Engineering Commons^™

Enterprise Resource Planning, Ted Grossardt, Joel Brumm

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This goal of this project was to assist the Cabinet in improving the way data is gathered, maintained, and used in the Highway Information System (HIS). The procedure was to identify the critical uses of various data categories, the specific needs for that data, and how that matched up with how the data is handled currently. The end result is a database of metadata information about the HIS database itself. This will enable new users and those unfamiliar with the background of the HIS to easily locate information about how data was collected, how frequently it is updated, and the …

Kentucky Highway User Survey 2001, Ronald E. Langley, Ted Grossardt

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The purpose of this study was to continue the efforts begun in 1997 to monitor Kentucky public opinion regarding the quality of the highway system and also includes a portion to measure satisfaction with the current drivers’ license and registration renewal processes. Kentucky’s 2001 public opinion is compared to data collected since 1997 to gauge Kentucky’s progress over the past years.

Safety Implications From Design Exceptions, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman, Nikiforos Stamatiadis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objectives of this study were to: a) summarize past design exceptions to document their frequency and reason for their use and b) determine if any adverse safety implications can be related to adopting design policies and practices related to design exceptions.

The design exception file maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet was obtained with data obtained relating to the types of project, exceptions requested, and the reasons for the various exceptions. A site visit was made to a large number of the locations where the project was built with the requested design exception. Available crash data were obtained at …

The Cost Of Construction Delays And Traffic Control For Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Of Pavements, Brad Rister, Clark Graves

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this report is to provide the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet a reliable approach to quantifying/calculating “Road User Cost”--often referred to as total user delay costs. To meet this objective, this re port is divided into three main sections. The first section summarizes the reviews of three relatively new computer programs that can be used to help quantify delayed traffic incurred by the presence of a work zone. From this review, one program was selected based on it’s user friendliness and ability to define both quantity of delayed traffic and queue length. The second section compares actual field data …

Compaction At The Longitudinal Construction Joint In Asphalt Pavements (Kyspr-00-208), L. John Fleckenstein, David L. Allen, David B. Schultz Jr.

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the level of compaction at the construction joint in HMA pavements on new and existing projects; to determine the level of water infiltration and segregation at the joint and its effect on joint performance; to determine the most promising joint construction methods around the nation and worldwide by reviewing specifications, experiences, and construction practices for joint construction and the prevention of joint segregation; to develop specifications and construction methods to ensure the level of density necessary at the joint for proper performance; and to review special paving equipment (attachments) for improving densification …

Evaluation Of High Traffic Crash Corridors, Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objectives of this study were to: a) determine a procedure to use to identify corridors in each highway district for which a detailed analysis of crash data should be conducted (with resulting increased law enforcement activities, education programs and engineering improvement s); b) develop a procedure to use to analyze the crash data and recommend countermeasures; and c) conduct a case study analysis for one selected corridor.

A method which could be used to select high crash corridors, by highway district, was developed. The procedure involved: obtaining a list of rout es in each district which traveled through more …

A 3-D Finite Element Structural Model Of An Instrumental Rigid Pavement (I-265 Gene Snyder Freeway, Louisville, Kentucky), Kamyar C. Mahboub, David L. Allen, Yinhui Liu

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Field data that were generated from a section of concrete pavement on Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265), Louisville, Kentucky, were closely examined. An important conclusion of the field data examination was that the response produced by environmental load was more significant than traffic load and static load. To predict the mechanical behavior of the rigid pavement, a finite element model was developed for the project using the ANSYS program. The parametric study of the FEA model showed that the stiffness of subbase and subgrade had the most important effect on the mechanical response of the rigid pavement. On the basis of …

Evaluation Of 220 Mhz Frequencies For Its Experimentation, David Q. Hunsucker

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet implemented a 220 MHz wireless communication system as part of the TRIMARC traffic management system. The purpose of this research effort was to evaluate the use of the 220 MHz system to transmit data collected at the roadside to an operations center to enable operators to make sound decisions regarding traffic flow within the greater metropolitan area of Louisville, Kentucky. The attributes of the 220 MHz communication system, relative to functional reliability and cost effectiveness of the system were evaluated to determine if further use of 220 MHz technology for ITS applications is warranted.

