Institute for Transportation

About the research

Objective
The objective of this project was to provide Aurora member agencies with an automated means of problem identification and reporting for their RWIS equipment. Functionality of an existing Minnesota Department of Transportation system was used as a base to design the desired system. The end result of this project was a web-based solution that each Aurora member agency could choose to host or have someone host for a fee.

About the research

Objective
This project looked to determine under what condition frost on bridge decks creates slippery conditions and then to develop a forecast model that can predict when this may occur at a site or across a region. Work under Phase 1 is complete. Remaining work was completed under the second phase, Project 2004-05.

About the research

Objective
This research involved a third and final phase of the intelligent image-based winter road condition sensor research effort. From the beginning, the goal of this third phase was to use one road condition classification system on all camera sites in Sweden. When researchers discovered in this phase that the accuracy was far too low when the equipment was moved to new sites, it was soon realized that the potential benefit disappeared immediately. The first two phases of the project had shown significant promise, and this third phase continued research and movement of the test site to new locations in order to acquire additional research data. Three neural networks were used in the field tests: one for day, one for night, and one combined day/night network. Initial tests were done in Matlab to get information about the performance of the three different neural networks. Test one showed that the classification was very correct even within a reasonable confidence value. It was also noted that in the current situation, only two types of road conditions, dry and snow, were being classified. In the 2005-2006 winter, up to five classes of road conditions were able to be detected, and a second camera was set up to verify the accuracy of the first. Unfortunately, as noted above, the field image classification system was far too low in accuracy to be acceptable.

About the research

Objective
Under this project, the Quebec Ministry of Transportation provided to Aurora members a training program it developed to improve winter response capabilities of operators and managers and to enhance skills and knowledge for using climatological data received from remote weather stations. In addition, the possibility of combining this effort with the computer-based training program developed by AASHTO was pursued. Although Quebec’s training materials were not combined with the CBT, metric standards were incorporated into a CBT version. Quebec also provided nine training modules for distribution and internal use by the Aurora member agencies.

About the research

Objective
The objective of this project was to conduct a fourth national winter maintenance meeting to share research results from the peer exchanges held in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

About the research

Objective
The objective of this project was to conduct a fifth national winter maintenance meeting to share research results from the peer exchanges held in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013.

About the research

Objective
The first objective of this project was to collect member specifications for the construction of, maintenance of, and/or forecasts at RWIS stations, then to develop a database of these specifications. The second objective was to survey the agencies who had provided specifications to better document and understand the issues associated with administering the various contracts.

About the research

Objective
This project involved development of an outreach slide presentation that captures the advances and improvements in road weather forecasting and nowcasting. As the National Weather Service modernizationmoved into full implementation, some recognized the potential impact this could have on daily operations, but many others were not convinced. Therefore, there was a need to show the rest of the transportation community the difference between the old and new through simple presentation material. The primary audiences for this presentation were state and local DOT staff and managers.This project involved development of an outreach slide presentation that captures the advances and improvements in road weather forecasting and nowcasting. As the National Weather Service modernizationmoved into full implementation, some recognized the potential impact this could have on daily operations, but many others were not convinced. Therefore, there was a need to show the rest of the transportation community the difference between the old and new through simple presentation material. The primary audiences for this presentation were state and local DOT staff and managers.

About the research

Internal curing (IC) is a practical way of supplying additional curing water throughout the concrete mixture. This water can improve the hydration of cement, reduce autogenous shrinkage, and improve durability. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the development of project specifications for internally cured concrete projects. The guidance in this document is designed to supplement the agency’s standard specifications for concrete pavement. If the standard specifications are outdated, modifications other than those provided in this document may be necessary to produce a high-quality, long-lasting concrete. This document contains IC specification language, references to IC resources, references to IC instructional videos, and references to tools that can be used for IC of concrete or providing quality control.

About the research

The objectives of this study were to develop guidance for engineers on how implements of husbandry loads are resisted by traditional bridges, with a specific focus on bridges commonly found on the secondary road system; provide recommendations for accurately analyzing bridges for these loading effects; and make suggestions for the rating and posting of these bridges.

To achieve the objectives, the distribution of live load and dynamic impact effects for different types of farm vehicles on three general bridge types—steel-concrete, steel-timber, and timber-timber—were investigated through load testing and analytical modeling. The types of vehicles studied included, but were not limited to, grain wagons/grain carts, manure tank wagons, agriculture fertilizer applicators, and tractors.

Once the effects of these vehicles had been determined, a parametric study was carried out to develop live load distribution factor (LLDF) equations that account for the effect of husbandry vehicle loads. Similarly, recommendations for dynamic effects were also developed.

Finally, suggestions on the analysis, rating, and posting of bridges for husbandry implements were developed.

The third volume of the report contains six appendices that include the 19 mini-reports for field tested and analytically modeled steel-concrete, steel-timber, and timber-timber bridges, the farm implement and bridge inventories for the project, and survey responses.