Engineering Commons^™

The Use Of Vegetation In The Stabilization, Reclamation, And Remediation Of Impacted Indot Soils, Mark S. Mcclain, M. K. Banks, A. Paul Schwab

JTRP Technical Reports

The major goal of this project was to write the manual PhytoRemediate®: Phytoremediation Decision Guide for Transportation Engineers and the attached compact disk PhytoRemediate®: Training Module for Transportation Engineers to assist transportation engineers and other professionals in the applicability of phytoremediation as an effective method of remediation engineering design. This guide is not a design manual, but identifies the decision-making processes necessary for successful remediation of contaminated sites using phytoremediation.

A phytoremediation users' manual PhytoRemediate®: Phytoremediation Decision Guide for Transportation Engineers was developed to assist INDOT personnel in the areas of site assessment, plant species selection, plant …

Frictional Resistance Of Aggregates For Hot-Mix Asphalt Pavements, Joan Patricia O'Brien, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

In 1997 the Indiana Department of Transportation adopted the Superpave mixture design method and attendant specifications for hot-mix asphalt pavements. Prior to Superpave, the Indiana Department of Transportation aggregate frictional requirements were based on average daily traffic volumes and were divided into low, medium, and high volume categories. With the implementation of Superpave in Indiana, aggregate frictional requirements were reassigned to categories based on equivalent single axle load values. The purpose of the research is to determine whether average daily traffic or equivalent single axle load has a greater effect on the frictional resistance of a hot-mix asphalt pavement, to …

Mechanical Behavior Of Non-Textbook Soils (Literature Review), J. Antonio H. Carraro, Rodrigo Salgado

JTRP Technical Reports

Traditionally, soil mechanics has focused on the behavior of two distinct types of geomaterials: clean sands and pure clays. Under the application of external loads, these two types of geomaterials represent and are conveniently associated with two extreme types of soil responses: drained and undrained behavior. The drained behavior of clean sands and the undrained behavior of pure clays have been covered extensively in most soil mechanics textbooks. In order to provide some insight into the mechanical response of additional materials, a literature review on the mechanical behavior of “non-textbook” soils (i.e. soils other than clean sands and pure clays) …

Life And Cost Comparison Of Three Rehabilitation Techniques On I-65 Between Sr-2 And Sr-114, Sedat Gulen, John Weaver, Samy Noureldin

JTRP Technical Reports

Construction of hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlays on top of old concrete pavements is the most common concrete pavement rehabilitation strategy. These overlays, however, are usually subject to reflection cracking related to the movement of the old concrete slab. In addition, these overlays may also be vulnerable to rutting when subjected to large traffic volumes of heavy trucks. Concrete overlays have the advantage of being rut resistant compared to HMA overlays. However, the current national experience of the performance of these overlays is still, relatively, limited compared to HMA overlays. In addition, doubts are often raised about the cost effectiveness …

Continuation Of Research To Determine The Effectiveness Of Its On Borman Expressway, Robert Bertram Jacko, William H. Schneider, Ahmed S. Soliman, Barry K. Partridge

JTRP Technical Reports

This study is a continuation and the final phase of the SPR-2338 project that involves monitoring the ambient air quality levels adjacent to the Borman Expressway. The purpose of this phase was to classify the traffic conditions along the Borman Expressway in terms of ambient air quality levels. The duration of the phase was from April 1, 2002 to April 30, 2004. The study has shown that, in a close proximity to the Borman Expressway, air quality levels mirror the dynamic nature of traffic along the Borman, despite being surrounded by major industrial stationary sources. Therefore, a descriptive model was …

Evaluation Of Surface (Top Down) Longitudinal Wheel Path Cracking, Terhi K. Pellinen, Geoff Rowe, Kalapi Biswas

JTRP Technical Reports

The research involved evaluating three surface cracked pavements during 2002 and 2003. A 500m section of I-65 North of Lafayette was chosen as the first site (designated as Site 1), an I-65 section in downtown Indianapolis was the second site (Site 2), and US-421 in Madison was the third site (Site 3). Site 1 had 11-year old pavement, Site 2 had 12-year old pavement and Site 3 had 4.5-year old pavement. All these sites exhibited longitudinal wheel path cracking which was later identified as top-down cracking. All sites had excellent structural capacity indicating that the top-down cracking was confined in …

