October 01, 2007
New Tractor Test Laboratory Test Track Completed, Dedication Oct. 11
LINCOLN, Neb. — A 3 p.m. Oct. 11 dedication ceremony will celebrate the completion of the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory's new test track.
The ceremony at the tractor test track site on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus will allow faculty, students, staff, alumni, industry representatives, state dignitaries and others to see the new track which will better test today's larger tractors and other equipment.
"The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory and the Biological Systems Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln want to share this proud moment," said Roger Hoy, director of the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory. "The new, expanded track will better accommodate the larger, faster and heavier tractors of today and the future."
For more information about the dedication ceremony or to RSVP for the event, e-mail tractortestlab@unl.edu or call Teresa Ryans at (402) 472-9391.
HWS, a Lincoln engineering firm, designed the new track. HWS also designed the first test track, constructed in 1956. Lincoln's TCW Construction is the general contractor.
The new track is 22 feet wide and 9 inches thick � 7 feet wider and 2 inches thicker than the old track. It cost $700,000, which was funded from test fees, off-season test income and the lab's operating budget. No taxpayer dollars were used to fund the project.
The Nebraska Tractor Test Lab was founded in 1920, spurred by state legislation requiring any tractor sold in Nebraska to be tested to prove the manufacturer's claims. The lab's importance grew as tractors made in other countries also began to be tested there. In the 1980s, the lab's profile and prominence elevated it as the official U.S. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development test station. OECD is the Paris-based international agricultural test organization.
The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory is the only OECD-approved tractor test lab in the Western Hemisphere.
The Nebraska Tractor Test Lab is part of the university's Department of Biological Systems Engineering in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
10/1/07-SAK
David L. Morgan
Biological Systems Engineering
Extension Safety Engineer
(402) 472-3951
Roger Hoy - Ph.D.
Biological Systems Engineering, Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory
Professor and Directory
(402)472-5527
Sandi Alswager Karstens IANR News and Photography (402) 472-3030
Department: Biological Systems Engineering|Cooperative Extension
|
