Engineering Commons^™

2011 Driver Attitudes And Awareness Survey, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green, Ronald E. Langley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A basic set of questions were developed that could be used in periodic surveys that track drivers attitudes and awareness concerning impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding issues. The objective of the survey was to learn the knowledge, views, and behaviors of drivers in these areas. This report documents the results of the 2011 survey with a comparison to the 2010 baseline survey.

The method used to conduct the survey was a telephone survey. In addition to questions for the three major highway safety areas of impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding, an additional question was …

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky (2006 - 2010), Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Safe Routes To School Programs: Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of Parental Decision-Making, Lynn Weigand, Noreen Mcdonald

TREC Final Reports

In the United States, walking to school declined from 42% of 5-18 year olds in 1969 to 16% in 20011. The US Department of Transportation has responded to this dramatic decrease by funding the Safe Routes to School program for $612 million in SAFETEA-LU. The program’s funding emphasize infrastructure improvements such as completing sidewalks and adding crosswalks by requiring between 70% and 90% of funding be allocated toward infrastructure. However, recent research shows that 2 of 3 children who currently are driven to school, but live close enough to walk, do so because it is more convenient for parents. Currently, …

Construction Training For The Current And Next Generation Of Technicians, Paul M. Goodrum, Dong Zhai

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Technicians are a vital component to the success of any roadway projects. Unfortunately, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is experiencing significant shortages of technicians among all aspects of construction and maintenance. Training and developing the adequate numbers of qualified technicians is a substantial endeavor that requires a comprehensive examination of the adequacy of current training program versus the anticipated skill needs of technicians on future projects. Two questionnaires were developed to identify this gap. One is to investigate the skills and trainings that the Cabinet’s technicians possesses and received, and the second is to investigate the skills and/or knowledge which …

Experimental Coating On Interstate 264 In Jefferson County, Bobby W. Meade, Sudhir Palle, Theodore Hopwood Ii

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A waterborne acrylic coating was applied over a washed and tool cleaned zinc/vinyl system as a maintenance overcoat. The coating has several positive characteristics in that it is “user friendly”, substrate tolerant, develops good adhesion quickly, and is environmentally friendly. There were some issues concerning quality of work in surface preparation and application and in the fact that on two locations bubbles developed in the newly applied coating. The cause of the bubbling has not been determined.

Improving Intersection Design Practices, Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Adam Kirk, Nithin Agarwal, Chris Jones

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The purpose of this report is to document the development of the Intersection Design Alternative Tool (IDAT) developed for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. IDAT provides an automated objective design and evaluation approach of 14 alternative intersection designs to assist in the conceptual design of at-grade intersections. The tool evaluates intersection operations, safety performance, bicycle/pedestrian accommodation and has the ability to assist access management implementation.

2011 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of this study was to establish 2011 safety belt and child safety seat usage rates in Kentucky . The 2011 survey continues to document the results after enactment of the original “secondary enforcement” statewide mandatory safety belt law in 1994 and the subsequent change to “primary enforcement” which was enacted in 2 006. Data were collected at 160 randomly selected sites in 18 counties across Kentucky. Data from the individual sites were combined into a statewide percentage considering roadway functional classification, county, and vehicle miles traveled.

The data show that the usage rate in 2011 (82.2 …

Improved Bridge Expansion Joints, Sudhir Palle, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Bobby W. Meade

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has both open and closed bridge expansion joints and associated details that are problematic. Several state highway agencies (SHA) have joints that they believe are superior performers to other types and have prepared guidance documents for their use. A literature search indicated that several previous research studies, including national surveys, addressing SHA joint practices have been conducted over the past 10 years. For up-to-date information, a new set of surveys were developed and distributed to all the SHAs by email through the AASHTO Subcommittee on Maintenance-Bridge Technical Working Group chairman in June 2010. There were …

A Case Study Analysis Of The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’S Design/Build Pilot Projects, Paul M. Goodrum, Mohammad Moin Uddin, Bradley J. Faulkenberg

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The current economic climate has forced transportation agencies to evaluate opportunities to save money. One possible opportunity lies in Design/Build (DB) delivery. In 2006, with the approval of the Kentucky General Assembly, The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet selected ten projects to be developed through the Design/Build method. DB delivery offers many attainable advantages, the most notable being expedited delivery. The research described herein presents a case study of these DB pilot projects in order to capture lessons learned on the use of the DB delivery method on future projects. In order to determine which projects are suitable for DB delivery, a …

A Simplified Method For Analyzing Factors Contributing To Motorcyclists’ Fatal Injuries In Ohio, Deogratias Eustace, Vamsi Krishna Indupuru

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

The aim of this paper was to analyze traffic crash data by using a simplified method in determining significant factors that increase the risk of a motorcyclist being fatally injured once involved in a motorcycle crash in Ohio. The concept of overrepresentation, which is similar to relative risk, was used in identifying significant variables associated with the elevated risk of a motorcycle crash resulting into a fatality. The overrepresentation factor (ORF) was calculated for each variable of interest. The ORF offers a simple but powerful procedure of determining whether a certain factor significantly occurs more or less frequently in one …

Identification Of Risk Factors Associated With Motorcycle-Related Fatalities In Ohio, Deogratias Eustace, Vamsi Krishna Indupuru, Peter W. Hovey

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Out of the 7,138,476 motorcycles operating on U.S. roads, 346,925 were registered in the state of Ohio in the year 2007. Although motorcycles represent only 2.8% of all registered vehicles in the state of Ohio, motorcycling accounts for more than 13% of Ohio highway traffic fatalities. Since 2005, Ohio has had a distressing distinction of being among the fifteen states that have sustained more than half of all motorcycle fatalities recorded in the USA (NHTSA 2007; NHTSA 2008a). For the past ten years, the overall motorcycle crash fatalities have been increasing while the motor vehicle occupant crash fatalities have been …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …