Engineering Commons^™

Fiber Reinforced Polymer Bridge Decks, Rita E. Rodriguez-Vera, Nicolas J. Lombardi, Marcelo A.S. Machado, Judy Liu, Elisa D. Sotelino

JTRP Technical Reports

The overarching goal of this study was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of various issues related to the strength and serviceability of the FRP deck panels that are available in the industry. Specific objectives were to establish critical limit states to be considered in the design of FRP deck panel, to provide performance specifications to designers, and to develop evaluation techniques for the deck panels in service.

Two different FRP panels were studied during the research project: a sandwich panel and a pultruded panel. The sandwich panel was initially selected for the rehabilitation case study bridge. However, for a variety …

Performance Of Indiana’S Superpave Hma Mixtures, Ayesha Shah, Rebecca Mcdaniel

JTRP Technical Reports

This project followed the performance of a number of hot mix asphalt paving projects for seven to eight years in an attempt to relate laboratory test results to field performance. First, a small scale study compared sampling locations, specific gravity test procedures and compaction devices used on two samples from projects, one with volumetric acceptance and one with non-volumetric acceptance, to determine the best combination to use for Part 2 of the study. In Part 2, 12 projects constructed in 2001 and 2002 were sampled, tested and monitored. Laboratory testing involved determining maximum and bulk specific gravities, binder content, air …

Understanding The Impact Of Indot Projects On Automotive Industry Cluster Logistics Costs: A Case Study Of The Honda Plant, Ananth Iyer, Barry K. Partridge, Mary Pilotte, Pete Mast, Gerald Simms

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Design Mentoring Tool, Bob Mccullouch, Walter Land

JTRP Technical Reports

In 2004 a design engineer on-line mentoring tool was developed and implemented The purpose of the tool was to assist senior engineers mentoring new engineers to the INDOT design process and improve their technical competency. This approach saves senior engineers time while developing a consistent mentoring approach and standardizing technical knowledge in road and bridge design. It is a self-guided tool that utilizes multi-media and web-based technologies, trains engineers in the design process and provides resources to use for developing plans and specifications. Available resources include INDOT design practices, design standards, design memos, specification and construction standards, procedures, and check …

Safety Enhancement Of The Indot Network Pavement Friction Testing Program: Macrotexture And Microtexture Testing Using Laser Sensors, Shuo Li, Samy Noureldin, Karen Zhu

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Department of Transportation has conducted annual network inventory friction testing using the locked wheel trailer to reduce wet pavement crashes. However, issues have arisen concerning the data credibility and field operation safety on high-speed highway facilities. Some researchers have investigated the evaluation of pavement friction using macrotexture measurements and found the relationship between friction and macrotexture is extremely weak. Currently, macrotexture can be readily measured at highway speeds, but microtexture is evaluated using friction at low speeds from a surrogate device. Microtexture plays an important role in friction force. The evaluation of pavement friction from texture measurements will …

Site Verification Of Weigh-In-Motion Traffic And Tirtl Classification Data, Shuo Li, Yingzi (Eliza) Du, Yi Jiang

JTRP Technical Reports

Quality weigh-in-motion (WIM) traffic data is essential not only in general transportation application, but also in pavement design. The new AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) for New and Rehabilitated Pavement Structures requires information on the detailed truck traffic, such as truck traffic volume, truck traffic monthly and hourly variations, vehicle class distribution, axle load, and axle load distributions, instead of the traditional ESALs. In addition, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) needs to collect traffic data frequently so as to timely provide accurate traffic information for planning, program development, operations, and pavement management. Currently, INDOT is using the pneumatic …

Experimental Evaluation And Implementation Of Post-Tensioning In Concrete Bridge Decks, Julio A. Ramirez, Gerardo Aguilar

JTRP Technical Reports

A research program was conducted to evaluate the design recommendations for transverse post-tensioning of bridge decks developed in the FHWA/IN/JTRP/2002-26 (SPR-2409) report. The test specimen consisted of a 40x18 ft cast-in-place concrete deck on precast pretensioned girders. Thirty-two tests were carried out by applying different distributions of transverse post-tensioning force, in combination with a changing number of diaphragms, and two conditions of end-restraint at the supports. The transverse post-tensioning stress ranged from 400 to 1 200 psi and the number of diaphragms was reduced from five to zero.

