Engineering Commons^™

Creating A Highway Information System For Safety Roadway Features, Brian K. Howell, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Roadway departures are the leading cause of roadside fatalities. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has undertaken a number of roadside safety measures to reduce roadway departures. Specifically, KYTC has installed several low-cost, systemic roadway safety treatments to Kentucky’s roadways in recent years. These treatments include cable barriers, high friction surface treatments, rumble stripes, and Safety Edges. KYTC has installed approximately 44 cable barrier systems over 265 miles of roadway,112 HFST applications over 20 miles of roadway, 750 rumble stripe installations over 2,500 miles of roadway, and 147 Safety Edge treatments on 580 miles of roadway. The project team developed a …

Fiscal Year 2015 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Steven Douglas Kreis, Candice Y. Wallace, Bryan Gibson, Sarah M. Mccormack

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road …

Evaluation Of Thermal Imaging Technology For Commercial Vehicle Screening, Jennifer R. Walton, Mark S. Spellman, Joseph D. Crabtree

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Brake and tire violations are common problems identified through commercial vehicle inspections. Identifying and correcting these types of problems before a crash occurs can produce significant safety benefits. Thermal imaging technology can be used by commercial vehicle enforcement to screen vehicles as they approach a weigh station to determine if they may have flat tires and inoperable brakes. The vehicles do not have to be stopped at a weigh station to be screened. Kentucky currently has three stations outfitted with thermal imaging technology. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the benefits of using the thermal imaging cameras to …

Methodology Update For Estimating Volume To Service Flow Ratio, Mei Chen, Xu Zhang

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Volume/service flow ratio (VSF) is calculated by the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) software as an indicator of peak hour congestion. It is an essential input to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) key planning applications, such as highway adequacy rating. After the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reassessed the HPMS, the standalone HPMS software was no longer supported. This conclusion was based on the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM2000). As a result, the peak capacity and VSF estimates based on the submittal file are no longer available to KYTC. The calculation of VSF ratios requires AADT, K factor, directional factor, and …

Update Of Data For Estimating Esals, Jerry G. Pigman, R. Clark Graves, Brad W. Rister, David H. Cain, Neil Tollner

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This project involved updating processing traffic characteristics data using a series of quality control and analytical programs to produce an estimate of the following parameters of interest; 1) average daily traffic, 2) percent trucks, 3) percent trucks classified as heavy/coal, 4) axles per truck, 5) axles per heavy/coal truck, 6) ESALs per truck axle, 7) ESALs per heavy/coal truck axle, and 8) total ESALs. ESAL estimation parameters used WIM data collected during 2007, 2011, and 2012–2013 (representing 41 stations); and classification data collected in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (representing 1,669 stations).

Computer programs used to process classification data, process weight …

Commercial Truck Parking And Other Safety Issues, Jerry G. Pigman, Graham Winchester, Nathaniel Swallom

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Commercial truck parking is a safety issue, since trucks are involved in approximately 10% of all fatal accidents on interstates and parkways in Kentucky. Drivers experience schedule demands and long hours on the road, yet they cannot easily determine available parking locations. The objective of this study was to identify information related to parking demand, locations with documented or potential safety issues, and potential countermeasures. The literature review indicated substantial research has been done on commercial vehicle parking, and works have outlined the necessary facilities to accommodate trucks before drivers exceed their allowable hours of driving. Attention to commercial truck …

Best Practices For The Implementation Of The Real Id Act, Jennifer R. Walton, Candice Y. Wallace, Andrew Martin

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The REAL ID Act specifies the minimum standards that must be used to produce and issue driver’s license and identification cards that are REAL ID compliant. Beginning in 2020, if a person does not possess a form of identification that meets REAL ID standards they will not be able to board an aircraft that is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Currently, of the 56 states and jurisdictions required to implement the REAL ID Act, only 23 are in compliance. Although the Commonwealth of Kentucky has not yet implemented the REAL ID Act, an extension allowing Federal agencies to accept …

Identifying Significant Environmental Features Using Feature Recognition, Megan White, Junfeng Zhu, Benjamin L. Blandford, Ted H. Grossardt

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Department of Environmental Analysis at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has expressed an interest in feature-recognition capability because it may help analysts identify environmentally sensitive features in the landscape, including those relating to historic preservation, archaeology, endangered species habitat, and geology. LIDAR Analyst and Feature Analyst are a pair of geoprocessing software packages that have been developed by Textron Systems. Using this software, users can use LIDAR data to identify finely-scaled user-specified features. The software’s automated feature extraction saves time that might otherwise be spent manually analyzing images and digitizing features.

