Woah! Somebody Oughta Fix That Bump!

Looking back:

PRE-COUNCIL WORK SESSION, THURSDAY

May 7, 1998, 8:30 A.M.

CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ABILENE, TEXAS,

BASEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL


Public Appearance

1. The Cooper High School Physics class, accompanied by teacher Jim Reeves and Nathan Nease, presented the results of a study to find Abilene's Worst Bump. The Toyota Motor Company had given the class a $10,000 TAPESTRY grant to purchase the high tech equipment needed for the study and the Abilene New Car Dealer's association provided vehicles to conduct the study in. The study showed the top ten worst bumps in Abilene are:

The 10th worst bump is at the intersection of Green Meadows & Sylvan

The 9th worst bump is at the intersection of Chimney Rock & Buffalo Gap

The 8th worst bump is at the intersection of S. 8 & Ross

The 7th worst bump is at the intersection of Radford & Avenue F

The 6th worst bump is at the intersection of Stratford & Buccaneer

The 5th worst bump is at the intersection of Industrial & Treadaway

The 4th worst bump is at the intersection of Ambler & Mockingbird

The 3rd worst bump is at the intersection of S. 14th & Willis

The 2nd worst bump is at the intersection of N. 2 & Clinton

And the worst bump in Abilene is at the intersection of Hartford and Buccaneer!

Following the presentation, the students offered a few suggestions to help make driving Abilene's streets a safer and more enjoyable experience.

Mayor McCaleb thanked the class for presenting the results of their study, and complimented them on a thoughtful and well-informed study, stating it is important that students are studying physics and already becoming involved in solving problems in the city. No Council action was required.

Woah! Somebody Oughta Fix That Bump!
1997 Awardee
Budget: $9800.00
Project Director: Jim Reeves
Staff: Nathan Nease
Cooper High School
3639 Sayles Blvd.
Abilene, TX 79605
Phone: 915-691-1000
Email: reever@tenet.edu

Summary
This project involves high school physics students working with city and state civil engineers to determine which bumps in our city's streets are most hazardous when traversed at the legal speed limits. Students equipped with miniature accelerometers connected to calculator based lab systems and graphing calculators will collect and store data on the g-forces encountered by various cars as they are driven over bumps that are nominated in a city-wide survey as the most dangerous. Differential global positioning by satellite (DGPS) units will enable the students to locate and store the exact longitude and latitude of the bump. After locating and ranking the bumps, students, teachers, and a team of engineers will study the data and decide what steps should be taken.

Description
The students conducted a "worst bump" survey using the local newspaper and prepared drop boxes that were placed around town. The students used these to solicit nominations from the community of the most offensive bumps in town when they were negotiated at the speed limit. After collecting all the nominations, over 100 bumps were nominated for the study.

The students used Graphing Calculators and CBL systems as well as GPS in order to locate the position of these bumps and to record the acceleration when the bumps were traversed at the posted speed limit. The students then displayed and analyzed all of their data. By analyzing the acceleration versus time graph for each of the runs the students selected the ten most offensive bumps in Abilene. This project was supported by the local Automobile Association who lent the school the use of various vehicles from small to mid-size to vans so the students could investigate the impact of the bumps on each type of vehicle. After the analysis was completed, the students prepared a presentation for the local city council. The students presented the city council with data about the most offensive bumps, and made some suggestions on how these bumps might be ameliorated.