Visit to BASt in Köln

Yesterday I went to BASt, in Cologne. Within pavement* circles it's very famous so it was amazing to get to go there. I got to see their test track, which was similar in some ways to CAPTIF in Canterbury but, rather than having a circular test track that can be loaded with a large number of vehicle passes, they drive real trucks across the pavement. The experimental pavement is highly instrumented and so they can record the stresses and strains as the trucks pass. They'd also just completed some interesting experiments but for the sake of the younger viewers, I'll spare you the details. You might however be interested to know that they did experiments with using expanded polystyrene as a foundation for a pavement –conclusion, it's not so flash. BASt also do crash tests there but unfortunately there were no tests being performed the day I was there. The building itself was also amazing; built onto a hill, and nowhere more than 2 stories high, it's essentially four very long corridors connected by walkways. The design intent was to allow everyone to have their own office, access to natural light and a view of the gardens.

As I said the other day, these people are fußball (soccer) mad. This guy (photo) was in the entrance to the BASt building. I arrived at BASt the day after Germany secured their place in the Euro final. The previous night the screams and celebrations went for hours after Germany won. The streets were filled with cars honking continuously and one of the BASt people said that his trip home after the game, normally a 20 minute drive, took one and a half hours (he was honking his horn with the rest of them).

*one person I know thought that I worked at research on foot paths. This is not correct: my work involves looking at how roads are built and how to build roads better so they last and perform better.

**note from Rochelle:... but for some reason, those involved persist in calling them pavements- a reasonable misunderstanding, I think (btw- the person wasn't me :) )