Rowan prof tasked with making roads safer
May 07, 2009If you've ever wondered why there's so much construction on New Jersey highways and roads, Dr. Yusuf Mehta is the guy to ask. An associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rowan, Mehta is spearheading research aimed at improving roads and making transportation safer and more environmentally friendly.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) awarded Mehta three contracts, the first of which involves testing the effectiveness of New Jersey's Graduated Drivers License (GDL) Law, which was passed in 2001.
The GDL Law's behind-the-wheel guidelines include having a probationary license for six months and nighttime driving and passenger restrictions for teenagers.
Mehta and his students are trying to determine if the GDL is working by looking at the motor vehicle crashes rates, injuries, fatalities and property damage caused by teenage drivers since the GDL's implementation.
Ashish Wadkar, a 24-year-old civil engineering graduate student from Mumbai, India, who is assisting Mehta in his research, said existing data show that since the implementation of the GDL Law older teens have been part of an increasing number of fatalities.
"What we're finding right now is that the crash rate is higher with 18-year-olds exposed to the licensing program," he said. Wadkar attributes this to the fact that older teens who have been insulated by the program's safeguards may lack realistic experience with riskier situations after they graduate from the program.
Allison Daneillo, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering junior from Manalapan, is also helping Mehta with the GDL research. Daneillo, who won The International Road Federation 2008 Student Essay Competition for her paper on motorcycle safety, is heavily invested in road safety.
"Our research is about saving people's lives," she said.
Another of Mehta's projects involves testing reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Mehta and his team of students are trying to increase the amount of recyclable asphalt used to build New Jersey roads.
"Right now, only fifteen percent of RAP can be safely recycled on the surface of roads," Mehta said. "The goal of the study is to increase the amount that can be recycled to fifty percent."
According to Kyle Fote, a 21-year-old civil and environmental engineering junior from Franklinville, there are 44 million tons of unused RAP in New Jersey.
"It's just sitting there, taking up space," Fote said. "We need to develop ways to increase the amount we can recycle for the sake of the environment."
Fote added that it is also in the financial interest of plant owners who provide asphalt and other aggregate to the State to recycle more RAP because they can save space and use less from their stockpiles.
As part of their research on behalf of the NJDOT, Mehta and his students are visiting asphalt plants that are contracted by the State to provide asphalt for capital improvement projects and testing the makeup of their stockpiles.
Often, Mehta said, stockpiles of RAP accumulate contaminates that weaken the asphalt, resulting in mixtures that threaten the integrity of the roads. With a hefty price tag attached to constantly maintaining New Jersey roads and with safety issues, it makes sense to ensure that asphalt is made of the right material.
"It's always tough to tell what the stockpiles are made of," Mehta said, "and as a result the roads can suffer."
Khyati Sonpal, a 24-year old civil and environmental engineering graduate student who is also from Mumbai, India, is hopeful that if Rowan succeeds in increasing the amount of RAP that can be recycled, New Jersey counties and municipalities will do the same.
"If it's feasible for counties in New Jersey to begin to recycle greater amounts of RAP, then it will catch on elsewhere," she said.
In another contract with the State, Mehta is working to improve pavement binder (the black resinous material that binds the aggregates). Mehta and his students have set up a binder laboratory at the South Jersey Technology Park in Mantua Township, and hope to find a new, universal method of making binder that will help New Jersey roads last.
"This is very important," Mehta said. "Road integrity is not just New Jersey's problem. It's a national problem."
According to 20-year-old civil engineering junior Alan Norton from Glassboro, Mehta's clinics offer students a great opportunity to publish papers and to get noticed.
"It's a lot of work," Norton said, "but this clinic allows not only graduate but undergraduate students to get their name out there. There are a lot of networking opportunities."
Mehta emphasized that conducting research for the NJDOT is a rewarding job, one that ensures that road safety laws are working and that the roads New Jerseyans drive on are safer.
