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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Visionaries:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>An interessting exchange from a meeting of the
Governor's transportation task force: (This is from Betsy's Blog from the
Spokesman Review.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Shirley</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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face=Calibri>Consultant Patrick Balducci of Battelle Group told the governor’s
transportation funding task force just now that axle weights matter, not just
total weight of a truck compared to total weight of a car, when calculating
impact on pavement damage. But, under questioning from committee members, he
said the rule of thumb is that one fully loaded axle on a big truck is equal to
the pavement damage of 10,000 passenger cars. Task force members were stunned.
“It’s been measured,” Balducci told them. “For years, millions of trucks have
been measured. These are engineering calculations that have been studied by the
federal government beginning in the 1950s and continuing today.” When task force
member Jim Riley asked what the difference might be if that figure were off by
25 percent - say, if a loaded truck axle were equal to just 7,500 passenger cars
- Balducci said that would be contrary to “50 years of research on the part of
the Federal Highway Administration</FONT></SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>