Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Developing Deterioration Models For Nebraska Bridges, George Morcous

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Statewide Intersection Safety Performance, Christopher M. Monsere, Todd Johnson, Karen Dixon, Jianfei Zheng, Ida Schalkwyk

TREC Final Reports

This report summarizes the results of an analysis of the safety performance of Oregon’s intersections. Following a pilot study, a database of 500 intersections randomly sampled from around the state of Oregon in both urban and rural environments was assembled. These intersections were categorized into eight types based on number of legs (3 and 4), land use (urban or rural) and traffic control (signalized or minor stop-control). These categories were chosen to align with the intersection types in AASHTO’s recently released Highway Safety Manual (HSM). Geometric and traffic control elements were supplemented by compiling crash data and volumes on the …

Pavement Evaluation Of The Concrete Tie-Bars And Dowel Baskets On The Springfield Bypass, Ky 55 Washington County, Ky, Brad Rister, R. Clark Graves

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A 1500 Mhz. ground coupled, ground penetrating radar antenna was used to identify both the horizontal alignment and the vertical displacement of the concrete tie-bars and the transverse joint dowel bar assembles on a portland-cement-concrete-pavement (PCCP) on KY55 in Washington County, KY. Approximately six lanes miles of PCCP was evaluated using the 1500 Mhz. ground coupled antenna. Results indicate that only four transverse dowel baskets out of an approximate total of 2,112 were within three inches of the pavement surface. Three transverse dowel baskets were misaligned greater than four inches from the location of the sawed joint. These areas represent …

Implementation Of Remote Sensing Technology On The I-64 Bridge Over Us60, Issam E. Harik, Ching Chiaw Choo, Abheetha Peiris, Dan Eaton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Remote sensing devices have been implemented on the I-64 Bridges over US60 in Franklin County, KY. One of the girders in the westbound bridge has been previously repaired due to unexpected fatigue cracking. The exterior girder in the eastbound bridge has shown signs of impacts due to the traversing trucks on US60. Sensing and recording devices such as strain and temperature gauges, infrared sensors, ultrasonic height detectors, and an accelerometer have been installed. Specifically, eleven strain gauges are used on the repaired girder, impacted girders, and girders adjacent to them. Two sets of infrared sensors, ultrasonic detectors, and video cameras …

Evaluation Of Pilot Project: Emergency Traffic Control For Responders, Sarah M. Mccormack, Jennifer R. Walton, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Traffic control is an essential component of incident response in order to move road users safely and expeditiously past or around a traffic incident, and to reduce the likelihood of secondary crashes. Emergency responders, with the exception of law enforcement, are provided limited or no training in traffic control, but by nature of their job often have to perform such duties. There is a need to provide basic knowledge and equipment to on-scene responders in order to reduce traffic delays, secondary crashes, and injuries to those involved in response activities. This report summarizes the results of a pilot project where …

Automated Chemical Stabilizing Of Leaded Paint Residue From Bridge Maintenance Painting Operations, Bobby W. Meade, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study addressed the use of automated equipment to dose and mix lead stabilizing compounds to allow leaded paint residue/debris to be disposed at in-state contained landfills. The stabilizing would be conducted in situ at bridges being subjected to maintenance painting operations involving total coating removal and replacement. Many Kentucky bridges have existing painting that contains lead compounds at levels which may constitute hazardous wastes upon removal. The KYTC practice of recycling lead containing residue is working well at this time but the issue of a single recycler available continues to place KYTC in a position of returning to hazardous …

Kentucky Bridges With High-Strength Quenched And Tempered Steel, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Jared Fairchild

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has several bridges employing high-strength quenched and tempered (QT) steels. In the past several decades, weld and corrosion cracking problems have occurred with QT steel in three KYTC bridges. This material has typically been employed on large bridges in fracture-critical members which increases the concern about these steels. This study was performed to review the KYTC steel bridge inventory and identify bridges/structural member containing QT steels. The list consisted of any KYTC maintained bridge with an individual span greater than 150 feet. KTC used this list to identify each bridge and members containing QT steel. …

Effectiveness Study On Temporary Pavement Marking Removals Methods, Yong Cho, Jae-Ho Pyeon

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This study was conducted to identify effective temporary marking removal methods and procedures on concrete and asphalt pavements. Pavement markings provide guidance to road travelers and can lead to accidents when not properly removed. Current state guidelines on removal do not provide clear and objective methods of measurement. After testing the most common removal methods, this research concluded that removing markings by chemical was not only cost and results-oriented effective compared to other methods, but it was also safe to the environment and road users. Finally, a baseline of measurements was developed by the research team for this project, along …

Impact Of 0.7 Inch Diameter Strands On Nu I-Grinders, Maher K. Tadros, George Morcous

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Non-Nuclear Method For Density Measurements, Yong-Rak Kim, Yong Cho

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) are necessary to ensure fulfillment and compliance to specifications, guidelines, manuals, and programs which outline methods and requirements during construction. Density, an important part of quality control, can be used to evaluate the quality of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) and soil compaction. This study investigated new technologies used for QC and QA by comparing the Pavement Quality Indicator (PQI) model 301 with a nuclear gauge and core sample measurements for HMA. For soil QC and QA, non-nuclear technologies—the Electrical Density Gauge (EDG), the Moisture Density Indicator (MDI), and the Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD)—were …

