Ideas and Insights Exchanged at September No Boundaries Meeting September 30, 2021 - No Boundaries held its second peer exchange of 2021 from September 14-15 with an in-person meeting in Denver that included a simultaneous virtual option for remote participants.
Utah Explores the Feasibility of Alternative Fuel Maintenance Vehicles September 22, 2021 - Vehicles powered with alternative fuels offer an attractive option for a transportation agency looking to address the carbon emissions of its maintenance fleet. However, deciding which vehicles and technologies to choose can be complicated from both financial and technical perspectives.
To make the process of replacing its maintenance vehicles easier, the Utah Department of Transportation developed a mathematical model that considers the lifetime costs of the vehicles. The result show which types of vehicles should be purchased and salvaged and in what year, maximizing the total fleet costs.
Read the report: Investigating the Feasibility of Introducing Alternative Fuel Vehicles Into a Maintenance Fleet, June 2021.
Image source: Rhode Island Department of Administration
Webinar to Highlight Pavement Preservation Specifications September 7, 2021 - The Transportation Research Board will host the webinar, “Chip Seals, Microsurfacing, and Fog Seals Specifications” on Tuesday, September 14 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
The program will present the findings from a recent study and guide, and discussions will include how the guide can provide complete construction specifications or supplement existing pavement preservation practices.
Arizona Evaluates Options to Extend Service Life of Pavement Markings August 25, 2021 - Weather, temperature fluctuations and other climate factors can have a significant impact on the service life of a roadway’s markings, sometimes reducing the paint’s performance by years and increasing maintenance needs beyond what a transportation agency had originally budgeted.
To find ways to improve the markings’ performance, Arizona DOT investigated the successful practices of other agencies facing similar challenges in comparably diverse conditions. The research led to a variety of recommendations to help pavement markings last longer.
Read the report: Evaluation of Hardened Paint Pavement Markings, May 2020.
Road Maintenance Workers Give Positive Reviews for Driverless Attenuators August 10, 2021 - While automated truck-mounted attenuators, or ATMAs, can help keep human drivers out of high-risk road maintenance situations, little was known about how maintenance crews feel about the technology or whether workers trust this driverless vehicle to keep them safe in the field.
Surveying more than a dozen workers with varying levels of experience working alongside ATMAs, researchers for Colorado DOT found that as workers’ training and experience with the vehicles increase, so do their confidence and trust in the technology’s capabilities.
Read the report: Evaluating the Human-Automated Maintenance Vehicle Interaction for Improved Safety and Facilitating Long-Term Trust, May 2021.
Webinar Showcases Methods for Evaluating Unpaved Roads August 3, 2021 - The Transportation Research Board will host the webinar, “Evaluating and Rating Unsurfaced Roads” on Wednesday, August 25 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
The session aims to help agencies establish realistic budgets and cost-effective systems for maintaining unsurfaced roads, which comprise approximately a third of all roads in the U.S.
Learn more and register.
Image source: FHWA
FHWA Showcases Solutions for Managing Abundant Bridge Inspection Data July 27, 2021 - Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can make it easier and safer to inspect bridges, but managing the massive amounts of data collected during the process can pose a challenge.
To provide guidance and help those agencies weighing the benefits of incorporating UAS technology into their bridge inspection practices, the Federal Highway Administration has highlighted the successful strategies of some early-adopting states.
Read the technical brief: Effective Practices for Managing Bridge Inspection Data Captured by UAS, March 2021.
Image source: Michigan DOT
South Carolina Gathers Pavement Data at Traffic Speeds to Identify Needs July 20, 2021 - While the pavement quality index can effectively identify issues at the surface, it is not always a good indicator of a pavement’s underlying structural condition.
Analyzing nearly 1,000 miles of pavement condition data gathered with a Traffic Speed Deflectometer, South Carolina DOT used a new classification methodology to identify those roads in need of treatment.
Read the report: Utilization of Traffic Speed Deflectometer for Pavement Management, May 2021.
Image source: South Carolina DOT
California Quantifies Maintenance Operations to Improve Efficiency and Worker Safety July 13, 2021 - Road and asset maintenance work encompasses a wide array of individual operations that range in difficulty and potential risk to worker safety.
To help agencies better understand the time and hazards associated with typical tasks, the California Department of Transportation has devised both a Difficulty Index and Collision Risk Index. These indexes provide quantifiable data that agencies can use to improve scheduling efficiency and increase worker safety.
Read the report: Research to Develop Performance Measures for Maintenance of Roadside Features, March 2021.
Image source: Indiana DOT
Webinar Identifies the Real Costs of Asset Maintenance July 2, 2021 - The Transportation Research Board will host the webinar, “What is the True Cost of Infrastructure Assets Maintenance?” on Wednesday, July 7 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
This program will discuss decision-support tools such as life-cycle planning and maintenance management systems and how they can be used with actual data to make the most of limited budgets and resources.
Learn more and register.
Image source: FHWA