ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270066
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY
Armed with a big, bright orange blimp, transportation officials and university police were ready for battle Saturday when Virginia Tech students descended upon Blacksburg for the new school year.
But the blimp, which was equipped with a special camera to monitor traffic, wimped out when the camera would not tilt downward onto the chaos below. Only West Campus Drive and the intersection of North Main Street and Prices Fork Road were visible through the camera.
Thunderstorms eventually forced the blimp down for good at 2 p.m. It was launched at 9 a.m.
"While we didn't get the benefits we had hoped, certainly it was up long enough that it does have potential," said Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation's resident engineer in Christiansburg.
Indeed, VDOT has future plans for the big, bright blimp, which was on loan from their counterpart agency in Delaware. Now that they know how to use it, VDOT officials are trying to get the blimp back to monitor traffic during a Tech football game, when road congestion rivals any moving day.
The blimp should be well equipped for that deluge. The technology for the blimp was developed by the Israeli army for border patrol.
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB