Transportation Intelligence

Volume 1 Number 4

June 2003

Design & Construction

Maintenance

Development & Management

Safety

Urban

Recent Reports

Feedback

Environment
A Natural Choice
Controlling erosion and reestablishing vegetation are key components in most road and highway construction or rehabilitation projects. In recent years, an alternative erosion control mechanism - compost - has been gaining in popularity. (Public Roads, v66 #5, p. 2-5)

Maintenance
Guidelines for Sealing and Filling Cracks in Asphalt Concrete Pavement
This best practice provides municipal engineers with updated guidelines for crack treatment in asphalt concrete (AC) based on the Canadian experience. A quality control checklist for material installation is provided. (National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices)

Pavements
A New Era for Permeable Pavements
New technologies and materials are prompting a re-evaluation of permeable pavements. Open-graded friction courses allow water to drain through the driving or friction course, reducing tire spray and hydroplaning, and they also reduce tire noise. However, the cost is 30-40% higher than conventional asphalt mixes. (Better Roads, April 2003, p. 28-32).

Design and Construction
Seismic Base-Isolated Bridge Subjected to Strong Ground Motion
The main concept of seismic base isolation is to uncouple the structure from the damaging action of an earthquake by using special devices placed under the structure. In June 2000 two major earth­quakes struck South Iceland close to the Thjorsa River Bridge. The bridge survived the earthquakes without any serious damage and was open for traffic immediately after the earthquakes.. (Nordic Road and Transport Research, #1 2003, p. 10-11)

Where the Rail Meets the Road
A tunneling method used in Russia to run a highway beneath a train track could prove beneficial. Officials from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the Transportation Research Center at the University of Kentucky visited a Russian construction site where engineers have found a way to build a roadway-rail line crossing that uses innovative soft-earth tunneling techniques. (Public Roads, March/April 2003, p. 44-47)

Inventory of Comparative Decking Projects (4.1 MB PDF file - 62 p.)
Decking is the process of constructing a usable structural space above a new or existing roadway, rail line, water body or other transportation system. A deck is also often referred to as a lid, cap, platform, cut and cover tunnel, cantilever, or bridge widening. This inventory is not intended to be an exhaustive report on all the decking projects throughout the world, nor a comprehensive case study, but rather a guide to some of the projects built to date or currently under construction.. (I-5 Decking Research Study, City of Sacramento, 2001)

Subgrade Moisture Conditions for Pavement Design
The subgrade provides ultimate support for the pavement and imposed traffic loads. Quantifying the level of support provided by the subgrade is the most important aspect of determining pavement design thickness. Factors that influence support include soil type, material density and moisture content, both during construction and in service. (Transearch New Zealand, May 2003, p.5-6)

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Maintenance

Process for Selecting Strategies for Rehabilitation of Rigid Pavements (3.52 MB PDF file - 129 p.)
State highway agencies have a range of engineering processes that focus on pavement condition and causes of pavement distresses to identify appropriate pavement treatments. Traffic and construction management processes, nonpavement-related, are also commonly considered to identify how the pavement treatment is accomplished. Little information is available on how to integrate these nonpavement-related processes into the maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction strategy selection process for rigid pavements. (NCHRP Web Document 45, June 2002, 129 p.)

Timely Preventive Maintenance for Municipal Roads - A Primer
This best practice describes the main features of a preventive maintenance program for both flexible and rigid municipal pavements and the steps required for its implementation. This includes waterproofing pavement surfaces, draining the pavement structure and subgrade, strengthening deficient pavement sections and slowing the rate of deterioration. It also describes basic premises for performing preventive maintenance, the expected benefits, identification of the most deserving pavement sections, the need for ongoing support and assessment, and the importance of dedicated funding. (National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, September 2002, 38 p.)

Innovative Solutions to Buried Portland Cement Concrete Roadways Interim Report - Third Year, May 2003
Maine has hundreds of miles of highway that were constructed of Portland Cement Concrete forty or more years ago. Since that time these same highways have been paved and widened with hot bituminous pavements, resulting in a sharp decrease in support for the bituminous pavement at the shoulders. It is the intent of this experimental project to explore various shoulder treatments to increase support of the extended roadway and hopefully decrease or eliminate deterioration of the shoulder pavement. (Maine DoT Technical Report 99-11, January 2003) (Borrow this item from TIS)

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Performance-Based Contracting for the Highway Construction Industry - An Evaluation of the Use of Innovative Contracting and Performance Specification in Highway Construction (1.04 MB PDF file - 49 p.)
Battelle completed a report studying the traditional methods of highway construction and the benefits of using performance-based contracting. Although data comparing the use of innovative contracting against traditional procurement is relatively rare, the case studies reviewed by Battelle found that the use of performance-based contracting can result in as much as 50 percent time reduction in project duration and cost savings ranging from 6 to 40 percent. (Batelle, February 2002, 49 p.)

