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| Report # | Title | Author | Publisher | Year | Search |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathways for Civil Engineering and Land Surveying: Workforce Development in Washington State | Mehrdad | TRAC/UW | 2025 | pathways for civil engineering and land surveying: workforce development in washington state mehrdad, n, karim, m., avery, r.p., wang, y. washington state’s ability to deliver infrastructure programs is being constrained by a widening shortage of civil engineers and land surveyors. this study quantifies current and future workforce gaps, diagnoses their root causes, and proposes education-centered solutions. a mixed-methods design combined (i) statewide employer and practitioner surveys (47 organizations and 917 professionals, respectively) to capture vacancy durations, retirement horizons, skill shortages and attrition drivers, with (ii) open-ended text-mining that distilled narrative comments into dominant themes, and (iii) an audit of every university, college, apprenticeship and online pathway feeding the talent pipeline. descriptive statistics revealed vacancy periods exceeding six months for 59 percent of employers and an urgent need to hire additional staff within five years. nearly one-third of the existing workforce will reach retirement eligibility by 2035, threatening continuity of project delivery. the most acute deficits occur at mid- and senior-career levels, where hybrid competencies in design, project management and regulatory compliance intersect. topic-modelling of narrative responses pointed to three systemic pressures: the high cost of living and uncompetitive salaries; misalignment between academic preparation and job-ready skills (especially bim/gis and field experience); and weak succession planning that fails to transfer institutional knowledge. the report translates these findings into a three-part action plan: goal 1: close immediate skill gaps through short-course upskilling, micro-credentials and expanded continuing-education funding; goal 2: expand and modernize degree capacity via targeted state appropriations, faculty hiring and curriculum reform emphasizing digital delivery; and goal 3: strengthen pipeline diversity and field readiness by scaling paid internships, apprenticeships and k-12 outreach, with priority on under-represented communities. together, these pathways offer a pragmatic roadmap for legislators, educators and industry leaders to rebuild, diversify and future-proof washington’s civil engineering and land-surveying workforce. workforce development, civil engineering, land surveying, skill gaps, topic modeling trac/uw 2025 | |
| WA-RD 942.1 | Development of a Specification for Quality Acceptance of Chip Seal Using a Laser Texture Scanner | Wen | TRA/WSU | 2025 | development of a specification for quality acceptance of chip seal using a laser texture scanner wen, h., pinto, j., littleton, k. chip seal applications are widely used in washington state as a cost-effective pavement surfacing method; however, variations in performance and premature failures have been observed. currently, chip seal construction and its acceptance (except for materials) are largely based on the experiences of contractors and inspectors. the goal of this study was to develop a quality acceptance specification based on a laser texture scanner. data were collected with laser scanners during and after the construction of several wsdot chip seal projects. experimental sections were also included in the field to study modified chip gradation and compaction patterns. it was found that the rut depth in existing pavement strongly correlates with the percent embedment of chips. it was also found that emulsion and its asphalt residue migrate to rutted wheel paths even after construction, which increases the chip seal’s bleeding potential. it is critical to address rutting (> ¼ in.) in existing pavement before chip seal placement. when the chip seal is placed on new hot mix asphalt (hma) inlay, the emulsion can drain into the new hma if an inadequate fog seal has been applied on top of the hma, which may lead to raveling (or loss of chips) of the chip seal. an oscillatory roller crushes chips and is not recommended for chip compaction. a combination roller, which consists of pneumatic tires and a steel drum, may be effective in compacting chips in the wheel paths and between the wheel paths. sharp curves were also found to increase susceptibility to a loss of chips. the mean profile depth (mpd) measured by the laser scanner, which is inversely related to the percent embedment of chips, is a good indicator of chip seal performance. a draft quality acceptance specification in terms of mpd was developed. a program was also developed to determine the lower limit of the mpd, based on a formula developed in this study. an upper mpd limit of 170 mils (0.170”) was proposed. a laser scanner test protocol was developed as part of this study. recommendations for further studies were provided. chip seal, bleeding, raveling, embedment, mean profile depth, laser scanner tra/wsu 2025 |
| WA-RD 945.1 | Maintenance of the Active Transportation Elements of Complete Streets | Malarkey | TRAC/UW | 2025 | maintenance of the active transportation elements of complete streets malarkey, d., prendez, d., singh, r., mackenzie, d. this report surveys the maintenance practices of public entities responsible for active transportation elements of complete streets, with particular emphasis on those elements that serve bicyclists, including both bike lanes and bicycle tracks that are adjacent to roadways and separate shared-use paths. the report identifies the challenges and opportunities associated with designing these facilities for long-term maintenance, describes how leading state and local jurisdictions currently maintain them, and highlights emerging best practices among complete streets leaders. this report does not make recommendations for specific maintenance practices that wsdot should adopt but does recommend a process for developing maintenance guidance for these facilities. developing consistent levels of service and treatment intervals for all the different aspects of active transportation facility maintenance is an emerging practice area. in most areas, maintenance for bicycle and pedestrian pathways is driven by complaints rather than defined service guidance. wsdot could undertake an iterative process to shift from the existing complaint-based approach to maintenance to a standardized system for maintenance that suits the particular needs and requirements of washingtonians, given available resources. if funding allows, there is evidence from other jurisdictions to support adopting dedicated teams with dedicated equipment to maintain active transportation facilities. these dedicated teams make active transportation facilities their first priority, which highway maintenance staff cannot do. bike lanes and pathways often require different equipment and techniques than highway maintenance. dedicated teams for active transportation facilities can bring the specialization and focus necessary to generate better maintenance outcomes. active transportation, maintenance, bicycle paths, bike lanes, shared-use paths, winter maintenance, pedestrians, cyclists, maintenance standards, maintenance policy, maintenance equipment trac/uw 2025 |
| WA-RD 946.1 | Automated Traffic Sign Recognition Using Computer Vision and Deep Learning | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2025 | automated traffic sign recognition using computer vision and deep learning wang, y., zhang, s., liu, c., jantarathaneewat, n. an up-to-date highway traffic sign inventory is essential for roadway safety, infrastructure maintenance, and support of intelligent road agents, yet traditional manual inspections are inefficient and labor-intensive. this research developed an automated system that leverages deep learning and computer vision to detect, classify, and generate a comprehensive traffic sign inventory from log videos and open street images. to enhance model performance, a new traffic sign dataset tailored to washington state traffic scenarios was developed and used for training. additionally, traffic sign condition assessment was explored using six retro-reflectivity-related features. the integrated system consists of four modules—detection, tracking, assessment, and inventory building—each designed to perform a specific function, with the final inventory visualized geospatially. for this system, sparse r-cnn was employed for detection and classification, while a dnn classifier was used for assessment. experimental results demonstrated high detection accuracy and reliable condition assessment (93.56 percent accuracy) while maintaining computational efficiency. a comparison with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) inventory revealed key discrepancies. by automating traffic sign management, this system provides a scalable, cost-effective solution for transportation agencies to maintain accurate inventories, prioritize maintenance, and enhance roadway safety, thereby ensuring more reliable roadway and seamless mobility for all road users. traffic sign detection and recognition, traffic asset inventory, deep learning, traffic sign maintenance trac/uw 2025 |
| Applications for Foamed Glass Lightweight Aggregate | Wen | TRAC/WSU | 2025 | applications for foamed glass lightweight aggregate wen, h., jafar, s.b., barzegar, m., mcguire, m.p., edil, t. foamed glass aggregate (fga) is a processed recycled aggregate made from waste glass. the process involves grinding the glass into powder and melting it at a high temperature (e.g., 1600°f) with a foaming reagent (e.g., 2 percent by weight). in addition to its low compacted unit weight, fga possesses several unique engineering properties, such as a high friction angle, good thermal insulation, and high permeability. with these properties, the utilization of fga could be a sustainable practice that contributes to the reduction of fill settlement over soft-ground, environmental preservation, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. however, as with any emerging or unconventional material, a comprehensive engineering study of fga is essential before its widespread application to prevent unsatisfactory performance in specific use cases. to that end, the research team conducted extensive literature reviews and surveys. the team then procured two types of fga samples (wet and dry foaming) and two conventional soils, sand and embankment clay (used as references), for laboratory experiments. these experiments included testing for basic fga characteristics, gradations, volumetric and electrochemical properties, aerodynamic properties, axial compression compaction, one-dimensional consolidation tests, dynamic triaxial tests, and direct shear tests. a pilot construction was also carried out. additionally, economic and environmental analyses were performed, and the results were compared with those for lightweight cellular concrete (lcc). based on the tests and analyses, a draft construction specification was developed, and a design guide for the use of fga was also provided. foamed glass aggregate, settlement, triaxial, ph, resistivity, compaction, acceptance trac/wsu 2025 | |
| CR 18-06 | Standard Method of Test for Mechanical Rocker Ice Melting | Nazari | TRAC/WSU | 2024 | standard method of test for mechanical rocker ice melting nazari, m.h., jamal, m., green, d., gonzalez, j., beaurivage, s., smith, h., mislang, j., potapova, a., akin, m., shi, x. winter road maintenance provides significant safety and economic benefits during adverse winter weather conditions. chemicals are commonly used prior, during and after storms to provide better road conditions through a variety of mechanisms. the solid deicer most used by state departments of transportation (dots) is sodium chloride (nacl), but the use of liquids has been increasing steadily for over 20 years because of their many benefits and advantages. uses of liquid deicers include liquid-only application for anti-icing, frost prevention, treating thin ice, etc. and as a pre-wetting agent to reduce bounce/scatter of solid salt and speed initial melting/penetration. while nacl is the most common chemical product used by state and local transportation agencies in solid and liquid (brine) form, there are many additives, alternatives and performance-enhancing products and blends available. as such, a standardized laboratory test that can realistically and robustly assess the performance of deicers is needed to allow dots to make data-driven procurement decisions. this research conducted a round robin test to examine the effect of rotational speed, test duration, tilt angle, operating laboratory on imc of ten liquid deicers measured by the mechanical rocker ice melting test. winter road maintenance, deicer, ice melting capacity, shrp test, mechanical rocker ice melting test trac/wsu 2024 |
| 2024 Washington Transportation Camp Program Report | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2024 | 2024 washington transportation camp program report wang, y., manawadu, a., wu, l., wen, h. the primary objective of the washington transportation camp program is to promote an increased number of students pursuing advanced degrees and careers in stem-related fields associated with transportation. this mission emphasizes a particular commitment to broadening the participation of women and minority groups within these fields. ultimately, the program aims to contribute to the development of a skilled and diverse stem workforce. the 2024 washington summer high school transportation camp was designed as a comprehensive, six-day, five-night residential program. it took place at two prestigious institutions: washington state university (wsu) in pullman from july 21st to 26th, and the university of washington (uw) in seattle from august 4th to 9th. the 2024 program was generously sponsored by pactrans and wsdot and was offered free of charge to all participating students. both camps welcomed 36 students, with 25 at the uw and 11 at wsu. the success of both camps was underscored by overwhelmingly positive feedback from students and parents. stem, education, workforce development, summer camp, high school trac/uw 2024 | |
| WA-RD 938.1 | Leading Indicators of Transportation Equity: Equity in Planning | Gordon | TRAC/UW | 2024 | leading indicators of transportation equity: equity in planning gordon, b., lewis. e. this report was commissioned as part of the washington state department of transportation’s (wsdot) equity in planning (eip) project. it presents knowledge drawn from transportation equity academic literature, practice-oriented literature, community engagement, geospatial (gis) analysis, and a survey of planning professionals. the project aims to comply with washington state’s environmental justice (ej) legislation, sb 5141, known as the heal (healthy environment for all) act. the heal act sets the goal that 40 percent of major state expenditures be directed toward overburdened communities and vulnerable populations. it mandates that ej analyses be performed by seven state agencies, including wsdot. this report identifies leading indicators of transportation equity that wsdot can incorporate into its planning processes for long-range, regional, and corridor planning initiatives. equity, leading indicators, planning, community engagement, geospatial analysis trac/uw 2024 |
| Operations Performance Management Primer: From Performance Measures to Performance Management | Hallenbeck. M.E. | FHWA | 2024 | operations performance management primer: from performance measures to performance management hallenbeck. m.e., margiotta, r.a., lindsey, c., motamed, m. the purpose of this primer is to orient transportation practitioners to the principles and practices of operations performance measures and management (opmm). opmm aims to support continuous improvement in the practice of transportation systems management and operations (tsmo), a set of strategies that focus on operational strategies that improve the transportation system. simply put, opmm includes traditional operations performance measurement practices while incorporating the transportation performance management (tpm) principles for tsmo programs. opmm is a strategic and data-driven approach to making investment and policy decisions to achieve operations goals. operations, performance measures, performance management, capability maturity, transportation systems management and operations, strategic, data, data-driven, policy, investment fhwa 2024 | |
| Analysis of Changing Transit Travel Behavior as a Result of the Opening of the U-District, Roosevelt, and Northgate Link Stations | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2024 | analysis of changing transit travel behavior as a result of the opening of the u-district, roosevelt, and northgate link stations hallenbeck, m.e., hager, g., avery, r. on october 2, 2021, sound transit of the puget sound region of washington state started link light rail service to three new stations on the 1 line . these stations serve the university district, roosevelt, and northgate in seattle. in coordination with the station openings, sound transit, king county metro, and community transit of snohomish county restructured many of their routes that had previously provided express service to downtown seattle and the university district. this report examines the changes in travel behavior that occurred as a result of those change in transit service. comparisons are made primarily between september / october 2019 (the last pre-covid-19 year) and september / october 2021. transit service, light rail, travel behavior, planning, transfer trac/uw 2024 | |
| WA-RD 921.1 | Washington State Rest Area Site Evaluation Study | Jessup | TRAC/WSU | 2023 | washington state rest area site evaluation study jessup, e., wagner, j. crash trends were evaluated upstream of and downstream from safety rest areas to evaluate the impact of safety rest areas on highway traffic safety. this analysis was provided in conjunction with an online dashboard for use by wsdot and a safety rest area user survey described in a companion report prepared by wsdot. safety rest area, crashes, traffic safety, washington state trac/wsu 2023 |
| WA-RD 939.1 | Ensuring Stream Stability with the Use of Organic Material in a Flume-Based Design Recommendation | Fouty | TRAC/WSU | 2023 | ensuring stream stability with the use of organic material in a flume-based design recommendation fouty, t., engdahl, n., rutan, t. fish populations in the pacific northwest have declined as spawning grounds disappear due to barriers, most commonly culverts. to reduce the number of culverts acting as fish barriers, in 1999 washington state implemented new design policies. accordingly, “stream simulation culverts” include a sediment lining, allowing for more movement of fish in the culvert. to better simulate the stream, more information is needed on maintaining a target channel shape while allowing fish passage during low flows. this research investigated how to incorporate organic material (deformable grade control, meander bars with wood, root wad-lined channel, and organic streambed mixture) into a simulated streambed inside of a flume. the first objective of this research was to investigate the use of deformable grade control and examine the relationship among dowel size, distribution of dowel size, ratio of dowels to sediment, and sediment transport. the second objective was to investigate the effect of meander bars made of coarse material and the addition of organic material in slash and root wads on channel stabilization. the third objective was to investigate using a root wad-lined meandering channel, and it examined the relationship between root wad spacing and channel stabilization. this research's fourth and final objective was to investigate the use of an organic streambed mixture and its effects on channel stabilization. streambed designs were tested using 10-, 25-, and 50-yr flood events. sediment transport was recorded after each flood event using a handheld 3d scanner. sediment transport data was then analyzed to determine elevation changes, elevation differences, and net area change between flood events. excluding baselines, 15 deformable grade control, 11 meander bars, 3 root wad-lined, and 9 organic streambed mixture channels were tested. the research shows that for deformable grade control, a wood-sediment ratio of 75:25 made from a mix of sizes reduces the overall sediment transport best at both 2% and 3% slopes for a straight u-shape channel. for meander bars, meander bars constructed from coarse material and slash with the cone constructed of d-100 material best maintained the target channel shape at 3% and 4% slopes. for a root wad-lined channel, a spacing of one root wad was the best, maintaining the target channel shape at a 0.7% slope for a meandering channel. for an organic streambed mixture, a wood-sediment ratio of 3:1 was best at retaining the target channel shape at a 2% slope for meandering and straight channels. this research indicates that adding organic material to a streambed reduces sediment transport and maintains the target channel shape. stream simulation design, water resources, fish barrier, sustainability, organic material trac/wsu 2023 |
| WA-RD 931.2 | Equity Analysis of WSDOT's Toll Program: Literature Review | Kitali | TRAC/UW | 2023 | equity analysis of wsdot's toll program: literature review kitali, a., hallenbeck, m.e., ricord, s. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) uses tolling to manage highway demand and fund megaprojects. tolls can raise serious equity concerns, which have been voiced by the washington state legislature, the state transportation commission, and the wsdot secretary. this project aimed to provide insight into the equity of wsdot's toll facilities, including a literature review of equity analyses that have been performed or that are being considered nationwide. this literature review was part of a wsdot study that examined the equity of its five toll roads: sr 16, sr 167, sr 520, i-405, and sr 99. the literature review examined income-based toll programs in the united states to identify best practices and lessons learned, resulting in insights and best practices from nine programs. most programs started or are planned to start as pilots, allowing for modifications. when a low-income toll program is designed, it is crucial to balance the number of participants and benefits offered and to consider the transportation needs of other user groups. ongoing engagement and effective communication with communities is crucial for program success. this study found that many programs use the federal poverty level (fpl) as an eligibility criterion, but it is vital to set the income threshold based on local conditions and needs. overcoming enrollment barriers, i.e., language barriers, lack of technology access, and complicated application processes, is essential for enhancing the program. the cost of purchasing a transponder, the requirement for a minimum account balance, or automatic reloading thresholds can be barriers for low-income motorists. overall, there is no universal approach to creating a low-income toll program, and agencies must weigh their priorities and the priorities of the communities they serve to determine the best options. the companion report from this project describes who uses wsdot’s five toll facilities, the household incomes of those users, and how use by income differs across those facilities. equity, tolling, toll equity, low-income toll programs trac/uw 2023 |
| WA-RD 931.1 | Equity Analysis of WSDOT's Toll Program | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2023 | equity analysis of wsdot's toll program hallenbeck, m.e., kitali, a., ricord, s., kou, y. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) uses tolling to manage highway demand and fund megaprojects. tolls can raise serious equity concerns, which have been voiced by the washington state legislature, the state transportation commission, and the wsdot secretary. this project aimed to provide insight into the equity of wsdot's toll facilities, including a literature review of equity analyses that have been performed or that are being considered nationwide. the project also produced a stand-alone literature review (wsdot report wa-rd 931.2) describing income-based toll programs in the united states that are intended to reduce the equity disparities imposed on low-income communities by toll facilities. the literature review also identifies best practices and lessons learned. equity, tolling, toll equity, low-income toll program trac/uw 2023 |
| 2023 PacTrans-WSDOT Summer High School Transportation Camp Program Report | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2023 | 2023 pactrans-wsdot summer high school transportation camp program report wang, y., li, j., wu, l., moudon, a.v. the primary objective of the pactrans-wsdot summer high school transportation camp program is to promote an increased number of students pursuing advanced degrees and careers in stem-related fields associated with transportation. this mission emphasizes a particular commitment to broadening the participation of women and minority groups within these fields. ultimately, the program aims to contribute to the development of a skilled and diverse stem workforce. the 2023 pactrans-wsdot summer high school transportation camp was designed as a comprehensive, six-day, five-night residential program. it took place at two prestigious institutions: washington state university (wsu) in pullman from july 24th to 29th and the university of washington (uw) in seattle from august 13th to 18th. the 2023 program was generously sponsored by pactrans and wsdot and was offered free of charge to all participating students. both camps welcomed 33 students, with 25 at the uw and eight at wsu. the success of both camps was underscored by overwhelmingly positive feedback from students and parents. stem education, workforce development, high school, summer camp trac/uw 2023 | |
| Data-Driven Assessment of Post-Earthquake Bridge Functionality and Regional Mobility | Motter | PacTrans | 2023 | data-driven assessment of post-earthquake bridge functionality and regional mobility motter, c.j., phillips, a.r., eberhard, m., berman, j., maurer, b. the seismic performance of bridges is essential to post-earthquake mobility, as bridges are relied upon to carry goods and people into and out of urban centers after natural disasters. a 2019 department of homeland security (dhs) report assessing the regional resiliency of western washington state to a cascadia subduction zone (csz) earthquake predicted widespread and high levels of bridge damage. a primary objective of this study was to create an improved prediction of non-functional, partially functional, and functional bridges that will assist in post-earthquake emergency planning. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) bridge database was expanded to include site class, properties of abutments and foundations, and additional bridges. properties of bridges in the database were used to define the parameters for a parametric study on western washington bridges subjected to magnitude 9.0 csz ground motions. detailed multi-degree-of-freedom bridge models were developed with opensees. models were formulated for a suite of representative bridges and used to conduct nonlinear time history analyses for synthetic ground motions that had been generated in previous studies. results from the model analyses were used to provide a more detailed understanding of the likelihood of bridge damage and the likely service levels post-earthquake. bridge response was limited in the longitudinal direction because of stiffness provided by the abutments and backfill soil. in the transverse direction, shear keys and bearings were found to limit the lateral deformation in columns as a result of participation of the bridge deck. the majority of bridges in the wsdot inventory have shear keys and bearings and were predicted to be in full service following a csz earthquake. wsdot has been retrofitting older bridge columns with steel jackets since 1991, and this retrofit has been shown to enhance ductility. bridges without shear keys and bearings should be prioritized for retrofit. shorter period bridges near the coast and longer period bridges in locations with sedimentary basins were also identified as being more prone to damage. bridge functionality after a csz earthquake is likely to be considerably better than anticipated by the 2019 dhs report. some bridges may require repair, but bridges are likely to remain usable for emergency vehicles and post-earthquake response. these conclusions were reached within the scope of the study, with several limitations noted in the report that will require further investigation. loss, damage, bridge, retrofit, earthquake, cascadia subduction zone pactrans 2023 | |
