Civil Engineering Commons^™

Performance-Based Contracting For Roadway Maintenance Operations In Indiana, Bob G. Mccullouch, Kumares C. Sinha, Panagiotis Ch Anastasopoulos

JTRP Technical Reports

INDOT initiated a study to investigate Performance Based Contracting of maintenance operations. One of the main impetus for the study is that INDOT started a ten year road building program called Major Moves that will add over a 1900 lane miles to the current network. With this addition and coupled with a trend of reduction in maintenance personnel, INDOT is planning how maintenance will be performed. One viable option is the use of performance based contracting (PBC). This study has evaluated many aspects of PBC and the current INDOT maintenance program. Study specifics included:

* Investigated foreign agencies PBC programs. …

Filterpave Systems, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The need for hard-surfaced porous pavements has grown over the past few years as the market accepts PPS technology as a viable solution, as regulations leave few other options and as frequency of use increases. The FilterPave system is a unique porous pavement system that uses post-consumer recycled glass as the open-graded aggregate. Approximately 90 glass beverage bottles are used in just one square foot of pavement, making constructive use of abundant recycled materials that are traditionally sent to the landfill and used as daily cover.

Mechanistic Evaluation Of Rubblized Pcc Pavements, Yigong Ji

JTRP Technical Reports

This report presents a mechanistic approach and procedures for determining layer coefficients to characterize the in-situ behaviors of rubblized pavements. This procedure was developed based on the 1993 AASHTO Pavement Design Guide utilizing Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing and in-place simulation using back-calculation layer modulus. In order to evaluate the rubblized pavement systematically, twelve constructed pavement sections were extensively tested by FWD annually after construction. The FWD data was processed using the proposed mechanistic procedure. In addition, statistical analysis was conducted to compare the pavement structure parameters each year, including layer coefficient and in-situ resilient modulus using Analysis of Variance …

Performance Related Specifications (Prs) For Concrete Pavements In Indiana, Volume 1: Executive Summary, Cole Graveen, Eric Max Falker, Micah Beaver, Narayanan Neithalath, W. Jason Weiss, J. Olek, Tommy Edward Nantung, Victor Lee Gallivan

JTRP Technical Reports

Performance-Related Specifications (PRS) are specifications that base pavement acceptance and pay adjustment on the projected performance and predicted life-cycle cost (LCC) for a specific pavement. PRS relate measurable quality characteristics with pavement performance through computer simulations that incorporate physical distress models. Previously, work at ERES consultants by Darter and co-workers developed prototype PRS for jointed plain portland cement concrete pavements (PCC) through Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through a series of research projects. However, before this research program began, pavements have not been constructed using these specifications. This report describes the Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) experience with developing and implementing …

Saw-Cutting Guidelines For Concrete Pavements: Examining The Requirements For Time And Depth Of Saw-Cutting, Kambiz Raoufi, Tony Their, W. Jason Weiss, Jan Olek, Tommy E. Nantung

JTRP Technical Reports

Joints are placed in Portland cement concrete pavements (PCCP) to control random cracking. These joints provide a weakened plane that enables a crack to form in a controlled manner, relieving residual stresses that develop when thermal, hygral, or hydration movements are resisted by sub grade and adjoining pavement. While the concept of creating a weakened plane through saw-cutting is straightforward, determining the time and depth of the saw-cut has proven to be complicated. The goal of this project was to reduce the risk for joint raveling and random cracking. Specifically, this project has focused on: developing a procedure for determining …

Performance Related Specifications (Prs) For Concrete Pavements In Indiana, Volume 2: Technical Report, Cole Graveen, Eric Max Falker, Micah Beaver, Narayanan Neithalath, W. Jason Weiss, J. Olek, Tommy Edward Nantung, Victor Lee Gallivan

JTRP Technical Reports

Performance-Related Specifications (PRS) are specifications that base pavement acceptance and pay adjustment on the projected performance and predicted life-cycle cost (LCC) for a specific pavement. PRS relate measurable quality characteristics with pavement performance through computer simulations that incorporate physical distress models. Previously, work at ERES consultants by Darter and co-workers developed prototype PRS for jointed plain portland cement concrete pavements (PCC) through Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through a series of research projects. However, before this research program began, pavements have not been constructed using these specifications. This report describes the Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) experience with developing and implementing …

Synthesis Of Best Practices In Transportation Security, Volume I: Vulnerability Assessment, Haritha Reddy Venna, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Part I of the research focused on developing a methodology to identify and evaluate the most critical and vulnerable INDOT assets. This method aims at obtaining an index that reflects the vulnerability and criticality of an asset on the basis of multiple performance criteria. This methodology was tested on the seven INDOT districts. Because not all the factors that influence the vulnerability do have same weight, the analytical hierarchical process is used to obtain the weights for the criteria. Countermeasures are suggested as a part of the research to reduce the vulnerability of a given asset based on its relevant …

Synthesis Of Best Practices In Transportation Security, Volume Ii: Emergency Response, Rodrigo Vargas, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Part I of the research focused on developing a methodology to identify and evaluate the most critical and vulnerable INDOT assets. This method aims at obtaining an index that reflects the vulnerability and criticality of an asset on the basis of multiple performance criteria. This methodology was tested on the seven INDOT districts. Because not all the factors that influence the vulnerability do have same weight, the analytical hierarchical process is used to obtain the weights for the criteria. Countermeasures are suggested as a part of the research to reduce the vulnerability of a given asset based on its relevant …

Investigation Of The Effective Use Of Warning Lights On Indiana Department Of Transportation (Indot) Vehicles And Equipment, Bob Mccullouch, Brandon Stevens

JTRP Technical Reports

This study was requested by INDOT to determine if current lighting packages used on INDOT maintenance vehicles, specifically snow plow vehicles, can be improved with other commercially available products. Different light products were obtained from various vendors, mounted on INDOT vehicles, and visual comparisons were performed under various lighting and weather conditions by a team of observers. The comparison evaluations were performed revealing that other light packages, LED models for most options, were brighter and certain colors more visible. The preferred light models are recommended. These recommendations were forwarded to appropriate individuals that make these decisions at INDOT. Implementation is …

Trade-Off Analysis Methodology For Asset Management, Qiang Bai, Samuel Labi, Zongzhi Li

JTRP Technical Reports

In an era that is characterized by funding limitations, increased stakeholder participation, and the need for increased accountability and transparency, transportation agencies seek to ensure that comprehensive evaluation processes are identified and used for decision-making. Consistent with such processes is the incorporation of multiple performance criteria from different program areas, optimization of decisions under constrained budgets, and investigation of trade-offs between program areas, performance measures, budgetary levels, risk levels, and performance thresholds. To help INDOT carry out these processes, this study developed theoretical constructs for scaling and amalgamation of the different performance measures, and for analyzing the different kinds of …

Safety And Operational Impacts Of Alternative Intersections, Andrew P. Tarko, Mike Inerowicz, Brandon Lang

JTRP Technical Reports

As the degradation of service at some conventional intersections increases, there becomes a need for alternative solutions other than expensive interchanges. Many alternative intersections have been proposed in the past. Under certain traffic and local conditions some solutions are more promising than other. In some cases, the conventional intersection may still be the optimal choice. The presented research focused on developing guidelines that would help planners and designers identify the most promising solutions for further analysis. This objective has been addresses in two ways. Firstly, the existing knowledge on alternative intersections has been identified. Secondly, the performance of conventional and …

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 1: Comparative Analysis Of Mixed Land Use And Separated Land Use Neighborhoods), Amica Bose, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 3: Empirical Study Of Mixed Land Use Traditional Neighborhoods), Li Jin, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

High-Performance Concrete Bridge Decks: A Fast-Track Implementation Study, Volume 1: Structural Behavior, Robert J. Frosch, Timothy S. Aldridge

JTRP Technical Reports

Transverse cracking of concrete bridge decks is problematic in numerous states. Cracking has been identified in the negative and positive moment regions of bridges and can appear shortly after opening the structure to live loads. To improve the service life of the bridge deck as well as decrease maintenance costs, changes to current construction practices in Indiana are being considered. A typical bridge deck was instrumented which incorporated the following: increased reinforcement amounts, decreasing reinforcement spacing, and high-performance, low-shrinkage concrete. The low shrinkage concrete was achieved using a ternary concrete mix. The objective of this research was to determine the …

Use Of Micropiles For Foundations Of Transportation Structures Final Report, Hoyoung Seo, Monica Prezzi

JTRP Technical Reports

In pile design, piles must be able to sustain axial loads from the superstructure without bearing capacity failure or structural damage. In addition, piles must not settle or deflect excessively in order for the serviceability of the superstructures to be maintained. In general, settlement controls the design of piles in most cases because, by the time a pile has failed in terms of bearing capacity, it is very likely that serviceability will have already been compromised. Therefore, realistic estimation of settlement for a given load is very important in design of axially loaded piles. This notwithstanding, pile design has relied …

