Innovation Database

Litter is the number one complaint that the Utah Department of Transportation receives. This campaign, which was launched in February 2024, replaces the agency's Adopt a Highway program. There are no signs or contracts, and groups can uses the website to easily volunteer to clean up a roadside in need.

New York State DOT worked closely with a vendor to develop this guide rail equipment, which costs less than a truck-mounted pounder.. In most cases, this equipment will do everything a truck can do, but because it’s mounted to a loader it can be used where a truck cannot.

The GRT Loader/Driver Attachment Model UTSLIP6 uses the same boom assembly as the UTMD650 Maintenance Machine. It has a hydraulic demolition hammer for post driving, and a quick coupler that runs off the loader’s auxiliary hydraulic circuit.

Virginia DOT's brine equipment was rusting out, so the agency decided to rent water trucks to apply the brine and developed its own spray attachment in-house.

Controlled Modulus Columns or concrete inclusions are installed in areas of mucky or unstable soils to prevent a roadbed from settling. A drilling rig bores a hole on the down stroke from a large excavator type machine, then on the upstroke of the rig - concrete is injected uniformly into the bore hole creating a solid footing for roadbeds that does not settle over time. Our project used 736 CMC's to achieve roadbed stability.

Each year, Colorado DOT's Pavement Management Services group publishes a list of roadways recommended for treatment, from chip sealing to full reconstruction.

To better understand where patching is most frequently needed, and to identify which repairs can be completed quickly, the agency began exporting its maintenance activity data -- including location (route and mile post), materials and equipment used, staff time, and costs -- into the Power BI platform. The software produces a dashboard that allows users to create and view efforts and costs of various repair scenarios.

MaineDOT developed a Power App to track and catalog innovations. The app allows users to sort and view innovations and includes photos and details to explain the need for the innovation and its background.

Connecticut DOT uses rechargeable lighted vests for workers in work zones. Vests are USB rechargeable, and a charge lasts an entire shift.

Black (non-visible) light enhances reflectivity in work zones but doesn't interfere with drivers.

A digital system that provides alerts to public mapping systems so that drivers are aware of the presence of work zones.

North Dakota DOT offers two training sessions per year for District personnel to obtain technical training for summer and winter highway maintenance activities. The training is necessary as part of professional development for Transportation Technicians to move up in classification status. The training sessions are held in the spring and fall, and each session consists of 40 hours over five days. Training is held at Camp Grafton, a National Guard Training site, where new and existing operators receive a combination of classroom and hands-on training.

Spring Academy (usually held in early May) addresses traffic control, pavement and bridge preservation and maintenance, and pavement micro surfacing, pothole patching and crack sealing, and tractors and mowers operations.

Fall Academy (usually held in early October) addresses snow and ice control, plow and equipment operations, and truck maintenance.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is piloting a push camera to inspect culverts. The agency started its culvert asset management program (CAMP) about five years ago to manage its system of 50,000 culvert pipes. Approximately 10% of the culverts in the state are uninspectable, and this camera will allow inspections and provide photo documentation when it’s difficult or when an emergency arises. The camera is small and portable, weighing about 40 lbs, and features LED illumination, a touch screen and an efficient portable power supply. The total cost for the portable camera and accessories is about $27,000.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation developed its own pavement management system using Microsoft Power BI. This system is optimized for the agency's needs and will be integrated with a vendor-built system.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation recently implemented a tractor lease program in the northwest and southeast regions. The program involves approximately 35-40 new tractors for the agency to use, which will then be traded in and sold on the secondary market.

South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has recently reclassified its staff to improve the structure. Pay changes associated with this modification, as well as calculated increases based on the length of employment with SCDOT, were implemented.

When clearing snow from four-lane highways, the North Dakota Department of Transportation experienced issues with snow building up on vehicle tires. Soucy Tracks can be installed on tractors the agency already owns to provide greater traction and prevent the vehicle from sinking in soft soils or snow.

iCone report work zone data directly to Waze navigation systems to help keep drivers and maintenance workers in work zones safer.

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers the opportunity to make tedious and repetitive tasks more efficient. One example where AI could be used is in compiling state government policies and manuals in one place, where users can ask AI what they're looking for without having to spend time searching for themselves. Gener8tor Skills is a virtual training program that allows participants to receive access to curriculum and training in high-demand skills.