| Model Deployment of the Virtual Coordination Center for Multimodal Integrated Corridor Management | Haselkorn | FHWA | 2023 | model deployment of the virtual coordination center for multimodal integrated corridor management haselkorn, m.e., phelps, t. the virtual coordination center (vcc) is a digital collaborative environment for integrated multimodal corridor management. under the federal highway administration project “model deployment of the virtual coordination center for multimodal integrated corridor management,” an operational community of state, city, and county agencies including law enforcement, transit, and transportation departments developed, deployed, and evaluated a vcc for interagency management of the seattle urban corridor. led by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and the university of washington, this project produced an innovative collaborative environment that now supports seattle fire (sfd), police (spd), and transportation (sdot), king county metro transit, sound transit, washington state patrol (wsp), and wsdot in their interagency management of incidents that affect the regional transportation system. the vcc provides daily operational value and is designed to support the management of high-impact situations that put unusual stress on the seattle-area transportation corridor. the vcc supports increased shared situational awareness, enhanced incident and congestion management, and coordinated population movement. virtual coordination, incident management, multimodal, congestion management, fhwa 2023 | |
| WA-RD 930.1 | Analytic Tools for Locating, Sizing, and Evaluating Electric Vehicle Charging Stations | MacKenzie | TRAC/UW | 2023 | analytic tools for locating, sizing, and evaluating electric vehicle charging stations mackenzie, d., coenen, s., aemmer, z., malarkey, d. the washington state legislature directed the department of transportation to develop analytic tools “to enable coordinated, effective, efficient, and timely deployment of charging and refueling infrastructure necessary to support statewide and local transportation electrification efforts that result in emissions reductions” consistent with state goals. this report reviews the available analytic tools for planning electric vehicle (ev) charging infrastructure and makes recommendations on how to meet legislative requirements for mapping and forecasting zero-emission vehicles and recharging equipment. the report presents an approach for generating a ten-year forecast of ev adoption at the census tract level and presents the results of that method. the report also describes an approach to simulating ev charging at public stations that estimates the plug count and power levels needed to meet charging demand with low wait times and the corresponding electric energy and capacity required to serve the charging demand. the report concludes with opportunities for additional research and development to create practical analytic tools that would assist planners and policymakers in making decisions about ev charging investments. electric vehicle charging, analytic tools, forecasting, simulation models, queueing models, electric energy, power, capacity trac/uw 2023 |
| WA-RD 932.1 | WSDOT Maintenance Performance Measure Algorithms | Shrestha | TRAC/WSU | 2023 | wsdot maintenance performance measure algorithms shrestha, k. this research project focused on deteriorating roadway asset conditions, emphasizing the challenges encountered by the roadway maintenance division of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). the project goal was to develop algorithms for prediction models that can forecast the levels of service (los) performance conditions of six important highway assets: culverts, barriers, traffic signal systems, ditches, slopes, and shoulders. these algorithms are based on a data-driven approach. the algorithms provide a step-by-step process for developing prediction models. the models can be used to forecast los performance conditions and trends under various funding levels, allowing them to set performance targets that align with available funds and asset maintenance priorities, potentially preventing expensive reactive maintenance. data collection included direct collection from wsdot and two-phase questionnaires to document factors affecting los performance conditions. statistical analyses such as the relative importance index (rii), kolmogorov-smirnov and shapiro-wilk normality tests, and mann-whitney u tests were employed to determine critical factors for each of the six assets. the project identified the top five highly ranked factors for each asset, which were utilized during model development. prediction models serve as a tool for forecasting asset conditions, calculating the base funds required for each asset, and optimizing resource allocation. through the project outcomes, states will be able to improve asset management decision-making, resulting in safer and more environmentally friendly roads. culvert maintenance, barrier maintenance, traffic signal systems, ditches, slope repair, washington state trac/wsu 2023 |
| WA-RD 904.1 | Real-Time Parking Information Integration, Visualization, and Prediction | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2023 | real-time parking information integration, visualization, and prediction wang, y., yang, h., zhuang, y., sun, w. the trucking industry plays a critical role in freight transportation in the united states. one major problem commonly recognized across the country is inadequate truck parking supply because existing truck parking facilities are struggling to meet the demand of increasing numbers of trucks on the road. lack of parking spaces and real-time parking availability information greatly exacerbates the uncertainty of trips and often results in illegal parking and/or overtime driving. in this project, wsdot worked with the research team at the university of washington (uw) smart transportation applications and research laboratory (star lab) to conduct a truck parking pilot study on advanced truck parking management systems. specifically, this project developed a comprehensive solution in which a parking detection system collects and processes robust, real-time parking data, a predication algorithm estimates future parking availability information, and an online parking availability information platform accessible from smart phones and other personal electronic devices provides real-time and predicted parking information. empowered by artificial intelligence and a deep learning prediction algorithm, the pilot truck parking information management system (tpims) achieved an error rate of less than 12 percent in predicting parking availability from 10 minutes to four hours ahead. both the real-time and multi-timescale prediction occupancy information is successfully disseminated via a customized website and user applications in real time. this real-time truck facility monitoring information and truck parking availability prediction will provide information to truck drivers for trip routing and scheduling arrangements. truck parking, information management system, parking prediction, parking demand, parking facilities, trac/uw 2023 |
| WA-RD 926.1 | Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from Construction of WSDOT Roadways | Simonen | TRAC/UW | 2023 | greenhouse gas emissions inventory from construction of wsdot roadways simonen, k., ashtiani, m., lewis, m., huang, m. recent emphasis on actions to reduce large-scale greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions has pushed most state departments of transportation (dots) to develop carbon accounting practices compatible with their current standard data collection and storage practices. in particular, with the recently passed buy clean acts in california, colorado, and oregon and the recently proposed buy clean and buy fair washington act, common construction materials such as cement concrete, steel, and asphalt are now under special attention. once accurate and reliable accounting of ghg emissions has been established, strategies can be formed that will help mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of materials that state dots utilize. this project, in collaboration with wsdot, is an attempt to perform a lifecycle assessment (lca) on some of its agency-wide operations that emit ghgs. to date, wsdot has not conducted comprehensive research on the embodied carbon within its construction material usage (i.e., an upstream scope 3 emissions inventory), 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). although several strategies are now in place to cut scope 1 and 2 emissions, such as the use of alternative and renewable energy sources, strategies to reduce scope 3 emissions have neither been fully recognized nor quantified. therefore, this project used several data sources from wsdot in conjunction with lifecycle emission factor data to estimate ghg emissions from the materials used to build and maintain roadways under wsdot’s jurisdiction. we found that upstream scope 3 emissions for wsdot as an agency are a big contributor to its overall carbon footprint by a five-year average of 310,000 metric tons of co2 eq. this project further suggested carbon reduction targets for wsdot and provided recommendations to achieve ghg reduction targets of 50 percent below the 2020 baseline in 2030 and 90 percent below the 2020 baseline in 2050 through decarbonization scenarios. embodied carbon, greenhouse gas emissions, lifecycle assessment, hot mix asphalt, cement concrete trac/uw 2023 |
| WA-RD 925.1 | Developing a Multi-Criteria Prioritization Tool to Identify Promising Locations for Transit-Oriented Developments on WSDOT-Owned Park and Ride Sites | Shen | TRAC/UW | 2023 | developing a multi-criteria prioritization tool to identify promising locations for transit-oriented developments on wsdot-owned park and ride sites shen, q., acolin, a., moudon, a.v., cai, m. public agencies can take a leading role in supporting transit-oriented development (tod) by making land available to developers (selling or leasing land, potentially below market prices). with existing access to transit systems and often large land areas, park and rides that are publicly owned can be leveraged to support tod uses, such as affordable housing, office space, small businesses, and mixed-use buildings. to effectively support tod planning, this research developed a multi-criteria prioritization tool to identify the most promising locations for tod and tested it at three park and ride sites owned by the washington state department of transportation. the tool was developed through the delphi process, which is an effective and inexpensive approach for evaluating relevant indicators by synthesizing the opinions of experts from various backgrounds. five categories with a total of 14 tod indicators, including transit supportive land-use zoning, job accessibility, land price, land-use mix, and household income, were selected as measures of tod suitability. the importance of these indicators varied with three different tod scenarios: (1) emphasis on affordable housing, (2) emphasis on market-rate housing, and (3) emphasis on mixed-use development. using the calculated suitability scores, this tool can prioritize potential tod sites for further review. tod, delphi method, multi-criteria planning tool, multi-sources geospatial data, publicly owned land trac/uw 2023 |
| 2022 Seattle Commute Survey | Shen | Commute Seattle | 2023 | 2022 seattle commute survey shen, q., ashour, l., moudon, a.v., treece, b., the washington state commute trip reduction law requires worksites with 100 or more full-time employees who begin their shift between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m. on weekdays to conduct a biannual commute survey. commute seattle has led this survey work since 2010, and in partnership with the downtown transportation alliance, it has used the results to measure progress toward the city's mobility goals. in 2022, commute seattle joined the university of washington’s mobility innovation center and the department of urban design and planning to improve and expand upon the survey and evaluate current transportation systems. the results give transportation planners a clearer picture of travel trends in relation to demographic groups, employment types, and housing. commute, ctr, mobility, telework, seattle commute seattle 2023 | |
| WA-RD 908.2 | Impacts of Cascadia Subduction Zone M9 Earthquakes on Bridges in Washington State: Three-Dimensional Bridge Models | Liu | TRAC/UW | 2022 | impacts of cascadia subduction zone m9 earthquakes on bridges in washington state: three-dimensional bridge models liu, k.-j., kortum, z., berman, j.w., maurer, b., lederman, a., eberhard, m., marafi, n. large-magnitude earthquakes generated by the cascadia subduction zone (csz) pose major risks to the western portions of washington state, oregon, and northern california. the performance of bridges during such events is an essential feature of the resilience of these regions because bridges will be needed for pre-tsunami evacuation, emergency response, and economic recovery. washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and university of washington engineers identified typical properties of bridges along some of the major highways in the puget sound region. these properties guided the development of a three-dimensional, nonlinear model of a typical bridge, which was subjected to sets of simulated m9 earthquake ground motions for six locations, four site classes, and a variety of abutment characteristics and column properties. the calculated displacements of the bridges were consistently smaller in the longitudinal direction than in the transverse direction because of the high resistance provided by the back wall, abutment, and backfill soil. in the transverse direction, the likelihoods of flexural damage for the reference bridge were largest for locations on the olympic peninsula, reaching maximum values of 31% for concrete column spalling (forks, wash., site class d1) and 6.1% for longitudinal bar buckling (port angeles, wash., site class d3). neglecting the abutment resistance greatly increased the transverse displacements for all locations and site classes, with the largest increases occurring for long-period bridges in sedimentary basins. when the shear key resistance was neglected, and the column height was doubled for a bridge in seattle, the maximum likelihoods of spalling and bar buckling increased from 1.53% to 32% and from 0.3% to 5.6%, respectively. these analyses suggest that, for typical bridges, wsdot should prioritize retrofit efforts on bridges without shear keys or those in which a curved or discontinuous superstructure makes the shear key less effective. bridges, earthquakes, abutments, cascadia, damage, seismicity, modeling trac/uw 2022 |
| WA-RD 917.1 | Assessing and Improving the Application of Multimodal Performance Measures in WSDOT Projects | MacKenzie | TRAC/UW | 2022 | assessing and improving the application of multimodal performance measures in wsdot projects mackenzie, d., arabkhedri, b., malarkey, d., tu, y. this report assesses the application of multimodal performance measures and indicators in wsdot's design process. it characterizes the "state of the knowledge" as reflected in scholarly research on how best to achieve multimodal goals in projects. it characterizes the "state of the practice" by reviewing design manuals, guidebooks, and handbooks of leading state departments of transportation to better understand their methods and performance measures for implementing multimodal design. the report concludes with six case studies of multimodal projects across several wsdot regions, evaluates how these projects integrated best practices for multimodal planning and performance measurement, and describes opportunities for improvement. multimodal, performance measures, planning and design, transit, bicycle, pedestrian trac/uw 2022 |
| WA-RD 918.1 | Assessment of Electric Utility Capacity to Deliver Electricity for Electric Aviation at Paine Field and Grant County International Airport | MacKenzie | TRAC/UW | 2022 | assessment of electric utility capacity to deliver electricity for electric aviation at paine field and grant county international airport mackenzie, d., coenen, s., malarkey, d. advances in battery-powered electric motor systems, lightweight materials, and aircraft design have resulted in the development of new electric aircraft that could gradually replace conventional fuel-powered aircraft for certain uses in the coming years. in addition, a whole new category of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft has received billions of dollars of new investment, with the goal of serving an entirely new urban air mobility market that would allow for fast trips within congested metro areas. this study developed methods to estimate plausible future energy and power demand for electric aircraft operations at regional airports to determine whether the electric grid near two regional airports, paine field and grant county international airport, have the capacity to serve the potential energy (mwh) and peak power (mw) needs of electric aircraft operations over the next one to two decades. our method has three parts: assumptions on flight operations growth, technical feasibility to serve these flights with electric aircraft, and actual adoption of electric aircraft to serve feasible trips. we found that the electric utilities serving these two airports have enough electric capacity at the neighboring substations to meet the demand for electricity over the next decade, given the capacities reported by the local utilities. experience gained in the first decade of commercial electric aircraft deployment at these airports will help inform future analysis as to whether local grid capacity will eventually impede the growth of electric aircraft charging. lastly, the report presents recommendations on how regional airports can prepare for electric aviation. electric aviation, electricity, projection, electric vertical take-off and landing, evtol, paine field, grant county international airport, washington state trac/uw 2022 |
| WA-RD 920.1 | Design and Testing of Modular Expansion Joint Noise Mitigation Strategies | Reinhall | TRAC/UW | 2022 | design and testing of modular expansion joint noise mitigation strategies reinhall, p., lipton, j., thomas, s., elmadih, w. this study investigated the design and feasibility of noise mitigation strategies for installation in modular expansion joints (mejs), with a focus on washington state’s sr 520 bridge. the three main sources of noise from mejs include resonance of the air within the gaps, resonance of the beams, and resonance of the tires. by filling the gaps in the mejs with engineered chevron support structures we have shown that it is feasible to significantly reduce the noise from mejs. we performed both experimental and computer evaluations of a noise attenuation system before performing limited testing on the sr 520 bridge. installation of the treatment on one westbound lane of the east mej of the sr 520 bridge proved to be highly effective over the two-month test period. at a distance of 160 feet, we measured a more than 70 percent reduction in audible noise over the noise of background traffic throughout the testing period. beyond 160 feet the difference between noise from the concrete road surface and from the mej became so small that it became very difficult to identify when individual cars crossed the mej. while we have shown that the chevron system can be an effective solution to the expansion joint noise issue, we outline further development and testing to extend the durability of the treatment. bridge, expansion joints, noise control, noise sources, sound attenuation, testing trac/uw 2022 |
| Approaches to Target Setting for PM3 Measures | Hallenbeck. M.E. | FHWA | 2022 | approaches to target setting for pm3 measures hallenbeck. m.e., lindsey, c., motamed, m., margiotta, r. targets and measures are key components of roadway performance management and are critical to communicating information about the transportation system to decision-makers, stakeholders, and the traveling public. target setting for travel time-based measures has emerged as a challenge in transitioning to a performance management-based approach for making transportation investment and policy decisions, as mandated by the moving ahead for progress in the 21st century act (map-21) and the fixing america’s surface transportation (fast) act. this report provides potential approaches and resources to state departments of transportation and local agencies to help overcome those challenges. approaches include technical options for developing the information to support target setting. performance management , transportation investment, policy, target, target setting, stakeholders fhwa 2022 | |
| Facilitating Analysts’ Use of Traffic Data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program | Hallenbeck | FHWA | 2022 | facilitating analysts’ use of traffic data from the long-term pavement performance (ltpp) program hallenbeck, m.e., selezneva, o.i. this report examines long-term pavement performance (ltpp) database users’ needs for traffic data and parameters and the extent of traffic data availability in the ltpp database. it identifies and recommends new analysis-ready traffic parameters and traffic data–usability indices for inclusion in the ltpp database. this report also presents a methodology for computation of analysis-ready traffic parameters selected by the federal highway administration for this study and a methodology for assessing reasonableness of historical axle loading data included in ltpp database tables for sites that do not have sufficient information about the accuracy of equipment used to collect these data. this report includes a description of ltpp database tables that include newly computed analysis-ready traffic parameters. for ltpp sites that do not have traffic data, this report explores alternative data sources and provides recommendations for using these data sources. this report includes an overview of the user guide for selecting and using long-term pavement performance traffic data, which aims to help ltpp database users navigate and understand ltpp traffic data and parameters and select or compute traffic parameters that best fit their project or analysis needs. traffic data, traffic loading, pavement design, long-term pavement performance, mepdg, wim, weigh-in-motion, hpms fhwa 2022 | |
| WA-RD 870.3 | Long-Term Bond Characteristics of the Interface between Substrate and Overlay in Shotcrete Applications (Phase III) | Wen | TRAC/WSU | 2022 | long-term bond characteristics of the interface between substrate and overlay in shotcrete applications (phase iii) wen, h., qiao, p., manawadu, a. shotcrete is becoming popular for vertical and overhead applications where conventional formwork and repairs are difficult and costly. however, the substrate and the shotcrete overlay interface can be vulnerable, and the bond properties in this region are not well understood. furthermore, the interface bond could be adversely affected by long-term freeze-thaw weathering in northern states leading to debonding from the existing substrate and corrosion of rebars. hence, characterization of the shotcrete-substrate interface bonds is critical for the performance evaluation of shotcrete construction. to this goal, this study evaluated the shotcrete-concrete interface bond using four representative substrate surface preparation methods: chipped, pressure-washed, sandblasted, and as-cast, under three different loading conditions: tensile, shear, and mode-ii fracture. the study also investigated the long-term freeze-thaw durability of these bonds and introduced a probabilistic damage model to predict their service lives. the estimated surface texture depth and bond behavior are also correlated using laser texture scans of the substrate. results indicate that the chipped substrates led to the highest interface bond strength and mode-ii fracture energy. out of the remaining surfaces, pressure-washing produced an interface bond that is more tensile-resistant, whereas sandblasting led to an interface bond that is more shear-resistant. therefore, it is recommended to consider the actual loading application on the shotcrete-concrete interface bond when choosing appropriate surface preparation and testing techniques. recommendations were proposed to include in the shotcrete specifications. specifically, a tensile bond strength of minimum 145 psi from a direct tensile bond strength test (e.g., astm c1583) is recommended for overhead shotcrete application and a shear bond strength of minimum 300 psi from a direct shear bond strength test (e.g., aashto t323) for slope stabilization with shotcrete. substrates with minimum estimated surface texture depths of 0.294 mm or larger (based on astm e2157 or d8271) or icri csp no. 4 or higher led to bond strengths greater than 145 psi as specified by aci. however, the predicted service life of shotcrete-concrete interface bonds is significantly reduced in regions prone to a higher number of freeze-thaw cycles. therefore, methods to improve the long-term durability of bond strength need to be further investigated. shotcrete, substrate to overlay, surface preparation, interface bonds trac/wsu 2022 |
| WA-RD 908.1 | Impacts of Cascadia Subduction Zone M9 Earthquakes on Bridges in Washington State: Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) Idealized Bridges | Eberhard | TRAC/UW | 2022 | impacts of cascadia subduction zone m9 earthquakes on bridges in washington state: single-degree-of-freedom (sdof) idealized bridges eberhard, m., kortum, z., liu, k-j, berman, j., marafi, n., maurer, b. the impacts on bridges of a magnitude 9 (m9) cascadia subduction zone (csz) earthquake were evaluated to help prioritize earthquake retrofit efforts and support the development of emergency response plans. to evaluate these impacts, researchers developed single-degree-of-freedom (sdof) models of typical pre-1976 and 1976-2018 bridges in washington state. these models were subjected to ground motions from 30 simulated m9 scenarios, ten locations, and four sets of 30 site profiles. the mean calculated lateral strengths of the older and newer bridges were similar for a wide range of periods and exceeded the strengths expected from design procedures, even after the contributions of the abutments were neglected and material overstrength was accounted for. as expected, the older bridge columns had far less transverse reinforcement than the newer bridges. near the csz, the damage was predicted to be widespread for a wide range of effective periods. the likelihood of column concrete spalling and longitudinal bar buckling ranged from 35-70 percent and 10-30 percent, respectively, with the larger values corresponding to softer site profiles. far from the csz, the flexural damage to bridges was expected to be slight for locations outside of sedimentary basins. for most locations within sedimentary basins, such as seattle, damage levels were predicted to be low for bridge periods below 0.5s. for bridges with periods of between 0.5s and 3s, the likelihood of concrete spalling ranged from 50-75 percent. for these long-period bridges, the likelihood of bar buckling ranged from 35-50 percent for softer sites and 20-35 percent for stiffer sites. this study did not account for the effects of bridge abutments, skew, or curved alignment. note also that this study did not consider the possibility of span unseating, column shear failures, or site liquefaction, any of which could lead to bridge collapse. bridges, earthquakes, cascadia, damage trac/uw 2022 |
| WA-RD 911.1 | Community Engagement Support for the Highway System Plan Update | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2022 | community engagement support for the highway system plan update hallenbeck, m.e., brown, r., moudon, a.v. this report documents the results of a statewide community outreach effort designed to help inform the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) about the spending priorities of state residents as part of wsdot’s ongoing update of the highway system plan. the report documents the outcome of a statistically valid, statewide, discrete choice survey. in the survey, residents were given a hypothetical constrained budget and asked to allocate that budget across multiple funding categories. survey respondents were allowed to select between multiple options for each funding category and were given information on the expected outcomes from each of those funding levels. the results were analyzed by geographic region of the state and by socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. the responses documented in this report provide key insights for the plan’s update. survey, highway system plan trac/uw 2022 |
| Use of a Microwave Method to Prototype Electrically Conductive Concrete | Moman | PacTrans | 2021 | use of a microwave method to prototype electrically conductive concrete moman, a., nassiri, s. electrically conductive pavement materials have shown potential as self-deicing pavements under passed electrical current. in this project, a method using microwaves was used to evaluate the electrical conductivity of pavement materials for the purpose of melting snow and ice and reducing the need for sanding and salting in the winter. the preliminary experiments in this study found the potential of the method to detect conductive mixes. the prototyped electrically conductive concrete (ecc) assessed in this study contained 0.2 and 0.3 percent weight of carbon fibers. concentrations of 0.2 and 0.3 percentage by weight (wt%) resulted in more conductivity than a neat mix, while a decline in conductivity at 28 days was obtained for 0.4 wt%,indicating a potential percolation limit of between 0.3 and 0.4 wt%. the small samples and the quick, nondestructive method of measurement can be used to easily identify the optimum dosage and percolation limits of various conductive fibers for ecc development. future investigations may include using this method to further determine the best fiber content to optimize electrical-thermal performance with maximum mechanical properties and durability. self-deicing pavements, electrically conductive concrete pactrans 2021 | |
