Civil Engineering Commons^™

Intellidrive Technology Based Yellow Onset Decision Assistance System For Trucks, Anuj Sharma Ph.D., Nathaniel Burnett, Sepideh S. Aria Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Erroneous decisions by drivers to stop or go at the onset of yellow can lead to incidences of premature stopping or red light running, which in turn can cause severe rear end or right angle collisions. Because trucks or busses are relatively less maneuverable, have lower available acceleration and lower comfortable deceleration rates, and have a higher line of sight than do passenger vehicles, the risk of crashes is higher for trucks than other vehicles upon stop or go situations. Dilemma zone protection systems are used at high speed intersection s to enhance safety; however, such systems are generally designed …

Cable Median Barrier Failure Analysis And Prevention, Dean L. Sicking, Cody S. Stolle

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Cross-median crashes have been identified as one of the highest injury or fatality risk crash types. Although crossmedian crashes account for only 2% to 5% of all median crash events, they are disproportionately represented in the number and frequency of fatalities on interstate roadways. Many states have utilized cable median barriers to reduce the risk of cross-median crashes, frequently with great success. However, cable median barriers are also fixed obstacles to errant vehicles. Cable median barriers can place occupants at increased risk of severe injury or fatality if the barrier fails to adequately contain and redirect errant vehicles, resulting in …

Feasibility Of Integrating Natural And Constructed Wetlands In Roadway Drainage System Design, John S. Stansbury, Massom Moussavi, Tian Zhang

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Stormwater from roadways could have negative effects on the environment and aquatic ecosystems. Typical highway runoff pollutants include solids; heavy metals, particularly cadmium, copper, and zinc; petroleum hydrocarbons; gasoline constituents; PAHs (polyaromatic hydrocarbons); oxygen demanding compounds measured as COD (chemical oxygen demand) and BOD (biochemical oxygen demand); and road salts. Roadway runoff falls under the legislation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) via the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). CWA regulates discharge of nonpoint source pollutants, such as roadway runoff, by issuing permits to public entities which manage Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). Part of the Nebraska Department …

Characteristics And Contributory Causes Related To Large Truck Crashes - Phase Ii, Sundanda Dissanayake Ph.D., P.E., Siddhartha Kotikalapudi

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Statistics clearly demonstrate that large-truck crashes contribute to a significant percentage of high-severity crashes. It is therefore important for the highway safety community to identify the characteristics and contributory causes of these types of crashes. The first phase of the current research endeavor examined fatal crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database. In the second phase, presented in the current report, truck-crashes of all severity levels were analyzed with the intention of understanding characteristics and contributory causes, as well as identifying factors contributing to increased severity of truck-crashes. This goal could not be achieved by analyzing fatal …

Improving Safety Of The Surface Transportation System By Addressing The Issues Of Vulnerable Road Users: Case Of The Motorcyclists, Sundanda Dissanayake Ph.D., P.E., Mohammad Saad B. Shaheed

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Over the past few years, motorcycle fatalities have increased at an alarming rate in the United States. Motorcycle safety issues in Kansas are no different from the national scenario. Accordingly, this study examines motorcycle crashes in Kansas in order to identify and evaluate critical crash-related factors and subsequent impacts on motorcycle crash injury outcomes. State-level motorcycle rider fatality rates were investigated while considering various factors including helmet laws, using generalized least-squares regression modeling. A detailed characteristic analysis was carried out for motorcycle crashes, using Kansas crash data. Comparisons were made between several aspects of motorcycle crashes and other vehicle crashes. …

Evaluation Of Large Truck Crashes At Horizontal Curves On Two-Lane Rural Highways In Kansas, Eric J. Fitzsimmons Ph.D., Steven Shruck Ph.D., P.E., Tomas E. Lindheimer

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between roadway and environment-related factors and truck crash severity at horizontal curves located on rural, two-lane state highways in Kansas. Single vehicle truck crashes and multi-vehicle crashes involving at least one truck were extracted from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s crash and roadway databases for the years 2006-2010, resulting in 452 crash records. Descriptive statistics and 95 percent confidence intervals were constructed for an odds ratio analysis comparing single-vehicle truck crashes to multi-vehicle crashes involving at least one truck for the variables that were included in both databases. Overall, the …