There are remote areas in Idaho where internet access isn't available. Some remote sheds are two weeks on and two weeks off, and communications between sheds is limited. Starlink is a low-Earth orbit satellite network that can provide a significant improvement over the current service in these areas. It's also less expensive -- in some cases significantly less -- than the current circuits and services ITD uses and could be used for temporary applications like emergencies.

ITD maintenance crews work in all types of weather, including low-visibility conditions. During winter, it can be challenging to keep ice from accumulating on snowplow windshields. ITD tested heated windshield wipers on two snowplow. The Everblades model contains heating elements within the wipers to keep the windshield clear, and installation only takes half an hour using basic tools. These worked so well that it was a no-brainer to purchase and install them on all of ITD's plows. Each kit costs approximately $160.

The RetroTek is a retroreflectivity monitor that mounts to the front of a standard vehicle that the Utah Department of Transportation will use to meet the Federal Highway Administration's retroreflectivity rule that will go into effect in September of 2026. It can also be used to conduct post-construction inspections and measure stripe width. The equipment costs approximately $150k.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is in the process of replacing its tractor-mounted over-the-fence-mowers with excavators with brush heads. As the existing fleet ages, the agency is shifting from one-sized-fits-all equipment to equipment that is more varied.

The Maryland Department of Transportation is exploring this innovation that allows a maintenance workers to place traffic cones safely and efficiently while buckled to the bed of the truck.

In Indiana, the majority of cable barrier repairs along state-managed roads are performed by contractors, which is expensive and poses liability questions. To provide its own maintenance crews with the tools needed to perform the repairs, the Indiana Department of Transportation developed cable repair kits, which may consists of a cable barrier rail spreader, post puller, and cable barrier tensioning winch depending on a location's specific needs.

High tension cable barriers can be dangerous to repair by hand. This hydraulic spreader is one of two types of mechanical options MDOT has recently purchased to repair its Brifen High Tension Cable Barriers. This spreader, produced by the same manufacturer as the cable barrier, runs on a lithium ion battery and can help maintenance crews make repairs quickly and safely.

This cordless tool can be used to repair high tension cable barriers. It is one of two types of mechanical options MDOT has recently purchased to repair its Brifen High Tension Cable Barriers. This spreader uses a 28-volt Milwaukee battery to help maintenance crews make repairs quickly and safely.

Like other agencies, the Ohio Department of Transportation has a shortage of workers, especially during the summer months. The automated flaggers can be attached to a standard maintenance vehicle and towed to wherever traffic management help is needed. Drivers also seem to respond better to the equipment than to human flaggers.

The cost of two units is approximately $21,350.

The In-Cab Notification System provides urgent information to drivers of commercial vehicles as they travel along the roadway. The Illinois Department of Transportation is also exploring options to expand the system to also notify drivers of low bridge clearances, inclement weather, and other potential hazards.

This heavy vehicle acts as a temporary barrier wall to shield maintenance crews working within the roadway.

Commercial vehicles operated by a safe carrier could be allowed to bypass the weigh station.

This product can be used at a weigh station to generate a 3D view of a truck. It measures the truck's length, width, and height, and because it's linked to the agency's permit system it can ensure the truck adheres to permit requirements.

MoDOT lacked a comprehensive system to collect and share important safety data while at the same time improving our data collection process for claims and injuries. We needed a way for every employee to understand how their work unit was doing at working safely compared to others. The same was true for our District and State leadership teams. Countless hours were spent combining spreadsheets to get what a dashboard could give us with a click of a mouse. This innovation consists of simple, yet sophisticated dashboards with safety related visuals to aid employees and leadership in making important safety decisions. We began by assembling a Statewide Team to ensure we had input from all stakeholders.​ The team identified 10 core reporting elements that were used to build fast and efficient reporting visuals. Users now have several complex and sophisticated dashboards to quickly view critical safety data from the State level all the way down to each Org. This innovation also includes a new interface with MoDOT U that notifies supervisors when employees do not have the required safety training. The MMS dashboards are now considered a one-stop shop for safety observations.

This innovation is an online store that allows you to purchase items from previous innovations tool and equipment showcases. This store was set up as an easier, more user friendly way to purchase and organize orders for not only the purchaser but us as the manager.

This innovation is recruiting efforts geared towards high schools, including email campaigns and attending high school lunches, as well as college career fair events. Students are informed about how MoDOT supports its employees through the College Employment Training program, CDL training and equipment need to test in, providing PPE so safety equipment is not an out-of-pocket expense for employees, and the Public Loan Forgiveness program.