| Longitudinal Analyses of Washington State Student Travel Surveys | Moudon | PacTrans | 2021 | longitudinal analyses of washington state student travel surveys moudon, a.v., shi, x. part of a long-term collaboration between the university of washington (uw) and washington state department of transportation (wsdot), this project contained two studies: (1) longitudinal changes in active school transport (ast) rates and (2) impacts of safe routes to school (srts) projects on ast rates. (1) the average rate of ast for the 241 schools surveyed in 2016 was 21.2 percent, compared to 14.1 percent for the 198 schools surveyed in 2019. the difference in rates was explained primarily by the difference in the schools sampled in the two waves. for the 32 schools that were included in both surveys, rates were similar at 22.3 percent in 2016 and 19.8 percent in 2019. schools included in only the 2019 survey lacked characteristics that are known to be associated with higher rates of ast: their neighborhood had lower street connectivity; they offered less encouragement for ast; their students were younger; and a higher proportion of them lived farther from school. differences in walkability scores and walking potential scores between the two waves further confirmed these findings. (2) evaluating the association between rates of ast and srts project awards was based on 94 projects with complete project information from multiple databases. most projects (n=53) were accompanied with increases in students walking to/from school; 40 had increases in the number of students biking. for other projects, decreases were observed (n=17 for walking; n=18 for biking). on average, schools with srts projects had a 33 percent increase in the number of students walking and a 104 percent increase the number of students biking. regarding project type (with primarily an engineering, education, or enforcement component), larger effects were found for education projects (17 percent and 37 percent increases in walking and biking, respectively) and enforcement projects (2 percent and 115 percent increases in walking and biking). however, these findings have limited generalizability because of the small sample size (n=32). active transportation, school trips, travel surveys pactrans 2021 | |
| Guidelines for Obtaining AADT Estimates from Non-traditional Sources | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2021 | guidelines for obtaining aadt estimates from non-traditional sources hallenbeck, m.e., schewel, l., co, s., wergin, j. this document provides decision making guidance that highway agencies can use to purchase or acceptance test traffic volume estimates such as annual average daily traffic (aadt) from the private sector when those estimates are based on non-traditional data sources, such as vehicle probe or smartphone data. aadt, probe data, volume, big data, lbs, gps, machine learning, madt, aadtt, k-factor, d-factor, aaht trac/uw 2021 | |
| Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative (ATTRI) Performance Metrics and Evaluation: Evaluation Framework Report | Caspi | FHWA | 2021 | accessible transportation technologies research initiative (attri) performance metrics and evaluation: evaluation framework report caspi, a., hallenbeck, m.e., tyman, s. this report provides a framework that can be used to develop an evaluation of technology applications designed to remove barriers to transportation for people with visual, hearing, cognitive, and mobility disabilities. the framework helps evaluation teams follow a consistent process that starts with an understanding of 1) the goals of the technology; 2)the needs of the intended user population; and 3) the intended technical performance of the system, to create a logic model that identifies the evaluation hypotheses to be tested, the appropriate performance measures for evaluating those hypotheses, the data sources from which the required data can be obtained, and the areas where collaboration and agreement are needed between the evaluation team, the technology developers, and the evaluation sponsors to finalize and perform the evaluation. the framework specifically accounts for—and provides guidance for—evaluations of a wide variety of accessibility development projects (adp) and is designed to help project sponsors, participants, and independent evaluation (ie) teams focus their evaluation efforts on the key outcomes of importance for each attri-funded adps being studied, while also keeping in mind the need to understand the effect the adp has on overall trip making capabilities of users. thus, the framework is designed for use with all types of projects sponsored by u.s. department of transportation’s (usdot) attri program. wayfinding, pre-trip, scenario, logic model, accessibility development projects fhwa 2021 | |
| Adjustments to the Public Records Act to Allow for Advanced Transportation Operations and Management | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2021 | adjustments to the public records act to allow for advanced transportation operations and management hallenbeck, m.e., spitzer, h., collins, b., porton, a., glaser, d. this project developed recommended changes to the state’s public records act that will enable the state’s public agencies, cities, and counties to obtain and use a variety of new electronic data—often collected by the private sector—that describe transportation system use of individuals, vehicles, and companies, without releasing to the public detailed data that could compromise the privacy of individuals and the trade secrets of companies. the state of washington’s public records act (pra), passed as a public initiative in 1972, was designed to provide more transparency in the decision-making process at all levels of government. the law also directly acknowledges that citizens have privacy rights that deserve protections. however, the current version of the pra was not written to account for the ways that modern technology has changed the collection of data and how those data are used for business applications and to manage the transportation system, as well as how unscrupulous individuals can abuse those data. this amendment should clarify privacy and trade secret protections of individuals and companies within the law, while maintaining transparency in government decision making, and should remove barriers to the sharing and use of private sector data to enable public agencies to more effectively manage the transportation system. public records, privacy, transportation data, transportation operations trac/uw 2021 | |
| WA-RD 900.1 | Advancing Multimodal Safety by Reducing Pedestrian Crash Potential | Boyle | TRAC/UW | 2021 | advancing multimodal safety by reducing pedestrian crash potential boyle, l., moudon, a.v., haena, k., mingyu, k. pedestrian safety is a priority of washington state department of transportation’s (wsdot) target zero plan. this report provides the findings of the data used and the models developed to support our understanding of pedestrian safety. the project used data from wsdot, the census, the king county gis center, the university of washington urban form lab, and national historical geographic information. the models created aimed to (1) identify factors and locations in washington state that are associated with a higher number of pedestrian-vehicle crashes (frequency models) and (2) explore factors that contribute to pedestrian-vehicle crashes that result in serious injuries and fatalities (severity models). the outcome of interest for the frequency models was the number of pedestrian-vehicle crash(es) per 100-meter euclidian buffer around intersection and non-intersection locations on state routes in king county, washington, and in the entire state of washington. mixed-effects poisson regression was used for these frequency models because the mean and variance of the outcome variable were not significantly different. the state route variable was treated as a random intercept to account for pedestrians’ characteristics that were specific to each state route. microenvironmental factors that were positively correlated with the frequency of pedestrian-vehicle crashes included intersection type (intersection or non-intersection), being on a principal arterial road, total width of lanes, presence of a park and ride facility, and commercial area. the findings suggest that locations with these characteristics should be considered during rankings of locations within the pedestrian subcategory of the wsdot i2 – safety program. macroenvironmental factors (measured in a 400-meter buffer) that were negatively correlated with pedestrian-vehicle crash frequency included area household income and industrial land use. higher-income households were related to a lower number of pedestrian-vehicle crashes, suggesting that reduction in crash potential should consider including identifying low-income neighborhoods. the washington state model also accounted for state routes as a random effect. as expected, state routes within king county (sr 99, i-5) showed a higher number of pedestrian-vehicle crashes per 100-meter buffer. binary logistic regression models were developed to examine the likelihood of pedestrian-vehicle crashes that result in serious injuries or fatalities. older pedestrians (age groups: 45–64, 65–74, and 75+) involved in crashes were more likely to suffer serious injuries or to die than pedestrians in the age group 25–44. the likelihood of a pedestrian-vehicle crash resulting in serious injury or fatality increased when pedestrians failed to grant the right of way to vehicles, when drivers were moving straight ahead, and under dark light conditions. crashes occurring on roads with speed limits higher than 40 mph were more likely to result in severe injury or fatality, while crashes occurring in park and ride lots and in areas of higher population densities were less likely to result in severe injury or fatality. police crash reports often lacked information on vehicle speed, and pedestrians’ and drivers’ actions at the time of a crash. complete and accurate crash reports will provide greater insights to enhance pedestrian safety. pedestrian safety, pedestrian-vehicle crashes, crash frequency, crash severity, regression models, injury prevention, geographic information systems trac/uw 2021 |
| The Impact of Shared Mobility Options on Travel Demand | Moudon | PacTrans | 2020 | the impact of shared mobility options on travel demand moudon, a.v., ban, x.j., lowry, m., shen, q., mills, m., sun, f., wang, y. newly available shared mobility options are having a large impact on travel. car- and bike-sharing and ride-hailing have become increasingly viable and attractive travel modes since they have been app-based and able to link riders and vehicles in real time and space. this project aimed to provide much needed information on how app-based shared mobility options are affecting travel behavior, and specifically how they are changing the parameters leading to mode choice and mode share. we used three available secondary data sets to explore whether shared mobility options substitute for or complement traditional modes. the first set of data came from the 2017 puget sound regional household travel survey. we found that car-sharing and ride-hailing substituted for household vehicle trips. yet they induced more travel, which could add to traffic congestion but could also improve access to activities. substitution effects with transit and biking, and additional walking, differed by day of week and commute status, suggesting that future research focus on the temporal and purpose characteristics of trips by shared mobility. the second set of data came from the washington state commute trip reduction (ctr) program. we found that in the immediate, ctr instruments used to collect data on commute trips could add questions about shared mobility options. in the long run, ctr employer and employee surveys could be redesigned to facilitate the evaluation of employers’ tdm efforts. also, deploying apps to support the commute trip could yield invaluable and timely information for transportation policy and research. the third set of data addressed “shared micro-mobility,” an increasingly popular form of shared mobility that includes bicycles and scooters. companies that offer this service have dispersed hundreds or even thousands of bicycles and scooters across individual cities for customers to use. a few companies provide real-time location data for their bikes and scooters via the internet. we created a computer program to continuously “scrape” and archive such data. a technical description of the online database system was provided. a pilot-study served to analyze one year of data and to create trip generation models. shared mobility, micro-mobility, car sharing, bike sharing, ride hailing, commute trip reduction, travel surveys, transportation demand management, tdm pactrans 2020 | |
| If You Provide, Will They Ride? Motivators and Deterrents to Shared Micro-Mobility | Pimentel | PacTrans | 2020 | if you provide, will they ride? motivators and deterrents to shared micro-mobility pimentel, r.w., lowry, m.b. bike share, e-bike share, and e-scooter systems (shared micro-mobility) are gaining popularity throughout the united states and internationally, but the optimal system design has not been determined. this study investigated motivators for and deterrents to the use of such systems in the pacific northwest by using a research framework from consumer behavior theory with secondary data, participant observations, in-depth interviews, and an on-line survey of users and non-users. the survey was administered in all cities in washington, oregon, and idaho that have shared micro-mobility systems. convenience and social good were found to be major motivators, but the strongest motivators reported were exercise and enjoyment. the strongest deterrents were weather, danger from automobile traffic, and insufficient bike lanes and paths. the latter two deterrents might be alleviated through continued improvements to infrastructure; however weather cannot be changed and neither can hills. nevertheless, the survey suggested that those issues might be addressed by promoting the popular motivators of exercise and enjoyment. once riders have become accustomed to using and enjoying the shared services in favorable conditions, they may be more likely to figure out ways to deal with weather and hills. any promotional activities should be targeted to the “interested but concerned” segment of the four types of cyclists, as it represents the greatest potential for increased ridership, and should emphasize personal benefits more than social appearances. shared mobility, vehicle sharing, bicycles, bicycle riders, scooters, safety, risk, interdisciplinary studies pactrans 2020 | |
| Washington State School Walk Score | Moudon | PacTrans | 2020 | washington state school walk score moudon, a.v., shi, x., chen, y. we used unique data from the 2016 washington state student travel survey combined with built environment data to first confirm the factors shown to influence children walking to and from school in previous literature. walkability scores were then estimated for k-8 washington state schools under different data availability scenarios. first, models were developed using the 66 schools in king county with both student travel data and extensive built environment data that could serve as “best case” scenarios for calculating walkability indices. the models were run for three additional scenarios that reflected the limited data available in the state outside of king county. second, models with limited data were run for the 159 remaining schools in washington state that had student travel data. a walkability score applied to all k-8 schools was based on two built environment characteristics: street connectivity (route directness) and vehicular traffic exposure (ratio of major/minor streets); as well as school total enrollment as a control variable. a walking potential score estimating the percentage of children likely to walk at each school was calculated by adding the percentage of children in the school lunch program and the number of children riding the school bus to the variables used in the walkability score. the average walking potential score was 21.5 percent (sd 16.1 percent) of the students in a school walking to or from school. to our knowledge, no other state has scored their schools for walkability. the scores can guide the future allocation of funds to support and promote walking to school in two ways: they can help rank schools according to the need for increasing their rate of walking; and they can identify those components/indicators of the school neighborhood environment that could be changed to most effectively increase the likelihood of children walking to school. an appendix provides a tally of walkability and walking potential scores for k-8 schools in washington state by county and by school district. walking to school, school walkability score, school walking, potential score pactrans 2020 | |
| WA-RD 912.1 | RAP Reset – Responsibly Optimizing Recycled Materials Use in Asphalt Concrete and Pavement Performance Life | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2020 | rap reset – responsibly optimizing recycled materials use in asphalt concrete and pavement performance life muench, t., hand, a., sebaaly, p., hajj, e., chhetri, k., piratheepan, m., elias, n., howell, r., devol, j., davis, s, the durability performance of asphalt concrete (ac) with various percentages of reclaimed asphalt material (ram) has been a focal point of the asphalt industry, leading it to embrace the balanced mix design (bmd) concept. the goal of this research was to review and enhance wsdot's ac materials selection, mix design, and standard specifications for optimized use of ram, based on readily implementable technology, in collaboration with industry stakeholders for improved durability performance. the scope included a literature review, an assessment of ram supply in the state, and a statewide comparison of low and high ram pavement performance data to determine whether differences were observed;. the scope also included an evaluation of raw materials and field mixtures and an evaluation of laboratory mixed-laboratory compacted (lmlc), field mixed-laboratory compacted (fmlc), and field cored (fmfc) samples. the laboratory analysis included short-term and long-term aging of binders and mixtures with rheological and cracking tests performed on them. one recommendation of the study was to integrate volumetric parameters along with further performance testing in a bmd approach to increase effective binder content. another was to implement all of the volumetric criteria in aashto m323 during mix design, test section and acceptance. additional recommendations were to use Δtc as an aging parameter in binder specifications; include ram in all mix designs regardless of doses; maintain an idt strength specification and transition to the ct-index; add long-term aging for idt/ct-index test specimens in the future, maintaining the current hamburg wheel track (hwt) rutting test and criteria; revise short- and long-term standard specification; and re-evaluate the performance of ram pavements with time. asphalt concrete, performance, recycled asphalt materials, durability trac/uw 2020 |
| WA-RD 903.1 | Flume-Based Design Recommendations for Coarse Bands and Boulder Bars to Improve Retention of Channel Shape in Stream Simulation Culverts | Engdahl | TRAC/WSU | 2020 | flume-based design recommendations for coarse bands and boulder bars to improve retention of channel shape in stream simulation culverts engdahl, n., fouty, t., kelty, b. the pacific northwest has seen a reduction of fish populations related to the number of fish barriers in the area. in response, washington state implemented new design policies in 1999 to replace the most common barriers, culverts. new “stream simulation culverts” incorporate a sediment lining, providing an environment more conducive to fish movement. streambed design must balance engineering and ecosystem factors, but there is little guidance on how to maximize the lifespan of the overall channel shape while providing maximum fish passage during low water flows. this research investigated how to incorporate coarse material (coarse bands and boulder bars) into a simulated streambed in a flume. the first objective examined whether coarse bands and boulder bars could stabilize a channel without eliminating sediment transport. three characteristics were tested: coarse material size, the number of coarse bands, and the spacing between coarse bands/boulder bars. the second objective was to investigate relationships between the number and spacing of coarse bands/boulder bars and channel stabilization. streambeds were subjected to one-, two-and-a-half-, five-, and ten-year flood frequency events. sediment transport was quantified after each flood event by using cross-section profiles and was analyzed to determine net change for each cross section. thirty coarse bands and twelve different boulder bar configurations were tested with variable numbers of coarse bands/boulder bars and amounts of spacing and stream slope relative to a uniform streambed (without coarse bands). the research showed that nearly linear, coarse bands that fully spanned the channel reduced sediment transport by 56%, 54% and 50% at bed slopes of 2%, 3%, and 4%, respectively, conditional to differences in the geometry of the coarse bands at each slope. boulder bars spaced one channel width apart produced sediment transport reductions of 49%, 57%, and 33%, at bed slopes of 2%, 3%, and 4%, respectively, and produced different transport patterns than the linear designs. these findings indicate that minimal additions of coarse bands reduced sediment transport and generally maintained u-shaped channels. coarse band/bars at greater bed slopes required larger material and armoring layer downstream to prevent destabilization/failure. coarse bands, stream simulation design, water resources, fish barrier, sustainability trac/wsu 2020 |
| Evaluation of the Use and Performance of Via to Transit in the Puget Sound Region | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2020 | evaluation of the use and performance of via to transit in the puget sound region hallenbeck, m.e., van roijen, a., avery, r., zyuzin, d. sound transit and king county metro teamed as sub-recipients on a project led by los angeles metro to demonstrate the viability of a partnership with a private sector transportation network company to increase access to transit through the provision of on-demand, first-mile/last-mile transit access services. this independent evaluation report concentrates on the actual ridership impacts of the via to transit service; that is, how many people chose to use via, whether those individuals represented all segments of the population living in the study area, and whether the availability of the via service for first-mile/last-mile trip making changed their use of link light rail or bus. trac/uw 2020 | |
| WA-RD 899.1 | Ferry Vessel Propeller Wash Effects on Scour at the Kingston Ferry Terminal (Washington) | Kastner | TRAC/UW | 2020 | ferry vessel propeller wash effects on scour at the kingston ferry terminal (washington) kastner,s., stearns,c., horner-devine,a., thomson, j. this project investigated the hydrodynamic causes of severe erosion at the washington state ferries ferry terminal in kingston, washington, where a cliff-like bathymetric feature had shifted shoreward in recent years, forcing repairs on the slip's bridge pilings. high resolution measurements of velocity and estimates of turbulent bed stress were taken during vessel arrivals and departures during two deployment periods in march and april 2018. calculated bed stresses (and maximum velocities) were found to be 10 to 100 (30 to 50) times larger during vessel arrivals and departures than background levels. the structure of the wash was modified by the bathymetry such that steeper bathymetry led to more reflection of the propeller wash. bed stresses were higher during vessel departures than arrivals, corresponding to higher vessel acceleration during departures. additionally, during departures, lower tidal states corresponded to higher bed stresses because the propellers were closer to the seabed. during arrivals, larger vessels generated higher bed stresses. in this work, we developed, assessed, and used an empirical model for bed stress that took into account these dependencies. using this model, we determined that the most important factor for cumulative vessel stress is the frequency of use of a given slip. additionally, shallower ground lines will be exposed to higher bed stress than deeper ground lines, so modifications to the existing bathymetry should take into account both the effect of shallower depth and milder slope. hydrodynamics, wakes, turbulence, scour, ferry terminals, vessel operations trac/uw 2020 |
| WA-RD 818.1 | Simulation Environment to Optimize Public Investments in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure | MacKenzie | TRAC/UW | 2019 | simulation environment to optimize public investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure mackenzie, d., pathak, c., jabbari, p. electric vehicles (evs) are a promising approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but plug-in electric vehicles (pevs) need charging stations, and charging stations can be costly. while much charging can be done at home for low cost, long-distance travel requires fast chargers that can deliver a charge while the driver takes a short break. consumers would like chargers to be fast, reliable, and ubiquitous, while developers would like them to be highly utilized. hence, public charging infrastructure siting is a complex problem requiring collaboration among several stakeholders and in many cases public investment. this report presents an agent-based model of long-distance ev travel in washington state to support public and private sector decision-making. the framework integrates empirically grounded behavioral models of vehicle choice for a trip and charging choice during the trip with models of charging station operations. it improves upon previous fast-charging siting tools by incorporating greater behavioral realism while allowing the evaluation of specific candidate sites for charging stations. electric vehicle infrastructure, electric vehicles, long distance travel model, agent-based modeling trac/uw 2019 |
| Development of Surface-Mounted Smart Piezoelectric Modules for Condition Assessment of Bridges | Qiao | PacTrans | 2019 | development of surface-mounted smart piezoelectric modules for condition assessment of bridges qiao, p., manawadu, a.k., zhou, z. in-situ, real-time structural health monitoring (shm) of civil infrastructure via piezoelectric materials (pzt) is an emerging, sustainable method to ensure structural safety and integrity. in this study, a smart surface-mounted pzt patch system and an embedded pzt cement module system were developed to determine the wave modulus of elasticity (wmoe) of concrete through a combined experimental and numerical investigation. concrete beams and a concrete panel were evaluated to identify the feasibility of utilizing the two smart pzt systems to determine the wmoe at different ages. the key parameter of the study was to determine the time of flight (tof) of the first rayleigh wave (r-wave) package from the surface-mounted pzt patch system or the first shear wave (s-wave) package from the embedded pzt cement module system of propagating waves. the experimentally measured wmoe from the two smart pzt systems were about 11 percent (maximum) higher than the smoe of the concrete obtained from the compression test. the experimental results also indicated that the surface-mounted pzt patch system produced higher wmoe values than the embedded pzt cement module system, but within a range of 4 percent. the orientation of the embedded pzt cement modules affected the clarity and magnitude of the propagating wave. the established fe model for beams validated the results of the experimental evaluation. the measured wmoe also varied with the dimensions of the structures, and the wmoe values measured from a narrower, deeper structure were smaller than the ones from a wider, shallower structure. overall, the surface-mounted pzt system proved to be as effective as or even better than the embedded pzt cement module system in determining the of wmoe concrete with a certain degree of confidence and in assessing concrete properties. structural health monitoring, piezoelectric, concrete, wave modulus of elasticity pactrans 2019 | |