This report explores the capabilities and accuracy of this …

Heterogeneous Oxidation Of Catechol, Elizabeth A. Pillar, Ruixin Zhou, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Natural and anthropogenic emissions of aromatic hydrocarbons from biomass burning, agro-industrial settings, and fossil fuel combustion contribute precursors to secondary aerosol formation (SOA). How these compounds are processed under humid tropospheric conditions is the focus of current attention to understand their environmental fate. This work shows how catechol thin films, a model for oxygenated aromatic hydrocarbons present in biomass burning and combustion aerosols, undergo heterogeneous oxidation at the air–solid interface under variable relative humidity (RH = 0–90%). The maximum reactive uptake coefficient of O₃(g) by catechol γ_O3 = (7.49 ± 0.35) × 10^–6 occurs for …

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky (2010-2014), Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman, Michael A. Fields

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report documents an analysis of traffic crash data in Kentucky for the years of 2010 through 2014. A primary objective of this study was to determine average crash statistics for Kentucky highways. Rates were calculated for various types of highways and for counties and cities. Difference criteria were used for exposure.

Evaluation Of Deterioration Of Structural Concrete Due To Chloride Intrusion And Other Damaging Mechanisms, Sudhir Palle, Brian K. Howell, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Bobby W. Meade

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky's bridges continue to age and experience distress. The intrusion of chlorides into concrete remains the primary mechanism for deterioration. It leads to reinforcing steel corrosion that damages the adjoining concrete structure. This study found problematic chloride concentrations in Kentucky concrete bridge elements (decks, pier caps, abutments). Chloride levels have been found at concentrations sufficient to initiate reinforcing steel corrosion. In some cases, chloride concentrations were sufficient to cause accelerated corrosion and produce major section loss of reinforcing steel. Advanced stages of corrosion such as these typically require costly repairs and maintenance to extend the service life of bridges.

Field …

Work Vehicle Warning Lights: Color Options And Effectiveness, Brian K. Howell, Jerry G. Pigman, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KTC reviewed existing regulations, guidance, and practices to assess the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s warning lights program on highway work vehicles. The Kentucky Revised Statutes categorizes KYTC vehicles as “public safety vehicles” and requires their use of amber lights. Because the use of red can be confused with emergency vehicles, KYTC prohibits the use of red on work vehicles. At the national level, standards for warning light colors do not exist. Rather, AASHTO provides guidance on roadway operations equipment and recommends the use of amber and white lights as the primary warning light colors for highway vehicles. AASHTO guidance also prescribes …

Online Driver’S License Renewal, Valerie J. Keathley, Andrew Martin, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation is exploring the possibility of developing and implementing online driver’s license renewal. The objective of this project was to: 1) evaluate online driver’s license and REAL ID renewal programs in other states to identify best practices; 2) examine two options to institute online renewal; and 3) identify what legislative changes would be required in Kentucky to authorize an online renewal program. KTC surveyed 25 states with online license renewal programs in place, and received responses from 14 states. Survey respondents indicated that online renewal is more efficient, improves customer service, cuts down on foot …

Analysis Of Historical Travel Time Data, Mei Chen, Xu Zhang, Eric R. Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Travel speed is a critical piece of information for many applications. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) states that calculating travel speeds illuminates the performance of the nation’s highway system. New technologies make the collection of speed data more straightforward than ever. Private vendors collect and sell this data, and KTC purchased speed data for 2010-2013 from NAVTEQ (now HERE). The main objectives of the research were to:

• Evaluate private sector speed data and its use in generating travel time based performance measures
• Create a mechanism to integrate this speed data with networks maintained by …

Water Expert: A Conceptualized Framework For Development Of A Rule-Based Decision Support System For Distribution System Decontamination, J. L. Gutenson, A. N. S. Ernest, J. R. Fattic, L. E. Ormsbee, A. A. Oubeidillah, X. Zhang

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Significant drinking water contamination events pose a serious threat to public and environmental health. Water utilities often must make timely, critical decisions without evaluating all facets of the incident. The data needed to enact informed decisions are inevitably dispersant and disparate, originating from policy, science, and heuristic contributors. Water Expert is a functioning hybrid decision support system (DSS) and expert system framework that emphasizes the meshing of parallel data structures in order to expedite and optimize the decision pathway. Delivered as a thin-client application through the user's web browser, Water Expert's extensive knowledgebase is a product of inter-university collaboration …

Synthesis Of Public-Private Partnerships: Potential Issues And Best Practices For Program And Project Implementation And Administration, Bryan Gibson, Candice Y. Wallace, Roy E. Sturgill

