The purpose of this research is to use existing travel model software to generate a cost effective truck trip table that will simulate existing truck trips of the state highway system.

ERES Consultants Division of Applied Research Associates, Inc. is finalizing the development of the 2002 Guide for Design of New and Rehabilitated Structures through NCHRP Project 1-37A. The 2002 Guide incorporates mechanistic-empirical pavement design principles and allows highway agencies to develop cost-effective and reliable designs by systematically considering climate, material properties, construction variability, and traffic to predict pavement performance. This design process is a total departure from the process utilized in the current AASHTO design procedure, requiring the designer to make trial selection of materials and layer thicknesses and evaluating their performance under projected loadings over the design life of the pavement. The objective of this study is to implement the 2002 Design Guide for Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT.) The following issues will be addressed in this study: (1) provide for training of Design Guide users and other stakeholders; (2) develop and execute a plan for securing the appropriate design input data on material and traffic characterization, and other design inputs; (3) conduct sensitivity analyses and make comparisons of 2002 designs with current procedure; and (4) develop and execute a plan for calibration of Guide performance and distress models.

The objective of this research is to develop a method to determine or estimate the binder grade of RAP mixtures from the properties of the mixture itself.

Transportation engineers often study patterns for routine daily travel: to work, to school, for social activities and errands. In this project an experienced interdisciplinary team tackles the issue of sustainable transportation in the context of tourism. The researchers propose a model built on a matrix-based approach to define varying levels of sustainability where "indicators" are organized into a three-fold framework of environmental, social, and economic considerations. A range of "standards" for these indicators is arrayed across the matrix. Researchers are focusing on three types of geography where tourism travel is significant: tourist towns, scenic corridors and national parks. By incorporating indicators and standards a Level of Service (LOS) style metric can be extended to tourist travel. Researchers are also considering marketing aspects of tourist travel behavior. Provision of more sustainable transportation such as a certified Green Coach is hypothesized to not only affect tourist travel decisions but to also provide public education and community/economic development.

Steel bars can be coated with enamels or glass to reduce or eliminate the tendency of steel corrosion in various applications, such as reinforced concrete (RC) decks, beams and columns. The chemical bond between enamel and steel materials is a key to make an enamel-coated steel corrosion free. Therefore, it is essential to characterize the mechanical and bonding properties of enamel-coated steels. To show competitiveness, the performance and cost of enamel-coated steel bars must be compared with those of the current technology such as epoxy reinforcing steel bars. In various applications of an enamel-coated steel bar, potential limit states include cracking and spalling of enamel coatings, surface impact damage of coatings, corrosion of steel components, and debonding of enamel from its coated steel bar. The proposed study is aimed at quantifying the ruggedness of enamel coatings and their bonding with steel and concrete. In a short term, the objectives of this particular study are to demonstrate that enamel-coated steel bars are comparable to conventional steel bars in mechanical properties and demonstrate that they are superior to epoxy bars in field handling and less susceptible to impact damage. The specific scope of work includes:  Cracking and spalling tests of enamel coatings with tensile specimens in order to understand the levels of the tensile deformation in steel bars that correspond to cracking of the enamel materials and their spalling off the steel bars, respectively.  Impact resistance tests of enamel coatings with the projectile impact on enamel coated steel bars and on epoxy coated bars.  Toughness tests of enamel-coated steel bars to document the minimum ratio of bent bars or the minimum number of bending cycles applied on bent bars before cracking.  Thermal tests for the compatibility between enamel and steel with tensile specimens.

No summary provided.

The main objectives of this proposed project was to identify the characteristics of highway crashes by teenage/young drivers in Kansas and to identify most effective countermeasures in addressing the safety of this vulnerable group. In doing so, the factors that contribute towards increased crash severity of young drivers will also be identified.