Methodology For The Development Of A Highway Asset Management System For Indiana, Zongzhi Li, Kumares C. Sinha

JTRP Technical Reports

Highway asset management is a systematic process that aims to preserve, expand, and operate highway assets in the most cost-effective manner. It is an analytical tool that facilitates organized, logical, and integrated decision-making in asset management practice. This study proposes a methodology for the development of a highway asset management system that addresses asset valuation, performance modeling, marginal benefit analysis, and multicriteria decision-making, including tradeoff analysis as well as project selection and programming. While most existing management systems deal with individual physical highway assets or system usage only under certainty or risk, this research focuses on the management of an …

Safety Of Intersections On High-Speed Road Segments With Superelevation, Peter T. Savolainen, Andrzej P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

In recent years, the State of Indiana has built a number of intersections where one or both of the roads are located on curves. The AASHTO Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets recommends that in such cases “the alignment should be as straight and the gradient as flat as practical.” This wording, consistent with Part V of the Indiana Design Manual, allows for the design of intersections on curves if other solutions prove to be too expensive. Several of these intersections have raised safety concerns and led to expensive corrective measures. Due to these safety and economic issues, …

Interaction Between Micro-Cracking, Cracking, And Reduced Durability Of Concrete: Developing Methods For Considering Cumulative Damage In Life-Cycle Modeling, Zhifu Yang, W. Jason Weiss, J. Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

It is becoming increasingly popular to utilize numerical simulation models to predict the long-term performance of concrete pavements and structures. The majority of these models have been developed using laboratory test data that considers concrete in an uncracked state. While uncracked concrete exists as the best case scenario, frequent cracking occurs in real structures that could have a profound impact on life cycle performance. Cracks from several sources may accumulate and interact thereby accelerating the deterioration of concrete. For example, the distributed cracking caused by freeze/thaw damage can substantially increases the rate of water absorption and reduces the load carrying …

Reconciling Speed Limits With Design Speeds, Alberto Miguel Figueroa-Medina, Andrzej P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

In recent years, context-sensitive highway design has been promoted to ensure that designers consider the environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and preservation aspects of the road. Context-sensitive design may lead to situations where the current design standards cannot be met because of restricting local conditions. Indiana has road sections designed and built some time ago. In a considerable number of roads with the statutory limit of 55 mph (90 km/h), the road geometry does not meet the current standards. At individual intersections and on curves, advisory speeds are posted together with warning signs. Although this solution increases the safety of …

Development Of A Strategy For Preparing An Indot Storm Water Quality Management Plan, Lynn A. Corson

JTRP Technical Reports

The purpose of the study was to conduct research and prepare documents, data tables, reports and GIS maps to be included in the INDOT SWQMP that address each of the following Minimum Control Measures (MCMs) specified in the federal and state regulation: (1) public education and outreach; (2) public participation and involvement; (3) illicit discharge detection with elimination; (4) construction site runoff control; (5) post-construction runoff control and (6) pollution prevention and good housekeeping. The MCMs are minimum measures which, when implemented by INDOT, will ensure that storm water quality meets the minimum water quality standards. The research focused on …

Evaluation Of Indot Hyperfix Project, Kumares C. Sinha, Bob G. Mccullouch, Darcy M. Bullock, Sravanthi Konduri, Jon D. Fricker, Samuel Labi

JTRP Technical Reports

In 2003 the Indiana Department of Transportation executed an ambitious interstate reconstruction project in Indianapolis, named Hyperfix. This project completely closed the I-65/70 section during reconstruction, on which approximately 250,000 vehicles travel daily. Due to the scope and risk involved, an extensive amount of planning, coordination, and cooperation occurred. The main section was rebuilt during the total closure phase, which lasted 55 days. The total closure approach had never been performed before by INDOT on such a high volume artery in a downtown metropolitan area. This present study analyzed the project and its impact on the Indianapolis area. The report …