The guardrail on call contract has been through several administrators and procedures over the years. Previously we had a contact in each of the construction offices. That person was responsible for collecting the information to issue a work order and send to the JOC administrator. Since we are notified of damaged guardrail by multiple sources, there were times when the construction office contact was notified and the contract administrator was also notified of the same damage, then both offices would attempt to collect the needed information. Another issue was when MoDOT maintenance channelized damaged guardrail and notified the JOC administrator, then additional MoDOT staff would need to take the time and travel to the same location to collect the needed information to issue a work order. Additionally, there was confusion who to contact when staff changed for the JOC administrator or construction office contacts. Now we still receive notifications from multiple sources however having the reporting centralized at one email address, we can identify duplicate notifications and not send staff unnecessarily. With the guidance provided, maintenance staff have stepped up and directly sent the needed information to the JOC administrator, reducing a step and saving time.

This innovation replaces the Type I hard hats with a better option to better protect our employees.

As we mow our right of ways we are often in brush and tree limbs. This guard wraps around the tractor and cabs to protect the paint, plastic, fiberglass and the lights. As the tractor approaches the low hanging limbs it forces the limbs to go up and over the top of the tractor instead of scratching the paint or damaging the body of the tractor. It also protects the sides of the body of the tractor.

This innovation consists of outfitting XHD trucks with 14’ mid mount wing as an alternative to tow plows. To be able to operate now only requires Class B CDL versus a Class A license for tow plows.

The Safety Observer Team is to aid our field teams by providing high quality observations of all maintenance activities to ensure team members go home safe each day. This team is to be composed of select expert volunteers from various MoDOT Divisions. The team will provide feedback based on observations, to help employees and supervisors improve execution of safety practices.

The Pallet Pal 360 is a simple, automatic load leveler that uses a system of springs and shock absorbers to lower and raise loads as boxes are added or removed from pallets. A turntable top allows nearside loading and unloading. No power or air supply is required. Pallet loads can be up to 4,500 pounds can easily be handled by the Pallet Pal 360 Spring pallet leveler.

The Limb Beaver is a limb saw that attaches to a skid steer or tractor that can be used to cut limbs as well as brush along the right of way. It can reach up and cut limbs as high as 26 foot above the ground and anything that is up to an eight-inch diameter.

The Lane Shark is designed to trim trees, brush, and hedges and mow around box culverts. This will also allow to mow at certain slopes that are over three to one. It is basically like the ones that mount on grader or the side of a tractor but at a much lower cost. The innovation has eleven different cutting positions and is set up as a quick attachment on the front of the loader on our John Deere Tractor.

This innovation keeps snow and ice from building up on the wipers so they can continue working.

This innovation uses 72” fiberglass marker stakes that are bright orange with a 9” highly reflective strip for 360- degree visibility. These are popular for driveway markers, but we found them very useful to mark concrete culverts and other hazardous areas for mowing operations. They are drilled and glued into the concrete walls for stability with a simple 7/16” drill bit and a dash of gorilla glue caulking. The rods are flexible and lightweight for easy transporting and installing.

The Uni-Wheel was designed to help with lines being messed up due to potholes, and/or rumbles on either side of the road. This also includes the centerline as many roads have rumbles and potholes in the center. By removing one of the carriage wheels there is no reason to make adjustments to the carriages when encountering either of these obstacles. In the past, the operator would need to take their eye off the whole operation for a few minutes to adjust the wheel. A lot can happen in a few minutes. It also eliminated some down time, as we were having to deal with flat tires on the carriage.

During winter operations, we have had trouble in the past with snow packing in between the windshield and the hood. On freightliner trucks, the spot where the snow packs is also where the intake is for the heating and air system. Not being able to circulate properly caused the windows to be constantly be fogged up and iced over. We would have to pull over and clean the snow out and clear the windows. This innovation simply attaches over the top of the vent and curves around so that snow cannot clog the intake and the air system can function properly. We also added some heater hoses around the device to keep the snow from building up underneath the new intake opening. Once we did this, we were very pleased with the results and had no issues moving forward.

This innovation installed mirrors to a stationary location that does not move with bucket arms. The arms move freely up and down without hitting the mirrors. It is easily mounted by removing existing pin bolt on boss, sliding the arm over the boss and bolting on with a longer nut and bolt.

This innovation consists of mounting a holder for our spraying gun on our ranger door. By doing this we are able to avoid spilling chemicals inside the ranger and on our clothes. This also limits the amount of stretching we have to do to reach where the gun was initially.

When working in a noisy environment near an open lane of traffic it is important to always conduct work as safe as possible. This innovation is a device that hooks on top of two channelizer handles and creates a physical barrier, so workers do not accidentally walk out into an open lane when they are working close to traffic.

When mowing the right of way sometimes foreign objects can hit the back glass causing it to break. The glass then ends up in the cab with the operator. This is a safety issue for the operator as well as an expense to MoDOT and down time till we can get another glass. The old rock guard was mounted to the lift arms and did not always cover the rear glass while going up and down slopes. With this style it is always protected and only has one mounting point instead of two.

At our shed we wanted to take initiative to avoid sprayers falling off the back of rangers. If a sprayer would fall off it could cause damage to the sprayer itself, but also runs the risk of chemicals being spilled causing run-off. This innovation consisted of cutting a metal plate that matched the width and length of the ranger bed and welded the plate and four tabs in each corner then welded those tabs to the sprayer itself. After welding was completed, a few bolts were added to add extra stability.

This innovation is designed to remove the linear drain grates and scoop debris from the drains at most MoDOT sheds.

After years of trying to bind down V-Beds by battling the tarp arm on the driver’s side we decided to find a way to move the ratcheting device on the left side.

A problem our shed kept running into was the freightliners we were using were not allowing the defrost or heat to work correctly, leading to a build up of ice on our windshields. Using PVC guttering we came up with an innovation that free flows air, designed to keep ice from blocking your cab air intake so the defroster will work.

Our shed currently has a 4-door dump truck with a short-sided dump bed that has the capabilities of lowering the sides down to gain better access to the bed of the truck. When you lower the sides of the bed, the sides hit and rest on the rear tires, causing the tire to rub if the truck is in motion.

This innovation is an upgraded version of our previous concrete trailer. This upgraded setup includes the rock and sand mix in the dump bed as well as the ability to carry all other materials and tools necessary to remove and replace the concrete section in need of repair.

This innovation is designed to clean the dirt from signposts to reuse them.

This innovation is a light that goes on cinder beds. These spreader lights originally come on the truck and are mounted underneath the chute on the bed. The problem with the location is that during the summer months these lights are damaged from pull pavers and chip spreaders. The lights either get broken or the wires get pulled out almost every year, forcing us to replace the lights when the winter months come around. The light has been moved to the leg of the cinder bed. The light is mounted in a position that will illuminate the ground and can be seen in the driver’s mirror. The wire for the light was ran along with the hydraulic hoses that go to the cinder bed. Next to the hydraulic hook up on the side of the truck is where the trailer plug was mounted.

This innovation is a permanent attachment for a motor grader wing used for winging back snow to prevent scalping of the ground and also helps prevent the wing from digging and pulling the grader in the ditch. This makes winging ditches a smoother operation and helps saves on wear on blades and roadside edges. There is also no need to go back to clean up and reseed scalped areas.

In Ohio, there was a lack of consistency with the type and amount of equipment in each county and district. Justifications for equipment through hour meters or fueling records were not accurate in reflecting how often a piece of equipment was truly needed. With the rising cost of bread and butter equipment, such as dump trucks, ODOT needed budget increases when rest of the fleet was not optimized. Through the creation of the Fleet Optimization Group, hurdles to sharing equipment across county and district lines were removed. Days of use records are employed to justify where equipment should be located throughout the state and identify opportunities for sharing. The group also identified additional equipment to be put on cycled rotation. The team conducts a statewide review that looks at requests for fleet additions, which prevents purchases of equipment that could potentially sit idle most of the time.

Fallen Schedule 40/80 posts are often too heavy and dangerous for one person to put back up alone. This innovation is a base plate, which can be installed by one person, that can temporarily hold up the posts.

Stainless tanks and truck beds are subject to rusting. Using a muriatic acid wash to clean them saves time and money, and makes them like new.

Forklift tines pose a safety hazard to people as they can easily be tripped over if they go unnoticed. CDOT painted the tips of forklift tines with brightly colored yellow or orange paint to reduce the tripping hazard.