A Preliminary Appraisal Of The Safety And Operational Effects On The Regional Transportation System Caused By New Rail- Truck Intermodal Facilities, Thomas E. Mullinazzi, Steven D. Schrock, Eric J. Fitzsimmons, Robert A. Rescot

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Potential for impacts to a small Kansas city were evaluated in light of a planned rail to truck intermodal facility. The city of Edgerton, Kansas, was selected for an intermodal terminal in 2006 by a Class I railroad due to its regional proximity to the Kansas City market and market conditions favorable to such a facility. Through an analysis of various reports and literature along with original traffic, railroad, and environmental data, along with citizen feedback, the framework was laid to be able to compare the impacts of the facility to a snapshot in time prior to its opening.

Earmarked Revenues And Spending Volatility: The Case Of Highway Finance, Phuong Nguyen-Hoang Ph.D., William Duncombe Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Over the last decade, state governments have experienced two recessions (including the recent “Great Recession”) which have resulted in significant disruptions in state budgets and highlighted the volatility of the personal income tax and general sales tax. Since infrastructure maintenance funding may be particularly vulnerable to budget cuts during recessions, it is important to identify more stable revenue sources and budgetary institutions. One of the distinguishing characteristics of highway finance in the United States is the heavy use of earmarked revenues linked to highway users. Our key research question is whether an increase in the share of highway funding from …

Determining The Stresses In Steel Railroad-Track Rails Due To Freight Movements Using Non-Contact Laser-Speckle, Robert Peterman Ph.D., P.E., Rob Murphy, Weixin Zhao Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This research was aimed at developing a procedure to determine the existing stresses in steel rails used in railroad tracks. These stresses are caused by the combination of both thermal restraint and physical/mechanical loads. However, since the track sections are installed at various temperatures and then continuously welded together and secured to wood or concrete ties, the stresses existing in the track at any given time are currently unknown. In fact, not only the magnitude of stress is unknown, but also the basic knowledge about whether the rails are in tension or compression at a given time. Since the stresses …

Developing Deterioration Models For Nebraska Bridges, George Morcous Ph.D., Afshin Hatami Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Nebraska Bridge Management System (NBMS) was developed in 1999 to assist in optimizing budget allocation for the maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement needs of highway bridges. This requires the prediction of bridge deterioration to calculate life-cycle costs. At the meantime, the approach adopted to predict the deterioration of bridge components is based on national average deterioration rates, which are one drop in the deck condition rating every eight years and one drop in the superstructure and substructure condition rating every ten years. This approach does not account for the impact of traffic volume, structure and material type, and environment impacts, in …

Crash Analysis Of I-64 Closure In St. Louis County, Ghulam H. Bham Ph.D., Uday R.R Manepalli

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

On January 2, 2008, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) closed significant portions of Missouri Interstate 64 (I-64) in St. Louis County for reconstruction. During the planning stages of this project, the proposal to close all lanes of I-64 was met with public concern regarding the possible safety risks associated with diverting I-64 traffic to adjacent roadways. A specific concern was the possibility of increased crash rates on roads designated to receive I-64 traffic flow. The following research was conducted to assess the actual outcomes related to these concerns. Crash analyses and crash rate analysis of 2008 and 2009 crash …

Performance Measures Of Warm Asphalt Mixtures For Safe And Reliable Freight Transportation Phase Ii: Evaluation Of Friction And Raveling Characteristics Of Warm Mix Asphalt Mixtures With Anti-Stripping Agents, Hosin David Lee Ph.D., P.E., Yongjoo Thomas Kim Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The viscosity of asphalt decreased significantly when 0.5% of WMA additive was added,but it remained relatively steady as the dosage rate increased up to 3.0%. The reduction pattern in viscosity as the dosage rate increases was similar for both CECABASE RT® and LEADCAP at all test temperatures of 120°C,125°C, 130°C and 135 °C and a similar pattern was observed for both Sasobit® and Rediset. Based on the ABCD test device, the virgin asphalt binder PG 64-34 cracked at -51.0°C and the PG 64-28 cracked at -41.3°C. As the WMA additives were increased from 0.5%to 3.0%, the cracking temperatures increased slightly,but …

Assessing The Damage Potential In Pretensioned Bridges Caused By Increased Truck Loads Due To Freight Moments (Phase Ii), Robert J. Peterman Ph.D., P.E., Steven F. Hammerschmidt M.S.C.E.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

With aging and deterioration of bridges, evaluation of existing conditions of their structural elements becomes vital to engineers and public officials when deciding how to repair or replace the structures. The ability to obtain necessary information on these conditions is often expensive and time consuming, especially for concrete bridges where the reinforcement is not available for inspection. Employing the surface-strain relief method could allow for accurate evaluation of aged or damaged prestressed members. The surface-strain relief method was developed to measure initial or pre-existing strains in a concrete member. It involves relieving the strain in the member and measuring the …

Effectiveness Study On Temporary Pavement Marking Removals Methods, Dr. Yong Cho, Dr. Jae-Ho Pyeon, Koudous Kabassi

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

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 efficient, result-oriented, and 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, …

Investigating Rfid For Linear Asset Management, Judy A. Perkins Ph.D., P.E., Erick C. Jones Ph.D., P.E., Cssbb, Judith L. Mwakalonge Ph.D., E.I.T

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

A linear asset is defined as an asset whose length plays a critical role in its maintenance. Examples of such assets include roads, pipelines, and railroad tracks. Major features of a roadway asset include traffic lights, number of lanes, speed limits, guardrails, and highway billboards. Linear assets, along with their features, are hard to physically access; therefore, previously captured inventory information files may be inaccurate. To address this problem, some of the transportation agencies are investigating technologies that will assist in solving this asset inventory problem. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication via radio waves to …

Improving The Freight Transportation Roadway System During Snow Events: A Performance Evaluation Of Deicing Chemicals, Christopher Y. Tuan, Barbara M. Gerbino-Bevins

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The ability of state DOTs to adequately clear roadways during winter weather conditions is critical for a safe and effective freight transportation system. Variables affecting winter maintenance operations include the type of precipitation, air and pavement temperature, traffic, wind, time of day, day of week, and maintenance equipment. The main objective of this study is to identify the best practices for normal deicing operations, based on the performance rating of deicing chemicals. Optimum deicer/brine ratios and the associated application rates will be determined for various weather conditions. The best practices will ensure effective deicing operation and economical use of deicing …

Impact Of Large 0.7 Inch Strand On Nu-I Girders, Maher K. Tadros Ph.D., P.E., George Morcous Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The NU I-Girder series uses a unique cross-section and high-strength concrete to achieve longer spans. The objective of this project was to develop the quality control and design criteria required to introduce 0.7 inch strands at 2 in. spacing in NU I-Girders. Compared to 0.5 inch strands, only 1/2 of the total number of strands would be needed. This would result in immediate labor savings in precast concrete product costs. More importantly, having the ability to introduce almost twice the prestressing force, compared to 0.5 inch strands, and 135% of the prestressing force, compared to 0.6 inch strands, could result …

A Framework For The Nationwide Multimode Transportation Demand Analysis, Hojong Baik Ph.D., Yuepeng Cui, Tao Li

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This study attempts to analyze the impact of traffic on the US highway system considering both passenger vehicles and trucks. For the analysis, a pseudo-dynamic traffic assignment model is proposed to estimate the time-dependent link flow from the intercity travelers on the network covering the continental U.S. A two-stage simulation scheme was designed to separate the intercity and non-intercity travelers involved in the link flow. The fuel consumption and emissions from the intercity travelers are estimated based on data in Mobile, the emission model developed by EPA. The suggested methodology could be adopted in further deployment of a nationwide transportation …

Modeling Truck Speed In The Upstream Of One-Lane Two-Way Highway Work Zones: Implications On Reducing Truck-Related Crashes In Work Zones, Yeu Li, Yong Bai Ph.D., P.E., Steven D. Schrock, Thomas E. Mulinazzi

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Truck-related crashes constitute a major safety concern for government agencies, the construction industry, and the traveling public. Due to the rising needs in highway maintenance and construction, the number of work zones is increasing throughout the United States, while at the same time freight movement using trucks is also increasing nationwide. Developing effective safety countermeasures to reduce the truck-related crashes is a major challenge in front of the government agencies and the construction industry. The main objectives of this research project are to discover truck-related crash characteristics and to model the truck speeds in the upstream of one-lane two-way rural …

Impact Of Truck Loading On Design And Analysis Of Asphaltic Pavement Structures- Phase Ii, Yong-Rak Kim, Hoki Ban, Soohyok Im .

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

In this study, Schapery’s nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model is implemented into the commercial finite element (FE) software ABAQUS via user defined subroutine (user material, or UMAT) to analyze asphalt pavement subjected to heavy truck loads. Then, extensive creep-recovery tests are conducted at various stress levels and at two temperatures (30oC and 40oC) to obtain the stress- and temperature-dependent viscoelastic material properties of hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures. With the viscoelastic material properties characterized and the UMAT code, a typical pavement structure subjected to repeated heavy truck loads is modeled with the consideration of the effect of material nonlinearity with a …

Evaluation Of Ndor’S Actuated Advance Warning Systems, Justice Appiah Ph.D., P.E., Laurence Rilett Ph.D., P.E., Zifeng Wu

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Driver behavior within the dilemma zone can be a major safety concern at high-speed signalized intersections. The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) has developed and implemented an actuated advance warning (AAW) dilemma zone protection system. Although these systems have received positive reviews from the public—and commercial vehicle operators in particular—there has been no comprehensive analysis of their effects on safety and traffic operations. The focus of this research was to conduct a quantitative study to ascertain the efficacy of the NDOR advance warning system. First, crash records from before and after the implementation of the system at 26 intersections were …

Model For Predicting The Impact Upon Economic Development Resulting From Highway Improvement Projects, Eric Thompson, Kanou Comlavi, Mallory Dimmit

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) has an interest in integrating state economic development impact as another factor in prioritizing transportation investments. Such efforts require the development of a comprehensive model that can be used to estimate a consistent final measure of economic development impact that can be readily integrated into existing prioritization formulas. This report summarizes the efforts of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research (UNL-BBR) to develop such a model, by measuring the impact of expressway, viaduct, and other major investments projects around the state. Specifically, UNL-BBR developed an economic model to predict the economic impact …

Missouri Work Zone Capacity: Results Of Field Data Analysis, Ghulam Bham Ph.D., S. Hadi Khazraee

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This report presents the results of work zone field data analyzed on interstate highways in Missouri to determine the mean breakdown and queue-discharge flow rates as measures of capacity. Several days of traffic data collected at a work zone near Pacific, Missouri with a speed limit of 50 mph were analyzed in both the eastbound and westbound directions. As a result, a total of eleven breakdown events were identified using average speed profiles. The traffic flows prior to and after the onset of congestion were studied. Breakdown flow rates ranged between 1194 to 1404 vphpl, with an average of 1295 …

Roadside Grading Guidance - Phase I, Kevin D. Schrum, Francisco D. B. Albuquerque, Dean L. Sicking, Ronald K. Faller, John D. Reid

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Provisions for the design of roadside foreslopes are not readily available. As a result, engineering judgment is often employed. Unfortunately, this can lead to inconsistent designs, where, inevitably, some designs will be too costly and other designs will be too dangerous. Therefore guidance has been compiled to lend consistency to the design of these foreslopes while maintaining the most economical and safe design.

