services Provided: PowerPoint Graphics and Presentation, Multimedia Design, Market Research

The NACE Program Committee for the 2011 NACE Annual Conference asked Tim Arvidson to give a presentation on a current roundabout design issue. Tim was chosen for his local expertise on roundabouts, having designed numerous roundabouts in the metro area and greater Minnesota. Tim decided to focus his presentation on oversize vehicle operations in roundabouts, which is an issue that is becoming more important as more Minnesota roundabouts are constructed.

We began our work on the presentation with a coordinated research effort to compliment Tim's own experience with truck operations on roundabouts. We made industry contacts at Minnesota-based trucking companies and obtained valuable information from trucking managers and operators who have driven these intersections. We also pooled our research data with Kansas State University as part of a nationwide oversize vehicle study that they are currently conducting. We used the truck data provided by these organizations to create custom vehicle models in our GEOPAK software and test the turning capabilities of these models on local roundabouts that our firm has designed. We created graphics of these turning movements for use in the presentation. Other graphics were created that showed oversize truck specifications, roundabout design requirements, and areas of concern.

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Tim presented his findings and recommendations on April 20th, 2011 at the NACE 2011 Annual Conference to a room of approximately 100 local and national transportation officials and decision makers. He utilized a PowerPoint presentation that summarized research data, permitting issues, operator concerns, design suggestions, and possible solutions. He encouraged audience participation, and the industry feedback given by audience members contributed to the success of this presentation.

Stonebrooke received positive feedback from many audience members on the content of the presentation, the quality of the presentation materials, and the importance of discussing these issues before it becomes a larger problem.

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