Evaluation Of The Safe Patrol Program In Kentucky, Pengfei Li, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Members within the SAFE Patrol program have expressed concern that there is a lack of a clear understanding of the value or benefits of the SAFE Patrol program, both among various officials and the general public. The basis of this project is to explain the services provided by the program, and determine the value and benefit of those services. This evaluation report also serves to identify areas of improvement for the program. The result of investigation shows that the other stakeholders are basically satisfied with the SAFE Patrol service whereas some issues should also be addressed to improve the service …

Optimizing High Volume Traffic Surges Using Discrete Event Simulation, Claire L. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this applied research study is to determine the fidelity of a discrete event simulation tool called the Evacuation Simulation Prediction Tool (ESP) in predicting transit times during a high volume surge in traffic flow. The ESP tool was developed for the purpose of predicting and optimizing large-scale evacuations of counties or regions as an aide in emergency and disaster preparedness planning. The goal of the ESP model is to ascertain the balance of traffic flow capacity by managing the human factor events that impinge upon orderly highway travel without immobilizing the travel route. The objective of this …

Identification Of Secondary Crashes And Recommended Countermeasures, Jerry G. Pigman, Eric R. Green, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this study was to identify and analyze the occurrence of secondary crashes on roadways in Kentucky and recommend countermeasures to reduce their frequency and severity.

Results show a small percentage of crashes coded as a “Secondary Collision” were confirmed to be a secondary crash based on the definition and requirement of “a crash occurring as a result of a previous crash”. It appeared that many of those miscoded as a “Secondary Collision” were the result of misinterpretation of what constituted a secondary crash versus a secondary event. Adoption of the definition used in this analysis, along with …

Solving The Vehicle Re-Identification Problem By Using Neural Networks, Tanweer Rashid

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Vehicle re-identification is the process by which vehicle attributes measured at one point on a road network are compared to vehicle attributes measured at another point in an effort to match vehicles without using any unique identifiers such as license plate numbers. A match is made if the two measurements are estimated to belong to the same vehicle. Vehicle attributes can be sensor readings such as loop induction signatures, or they can also be actual vehicle characteristics such as length, weight, number of axles, etc. This research makes use of vehicle length, travel time, axle spacing and axle weights for …

Impact Of Snow Removal Operations On Thermoplastic Pavement Markings, Monica L. Monfette

Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study explored the effect snow removal operations have on thermoplastic pavement markings. Including snow removal as a separate independent variable is unique because much of the previous research performed on pavement marking degradation mentioned snow removal as a direct cause in a marking degrading more rapidly; however, it is mentioned as an afterthought and a suggestion to be considered in future research. This pilot study looked at 10 thermoplastic markings and all marking data were collected in the field, using a hand-held retroreflectometer. Data collected began 60 days after initial marking application and ended 12 months after initial …

Degradation Modeling Of Polyurea Pavement Markings, Jonathan D. Needham

Theses and Dissertations

Polyurea is a long life pavement marking material used for assets requiring long periods of uninterrupted accessibility. Knowing the performance characteristics of such markings is critical to asset management planning focused on maximizing marking material life-cycles. This paper presents the performance characteristics of polyurea pavement markings in North Carolina using linear regression models. The models generated by this research provide pavement marking managers with tools to better allocate limited manpower and resources in order to optimize budgets while meeting newly proposed pavement marking retroreflectivity levels of service as proposed by the Federal Highway Administration. This research constructed performance models for …

Paint Pavement Marking Performance Prediction Model That Includes The Impacts Of Snow Removal Operations, Dale M. Mull

Theses and Dissertations

The results of this research effort were captured in two manuscripts drafted for publication in peer reviewed journals. The first manuscript validated a previously published model with an expanded data set, updated service life predictions for painted pavement markings using recently released pavement marking retroreflectivity minimums, and incorporated recent cost data to evaluate two alternative methods of compliance with the new retroreflectivity minimums for two-lane roads. The second manuscript developed a new performance prediction model for paint pavement markings that includes the impact of snow removal operations and then applied the model to four real-world roadways to determine if replacement …

Case Study Evaluation Of Dynamic Traffic Assignment Tools, John Gliebe, Åsa Bergman

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A case study was undertaken in order to evaluate the potential use of dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) tools by Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and its partner agencies. The objectives of this study were to provide insight into the nature of DTA models, to inform the program selection process, and to develop realistic expectations for potential DTA work plans. The overarching goal of this report is to describe the process followed and experiences of the study team in developing and testing DTA network models. Two available DTA programs were selected for in-depth analysis from a preliminary screening of available programs: …

Causes And Countermeasures Related To Motorcycle Crashes, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The number of motorcycle crashes (especially fatal crashes) has increased substantially in Kentucky in the past several years. A detailed analysis of crashes involving motorcycles could provide insight into the characteristics and causes of these crashes and identify potential countermeasures for addressing the problem. The objectives of this study were to: a) evaluate and analyze motorcycle crashes and b) identify the causes and potential countermeasures to reduce the number and severity of the crashes.

The literature was reviewed to determine the state-of-the-art related to motorcycle crash research. An analysis of traffic crashes involving motorcycles was conducted using several years of …

Health, Transportation, And The Built Environment: Building A Roadmap For Change With Smaller Cities, Cynthia Carlson, Semra Aytur, Kevin Gardner, Shannon Rogers

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Presentation at the 2011 Active Living Research Annual Conference.