| Development of Protocol to Maintain Winter Mobility of Different Classes of Pervious Concrete Pavement Based on Porosity | Nassiri | PacTrans | 2019 | development of protocol to maintain winter mobility of different classes of pervious concrete pavement based on porosity nassiri, s., alshareedah, o. the main focus of this study was to develop an image-based method to characterize the porosity of in-situ pervious concrete (pc), so this feature can be correlated with ice formation and winter maintenance operations of the pavement. first, a surface imaging-based porosity characterization method was investigated. a total of 27 pc slabs cast at three targeted porosity levels—15 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent--were used. images of the top and bottom surfaces of the slabs were used in thresholding techniques, in which the images were binarized and the area of the voids were obtained. the image-based porosity was calculated as the ratio of the area of voids to the total surface area of each slab. the image-based porosity was correlated with the porosity of the pc measured in accordance with astm c1754 by submersion. for validation, the distribution of the porosity along the depth of pc cores extracted from the slabs was quantified from images taken by x-ray computed tomography (ct). analysis of these images revealed that the distribution of pores along the depth were significantly different at intermediate depths than that at the top and bottom 0.5-inch depths because of compaction. therefore, the developed surface image-based method did not provide a representative porosity value for the full pc layer. more surface imaging, in parallel with x-ray ct scans, are required to develop a correlation between the porosity of the surface layer and overall porosity. finally, the gibbs-thompson equation, a thermodynamic-based model developed in past studies, was recommended to determine the critical temperature at which ice formation initiates inside pc pores. the proposed image-based porosity characterization method and the gibbs thompson equation can be used as a decision support tool for transportation authorities to identify the time of ice formation in pc pavements in order to apply timely winter maintenance treatments. pervious concrete, porosity, x-ray, computed tomography, image analysis pactrans 2019 | |
| A Construction Project Classification Framework: Mapping the Dimensions for Classification of Pacific Northwest Highway Project Types | Okere | PacTrans | 2019 | a construction project classification framework: mapping the dimensions for classification of pacific northwest highway project types okere, g.o. in the construction industry, it is an accepted fact that not all projects are created equal, so analysis and evaluation of project performance should follow the same principle. gaining insights into contract performance requires practitioners to compare project performance on various dimensions, look for patterns, and make generalizations. in contract administration, practitioners are interested in project performance as it relates to cost, time, quality of work, scope of work, and contract changes. a standard project type classification framework that would allow such comparisons does not exist for use by practitioners working on highway projects. in the absence of a standard project type classification framework, practitioners have taken the pragmatic and ad hoc steps to classify projects to meet their specific needs. the lack of a standard project type classification framework makes it difficult for practitioners who administer highway projects to effectively gain insights, find patterns, generalize findings, extend knowledge, and transfer knowledge gained. following qualitative synthesis research and participation from pacific northwest (pnw) state departments of transportation (dot), a project type classification framework was developed. the proposed project type classification framework captures the differentiating dimensions and corresponding measures that define highway projects. a data input wireframe was also developed for implementing the project type classification framework into a searchable database. the significant contribution of this study was that basic project performance analytics can be enhanced by using the project type classification framework. in addition, the proposed project type classification framework would eliminate the use of ad hoc classification systems. it is recommended that future research focus on evaluating whether the proposed project type classification framework enables better visibility of and insights into contract administration. highway project types, contract administration, highway project classification framework, database of highway project types pactrans 2019 | |
| WA-RD 885.1 | Understanding Opportunities with Connected Vehicles in the Smart Cities Context | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2019 | understanding opportunities with connected vehicles in the smart cities context wang,y., ash,j., zhuang,y., zhibin,l., zeng,z., hajbabaie,a., hajibabai,l., tajalli,m. this research focused on using connected vehicle information to identify locations prone to conflicts between motorized and nonmotorized users to improve traffic safety on multimodal roadway networks. with this information in hand, transportation system users can be alerted of potential conflicts they may be involved in, before their occurrence, allowing these users to take preventive actions by making evasive maneuvers. a comprehensive review of the literature investigated existing connected vehicle (cv) and vehicle-to-x (v2x) safety applications. the methods to allow a sensor to communicate via both dedicated short range communications (dsrc) and via bluetooth, wifi, or another communication protocol commonly used by mobile devices were also investigated, as well as existing surrogate safety measures and their use in conflict- and safety-prediction algorithms. the review indicated that several studies have focused on the safety and operational benefits of vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (v2i) communications; however, the safety benefits of v2x communications have not been sufficiently explored. in this project, a cost-effective, solar-energy driven, small, and lightweight communication node device, called the smart road sticker (srs), was developed to enable communications between connected vehicles and other roadway users via protocols such as lora and bluetooth, and potentially dsrc. a supporting mobile application that allows pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers of unconnected vehicles to communicate with the srs device and vice versa was also designed. a crash risk prediction algorithm, with applications for vehicle/non-motorized user crashes, was developed to identify unsafe conditions and determine appropriate cv-based safety countermeasures for system users. next, a connected vehicle simulation test bed was established in vissim to evaluate the safety benefits of the proposed methodology under various traffic and landscape conditions. the findings of this study were that the number of conflicts increased when the penetration of connected devices decreased. in addition, increasing the traffic volume had a direct relationship with increasing the number of conflicts. finally, a real-world test bed was established for installation of sensors, data collection, and analysis, as well as to initiate further smart cities research within the state. safe traffic operations, connected vehicles, communications node device, mobile applications, crash risk prediction algorithm, simulation test bed trac/uw 2019 |
| WA-RD 894.1 | WSF Triangle Route: Analysis of Alternative Concepts of Operations | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2019 | wsf triangle route: analysis of alternative concepts of operations hallenbeck,m.e., scott,e. the washington state ferry system triangle route (fauntleroy – vashon – southworth) is heavily used and experiences a number of significant operational challenges. this report documents the outcome of a project tasked with examining different concepts of operation that would improve the performance of the triangle route, with a specific focus on the fauntleroy terminal during periods of peak use. each concept of operation describes operational procedures designed to improve the speed and efficiency of the terminal’s operations, the vessels’ load factor, the vessels’ on-time performance during peak travel periods, and if possible, the peak period capacity of the route. a variety of recommendations are made for consideration by washington state ferries for projects that might improve both the overall operational performance of the route and customers' overall satisfaction with their experiences when using the route. ferry system, ferry operations, ferry revenue collection trac/uw 2019 |
| WA-RD 898.1 | Linear Scheduling Evaluation and Best Practices Development: Phase I Report | Kim | TRAC/UW | 2019 | linear scheduling evaluation and best practices development: phase i report kim,a., wang,s., medal,l., sadatsafavi,h. a relevant literature review was conducted of best practices related to the use of the linear scheduling method (lsm) for heavy civil construction projects. the comprehensive literature review revealed an additional need to understand how lsm could be best utilized for wsdot, which will include conducting an investigation into off-the-shelf software programs that could be integrated with existing platforms that wsdot currently uses. linear scheduling method, linear scheduling software, performance measurement framework, visualization, benefit-cost analysis trac/uw 2019 |
| Curb Allocation Change Project | Goodchild | Urban Freight Lab | 2019 | curb allocation change project goodchild,a., mackenzie, d., ranjbari, a., machado, j., dalla chiara, g. like many congested cities, seattle has experienced a rapid increase in ride-hailing trips by transportation network companies (tncs) such as uber and lyft. that increase has raised broad concerns about congestion, safety, and effective curb use. in response, this study looked at a strategy to manage tnc driver stops and improve traffic flow when passengers are picked up and dropped off in the south lake union area of seattle. to mitigate the impacts of passenger pick-up/drop-off activity on traffic, the city proposed a strategy of increasing passenger loading zone (plz) spaces in south lake union, while uber and lyft would implement a geofence to direct their drivers and passengers to designated load and unload locations. the study found that passenger loading and unloading made up a significant share of total vehicle activity in the study area. without dedicated load/unload curb space, tnc vehicles stopped and waited at paid parking spots and in other unauthorized curb spots. a significant percentage of vehicles also stopped in the travel lane, potentially blocking or slowing traffic. adding plzs and geofencing was found to increase driver compliance in stopping at the curb versus stopping in the travel lane to load/unload passengers. adding plzs and geofencing also reduced the average amount of time drivers stopped to load/unload passengers. in addition, adding plzs and geofencing did not have a significant impact on traffic safety, and it did not produce a significant impact on roadway travel speed. parking, curb, transportation network companies, passenger load zones urban freight lab 2019 | |
| I-405 Express Toll Lanes: Usage, Benefits, and Equity | Hallenbeck.M.E. | TRAC/UW | 2019 | i-405 express toll lanes: usage, benefits, and equity hallenbeck.m.e., leung, s., mccartan, c., robinson, cj, zamir, k.r., iverson, v. using data on each trip made on the i-405 express toll lanes during all operational hours (weekdays 5:00 am – 7:00 pm) of 2018, demographic data by census block groups, plus speed, volume, and travel time data for both the express toll and general purpose lanes, this study examined how the express toll lanes are used, the benefits they provide to users, and how these benefits are distributed among different groups of noncommercial users. the project used data from over 16 million trips on the facility. the result is unique insight into facility usage patterns and equity impacts associated with different income and geographic groups. express lanes, toll lanes, hot lanes, elasticity, equity, usage trac/uw 2019 | |
| WA-RD 890.1 | Field Analysis of Wood Guardrail Post Decay | Phillips | TRAC/WSU | 2019 | field analysis of wood guardrail post decay phillips, a., luo, q. wood guardrail posts can be inspected for decay using a non-destructive testing (ndt) technique called stress wave timing (swt). this project conducted a field investigation on approximately 500 wood guardrail posts using swt and then analyzed available data to determine factors that may lead to increased wood decay rates. it was determined that locations with high climate index (> 40) experienced higher decay rates. additionally, poor preservative retention levels were also found to be associated with high decay rates. impact testing concluded that decay reduces the fracture resistance of wood posts by more than 50 percent. the results of this report will be useful in considering approaches to managing wsdot guardrail assets in the future. nondestructive testing (ndt), stress wave timing (swt), wood, guardrail, pendulum impact testing, fracture energy trac/wsu 2019 |
| WA-RD 888.1 | QUEWZ Work Zone Software: Methodology and Literature Review | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2019 | quewz work zone software: methodology and literature review ishimaru, j., hallenbeck, m.e. this report documents the results of a literature review and methodological analysis into the design and technical basis of the quewz work zone road user cost estimation software tool. the report documents how key formulas/algorithms within the quewz software were derived, describes ways that quewz could be updated, and summarizes the literature regarding comparisons of quewz with other tools used to evaluate work zone road user costs. construction traffic, construction traffic delay estimation, quewz, hcm, work zones trac/uw 2019 |
| WA-RD 809.1 | Safety and Operations Assessment of Various Left-Turn Phasing Strategies | Hajbabaie | PacTrans | 2018 | safety and operations assessment of various left-turn phasing strategies hajbabaie, a., sattarov, s., mohebifard, r. this research evaluates the safety and operational impacts of different left turn movement treatments at signalized intersections. the project (1) compares safety and operational impacts of protected-only left-turn (polt) phase against protected-permissive left-turn (pplt) phase with a flashing yellow arrow (fya) indication, (2) compares safety and operational impacts of doghouse display against four section vertical display for pplt with a flashing yellow arrow, (3) and identifies if time-of-day (tod) variable left-turn control mode with fya induces confusion among left-turning drivers. literature shows that converting a polt to a pplt control mode is associated with an increase in crash rates while reducing intersection delay. previous research recommended to select the control mode considering traffic volume, speed limit, sight distance, number of lanes, and crash history. previous research shows that doghouse displays are associated with larger crash modification factors, more confusion among drivers, and higher delays compared to a four-section vertical display with an fya. the results of our driver comprehension survey showed that half of the drivers who have encountered intersections with variable left turn control mode by tod felt confused of such phasing strategy. on the other hand, the simulation-based analysis showed that changing the left turn control mode by tod yields more efficient traffic operations and lower average delays. safety, traffic operations, left-turn, protected, protected permissive, permissive, time of day, simulation pactrans 2018 |
| Confounding Factors of Commercial Motor Vehicles in Safety Critical Events | Hernandez | PacTrans | 2018 | confounding factors of commercial motor vehicles in safety critical events hernandez, s., al-bdairi, n.s.s., jessup, e.l. recent quasi-experimental commercial motor vehicle (cmv) driver hours-of-service (hos) studies published through the federal motor carrier safety administration (fmcsa) in 2011 readily identified consistent increases in crash odds as driving time increased. these studies identified time-on-task as a significant indicator of the potential for a safety critical event (sce) (crash, near crash, or crash-relevant event). however, while these studies may have provided indication of a relationship between hos and the probability of an sce, they largely failed to account for many potential confounding factors. the hos relationship is frequently attributable to the fatigue of the driver. confounding factors however, are those factors that may also contribute to the likelihood of an incident and potentially create a systematic bias or contribute to measured error. this study sought to uncover existing relationships between the hos observations and a set of potential confounding factors related to time of day. these relationships were addressed by controlling for confounds. conclusions drawn from hos-related studies, such as those mentioned herein affect millions of people and have economic impacts in the billions. faulty scientific inferences from these studies can have high human and economic costs. therefore, the work described in this study was needed to validate the findings of these studies, as well as other studies using similar designs and variables. in addition, the work described could lead to deeper insights into commercial motor vehicle crash risk and causation, with safety implications and applications beyond hos regulations. we foresee the following to benefit from this work: federal regulators, trucking industry groups, carriers, academia, insurance companies; anyone interested in understanding crash causation. commercial motor vehicle, driver hours of service, fatigue, incidents, crash risk pactrans 2018 | |
| Evaluation of Motorcyclists' and Bikers' Safety on Wet Pavement Markings | Nassiri | PacTrans | 2018 | evaluation of motorcyclists' and bikers' safety on wet pavement markings nassiri, s. in this study, three different pavement marking material types were evaluated by using a british pendulum tester (bpt) in dry, wet, and icy conditions. the frictional properties were recorded as a british pendulum number (bpn). two different rubber sliders on the bpn were used to compare different pavement marking users: a pedestrian slip rubber (psr) and tire slip rubber (tsr). this study included both laboratory and field testing. the pavement markings evaluated were chosen after a careful review of washington state department of transportation’s specifications and washington state university’s (wsu) facilities services common practices. during laboratory testing, a neat concrete slab surface was compared to waterborne paint, preformed fused thermoplastic, and cold applied pre-formed tape surfaces. each of the surface types was evaluated under dry, wet, and icy conditions. laboratory test results showed that the paint and thermoplastics resulted in lower bpn values than the neat concrete surface. however, the centerline striping that was tested did show higher frictional properties than the neat concrete surface because of the contours and surface macrotexture of the tested striping. during field testing, two locations on the wsu pullman campus were chosen for testing in dry and wet conditions. each location was evaluated by using the bpt, and then two bicyclists rode over the markings in a variety of ways in dry and wet conditions. the tested locations were painted markings. a safety scale was created for riders to evaluate the field markings. the results showed that riders generally felt safe while riding in a straight line over the pavement markings. most of the unsafe ratings occurred during wet testing, and as cyclists turned and braked over the pavement markings. in comparing the laboratory and field testing bpn values, the laboratory values were typically higher. this was most likely due to the fact that beads were present on the laboratory markings and not on the field markings. from these results, the authors concluded that centerline striping showed the most promising frictional properties. although paint and thermoplastics showed lower frictional properties than those of the neat concrete surface, the use of beads helped improve the laboratory values over the field testing values. friction, pavement marking, skid resistance, paint, thermoplastic pactrans 2018 | |
| WA-RD 892.1 | Promises of Data from Emerging Technologies for Transportation Applications: Puget Sound Region Case Study | Ban | TRAC/UW | 2018 | promises of data from emerging technologies for transportation applications: puget sound region case study ban,x., chen,c., wang,f., wang,j., zhang,y. with the explosion of the number of studies using big, passively-generated data for transportation analysis, this study focuses on understanding the properties of such data and how these properties affect our ability in deriving trip-related characteristics. two big data sets were analyzed: a mobile phone data generated primarily on phone calls with locations identified through cellular triangulation and an app-based data generated primarily on app usage with locations identified through a mix of positioning technologies including gps and cellular triangulation. both data sets were compared against their household travel survey counterparts. it is shown that the two data sets, generated through different positioning technologies and usage mechanisms clearly have different spatial and temporal characteristics, which then affect trip related attributes such as trip rates and od patterns. implications in planning applications and future work are discussed. big data, mobile phone data, app-based data, travel surveys, travel patterns, origin-destination demand matrices trac/uw 2018 |
| WA-RD 883.1 | Bio-Based Renewable Additives for Anti-Icing Applications (Phase II) | Shi | TRAC/WSU | 2018 | bio-based renewable additives for anti-icing applications (phase ii) shi, x., nazari, m.h., oh, t, ewing, a.c., okon, d.a., zhang, y., avalos, b., alnuaimi, e., havens, e.a. the performance and impacts of several agro-based anti-icers along with a traditional chloride-based anti-icer (salt brine) were evaluated. a statistical design of experiments (central composite design) was employed for developing anti-icing liquids consisting of cost-competitive chemicals such as agro-based compounds (e.g., concord grape extract and glycerin), sodium chloride, sodium metasilicate, and sodium formate. the following experimentally obtained parameters were examined as a function of the formulation design: ice-melting capacity at 25°f (−3.9°c), splitting strength of portland cement mortar samples after 10 freeze-thaw/deicer cycles, corrosion rate of c1010 carbon steel after 24-hour immersion, and impact on asphalt binder stiffness and m-value. one viable formula (“best performer”) was tested for thermal properties by measuring its differential scanning calorimetry (dsc) thermograms, the friction coefficient of asphalt pavement treated by this anti-icing formulation (vs. 23 wt.% nacl and beet juice blend) at 25°f after being applied at 30 gallons per lane mile (1 hour after simulated trafficking and plowing), and other properties (ph, oxygen demand in cod). laboratory data shed light on the selection and formulation of innovative agro-based snow-and ice-control chemicals that can significantly reduce the costs of winter maintenance operations. agro-based anti-icer, ice-melting performance, portland cement mortar, splitting strength, asphalt binder, stiffness, m-value, corrosivity, dsc, friction coefficient, cod trac/wsu 2018 |
| FHWA-JPQ-18-694 | I-35 Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) Impacts Assessment | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2018 | i-35 freight advanced traveler information system (fratis) impacts assessment hallenbeck, m.e., mccormack, e.d., zyuzin, d., ishimaru, j., jensen, m., campbell, r., chu, a. under the dynamic mobility applications (dma) program, the u.s. department of transportation (u.s. dot) has sponsored the development of the freight advanced traveler information system (fratis) bundle, which seeks to transform freight mobility by leveraging a system of “connected vehicles” and mobile devices to maximize freight flow. the txdot i-35 traveler information during construction (tidc) system has been enhanced to help maximize freight operators’ productivity, improve operational efficiency, and reduce safety related incidents, by providing freight traveler information such as pre-construction closure notifications, delay predictions, and near real-time construction delay information. the report evaluates the benefits of the delivery of the tidc’s information to the trucking firms using the system. it is based on a year-long before/after analysis of two major trucking firms, with six months of data collected before the firms started using tidc information, and six months of after data collection after tidc information started being used by the companies. at the conclusion of the project, both participating trucking firms remain enthusiastic supporters of the tidc and are seeking internal company resources for improving the ability of their companies to ingest tidc data into their existing business processes, however, no quantifiable change in trucking performance was observed. reasons for the lack of measurable benefit include the limited opportunity to route around the i-35 construction delays, and the lack of automated ingest of tidc data into the trucking firms’ business systems. freight advanced traveler information, fratis, traveler information, during construction, tidc, i-35, texas, before/after analysis trac/uw 2018 |
| WA-RD 882.1 | Safe from Crime at Location-Specific Transit Facilities | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2018 | safe from crime at location-specific transit facilities moudon, a.v., bassok, a., kang, m. transit agencies identify two types of exposure to crime: the safety of riders and security. transit operators have long monitored crime and are cognizant of high incident locations. however, they lack data-driven tools to readily match crime events spatially with the locations of individual transit facilities, and temporally with transit service periods. this pilot project explored the use of data-driven tools to (1) identify concentrations of criminal activity near transit facilities, and (2) assist decision-making regarding the selection of countermeasures and the allocation of future safety investments, using the results of models estimating environmental and socioeconomic predictors of crime near transit facilities. the project used two novel data sets: location-specific, police-reported crime incidents by type; and individual orca card (electronic transit fare payment system) transaction records, yielding transit ridership data. two sets of models were developed to examine exposure to crime while waiting for transit (within 100 m from transit stops) and while walking to transit (within 400 m from transit stops). the hypotheses were that within 100 m of a stop, amenities at stops act as deterrents of crime; and within 400 m different characteristics of the built, social, and transportation environment are associated with crime. analyses were restricted to the city of seattle, and models were run using all stops and only stops located in the city’s urban villages (hosting 90 percent of the city’s ridership and the stops with the most crime). we found that amenities at stops have mixed associations with crime, suggesting that amenities serve to provide riders with added comfort but not necessarily more safety. higher ridership provides safety while waiting for transit (100-m models) but exposes riders to more crime as they walk to and from transit (400-m models). in urban villages, sidewalks are associated with a lower likelihood of crime. however, a more connected street network, which characterizes the oldest, most urban areas of seattle, is associated with more crime. the project illustrated how novel sets of disaggregated data on both crime and transit ridership can serve to develop models assessing the safety of transit riders at specific locations. future research should continue to examine how transit riders can be protected from crime while they wait for transit as well as while they walk to and from it. transit stop amenities, transit neighborhood, disaggregate, crime data, transit transaction data trac/uw 2018 |
| WA-RD 877.1 | Improved Methodology for Benefit Estimation of Preservation Projects | Jessup | TRAC/WSU | 2018 | improved methodology for benefit estimation of preservation projects jessup, e.l., zhou, y., lang, e. this research report presents an improved process for evaluating the benefits and economic tradeoffs associated with a variety of highway preservation projects. it includes a summary of results from a comprehensive phone survey concerning the use and application of the software developed by the federal highway administration (fhwa), known as the highway economic requirement system (hers-st). this national survey revealed that only a few states utilize this software in evaluating highway preservation projects and revealed an existing need to bridge pavement management and economic impact analyses in the evaluation of highway preservation projects. this research project developed a supplemental software application tool within excel to improve the hers-st software and enhance the capabilities of evaluating highway preservation project analyses. this software application, the hers-st benefit application tool (hers-st-bat), has been developed to enhance and improve upon the project evaluation process. by combining hers-st-bat and hers-st, the analyst is able to provide estimates for a variety of regional- level agency and user costs associated with preservation programs and more effectively consider different investment alternatives. three separate preservation project case studies are selected to apply the hers-st- bat and detailed results presented. highway preservation, economic analysis, user benefits trac/wsu 2018 |
