Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Optimizing Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Investments And Activities To Improve Safety And Increase Revenue Collections, Brian Howell, Jennifer Walton, Andrew Martin

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) owns and maintains 14 fixed weigh stations for commercial vehicle enforcement. The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is responsible for staffing these facilities to conduct enforcement, while KYTC is responsible for constructing and maintaining these facilities. Like many states, Kentucky has experienced a decline of enforcement personnel to operate weigh stations limiting its ability to conduct inspections for safety enforcement and revenue collection. This study analyzes three CMV facilities for their impact on safety enforcement and revenue collection and determines their viability for potential replacement. All three existing weigh stations in Hardin, Fulton, and Henderson counties …

Incorporating Speed Into Crash Modeling For Rural Two-Lane Highways, Fahmida Rahman

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Rural two-lane highways account for 76% in mileages of the total paved roads in the US. In Kentucky, these roads represent 85 % of the state-maintained mileages. Crashes on these roads account for 40% of all crashes, 47% of injury crashes, and 66% of fatal crashes on state-maintained roads. These statistics draw attention to the need to investigate the crashes on these roads. Several factors such as road geometries, traffic volume, human behavior, etc. contribute to crashes on a road. Recently, studies have identified speed as one of the key factors of crashes as well as the severity associated with …

Load And Pressure Distribution As A Function Of Dynamic Contact Stress At The Railroad Crosstie-Ballast Interface, Habib Abdil Unluoglu

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Excessive crosstie wear and abrasion and ballast wear and fouling are two of the fundamental problems contributing to inadequate railroad track performance. This adversely affects the attainment and long-term maintenance of desired track geometric requirements. The magnitudes and distribution of the stresses at the crosstie-ballast (CT-B) interface must be known to determine the stress distribution on the ballast. However, the stresses at the top of the ballast often vary significantly. This study examines a new approach to predicting dynamic contact pressures at the interface of crosstie and ballast using the ‘square wave theory.’ A data set of in-track CT-B interfacial …

Optimizing The Potential Of Highway Safety Investment, Riana Tanzen

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Highway safety management aims to prevent crashes and reduce the resulting frequency and severity within the limit of available resources. The identification of potentially hazardous sites and investment on safety treatments have been fundamental to fulfill this goal. However, having many highway safety improvement projects in hand, safety professionals need to evaluate several different alternatives and allocate the limited funds to the ones that would provide the highest return on investment. Hence, prioritizing the safety projects based on their potential to achieve the greatest safety benefit is crucial. Ineffective prioritization can distribute funds to locations with less potential for improvement …

Induced Travel Demand: Measuring The Contribution Of Additional Lane Miles On The Increase In U.S. Vehicle Miles Traveled From 1980 To 2019, Brandon Ivanchak

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Induced travel demand is the effect of increasing the amount of vehicle miles traveled because of an increase in roadway capacity. It is explained by the idea that increasing capacity makes driving on those roads more desirable, thereby causing more people to use them. In1962, Robert Downs postulated that “On urban commuter expressways, peak hour traffic congestion rises to meet maximum capacity,” referring to this as the law of peak hour traffic congestion. Since then, there have been ongoing debates about the effectiveness and environmental impact of roadway expansion projects, and efforts to quantify induced demand to inform those debates. …

Protocols And Architecture For Privacy-Preserving Authentication And Secure Message Dissemination In Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks, Shafika Showkat Moni

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

The rapid development in the automotive industry and wireless communication technologies have enhanced the popularity of Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). Today, the automobile industry is developing sophisticated sensors that can provide a wide range of assistive features, including accident avoidance, automatic lane tracking, semi-autonomous driving, suggested lane changes, and more. VANETs can provide drivers a safer and more comfortable driving experience, as well as many other useful services by leveraging such technological advancements. Even though this networking technology enables smart and autonomous driving, it also introduces a plethora of attack vectors. However, the main issues to be sorted out …

Best Practices For Performance Measurement In Transportation Operations And Maintenance, Bryan Gibson, Rachel Catchings, Chris Van Dyke, Steve Waddle, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Public agencies benefit from measuring their performance as it helps to focus employee and organizational activities. State departments of transportation have become more performance-oriented over the past two decades and routinely collect data on highway safety, infrastructure condition, system operations, project delivery, winter maintenance, transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and customer service. While the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) use performance measures in a variety of areas, the agency wants to adopt new metrics related to mobility and the responsiveness of maintenance operations. This report documents performance measurement strategies used at state transportation agencies throughout the country and proposes new performance …

A Review Of Kentucky’S Extended-Weight Hauling Programs, P. Gayle Marks, Jon Wilcoxson, Bryan Gibson, Chris Van Dyke, Andrew Martin, Jennifer Walton, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky established its Extended Weight Coal or Coal By-products Haul Road System (EWCHRS) to increase the state’s competitiveness within the coal industry and reduce financial burdens on coal haulers. A new extended-weight haul system for unrefined petroleum products will come online in 2022. To facilitate enforcement of weight limits throughout Kentucky, this report surveys literature on how overweight vehicles affect roads and bridges, describes statutes and regulations governing weight limits in the state, discusses policies and strategies used throughout the US to handle overweight vehicles, and makes recommendations for improving extended-weight policies in Kentucky. It is apparent that pavements and …

Assessment Of Deteriorated Structural Concrete To Provide Durable Repairs, Theodore Hopwood, Christopher Goff, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Most of the structural elements on Kentucky bridges are made of reinforced concrete. Many of these elements deteriorate as a result of corrosion of the reinforcing steel caused by carbonation and — primarily — applications of chlorides by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Corrosion of reinforcing steel is reviewed along with assessment procedures that leverage nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods and related laboratory and field tests. Several maintenance procedures are discussed, including the application of sealers and coatings, patch and major concrete repairs, and electrochemical methods. Incorporating NDE and test results into maintenance procedure selection is discussed. Recommendations are provided on …

Design Mythbusters, Christopher Van Dyke, Steve Waddle, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

When highway project designs depart from design values found in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Highway Design Manual and AASHTO’s A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, project managers at the agency must obtain either a design exception or design variance. While designers are more comfortable with exceptions and variances than they were 10 or 20 years ago, some hesitancy remains, especially among the Cabinet’s consultants. Misperceptions about what exceptions or variances entail or about their performance may underlie this reluctance. Exceptions and variances are best conceptualized as formal justifications for design decisions. Project managers merely need …

Crash Data Analysis Tool 2.0 Research Report And User Guide, Eric Green, Paul Ross

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

No abstract provided.

Improving Overweight And Over-Dimensional Logistics And Truck Routing, Jerry Kissick, Jerry Pigman, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In 2012, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Division of Motor Carriers (DMC) issued 98,196 overweight or over-dimensional (OW/OD) permits. To determine whether a route can accommodate an OW/OD vehicle, analysts must have current and accurate data on construction schedules, road conditions, and detour routes, among other factors. This study documents processes used by DMC for permitting and routing OW/OD vehicles. It includes detailed flowcharts that capture each aspect analysts follow during the decision-making process. As part of this project, state transportation agency representatives from states bordering Kentucky (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri) were interviewed to identify …

In-Cab Alert System For Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers, Brian Howell, Jennifer Walton, Jeeyen Koo

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In-cab telematic devices use an increasingly robust data platform and can be used to share safety alerts with other commercial vehicle drivers (CMV) drivers. Real-time alert data can come from state transportation agencies as well as from private companies. To address common quality and coordination issues among differing data sources, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) partnered with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and a private vendor, PrePass, to share its App used to send information to CMV drivers. The project demonstrated a proof of concept for the delivery of timely in-cab alerts to warn CMV drivers of approaching roadway hazards. …

Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts 2020, Eric Green, Paul Ross, Christopher Blackden, Michael Fields, Kenneth Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KENTUCKY’S TRAFFIC COLLISION FACTS report 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.

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky 2016-2020, Eric Green, Paul Ross, Christopher Blackden, Michael Fields, William Staats

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report documents analysis of traffic crash data in Kentucky. A primary objective of this study was to determine average crash statistics for Kentucky highways. Where used, rates were calculated for various highway types and for counties and cities. Difference criteria were used for exposure.

Average and critical numbers, SPFs, and crash rates were calculated for various highway types in rural and urban areas. These metrics rely on crashes identified on highways where Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) volumes were available. Data in this report may be used to help identify problem areas.

The other primary objective of this study …

2021 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Erin Lammers-Staats, Kenneth Agent, Eric Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of the survey summarized in this report was to establish a statewide safety belt usage rate in Kentucky for 2021. This rate can be compared to those determined from previous surveys. The 2021 statewide survey documents the continued effect associated with law enforcement, related education, and general public attitude.

