Safe Way to Go

As a critical part of highway construction and maintenance activities, flagging operations could benefit from the use of automated flagger-assistance devices (AFADs) to improve the safety of flagging personnel. The traditional AFADs are difficult to use due to the towing requirements. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) decided to modify the stationary AFAD to allow for self-propelled motion to follow the moving operation. This article describes a research project MnDOT and Wenck Associates Inc. completed, which included the following tasks: needs assessment for the device; review of similar devices on the market; design of the prototype device; fabrication of the final device; and documentation of device operations.