AASHTO Journal, 29 August 2014 The Federal Highway Administration has made progress toward fully implementing safety provisions included in the 2012 MAP-21 surface transportation bill but the agency has much more to do, according to a new Office of Inspector General report released this week. According to the report, which was requested by House Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member…
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Final Report for NCHRP-IDEA Project 161:Tools for Determining Yield Stress of In-Service Gusset Plates explores a nondestructive testing device that can estimate the yield stress of bridge steel plates. Project: Project Information Project Number: 20-30/IDEA 161 Read the Report
The Missouri Department of Transportation has released a report that investigates the in-service behavior of hybrid composite beam bridges through quality control/quality assurance measures. Read the Report
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that summarizes the research for replacing a high-temperature grout fluidity test that was used to qualify post-tensioning grouts in post-tensioned bridge construction. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 15 August 2014 Image courtesy The Ohio River Bridges. The $2.3 billion project building a new Ohio River crossing between Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana will continue after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought to halt construction, alleging the project’s state partners – the Kentucky Transportation…
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) S2-R04-RR-1: Innovative Bridge Designs for Rapid Renewal documents the development of standardized approaches to designing and constructing complete bridge systems for rapid renewals. The report also describes a demonstration project on US 6 over the Keg Creek near Council Bluffs, Iowa that was completed in 2011 using the accelerated bridge construction…
AASHTO Journal, 8 August 2014 The well-publicized collapse of an interstate bridge north of Seattle last year was the result of “a series of deficiencies in a system intended to safeguard the passage of oversized loads over Washington State’s roadways” according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which released its final report on the incident last month. A truck…
The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that identifies procedures for designing bridges located on sites that are prone to liquefaction and lateral spreading. Read the Report
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that validates a barge-impact load prediction model for facilitating the design of bridges that can resist collisions by errant waterway vessels. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 25 July 2014 The Michigan Department of Transportation this month highlighted a bridge building innovation in a new YouTube video, which also serves to advocate for transportation investment to foster more innovations. In the video, MDOT showcases a bridge replacement over Plum Creek in Wayne County, the first MDOT bridge containing beams with no steel elements. This…
AASHTO Journal, 25 July 2014 Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe joined officials from the Virginia Department of Transportation last week announced plans to tackle a problematic point of congestion on one of Northern Virginia’s busiest interstates. McAuliffe and VDOT Secretary Aubrey Layne unveiled a proposal that would make several improvements to congestion-plagued I-66, including the delivery of three regular lanes…
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a report that determines chloride threshold values of post-tensioning strands that are exposed to chloride-contaminated grout on bridges. Read the Report
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 778: Bridge Stormwater Runoff Analysis and Treatment Options presents information and an analysis process for identifying cost-effective, pollution-reducing strategies for management of stormwater runoff from highway bridges. Read NCHRP Report 778
Better Roads, 17 July 2014 By James Jaillet, Associate Editor of OverdriveOnline.com The collapsed section of I-5 in Washington over the Skagit River. The bridge has since been repaired. The National Transportation Safety Board blames a “series of deficiencies” on the events that led to a truck with an oversized load striking a sway brace on the bridge last May and…
AASHTO Journal, 18 July 2014 Last December, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Mackinac Bridge Authority stalled scheduled toll hikes on the Mackinac Bridge due to department efficiencies—an announcement that was made again last week when the two entities announced they will forgo the scheduled toll increases “at least two more years.” Officials said the bridge did not…
The Colorado Department of Transportation has released a report that focuses on the relative performance of bridge deck sealers, which are commonly used on highway bridge decks. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 11 July 2014 Kansas Department of Transportation officials recently launched a new program that will assist the state’s agriculture industry by helping localities fund bridge fixes. KDOT’s $10 million program, designed to cut the amount of deficient bridges on local road systems throughout the state, will provide up to $120,000 to counties (and possibly other local jurisdictions)…
AASHTO Journal, 11 July 2014 The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet last week announced it had re-opened the Interstate 75 bridge over Lynn Camp Creek at the Laurel-Whitley county line, which had been closed for emergency repairs, on June 28, more than a month ahead of schedule and in time for the July 4th holiday weekend. “This is a great example…
The Missouri Department of Transportation has released a report that evaluates using fiber-reinforced, polyurethane (FRP) foams instead of honeycomb construction as the means to manufacture FRP bridge deck panels. Read the Report
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Final Report for NCHRP-IDEA 160: Super-Weathering Steel for Infrastructure Applications explores the development of new, low-cost steels with better weathering characteristics than those of current weathering steels. Project: Project Information Project Number: 20-30/IDEA 160 Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 27 June 2014 Residents in the Oklahoma communities of Purcell and Lexington are once again able to easily access surrounding communities now that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently reopened a bridge that had been closed for emergency repairs. The James C. Nance Bridge (or the US-77/SH-39 bridge), which spans the South Canadian River and connects the…
The Missouri Department of Transportation has released a report for developing pile resistance factors for load and resistance factor design (LRFD) of bridges based on pile load tests. Read the Report
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that considers the long-term durability of reinforced concrete structures with external chloride concentrations different than those at the permanently immersed, tidal, and splash zones of partially-immersed bridges. Read the Report
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that summarizes research on reproducing and determining the cause of soft grout, which can be found in post-tensioned ducts in bridges. Read the Report
The Oregon Department of Transportation has released a report that addresses hydro-acoustic impacts of pile driving on bridges so that highway projects remain in compliance with established noise level criteria. Read the Report
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 776: Bridge System Safety and Redundancy provides proposed revisions to the design philosophy section of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications. The following appendices are available for download: A1: Specifications A2: Commentary A3: Implementation Example for I-Girder System…
AASHTO Journal, 20 June 2014 Washington State Department of Transportation joined Seattle Tunnel Partners this week to announce specifics in the plan to repair Bertha, the world’s largest tunneling machine tasked with digging the State Route 99 Tunnel under Seattle. The machine, which is creating the tunnel as part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, was placed in the…
AASHTO Journal, 20 June 2014 South Carolina Department of Transportation officials announced Thursday four bridges that will be replaced, representing the first projects to receive revenue from ACT 98, a law passed last year that provides additional funding for bridge, resurfacing, and mainline interstate projects. Signed into law by Governor Nikki Haley one year ago, ACT 98 provides SCDOT…
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that explains the effect of bridges’ stress condition and environmental exposure on corrosion of post-tensioned strands during ungrouted periods. Read the Report
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that documents possible uses of embedded gauges and low-cost data collection systems that can monitor bridge foundations during and after construction. Read the Report
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