Minimizing Truck-Car Conflicts On Highways, Srinivas Peeta, Weimin Zhou

JTRP Technical Reports

Trucks represent the predominant form of domestic freight movement. Due to the substantial increase in freight truck traffic on the nation’s highways, its influence on traffic flow performance, safety, and quality of travel experience, is garnering increased attention. Several existing studies have addressed the impacts of trucks on highway traffic flow conditions and crashes. This research models the behavior of non-truck drivers vis-à-vis their interactions with trucks by associating a “discomfort level” with every non-truck driver. This discomfort of non-truck drivers in the vicinity of trucks is assumed to be affected by situational factors such as time-of-day, weather, and ambient …

An Analysis Of Seismic Hazards In Indiana, Jennifer Haase, Robert Nowack, Chi Hyun Park, Alison Hunyar, John Hill, Michael Hamburger

JTRP Technical Reports

Current USGS probabilistic seismic hazard estimates (Frankel et al., 2002) show a higher seismic hazard in southwestern Indiana than for the rest of the state. This is expected based on past work documenting large pre-historic events in the Wabash Valley, and also based on isoseismal levels of shaking from the New Madrid 1811-1812 earthquakes. When assessing the hazard on a county by county basis, the local soil conditions produce amplification of shaking in regions with soft or unconsolidated sediments relative to firm-rock sites. We have reproduced the probabilistic seismic hazard calculation following the USGS methodology for the state of Indiana …

Development Of Indiana's Sps9-A Site, Ayesha Shah, J. Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

The Superpave system for hot mix asphalt (HMA) design was introduced in 1995 and adopted throughout most of the USA by 2000. This system uses performance-oriented approach to materials selection and mix design, and takes into account the local environmental and traffic conditions. It recognizes that the behavior of HMA depends on the temperature, loading and aging conditions and provides tools (in the form of materials selection and performance-related tests) that should help to protect pavements against low-temperature cracking, rutting and fatigue cracking. This report summarizes the field and laboratory studies conducted to investigate the influence of asphalt binder grade …

Evaluation Of Indot Construction Smoothness Specifications, Terhi K. Pellinen, Shao-Fan Chou

JTRP Technical Reports

Currently, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is using the California Profilograph as the standard measuring device in its smoothness specifications. The output derived from the profilograph is called Profile Index (PI). PI represents the total accumulated deviations of the profilograph output traces beyond a tolerance zone (blanking band). At present, INDOT is using 0.2-inch blanking band to evaluate the profile traces, which has raised some concerns because some small unpleasant surface irregularities are covered by the blanking band. The major objective of this study was to develop a rational method for interpreting profilograph traces using 0.0-inch blanking band (zero tolerance) …

Evaluation And Repair Of Wrought Iron And Steel Structures In Indiana, Mark D. Bowman, Amy M. Piskorowski

JTRP Technical Reports

Throughout the state of Indiana, there a number of older, historical bridges which have been in service since the late 19th century. Many, although not all, of these bridges are truss structures comprised either partially or completely of wrought iron members. Moreover, most of them need some degree pf maintenance or rehabilitation. However, engineers who must recommend repair or rehab operations typically do not know the material properties and behavior of wrought iron members. Consequently, an investigation was initiated to review and classify typical material properties of wrought iron members. This investigation involved three phases that included a literature review …

Evaluation Procedures For Deploying Spread Spectrum Interconnect, J. V. Krogmeier

JTRP Technical Reports

This purpose of this project was the design and construction of a testbed network for experimentation with spread spectrum communications in the 900 and 2400 MHz band. The current network consists of five fixed nodes and two portable nodes. Of the fixed nodes, three are located in the Purdue MSEE building, one is located in the Harold L. Michael Traffic Operations Laboratory, and one is located in the experimental traffic signal cabinet at the intersection of Stadium and Northwestern Avenues in West Lafayette. The testbed has been used to evaluate spread spectrum radio technologies from vendors Microwave Data Systems, GINA, …