The performance …

Investigation Of The Impact Of Large Trucks On Interstate Highway Safety, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study concentrated on the impact of large trucks on interstate highway safety. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impact of trucks on interstate travel and offer recommendations for improving safety. The procedure involved reviewing the literature, analyzing crash data, discussing the existing situation with the trucking industry, and using the information to develop a list of countermeasures to reduce the number and severity of truck crashes on interstates. The countermeasures were grouped into the general areas of: a) the roadway environment, b) the truck, and c) the driver. The crash data were also analyzed to identify …

Experimental Maintenance Painting On Various Bridge Projects: Kentucky Highway Investigative Task 40, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Sudhir Palle, Rick Younce

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) at the University of Kentucky has performed a series of research studies for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to monitor various experimental bridge painting projects and conduct investigative work focusing on new paint systems. The research study addressed in this report “Experimental Maintenance Painting On Various Bridge Projects During 1998-2000” Kentucky Highways Investigative Task No: 40 was intended to address experimental projects in fiscal years 1999 and 2000, but was extended to address certain fieldwork and KYTC inspections through December 31, 2000.

KTC/KYTC Paint Team joint efforts in late 1998 into early 1999 centered on …

2001 Traffic Safety Issues Opinion Survey, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman, Ronald E. Langley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

As a means of determining public opinion on specific traffic safety issues, a public opinion survey was conducted. A total of 4,500 mail surveys were sent to a stratified sample of drivers selected from the drivers license file. The state was divided into three regions (based on Area Development District) to determine if opinions varied by region of the state. There were 2,097 responses received for a response rate of about 51.5 percent for eligible surveys. The margin-of-error for a sample of this size is plus or minus 2.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

The most support was …

Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts 2002 Report, Kentucky Transportation Center, Kentucky State Police

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KENTUCKY’S TRAFFIC COLLISION FACTS report for 2002 is based on collision reports submitted to the Kentucky State Police Records Branch. As required by Kentucky Revised statutes 189.635, “every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident of which a report must be made...shall file a report of the accident...within ten days after investigation of the accident upon forms supplied by the bureau.” The stated purpose of this requirement is to utilize data on traffic collisions for such purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the Commonwealth. Data contained in this report are based solely on the observations …

Accommodating Pedestrian And Bicycle Access On Parkers Mill Road From New Circle Road To Man O War Boulevard In Lexington, Lisa Aultman-Hall, Eric Jackson

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In the fall of 2000 the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) began a planning study on behalf of the Kentucky Transporta tion Cabinet (KYTC) to investigate the bicycle and pedestrian access on KY 1968 (Parkers Mill Road) from Man O War Boulevard to New Circle Road in Lexington. The 1-mile section has a rural design with two 9-foot lanes, limited 3-foot earth shoulders and adjacent objects in the clear zone making travel on this road uncomfortable for pedestrians and cyclists. Yet this section of Parkers Mill Road represents a line of desired non-motorized travel due to parks, neighborhoods, a local high …

Evaluation Of Automated Bridge Deck Anti-Icing System, Monica L. Barrett, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Driving in snow and ice can be dangerous. This is especially true on bridges. Under certain cold weather conditions, moisture on bridge decks freeze because of the open air flow under them while the adjacent roadway is unaffected. This creates potentially hazardous driving situations for motorists who may not be expecting a change of condition from the road to the bridge surface.

To combat this problem, a bridge deck anti-icing system was installed on a bridge on southbound Interstate 75 at the north interchange to Corbin, Kentucky in October 1997. This system can be actuated early before ice and snow …

Construction Monitoring And Procedures For I-275 “Warranty Project”, Kenton/Boone Counties, Tim C. Scully Jr., R. Clark Graves, David L. Allen

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In the summer of 2000, it was decided by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet that a portion of eastbound and westbound I-275 needed repair due to fatigue. The design was 10 inches PCC or 13 inches of asphaltic concrete for Section B, and 9 inches PCC or 12 inches of asphaltic concrete for Section A. Alternate bids were accepted from asphalt and concrete contractors with a required warranty of 10 years or 10,000,000 ESAL’s, which ever came first.