The main findings support the notion that the presence of diaphragms affects …

A Laboratory Study Of Bendway Weirs As A Bank Erosion Countermeasure, Dennis A. Lyn, R. Cunningham

JTRP Technical Reports

Bendway weirs are being considered by INDOT as a potential alternative countermeasure for bank erosion at channel bends that might be more environmentally sensitive than the traditional riprap. These are linear structures extending riverwards from the bank to be protected, but unlike the more familiar spur structure, they are intended to be overtopped by the design flow. The flow over the weir crest is supposed to be directed perpendicular to the plane of the weir, and so by appropriate placement of the weir(s), the flow can be directed away from the bank, thus protecting it.

Design guidelines for such structures …

Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Permeability Performance, Javier Castro, Robert Spragg, Phil Kompare, W. Jason Weiss

JTRP Technical Reports

The objective of this project was to evaluate the transport properties of concrete pavement in the state of Indiana using common testing procedures. Specifically this work evaluated the absorption of water, the absorption of deicing solutions, and electrical conductivity. A series of concrete paving mixtures were tested to provide a range of values that were typical for the state of Indiana. While similar mixture proportions were used for the mixtures in Indiana differences in the magnitude of water absorbed occurred. A series of mortars were tested to illustrate the effect of curing conditions, water to cement ratio, and paste volume. …

Control And Repair Of Bridge Deck Cracking, Robert J. Frosch, Sergio Gutierrez, Jacob S. Hoffman

JTRP Technical Reports

Cracking of bridge decks poses a significant threat to the lifespan of our nation’s bridges. Cracking has been shown to occur in various climates and geographical areas and can be seen on various types of superstructures. Often these cracks appear before or shortly after opening the bridge to live loads. Cracks in the deck create a path for water and deicing salts to reach the steel, often leading to corrosion of the reinforcement, greatly reducing the durability of the deck. Measures must be taken during design and construction to control bridge deck cracking and prolong the lifespan of bridges. In …

Determining Of The Binder Content Of Hot Mix Asphalt Containing Dolomitic Aggregates Using The Ignition Oven, Karol K. Kowalski, Rebecca S. Mcdaniel, Jan Olek, Ayesha Shah

JTRP Technical Reports

The binder content of an HMA mix is one of the critical factors affecting the quality of the mix. The ignition oven is one widely used method for determining the binder content, however, its use is problematic with some types of aggregates, including dolomites. With these aggregates, the mass loss continues after the binder is burned off as the aggregates decompose and the test does not terminate at a stable mass. This study investigated the factors that affect this mass loss in problematic aggregates and developed a modified ignition oven procedure to limit this mass loss. The mass loss in …

Development Of Internally Cured Concrete For Increased Service Life, John Schlitter, Ryan Henkensiefken, Javier Castro, Kambiz Raoufi, Jason Weiss, Tommy Nantung

JTRP Technical Reports

Higher strength, lower water to cement ratio (w/c) concrete has been advocated over the last two decades due to its increased strength and reduced permeability. The lower w/c of these concretes makes them susceptible to autogenous shrinkage. This autogenous shrinkage can be significant and can be a contributing factor to early age cracking. Internal curing was investigated as a potential method to improve the durability of concrete pavements and bridge decks. Prewetted lightweight aggregate was used to supply water to the hydrating cement paste. This additional water can counteract the hindered strength development, suspended hydration, autogenous shrinkage, and early age …

Forecasting Of Highway Revenues Under Various Options, Bismark R.D.K. Agbelie, Qiang Bai, Samuel Labi, Kumares C. Sinha

JTRP Technical Reports

Throughout the United States, state highway revenue, which is dominated by receipts from fuel taxes, has failed to keep up with expected investments required for infrastructure preservation and improvement. The reasons for this trend include the increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles, slowing of the growth in vehicle-miles of travel, and the erosion of the purchasing power of the dollar due to inflation. This development motivates highway agencies not only to seek revisions of existing funding structures but also to consider potential alternative sources.

To establish and implement an effective and efficient financing strategy that incorporates potential new funding sources, it …

Quantifying Benefits Of Traffic Signal Retiming, Christopher M. Day, Thomas M. Brennan Jr., Hiromel Premachandra, Alexander M. Hainen, Stephen M. Remias, James R. Sturdevant, Greg Richards, Jason S. Wasson, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

Improvements in the quality of service on a signalized intersection or arterial can be interpreted as a reduction in the user cost of service, which is expected to induce demand based on economic theory. This report presents a methodology for measuring and interpreting changes to user costs, and determining whether demand was induced. High-resolution signal event data and Bluetooth device MAC address matching are demonstrated in three case studies with the purpose of quantifying the impacts of changes in signal timing plans. In the first case study, 21 months of vehicle volume data are used to test whether demand was …

Identification Of Laboratory Technique To Optimize Superpave Hma Surface Friction Characteristics, Karol J. Kowalski, Rebecca S. Mcdaniel, Jan Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

Wet pavement friction is known to be one of the most important roadway safety parameters. In this research, frictional properties of flexible (asphalt) pavements were investigated.

