Asphalt-testing van arrives in town

Thunder Bay's worst roads are being put to the test this week.

Officials with the city's transportation and works department have hired an outside contractor to measure the quality of the asphalt on paved roads around the city.

A seemingly normal looking van that is actually a highly technical vehicle used to measure road conditions has arrived in the city. The van has lasers mounted to the front bumper and cameras on board that record road information to computers.

By combining the data from the lasers with the camera readings, technicians can come up with a complete road profile. City project engineer Mike Vogrig said the city gave the contractors a list of streets to examine, which may help the city determine the priorities in keeping roads up to date.

Vogrig added that the information received from the asphalt testing helps the city create a roadwork maintenance budget for city council to consider next year.