Testing Manhole Covers

The internet is a wonderful place, full of documentation on things you never knew existed. You've probably never considered the testing procedures for manhole covers, grates, and other objects made to be embedded in roads. After all, they have to be tough, or anyone driving over them could meet disaster. The testing process is largely automated and is conducted by a robot that drives over them. This industrial video from the company PAM has no narration and French text, but what information they give is pretty easy to decipher even if you don't read French. The robot drives over the test object ten times a minute, at 50 kilometers per hour, for a total of 5,000 passes, to ensure the manhole covers will last 20 years. At least that's what I think it says. -via Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories