State Departments Of Transportation Research Articles

Resiliency Against Flooding in Pavement Geotechnics: Practice Review of State Transportation Agencies

Extreme weather events driven by climate change pose significant threats to our transportation infrastructure, particularly road pavements, in the United States. This paper proposes a guiding framework for designing resilient pavements. The framework was established after comprehensive reviews of the state of practice from pavement design manuals and construction-, implementation-, and practice documents publicly available on websites of state departments of transportation (DOTs) across the country. The objective of this study was to evaluate the infrastructure flood readiness and awareness of transportation agencies based on the state DOT website surveys. Qualitative analyses of transportation agency engineering and construction manuals revealed a varying degree of consideration among the different states for resiliency in transportation infrastructure design policies. Web scraping of state DOT websites highlighted the awareness levels of resiliency and sustainability issues concerning pavements. The importance of constructing permeable pavement base layers to alleviate flood-induced damage was investigated for assessing moisture infiltration effects on pavement performance and how to incorporate these improvements into mechanistic-empirical pavement design concepts. The findings underscored the need to incorporate climate change stressors and predictive climate data modeling in pavement design to enhance infrastructure resilience. Through study findings and considering implementation of the guidelines proposed in this paper, transportation engineers and state agencies are anticipated to be able to better prepare for future extreme weather challenges and safeguard the nation’s transportation assets.

Advancing the understanding of successful technology implementation factors within state DOTs: a maturity model perspective

In an effort to improve the security, dependability, and quality of infrastructure systems, the implementation of complex transportation construction and maintenance projects is essential. Building upon a previous study that identified six crucial factors for effectively implementing new and emerging technologies in the State Department of Transportations (DOTs), this research aims to comprehensively explore six critical factors using a maturity model perspective. DOTs have shown increasing interest in adopting emerging and wireless technologies, as evident in various Federal Highway Administration Every Day Counts initiative. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, using survey responses from DOT personnel to evaluate the relative significance of technology implementation factors and subfactors. The six factors for successful technology implementation explored in this study are Organization Structure, Information Technology Infrastructure, Data Security, Information Workflow, Personnel Training, and Stakeholder Engagement. The study also evaluates the relative importance of People, Process, and Technology for each of these six factors. The paper focuses on providing detailed insights into the different criteria of each technology implementation factor and subfactor to guide agencies in successful technology deployment. Understanding these factors is critical to deploying emerging technologies successfully, which, in turn, leads to much-needed efficiency and productivity in highway construction and asset management. The findings of this study can help DOTs prioritize their technology investments and ultimately contribute to the development of a more advanced and sustainable transportation infrastructure system.

Evaluating the Delivery and Oversight of State-Funded Local Bridge Projects

State-funded local bridge projects face several challenges including but not limited to constrained budgets, increasing burden from state departments of transportation (DOT) staff, and the lack of expertise of some local personnel. By streamlining the delivery and oversight of state-funded projects through delegation, a collaborative and proactive approach can be achieved, ensuring the successful maintenance and development of local low-risk bridges, which are not on the National Highway System and have minimal to no environmental, right of way, utility, or railroad impacts. This paper offers a practical approach to evaluating programs focused on progressing project delivery by delegating specific tasks and responsibilities to local governments. Taken as a study case, Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s low-risk bridge pilot program was evaluated using both a quantitative methodology: data analysis using a data-driven statistical approach involving analysis of pilot and control group data, and an evaluation of the performance metrics developed by the state DOT; and a qualitative approach: a survey of local sponsors and stakeholders about the pilot project. The survey corroborated the findings derived from the data analysis: improved performance in project cost and schedule for pilot projects, highlighting consistency and reliability in the evaluation process. The integration of both methodologies resulted in valuable insights and experiences, providing valuable guidance to other states conducting similar program evaluations.

Assessment of Schedule Quality Problems from the DOT Schedule Reviewers’ Perspective: Case of TxDOT

A construction schedule review is an essential aspect of schedule management for U.S. state departments of transportation (DOTs) to deliver transportation construction projects on time. Despite their importance, current literature pays limited attention to addressing schedule quality problems for highway construction projects. This research aims to assess schedule quality problems from DOTs’ perspective and suggests recommendations to improve DOTs’ schedule review practices. To achieve this, two questions were formulated: 1) What schedule problems do DOT schedule reviewers perceive as vital to schedule quality? and 2) What schedule problems do DOT schedule reviewers find repeatedly? This research first reviewed relevant literature and identified 44 schedule quality problems noted about highway construction. Based on these 44 problems, a survey was developed to assess the level of impact and the likelihood of occurrence of each problem. The survey was deployed to Texas Department of Transportation practitioners with schedule review experience. The analysis prioritized the problems by the relative impact and frequency, and DOTs can utilize this analysis to improve their schedule review process and practices. This paper contributes to the academic body of knowledge by investigating the schedule quality problems in highway construction and DOT practitioners’ perceptions of the schedule quality problems. Its industry contribution includes providing the methodology for DOTs to assess their schedule quality problems.

Examining Contingency and Inflation Practices Within Several Departments of Transportation in the United States

Transportation projects are notorious, among both the public and transportation professionals, for missing their intended cost and schedule targets as a result of project complexity and uncertainties. The significant discrepancy between cost estimates and final project costs remains a major concern for state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Several risk factors, including estimation errors and price fluctuations, contribute to these discrepancies and are typically managed by adding a contingency to project estimates. Cost escalation can also result from inadequate adjustment for inflation in estimates, given the current economic environment and the lengthy duration of major transportation projects. This paper summarizes how several state DOTs apply contingencies to mitigate the impact of certain risks and adjust their State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) revenues and costs to account for inflation. The study surveyed 13 state DOTs to understand how contingencies are applied to the three major components of transportation projects (construction, right of way, and utilities). Additionally, interviews were conducted with 15 state DOTs to understand how they address inflation, particularly as it pertains to the STIP process. The results indicate that most DOTs apply contingency allowances to their project estimates during the early project development and maintain some level of contingency allowance at the plans, specifications, and estimate (PS&E) stage. As for addressing inflation, most state DOTs include inflation of the project cost in the project estimates to the time of bid letting or year of expenditure. The findings of this study can benefit state DOTs that are reassessing their strategies for implementing contingency and inflation within their STIP.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from Roadway Construction: Case Study for the Washington State Department of Transportation

Recent emphasis on actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has pushed many state departments of transportation (DOTs) to develop carbon accounting practices compatible with their current standard data collection and storage guidelines. Once accurate and reliable accounting of GHG emissions is established, strategies can be formed that could help mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of materials used by state DOTs. To date, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has not conducted comprehensive research on the embodied carbon within its construction material usage (i.e., upstream Scope 3 emissions inventory of procured materials) with most previous carbon accounting practices being focused on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions (i.e., the carbon footprint of direct and indirect energy usage). This paper summarizes the results of a life cycle assessment on the agency-wide material procurements and construction operations that emit GHGs at WSDOT as a case study. This study uses several data sources from WSDOT in conjunction with publicly available life cycle emissions factor data to estimate GHG emissions attributed to the materials used to build and maintain roadways under WSDOT’s jurisdiction. Results indicate that upstream Scope 3 emissions for WSDOT as an agency is a significant contributor to its overall GHG emissions inventory. Specifically, between 2017 and 2022, this paper estimates an average annual upstream Scope 3 emissions of 310,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents, which translates to 56% of the total annual GHG emissions including Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) Piles and Splicing Options

Conventional driven piles are made from steel, concrete, timber, or composite materials. These piling options have limitations with respect to corrosion, durability, driveablity, and performance. Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) pile is a new alternative that has already been adopted by various state Departments of Transportation in the United States for addressing the limitations that exist with conventional piles. UHPC piles are made of a cementitious composite material mixture that possesses exceptional properties such as higher strength, low capillary porosity, and high resistance to corrosion, making them a suitable option for use as a deep foundation. For several reasons, it is necessary to cast piles with a shorter length and splice them at the site to reach the desired lengths. These reasons include shipping limitations, unpredictable soil condition, reducing transportation costs, construction time, and damage during installation. This study aims to explore and summarize the currently available options for connecting UHPC pile segments. Accordingly, after a brief introduction on driven piles, this paper investigates various splicing systems that can be used for UHPC piles through reviewing previous research studies and field applications. The applicable splices are then compared based on several criteria such as capacity, durability, cost, and ease of application.

Data-Driven Approach to Risk Identification for Major Transportation Projects: A Common Risk Breakdown Structure

Identifying and evaluating risks is one of the most essential steps in risk management in construction projects. When technical and managerial complexity increases in major transportation projects, this becomes even more important. Currently, project teams are assumed to identify risks mostly based on their experience and expertise. It is a major issue that some state departments of transportation (DOT) project teams lack the risk management experience. This study proposes using a data-driven approach to unify and summarize existing risk documents to create a comprehensive risk breakdown structure (RBS). As a preliminary risk identification framework, a consolidated RBS were developed, using content analysis of public risk reports by various DOTs. Then, comparison was made between the developed RBS with 70 US transportation projects' risk registers. Natural language processing techniques, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, were employed to calculate semantic text similarity to determine what percentage of risks are covered by generic RBS. The results showed that 70 generic risk templates cover almost 81% of the identified risks in the database of 70 major projects which is about 6000 individual risks. Project parties can use these results to discuss and identify context-specific risks as a starting point. The study also determined the interactions between risk items based on their co-occurrence using historical data. Research findings revealed the importance of considering interdependencies between risks in future studies.

Automatically detect crosswalks from satellite view images – A deep learning approach with ground truth verification

Like roadway information is to motor vehicle safety, pedestrian facility information (e.g., sidewalk presence) is crucial towards improving the safety of these vulnerable road users. Yet unlike widely accessible roadway data, pedestrian facility data is unavailable for most state agencies. Without this information, data-driven problem identification, countermeasure analysis, project evaluation, and performance management will be heavily impeded. Thus, urgent need for this data was recognized by state departments of transportation (DOTs). To address this need, we developed an automated approach to automatically detect crosswalks from satellite view images. The most advanced deep learning methodology, transfer learning with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) was used to handle real-world images. During the prediction process, a satellite image of a roadway pavement was analyzed by the satellite view model to predict the presence of a crosswalk. Then, the street view image of the same target was detected by the integrated street view model as a ground truth check. A total of 18,361 images from Bing Maps in satellite view and street view were used to train and test the deep learning model. As a result, the satellite view model itself achieved 98.43% accuracy using testing data from the same region. When dealing with data from another region, using the satellite view detection with ground truth checking increased the accuracy by 49%. It is obvious that by integrating the ground truth checking model into the satellite view crosswalk detection, we can obtain a more robust model which can handle highly occluded, low quality satellite images.

Incorporating Environmental Impact Analysis into Louisiana’s Balanced Asphalt Mixture Design

To meet the asphalt pavement industry’s net zero carbon emission goals, increasing reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) levels to greater than 25% is considered a critical tactic. However, many state departments of transportation are cautious in adopting high RAP content into their designs because of durability issues resulting from aged RAP binders. This paper assesses the effectiveness of using the Lewis acid catalyst, FeCl3, in improving the cracking resistance of high-RAP asphalt mixtures to meet Louisiana’s balanced mixture design (BMD) criteria, and lower embodied carbon of asphalt mixtures. Four asphalt mixtures were designed and tested against permanent deformation, intermediate- and low-temperature cracking, and durability. Mixture 1 is conventional, which contains performance grade (PG) 76-22 polymer-modified asphalt binder with no RAP. Mixture 2 is unmodified PG 67-22 and 30% RAP without catalyst. Mixtures 3 and 4 incorporated an unmodified asphalt binder PG 67-22, a catalyst, and 30% and 50% RAP, respectively. A life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis was conducted on asphalt mixtures that complied with Louisiana’s BMD specifications to quantify global warming potential improvements. Because the performance of both mixtures is expected to be similar, the scope of the LCA analysis was limited to only those life cycle stages that are expected to be different, modules A1–A3 (i.e., cradle-to-gate stages). Results showed that the use of FeCl3 can improve asphalt mixtures’ cracking resistance containing high RAP contents, whilst it did not have a negative impact on permanent deformation resistance. Further, the addition of FeCl3 to asphalt mixtures with 30% and 50% RAP levels showed a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 28% and 43.4%, respectively.

Transferring Research Innovations in Bridge Inspection Planning to Bridge Inspection Practice: A Qualitative Study

Over the last two decades, many researchers have focused on providing new ideas and frameworks to help improve conventional bridge inspection planning approaches, however, little guidance is provided for implementing these new ideas in practice, resulting in limited change. Accordingly, this qualitative study aims to identify the factors that can help improve research products and accelerate research transfer to bridge inspection departments with the goal of enhancing bridge inspection practice. This study used semi-structured interviews, written interviews, and questionnaires for data collection to provide rich results. Responses from twenty-six bridge personnel from state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the United States (U.S.) were included in this study. The study found that most participants support a fixed inspection interval over a variable interval since fixed intervals are easier in scheduling and budget planning. Also, participants indicated that the barriers hindering the use of nondestructive techniques are the training required by inspectors, traffic control, and the required access equipment. The study presents the factors change leaders should focus on to facilitate organizational change in DOTs such as enhancing the capacity of DOT staff members and gaining support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Assessing social equity considerations within transportation asset management

The impacts of transportation systems on people and communities are substantial but challenging to quantify. It requires significant effort and attention for transportation agencies to improve how social concepts such as equity are effectively incorporated into transportation asset management (TAM) plans and practices. This study, therefore, looked at TAM plans and practices to assess the current application of equity and suggested ways to improve equity incorporation into TAM at the state level. A content analysis was done on the 2019 TAM plans from all U.S. states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the results showed that equity-related words were rarely mentioned. This indicated that TAM is one of the sectors where equity is still marginalized, and there is a strong need to improve the incorporation of equity into TAM. The study then identified several equity definitions and measures that fit the context of pavement management and, as a result, TAM. Pavement management was used for demonstration purposes as pavements are a major type of asset managed by all state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Definitions and measures were identified by reviewing documents from the USDOT and FHWA and three sustainability rating systems widely used in transportation: Envision, Greenroads, and INVEST. In addition to these definitions and measures, this study discussed several available guides and tools that would help agencies bring equity considerations into TAM, specifically at the state level. The results indicated that although some resources provide equity definitions and measures that can be used in TAM, more work is needed to develop them to match the practices and approaches used in this sector.

Transportation Asset Management Decision Support Tools: Computational Complexity, Transparency, and Realism

Asset management decision support tools determine which action (maintenance, rehabilitation, or reconstruction) is applied to each facility in a transportation network and when. Sophisticated tools recognize uncertainties and consider emerging priorities. However, these tools are often computationally complex and lack transparency, the models are difficult to evaluate, and the outputs are challenging to validate. This paper explores computational complexity, transparency, and realism in transportation asset management decision support tools to better understand how to select the right tools for a particular context. Descriptions of how state departments of transportation in the United States make use of optimization in their mandated transportation asset management plans to make decisions are used to understand the needs of states. This qualitative analysis serves as a review of the goals and practices of state agencies. An existing asset management tool is then used to demonstrate the tradeoffs involved in accurately capturing the decision-making process and complexity. The results provide examples of strategies that agencies can use when selecting decision support tools and for researchers and tool developers working toward developing the right tool for an application.