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Public-private partnerships (P3s or PPPs) offer an innovative procurement method for the public sector. P3s involve collaborations between the public and private sectors to finance, develop or maintain transportation infrastructure. In an era of shrinking budgets and increased demand for transportation infrastructure, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) can analyze experiences in other states to determine a best path forward on the issue of P3s. The objective of this study is to examine benefits and drawbacks of using P3s, current trends and past performance of P3s in the procurement of state transportation infrastructure projects, and common legislative statutes relating to P3s. …

Spatial Database For Intersections, Eric R. Green, Christopher L. Blackden, Michael A. Fields

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Deciding which intersections in the state of Kentucky warrant safety improvements requires a comprehensive inventory with information on every intersection in the public roadway network. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) had previously catalogued only those intersections where state-maintained roadways met. However, this inventory did not account for intersections between state- and locally-maintained routes, nor was it designed to accommodate regular updates. As such, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) at the University of Kentucky developed a methodology to create and maintain a full inventory of every intersection in the state. The database contains precise location information as well as several safety …

A Gis-Based Expert Systems Predictive Habitat Model For Threatened And Endangered Species: Case Study Using Kentucky Arrow Darter, Benjamin L. Blandford, Michael Shouse, John Ripy

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study presents a GIS-based predictive habitat suitability model for the Kentucky arrow darter (Etheostoma spilotum), a fish species of the upper Kentucky River basin that is a candidate for federal listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The model is based on previous work: the development of a similar predictive model for identifying the habitat of the blackside dace, a threatened minnow species of the upper Cumberland River basin in Southeastern Kentucky. The research describes a weighted, rules-based system which incorporates expert knowledge about habitat preferences for the arrow darter. For this model, five habitat factors …

Effect Of Thermal Loads On Substructures: New Trammel Creek Bridge On Ky-100 In Allen County, Kentucky, Zhihui Zhu, Michael T. Davidson, Issam E. Harik, Charlie Sun

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

When infrastructure is subjected to temperature changes, structural members that are either partially or fully restrained against motion can develop internal stresses. The phenomenon of temperature-induced internal stress development in superstructure members has prompted the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to include provisions for determining superstructure temperature load effects. However, little consideration has been given to explicitly quantifying the effect that thermal stresses have on foundation systems such as intermediate bridge piers. The objective of this study is to instrument a multi-span integral abutment bridge with temperature and bridge response monitoring devices, and ultimately, to make …

2015 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green, Michael A. Fields

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of the survey summarized in this report was to establish a statewide safety belt usage rate in Kentucky for 2015. This rate can be compared to those determined from previous surveys. The 2015 statewide survey documents the continued increase in usage associated with the change in the law to allow primary enforcement and related education and enforcement.

Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation From The Β-Pinene+No3 System: Effect Of Humidity And Peroxy Radical Fate, C. M. Boyd, J. Sanchez, L. Xu, Alexis J. Eugene, T. Nah, W. Y. Tuet, Marcelo I. Guzman, N. L. Ng

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the oxidation of β-pinene via nitrate radicals is investigated in the Georgia Tech Environmental Chamber (GTEC) facility. Aerosol yields are determined for experiments performed under both dry (relative humidity (RH) < 2 %) and humid (RH = 50 % and RH = 70 %) conditions. To probe the effects of peroxy radical (RO₂) fate on aerosol formation, "RO₂ + NO₃ dominant" and "RO₂ + HO₂ dominant" experiments are performed. Gas-phase organic nitrate species (with molecular weights of 215, 229, 231, and 245 amu, which likely correspond to molecular formulas of C₁₀H₁₇NO₄, C₁₀H₁₅NO₅, C₁₀H₁₇NO …

Preventive Maintenance Program For Bridges, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Jared Fairchild, Bobby W. Meade, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) bridge inventory is rapidly aging. As such, the Cabinet needs to identify and implement relevant preventative maintenance (PM) actions to extend the useful service lives of those structures. Maintenance actions, costs, and application interval/repair durability information have been obtained for both cyclical and condition - based bridge PM. Additionally, information rehabilitation actions were acquired from a regional DOT survey and from other literature. As part of this study, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers monitored a KYTC bridge washing project to assess its level of effectiveness and to identify potential improvements. Based upon these tasks, …

Isotope-Based Fluvial Organic Carbon (Isofloc) Model: Model Formulation, Sensitivity, And Evaluation, William I. Ford, James F. Fox

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Watershed-scale carbon budgets remain poorly understood, in part due to inadequate simulation tools to assess in-stream carbon fate and transport. A new numerical model termed ISOtope-based FLuvial Organic Carbon (ISOFLOC) is formulated to simulate the fluvial organic carbon budget in watersheds where hydrologic, sediment transport, and biogeochemical processes are coupled to control benthic and transported carbon composition and flux. One ISOFLOC innovation is the formulation of new stable carbon isotope model subroutines that include isotope fractionation processes in order to estimate carbon isotope source, fate, and transport. A second innovation is the coupling of …