The Kentucky Transportation Center will be monitoring the performance of the pavement for the duration of the warranty and will be submitting an …

Improving Incident Management Response And Coordination Of Resources, Jennifer R. Walton, Monica L. Barrett, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Highway crashes cause a major impact to the transportation network by critically limiting the operational efficiency of the roadway. Traveler delay is the problem most often associated with highway crashes, but by far the most serious problem is the resulting secondary crashes that occur. Another related issue is the danger posed to response personnel serving the public at the scene. The magnitude of these problems is severe. A coordinated plan for managing the scene is needed to reduce the impact of highway crashes and improve the safety for everyone.

A Checklist and interagency workshop has been developed to address ways …

Fiscal Year 2001 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Steven Douglas Kreis

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 …

Intelligent Transportation Systems Business Plan For Kentucky (Final Report), Jennifer R. Walton, Joseph D. Crabtree, Monica L. Barrett, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report presents a Business Plan for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in Kentucky. The purpose of the Business Plan is to define ITS projects that are planned for implementation from 2002 through 2007. The list of projects contained within this document was developed using Kentucky’s ITS Strategic Plan, the ITS National Architecture, and stakeholder input.

There are 21 projects planned for implementation over the next 6 years at a total estimated cost of nearly $80 million. Another five projects will be considered when the Business Plan is updated in two years. These projects cover a wide range of topics including: …

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky (1996-2000), Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman, Monica L. Barrett

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report documents an analysis of traffic crash data in Kentucky for the years of 1996 through 2000. A primary objective of this study was to determine average crash statistics for Kentucky highways. Average and critical numbers and rates of crashes were calculated for various types of highways in rural and urban areas. These data can be used in Kentucky’s procedure to identify locations that have abnormal rates or numbers of crashes.

The other primary objective of this study wa s to provide data which can be used in the preparation of the problem identification portion of Kentucky’s Annual Highway …

The Paris To Lexington Road Reconstruction Project, Raymond F. Werkmeister, Donn E. Hancher

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report summarizes the effort to provide the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with an evaluation of the results obtained for the Paris to Lexington Road Reconstruction Project from 1997 to 2001. A unique pre-qualification process was used for the project to select a fixed pool of contractor to provide input to the design and to bid on the work. The research started in 1996 during the design process and continued following construction until September of 2001.

Input was received from the Cabinet personnel working on the project, from the design firms, from the contractors, from the property owners involved, and from …

Development Of Concrete Qc/Qa Specifications For Highway Construction In Kentucky, Kamyar C. Mahboub, Donn E. Hancher

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

There is a growing trend toward quality-based specifications in highway construction. A large number of quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) specifications shift the responsibility of day-to-day testing from the state DOH to the contractor. This requirement for contractor-performed quality control testing has been partly due to the fact that state agencies are operating with a smaller pool of employees compared to previous years. Another driving force has been the application of performance-based specifications and realization that the contractor and the producer need some degree of flexibility in order to be more efficient and innovative. This report presents the background information behind …

Analysis Of Traffic Growth Rates, Monica L. Barrett, R. Clark Graves, David L. Allen, Jerry G. Pigman, Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh, Lisa Aultman-Hall, Sarah T. Bowling

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The primary objectives of this study were to determine patterns of traffic flow and develop traffic growth rates by traffic composition and highway type for Kentucky’s system of highways. Additional subtasks included the following: 1) a literature search to determine if there were new procedures being used to more accurately represent traffic growth rates, 2) development of a random sampling procedure for collecting traffic count data on local roads and streets, 3) prediction of vehicle miles traveled based on socioeconomic data, 4) development of a procedure for explaining the relationship and magnitude of traffic volumes on routes functionally classified as …

Quality Based Prequalification Of Contractors, Donn E. Hancher, Sean E. Lambert, William F. Maloney

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report summarizes the efforts to provide the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with a system for evaluating the quality of the performance of contractors on highway construction projects and using that evaluation in the Cabinet’s annual prequalification process for contractors. Contacts with several other state departments of transportation were made to identify best practices and concerns. An advisory committee of experienced KyTC engineers plus Kentucky contractor representatives met extensively to develop the final performance evaluation documents to be used in the process.