| WA-RD 867.1 | Developing Extended Strands in Girder-Cap Beam Connections for Positive Moment Resistance | Tsvetanova | TRAC/UW | 2018 | developing extended strands in girder-cap beam connections for positive moment resistance tsvetanova, k., stanton, j.f., eberhard, m.o. in bridges constructed with precast prestressed concrete girders, resistance to seismic effects is achieved by the interaction between the columns, the cap beam and the girders. these components must be connected to provide flexural resistance. under the impact of longitudinal seismic motion, the bottom flanges of the two girders that meet end-to-end at the cap beam will be under tension and compression, respectively. the tension connection between bottom girder flange and cap beam is presently made by extending some of the bottom strands into the cast-in-place diaphragm. at this location, the space available is too small for development by bond in the straight strands alone, so some form of mechanical anchorage is needed. since concrete in the diaphragm is highly confined, it can probably carry high bearing stress and an anchor with a small bearing area may be possible. thus, the goal of this project is to create a reliable, effective, as well as practically applicable, way of anchoring strands extended from the girder into the cap beam. the first stage in the development of the girder-diaphragm seismic connection consists of establishing the adequacy of the smallest possible strand anchor that still leads to a strand ductile failure due to yielding rather than strand anchor failure by crushing of the concrete. as a second stage, the impact of the possible failure mechanisms of the strands, embedded in the diaphragm, on the development of the girder-cap beam positive moment connection was investigated. finally, the distribution of girder bending moments across the bridge deck was evaluated, while investigating the influence on that distribution of the most important bridge parameters, such as cracking of bridge components, as well as varying cross sectional dimensions. longitudinal seismic resistance, positive moment, extended girder strands, girder-cap beam connection, precast prestressed concrete girders, strand anchorage bearing capacity trac/uw 2018 |
| WA-RD 816.4 | Mechanisms Involved in the Removal of Heavy Metals from Stormwater via Lignocellulosic Filtration Media | Chowdhury | TRAC/WSU | 2018 | mechanisms involved in the removal of heavy metals from stormwater via lignocellulosic filtration media chowdhury, i., tian, y., shams, m., wolcott, m., dooley, j. this report aims to supplement our previous report (yonge et al. 2016; wa-rd 816.3) that assessed copper and zinc adsorption to lignocellulosic filtration media using laboratory tests and field-scale column tests for urban stormwater remediation. the current project extends the species of wood materials that were investigated in the earlier study. we performed laboratory tests using douglas-fir crumbles®, poplar crumbles®, tanoak crumbles®, lodgepole pine crumbles®, ultra-char of poplar®, ultra-char of alder®, and ultra-char of douglas-fir® to evaluate their ability to adsorb copper and zinc. the laboratory column test results indicated that the most efficient adsorption medium for both copper and zinc is ultra-char of poplar, followed by tanoak crumbles, poplar crumbles, ultra-char of douglas-fir, douglas-fir crumbles, lodgepole pine crumbles, and ultra-char of alder, in that order. however, the batch experiments showed that tanoak is the most efficient adsorption medium of the samples tested. based on the summary results of both the column and batch experiments, among all the samples of wood crumbles and char, tanoak crumbles seem to be a better option for metal adsorption. one of the most important conclusions drawn from this project is that the surface areas of both wood crumbles and ultra-chars of different wood crumbles are highly relevant to their ability to adsorb copper and zinc. building on our previous research, we found that surface area is a critical parameter for copper and zinc removal, and the role of functional groups is not as important as we had expected. typically, chars have larger surface areas and fewer functional groups than wood crumbles. the presence of functional groups would favor metal adsorption when two materials share similar surface areas, which may explain the superior adsorption performance of raw wood crumbles over char that we reported in our previous report (yonge et al. 2016). stormwater, ferry terminals, filtration, copper, zinc, washington state trac/wsu 2018 |
| WA-RD 878.1 | Coordinated Traffic Incident and Congestion Management (TIM-CM): Mitigating Regional Impacts of Major Traffic Incidents in the Seattle I-5 Corridor | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 2018 | coordinated traffic incident and congestion management (tim-cm): mitigating regional impacts of major traffic incidents in the seattle i-5 corridor haselkorn, m., yancey, s., savelli, s. within the seattle metropolitan area, traffic incident management (tim) operations provide a multi-jurisdictional and coordinated strategy to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so that traffic flow can be restored quickly and safely. there is a need to extend tim to include congestion management (cm), a complex activity for managing incident-generated congestion and for mitigating regional impacts after the actual incident has been cleared. this project identified challenges and opportunities for the enhancement of regional tim to incorporate cm processes and operational coordination, supported by innovative technologies. the researchers engaged regional stakeholders in a series of iterative scoping and participatory design activities to identify and articulate desired enhancements to the regional management of major incidents on the seattle i-5 corridor. these activities were used to identify tim and cm stakeholders, identify and review relevant policy, work with stakeholders to model the “as-is” tim and cm processes and procedures, use the as-is model to facilitate stakeholders in identifying current pain points and opportunities for system enhancement, and articulate desired interventions made possible by innovative applications of emerging technology. the report includes recommendations for enhancing regional tim to incorporate cm and a five-stage approach for conducting phase 2 of this research. congestion management systems, traffic incident management, transportation management trac/uw 2018 |
| Safety Data Management and Analysis: Addressing the Continuing Education Needs for the Pacific Northwest | Chang | PacTrans | 2017 | safety data management and analysis: addressing the continuing education needs for the pacific northwest chang, k., brown, s., chen, c., hajbabaie, a., perkins, r. recent advancements in data collection capabilities have allowed transportation-related agencies to collect mountains of safety data. there is an immediate need to find out what types of safety data are being collected, what types of safety analysis can be done with the collected data, and what (other) types of safety data and analysis approaches are required to meet safety objectives. with the increased complexity of various safety data management and analysis activities, and with most transportation agencies faced with limited staff and financial resources, there is opportunity to provide the transportation workforce, which includes practitioners and academicians alike, with the resources needed to effectively understand, manage, and analyze safety data. safety data collection, management, integration, improvement, and analysis activities are integral to developing a robust data program that leads to more informed decision making, better targeted safety investments, and overall improved safety outcomes. this project responds to the current gaps in research and identifies a methodology that will benefit all system users. the objectives included developing a comprehensive understanding of needs and priorities with regard to safety data management and analysis; developing a set of core skills and knowledge required for safety data management and analysis; providing a comprehensive set of safety data workforce development resources that can easily be accessed for use and distribution; and identifying and utilizing proven delivery pipelines to supplement program outreach efforts and activities in the safety data area. safety, safety data, workforce development pactrans 2017 | |
| WA-RD 874.2 | Design Procedure for Bridge Foundations Subject to Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spreading | Arduino | TRAC/UW | 2017 | design procedure for bridge foundations subject to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading arduino, p., mcgann, c., ghofrani, a. the response of piled bridge foundations to liquefaction-induced lateral soil deformation is an important design consideration in seismically active regions. recent research and case history data suggest that three-dimensional deformation of the approach embankment can significantly influence the loads placed on the embedded foundations during a flow failure or lateral spreading event. for example, the 2010 maule earthquake in chile caused widespread lateral spreading in the soil surrounding the mataquito river bridge, however, only insignificant structural damage was observed in the bridge itself. the discrepancy between the amount of soil deformation and structural damage suggests that design procedures for this load case that do not make adequate consideration for 3d soil deformation mechanisms may lead to overly conservative and expensive design solutions. in contrast, observed lateral spreading and damage near the llacolén bridge was more relevant and resulted in the collapse of one of the approach sections. the llacolén bridge approaches show lesser 3d effects on both sides of the bridge and therefore larger loads on the structural components. in this work, finite element models of the mataquito river and llacolén bridges are created using the opensees computational framework to investigate possible reduction in foundation loads during lateral spreading implied by the observed structural damage at the sites. these models include beam on nonlinear winkler foundation models, dynamic effective stress models of the bridge-foundation-soil system in plane strain, and 3d models of the bridge abutments, approach embankments, and surrounding soils. this numerical work seeks to frame load reduction mechanisms in the context of a simplified analysis procedure for the lateral spreading load case. the results of the numerical models for the mataquito and llacolén bridges, along with a preliminary parameter study conducted using an independent set of 3d finite element models, indicate that consideration for the 3d geometry of the bridge site and structure may result in tangible reductions in foundation bending demands and abutment displacements compared to those returned by a plane strain description of the problem or simplified analysis using 1d models. this analysis procedure is modified to better consider the findings of this work and it is recommended to use in the design of bridge foundations subjected to lateral spreading. finally, an approach is proposed to estimate the reductions in abutment displacement and associated foundation bending demands for a given site geometry. the latter is based on results from a preliminary parametric study and would require further development and validation to use in practice. lateral spreading, deep foundations, drilled shafts, soil liquefaction, lateral loads, liquefaction-induced lateral displacement trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 869.2 | Investigation of Ultra-High Performance Concrete for Longitudinal Joints in Deck Bulb Tee Bridge Girders | Peruchini | TRAC/UW | 2017 | investigation of ultra-high performance concrete for longitudinal joints in deck bulb tee bridge girders peruchini, t.j., stanton, j., calvi, p. in recent decades, many state dots have implemented ultra-high performance concrete (uhpc) in bridge construction because of its mechanical properties are advanced beyond those of conventional concrete. the federal highway administration (fhwa) has extensively tested a proprietary class of uhpc, but wsdot has been hesitant to adopt this mix because of its high cost and associated high risk. in this study, a mix design developed by washington state university was tested for its structural performance when used in a reinforced spliced connection between adjacent concrete deck-bulb tee (dbt) bridge decks. the important parameters for this application are the bond strength of epoxy-coated reinforcing bars to the uhpc, as well as the tension strength of the uhpc when the rebar in the connection is stressed axially in tension. astm-standard test procedures in this study showed that compressive strengths of up to 16 ksi, tension strengths of above 2 ksi, and bond strengths of up to 7 ksi can be achieved with this particular uhpc, all with improved ductility beyond that of conventional concrete, largely because of the steel fiber reinforcements. structural experiments were performed on idealized “bond curbs” as well as a section of deck representing actual dbt girders to determine the available bond strength and the corresponding required joint width. these experiments and the subsequent analysis showed that a uhpc joint width of 7.11 inches, corresponding to a splice length of 5.11 inches, is satisfactory to fracture the reinforcement within the connection. to account for construction tolerances, this joint width should, in practice, be increased to 10 inches. ultra-high performance concrete (uhpc), longitudinal joints, mechanical characterization, tensile behavior, bond behavior, deck bulb tees trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 868.2 | Preliminary Procedure for Structural Design of Pervious Concrete Pavements | Nassiri | TRAC/WSU | 2017 | preliminary procedure for structural design of pervious concrete pavements nassiri, s., al shareedah, o. pervious concrete (pc) is a pavement material that provides a porous medium to facilitate the infiltration of stormwater to the underlayers. with the increasing use of pc pavement nationwide, the mechanical properties of the material need to be established. to do so, pc specimens of two aggregate types were prepared in various porosities. hardened porosity, compressive, and flexural strength tests were conducted for all pc specimens. the test results from this study were supplemented by results from past research studies conducted at washington state university, as well as those from the literature to develop multi-variable linear regression models to predict strength properties for pavement thickness design. the researchers established multi-variable linear regression relationships between the pc compressive and flexural strength, hardened porosity, and mixture design parameters. additionally, they developed a recommended thickness design database for low-traffic-volume pc pavements with different mechanical properties and under various traffic volumes and axle load configurations. the fatigue model for conventional portland cement concrete was used to obtain the maximum allowable load repetitions for pc slabs with three different moduli of rupture. to obtain the fatigue life of pc, four traffic categories and axle loads were obtained from the american concrete institute’s (aci) guide on the design of concrete parking lots. the applied stress of each axle load on pc slabs was obtained by using a previously validated finite element model. using the applied stress and different flexural strength values of pc, the researchers generated the fatigue life of pc slabs with various thicknesses and mechanical properties. on the basis of the calculated fatigue life and the traffic volumes specified by the aci, the researchers developed a thickness design table. the proposed thickness design table should be updated by using a fatigue model for pervious concrete. pervious concrete, porosity, compressive strength, flexural strength, pavement design, pavement thickness trac/wsu 2017 |
| WA-RD 869.1 | Developing Connections for Longitudinal Joints between Deck Bulb Tees—Development of UHPC Mixes with Local Materials | Qiao | TRAC/WSU | 2017 | developing connections for longitudinal joints between deck bulb tees—development of uhpc mixes with local materials qiao, p., zhou, z., allena, s. in past decades, many state departments of transportation and the federal highway administration (fhwa) have begun working with ultra-high performance concrete (uhpc), an advanced cementitious material. wsdot has not employed uhpc in highway bridge applications, such as connection joints for precast concrete decks and girders, because of its high cost and lack of experience with it. in this study, two viable mixtures (a4 and c3) were selected from an array of trial uhpc mixtures produced with local materials (primarily local fine sand and domestic steel fiber) for extensive performance evaluation. researchers investigated the physical and mechanical properties (including workability, compressive and tensile strength, elastic modulus, and shrinkage) of selected uhpc mixtures and their bond properties with epoxy-coated reinforcing bars. the two considered mix designs exhibited compressive strength of up to 16 ksi, direct tensile strength of 1.1 ksi, elastic modulus of 5,000 ksi, and relatively high bond strength. shrinkage was also characterized and was found to be comparable to that of conventional concrete. on the basis of the comparisons of the two selected mixtures' material properties and bond strength, the c3 mixture outperformed the a4 mixture and was therefore recommended for use in the second phase of the project, structural-level testing and evaluation at the university of washington. ultra-high performance concrete, uhpc, connection joints, mix design, mechanical characterization, tensile behavior, pull-out behavior trac/wsu 2017 |
| WA-RD 874.1 | Numerical Evaluation of Forces on Piled Bridge Foundations in Laterally Spreading Soil [Caution: 20MB file] | Arduino | TRAC/UW | 2017 | numerical evaluation of forces on piled bridge foundations in laterally spreading soil [caution: 20mb file] arduino, p., mcgann, c.r., ghofrani, a. the response of piled bridge foundations to liquefaction-induced lateral soil deformation is an important design consideration in seismically active regions. recent research and case history data suggest that three-dimensional deformation of the approach embankment can significantly influence the loads placed on the embedded foundations during a flow failure or lateral spreading event. for example, the 2010 maule earthquake in chile caused widespread lateral spreading in the soil surrounding the mataquito river bridge; however, only insignificant structural damage was observed in the bridge itself. the discrepancy between the amount of soil deformation and structural damage suggests that design procedures for this load case that do not make adequate consideration for 3-d soil deformation mechanisms may lead to overly conservative and expensive design solutions. in contrast, observed lateral spreading and damage near the llacolén bridge was more relevant and resulted in the collapse of one of the approach sections. the llacolén bridge approaches showed less 3-d effects on both sides of the bridge and therefore larger loads on the structural components. in this project, finite element models of the mataquito river and llacolén bridges were created with the opensees computational framework to investigate possible reduction in foundation loads during lateral spreading, as implied by the observed structural damage at the example sites. these models included beam on nonlinear winkler foundation models, dynamic effective stress models of the bridge-foundation-soil system in plane strain, and 3-d models of the bridge abutments, approach embankments, and surrounding soils. this numerical work sought to frame load reduction mechanisms in the context of a simplified analysis procedure for the lateral spreading load case. the results of the numerical models for the mataquito and llacolén bridges, along with a preliminary parameter study conducted with an independent set of 3-d finite element models, indicated that consideration for the 3-d geometry of the bridge site and structure may result in tangible reductions in foundation bending demands and abutment displacements in comparison to those returned by a plane strain description of the problem or simplified analysis using 1-d models. this analysis procedure was modified to better consider the findings of this work, and it is recommended for use in the design of bridge foundations subjected to lateral spreading. finally, the report proposes an approach to estimate the reductions in abutment displacement and associated foundation bending demands for a given site geometry. the latter is based on results from a preliminary parametric study and requires further development and validation for use in practice. lateral spreading, deep foundations, drilled shafts, soil liquefaction, lateral loads, liquefaction-induced lateral displacements, trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 873.1 | Implementing the Routine Computation and Use of Roadway Performance Measures within WSDOT | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2017 | implementing the routine computation and use of roadway performance measures within wsdot hallenbeck, m.e., ishimaru, j., cui, z., wang, y., zhang, w., hendrickson, k. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is one of the nation’s leaders in calculating and using reliability statistics for urban freeways. the department currently uses reliability measures for decision making for urban freeways—where it has applicable data—and as input to analyses that are part of major investment studies and other project identification and prioritization studies. the project documented in this report is intended to provide wsdot with an online data analytics system that is capable of producing a variety of roadway performance measures specifically oriented toward identifying bottlenecks, and of determining the size, timing, and scope of delays those bottlenecks impose on travelers and freight shipments. the data used to determine the size of delays are also to be accessible as inputs to tools designed to evaluate alternative strategies for improving roadway performance. the system, digital roadway interactive visualization and evaluation network (drive net), which continues to be developed at the star lab, is designed to integrate data from multiple, siloed data sets. it is intended to create key inputs for wsdot’s planning and project selection process, as well as supply inputs to other analytical tools used in the planning and programming processes. shrp2, travel time reliability, roadway performance monitoring trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 870.1 | Best Practices of Using Shotcrete for Wall Fascia and Slope Stabilization (Phase I Study) | Qiao | TRAC/WSU | 2017 | best practices of using shotcrete for wall fascia and slope stabilization (phase i study) qiao,p., zhou,z. shotcrete has become attractive and holds potential to replace cast-in-place (cip) concrete for elements like retaining walls and slope stabilization. however, this practice is still limited due to concerns of drying shrinkage cracking, long-term durability, and debonding from reinforcing bars or existing structures. to provide best practices of shotcrete for wall fascia and slope stabilization, a comprehensive review on the state of knowledge of shotcrete is first provided. a desirable shotcrete mixture and a cip concrete mixture from wsdot benchmarks are tested for their basic mechanical properties, early age shrinkage, and long-term durability performance. the restrained ring test procedures adopted from aashto t334 are identified to be capable of evaluating early- age shrinkage cracking tendency of shotcrete, and the fracture energy test procedures based on three-point bending beam are considered to be more sensitive than the dynamic modulus of elasticity test in screening degradation effect of materials under rapidly repeated freezing and thawing action. prolonged watering provide best practices to mitigate shrinkage cracking. in comparison with cip concrete, the “before shooting” shotcrete mixture studied in phase i exhibits better early age shrinkage resistance as well as long-term freeze-thaw resistance. the phase ii study will be conducted for evaluating “after shooting” shotcrete and their early age shrinkage and long term durability performance. shotcrete, cip concrete, prolonged watering, free shrinkage, restrained shrinkage, freeze-thaw, durability, dynamic modulus, fracture energy trac/wsu 2017 |
| WA-RD 863.1 | Use of Electronic Fare Transaction Data for Corridor Planning | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2017 | use of electronic fare transaction data for corridor planning hallenbeck, m.e., howard, e., zyuzin, d., avery, r., verma, m. this report documents the initial phase of a project that developed, tested, and used a methodology and tool set for converting electronic transit agency fare card transaction data, the puget sound region’s orca electronic fare card, into information that describes how customers are using the transit system. the project used two nine week datasets. the first covers february 17, 2015, to april 14, 2015. the second covers from march 26, 2016, to may 27, 2016. the report describes the detailed steps necessary to combine orca transaction data with vehicle location data and other data sources in order to estimate ridership patterns and other information useful for transit planning and operational needs. data provided includes origin/destination matrices by day-of-week, and time-of-day, transfer locations, and transfer details such as the distances walked in order to transfer and the time required to make those transfers. the detailed data processing flow is described. also included is a detailed discussion of data privacy concerns, how those concerns were addressed in this project, and how they might be addressed as part of an ongoing business intelligence system. the report also illustrates a wide variety of uses for these types of data. electronic transit fare card data, transit planning data trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 862.2 | Safe Main Street Highways Part II: Analyses of Collisions Involving Pedestrians and Bicyclists in Washington State | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2017 | safe main street highways part ii: analyses of collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists in washington state moudon, a.v., kang, m. this project contributes to the washington state strategic highway safety plan, whose goals are to achieve zero road fatality and serious injury by 2030 and to reduce the number of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in motor-vehicle collisions on state highways. the study focused on “main street highways” (mshs), which are stretches of state routes that also act as main streets for the local populations. this report covers part ii of the study, which (1) identified hotspots of pedestrian and bicyclist collisions, and (2) developed models for estimating socio-economic and environmental predictors of collision locations. collision hotspots were derived from planar and novel network kernel density estimation (kde) methods. case-control and negative binomial models showed that high risk pedestrian and bicyclist collision locations were significantly associated with collisions occurring (1) at street and road intersections (versus mid-blocks); (2) on wider roads; (3) on roads with bicycle lanes; (4) in low income and non-white neighborhoods. pedestrian safety, bicyclist safety, hotspot detection , collision risk at intersections, built environment, geographic information system trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 862.1 | Safe Main Street Highways Part I: Washington State Collision Data and Geocoding | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2017 | safe main street highways part i: washington state collision data and geocoding moudon, a.v., kang, m. this project contributes to the washington state strategic highway safety plan, whose goals are to achieve zero road fatality and serious injury by 2030 and to reduce the number of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in motor-vehicle collisions on state highways. the study focused on “main street highways” (mshs), which are stretches of state routes that also act as main streets for the local populations. this report covers part i of this study, which collected an inventory of collision data in washington state from 2001 to 2012. the project tallied those collisions that had been geocoded, and the report describes the various methods used for geocoding. more than 90 percent of the collisions had been geocoded for 2010, 2011, and 2012, but only pedestrian and bicyclist collisions had been geocoded for the years between 2001 and 2009. washington state collisions inventory, inventory of geocoded collisions , geocoding methods trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 868.1 | Preliminary Study to Develop Standard Acceptance Tests for Pervious Concrete | Nassiri | TRAC/WSU | 2017 | preliminary study to develop standard acceptance tests for pervious concrete nassiri, s., rangelov, m., chen, z. pervious concrete pavements are permeable pavement systems that are desired for their role in stormwater management and runoff control. increased popularity in pervious concrete pavement applications has increased the need for the development of quality control and quality-evaluation test procedures that are better suited to pervious concrete than to traditional concrete. this brief study took a few preliminary steps in that direction by investigating the effects of specimen size on the physical properties of pervious concrete, such as hardened porosity and density, as well as compressive strength. moreover, the study investigated the effects of four different curing regimens combined with air and moist curing over a four-week period on the 28-day compressive strength for two specimen sizes. pervious concrete, porosity, infiltration, compressive strength, curing trac/wsu 2017 |
