May 16, 1997

ADVISORY: 97-072

Mobile Ala. To Test Space Age Road Repair System To Make U.S. Highways Safer

Motorists in Mobile, Ala., and elsewhere on the U.S. highway system may soon be a little safer thanks to Space Shuttle technology.

Next week, the Bankhead tunnel in Mobile will serve as a test site for a unique, environmentally friendly, potentially economical method for rapidly applying skid-resistant surfaces to highway bridges and tunnels.

News media are invited to cover the resurfacing project and interview NASA, Alabama Department of Transportation and USBI Co. representatives at the project site.

The tunnel under Mobile Bay is scheduled to be closed to traffic May 19 and 20 from approximately 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for surface preparation, and again on May 21-22 from 7:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the application of the coating.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. and USBI Co. of Huntsville, Ala. have developed the system from technology originally designed to apply a heat-resistant coating to the Space Shuttle's twin Solid Rocket Boosters.

Alabama Department of Transportation is the first state agency to demonstrate the new process, which takes a fraction of the time required by current methods.

For more information contact:

Bob Thompson or Susan Blanchard
Office of Media Services Mobile Chamber of Commerce
(205) 544-4159 (334) 431-8641