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 2: Evaluating The Feasibility Of New Urbanism In An Existing Neighborhood), Huei Koh, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

Methods Of Safety Improvements At Coordinated Signals, Wei Li, Andrew P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

In this research, the safety impact of arterial signal coordination is investigated. Based on the findings, procedures are proposed to incorporate safety considerations into signal coordination design. In addition, a software tool is developed to facilitate the use of the research findings. Signal coordination has been extensively employed as a tool to optimize an arterial system’s mobility performance, commonly measured by the total number of vehicle stops and the time of delays. Although vehicle crashes at signalized intersections have long been recognized as a major safety threat, studies to date have been limited locally to non-coordinated signals or the noncoordinated …

Development Of An Integrated Land-Use Transportation Model For Indiana, Li Jin, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Department of Transportation has an operational statewide travel demand model (ISTDM). INDOT also has used the Land Use Central Indiana (LUCI) model to forecast conversion of land to residential and employment uses in future decades over a 44-county area in central Indiana. This paper describes how the LUCI model was expanded to cover the same geographic area as the ISTDM, how the internal structure of each model was made to be compatible with the other model, and how the outputs from each model were made to be suitable as inputs to the other model. The result is an …

Analysis And Determination Of Axle Load Spectra And Traffic Input For The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, Yi Jiang, Shuo Li, Tommy E. Nantung, Huaxin Chen

JTRP Technical Reports

The values of equivalent single axle loads (ESAL) have been used to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. To improve the pavement design procedures, a new method, called the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), has been developed to use the axle load spectra to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. These spectra represent the percentage of the total axle applications within each load interval for single, tandem, tridem, and quad axles. Using axle load spectra as the traffic input, the MEPDG method is able to analyze the impacts of varying traffic loads on pavement and provide an optimal …

Evaluation Of Performance And Design Of Ultra-Thin Whitetopping (Bonded Concrete Resurfacing) Using Large-Scale Accelerated Pavement Testing, Scott Newbolds, Jan Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

Ultra-Thin Whitetopping (UTW) is a pavement rehabilitation technique that involves the placement of a thin Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) overlay, 2 inches (50 mm) to 4 inches (100 mm) thick, over a distressed Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavement. Typically, the HMA pavement is milled and cleaned which helps to create a bond between the existing HMA pavement and the PCC overlay. The bond between the two layers promotes composite action of the pavement section and as a result has a direct impact on the performance of the UTW Pavement. This composite action allows for the reduced thickness in the UTW …

Assessment Of Axially-Loaded Pile Dynamic Design Methods And Review Of Indot Axially-Loaded Pile Design Procedure, Dimitrios Loukidis, Rodrigo Salgado, Grace Abou-Jaoude

JTRP Technical Reports

The general aim of the present research is to identify areas of improvement and propose changes in the current methodologies followed by INDOT for design of axially loaded piles, with special focus on the dynamic analysis of pile driving. Interviews with INDOT geotechnical engineers and private geotechnical consultants frequently involved in INDOT’s deep foundation projects provided information on the methods and software currently employed. It was found that geotechnical engineers rely on static unit soil resistance equations that were developed over twenty years ago and that have a relatively large degree of empiricism. Updated and improved static design equations recently …

Real-Time Arterial Traffic Signal Performance Measures, Christopher M. Day, Edward J. Smaglik, Darcy M. Bullock, James R. Sturdevant

JTRP Technical Reports

Increasing demand for highway system capacity compels transportation agencies to extract as much capacity as possible from existing systems. Traffic signals represent a major component of highway systems. Improvement of traffic signal operation requires accurate performance measures. Despite recent improvements in computing technology, traffic signal controllers are currently not able to capture useful performance measures on a cycle-by-cycle basis. This report presents a set of performance measures that could be collected on a cycle-by-cycle basis by a traffic signal controller given the capability to log phase indications and detector actuations. The performance measures investigated here include the volume-to-capacity ratio and …

Statewide Wireless Communications Project, Volume 2: Inductive Loop Detection Of Bicycles And Inductive Loop Signature Processing For Travel Time Estimation, J. V. Krogmeier, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