| WA-RD 865.1 | Liquefaction-Induced Downdrag on Drilled Shafts | Muhunthan | TRAC/WSU | 2017 | liquefaction-induced downdrag on drilled shafts muhunthan, b., vijayathasan, n.v., abbasi, b. sandy soil layers reduce in volume during and following liquefaction. the downward relative movement of the overlying soil layers around drilled shafts induces shear stress along the shaft and changes the axial load distribution. depending on the site conditions, the change in the axial responses that result from liquefaction-induced settlement and the drag load can have a significant impact on the performance of drilled shafts in seismic regions. this study presents an analytical method to quantify the effects of liquefaction-induced downdrag on drilled shafts. the analytical method is based on the neutral plane method originally developed for clays but modified to account for liquefaction-induced effects. the neutral plane method is a simplification of soil-shaft interactions and is more representative of actual conditions than other methods. in this study, the neutral plane method was applied to an observed case of downdrag during the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in maule, chile, and was able to predict the liquefaction-induced settlement that was the major cause of failure of the structure. the developed procedure is illustrated for two field cases of drilled shafts in liquefiable soils in washington state. axial loads, liquefaction-induced settlement, sand, seismic analysis, side resistance, soil liquefaction, soil settlement, drilled shafts trac/wsu 2017 |
| WA-RD 861.2 | Measurements of Pile Driving Noise from Control Piles and Noise-Reduced Piles at the Vashon Island Ferry Dock | Dahl | TRAC/UW | 2017 | measurements of pile driving noise from control piles and noise-reduced piles at the vashon island ferry dock dahl, p.h., dall'osto, d.r., laughlin, j. as the part of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) pile attenuation test program, researchers from the university of washington applied physics laboratory (apl-uw) conducted underwater sound measurements on 7 and 8 december 2015 at the vashon island ferry dock. a wsdot team operating closer to the construction barge also took measurements. the goals of the apl-uw team were to measure the underwater sound field over nearly the entire water column and away from interfering structures, as well as to make robust estimates of sound mitigation performance of two test pile designs in terms of sound exposure level (sel) and peak pressure. measurements on the r/v robertson were taken at a range of 120 m from the construction barge complex and pile source location and at a water depth 12.5 m by using a vertical line array (vla) that spanned 1.25 to 9.25 m in depth. a comparison of the 7 december measurements from the double wall test pile with the control pile showed reductions in peak pressure (8.7–13.5 db), rms pressure (8.8–12.7 db), and sel (7–10.3 db). a comparison of the 8 december measurements from the mandrel test pile with the 7 december measurements from the control pile showed reductions in peak pressure (11.4–14 db), rms pressure (10.8–12.6 db), and sel (9.3 and 11.1 db). the reduction in peak pressure generally increased as measurement depth on the vla increased; for the rms and sel metrics, no trend was observed. impact pile driving, underwater sound, sound mitigation, attenuation, sound exposure level (sel), trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 864.1 | Review of Travel Data Collection and Analysis Process for Delay Calculations Statewide | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2017 | review of travel data collection and analysis process for delay calculations statewide hallenbeck, m.e., ishimaru, j. wsdot produces and uses estimates of vehicle delay on state highways throughout the state. large swings in delay computed on some roads and in some corridors by the current statewide delay process resulted in the decision to review the performance of that system. as a result, this project was undertaken to examine the causes of these wide swings in reported delay and to determine possible courses of action for wsdot. the project reviewed the software used to produce those delay estimates, the input data sets used in those computations, and the steps followed to generate those data sets. this report recommends changes to the delay computation process. the report describes several different approaches that could be adopted by wsdot to compute vehicle delay. it makes recommendations for wsdot’s consideration. the best option is a function of the funding available to wsdot and the other uses for the data needed to drive each of those various approaches to delay computation. performance measures, roadway performance measures trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 776.2 | Shear Design Expressions for Concrete Filled Steel Tubes and Reinforced Concrete Filled Tube Components | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 2017 | shear design expressions for concrete filled steel tubes and reinforced concrete filled tube components roeder, c., lehman, d., heid, a., maki, t. concrete-filled steel tubes (cfsts) and reinforced concrete-filled steel tubes (rcfsts) are increasingly used in transportation structures as piers, piles, caissons or other foundation components. while the axial and flexural properties of cfts have been well researched, research on their shear resistance is lacking. currently accepted methods for calculating the shear capacity of cfsts and rcfts are adapted from shear strength equations used for structural steel or reinforced concrete components. though, it is expected that cfsts would retain the full shear capacity of the steel without local buckling of the section. in addition, because circular cfsts provide optimum confinement to the concrete core, it is also expected that the full shear strength of plain or longitudinally reinforced concrete can also be developed. since no equation currently accounts for both, it is probable that they significantly underestimate the effectiveness of the composite section, potentially increasing undesirable conservatism and cost. however, without experimental data to validate the design expressions, it is not possible to modify them. the research program described herein experimentally investigated the shear resistance and deformation of cfst and rcfst members with an eye towards developing an improved and more accurate shear strength expression. the experimental study included 22 large-scale cfts subjected to four-point bending. the study parameters included: (1) the aspect ratio (a/d where a is the clear span from the point of loading to the point of support and d is the tube diameter), (2) concrete strength, (3) d/t (where t is the thickness of the steel tube), (4) interface condition (greased or contaminated with soil), (5) infill type (concrete or gravel), (6) internal reinforcement ratio, and (6) length of the tube beyond the support (tail length). the results indicate that the shear strength of cfsts and rcfsts is on average 2 times the current wsdot expression. this new design expression for shear resistance has been proposed for implementation in the wsdot bridge design manual (bdm). concrete filled steel tubes, cfst, rcfst, shear resistance trac/uw 2017 |
| WA-RD 816.3 | tate Ferries Terminal Design Manual: Assessment of Copper and Zinc Adsorption to Lignocellulosic Filtration Media Using Laboratory and Field Scale Column Tests for the Purpose of Urban Stormwater RemediationSustainable Design Guidelines to Support the Was | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 2016 | tate ferries terminal design manual: assessment of copper and zinc adsorption to lignocellulosic filtration media using laboratory and field scale column tests for the purpose of urban stormwater remediationsustainable design guidelines to support the was yonge, d., mcintyre, v., smith, j., norgaard, i., wolcott, m. this report represents the third and final phase of a three-part effort aimed at providing sustainable design guidelines for washington state ferry terminals, specifically addressing the efficacy for removal of copper and zinc using a biobased filter media both in laboratory and field conditions. this work supplements previous reports that detail design concepts in implementation of stormwater strategies to be deployed on waterfront structures. the bainbridge island ferry terminal staging area was selected as the field test site. a pilot scale adsorption column and submersible weir system was designed and constructed to fit within an existing stormwater vault. laboratory and field scale continuous flow column studies were performed on raw and torrefied douglas-fir crumbles® (psuedotsuga menziesii), charcoal (also referred to as biochar), and pea gravel to evaluate their effectiveness for adsorbing soluble forms of copper and zinc. laboratory column tests indicated that the most efficient adsorption for both copper and zinc was non-torrefied wood, followed in order by pea gravel, torrefied wood, and charcoal. increasing influent column flow by a factor of four resulted in no statistically significant difference in effluent metal concentration. a deicer flush performed on torrefied wood and charcoal columns following adsorption tests resulted in over an order of magnitude increase in column effluent copper and zinc concentration, indicating that bypassing the filtration system during deicer runoff events should be considered. sustainability, ferry terminals,, stormwater, washington state, runoff, filtration, copper, zinc trac/wsu 2016 |
| WA-RD 860.1 | Recommendations for Extending Asphalt Pavement Surface Life within Washington State | Wen | TRAC/WSU | 2016 | recommendations for extending asphalt pavement surface life within washington state wen, h., muench, s., chaney, s., littleton, k., rydholm, t. this study identifies and evaluates hot mix asphalt (hma) mix design and construction techniques with potential for improving wsdot pavement surface life. wsdot pavement failure mechanisms are found to be predominantly cracking. rutting may reach a failure threshold first in areas with high traffic or studded tire use. a literature review, survey of state dot practices, case study, wspms (washington state pavement management system) data analysis, and limited laboratory testing identified 17 construction and mix design techniques with promise. of these 17 techniques the use of stone matrix asphalt (sma) mixtures for high-traffic interstate routes, 3/8-inch nominal maximum aggregate size mixes for medium/low traffic routes and mountain passes, non-superpave aggregate gradation, reduced n-design gyration levels for superpave mix design, and warm mix asphalt (wma) to aid compaction are highly recommended for further investigation and implementation. other techniques recommended for further investigation and possible implementation are: adoption of a cracking performance test for superpave mix design; applying a bst within a year of paving to reduce pavement surface aging; specifying the use of pave ir for mountain pass jobs and cold weather paving; and using steel slag aggregate in situations that call for improved friction and resistance to studded tire wear (i.e., at mountain passes). asphalt pavement, cracking, rutting, climate, studded tire wear trac/wsu 2016 |
| WA-RD 859.1 | Assessment of Lube Oil Management and Self-Cleaning Oil Filter Feasibility in WSF Vessels | Haselbach | TRAC/WSU | 2016 | assessment of lube oil management and self-cleaning oil filter feasibility in wsf vessels haselbach, l., langfitt, q. this research examined the feasibility of using self-cleaning oil filtration systems in the washington state ferries (wsf) fleet from a three-pronged perspective: (1) filtration effectiveness, (2) environmental impacts, and (3) cost impacts. a pilot self-cleaning filtration system, which filters oils without using disposable filter cartridges, was installed on one vessel from which to collect data. filtration effectiveness was analyzed by using oil analysis records and trending the values of oil properties known to be important for lubrication and which indicate oil degradation. results showed little difference between the standard paper cartridge filtration system currently in wide use and the self-cleaning system. environmental impacts were analyzed with a life cycle assessment methodology that quantified potential impacts on the basis of expected operation. there were fewer impacts from oil and filter use for the self-cleaning system, but the additional diesel fuel consumed by that system outweighed the benefits for most impact categories. cost impacts were analyzed with a life cycle cost analysis, which suggested that the standard system would outperform the self-cleaning system in terms of whole life cost (unless the oil lifetime could be increased by more than three-fold), again mostly because of the self-cleaning system's additional fuel use. therefore, if expected costs and environmental impacts are major decision points, it appears that a suitable alternative system would need to consume less diesel fuel to be viable. however, the self-cleaning system analyzed in this report would likely decrease risks, such as oil spills during filter handling, and provide operational benefits attributable to reduced expected maintenance. the pilot system was removed following the data collection period, and deployments of self-cleaning filtration systems to other wsf vessels are not expected. self-cleaning oil filtration, bypass oil filtration oil analysis, life cycle cost analysis, life cycle assessment, lubricating oil, washington state ferries trac/wsu 2016 |
| WA-RD 853.1 | Wheat Supply Chain Data Collection | Sage | TRAC/WSU | 2016 | wheat supply chain data collection sage, j., casavant, k. as the washington state department of transportation’s (wsdot) interest in developing a statewide freight model has grown, so too has the need to better understand potential responses of major industries to different policy and market scenarios aimed at reducing freight emissions. this research seeks to understand the wheat supply system and its transportation characteristics, as well as potential behavioral responses by wheat suppliers to changes in policy and market conditions, particularly the feasibility of alternative fuel adoption. to accomplish this, the research team has conducted both new interviews within the wheat supply chain actors, as well as identified existing data sources that help broaden the picture of wheat movement. results suggest that research is needed to better understand and develop both the power generation of alternative fuel engines as well as the logistics of fuel distribution infrastructure. this is particularly evident for rural freight networks that move heavy agricultural or natural resource based products. wheat supply chain, alternative fuels, freight trac/wsu 2016 |
| WA-RD 854.1 | Digital Roadway Interactive Visualization and Evaluation Network Applications to WSDOT Operational Data Usage | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2016 | digital roadway interactive visualization and evaluation network applications to wsdot operational data usage wang, y., zhang, w., henrickson, k., ke, r., cui, z. drive net is a region-wide, web-based transportation decision support system that adopts digital roadway maps as the base, and provides data layers for integrating and analyzing a variety of data sources (e.g., traffic sensors, incident records). moreover, drive net offers a platform for streamlining transportation analysis and decision making, and it serves as a practical tool for visualizing historical observations spatially and temporally. in its current implementation, drive net demonstrates the potential to be used as a standard tool for incorporating multiple data sets from different fields and as a platform for real-time decision making. in comparison with the previous version, the new drive net system is now able to handle more complex computational tasks, perform large-scale spatial processing, and support data sharing services to provide a stable and interoperable platform to process, analyze, visualize, and share transportation data. drive net’s capabilities include generating statistics for wsdot’s gray notebook (gnb), including travel times, throughput productivity, and traffic delay calculations for both general purpose and hov lanes, each of which are important performance indicators in the wsdot congestion report. the drive net system includes robust loop detector data processing and quality control methods to address the data quality issues impacting loop detectors throughout the state. the capabilities of the drive net system have been expanded to include safety modeling, hotspot identification, and incident induced delay estimation. specifically, the safety performance module includes functions that can be used to obtain traffic incident frequency, apply predictive models to estimate the safety performance of road segments, and visualize and compare observed incident counts and different predictive models. additionally, a module providing multi-modal data analysis and visualization capabilities was developed as a pilot experiment for integration of heterogeneous data. this module includes pedestrian and bicycle, public transit, park and ride, car2go, and ferry data downloading and visualization. drive net now offers role-based access control, such that access privileges to different functions and data resources can be assigned on a group or individual basis. the new system is able to support more complex analytics and decision support features on a large-scale transportation network, and is expected to be of great practical use for both traffic engineers and researchers. with a modular structure and mature data integration and management framework, drive net can be expanded in the future to include a variety of additional data resources and analytical capabilities. freeway performance measurement, wsdot gray notebook, geospatial data fusion, data quality control, automatic pedestrian data collection trac/uw 2016 |
| WA-RD 861.1 | Underwater Noise Reduction of Marine Pile Driving Using a Double Pile: Vashon Ferry Terminal Test | Reinhall | TRAC/UW | 2016 | underwater noise reduction of marine pile driving using a double pile: vashon ferry terminal test reinhall,p.g., hampden,j., dardis,t. impact pile driving of steel piles in aquatic environments produces extremely high underwater sound levels. to address this problem, a double-walled pile has been developed to decrease the total noise transmitted into the water and substrate. the double-walled pile consists of two concentric steel pipe piles flexibly connected by a special driving shoe, allowing for an air gap between the two tubes. the double-walled pile is driven into the sediment by using traditional equipment that strikes the inner pile only. the air gap between the inner and outer pile and the flexible coupling prevent the radial deformation wave produced by the pile hammer from interacting with the water and the sediment. a second full-scale test of the double-walled pile technology was performed at vashon island, puget sound, washington. a potential reduction of the peak pressure in excess of 17db was observed for the double pile and of 16 db for the mandrel pile. root mean square (rms) levels and cumulative sound exposure levels (sel) decreased by 13 db and 12 db, respectively. use of the wsdot geotechnical design manual pile driving formula showed that the pile capacity of the novel piles was comparable to that of a control pile with the same outer diameter. pda data were also collected from both the inner and outer piles of the mandrel and double piles and will be used to modify current software for predicting drivability and stresses in the piles (weap analysis) and for estimating load capacity after driving (capwap analysis). pile, sound, acoustic, attenuation, marine, pressure, sel, sediment, mach wave trac/uw 2016 |
| WA-RD 847.1 | Study on Illumination for State Highways | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2016 | study on illumination for state highways wang,y., zou,y. increasing budget pressures are causing the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) to look for ways to reduce costs. wsdot currently owns and operates illumination fixtures on state freeways and highways with annual operating costs measured in millions of dollars. given the pressures to reduce the wsdot budget, it is important to have a complete understanding of the means available to reduce operating and capital costs with the least negative impact on service, safety and sustainability. there are several ways that the wsdot can reduce expenditures on illumination. one way is to use more efficient lighting technologies. a second is to operate illumination more judiciously. another option is to install fewer luminaires, remove superfluous luminaires and consolidate luminaires. executing these options effectively requires the wsdot to collect additional information regarding current and near future illumination practices and technologies. a natural way in the process of revising and adapting wsdot’s illumination standards is examining how the wsdot standards compare to other state dots, utilities, cities, counties and other public entities internationally. given the work required to revise, publish and promulgate a new illumination standard, it is advisable to examine the current state of practice in illumination standards in order to inform comprehensive updates. toward that end, a comprehensive review of illumination design standards, led illumination technologies and illumination control systems is useful for revising illumination standards. to address these aspects of illumination operation and design, a thorough literature review of existing illumination products, illumination control systems, and illumination spectrum technologies is conducted. this report reviewed existing public agency illumination standards domestically and internationally and outlined the difference in designing standards. an overview of existing luminaire technology performance, as well as operational and maintenance characteristics are provided. in addition, available illumination control and spectrum technologies for performance characteristics are summarized. the results of this literature review are useful for design and business case decisions regarding illumination installation, maintenance, and operation. illumination design standard, led luminaire technology, illumination control technology, illumination spectrum effectiveness trac/uw 2016 |
| WA-RD 846.1 | Evaluation of the Effects of Changing to Continuous Access HOT Lanes on SR 167 | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2016 | evaluation of the effects of changing to continuous access hot lanes on sr 167 hallenbeck,m.e., ishimaru,j., zyuzin,d. in august 2014, wsdot changed the access controls for the hot lanes on state route (sr) 167. the lanes were initially designed and implemented to allow access at only six points northbound and four points southbound. since august 23, 2014, free access has been allowed into and out of the hot lane. this study was performed to determine the effects of allowing continuous access to the sr 167 hot lanes. it examined customer attitudes toward the new access rules, the performance of the corridor, including both the hot lanes and the parallel general purpose (gp) lanes, and the volumes of use and travel times experienced. it also examined the amount of revenue collected, the amount of toll evasion occurring, collision frequency and severity, and the impacts on transit operations. the changes in the corridor since the change in access rules have been complex. this report describes that complexity. in general, traffic volumes are increasing in the corridor. travel times have degraded slightly in both the gp and hot lanes in the corridor. prices and total revenue are up in the hot lane. prices increased substantially during the first five months of operation of the new rules, decline somewhat after that, but remain higher than under access control rules. no statistically significant change in safety is apparent. a large fraction of the travelers in the corridor are in favor of the access rule changes, and that includes the transit agencies operating in the corridor. performance measures, roadway performance measures, freight performance measures trac/uw 2016 |
| WA-RD 850.1 | Food Distribution Supply Chain Data Collection: Supply Chain Firm Interviews and Truck Counts | Goodchild | TRAC/UW | 2016 | food distribution supply chain data collection: supply chain firm interviews and truck counts goodchild, a.v., ukrainczyk, l. this report summarizes the work completed under the shrp2 (strategic highway research program 2) local freight data program. supply chain firm interviews and truck counts were conducted to better understand the food distribution system in the puget sound area. interviews explored key business challenges, operations, and potential responses to natural gas incentives. truck counts were conducted at grocery stores, and observations included truck type, time of day, stop duration, and parking behavior. the report includes a description of truck activity at grocery stores, and a summary of industry responses to natural gas incentives. the research contributes to the design of future freight data collection and to the development of policy responsive freight models. food distribution, freight data collection, truck trip generation, natural gas, washington state, freight models trac/uw 2016 |
| FHWA-JPO-15-216 | South Florida Freight Advanced Traveler Information System: Demonstration Team Final Report | Hallenbeck | FHWA | 2015 | south florida freight advanced traveler information system: demonstration team final report hallenbeck, m.e., williamson, m., kersh, e., zavagnini, f. this demonstration team final report has been prepared to provide an overview of the conduct and qualitative findings of the south florida fratis development and testing program. more specifically, this document provides a description of the testing program; information and lessons learned related to stakeholder/user engagement during the program; information and lessons learned related to system testing during the program; and recommendations concerning future fratis and freight connected vehicle programs. freight, intermodal, fratis, its, demonstration fhwa 2015 |
| WA-RD 848.1 | Experimental Evaluation of Compost Leachates | Flury | TRAC/WSU | 2015 | experimental evaluation of compost leachates flury, markus, mullane, jessica m., chahal, maninder k., cogger, craig g. compost is often used in rain gardens, roadsides, and bioretention systems, not only because of its beneficial properties on soil quality, but also because compost improves water infiltration and retains stormwater contaminants. however, when compost is freshly applied, materials from compost can leach out when rain or stormwater seep through compost or compost-amended bioretention media. the goal of this research project was to experimentally evaluate and characterize leachates from compost. we quantified and characterized the leachate composition of compost following intermittent, simulated storm events. we used municipal compost of different ages and different source materials. compost was filled into columns and then irrigated with deionized water and stormwater. stormwater was spiked with copper to increase copper concentrations. six-month, 24-hour rain storms were applied every two weeks for a total of up to 18 rain storms. outflow was analyzed for ph, electrical conductivity (ec), particulate concentration, surface tension, dissolved organic carbon (doc), nitrogen, phosphorus, and copper. particulate and dissolved organic matter was further characterized for molecular structure by nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) and fourier-transformed infrared (ftir) spectroscopy. our results showed that concentrations of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and electrical conductivity in the leachate where high at the onset of each storm but decreased as the storm progressed. however, each new storm released another peak of constituents. leaching from mature compost was less a function of age and type and more a function of number and frequency of storms and leaching history. concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and copper were high in the initial few storms, and then decreased. only a small fraction (3 percent) of the copper present in the compost leached out, but nonetheless, the copper concentrations in the leachate remained above the regulatory waste discharge standards. nmr and ftir analyses revealed that dissolved organic carbon consisted mainly of aliphatic and aromatic components typical of fulvic and humic acids. our results show that municipal compost can serve as a sustained source of leaching of nutrients and metals, regardless of compost age and source. however, the copper concentrations observed in our experiment are likely not toxic due to the presence of elevated doc, as doc readily forms complexes with dissolved copper thereby reducing its toxicity to aquatic organisms. the doc plays a dual role in terms of copper fate and transport: doc can enhance leaching of copper by forming aqueous complexes, but at the same time, reduces toxicity of copper because copper-doc complexes are less bioavailable. compost, leaching, nitrate, phosphorus, copper trac/wsu 2015 |