S10-2 U.S. CDC’s Active People Health Nation: Michigan’s Story for Promoting Physical Activity in Local Communities

Abstract Purpose Being physically active is one of the most important ways people of all ages and abilities can improve their health. Survey data show that 76 percent of Asian Americans in Michigan USA do not meet the federal physical activity minimum guidelines. Guided by Active People, Healthy Nation (APHN), a national initiative to help 27 million Americans become more physically active, the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) initiative promotes physical activity through local partnerships in geographic areas where the priority population (Asian Americans) lives. Methods Working with the state department of transportation, local municipalities, public schools, faith-based organizations, local businesses, and community health partners, EMU REACH used the following strategies to increase physical activity: 1) implement policies and activities to connect pedestrian, bicycle, or transit transportation networks (i.e., activity-friendly routes) to everyday destinations. 2) launch safe routes to school programs to increase walking and bicycling to and from school and 3) promote equitable park programs and policies that make it safe and easy for residents to be physically active. The team adopted the action planning guide and assessment modules in the Active Communities Tool (ACT) to facilitate cross-sector collaborations in developing an action plan to improve the community built environments that promote physical activity. Results The EMU CHDIS has successfully reached 24,510 people impacted by new/improved policies and plans in 2018-22. In the process, our environment scan showed that people living in underserved areas and from racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely to have access to these places due to historical land use, housing, and transportation policies. Based on the results from project implementation, it is recommended that creating or modifying streets, parks, and trails to connect activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations and offer access to safe places for physical activity for people of all ages and abilities can promote active lifestyles and provide physical-active environment. Conclusion While celebrating wins through the APHN initiative in Michigan, we advocate for new supportive policies and engage with more community members to raise awareness about the new resources to maintain the active momentum.

A network-level management system to mitigate the global warming potential of road pavements

ABSTRACT This study details a new, network-level optimization tool aimed at supporting transportation agencies in their efforts to reduce the global warming potential of their road pavement infrastructure. Through a two-stage bottom-up algorithm that integrates with a comprehensive cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, the proposed tool learns optimal management policies for individual pavement sections and uses that information to guide network-level allocation choices. Through a realistic case study based on data made available by a state department of transportation, this study demonstrates that the proposed modelling approach identifies management strategies expected to reduce the global warming potential of a pavement network by up to 4.8% over 20 years relative to a more traditional, reactive management approach. The resulting model presented in this paper can support agencies in achieving ambitious targets to reduce the global warming potential of their paved infrastructure systems.

Compensation Pathways for Utility Accommodation on Public Rights of Way

There are various degrees of authority given to accommodate utilities on public rights of way (ROW). In the USA, most state laws permit public-serving utilities to use road ROW so long as they are not obstructing or hindering travel, endangering public safety, or obstructing other utilities from using the ROW legally. State laws and regulations specify different fee structures. In some states, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is authorized to assess fees or enter into lease agreements for utility accommodations on ROW. State DOTs may also receive compensation in some cases through in-kind resource sharing, barter arrangements, or other means. Different strategies may result in different fee schedules, which may or may not generate revenue for the state DOT. State DOTs are currently implementing various practices and compensation structures for utilities installed on public ROWs. This research aims to develop a categorization mechanism framework to determine how state DOTs compensate and evaluate utilities installed on ROWs. The framework is presented to assist DOTs in valuing and compensating for utilities and provides state DOTs with the means and approaches needed to execute a fee or leasing schedule for utility installations in public ROW. Several methods were used to accomplish this objective, including literature reviews, synthesis of legislation and policies, and interviews with subject matter experts. As a result, this investigation found significant variation between states in how they approach compensation and value utility accommodations. Based on this paper’s findings, valuation and compensation standardization are urgently needed.

Cost Comparison of Highway Rest Area Operations: In-House Workforce versus Outsourcing Methods

State departments of transportation (DOTs) typically use one of three approaches to operate highway rest areas (RAs): in-house workforce, method-based contracting (MBC), and performance-based contracting (PBC). State DOTs spend over $600 million annually to maintain their facilities and often outsource their work to save costs. Although some studies have calculated the annual cost of facilities operated by the three approaches, their findings are not directly comparable. The primary objective of this study is to compute and compare the average annual operating cost of individual RA facilities and the cost of RA data samples (average annual operating cost of a group of facilities in a specific year under a specific approach in a state) produced from these three approaches to achieve a cost-effective alternative. To achieve the objectives, research hypotheses were developed which state there are significant differences in the average annual costs produced by these three approaches. For data analysis, 6,248 cost data were collected from 29 states. From those individual cost data, 198 data samples were generated. Data sets were not normally distributed; thus, nonparametric tests were conducted to determine the group differences. The results show that outsourcing costs under the MBC are significantly less, followed by in-house and the PBC in both cases. The difference between in-house and PBC is also statistically significant. As the primary contribution, this paper investigated the MBC approach as the cost-effective option, and DOT engineers can utilize this approach in operating regular RA facilities to save costs. Caution should be taken when using the study findings in other types of facilities.