As a part of this study, a laboratory device to polish asphalt specimens was refined and a procedure to evaluate mixture frictional properties was proposed. Following this procedure, 46 different Superpave mixtures, one stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture and one porous friction course (PFC) mixture were tested. In addition, 23 different asphalt and two concrete field sections were also tested for friction and noise.

The results of both field and laboratory measurements were used …

Long Term Performance Of A Porous Friction Course, Rebecca S. Mcdaniel, Karol J. Kowalski, Ayesha Shah, Jan Olek, Robert J. Bernhard

JTRP Technical Reports

In 2003, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration allowed a test section of Porous Friction Course (PFC) to be placed on I74 east of Indianapolis. The design, construction and early performance of that surface were compared to an adjacent SMA surface and a conventional Superpave HMA surface in a report prepared for the Institute for Safe, Quiet and Durable Highways (1). The early performance indicated that the PFC offered several advantages over the SMA and the conventional surfaces, including reduced tire/pavement noise, high friction and surface texture, and reduced splash and spray. There was …

A Synthesis Of Overweight Truck Permitting, Muhammad K. Bilal, Muhammad Irfan, Anwaar Ahmed, Samuel Labi, Kumares C. Sinha

JTRP Technical Reports

For purposes of safety and system preservation, trucking operational characteristics are regulated through legislation and policies. However, special permits are granted for trucks to exceed specified operational restrictions. Thus, the Indiana DOT not only seeks highway operations policies that retain/attract heavy industry including those that haul large loads but also seeks to protect the billions of taxpayer dollars invested in highway infrastructure. As such, it is sought to avoid policies that may lead to premature and accelerated deterioration of assets through excess loading or undue safety hazard through oversize loads. This study was carried out primarily to document the state …

Refine Process To Identify, Evaluate, And Adopt New Technologies And Identify New Proven Technologies For Indiana, Joseph V. Sinfield

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Unit Hydrograph Parameters For Indiana Watersheds, Jared L. Wilkerson, Venkatesh M. Merwade

JTRP Technical Reports

Regression equations predicting Clark Synthetic Unit Hydrograph (SUH) parameters for time of concentration (tc) and storage coefficient (R) are developed for small watersheds across Indiana [drainage areas = 3-38 square miles (mi2)]. The state is partitioned into three regions: North, Central, and South, with consideration for past regionalization studies of Indiana and geomorphology. The equations are derived using multiple linear regression analysis for 30 watersheds with 90 observed rainfall-runoff events. Clark SUH parameters are optimized using Hec-HMS to match the observed rainfall-runoff events. The optimized Clark SUH parameters are related to geomorphologic parameters estimated using geographic information system (GIS) applications. …

Evaluation Of Toxicity Analysis For Foundry Sand Specifications, M. Katherine Banks, A. Paul Schwab

JTRP Technical Reports

Byproducts from many industries have the potential to be used as construction materials, but some means is required to determine if the material is environmentally benign. Foundry sands are produced in many states and can be useful as in transportation projects. However, INDOT currently requires the use of the MICROTOX test to assess the potential toxicity of the sands, and this requirement is viewed as an unnecessary impediment by the producers of foundry sands and is a requirement not encountered in other states. Therefore, the goal of this project was to review current requirements for testing of recycled materials, determine …

Fatigue Strength Of Steel Bridge Members With Intersecting Welds, David T. Delong, Mark D. Bowman

JTRP Technical Reports

The brittle fracture of the Hoan Bridge in December 2000 highlighted the fracture susceptibility of details containing intersecting welds in steel bridges. Though it is now known that details with intersecting welds should be avoided, many existing bridges in Indiana contain details with intersecting welds. Little experimental data on the fatigue performance of these details exists.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fatigue strength of several details commonly found in steel bridges in Indiana that contain intersecting welds. Large-scale experimental fatigue testing were performed using nine steel beams to study the behavior of three basic types of …

Snow And Ice Removal And Anti-Icing Synthesis Study, Bob Mccullouch

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Study: Development Of An Electronic Detection And Warning System To Prevent Overheight Vehicles From Impacting Overhead Bridges, Joseph V. Sinfield

JTRP Technical Reports

Overheight vehicle impacts with bridges are surprisingly common. The damage from collisions can range from minor to severe, and there is also evidence that some bridges are impacted multiple times, leading to the potential for cumulative damage effects. Thus there is a clear need to attempt to prevent overheight vehicle collisions with bridges.

