Significant hauling of heavy loads puts your roadway surface at risk of damage.
Leveraging the experience of several County Engineers, the Local Road Research Board
recently funded the development of an online document that presents step-by-step
guidelines for Minnesota county engineers on how to interact with developers of
“wind farms” (technically known as large wind energy conversion systems or LWECS)
regarding road-related issues. Construction of LWECS requires hauling of a significant
number of heavy loads on local roadways, potentially causing damage to the roadway
surface. This document provides county engineers with guidance on how to work with
LWECS developers to preserve the roadway surfaces. The committee that provided input
for this document was comprised of Minnesota county engineers that are currently
going through or have completed this process along with Mn/DOT and regional planners.
This document contains a wide range on information contained in a single, downloadable
interactive document. The document allows easy access to the following content:
- Web links and reports
- Sample ordinances, permits, agreements and maps
- Traffic calculator to quantify the traffic impact on roads
- Policy options to recapture roadway maintenance costs
- Experience from current or past projects
- Research information
County engineers in other states, other road authorities, and wind power developers
themselves also may find this information valuable. While this tool is focused on
LWECS’s, it is broad enough that it could also be used when a county is dealing
with any other enterprise that impacts the roads under its jurisdiction.
The interactive document discussed above can be downloaded here:
Major Traffic Generators Interactive Document (in zip format)
[Right mouse click, 'Save As' and unzip to your own folder.]
In addition, the Traffic Calculator Tool (to help quantify impacts to roads) can
be found here:
Major Traffic Generators-impact Tool (in xls format)
[save to your folder. Once opened, you must enable macros so spreadsheet will work as intended.]
NOTE: A final report, #2010RIC11, is expected soon.