Hazard Elimination Program - Manual On Improving Safety Of Indiana Road Intersections And Sections; Volume 1: Research Report And Volume 2: Guidelines For Highway Safety Improvements In Indiana, Andrzej P. Tarko, Mayank Kanodia

JTRP Technical Reports

The Hazard Elimination Program (HEP) is the section of the Safety Management System that focuses on road improvements and includes analytical tools for identification of safety problems and their remedies. This research project reviews the results of the past research for Indiana and other states and to develop guidelines that present a set of tools for hazard elimination through road improvements. It also includes developing regression models for predicting crash frequencies at all-way and two-way stop-controlled intersections. Negative Binomial regression was used to develop separate models for two-way and all-way stop controlled intersections. These models predict typical frequency of all …

Innovative Environmental Management Of Winter Salt Runoff Problems At Indot Yards, James E. Alleman, Barry K. Partridge, Lee Yeung

JTRP Technical Reports

This INDOT-JTRP project examined an innovative strategy for mitigating, and possibly obviating, the environmental impact of wintertime salt release within INDOT yard areas specifically associated with the generation and release of salt truck wash waters, whereby these waste streams may be beneficially reused in the manufacture of salt brine solutions suitable for subsequent pre-wetting and anti-icing applications. The associated environmental problem stems from the fact that these wash waters carry high-level (e.g., from 100’s of mg/L to percentile-level) salt concentrations whose uncontrolled release via local surface or ground waters will have to be discontinued pursuant to the onset of tightened …

Remediation Of Soils And Ground Water Contaminated By Aromatic And Chlorinated Hydrocarbons And Metals, Inez Hua, P. Suresh Rao, Linda S. Lee, Barry K. Partridge, Ben Lawrence

JTRP Technical Reports

Many of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) sites are contaminated with aromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents; these contaminants often occur in the form of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) or dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Considerable effort has recently been focused on developing in-situ technologies for removing or destroying NAPL source zones, and several potentially viable methods have emerged, including in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO). ISCO has become an attractive remediation option to managers at many contaminated sites. The three oxidants that are most often applied in-situ are hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with iron catalysts, potassium permanganate (KMnO4), and ozone (O3). …

Using Precast Concrete Panels For Pavement Construction In Indiana, Luh M. Chang, Yu-Tzu Chen, Sangwook Lee

JTRP Technical Reports

The closure of roadways for new pavement, overlays, or removal and replacement applications constantly causes traffic congestions. To minimize the effects of traffic congestions, the study is intended to assess the feasibility of using Precsat Concrete Pavement (PCP) method in INDOT pavement construction. The research investigated the state-of-the-art of the PCP methods lately developed in United States. The conventional concrete pavement methods such as Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP) including Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP), Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP), and Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) were reviewed and compared with PCP methods. With the speedy construction and lower user …

Using Imaging Technology To Evaluate Highway Safety, Praprut Songchitruksa, Andrzej P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

Crash-based safety analysis is set back by several shortcomings such as randomness and rarity of crash occurrences, lack of timeliness, and inconsistency in crash reporting. Non-crash-based safety analysis has been around for more than three decades but its potential was limited due to a difficulty in the data collection and the evaluation. Recent advancement in digital videos and image detection technology renewed our interest in facilitating the data collection and improving the evaluation method. Two image detection systems for the measurement of traffic characteristics were evaluated: (a) a commercial video detection system and (b) proprietary image processing software. The measurement …

Determination Of Indot Highway Construction Production Rates And Estimation Of Contract Times, Yi Jiang, Hongbo Wu

JTRP Technical Reports

The duration of a highway construction project depends primarily on the quantity or magnitude of the construction work and the productivity of the construction crew. In addition, many other factors may also affect the construction duration, such as the type of construction, traffic features, location (urban or rural site), and weather conditions. When a state highway construction project contract is bid, a reasonable time must set and specified in the contract documents for completion of the contracted project. The time for contract completion (often called “contract time”) is estimated based on the average completion times of individual construction items within …