Valuation of Travel Time and Traveller Information in Multimodal Personal Travel Under Uncertainty
The value of travel time plays an important role in cost benefit analysis of infrastructure projects. However, the issue of uncertainty on travel times and the implications this has for estimations of travel time values has received much less attention in the literature. This paper compares various modelling approaches to address uncertainty and demonstrates that ignoring uncertainty issues may easily lead to distorted estimates of values of travel time. (Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 03-036/3, May 2003, 24 p.)

Using GPS to Collect Journey Time Information
Journey times are traditionally collected using either number plate matching techniques or moving observer techniques. This article describes a study to establish whether global positioning technology can be used to collect journey time data in the urban environment in an accurate and routine manner. (Traffic Engineering and Control, April 2003, p.126-128, 130-31)(Request this article from TIS)

Organization of Winter Maintenance in Belgium
In Belgium, the federal government retains responsibility for traffic rules and road safety, but the three regions hold responsibility for road design, construction, management and maintenance. This report describes how the system functions. (Belgian Road Research Centre Report)

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Safety

Comparison of Two Advance Signalling Systems Used on Canadian School Buses: Amber and Red Lights (2.7 MB PDF file - 106 p.)
This report compares two advance signalling systems used on school buses to alert motorists that the bus is about to stop: amber lights (eight-light system) and red lights (four-light system). It analyses the relative effectiveness of the two systems in reducing the speed of motorists travelling in the oncoming lane and preventing stopping violations. (Transport Canada Report TP 13903E, September 2002, 106 p.)

Synthesis of Safety for Traffic Operation (1.35 MB PDF file - 263 p.)
This Synthesis presents the best available evidence respecting the safety impacts of traffic operations and control strategies for Canadian practitioners. Only research and studies that report on crash occurrence, crash severity, or crash surrogates with a proven correlation to crashes are included. Overall the Synthesis should be used by the road safety professional to practice evidence-based road safety. (Transport Canada report, March 2003)

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Coordination of the public transport structure in the Madrid Metropolitan Area
In the last 20 years and for various reasons - essentially economic, but also related to quality of life - many people from Madrid have taken the decision to relocate to housing in the suburbs. Improvements to collective transport are another motive behind these changes in urban settlement patterns. (Public Transport International, March 2003)

Transport-Related Fringe Benefits: Implications for Commuting and Relocation
Fringe benefits of various kinds have become an essential element of modern labour market mechanisms. Firms offer transport-related fringe benefits such as transport subsidies (company cars, travel and parking subsidies) and relocation subsidies to job applicants. The spatial implications of these fringe benefits have hardly received any systematic attention thus far. (Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 02-063.3,June 2002, 16 p.)

Trams-Trains: Les chantiers et les projets avancent
Le tram-train deviendra bientôt une réalité en France avec les premiers coups de pioche des chantiers des réseaux de Mulhouse et de Strasbourg, le lancement de l'étude d'un réseau à Lille et à Bordeaux sans oublier les diverses possibilités de développement périurbain intégrées dans les nombreux projets de tramwasy urbains. C'est pourquoi la démarche des deux villes pionnières sera suivie avec intérêt par d'autres agglomérations alors que la gamme des solutions s'élargit. (Transport Public,May 2003, p.14-16, 18-21).(Request this item from TIS)

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Design & Construction

Construction of Utility Boxes in Pavements

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, December 2002, 32 p.

Development and Management

Ensuring Our Trust: Performance of State Highway Systems, 1984-2001, 12th Annual Report

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, February 10, 2003.

 

Urban

Restoration and Repair of Utility Boxes in Pavements

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, December 2002, 34 p.

Source and On-Site Controls for Municipal Drainage Systems

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, December 2002, 58 p.

Infiltration/Inflow Control/Reduction for Wastewater Collection Systems

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, March 2003, 35 p.

Deterioration and Inspection of Water Distribution Systems

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Best Practices, September 2002, 34 p.

Research and Development

Laboratory Evaluation of Waterborne Coatings on Steel

FHWA Office of Infrastructure R&D Report FHWA-RD-03-032, April 2003, 44 p.

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