Welcome to the first edition of our Innovation Newsletter! I'm Katie Walker, MnDOT's Research & Innovation Director. Our hope is to share, highlight and spur innovation at MnDOT through this publication and other efforts we will soon launch to support employee innovation throughout the agency.  

Innovation isn’t new to MnDOT— from being the first DOT to test autonomous vehicles in cold weather to plow cams offering real-time road conditions along plow routes, it is all around us.

Every day, employees are using an innovative and collab­orative mindset to find transformative solutions that serve our customers and move us towards realizing our vision of a transportation system maximizes the health of people, the environment and our economy. We hope to help foster an innovation culture by supporting creative thinking, new ideas and customer-focused solutions (find out more in our team update below). This not only supports MnDOT’s core values, but it equips us to better respond to a changing transportation environment.

We encourage you to share your latest innovations with us. Please take a few minutes to fill out the Innovation Form survey to tell us what you and your team are currently doing, or have done, to be creative problem solvers during the pandemic. Your responses will be reviewed and considered for future articles in this newsletter.  We want to hear about your innovative ideas!       

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

The Office of Research and Innovation recently hired Employee Strategies to help MnDOT develop an Innovation Strategy and lay the groundwork for the agency’s new innovation program. One of our first steps will be an agency-wide survey to understand MnDOT’s current culture of innovation. The survey is scheduled to be distributed in early October.

Another key aspect of developing MnDOT’s Innovation Strategy will be recurring Community of Practice sessions. These educational and interactive sessions will help develop and grow MnDOT’s culture of innovation and will be open to all MnDOT employees. More information will be available in the upcoming months!

MnDOT construction projects require tons of hot mix asphalt each year, with over 188 road and bridge projects in the 2020 construction season alone.

Historically, plant mixed asphalt has been weighed, tracked and paid for with computer-generated paper tickets. Paper ticketing isn’t an ideal process for a variety of reasons—on-site ticket collection poses safety risks, tickets can be easily lost, and data must be tabulated manually, just to name a few.

A research implementation project, funded by the state research program, is pilot testing an electronic ticketing system that records truck weight digitally, tracks asphalt delivery trucks via GPS and notes truck departure and arrival times through the use of “geofences.”

The research team planned to pilot the technology on two or three construction projects for the 2020 construction season; however, in response to COVID-19, contactless ticketing is being deployed at additional locations to ensure social distancing.

“Currently, we have 12 projects that will be using e-ticketing this construction season. We are anticipating more as the construction season progresses,” Embacher said. “Our goal is to reach full deployment by 2024.”

Visit our blog, Crossroads, to learn more.

MnDOT employees are known for their great work ethic and willingness to get the job done. When faced with a pandemic, the District 3 East sub area staff voluntarily split into two shifts to maintain social distancing and keep their co-workers safe. A side benefit of the two shifts was that the 16-hour work days allowed the crews to be the first sub area done with spring sweeping. The extended work hours also allowed the crews to clean plow trucks and paint equipment before it was stored for the season. The split shifts provided time for the crews to put down 40 tons of patch material in a three-week time period, clean and seal 42 lane miles and install 23 driveway culverts.      

“The East sub area took on the challenge that the Stay at Home Order presented and they were able to accelerate completion of critical work,” said Jamie Hukriede, District 3’s assistant district engineer, maintenance. “They maximized use of equipment and our spring priorities to fill potholes and sweep were accomplished in a shorter time period which made the roads safer for bicyclists, motorcyclists and motorists.”

Dan Meinen, District 3 East sub area supervisor said, “The crew wanted to make sure each team member was working in a safe environment. I appreciate their cooperation, flexibility and willingness to split shifts, even knowing that the new shifts could impact their family lives.”

In April, the Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations turned to virtual inspections to conduct safety audits that couldn’t be delayed during COVID-19 restrictions on in-person visits.

Staff created an inspection procedure using a streaming chat application to inspect wheelchair restraints on Special Transportation Service (STS) vehicles for the elderly and disabled (and created this short video to explain the process to customers). They also conducted virtual inspections of any new vehicles added to the fleet of for-hire limousine carriers or STS vehicles.

“The virtual securement device inspections went very well and allows our unit an alternative tool to be used in the future if needed,” said Jeff Cummins, supervisor of OFCVO’s State Programs unit.

Although MnDOT has resumed physical inspections (with additional COVID-19 safety protocols in place), virtual inspections are still occurring for new vehicle fleet in outstate Minnesota. These vehicles will re-inspected when an inspector is in the area.