This Synthesis Study provides a review of solutions that exist to detect and forewarn overheight vehicles and thereby prevent a collision, and specifically examines the breadth of available overheight vehicle detection technologies, the commercial availability of such equipment, and the experience of relevant DOTs with installed and …

Proposed Implementation Of The Indiana Erosion And Sediment Control Field Guide, Lynn A. Corson

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of In-Situ Stiffness Of Subgrade By Resilient And Fwd Modulus, Daehyeon Kim, Yigong Ji, Nayyar Zia Siddiki

JTRP Technical Reports

Resilient modulus has been used for characterizing the stress-strain behavior of subgrade soils subjected to traffic loadings in the design of pavements. With the recent release of the M-E Pavement Design Guide, highway agencies are further encouraged to implement the resilient modulus test to improve subgrade design. A laboratory resilient modus test and a FWD test are usually used to obtain the resilient modulus of subgrade. However, the difference in the resilient modulus obtained from these two methods is considerably large due to the fact that these tests are conducted under different conditions. This difference gives engineers a significant confusion …

Travel Time Reliability In Indiana, Maria Martchouk, Fred L. Mannering, Lakhwinder Singh

JTRP Technical Reports

Travel time and travel time reliability are important performance measures for assessing traffic condition and extent of congestion on a roadway. This study first uses a floating car technique to assess travel time and travel time reliability on a number of Indiana highways. Then the study goes on to describe the use of Bluetooth technology to collect real travel time data on a freeway and applies it to obtain two weeks of data on Interstate 69 in Indianapolis. An autoregressive model, estimated based on the collected data, is then proposed to predict individual vehicle travel times on a freeway segment. …

Development Of A Structural Index As An Integral Part Of The Overall Pavement Quality In The Indot Pms, William Frederick Flora, Ghim Ping (Raymond) Ong, Kumares C. Sinha

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

High-Performance Concrete Bridge Decks: A Fast-Track Implementation Study Volume 2: Materials, Mateusz Radlinski, Jan Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

The purpose of this research was to examine the applicability of ternary binder systems containing ordinary portland cement (OPC), class C fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) for bridge deck concrete. This was accomplished in two parts, the laboratory part and a field application part.

During the laboratory studies, four ternary mixtures, each containing either 20% or 30% FA and either 5% or 7% SF were subjected to four different curing regimes (air drying, 7 days curing compound application and 3 or 7 days wet burlap curing). In general, all four ternary mixtures exhibited very good water and chloride …

Use Of Dynamic Cone Penetration And Clegg Hammer Tests For Quality Control Of Roadway Compaction And Construction, Hobi Kim, Monica Prezzi, Rodrigo Salgado

JTRP Technical Reports

Soil compaction quality control presently relies on the determination of the in-place compacted dry unit weight, which is then compared with the maximum dry unit weight obtained from a laboratory compaction test. INDOT requires that the in-place dry unit weight for compacted soil be over 95% of the laboratory maximum dry unit weight. In order to determine the in-place dry unit weight, INDOT engineers generally use nuclear gauges, which are hazardous and also costly because of the required safety precautions. Thus, several alternative tests such as the Dynamic Cone Penetration Test (DCPT) and the Clegg Hammer Test (CHT) were introduced …

Geotechnical Design Based On Cpt And Pmt, Daehyeon Kim, Younjin Shin, Nayyar Siddiki

JTRP Technical Reports

This research presents the correlation of undrained shear strength based on the cone resistance from the cone penetration test (CPT) for clayey soils in Indiana. It utilized the field cone penetration test program including the CPT, the index test, the one dimensional test and the triaxial test. The cone factor, which is essential to reliable estimation of undrained shear strength from cone resistance, has been evaluated considering the plasticity index of soils. The cone factor is influenced by the penetration rate during the CPT and test methods that are used for obtaining the undrained shear strength. The rate effect of …