The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s Infrastructure an overall score of D+ in its 2017 Report. Roads and bridges were given scores of D and C+ respectively. Read the Full Report
PIARC Newsletter No. 55 is now available. Access the Internet Version
AASHTO Journal, 28 August 2015 At the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Department of Transportation is recalling how the storm left more than $1 billion in damages to the state’s transportation infrastructure, including destruction of two major bridges crossing bays along the Gulf Coast. The agency has also highlighted the rebuilding efforts it launched to bring the…
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 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
AASHTO Journal, 6 December 2013 Drivers utilizing Michigan’s Zilwaukee Bridge in Saginaw County received some welcome news last month when Michigan Department of Transportation announced it was re-opening all lanes of the bridge, some of which had been closed for repairs, on Nov. 23, weeks ahead of schedule. The project will extend and maximize the service life of the…
AASHTO’s quarterly maintenance newsletter is now available. The newsletter contains information related to: Equipment Technical Working Group Highway Safety and Reliability Technical Working Group Bridge Technical Working Group Pavements Technical Working Group Roadway / Roadsides Technical Working Group ACPA, ISSA, and SSPC Web-based Training Opportunities Maintenance Leadership Academy Federal Funds for In-House Work Survey 2014 Summer Meeting Information Download…
The Washington State Department of Transportation has released a report that explores on-board sound intensity measurements for various concrete pavement textures such as transverse and longitudinal tining, carpet drag, conventional diamond grinding, and the Next Generation Concrete Surface. Read the Report
The Kentucky Transportation Center at the University of Kentucky has released a report that explains how mobile light detection and ranging (LIDAR) was used to obtain bridge clearance heights, which can vary and can be difficult to measure due to high traffic volume. Read the Report
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a tech brief that presents research results on the strength properties of standard open aggregates tested in a large-scale direct shear device. Read the Technical Brief
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that investigates the composite behavior of a geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) mass through a series of large-size GRS composite tests. Read the Report
AASHTO has published a new newsletter. Read the Inaugural Copy
AASHTO News, 5 August 2013 SAN FRANCISCO – Transportation projects that upgraded an international port of entry, rehabilitated a freight rail line vital to agricultural communities, and expanded a major highway years early and hundreds of millions of dollars under budget were among the recipients of top honors in the western regional America’s Transportation Awards competition. “The entries we…
AASHTO Journal, 5 August 2013 The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Federal Highway Administration announced today that applications for the second round of the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Implementation Assistance are officially being accepted. In an email sent to the chief executive officials of the state departments of transportation, AASHTO and FHWA…
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Legal Research Digest 61: Legal Aspects of Performance-Based Specifications for Highway Construction and Maintenance Contracts explores how performance-based specifications differ from traditional design or method-based specifications and the risk allocation differences between the these methods. Read NCHRP Legal Research Digest 61
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R05-RR-1: Precast Concrete Pavement Technology reviews the available precast concrete pavement (PCP) systems; summarizes PCP applications; and offers suggested guidelines for the design, fabrication, installation, and selection of PCP systems. Read the Report
APRIL 2013 Caltrans Creates New Specification for Construction of Quiet Bridge Deck Surfaces Noise from bridges is an ongoing problem along U.S. highway systems, and efforts at noise mitigation can be costly as well as time-consuming. For example, sound walls, which work by interrupting the pathway between a noise source and the receiver, are often constructed along bridges that…
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Renewal Project R06G has released a prepublication, non-edited version of a report titled Mapping Voids, De-bonding, Delaminations, Moisture, and Other Defects Behind or Within Tunnel Linings that identifies techniques that appear to provide useful information for evaluating tunnel linings. Read the Pre-publication
The Maryland State Highway Administration has released a report that presents a framework for developing a system that tracks, records, evaluates, analyzes, and reviews soil slope failure and remediation data by using a GIS database and a collective overlay of maps. Read the Report
Crain’s Detroit Business, 12 April 2013 Artist’s rendering of the New International Trade Crossing bridge as seen from the Windsor side. Gov. Rick Snyder today called the $2.1 billion New International Trade Crossing a gateway for “jobs today and tomorrow” after the U.S. Department of State issued a key permit for what would be a second bridge over the…
AASHTO Journal, 12 April 2013 California Department of Transportation last week broke ground on an interchange project in Monterey County that will cut down on the area’s congestion while also making the area safer for drivers. Caltrans’ $69 million project will remove three intersections on U.S. Highway 101 and replace them with a new interchange, located near Red Barn…
“Crosscut Public Media”, 12 April 2013 If state lawmakers want us to weigh in on a proposal (and taxes) to fund new transportation projects, they better make sure the plan includes fixing our crumbling roads and bridges. Read the Article by Douglas B. MacDonald, Washington State Secretary of Transportation, 2001-2007
AASHTO News, 19 March 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), commends the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for its comprehensive assessment of the nation’s current infrastructure conditions and needs. The 2013 Report Card finds that inadequate investment has resulted in deteriorating U.S. infrastructure. “This Report Card accentuates the need for a…
AASHTO Journal, 8 March 2013 Officials from the North Carolina Department of Transportation were joined by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to update the public on the progress of the I-85 interchange project in Charlotte. The $92 million interchange (including $50.6 million of federal funding), which aims at cutting traffic congestion on I-77 and many local streets, has already…
The Reason Foundation has released a report that discusses the condition of the United States’ roads and bridges based on data from the Highway Performance Monitoring System, the National Bridge Inventory, the Fatal Accident Reporting System, and the Texas Transportation Institute’s reports on urban congestion. Read the Report
TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has released a project brief that summarizes SHRP 2 Renewal projects that are designed to help transportation agencies deal with the unique challenges that rapid highway renewal techniques present. The brief describes tools that agencies can use to mitigate worker and manager fatigue, develop and apply performance specifications, manage risk and…
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