This guidance was prepared after conducting a benefit-cost analysis using the Roadside Safety Analysis Program (RSAP). A large test matrix was developed in an attempt to simulate the most possible scenarios, leaving interpolation to a minimum. However, …

Development Of Advanced Finite Element Material Models For Cable Barrier Wire Rope, John D. Reid, Karla A. Lechtenberg, Cody S. Stolle

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

An improved LS-DYNA model of ¾-in. (19-mm) diameter 3x7 wire rope commonly used in roadside cable guardrail installations has been developed. A Belytschko-Schwer beam element was selected along with material *MAT_166. Numerical noise was reduced using part stiffness damping with a coefficient of 2%, and frequency range damping with a coefficient of 12%. The optimum element length based on timestep, accuracy, and computational cost was determined to be between 0.4 and 0.8 in. (10-20 mm). Dynamic component tests were conducted on wire rope to determine material properties. These tests were simulated and the results compared to the physical tests. The …

Second Generation Precast Deck Panel (Nudeck) System, Maher K. Tadros Ph.D., P.E., Kromel E Hanna, George Morcous Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The majority of today’s bridge decks are built using cast-in-place concrete construction. This is due to the perceived low initial cost and constructor familiarity with the system. This research report describes the design, details, and construction of an innovative full-depth precast concrete bridge deck system – the Second Generation NUDECK (Nebraska University Deck). The quality of this system is far superior to castin- place construction. Cast-in-place concrete bridge decks experience cracking shortly after construction due to differential creep and shrinkage with the supporting beams. This leads to bridge deck deterioration; a problem that is not experienced with the virtually crack-free …

Safety Climate Of Commercial Vehicle Operation, Linda Ng Boyle Ph.D., Jeffrey Short

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Enhancing the safety culture within trucking and motor coach industries has become a key area of concern given the potential impact it has on crashes and overall safety. Many organizations recognize that safety is compromised if the culture within their organization does not promote safety. Unfortunately, the specifics of a good safety culture and the methods by which safety culture is fostered are relatively ambiguous. A key reason for this is the general lack of standardization of the highly qualitative term ―safety climate‖ within the trucking and motor coach industries. A survey was completed by 31 organizations within these industries …

Developing A Sustainable Freight Transportation Framework With The Consideration Of Improving Safety And Minimizing Carbon Emissions, Margaret Rita Neff, Yong Bai, Steven Schrock, Thomas E. Mulinazzi

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Despite the difficulties of the American economy in recent years the transportation sector continues to expand. Freight transportation alone has been projected to increase enormously even if the economy as a whole only manages a very moderate growth. Not only does freight transportation use a large percentage of resources but it contributes significantly to America’s share of carbon emissions and affects the safety of the transportation system and all its users. These problems are only expected to increase as the volume of freight transportation is already reaching the limit of the American transportation infrastructure’s capacity and demand continues to increase. …

Improving Freight Fire Safety: Analysis And Testing Of Real Engine Conditions To Progress Development Of Mist-Controlling Additives For Fire Mitigation, Albert Rathner Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The formation of a fuel mist resulting from high shear stresses acting on the fuel during violent sloshing and tank rupture under the energy of a crash severely increases the occurrence and intensity of fires in transportation related accidents. In order to minimize such crash-induced fires, adding long chained polymers to diesel fuel was proposed to arrest the break-up of diesel into a fine mist. Such polymers with specifically engineered properties are intended to impart non-Newtonian characteristics to diesel, which would then alter its flow behavior under the applied shear stresses. As a first step in this direction, calculations are …

Mitigating Wind Induced Truck Crashes, Thomas E. Mulinazzi, Steven Schrock Ph.D., P.E.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Dangerous weather and high wind in particular, is a common contributing factor in truck crashes. High wind speeds have been documented as a perennial cause of truck crashes in Kansas and other Great Plains states. The possibility of reducing such crashes, combined with the installation of dynamic message signs along Interstate 70, created an opportunity for further research. To this end, crash data were obtained from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Accident Records System for all heavy vehicle crashes on I-70 that involved strong winds. The data were analyzed to determine the correlations between the vehicle and freight characteristics, crash …