Workers had to enter travel lanes to retrieve heavy rumble strips and manually load them onto the truck. This innovation created a device that pulls the rumble strip onto the truck.

In Michigan, field staff have had a difficult time getting to invasive weeds along the roads. A Michigan DOT District constructed a boom sprayer that attaches to a tractor used for roadside spraying. The boom sprayer attachment allows maintenance staff to reach up to 40 feet off of the side of the road. Four of the boom sprayer attachments are being used around the state.

The California Department of Transportation has added high visibility gaiters for highway workers to wear to improve safety at night or when there is low visibility. The gaiters, available from Cordova Safety, have a Velcro closure and are worn over the lower half of a pant leg to increase visibility in the field. The cost is $7 per gaiter or $14 for a pair. If workers don't currently have reflective striping on their pants, these gaiters can be used instead. The gaiters have been very popular with workers in the field.

The California Department of Transportation had pilot tested the HALO Light by Illumagear. Information can be found here: https://illumagear.com/

We distributed several devices out to the field to try while performing night work and working in inclement weather. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive so the decision was made to stock these devices in our main warehouse. The HALO Light fits snugly on the employee's hard hat and has four light modes: Halo, HI-Alert, Task, Dim. It is light weight, built tough to survive in rough work environments, rechargeable, and allows the employee to see and be seen.

By using an Inter Agency Agreement, Caltrans coordinates with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to utilize officers on site at highway maintenance projects. MAZEEP is used to reduce the potential for traffic collisions, reduce traffic speeds to the posted speed limits, and to increase safety of the workers and motorists by influencing drivers to maintain their speed reductions through work zones and its potential for identification of DUI’s. MAZEEP is also used to increase the safety of workers in roadside activities such as encampment abatement, litter removal, and guardrail repair.

Tack is an asphalt mixture that promotes bonding between old, weathered roadway surfaces and new pavement; it also can be useful in filling potholes.
However, mixing, transporting, and applying tack manually had always been a slow process for the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH). Crews had
to take the tack to job sites in five-gallon buckets, mix it onsite, and apply it to potholes using paint brushes or brooms. Using less than $200 worth of materials from their shop—including a metal drum, gas valves, and water hoses—the Division created a tack coat sprayer that allows workers to mix, haul, and spray up to 55 gallons of tack.

In Wisconsin, county highway departments maintain county and State road systems, including interstates. Highway staff often must set up and remove temporary traffic controls on high-speed, multi-lane roads where the risk of serious injury—or worse—is greatly elevated. Marathon County wanted to prioritize worker safety while still being able to remove drums from highway work zones efficiently. They used a barrel truck to reduce worker exposure to live traffic while lowering costs by decreasing crew size. While the truck drives slowly in reverse from the end of the work zone to the beginning, a mounted retrieval arm steers the barrels toward the back of the truck, where a mechanism lifts and loads them automatically.

The Town of Hamburg has a population of approximately 60,000 people, as well as 320 lane-miles of roadways. The Hamburg Highway Department regularly receives a high volume of calls and implemented a Resident Concern Tracking process to address problems, questions, and concerns in a timely, efficient manner.

To correctly position temporary road markings for chip seals, Otter Tail Minnesota County highway crew members had to bend over repeatedly and get on and off
of a pickup truck’s tailgate continuously. With the help of a spring-loaded applicator or “sticky stump,” road crews can install chip seal markers twice as fast with the same amount of manpower. They made the handheld tool with round bar stock and flat iron. Chip seal markers can be clipped into the end of the tool, then pressed onto asphalt where required.

For years, Kenton County relied on an old, overused fire truck from its Emergency Management department to clean surfaces and structures in a local park located on a flood plain. The truck leaked badly and was very inefficient, so county employees created a high-pressure spray bar that can be mounted for use on multiple types of trucks. They also found a way to rinse areas that are inaccessible by service vehicles.

The Hopper is used to apply stone along roadway shoulders. It is designed with sloped sides, a Teflon liner, and a vibrator to ensure material flows down the chute and onto the shoulder. It also has a fully adjustable plate to accommodate elevation differences from the hard-surfaced road to the shoulder.

The remote-controlled Knuckle Boom Crane was developed by the Ohio Department of Transportation DOT to help maintenance crews safely and efficiently remove the debris that accumulates around bridge piers in larger rivers. With six optional attachments, certified operators can easily cut, grab and remove tree limbs and other blockages as needed.