| WA-RD 843.1 | Identification of Test Methods for Determining Wood Guardrail Post Integrity | Bender | TRAC/WSU | 2015 | identification of test methods for determining wood guardrail post integrity bender, d.a., olszko, e. wood guardrail posts are subject to decay and deterioration, yet most dots have minimal or no inspection procedures in place for wood guardrail posts. the objective of this study was to identify nondestructive testing technologies to assess the condition of wood guardrail posts for internal decay. the stress wave timing (swt) technique was judged most promising, and a prototype device was developed with an industrial partner. the prototype swt device was validated using wood guardrail posts removed from service. internal conditions of the posts were accurately detected in 86% of the specimens. the device also successfully detected the internal condition of all posts inspected during a field test. an inspection procedure was recommended for implementation using swt in conjunction with drilling of posts that identified as suspected decay. nondestructive testing (ndt), nondestructive evaluation (nde), stress wave timing (swt), wood, guardrail trac/wsu 2015 |
| WA-RD 842.1 | Washington State Short Line Rail Inventory and Needs Assessment | Sage | TRAC/WSU | 2015 | washington state short line rail inventory and needs assessment sage, j., casavant, k., eustice, j.b. the recently completed state rail plan for the state of washington identified several key issues facing the state’s rail system. among these key issues are abandonment, port access and competitive needs of the ports and local production regions, as well as intermodal connectivity. nearly 2000 miles of rail line had been abandoned in washington state before the late 1990’s, and another 70 have been abandoned since. many of these miles included were a result of the class i railroads stepping away from their less profitable lines. these same actions by the class i railroads also generated opportunity for the creation of many of the state’s short-line railroads on branch and light density lines. the rail system grew smaller during the 1980s and 1990s, and many of the state short lines were not upgraded to meet the standards and conditions required for modern freight rail load limits (286,000 pounds per car). further investment is needed should the state or owner seek new or improved operations. this study found that more than 55 percent (740 miles) of all short line miles within washington are not able to efficiently handle 286,000 pound rail cars. overcoming this deficiency and bringing the state’s short line system to class ii operating status could require infrastructure investments of approximately $610 million. this need exceeds the current funding support offered by the state, even if considered over a 20 year horizon with private industry and/or local jurisdictions providing significant match. three short line case studies in this report help identify the societal benefits associated with a functioning short line system within the state’s dynamic transportation network. these case studies, along with information about the attributes that contribute to the success or failure of investments in load centers, illustrate the benefits of state investment in the short line railroad system. short line rail, freight, railroad trac/wsu 2015 |
| WA-RD 838.1 | Determining Changes in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (1990-2010) due to Pavement Technology | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2015 | determining changes in greenhouse gas emissions (1990-2010) due to pavement technology muench, s.t., caraballo, e.m., lin, y.y. this research quantifies the changes in greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions and energy consumption from wsdot between 1990 and 2010 associated with (1) using warm mix asphalt (wma), reclaimed asphalt pavement (rap), fly ash, and slag in pavement materials; (2) use of the dowel bar retrofit (dbr) as a portland cement concrete pavement (pccp) rehabilitation practice; (3) improvements i wsdot pavement network roughness; and (4) adoption of a long-life asphalt concrete pavement (acp) strategy. findings showed the following: use of wma, rap, fly ash, and slag can result in ghg emissions and energy consumption savings of 4-44 percent, depending on the scenario. dbr use can save on the order of 15 percent in ghg emissions and energy consumption if it extends the life of existing pccp by 15 years. wsdot's overall pavement network actually got rougher from 1990 to 2010; therefore, no savings associated with ghg emissions or energy consumption were realized. reducing wsdot pavement network roughness as a means to reduce ghg emissions may cost on the order of $44/mtco2e, which is quite expensive by any measure. there was no discernible trend toward long-life asphalt acp from 1990 to 2010. therefore, no savings associated with ghg emissions or energy consumption were identified. in context with the ghg emission and energy consumption associated with wsdot fleet operations and vehicles driving on wsdot pavement, total savings is on the order of 0.2 to 0.3 percent. greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, paving practices, sustainability trac/uw 2015 |
| WA-RD 849.1 | Underwater Reduction of Marine Pile Driving Using a Double Pile | Reinhall | TRAC/UW | 2015 | underwater reduction of marine pile driving using a double pile reinhall, p.g., dardis, t., dahl, p.h. impact pile driving of steel piles in marine environments produces extremely high sound levels in the water. it has been shown that current pile driving noise attenuation techniques, such as bubble curtains and cofferdams, provide limited noise reduction because significant noise is transmitted through the sediment into the water. similarly, the effectiveness of surrounding the pile in the water with a double walled steel tube was shown in an earlier wsdot study to be limited. to address this problem, a double walled pile has been developed to decrease the total noise transmitted into the water. the double walled pile consists of two concentric tubes connected by a special driving shoe, with an air gap between the two tubes. the double walled pile is driven into the sediment by using traditional equipment to strike the inner tube only. the air gap between the inner and outer tube prevents the radial deformation wave produced by the pile hammer from interacting with the water and the sediment. this report discusses the design of the double wall pile and presents the results from finite element modeling of the pile, scaled prototype testing, and full-scale field testing in commencement bay, puget sound, washington. the tests showed that the double walled piles reduce the peak sound pressure over 20 db relative to single walled piles at a range of approximately 8 meters. they also showed that, in contrast, only a 3- to 6-db reduction is obtained when a bubble curtain is used on a full-scale, single walled pile. pile driving impact, acoustics, underwater noise, attenuation, propagation trac/uw 2015 |
| WA-RD 844.1 | Developing a System for Computing and Reporting MAP-21 and Other Freight Performance Measures | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2015 | developing a system for computing and reporting map-21 and other freight performance measures hallenbeck, m.e., mccormack, e.d., sankarakumaraswamy, s. this report documents the use of the national performance monitoring research data set (npmrds) for the computation of freight performance measures on interstate highways in washington state. the report documents the data availability and specific data quality issues identified with npmrds. it then describes a recommended initial set of quality assurance tests that are needed before wsdot begins producing freight performance measures. the report also documents the initial set of performance measures that can be produced with the npmrds and the specific steps required to do so. a subset of those metrics was tested using npmrds data, including delay and frequency of congestion to illustrate how wsdot could use the freight performance measures. finally, recommendations and the next steps that wsdot needs to take are discussed. performance measures, roadway performance measures, freight performance measures trac/uw 2015 |
| WA-RD 822.1 | Media Filter Drain: Modified Design Evaluation and Existing Design Longevity Evaluation | Poor | TRAC/WSU | 2014 | media filter drain: modified design evaluation and existing design longevity evaluation poor, c., haselbach, l. the media filter drain (mfd), a stormwater water quality treatment best management practice, consists of media made up of aggregate, perlite, gypsum and dolomite in a trench located along roadway shoulders with gravel and vegetative pre-filtering facilities and optional underdrains. one of the many benefits of mfds is the effective removal of dissolved zinc and copper from roadway runoff. however, the existing design includes use of an aggregate gradation that is no longer readily available (old design). a more readily available and economical aggregate gradation has a slightly lower percent of finer materials (new design). this project evaluates if the new design is as effective as the old design at enhanced dissolved zinc and copper treatment. findings from laboratory research performed on columns filled with new media versus columns filled with old media indicate that the new media initially has similar removal efficiencies as the old media for large storm events. accelerated aging of the new media indicates that removal efficiency for dissolved zinc and copper of the new media has not decreased after 15 years of simulated use. washington state, stormwater treatment best practice, roadway drain filters, highway stormwater treatment design, roadway runoff vegetative pre-filtering and underdrains trac/wsu 2014 |
| WA-RD 825.1 | Freight Commodity Flows: Selected Washington State Highways | Sage | TRAC/WSU | 2014 | freight commodity flows: selected washington state highways sage, j., casavant. k. the search for understanding of commodity flows throughout the nation and the state of washington is a continual process. this understanding is critical at many levels of the transportation industry and to those firms and entities that provide that transportation, or regulate and invest in the needed infrastructure. these data, usually desired at the sub national level, are essential to adequate planning by state, regional and local levels as attempts continue to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the transportation system. state and national travel models require those data, often on a seasonal, commodity/industrial, directional, modal, etc. basis. determining the importance of a commodity flow on a corridor level leads to the correct prioritization of investments in infrastructure as well as increasing the ability to determine quantitative impacts of congestion, regulation and bottlenecks on a transportation system or supply chain. using the fpti developed intercept survey methodology, the research team conducted a series of seasonal truck surveys at seven locations: on snoqualmie pass (2 sites) and in the greater wenatchee area (5 sites). survey results aid in the identification of not only volume and commodity movements in the regions, but also bottlenecks or rerouting options identified by the survey respondents. intercept survey, snoqualmie pass, wenatchee, truck freight trac/wsu 2014 |
| WA-RD 836.1 | Truck Freight Commodity Flows: US 395 North of Spokane, Washington | Sage | TRAC/WSU | 2014 | truck freight commodity flows: us 395 north of spokane, washington sage, j., casavant. k. the search for understanding of commodity flows throughout the nation and the state of washington is a continual process. this understanding is critical at many levels of the transportation industry and to those firms and entities that provide that transportation, or regulate and invest in the needed infrastructure. these data, usually desired at the sub national level, are essential to adequate planning by state, regional and local levels as attempts continue to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the transportation system. state and national travel models require those data, often on a seasonal, commodity/industrial, directional, modal, etc. basis. determining the importance of a commodity flow on a corridor level leads to the correct prioritization of investments in infrastructure as well as increasing the ability to determine quantitative impacts of congestion, regulation and bottlenecks on a transportation system or supply chain. using the fpti (freight policy transportation institute) developed intercept survey methodology, the research team conducted a series of seasonal truck surveys at three locations on the us 395 corridor between deer park and the canadian border. survey results aid in the identification of not only volume and commodity movements in the region, but also bottlenecks and troubled locations identified by the survey respondents. intercept survey, us 395 corridor, freight trac/wsu 2014 |
| WA-RD 808.1 | Guidelines for Deployment of Future Active Traffic Management Deployment | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2014 | guidelines for deployment of future active traffic management deployment hallenbeck, m.e., ishimaru, j., wright, d. this project tested the prototype software and procedures being developed in conjunction with the shrp2 l08 project, called freeval-atdm, for estimating the benefits of improved operations to freeway reliability. that software, a version of the freeval software, computes performance metrics by using algorithms from the 2010 highway capacity manual and new software tools. this report describes the outcome of tests of the use of that software to estimate performance of i-5 in two locations: 1) northbound through joint base ft. lewis/mccord (jblm) and 2) northbound approaching downtown seattle starting just south of the i-405 interchange in tukwila. the summary conclusions from these tests are that the model can produce the useful outputs for which it was intended, but it tends to under-estimate the travel times and delays actually experienced on the roadway, and it likely needs some additional calibration. atdm analysis, traffic operations modeling, modeling roadway reliability trac/uw 2014 |
| WA-RD 832.1 | Travel Costs Associated with Flood Closures of State Highways Near Centralia/Chehalis, Washington | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2014 | travel costs associated with flood closures of state highways near centralia/chehalis, washington hallenbeck, m.e., goodchild, a., drescher, j. this report discusses the travel costs associated with the closure of roads in the greater centralia/chehalis, washington, region due to 100-year flood conditions starting on the chehalis river. the costs were computed for roadway closures on i-5, us 12, and sr 6, and are based on estimated road closure durations supplied by wsdot. the computed costs are only those directly related to travel that would otherwise have occurred on the roads affected by the flooding closures. the computed costs do not include the economic losses associated with delayed delivery of goods or services, losses in economic activity attributable to travelers being unable to reach their intended destinations, or economic losses associated with the loss of goods because they could not be delivered. the reported costs do include the added costs of time and vehicle mileage associated with available detour routes. costs were also estimated for each trip that will be abandoned. that is, this study estimated the number of trips that will not be made as a result of road closures. the researchers also conducted a sensitivity analysis of the findings for the i-5 cost computation. sensitivity tests were conducted for the value of time, the speeds and level of congestion assumed to occur on the routes used for detours, the values associated with trips that are not made via the expected detours, the percentage of personal trips made for work/business purposes versus those being made for personal reasons, the fraction of cars and trucks willing to detour, the effects of flood closure during the weekend or the summer, and growth in traffic volumes on i-5. road closure impacts, flooding traffic impacts, detour costs trac/uw 2014 |
| WA-RD 837.1 | WSDOT Chip Seals - Optimal Timing, Design and Construction Considerations | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 2014 | wsdot chip seals - optimal timing, design and construction considerations mahoney, j.p., slater, m., keifenheim, c., uhlmeyer, j., moomaw, t., willoughby, k. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) does not have sufficient pavement preservation funding to keep up with inflation and pavement needs. this has cause wsdot to emphasize in its preservation program lower-cost options such as chip seals. the study was conducted on several aspects of wsdot chip seals including (1) the optimum timing for alternating chip seals (or bituminous surface treatment (bsts)) with hot mix asphalt (hma) overlays, (2) design of chip seal application rates, and (3) a range of construction and performance factors. the research incorporated surveys, literature reviews, and five bst meetings that were held between 2006 and 2011. all of these activities are summarized in this report. wsdot has continuously changed both policy and specifications as new information became available for improving their chip seal performance. in recent years, a policy change resulted in using chip seals on roadways with up to 10,000 adt. as such, a secondary factor examined in this study was maximum adt levels which provide for sensible chip seal construction. chip seals, asphalt, adt, bst, pavement, hma, inflation, preservation trac/uw 2014 |
| WA-RD 827.1 | Performance Based Design Factors for Pile Foundations | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 2014 | performance based design factors for pile foundations kramer, s.l., valdez, c., blanchette, b., baker, j.w. the seismic design of pile foundations is currently performed in a relatively simple, deterministic manner. this report describes the development of a performance-based framework to create seismic designs of pile group foundations that consider all potential levels of loading and their likelihoods of occurrence in a particular area. because of the multitude of factors that can exist at a site, development of a complete, integrated procedure that would extend from ground motions to limit state exceedance was not practical. to make the problem more useful to the research sponsors, a modular approach was developed. the framework allows for the development and use of a structural model with a simplified representation of the foundation system. the discrete soil model was developed using an equivalent linear format so that stiffness and damping characteristics were consistent with deformation levels. the foundation loads computed in these analyses were then applied to a three-dimensional soil-pile group model to compute the resulting displacements and rotations of the pile cap. a computer program was developed to perform the calculations required to develop load and resistance factors and demand and capacity factors. the calculations allow a designer to select a return period for limit state exceedance and then select the corresponding factors that will produce a design that corresponds to the desired limit state exceedance rate. lrfd, pile foundation, seismic design trac/uw 2014 |
| FHWA-HOP-14-015 | Effectiveness of Safety and Public Service Announcement (PSA) Messages on Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) | Boyle | FHWA | 2014 | effectiveness of safety and public service announcement (psa) messages on dynamic message signs (dms) boyle, l., cordahi, g., grabenstein, k., madi, m., miller, e., silberman, p. the report assesses the usefulness and effectiveness of safety and public service announcement (psa) messages through surveys conducted in four urban areas in t he united states: chicago, il; houston, tx; orlando, fl; and philadelphia, pa. the surveys were designed to specifically address the types of safety and psa messages for each respective city. a total of 2 , 088 survey responses were received and analyzed . th e report further captures findings and recommendations based on the analysis of the survey responses. dynamic message signs, effectiveness, public service announcements, safety, usefulness, transportation management centers fhwa 2014 |
| WA-RD 824.1 | WSDOT Building Asset Management: An Exploratory Case Study | El-Anwar | TRAC/UW | 2014 | wsdot building asset management: an exploratory case study el-anwar, o., migliaccio, g., lin, k-y, gatti, u., medina, y. the mission of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is to keep people and business moving by operating and improving the state’s transportation systems vital to our taxpayers and communities. traditionally, the department has focused its efforts on the transportation systems. however, a growing portfolio of transportation assets is burdening an old and often outdated portfolio of building assets that support wsdot's core mission and house employees who design, construct, maintain, and operate state highways. the capacity and condition of these building assets are critically challenged by the failure of various building systems, which, when they happen, can be very disruptive or even hazardous to wsdot daily operations. considering the long overdue preservation and replacement of these assets, there is an urgent need to (1) understand how the asset performance influences the various functions that support the department’s core mission, (2) identify the impact of alternative funding levels upon building asset performance, and (3) prioritize the department’s funding decisions in order to fulfill its core mission through a safe and sustainable working environment. this research project is the first step in a series of potential research projects designed to develop an in-depth understanding of building asset management processes, challenges, and opportunities for wsdot. this project is an exploratory case study focusing on the vehicle repair shop in the northwest region maintenance facility in south seattle. this shop was built in 1954 and is located in a site complex with 33 separate structures, totaling 114,025 square feet of space that houses staff and equipment for the maintenance and operation of state highways. the analysis outcomes showed that failures occurring at the tef shop can significantly affect its ability to service the department’s vehicles and equipment. given the importance of some of these vehicles and equipment in operating the state’s transportation system, failures at the tef shop can also significantly affect wsdot's ability to fulfill its mission. wsdot asset management, wsdot building, asset management processes, case study trac/uw 2014 |
| WA-RD 810.1 | Error Assessment for Emerging Traffic Data collection Devices | Cheng | TRAC/UW | 2014 | error assessment for emerging traffic data collection devices cheng, t., malinovskiy, a.y., corey, j., namaki, b., wang, y. because access to travel time information can significantly influence the decision making of both agencies and travelers, accurate and reliable travel time information is increasingly needed.one important step in providing that information is to identify the sensors best suited to provide travel time data for a given corridor. currently, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of various travel time data collection technologies side-by-side. this evaluation was intended to provide decision support for transportation agencies looking to select travel time systems on the basis of accuracy, reliability, and cost. this study focused on two test corridors: state route 522 (sr 522) (an urban arterial with frequent intersections) between the ne 153rd street and 83rd place ne intersections, and i-90 (rural freeway built over snoqualmie pass in the cascade mountains) from milepost 109 (ellensburg, wash.) to milepost 32 (north bend, wash). the sensor systems tested were washington state department of transportation’s pre-existing automatic license plate reader (alpr) system, sensys emplacements, the trafficcast bluetoad system, blip systems bliptrack sensors, and a third-party feed from inrix. this study’s approach was to look at the mean absolute deviation (mad) to judge the expected magnitude of error, then examine the mean percent error (mpe) to find ant systematic biases in the data. the mean absolute percent error (mape) was useful for finding the relative magnitude of the error, and the root mean square error (rmse) was used to determine whether a few large errors or many smaller errors were occurring. each system in the analysis demonstrated different strengths and weaknesses that should be considered in addition to its accuracy and sample rates. some systems can provide additional data; others trade accuracy and coverage for cost or portability. ultimately, engineers will need to weigh their requirements for accuracy and sample rates against the other engineering constraints imposed on their system. wsdot asset management, wsdot building, asset management processes , case study trac/uw 2014 |
| WA-RD 819.1 | Characteristics of Compost Leachates-A Review | Chatterjee | TRAC/WSU | 2013 | characteristics of compost leachates-a review chatterjee, n., flury, m., hinman, c., cogger, c.g., in this report, we review the existing literature on compost leachates, with special emphasis on the chemical and physical characteristics of the leachate constituents. we briefly summarize the biochemical processes occurring during composting and the use and applications of compost in the environment. we then review the chemical and physical characteristics of feedstock, compost, and compost leachate. we finally discuss environmental implications of the compost leachate. the compost source material, i.e., the feedstock, determines to a large degree the types of leachates. well-cured compost has been found to eliminate phytotoxic effects of raw feedstock and promote nutrient availability when applied as soil amendment. feedstock selection and waste-stream separation play an important role in keeping non-degradable contaminants, like heavy metals and plastics, out of the compost. leachate from compost is yellow to dark-brown in color, mainly due to the presence of dissolved and particulate organic matter. characterization of the amount and type of organic material (both dissolved and particulate) in compost leachate indicates that, in the early stages of composting, the leached organic matter contains oxidized functional groups, and in the later stages of composting, there is an increase of phenolic (a benzene ring with an oh group) functional groups. the increase of phenolic groups indicates degradation of lignin in the maturing compost. together with the leaching of organic matter, there is evidence for leaching of various nutrients and contaminants present in the original feedstock. contaminants can leach by direct dissolution out of the compost, as well as with the help of dissolved and particulate organic matter, both of which have a high sorption affinity for inorganic and organic constituents, and which can enhance contaminant leaching via the mechanism of colloid-facilitated transport. organic matter, nutrient, and contaminant concentrations are highest in the initial leachate, and the concentrations decrease considerably with increasing amount of rain or runoff water leaching through the compost. compost, leaching, organic matter, nutrients trac/wsu 2013 |
| WA-RD 816.2 | Sustainable Design Guidelines to Support the Washington State Ferries Terminal Design Manual: Design Guideline Application and Refinement | Wolcott | TRAC/WSU | 2013 | sustainable design guidelines to support the washington state ferries terminal design manual: design guideline application and refinement wolcott, m.p., poor, c., haselbach, l. the sustainable design guidelines were developed in phase i of this research program (wa-rd 816.1). here we are reporting on the phase ii effort that “beta-tested” the phase i guidelines on example ferry terminal designs and refinements made to the tool. the specific objectives of this project are to: 1. cite example wsf terminal projects that would serve as candidates for assessing the sustainable design guidelines, 2. compile and analyze site and resource attributes influencing the design needs, 3. develop a “20% design” for each of the example terminals, 4. refine the draft sustainable design guideline, 5. develop preliminary data on the efficacy of sample stormwater design solutions, 6. develop a database tool for grip, the proposed green rating integration platform for wsf. this project represents the second phase in a three-part effort. the final component will develop and potentially demonstrate specific solutions that present unique opportunities will be deployed in phase iii. sustainability, ferry terminals, stormwater, lid trac/wsu 2013 |
