Maglev undergoing tests leading up to "liftoff" ceremony

BY JENNIFER MULLEN

With a couple of keystrokes on a computer, maglev transportation - short for magnetic levitation - moved closer to reality in the United States.

The Old Dominion maglev project successfully completed its first propulsion tests on the campus's elevated guideway Aug. 8, the first of many tests that will take place leading up to the official "liftoff" ceremony Nov. 15.

Originally scheduled for Sept. 30, the debut was pushed back at the request of American Maglev Technology President Tony Morris to give his team extra time to ensure that the system meets all of the federal People Mover Code requirements.

"One needs only to look at the university's full-scale wind tunnel, where testing and work is being done on the re-creation of the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer, to understand the capricious and protracted process of developing new technology," said President Roseann Runte.

"The famous brothers undertook their quest for flight in 1899, but it took fully five years of creating, testing, deconstructing, retooling and re-creating prior to their history-making flight from the beaches of Kitty Hawk, N.C."

She added, "Maglev is truly a groundbreaking innovation, and it is important that everything be in place when we introduce our demonstration site to the world."

A proposed solution to the country's transportation problems, American Maglev's system features a train-like vehicle that rides on an electromagnetic cushion of air atop an elevated guideway. The cars will be able to move quietly at high speeds, producing no air pollution. Systems can be built on existing rights-of-way.

Although maglev demonstration projects have been in place in Germany and Japan for a number of years, the Old Dominion system aims to be considerably less expensive to build and run. It will serve as a demonstration site to make a case for a future project connecting Hampton Roads and Washington, D.C. Other partners in the $14 million ODU project include Dominion Virginia Power, Lockheed Martin and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Morris and a crew of engineers - including several Old Dominion students - will continue testing and adjusting the system over the next few months to prepare for its dedication at 10 a.m. Nov. 15. Testing will be conducted mostly during evening hours and largely by students.

"It's a tuning process," said Morris. "The better you tune the instrument, the better the music will be."

With more than half the track installed on the 13-foot-high guideway, crews are working to straighten and level the track - a process that will make the ride smoother and quieter - and lay the remaining sections. Construction on three stations across campus, each with an elevator and staircase, is underway.

Before passenger service can begin, the system must undergo 167 tests and inspections under the National People Mover Code of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Once in operation, the maglev will shuttle up to 100 passengers between the residence halls along Powhatan Avenue to the parking area between the Technology Building and Constant Convocation Center, just east of Hampton Boulevard.

The vehicle will travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour along the 3,200-foot-long track. Including the stop next to Webb Center, the trip from one end of campus to the other is expected to take 2 1/2 minutes. There will be no charge to ride the maglev.