Departments of Transportation (DOT) spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on design, construction, and rehabilitation of asphalt pavements every year. Most of the design procedures are based on 1986 and 1993 AASHTO design guides which are primarily empirical in nature. This guide was developed on the basis of field tests conducted in Illinois in the 1960's. Results from these field tests are not applicable for a different climatic region, and also for today's traffic and construction materials. Furthermore, significant changes in layer properties occur as a result of change in seasons, and it is critical that such changes are determined, documented, and considered properly for design, construction, and load restrictions. Although the mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedure has been in use in many forms for a long time, the recently developed Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Software (MEPDS, NCHRP, 2004) and Guide (MEPDG, NCHRP, 2004, (henceforth referred to as the 2002 Design Guide) represent the results of the first comprehensive national-level effort for implementation of this procedure in the US. The MEPDG is a comprehensive reference guide for the MEPDS, including information on flexible and rigid pavement design. It discusses all applicable variables involved with the design of roadway structures, including the material properties of HMA, base, and sub base layers. The guide incorporates discussions on the causes and practical methods of prevention of commonly experienced distresses. Steps for each process, applicable equations, some default values, and background information regarding the results of each test are included in the guide. The MEPDS can be used to simulate pavement structures with various options and inputs for relevant volumetric and stiffness properties. Using this software, engineers have the ability to determine the effect of using different types of materials through simulations and hence determine the optimum combination of materials and structure. The most important property needed for HMA is its stiffness. HMA stiffness is affected significantly by temperature and time of loading, and is determined by its properties such as gradation and type of asphalt. To account for the response of the HMA under different conditions, it is suggested that a master curve be developed at a reference temperature of 70oF. The specific parameter suggested for representing the stiffness of HMA is its dynamic modulus,?which is defined as the absolute value of the complex modulus calculated by dividing the maximum (peak to peak) stress by the recoverable (peak to peak) axial strain from a material subjected to a sinusoidal loading, where complex modulus, E* is defined as a complex number that defines the relationship between stress and strain for a linear viscoelastic material. The 2002 Pavement Design Guide covers both asphalt and concrete pavement design. These designs use algorithms based upon variables such as climate, anticipated traffic loadings, existing pavement structure, properties of the materials to be used in the pavement as well as base and sub-base properties to compute required pavement thicknesses to provide optimal pavement performance. The 2002 Pavement Design Guide has three levels of pavement design. Level 3 requires the least amount of laboratory testing of the pavement materials and would generally be used for pavements in areas with the least amounts of traffic. Most of the data that would be used for a Level 3 pavement design would be based upon default values. Level 2 increases the amount of physical testing that is required and reduces the number of default values required to be used in the pavement design. Level 1 pavement designs require the greatest amount of testing to be performed. This includes performing the dynamic modulus testing on the proposed materials to be used for the HMA pavement. The objective of this research is to test commonly used HMA mixtures throughout New England to determine their respective moduli. The results of this testing will be:  Used to determine if there is a significant difference between dynamic modulus values for materials from throughout the region.  Used to compare the dynamic modulus of lab produced mixes and plant produced mixes.  Compared against the master curves derived by performing the reduced testing as outlined by Bonaquist and Christensen. his will reduce the number of temperatures as well as the number of frequencies tested. If this process correlates well with the full set testing master curves, it will reduce the amount of time required to conduct the testing.  Compared against the predicted moduli obtained by using the Witczak Predictive Model and the Hirsh Model. If there is a strong correlation between the tested and predicted values. then this would provide a reasonable value for the dynamic modulus for most HMA designs in the 2002 Pavement Design Guide.

Missouri S&T will acquire electrical resistivity tomography data and self-potential data at selected locations on the Lake Sherwood earth fill dam. These geophysical data will be processed, analyzed and interpreted with the objective of locating and mapping seepage pathways that might compromise the integrity of the earth fill dam. The main project deliverable will be a map showing the location of the key and identified seepage pathways.

Due to the high political and monetary expenses associated with access management strategies, stakeholders in the highway improvement process want a way to measure the effectiveness of these strategies. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) dashboard provides diverse information about Virginia's highway system such as the number of roadway fatalities, the cost of recent improvements, and the condition of the pavement. Although important, these existing performance measures do not provide the information needed to judge the effectiveness of access management strategies which are beginning to receive emphasis from the Department. The purpose of this project is to identify performance measures that can be used to evaluate access management programs and, if appropriate, to develop a method of integrating these measures into VDOT's dashboard. The project will focus on the selection of appropriate performance measures and the validation of their applicability and usefulness. While testing select Performance Measures will be conducted on a pilot basis, statewide implementation is beyond the project scope.