A performance evaluation process was developed to evaluate a contractor’s work on projects and the results from all of …

2001 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this study was to establish 2001 safety belt and child safety seat usage rates in Kentucky. The 2001 survey continues to document the results after enactment of a statewide mandatory safety belt law in 1994. It also documented the long term results of the Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign which was conducted around Memorial Day. Data were collected at 200 randomly selected sites spread across Kentucky. Data from the individual sites were combined into a statewide percentage considering function classification, geographic region, and vehicle miles traveled.

The data show that the usage rate increase found in …

Evaluation Of Kentucky’S Click It Or Ticket Campaign, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this report was to document the results of the Click It or Ticket campaign in Kentucky. The campaign involved a combination of earned media, paid media, and enforcement. The earned media started about three weeks prior to Memorial Day 2001 and continued through the enforcement period. The paid media started about two weeks prior to Memorial Day. The enforcement period was a two-week period including the week before and the week of Memorial Day.

The evaluation of the campaign included documenting the activities associated with the program (publicity and enforcement) and evaluating the results. The evaluation involved …

Development And Proposed Implementation Of A Field Permeability Test For Asphalt Concrete, David L. Allen, David B. Schultz Jr., L. John Fleckenstein

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Pavement drainage contributes greatly to long-term pavement performance. Pavements undergo surface, as well as subsurface, drainage during prolonged rain events. It is this subsurface drainage that is of concern in this study. In the advanced asphalt pavements of today, where a drainage layer may be incorporated to facilitate the movement of water out of the above overlying pavement layers, water can be a problem in areas with variable permeability. High permeability may also cause other problems related to drainage such as frost heave, stripping, asphalt emulsification, and water coming out of the pavement surface from deeper layers in the pavement …

State Road Fund Revenue Collection Processes: Differences And Opportunities Of Improved Efficiency, Robert J. Eger Iii, Merl M. Hackbart

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Research regarding the administration and collection of road fund revenues has focused on gaining an understanding of the motivations for tax evasion, methods of evasion, and estimates of the magnitude of evasion for individual states. To our knowledge, little attention has been focused on the impact road fund collection, assessment, audit, and enforcement processes have on tax evasion. The purpose of this study is to review the current road fund assessment, collection, audit, and enforcement processes and procedures and to develop recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

Kentucky Highway User Survey 2000, Ronald E. Langley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The purpose of this study was to continue the efforts begun in 1997 to monitor Kentucky public opinion regarding the quality of the highway system and also includes a portion to measure satisfaction with the current drivers’ license and registration renewal processes. Kentucky’s 2000 public opinion is compared to data collected since 1997 to gauge Kentucky’s progress over the past years, and is compared to the NQI 2000 Survey done on the national level to show how Kentuckians’ opinions compare to those nationwide.

Highway Rock Slope Management Program, Tommy C. Hopkins, Tony L. Beckham, Liecheng Sun, Bixian Ni, Barry Butcher

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Development of a comprehensive geotechnical database for risk management of highway rock slope problems is described. Computer software selected to program the client/server application in windows’ environment, components and structure of the geotechnical database, and some of the primary factors considered in constructing the database are discussed. In the establishment of a large database that will be used widely, it is extremely important to select development software that will allow simultaneous use of the database by numerous users. Major integrated components of the database include rock slope, landslide, and soil and rock engineering data. This report mainly focuses on the …

Resilient Modulus Of Kentucky Soils, Tommy C. Hopkins, Tony L. Beckham, Charlie Sun, Bixian Ni

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In recent years, the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has recommended the use of resilient modulus for characterizing highway materials for pavement design. This recommendation evolved as of a result of a trend in pavement design of using mechanistic models, which are based on the theory of elasticity (layered elastic analysis) or linear and non-linear, finite elements (and finite difference methods), or a combination of both of those theoretical approaches. Although much progress has been made in recent years in developing mathematical, mechanistic pavement design models, results obtained from those models are only as good as the …