Evaluating The Safety Cultures Of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Maintenance Crews, Ashtarout Ammar, Zamaan Al-Shabbani, Hala Nassereddine, Chris Van Dyke, Gabriel B. Dadi

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Highway work zones can be dangerous and unpredictable. Between 2003 and 2017, over 1,800 workers died on road construction sites. Eliminating injuries and deaths requires state transportation agencies to adopt robust safety cultures as there is a clear relationship between these cultures and worker behaviors. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is committed to improving safety performance by nurturing a positive safety climate among highway maintenance crews. To understand the safety cultures of KYTC maintenance crews, researchers administered a survey based on the Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT) developed by the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR). This is the …

Evaluation Of Liquid Deicing Materials For Winter Maintenance Applications, Erin Lammers-Staats

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Winter weather can often pose difficulties for transportation agencies as they work to clear roads of snow and ice quickly so that motorists can travel safely and efficiently. Kentucky has made efforts to maximize efficiency within its winter maintenance program by focusing on optimized equipment usage and personnel time management. In this study, KYTC evaluated anti-icers and how their performance compared to the current performance of brine and calcium chloride mixture. New brine additives claim to offer better results, but there is very little guidance about how to systematically evaluate new anti-icers. Researchers were tasked with developing a testing methodology …

Risk-Based Construction Inspection, Timothy Taylor, Shannon Rush, Steve Waddle, Hala Nassereddine, Ryan Griffith, Makram Bou Hatoum

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Retirements and other forms of attrition have reduced employment levels at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) over the past 20 years. Left in the wake of staff departures is a younger and more inexperienced workforce that shoulders numerous responsibilities. Although operations throughout the Cabinet have been affected by staff losses, construction inspection has suffered disproportionately. Strategies for mitigating the impacts of staff loss include robust knowledge management and risk-based construction inspection. This project developed several tools to help KYTC implement a risk-based construction inspection program, including (1) heat maps that qualitatively rate the levels of risk for different construction activities; …

Understanding And Efficiently Managing Right-To-Take Challenges In Kentucky, Pam Clay-Young, Steve Waddle, Bryan Gibson

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Executive Summary

Kentucky constitutional and statutory law requires that a fair process be in place to let a property owner challenge a condemnor’s right to acquire private property, including a right to appeal the initial decision. Property acquired by a condemnor must be for public use, and property owners have the right to an immediate and expedited hearing on right-to-take. Two of these requirements will remain in place regardless of statutory revisions: the requirement that property must be needed (i.e., not arbitrary) for public use, and the right to one appeal. Only an amendment(s) to the Kentucky Constitution would alter …

Economic And Environmental Benefits Of A Reduced Roadside Mowing Program For Kentucky Highways, Chris Van Dyke, Candice Wallace, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A growing number of state departments of transportation (DOTs) are introducing conservation mowing programs that aim to reduce the frequency of roadside mowing while expanding the footprint of pollinator habitat. Wanting to get a better handle on the utility conservation mowing, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) funded this study to explore the economic and environmental benefits that accrue from mowing less often. This report presents a synthesis of best conservation mowing practices based on a review of landscape management policies, programs, and procedures in use at 15 state DOTs. Most agencies divide the roadside into discrete management zones. While they …

Analysis Of Truck Weight Limit Regulations, P. Gayle Marks, Jon Wilcoxson, Bryan Gibson, Chris Van Dyke, Jennifer Walton, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In the United States vehicle weight limits are set by laws and regulations enacted at the state and federal levels. On interstates the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight is 80,000 lbs. States use different rules for permitting overdimensional and overweight (OD/OW) vehicles, and most have carve outs that exempt specific commodities from standard weight limits. This results in a complex legal and regulatory landscape that enforcement personnel can find difficult to negotiate. This report discusses strategies that can be adopted in the state of Kentucky to improve enforcement and mitigate infrastructure damage caused by OD/OW loads. After presenting a thorough …

Investigation Of Workflow Processes And Best Practices In Kentucky’S Cdl Program, Valerie Keathley-Helil, Andrew Martin, Brian Howell, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky’s Division of Driver Licensing maintains the driver history records for all licensed drivers in Kentucky. It serves as the state driver licensing agency and is the locus for meeting the federal CDL requirements under 49 CFR 384. Kentucky relies on FMCSA’s Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation (CDLPI) grant funding to subsidize salaries for Federally Funded Temporary Labor (FFTL). FFTLs verify and process documents as well as field phone calls from customers. DDL administrators say they cannot meet the CDL reporting timeframes without FFTL labor, but the agency is not able to fund temporary or full-time staff members on its …