The Road, Home: Challenges of and Responses to Homelessness in State Transportation Environments

In recent decades, homelessness has become an increasingly major challenge in the U.S., reaching about half million unhoused people. Many of them seek shelter in settings such as freeways, underpasses, and rest areas. State departments of transportation (DOTs) are responsible for the health and safety of these settings and their occupants, housed and unhoused. This study synthesizes existing literature and findings from interviews with staff from 13 state DOTs and eight service providers and organizations responding to homelessness. Homelessness represents a recognized and common challenge for DOTs, which face jurisdictional, financial, and legal hurdles in addressing it. DOT staff employ both “push” and “pull” strategies, the most common of which is encampment removals (“sweeps”). However, the effectiveness of such removals is limited, as encampments often reappear in nearby sites. Other strategies include “defensive design” and, more proactively, establishing or partnering with low-barrier shelters, providing shelters and sanitation on DOT land, and coordinating rehousing and outreach efforts. Our findings suggest that DOTs should acquire better data on homelessness on their lands, create a homelessness coordinating office, establish formal partnerships with nonprofits/service providers, and evaluate the necessity of encampment removals, through the development and utilization of prioritization criteria.

A Theoretical Framework for Developing a National Transportation Strategy

Developing the surface transportation systems the United States needs will require asking and answering a series of questions, beginning with the most basic:What is the main purpose of surface transportation?What resources are available and what is the best way to deploy those resources?How do we measure success?Determining what future transportation systems should look like will require analyzing a range of economic, demographic, technological and socio-political variables.As management guru Peter Druker famously said, “The primary goal of every enterprise should be to create customers”. Transportation leaders must undertake the critical task of determining what transportation customers want and are willing to pay for. In doing so, they must understand that there are many categories of customers—such as commuters, businesses, and logistics companies—each with different priorities. Measurements of success should also be customer-focused.Finally, state departments of transportation—not their federal counterparts—are often best positioned to ask these questions and develop the right answers for their own states.

Current Benefits of ASCE 75 and its Potential to Affect Digital As-Built Initiatives at State Departments of Transportation

For the proactive documentation of utility infrastructure at the time of its installation, the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) is finalizing their ASCE 75 “Standard Guideline for Recording and Exchanging Utility Infrastructure Data.” ASCE 75 provides guidance for collecting sufficient geospatial and attribute data of utilities to facilitate the development of precise 3D digital twins. Some state departments of transportation (DOTs) in the U.S. have already adopted draft versions of ASCE 75 and are attempting to use it to assist their efforts to standardize and expedite their utility accommodation, permitting, and highway project coordination regulations and procedures. In alignment with these efforts, the Federal Highway Administration’s “Every Day Counts Round Six” initiative illustrates the importance of digital as-built (DAB) records by stating that their implementation can enhance safety, quality, and cost savings. However, there is no standard practice for the general construction DABs. Therefore, this study illustrates the benefits of implementing the ASCE 75 utility as-built standard and its potential impact on DABs for general construction. This study used a research methodology comprised of interviewing state DOTs, and a comprehensive literature assessment. The benefits of implementing ASCE 75 include improved data exchange methods among the project stakeholders and the collection and exchange of data about subsurface and above-ground utilities’ location and other attributes. Moreover, ASCE 75 provides a framework for all infrastructure projects. Also, the study highlights how ASCE 75 is adopted across the state DOTs and how it presents a path forward beyond just developing a utility as-built standard.