Video of Ohio DOT's November 30, 2021 webinar and Q-and-A on the Knuckle Boom Crane

<a href="https://vimeo.com/653715691"&gt;
<img alt="Video" src="https://maintainroads.org/wp-content/uploads/Thumbnail-image.jpg&quot;
width=400" height="224"></a>

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This tool allows a single maintenance crew member to quickly and easily level a tilted sign within seconds.

With one end of the tool on the ground and the other clamped to the sign's post, the technician simply flips a switch and holds the tool in place while the actuator pushes the sign to its upright position.

Clearing roadway debris can be dangerous for maintenance workers. This innovative truck attachment was designed to keep workers safe while saving time and money by quickly clearing roadway hazards without the need to exit the vehicle.

The truck is modified with a drop-down skid plate that can be controlled from inside the vehicle, as well as a camera that allows the operator to see the debris in the roadway and safely collect it or push it out of the way.

This rack is designed to fit into the bed of a single-axel dump truck. It can quickly be installed or removed as needed, giving road maintenance workers the flexibility to place and collect work zone devices, such as signs, barrels and cones, from the safety of the moving vehicle.

Made for a three-person crew, the rack improves safety by reducing the need for workers to walk among traffic.

Truck-Weight Education Program. Established in 2001, institutionalized in 2007, program enhancements continue in 2021. Includes educational opportunities toward truck manufacturers, haulers, road authorities & enforcement.

ODOT's safety program reviewed corridors to find locations with higher rates of wrong-way crashes and is piloting the TraffiCalm system on IR-71 to determine the effectiveness of the system in reducing wrong-way incidents.

TraffiCalm's Wrong Way Warning System has been implemented on 23 exit ramps along IR-71 in the City of Cincinnati. The system utilizes LED-enhanced signs and detection, camera, and communications equipment to detect wrong-way drivers entering an exit ramp. As a driver enters the exit ramp going the wrong way, flashing LED-enhanced Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs are activated to catch the driver's attention. If the driver ignores the flashing signs and continues down the exit ramp, then the cameras will record a short video clip and automatically email it to ODOT's Traffic Management Center (TMC.) The TMC will attempt to verify if the driver has entered the interstate mainline and notify the 911 communication centers. ODOT has been using this system since October 2019.

ODOT let 2 construction projects install the system along the corridor. The approximate average cost to install the system by a contractor on an exit ramp is $75,000. The typical installation is 2 LED-enhanced Wrong Way sign installations and 2 LED-enhanced Do Not Enter signs installations per ramp. Detection can be detector loops or non-intrusive detection such as radar, and ODOT's corridor is a mix of loops and radar. Both methods are reliable but detector loops can require a little more fine-tuning during setup to detect a wrong-way vehicle.
Power can be hardwired, if available, or solar, and ODOT's corridor is a mix of hardwire and solar. Both methods seem to be adequate for powering the system.

The construction contracts did include 2 years of TraffiCalm's support and will have to be renewed at that time. Field testing required minimal effort to verify the system was working properly. Sensors were triggered by project personnel to verify that signs were activated and notifications were being sent to the proper recipients. Fine-tuning of detector sensitivity and position was completed by the contractor, and TraffiCalm had to tweak their algorithm. Upon activation, any false alarm notifications were reviewed and corrected within a couple of weeks by TraffiCalm.

The challenges were limited to tweaking detector operation, camera orientation, and reviewing false alarms.

The Solar Gore Point Warning Flasher provides a strong visual indication to motorists of an approaching gore point. By utilizing the flashing beacons motorists are alerted of an upcoming hazard from a much greater distance. This greatly reduces the chance of the driver making a last minute decision of trying to change lanes at high speeds that too often result in a collision with the gore point attenuation protections system.

Removing or raising T-posts can be a time consuming and sometimes labor intensive project. Generally a chain and a loader can be used to do this but can also be dangerous. T-posts are typically used for CDOT right of way fence and sometimes for control measures. Not only is it difficult to remove a single post from deep in the ground, but tearing out an entire line of fencing also requires the removal of many other posts.

