VanWechel Joins UGPTI Ag Transport Center

Tamara VanWechel, the newest member of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's Agriculture Transport Center, has a background in natural resources management and economics. Pleased to be working in her home state, she sees the important and integral role of transportation in agriculture. She is an associate research fellow.

Having a positive influence on agriculture is a long-term goal. Growing up on a farm, she noted the vital link between agriculture and economics.

Her current research with the Agriculture Transport Center involves railroad deregulation, updating a short line railroad study, and looking at grain rates and waterways. She works closely with other members of the Agriculture Transport Center team.

VanWechel is also working on pocket guides for the United States Department of Agriculture's Transportation and Marketing Division. The pocket guide will have basic facts so lawmakers, USDA staff and others can quickly find information. She also does literature reviews and data evaluation. Yet another major project is the Containerized Grain survey for the USDA.

She holds a master of science degree from North Dakota State University in natural resources management with an agribusiness and applied economics emphasis. Her bachelor of science degree, also from NDSU, is in natural resources management. She also served as an intern for U.S. Senator Kent Conrad.

DOTSC's Maintenance Management Program

Work was recently completed on DOTSC's Maintenance Management Program, a Mountain-Plains Consortium project done in conjunction with the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT). Research was designed to ease the data collection burden of the NDDOT's maintenance managers while increasing and improving pavement condition information.

The pilot project utilized handheld computer technology and global positioning system (GPS) data to capture pavement condition and location data. This data collection effort was designed to be assimilated into current roadway management operations.

DOTSC Director Dennis Jacobson hopes the NDDOT will continue the Maintenance Management Program with a second phase. The second phase would include centralizing the system in Bismarck, N.D., and providing additional software for statewide maintenance planning and programming. Additional geographic information system (GIS) programs could be written and GIS maps could be posted to a NDDOT website.