DOTD to host Innovations Showcase Oct. 24
Monday, October 22, 2018 at 1:06:16 PM
Baton Rouge, La. - On October 24, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will host its first Innovations Showcase on the Lawn at DOTD Headquarters. This event will feature nearly 40 booths displaying some of the innovative projects that state DOTD employees from across Louisiana have developed to help DOTD complete its tasks as infrastructure needs grow and resources continue to shrink. Because of their innovations, our workforce has the opportunity to work safer, faster, and more affordably.

“Innovations Showcase on the Lawn is a great opportunity for the public to see some of the amazing and creative ideas our employees have been working on over the past couple of years,” said DOTD Secretary Shawn D. Wilson, Ph.D. “The displays showcased during this event have provided this Department with additional resources and technology that save time and money for the men and women working on our roadways and state’s infrastructure.”

Innovations in transportation have altered the way we move people and goods, and the way we do our work. In 2017, DOTD’s Office of Operations created the Innovations Showcase as a way to give employees a formal platform to perform and implement ideas that would provide a more effective and efficient process while out in the field. Some of the top winning innovations include:

• The Rutbuster- A quick multi-use attachment device for use on a skid steer loader. This device can be used to fill in ruts in asphaltic roadway wheel paths, pave asphalt shoulders, and asphalt roadway/turnout widening, among other uses.
• Guardrail Blade- A scraper built to clean along the guardrail and edges of the approach slabs at bridges, allowing the water to drain in the natural ditches rather than washing away embankment at the end of the structures
• Bridge Data Mobility- This is the process of using Google Maps ‘Data Import’ feature to import and display any GPS specific information regarding bridge inspections. This provides a readily available list of bridges at a quick glance which are GPS located.

The general public is invited to attend along with elected and appointed officials, and those involved in the different facets of the transportation and construction industry. The showcase has been scheduled as follows, weather permitting:

Wednesday, October 24, 2018
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
DOTD Headquarters
Front Lawn
1201 Capitol Access Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70802