The Statewide Wireless Communications Project was an umbrella project intended to support various INDOT activities in the area of wireless communications. As these activities were conducted independently the report for the project is organized into three volumes. Volume 1 contains the results of satellite and cellular communications field testing undertaken in support of INDOT’s SiteManager application. Volume 1 also contains the results of an evaluation of spread spectrum radios for long-range communications. Volume 2 contains the results of detection zone evaluation for loop detection of bicycles and the results of testing algorithms for travel time estimation using vehicle re-identification based …

Statewide Wireless Communications Project, Volume 1: Communication Field Tests For Satellite, Cellular, And Spread Spectrum Radio, J. V. Krogmeier, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

The Statewide Wireless Communications Project was an umbrella project intended to support various INDOT activities in the area of wireless communications. As these activities were conducted independently the report for the project is organized into three volumes. Volume 1 contains the results of satellite and cellular communications field testing undertaken in support of INDOT’s SiteManager application. Volume 1 also contains the results of an evaluation of spread spectrum radios for long-range communications. Volume 2 contains the results of detection zone evaluation for loop detection of bicycles and the results of testing algorithms for travel time estimation using vehicle re-identification based …

Statewide Wireless Communications Project, Volume 3: Data Collection And Signal Processing For Improvement Of Road Profiling And Proof Of Concept Of A Vehicle-Infrastructure Based Road Surface Monitoring Application, J. V. Krogmeier, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

The Statewide Wireless Communications Project was an umbrella project intended to support various INDOT activities in the area of wireless communications. As these activities were conducted independently the report for the project is organized into three volumes. Volume 1 contains the results of satellite and cellular communications field testing undertaken in support of INDOT’s SiteManager application. Volume 1 also contains the results of an evaluation of spread spectrum radios for long-range communications. Volume 2 contains the results of detection zone evaluation for loop detection of bicycles and the results of testing algorithms for travel time estimation using vehicle re-identification based …

Knowledge-Based System To Support Site Investigation For Safety Improvement, Andrew P. Tarko, Andrew Kwasniak, Jorge Ramos

JTRP Technical Reports

Specialists in transportation and other areas of engineering are trying to improve road safety. The most difficult part is determining the road features, driver behaviors, and vehicular failures that unduly increase the risk of crash. To help INDOT safety investigation teams, a previous research project developed a prototype Road Safety Investigation Tool (RSIT) for two-way stop-controlled intersections. The research summarized here has evaluated the prototype RSIT and has developed a new version RSIT2 that has incorporated the findings of the evaluation.

The evaluation of the RSIT prototype confirmed usefulness of the proposed methodology. The tool has been applied to two …

Limit States And Load And Resistance Design Of Slopes And Retaining Structures, Dongwook Kim, Rodrigo Salgado

JTRP Technical Reports

Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methods for slopes and MSE walls were developed based on probability theory. The complexity in developing LRFD for slopes and MSE walls results from the fact that (1) the representation of spatial variability of soil parameters of slopes using Gaussian random field is computationally demanding and (2) LRFD of MSE walls requires examination of multiple ultimate limit states for both external and internal stability checks.

For each design case, a rational framework is developed accounting for different levels of target probability of failure (or target reliability index) based on the importance of the structure. …

Hollo-Bolt®: Blind Connector For Structural Steelwork, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Structural steel connections for connecting to square, rectangular or circular structural tube or to conventional steel where access is available from one side only poses problems. A technology was needed which could provide a quicker and tidier installation than traditional methods such as welding, unsightly strapping or drilling and tapping holes. The invention of the Hollo-Bolt® provided such a solution.

Smartball™: Free Swimming Leak Detection System, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Leak detection systems measure ultrasonic noise, infrared temperature variances or electrical flux to detect leakage in structures like, pipes, tanks, geo-membrane retaining structures etc. SmartBall® is a free flowing leak detection system developed by Pure Technologies. It consists of a foam ball that has a smaller aluminum ball at its core. This aluminum core houses an ultrasonic device that sends ultrasonic signals and also collects the reflected sound waves.

Acquisition And Analysis Of Earthwork Pay Quantity Verification Data, Sharvil Saurabh Shah, Makarand Hastak

JTRP Technical Reports

This research identifies technologies and methods that can be used by INDOT in earthwork data collection and earthwork quantity calculation process on large construction projects that could result in timely completion of the projects with less labor and resultant cost. In order to achieve the above stated objective, several tasks were performed, i.e., literature review, data collection, data analysis, and recommendations. INDOT engineers were interviewed to determine their current state of practice. Also, all the state DOTs, professional companies in Indiana and vendors of earthwork data collection equipment and software products were contacted through questionnaire surveys and personal interviews. Two …