MTC Asset Newsletter Fall 2007

Research

In Progress

Management of Rural Expressways for Improved Safety and Operational Performance

Tom Maze, Iowa State University

The Iowa DOT recently formed an interoffice expressway task force to develop a value engineering approach to improve the safety and operational performance of rural expressways. This project will support that team and help them satisfy some very specific objectives.

This research will develop a database and process for identifying problem locations, create a "toolbox" for taking safety into account when designing expressway corridors, design an expressway safety workshop, and assist in developing guidelines for varying access controls on rural expressway corridors and Intergovernmental Corridor Management Agreements.

Although the work for the task force will focus on Iowa, the report, technology transfer workshop, and other products will be applicable elsewhere.

Achieving Efficiency in Meeting Safety, Operations, Maintenance, and Air Quality Goals

Shauna Hallmark, Iowa State University

Significant transportation agency resources are allocated to meet maintenance, operations, safety, and air quality goals. There are a number of areas of overlap between capital improvements to improve operations, maintenance, safety, and air quality goals. These areas of overlap provide a rich opportunity to leverage funds and use resources more cost-effectively while meeting agency goals in two or more areas.

The goal of this research is to develop analytical tools that can be used to more efficiently evaluate common capital projects that are used to meet agency goals in one area (operations, safety, air quality, or maintenance) but also have a significant impact on the others.

Bridge Deck Integrity Measurements for Asset Management

Brent Rosenblad, University of Missouri - Columbia

Early detection of subsurface deterioration in bridge decks is necessary to forestall the development of dangerous conditions and to plan for repairs and replacement. Currently, non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods applied to this problem require lane closures to get direct access to the bridge deck.

The objective of this project is to develop and evaluate an NDE method that uses sensors placed on the underside of the bridge deck and active or passive noise excited from the surface to assess the condition of the deck. Successful development will provide critical data for establishing a deck condition rating that characterizes the present condition of the bridge deck and can be used to estimate remaining life and repair and rehabilitation requirements.

A Decision Support System for Optimal Depot and Fleet Management

Wooseung Jang, University of Missouri - Columbia

Most departments of transportation have multiple maintenance depots or sheds to provide public services such as winter snow removal, roadway striping, mowing, and herbicide application. Each depot has a fleet of trucks to cover an assigned service sector. The location of depots as well as the fleet assignment is usually determined by the managers and engineers based on their experience, not on scientific evaluation processes.

This research proposes, through systems analysis, to design a decision support system that provides department of transportation decision makers with efficient management tools for depot location and fleet assignment operations.

Remote Health Monitoring for Asset Management

Glenn Washer, University of Missouri - Columbia

A key challenge to managing fixed assets such as bridges and other transportation infrastructure is monitoring their condition over time. The goal of this project is to develop remote health monitoring technology that will provide managers and owners with timely information on the condition of civil infrastructure assets.

This will be achieved through the development of an instrumented pile that will provide real-time data on bridge scour and seismic activity, allowing for the remote monitoring of bridge conditions by key managers and engineers.

Bridge Vulnerability Assessment and Mitigation against Explosions

Sam Kiger, University of Missouri - Columbia

Building on current and past efforts, the goal of this project is to develop procedures to assess bridges' vulnerability to explosions (terrorist's bomb attacks) and concepts for mitigation and structural protection of bridges.

Assessing the Spatial and Temporal Differences in Midwestern Crashes Relative to National Data: Implications for Public Policy Decisions

Linda Boyle, University of Iowa

A great deal of research related to crashes has been done at the national level. However, data at the national level are typically done using the General Estimate System, which encompasses a representative sample of the crashes in the United States, not the full population.

The goal of this research is to determine if temporal and spatial effects observed in the national data can be generalized to differences unique to Iowa and regions encompassed by the Midwest Transportation Consortium.

Synthesis Study: Effectiveness of Safety Corridor Programs in Region 7 States

Charles Nemmers, University of Missouri-Columbia

Several states have developed safety corridor programs. This project will develop a synthesis of safety corridor programs conducted in the United States and identify the most promising practices and programs to share among the states (focus on Region 7 states). The emphasis will be on integrating enforcement, education, engineering and other disciplines.