The simple design of CDOTs T-post puller allows for the safe handling of the posts and can be repeated down an entire fence line. The idea is to attach a piece of angle iron to the back side of the post and secure it with a guardrail bolt that locks onto the front of the post. A chain is attached to the puller and the chain can then be attached to a loader bucket. The loader then does all of the work to slowly raise or remove the post. The smallness of the puller allows it to be placed between the wires. By using equipment that is already in the field, this eliminates the need for manual removal without incurring additional costs and labor. The chain is pulled upward which focuses the force of the chain to be parallel to the post in a safe and controlled manner, with the ground person at a safe distance from the chain and loader.

By using equipment that is already in the field, this eliminates the need for manual removal without incurring additional costs and labor. The chain is pulled upward which focuses the force of the chain to be parallel to the post in a safe and controlled manner, with the ground person at a safe distance from the chain and loader.

The purpose of the magnet is to remove nails and other metal objects from the roadway and shoulders. Magneto is designed to remain on the vehicle for easy use. Simply fold the magnet down when needed for picking up debris. When not in use, fold the magnet into the upright position.

Development of the Service form using ODOT's Service Now application. The District 08 Garage has been working with our Columbus IT folks to create a new electronic service request form which will replace the old paper forms. This will allow our internal customers to request services from the District Garage utilizing their computers. The electronic form will ensure the District Garage knows that a vehicle is expected for repair/maintenance. Comments/updates can be added to this form which will trigger e-mails to all parties keeping our customers updated on the progress of the requested services. Once the ticket is closed this will notify the customer that the vehicle is ready for pickup. Eventually the intention is to role this out to all of our District County Garages to assist in tracking vehicle maintenance/repair services.

The District Garage is responsible for the upkeep on our fleet and supports the county garages as necessary. This creates a high level of repair/maintenance needs at times. The old paper system lead to gaps in communication at times causing potential delays in repairs/service to vehicles. Customers were not always updated in a timely manner as to the disposition of the identified services (parts ordering, additional work required, additional time needed, etc.). Our District Equipment Manager identified areas of improvement and came up with the idea for this electronic form.

In order to simplify scheduling and maximize use, a system was put in place for reserving both pool cars and heavy equipment, utilizing a calendar system. Built on our existing SharePoint infrastructure, the system allows for the simple reservation of both pool cars as well as shared heavy equipment across the District. Workflows are in place to allow the current owner of the piece of equipment to approve, reject or modify a reservation. The workflows also allow constant communication in the form of email whenever a reservation is requested, approved, modified or rejected.

Utilized existing SharePoint Infrastructure, workflows were built utilizing SharePoint Designer. Currently, the system is only taking reservations for pool cars and a few pieces of heavy equipment. As we move forward with use, more equipment will be added. Staff will need to remember to schedule their own equipment when it is being used in their county. This will be a change in process as more equipment is added to the system.

Automated flagger assistance devices (AFADs) are mechanically operated temporary traffic control devices that function under the same operational principles as traditional flagging.

Maintenance staff follow Caltrans Standard Plan T13 for one-way traffic control. The AFAD must be parked completely off the travel way, so shoulder area is needed. Also, flagger personnel must be stationed adjacent to the AFAD and visible to approaching motorists. The flagger must maintain adequate communications with crews in the work zone in case a vehicle does not stop at the flagging station.

We tested different AFADs in the field for a few years and gathered data from the maintenance forces using the product prior to making a purchase selection. These units are available and accepted my many State DOTs.

Modified mowing ahead sign on follow vehicle to make it more visible. The idea came from a monthly talk with the employees called Value my Ideas. The need was to increase safety for mowing operations.

We used a Tractor Ahead sign that hangs on the tailgate of the follow vehicle for the mowers and added a couple of flashing led lights to the sign to make it more visible for traffic. We have been using this since May of 2019.

We took a 30" X 48" Slow Tractor Ahead and added two 1" wide by 4 1/2 Long led lights to the sign, 3 foot square metal tubing for back of sign, 10" long X 6" high square metal to go into the hitch, and a cord that runs from the sign to the trailer plug. Forty dollars for the led lights, twenty-five dollars for the trailer plug cord.

This has been thoroughly field tested in our County mowing operations and can easily be implemented.

We sent two auto-mechanics to Highland County to go over their trucks and loaders before they had their snow & ice inspection. It was a process that lasted about 5 hours.

This was to assist the Highland County mechanics to go over the county's fleet to see if they had missed anything that needed to be addressed. It was a good process that not only help them out but they shared some good ideas also that the mechanics. Clinton Co. Mechanics inspected the fleet of equipment at their garage in Hillsboro, Ohio.