Minutes of the Washington Section March 2003 Meeting

The March Institute of Navigation Washington Section meeting was held at the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center. Nine members of the Washington Section were treated to a presentation of Non-destructive Highway Testing Techniques given by Glenn Washer.

11:00
The meeting started with a social period and members renewed old acquaintances and met new attendees.

11:30
The business meeting started with old business:

1. Terry McGurn and Dave Winfield presented a set of proposals being considered by the scholarship committee. The proposals provide a stipend a student (or students) to further there education particularly in the field of navigation. Seven candidate proposals were presented. Of these 2 or 3 will be selected for more detailed review. Specific comments on the selected proposals are expected by April 25 of 2003. Two proposals will be brought to the next regular meeting for further discussion. Terence McGurn will present the proposals to the Washington Section membership for voting by email.
2. The Washington Section Bylaws will be reviewed. Rectification of the quorum requirement is of particular interest. Mike Shaw and Carl Andren volunteered to lead this activity.

Only one issue was discussed as new business:

A nominations committee was formed. The nominations committee consists of John McHale and Chris Varner. If any member would like to recommend someone to be an officer of the Washington Section next year, nominations can be forwarded to John McHale (jmchale@ida.org) or Chris Varner (ccvarner@mitre.org). Self nominations are also accepted. The positions for next year are: Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer Program Chair Specific descriptions for each position are given in the Bylaws, which can be downloaded from the Washington Section website (http://www.ion.org/sections/washington.cfm).

12:30
Jim Arnold introduced the speaker – Mr. Glenn Washer of the FHWA. Mr. Washer discussed the various nondestructive methods that the FHWA uses to inspect highways and bridges. The PERES and HERMES projects were highlighted. The PERES (Precsion Electromagnetic Roadway Evaluation System) project uses an Ultra-Wide Bandwidth (UWB) radio transmitter and receiver to image the subsurface condition of the asphalt pavement. HERMES, which stands for High Speed Electromagnetic Roadway Mapping and Evaluation System builds upon the PERES concept by putting an array of 64 UWB transmitters and receivers in a movable trailer. Initial trials have mapped roads at 10 km/h, but the goal is to increase the speed to 100 km/h. During the question and answer period the issue of GPS interference was addressed. Mr. Washer explained that GPS interference was not noticeable because the total power output of PERES was about ¼ of that used in a cell phone transmission.

13:10
ION members were given a tour of the FHWA Nondestructive Evaluation Center. The laboratory is equipped with a structural loading floor for component fatigue testing as well as a radiological laboratory for x-raying defects and producing three-dimensional tomographic structure images.

14:00
Meeting adjourned.