Jurisdictional Roadside Ditches, Sarah M. Mccormack, Christopher W. Van Dyke, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) mandates that state agencies and other entities perform compensatory mitigation when their activities impair jurisdictional waters. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is required to pay in-lieu fees or purchase stream mitigation credits when a roadside ditch is impaired or relocated as part of a road construction project. In-lieu fees and stream mitigation credits are costly, and ditches that have suffered degraded habitat and loss of hydrogeomorphic functionality are treated as total losses when they are impacted by construction and maintenance activities. This raises the question of whether …

Forensic Pavement Evaluation For Us 31 W, Jefferson County, Kentucky Using Ground Penetrating Radar, Brad W. Rister, Kean Ashurst, R. Clark Graves

Kentucky Transportation Center Technical Assistance Report

The Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) utilized ground penetrating radar technology to provide a forensic evaluation of the existing pavement structure for the US31W pavement rehabilitation Project in Jefferson County, KY. Processed ground penetrating radar data indicated that the integrity of the underlying concrete pavement beneath the asphalt pavement appears to be competent and structurally sound. The clay soil beneath the concrete pavement appears relatively dry and well compacted. The analyzed GPR data also indicated that the average asphalt layer varied by lane throughout the project from 4.89 to 7.59 inches +/- ½ inch and that the underlying concrete layer average …

Hydrodemolition And Use Of A Rapid Early Strength Latex Modified Concrete Overlay, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Christopher Goff, Danny Wells, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Technical Assistance Report

On July 11, 2014, KYTC held a letting for the hydro demolition of two bridge decks on I-64 in Franklin County - main-line twin bridges over Cardwell Lane MP 51.516 (Contract ID 143915; Fed/State Project No. IM 0643(052)). The special notes for the project are provided in Appendix A. The tabulation of bids is provided in Appendix B. Five bids were received ranging from $787,836.00 to $1,082,639.46. The contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, Halls Contracting. Each bridge is 30 ft. wide and 159 ft. long, with for a total area of 4,770 ft. The type 104 bridges have …

Better Engaging Communities: Moving Beyond Cardinal Rules, Anna G. Hoover

Anna G. Hoover

“Cardinal rules” and best practice approaches have guided governmental risk communication efforts at chronic risk sites for more than two decades, playing an important role in how those most affected by contamination make sense of risk. In addition to providing information, however, communication approaches themselves can affect community perceptions indirectly, through stakeholder interpretations of the processes by which risk information is shared. It is increasingly necessary to evaluate not only whether risk communication approaches have been effective for increasing knowledge but if, in fact, the ways in which information is shared has had unintended consequences that change how stakeholders perceive …

Highway Rail Crossing Prioritization, Bryan Gibson, Reginald R. Souleyrette

Kentucky Transportation Center Technical Assistance Report

Research team members at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Civil Engineering and the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) worked with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to develop a high-level mechanism for ranking highway-rail crossings for reconstruction and/or rehabilitation. The Highway Rail Crossing Prioritization implementation study yielded the Rail Crossing Improvement Priority (RCIP), which combined qualitative measures of crossing conditions with quantitative measures including proposed project costs and a valuation of the crossing based on rail and truck traffic. This effort provides a template by which further development can yield prioritization procedures for road-rail grade separation projects.

Assessment Program For Kentucky Traffic Records, Lenahan O'Connell, Eric R. Green, Reginald R. Souleyrette

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

During 2013, the Kentucky Transportation Center identified 117 potential performance metrics for the ten databases in the Kentucky Traffic Records System. This report summarizes the findings of three main tasks completed in 2014: (1) assessment of the utility of each metric and/or the availability of data; (2) collection of data on the metrics deemed useful with available data; and (3) assessment the possibility of incorporating a number of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) elements into the CRASH database. Interviews with liaisons for each database reduced the number of metrics from 117 to 51. The reason for rejecting the …

Characterization Of Two Biochars Derived From Horse Muck And Their Ability To Reduce Pathogen Transport In Soil, David Griffith

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Biochars have been created and characterized from a variety livestock manure biomass including poultry, dairy, and swine. However, no research has been conducted on the physical and chemical makeup of biochar pyrolyzed from horse muck. Two horse muck derived biochars containing either straw (HS) or woodchip (HW) bedding were pyrolyzed at 700°C and characterized for their physical and chemical properties. Tests revealed both biochars had high alkalinity, moderate specific conductivity, and low surface area as compared to other biochars in the literature. HS contained more mineral structures than HW. Scanning electron microscopy presented differences in particle shape, size, and presence …