Evaluation Of The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’S Maintenance Rating Program, Bryan Gibson, Rachel Catchings, Vinh Dao, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) relies on its Maintenance Rating Program (MRP) to systematically measure conditions on state-owned roads and rights of way. Every year, the Cabinet evaluates 300-400 road segments in each of its highway districts. Segments receive aggregate scores ranging from 0 to 100, with the target score being 80. This report appraises the MRP and discusses potential strategies for its improvement. Compared to asset management programs established at other state transportation agencies, KYTC’s performs quite well. Between 1999 and 2019, MRP data show that scores improved across all road types. In 2011, the average score for all …

Updating Congestion Performance Measures For Shift 2022, Mei Chen, Xu Zhang, Eugene Antwi Boasiako, Fahmida Rahman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Executive Summary

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has adopted a data-driven decision-making process to allocate funds for highway improvement projects. This process — Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow (SHIFT) — requires that candidate projects be scored on five critical metrics: safety, asset management, congestion, economic growth, and benefit/cost analysis. The congestion metric is vehicle hours of delay (VHD), which was first developed for the SHIFT 2020 cycle (1). For SHIFT 2022, VHD is estimated using probe speed data acquired for 166,527 directional miles of Kentucky highways.

This report summarizes analyses performed using 2018-2019 HERE speed data, and …

Integration Of Utility Engineering, Coordination, And Highway Design, Tim Taylor, Roy Sturgill, Kenny Franklin, Jeff Jasper, Shani A. Montes Victorio

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

State transportation agencies (STAs) strive to deliver highway projects on time and on budget. Utility relocations are frequently cited as a primary reason for delays. This report describes a new approach for enhancing the alignment of utility coordination and design. Researchers crafted this new approach based on the findings of a literature review, an evaluation of how utility coordination milestones and project development milestones are currently aligned at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), and the experiences of other STAs. KYTC should use this guidance to facilitate implementation of the new approach and an associated Utility Coordination Training and Certification Program. …

Project Management Research Support, Bryan Gibson, Jeff Jasper, Robin Baskette, Christopher Van Dyke, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Like many state transportation agencies, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) faces unprecedented challenges related to project development and management. Staff losses due to attrition and retirements have resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge. Early- to mid-career project managers (PMs) shoulder more responsibilities than ever while being expected to deliver over 600 successful projects each year. To improve the efficiency of project management, PMs must be able to access effective project management concepts, tools, and strategies which are field validated. Recognizing the importance of strengthening its project management capabilities, the Cabinet asked the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) to provide ongoing …

Intersection Redesign For Network Resilience And Safety, Antonio Pratelli, Pietro Leandri, Rosaria Aiello, Reginald R. Souleyrette

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes a procedure for improving the resilience of roadway networks. A methodology is outlined that develops a time-dependent and performance-based resilience index. This methodology was applied to an Italian road, with the aim of optimizing intersections that are critical due to inadequate baseline capacity. The methodology uses a calibrated microscopic traffic model (using Aimsun™) whereby average delay at intersection approaches are estimated by an analytical model. From the simulation, average speed over time is obtained for each approach. These values in turn are used as inputs for calculating each intersection’s resilience index. The procedure allows the identification of …

Initial Project Estimates For Design, Right Of Way, Utilities, And Construction, Christopher Van Dyke, Bryan Gibson, Jeff Jasper, Bob Lewis, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Estimating the cost of highway construction projects is among the more challenging tasks state transportation agencies routinely deal with. Developing accurate estimates is a particularly fraught exercise during the planning and scoping phases, when projects have not been thoroughly defined and information on specifics is in short supply. While the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has used several methodologies to generate initial cost estimates for design, right of way, utilities, and construction (DRUC), approaches vary between the agency’s districts. This report proposes a framework for estimating DRUC-related expenses that can be adopted throughout the state. Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers developed …

Non-Nuclear Methods For Compaction Control Of Unbound Soil And Granular Layers, Brad Rister, Charlie Sun, Kean H. Ashurst Jr., Tim Jones, Christopher Van Dyke

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In highway construction, the nuclear density gauge (NDG) is the industry standard for measuring soil density and moisture. They are widely used at state transportation agencies, however, because of their reliance on radiation, NDGs are expensive to maintain and have unique storage requirements. Operators must also earn specialized certifications and adhere to rigorous safety protocols. Equipment manufacturers have developed several non-nuclear density gauges which are more user friendly, however, their accuracy has sometimes not equaled NDGs. This comparative study evaluated the performance of the eGauge (a relatively new device) to NDGs. Over 100 soil density and moisture measurements were collected …