Evaluation, Analysis, And Enhancement Of Indot's Utility Accommodation Policy, Carlos A. Arboleda, Hyung Seok Jeong, Dulcy M. Abraham, Sanjiv B. Gokhale

JTRP Technical Reports

The Utility Accommodation Policy (UAP) is a collection of the regulations and practices to control the utility occupancy of all public highway rights-of-way under jurisdiction of the different States. UAPs not only help to regulate the installation of new utilities and the renovation of the currently installed by construction companies, subcontractors, and utilities companies, but also provide a framework to develop and preserve a safe roadside and to minimize possible interferences and impairment to the highway, its structures, appearance, safe operation, construction and maintenance. According to FHWA (2002) “Present FHWA regulations, policies, and practices dealing with utility relocation and accommodation …

A Highway Travel Information System: Forecasting And Publicizing Delays In The Indiana State Highway Network, Shu-Ling Yu, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

The Highway Travel Information System (HTIS) is a long-term pre-trip information system providing information about expected events, such as road construction. The HTIS can be beneficial to both highway travelers and roadway project schedulers. Project schedulers can use the HTIS to check the forecasted traffic impacts of a proposed construction project schedule. If the schedule would cause unacceptable delays, a scheduler can try new schedules to reduce the delay. Travelers who have flexible schedules and would like to do pre-trip planning can obtain knowledge of traffic conditions in the near future from HTIS to avoid unnecessary delays. An approach called …

Implementation Of Full-Width Bridge Deck Panels: A Synthesis Study, Jose David Versace, J. A. Ramirez

JTRP Technical Reports

In this synthesis study, information related to full-depth precast deck systems has been collected and analyzed in order to facilitate implementation of full-depth precast deck systems in the state of Indiana. Nine full-depth precast deck systems were identified in the literature review. For girder bridges or similar, a full-depth precast, prestressed deck system (New England Region System) is recommended to be implemented. For bridges with decks spanning in the longitudinal direction, where no precast, prestress deck systems are available, the Exodermic™ Deck System is suggested to be implemented. This system is also an alternative to the New England Region System …

New Combination Treatments For Control Of Johnsongrass Along Roadsides, D. James Morré

JTRP Technical Reports

This project was to develop a cost-effective method for chemical eradication of Johnsongrass along Indiana roadsides. Johnsongrass, together with Canada thistle, represents Indiana’s most serious noxious weed invader where the need for control is mandated by law. Combined target-directed laboratory and greenhouse studies identified a new candidate herbicide, Outrider, which when combined with a new additive designated TR-IV gives eradication of Johnsongrass when applied to plants after less than 20 inches (70 cm) of growth or regrowth following mowing. The combination does not harm oversprayed established fescue or bluegrass. Based on limited implementation activities (two years experience), the recommendation is …

Regionalization Of Indiana Watersheds For Flood Flow Predictions Phase I: Studies In Regionalization Of Indiana Watersheds, A. Ramachandra Rao

JTRP Technical Reports

The following five methods of regionalization of watersheds were tested with Indiana watershed and annual maximum flood data: (1) the L-moment based method, (2) the method based on hybrid cluster analysis, (3) the hybrid cluster method using rainfall data, (4) the fuzzy cluster method, and (5) the method based on artificial neural networks. The results of the L-moment based method and the hybrid cluster method with rainfall data were unacceptable because of the subjectivity involved with the former and the heterogeneity of the of the results obtained by the latter. The remaining three methods gave very similar results. The fuzzy …

Predicting Traffic Conditions At Indiana Signalized Intersections, Rafael I. Perez-Cartagena, Andrzej P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

All of the methods for predicting traffic conditions at intersections provide default values for saturation flow rates and their adjustment factors, lost times, and other parameters. Because these parameters are difficult to measure, the use of the default values is a common practice and it can cause significant bias in the results if the actual local values are different. The main objective of this research was to investigate the variability of capacity and delay parameters used in engineering tools for predicting delays and for determining level of service (LOS) at signalized intersections in Indiana. The variability investigation produced Indiana default …