Iowa Pavement Marking and Sign Management System

Neal Hawkins, Iowa State University

Iowa DOT is committed to infrastructure management and understands the significant potential benefits from implementing practical management systems. This work will help the Iowa DOT with the development of their pavement marking and sign management systems.

The Spatial Scale of Clustering of Motor Vehicle Crash Types and Appropriate Countermeasures

Tim Strauss, University of Northern Iowa

Crashes occur for a variety of reasons and can be attributed to human, environmental (roadway/roadside), and vehicular factors, or to any combination of these. In this project, a variety of crash types will be analyzed separately to assess their degree of clustering and identify possible countermeasures to address each crash types.

Integration of Asset Management Systems with Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)

J. Erik Loehr, University of Missouri- Columbia

Asset management principles and systems share common goals and objectives with load and resistance factor design (LRFD) techniques. Despite similar goals and objectives, there has to date been no attempt to integrate, or even relate, these techniques. The project seeks to integrate the techniques specifically for the design and management of earth slopes and earth retention.

Development of a Comprehensive Framework for Managing Decisions Regarding Highway Bypasses

David J. Plazak, Iowa State University

Highway bypasses allow through traffic to travel around communities with minimal time delays. Since 1964, Iowa has constructed bypasses to divert traffic around almost 50 cities and towns. Even though considerable research has been done on the economic impacts of bypasses, there is a surprising lack of research on the safety impacts. This project is intended to fill the gaps in the research literature and will result in a comprehensive assessment of bypass impacts and a policy framework regarding when it is prudent to bypass.

Completed

Research Managing Early Adoption of Biodiesel by Commercial Fleets

Song-Charng Kong, Iowa State University

Commercial carriers are being confronted with a variety of decisions regarding longterm petroleum dependency and near-term state and federal policies aimed at increasing the use and content of biodiesel. The purpose of this study is to help members of the Iowa Motor Truck Association identify problems regarding the use of bio-diesel blends in trucks.

The participating trucking company provided two trucks that ran on similar routes, one truck using regular diesel fuel (B0) and the other one using a 2% biodiesel blend (B2). Complete mileage data and special maintenance concerns were recorded over a period of approximately one year. Iowa State University researchers analyzed and interpreted the field data in terms of fuel economy, variations in maintenance, and seasonal performance. Data acquired from July 2006 through May 2007 were analyzed.

Special attention was paid to the concern of fuel filter plugging resulting from using B2. During the period of this study, the B0 truck accumulated approximately 160,000 miles and the B2 truck accumulated about 120,000 miles. Field results indicate that both fuels provided similar miles per gallon numbers, even for different trip lengths. The average miles per gallon were 6.0 for the B0 truck and 6.1 for the B2 truck.

Overall, the fuel economies of the two engines using B0 and B2 were very similar. In addition, no fuel filter plugging incidents in the B2 truck were found, even during the winter months. The final data are encouraging in terms of using B2 as an alternative fuel for trucks.

For the full project report, see www.ctre. iastate.edu/mtc/projects/biodiesel.htm.

Secondary Accident Data Fusion for Assessing Long-Term Performance of Transportation Systems

Carlos Sun, University of Missouri - Columbia

Secondary accidents are accidents which result from an existing primary incident. Many times these accidents occur at the end of queues that resulted from the primary incident. Quickly opening the highway after an incident reduces the potential for secondary accidents. It is easy then to see the value of analyzing secondary accidents when considering traffic incident management strategies such as intelligent transportation systems.

In order to use secondary accidents as a performance measure, it is necessary to first separate such accidents from the rest of the database. Since the effect of primary accidents can persist long after a roadway has been cleared, it is difficult to determine at the scene of an accident if it is due to recurrent or non-recurrent congestion. By analyzing individual traffic reports in detail, the reporting times of the incident and the dynamic locations of the back of the queue can be found. However, the intranet reports currently need to be processed significantly to accomplish this.

This project proposes the use of data fusion of intranet traffic reports with the accident database, and will result in a near-term technology for analyzing the safety impacts of transportation assets.

For more information, see www.ctre. iastate.edu/mtc/projects/2005-04.htm.