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Since roadside litter comes in all shapes and sizes, removing it from Ohio’s highway drainage system has traditionally been a manual job. Hoping to find more efficient, productive and cost-effective options, researchers evaluated several types of vacuum-based machines that warrant further investigation and identified several practices that can be immediately implemented to improve current collection efforts.

Read the report: Mitigating Storm Drainage System Impacts From Litter and Debris, March 2020.

Image source: Ohio DOT

Reviewing other states’ practices, researchers at Purdue University have identified a list of promising options to improve the identification, construction and performance of patches in composite pavements.

Read the report: Best Practices for Patching Composite Pavements, January 2020.

Image source: Virginia Department of Transportation

The Federal Highway Administration will host a virtual seminar from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern on December 17, 2020, to discuss full depth reclamation (FDR).

Webinar topics will range from project selection to construction to quality control. Presenters will also address FDR best practices and tricks of the trade.

Register with your @dot.gov e-mail address or external collaboration account. If you do not have an account, you will be asked to request one to complete registration and attend the event.

Image source: FHWA

Earlier this year, researchers completed the first phase of an effort to help refine Iowa DOT’s current bridge management decision-making program. Focusing on bridge decks, the proposed framework provides a ranked list of alternative maintenance strategies for individual bridges, approximating cost, service life, and risk as part of the evaluation. Next steps would be to fully develop the framework into a web- or PC-based tool.

Read the report: Bridge Deck Preservation Portal – Phase 1, February 2020.

Image source: Matt Turner (CC BY 2.0)

The Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Roadside Maintenance Operations (AKR20) will be presenting a webinar on December 1, 2020 to highlight some of the current realities with pollinator habitat on highway transportation rights of way.

Agenda (all times Eastern):

1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. Introduction and Background (Jennifer Hopwood, Xerces Society; and Scott Lucas, Committee Chair, Ohio DOT)
1:10 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Monarch Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement on Energy and Transportation Lands – Effects on Highway Maintenance Practice (Kris Gade, Arizona DOT)
1:30 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Pollinator Site Selection and Preparation Practices (Stephanie Dobbs, Illinois DOT)
1:50 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. Lessons Learned from Public-Private Partnerships and Roadside Enhancement (Jessica Oh, Minnesota DOT)
2:10 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Question and Answer Panel Discussion

This event is hosted by the Washington State DOT Research Office on the GoToWebinar Platform. Register.

Image source: Washington State DOT (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)