| NCFRP Report 24: Smart Growth and Urban Goods Movement | Bassok | NCFRP | 2013 | ncfrp report 24: smart growth and urban goods movement bassok, a., johnson, c., kitchen, m., maskin, r., overby, k., carlson, d., goodchild, a., mccormack, e., wygonik, e. this report identifies the interrelationships between goods movement and smart growth applications, in particular, the relationship between the transportation of goods in the urban environment and land-use patterns. the results of the research can be used by decision-makers to more accurately understand urban goods movement demand, relevant performance metrics, and the limitations of current modeling frameworks for addressing smart growth and urban goods movement. smart growth, goods movement, urban, land use ncfrp 2013 | |
| NCFRP Report 25: Freight Data Sharing Guidebook | McCormack | NCFRP | 2013 | ncfrp report 25: freight data sharing guidebook mccormack, e., jensen, m., cambridge systematics, north river consulting group this guidebook provides a series of guidelines for sharing freight data, primarily between public and private freight stakeholders. the guidebook identifies barriers and motivators to successful data sharing, offers guidelines for freight data sharing, and provides two successful case study examples. the guidebook also provides example data sharing agreements. freight, data, guidelines ncfrp 2013 | |
| WA-RD 815.1 | Development of a Freight Benefit/Cost Methodology for Project Planning | Sage | TRAC/WSU | 2013 | development of a freight benefit/cost methodology for project planning sage, j., casavant, k., goodchild, a.v., mccormack, e.d., wang, z., mcmullen, s, holder, d. future reauthorizations of the federal transportation bill will require a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the freight benefits of proposed freight system projects. to prioritize public investments in freight systems and to insure consideration of the contribution of freight to the overall system performance, states and regions need an improved method to analyze freight benefits associated with proposed highway and truck intermodal improvements that would lead to enhanced trade and sustainable economic growth, improved safety and environmental quality, and goods delivery in washington state. this project develops a process to address this need by building on previous and ongoing research by some project team members with the goal of developing an agency-friendly, datasupported framework to prioritize public investments for freight systems in washington and oregon. the project integrates two ongoing wsdot funded efforts: one to create methods to calculate the value of truck and truck-intermodal infrastructure projects and the other to collect truck probe data from commercial gps devices to create a statewide freight performance measures (fpm) program. this integration informs the development of a framework that allows public agencies to quantify freight investment benefits in specific areas such as major freight corridors and across borders. freight, benefit-cost analysis, economic impact, reliability, travel time trac/wsu 2013 |
| WA-RD 813.1 | Fatigue and Strength Tests of Heat-straightened Ferry Loading Bridge Hanger Bars | Berman | TRAC/UW | 2013 | fatigue and strength tests of heat-straightened ferry loading bridge hanger bars berman, j.w., chaijaroen, v. tests were conducted on heat-straightened and/or bent live load hanger bars used in loading bridges in the washington state ferry (wsf) system. both fatigue and ultimate strength tests were conducted. the study found that when heat-straightened three times, the hanger bars have a fatigue life that exceeds their design life. the data indicated that additional heat-straightening may be possible without concern for reducing the fatigue life. the yield strength of the hanger bars was found to be unaffected by either heat-straightening or by initial bending deformations. in both cases the hanger bar yield strength exceeded nominal values. the ultimate strength was somewhat reduced by the presence of initial bending deformation. live load hanger bars, ferry bridges, fatigue, heat straightening trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 811.2 | Standard Practice for Washington and Cleaning Concrete Bridge Decks and Substructure Bridge Seats Including Bridge Bearings and Expansion Joints to Prevent Structural Deterioration | Berman | TRAC/UW | 2013 | standard practice for washington and cleaning concrete bridge decks and substructure bridge seats including bridge bearings and expansion joints to prevent structural deterioration berman, j.w., roeder, c.w., burgdorfer, r. this study is a supplement to a previous study of bridge washing practices that focused on steel superstructures. this study examined the perceived costs and benefits of routine washing of both steel and concrete bridges, with emphasis on substructure seats and bridge decks, by exploring current practices around the u.s. a literature review was conducted in order to learn more about these elements and their failure mechanisms. then a nationwide survey was conducted with state dots around the u.s. regarding the washing practices of decks, expansion joints, and bearings. a follow-up survey was conducted soon afterward to collect more detailed information. a summary of the common washing practices is given in conclusion. steel bridges, washing, paint trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 811.1 | Determining the Cost/Benefit of Routine Maintenance Cleaning on Steel Bridges to Prevent Structural Deterioration | Berman | TRAC/UW | 2013 | determining the cost/benefit of routine maintenance cleaning on steel bridges to prevent structural deterioration berman, j.w., roeder, c., burgdorfer, r. this study was conducted in cooperation with the u.s. department of transportation, federal highway administration. the objective of this study is to identify the key variables necessary in estimating the impact of regular washing of steel bridges on the paint and service life, recommend methods for recording data in order to most effectively estimate the benefits of bridge washing, and to develop a framework for assessing the impact of bridge washing on paint life. a literature review was conducted to learn more about the mechanisms of corrosion. then a nationwide survey was sent out to state transportation agencies. a follow-up survey was conducted in order to obtain more detailed information about certain washing programs. it weas concluded that little information on the effects of bridge washing exist and it is only deemed beneficial based on anecdotal assumptions. an experiment is proposed for wsdot that will provide hard data to make a decision. steel bridges, washing, paint trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 794.1 | Congestion Survey | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2013 | congestion survey hallenbeck, m.e., le, t. wsdot recently installed sensors on i-5 and sr 512 that greatly improved the amount and quality of traffic congestion data available in and around tacoma and olympia. this report examines the public’s use of wsdot’s traveler information services providing that enhanced information to the public. it reports the results of an internet survey that obtained the opinions of individuals who seek information on wsdot’s traveler information website. the survey results indicated that respondents find considerable value in the traffic congestion information wsdot provides and believe that the department should continue to expend funding on roadway traveler information. the report also describes the range of mechanisms survey respondents used to obtain freeway congestion information and describes the ways that individuals put that information to use once they have obtained it. traveler information trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 806.1 | A Framework for Monitoring the Performance of Demand Management and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction Activities | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2013 | a framework for monitoring the performance of demand management and vehicle miles traveled (vmt) reduction activities hallenbeck, m.e., stewart, o., moudon, a.v. this report presents a framework to support performance monitoring for demand management related to vmt reduction. the framework consists of performance monitoring measures and a system for their collection and dissemination. the report also provides the context within which the framework would exist, and describes how it will support a wide variety of other statewide and regional needs, thus providing additional incentive for its adoption. the intent of the framework is to not only meet the requirements of washington state’s legislative requirement to reduce vmt per capita (rcw 47.01.440), but to do so in a way that provides wsdot and its partner agencies with information that supports planning and programming. the report also provides an excellent framework for developing and reporting congestion-related performance measures in support of map-21. performance monitoring, map-21, transportation, demand management trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 802.1 | Structural Design Parameters of Current WSDOT Mixtures | Meader | TRAC/UW | 2013 | structural design parameters of current wsdot mixtures meader, j., janssen, d.j., eberhard, m.o. the aashto lrfd, as well as other design manuals, has specifications that estimate the structural performance of a concrete mixture with regard to compressive strength, tensile strength, and deformation-related properties such as the modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, and creep. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is evaluating the performance properties of approved concrete mixtures, and verifying the measured properties and comparing them to those expected from aashto specifications. factors influencing the structural behavior of concrete mixtures include the coarse aggregate source and size, paste content, water-to-cementitious ratio, and age characteristics. these factors are not integrated within aashto lrfd models to predict the concrete mixture’s performance. current specifications relate most of the structural performance properties to the compressive strength, with little regard to the mixture proportions. this research was directed toward assessing the performance of the approved wsdot concrete mixture and the sensitivity of the properties based on aggregate source and paste content. the objectives of this research were to investigate whether modifications to aashto lrfd specifications were required, and if so, to recommend improvements using pertinent mixture proportions. 17. key compressive strength, split-tensile strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, drying shrinkage, creep strain, creep, coefficient, specific creep trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 806.2 | Sidewalk Data in King County's Urban Growth Boundary | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2013 | sidewalk data in king county's urban growth boundary moudon, a.v., kang, b., scully, j., stewart, o. this report describes the development of geospatial sidewalk data for the king county urban growth area. prior to the development of this data set, sidewalk data in king county were limited to select jurisdictions and existed in multiple, sometimes incompatible, formats. existing sidewalk data were collected from 30 of 40 jurisdictions and standardized to a geographic information system (gis) data format that stores sidewalk coverage as attributes of king county street network centerlines. for each street segment, each sides was coded as full, no, or partial sidewalk coverage. an automated coding method was developed to standardize existing data when possible. sidewalk coverage for jurisdictions with no existing sidewalk data or with data formats incompatible with automated coding were coded manually with the aid of internet mapping resources. a total of 27 jurisdictions, including unincorporated king county, were manually coded. overall rates of agreement between automated and manual coding were 0.95, with higher rates of agreement for street segments with full and no (0.94 to 0.97) compared to partial sidewalk coverage (0.70 to 0.72). sidewalks, pedestrian travel, walking, pedestrian, infrastructure, gis data, trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 806.3 | Tools for Estimating VMT Reductions from Built Environment Changes | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2013 | tools for estimating vmt reductions from built environment changes moudon, a. v., stewart, o. built environment characteristics are associated with walking, bicycling, transit use, and vehicle miles traveled (vmt). developing built environments supportive of walking, bicycling, and transit use can help meet state vmt reduction goals. but tools are necessary to understand how changes to the built environment may translate into changes in travel. such tools can help optimize land use and transportation investments for reduced vmt and communicate such changes to the public. this report reviews the built environment characteristics associated with travel and the tools available that utilize these built environment characteristics to estimate travel and related outcomes such as vehicle emissions and health co-benefits. tools ranged from simple to complex, and a number of factors should be considered when applying a tool to a planning effort. walking , bicycling, transit, vehicle miles traveled, vmt, transportation planning, travel behavior trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 823.1 | Digital Roadway Interactive Visualization and Evaluation Network Applications to WSDOT Operational Data Usage3 | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2013 | digital roadway interactive visualization and evaluation network applications to wsdot operational data usage3 wang, y., ma, x., malinovskiy, y., corey, j., henrickson, k. the combined washington state department of transportation (wsdot) traffic sensor data and third party data are huge in volume and are highly valuable for system operations, monitoring, and analysis. the current wsdot traffic data archive systems, however, lack the capability to integrate third party datasets and are not offering the functions needed for real-time performance monitoring, quick operational decision support, and system-wide analysis. the goal of this study was to remove the barriers in the current datasets archived by wsdot, automate the time- consuming data quality control process, and achieve the integration and visualization of information needed to support decision making. the research findings are not only summarized in this report but are also delivered in a functioning online system named wsdot digital roadway interactive vi sualization and evaluation ne twork (drive net). this wsdot drive net system is capable of collecting, archiv ing, and quality checking traffic sensor data from all wsdot regions and incorporating third party data, such as those from inrix, inc., and weather information into the analytical platform. roadway geometric data are properly stored in an open-sourced, geospatial database and are seamlessly connected with the traditional transportation da tasets. the existing wsdot da ta archiving and analysis systems, cd analyst and flow, are successfully recode d and integrated into the wsdot drive net system for better efficiency and consistenc y. a series of loop data quality control algorithms is automated in the backend for detecting malfunction loops and correcting them whenever possible. with the new data platform empowered by escience transportation principles, two commonly utilized functions at wsdot have been implemented to demonstr ated the efficiency and utility of this new system. the first is to generate wsdot’s gray notebook statis tics and charts. this new function will allo w wsdot personnel to produce the tables and figures needed for their annual and quarterly congestion reports in seconds , a significant effi ciency improvement over the months previously necessary. the other function is the level of service (los) map for highway performance assessment. this module follows the highway capacity manual (hcm) 2010 procedure to produce the los estimate for each roadway segment every 20 seconds based on real-tim e traffic measurements. additionally, a mobile sensing data analysis module was developed as a pilot experiment for reconstructing pedestrian trajectories using the media access control addresses captured from mobile devices. traffic engineers and researchers can directly access the wsdot drive net system through the internet. the system has demonstrated its ability to support more compli cated analytical and decision procedures for large-scale transportation networks. freeway performance measurement, wsdot gray, notebook, geospatial data fusion, data quality control, automatic pedestrian data collection trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 805.1 | Land Development Risks Along State Transportation Corridors | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2013 | land development risks along state transportation corridors moudon, a.v., sheikh, a., stewart, o., kraus, a., hallenbeck, m.e. land development that is not coordinated with transportation planning can compromise the performance of washington's state routes. identifying land at risk for development along state routes can provide opportunities for proactive, collaborative planning to improve access, mobility, and safety while supporting economic development. this project, described in two parts, provides tools to help turn adverse risks of land development into opportunities to make route improvements. in part one, systems for identifying land at risk for development were developed for the state and local levels from relevant literature and expert input. risk factors for land development at the state level include historic population and job growth, population and job forecasts, and traffic conditions. additional risk factors at the local level include regulatory constraints, critical areas, vacant and undeveloped lands, recent sales history, building permit history, and sewer and water utilities. the local level system was applied to three case study areas. results generally agreed with local knowledge, yet the method offered an objective and systematic means for comparing corridors across the state fairly. in part two, a menu of strategies for responsibly developing state routes was developed from current wsdot practices, literature on standard approaches, and reports of novel solutions. strategies were classified as planning and coordination activities, non-engineering and engineering strategies, and funding/enforcement strategies. land development, right of way, risk analysis, transportation planning, corridor planning, forecasting, land use, access management, trac/uw 2013 |
| WA-RD 789.1 | Evaluation of the Performance of Warm Mix Asphalt in Washington State | Bower | TRAC/WSU | 2012 | evaluation of the performance of warm mix asphalt in washington state bower, n., wen, h., willoughby, k., weston, j., devol, j. warm mix asphalt (wma) is a relatively new and emerging technology for the asphalt industry. it offers potential construction and environmental advantages over traditional hot mix asphalt (hma). however, wma must perform at least as well as hma before it can be used to replace hma. this study evaluates the performance of hma and wma mixes obtained from various field sites in the state of washington. different wma technologies are examined in four separate projects; these technologies include sasobit® and three water foaming technologies, gencor® green machine ultrafoam gx®, aquablack™ and water injection. performance tests are conducted on the cores and extracted binders to evaluate the resistance of hma and wma samples to fatigue and thermal cracking, rutting and moisture susceptibility. additionally, the early-age field performance of wma and hma control pavements is compared. warm mix asphalt, wma, sasobit, ultrafoam gx, aquablack, water injection trac/wsu 2012 |
| Clean-Up of Existing Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2012 | clean-up of existing data sets to support dynamic mobility applications development hallenbeck, m. e., wang, y., ishimaru, j. m., ma, x., richards, m., corey, j. the data set includes data on freeway performance provided by wsdot inductance loops that are used to operate the department's surveillance, control, and driver information system. to allow interesting performance analysis, these basic roadway performance data are accompanied by data collected by wsdot's incident response program, the washington incident tracking system (wits), and data on the messages displayed on both wsdot's active traffic management signs and its conventional dynamic message signs. the seattle multi-modal corridor data set covers the interstate 5 freeway corridor from the king/pierce county line in the south to approximately the city of everett in the north. the arterial data included in the data set cover the major city of seattle north–south arterials west of i-5 and east of puget sound. the specific geographic areas covered by the data are shown in figures 1 and 2. the data set contains six months of data, collected from may 1, 2011, to october 31, 2011. freeway performance, data, mobility, quality assurance testing trac/uw 2012 | |
| WA-RD 791.1 | Earthquake Ground Motion Selection | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 2012 | earthquake ground motion selection kramer, s.l., arduino, p., sideras, s.s. nonlinear analyses of soils, structures, and soil-structure systems offer the potential for more accurate characterization of geotechnical and structural response under strong earthquake shaking. the increasing use of advanced performance-based design and evaluation procedures will require consideration of long-return-period motions for all structures, especially in western washington where high seismicity is a concern and long-return-period motions are likely to be strong enough to induce nonlinear, inelastic response in soil deposits and structures. nonlinear analyses require the specification of acceleration time histories as input; this requires the analyst to identify input motions that are consistent with the ground motion hazards at the site of interest. a considerable level of research effort has been directed toward the development of procedures for selection and scaling of earthquake ground motions for the purpose of using them in nonlinear structural analysis. this research has shown that structural response of buildings can be quite sensitive to the selection and scaling of ground motions used in nonlinear analyses. while the sensitivity of bridge structures to input motion characteristics has not been studied as explicitly as that of building structures, the response of bridges is also expected to be significantly influenced by input motion characteristics. as a result, engineers have identified the need for software tools that will automate, to at least a large degree, the process of identifying suites of ground motions that are most appropriate for use in nonlinear response analyses. along with this report, a piece of software, sigmaspectraw, was created for wsdot to do just that. earthquake, ground motion selection, sigmaspectraw trac/uw 2012 |
| WA-RD 743.3 | Moving Forward: Safe Routes to School Progress in Five States | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2012 | moving forward: safe routes to school progress in five states moudon, a.v., stewart, o. this study assessed the safe routes to school (srts) program in five states: florida, mississippi, texas, washington, and wisconsin. a database of all srts projects announced for funding and all schools affected by these projects was developed. the database was analyzed to (1) quantify the srts programs’ impact in the five states and compare them to srts programs nationally, (2) assess the srts programs’ effectiveness in increasing rates of walking and bicycling to school, and (3) identify characteristics of srts projects associated with greater increases in walking and bicycling to school. in the five states, 569 srts projects were announced for funding through april 2011. these projects reached more than 1,410 schools and 781,180 children—roughly 10 percent of the pk-8 grade public school population in the five states. engineering components were featured in most projects, and sidewalks were the most common engineering activity. among completed srts projects with before and after travel data, rates of walking increased by 45 percent (from 9.8 percent to 14.2 percent), bicycling increased by 24 percent (from 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent), and all active travel to school (ats) increased by 37 percent (from 12.9 percent to 17.6 percent). increases in rates measured at the project level were statistically significant. before and after travel data were only available for projects with an engineering component. among these projects, those that affected fewer schools and students, as well as those with encouragement and education components tended to perform better. these relationships, however, were not statistically significant. the only statistically significant relationship found was a negative correlation between baseline rates of bicycling to school and increases in rates of bicycling to school, suggesting that srts projects may be more effective at encouraging bicycling to school where few children already do so. the results of this study offer preliminary evidence that the srts program is achieving one of its primary goals of increasing rates of walking and bicycling to school and that srts funds are delivering a return on investment. it identified some trends of more successful projects, which warrant further investigation. as more projects end, the research framework established in this study can be used to further explore these findings and refine programs that help children safely walk or bicycle to school. safe routes to school, walk, bicycle, non-motorized transportation, school travel trac/uw 2012 |
| WA-RD 792.1 | Improving Statewide Freight Routing Capabilities for Sub-National Commodity Flows | Rowell | TRAC/UW | 2012 | improving statewide freight routing capabilities for sub-national commodity flows rowell, m., gagliano, a., wang, z., goodchild, a., sage, j., jessup, e. the ability to fully understand and accurately characterize freight vehicle route choices is important in helping to inform regional and state decisions. this project recommends improvements to wsdot’s statewide freight gis network model to more accurately characterize freight vehicle route choice. this capability, when combined with regional and sub-national commodity flow data, will be a key attribute of an effective statewide freight modeling system. to come to these recommendations, the report describes project activities undertaken, and their outcomes, including 1) a review of commercially available routing software, 2) an evaluation of the use of statewide gps data as an input for routing analysis, and 3) the design, implementation, and evaluation of a survey of shippers, carriers, and freight forwarders within the state. the software review found that routing software assumes least cost paths while meeting user specified constraints, and it identified criteria for evaluation in the subsequent survey. the gps data evaluation showed that significant temporal shifting occurs rather than spatial route shifting, and it revealed significant limitations in the use of gps data for evaluating routing choices, largely because of the read rate. among the survey results was that the first priority of shippers, carriers, and freight forwarders is to not only meet customer requirements, but to do so in the most cost-efficient way. from a latent class analysis of routing priorities, we discovered that distance-based classification best clusters similar routing behavior. the report includes recommendations for implementing this within the statewide freight gis network model. freight, freight modeling,, routing, gis network, gps data, routing software trac/uw 2012 |
| WA-RD 776.1 | Initial Investigation of Reinforced Concrete Filled Tubes for Use in Bridge Foundations | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 2012 | initial investigation of reinforced concrete filled tubes for use in bridge foundations roeder, c.w., lehman, d.e. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) frequently employs deep pile or caisson bridge foundations for its bridge structures. deep pile and drilled shaft foundations are increasingly important for seismic design in washington state, because of increased seismic design load demands in bridge design specifications. a common caisson is a reinforced concrete filled tube caisson. although these types of foundation elements are common, there are few guidelines on their design. as a result, current wsdot design methods are conservative and neglect the many benefits provided by composite action of the concrete and the steel tube, which may result in increased cost and size of the foundation. recent research on composite concrete filled steel tubes (cft) shows significant benefit for applications using cft elements, in particular that cft elements can develop more lateral resistance and greater inelastic deformation capacity with less deterioration of resistance than reinforced concrete elements of the same weight and diameter. hence the use of this composite action permits smaller diameter and shorter caisson foundations resulting in cost savings associated with a smaller piles and drilled shafts, less material and reduced construction time and cost. this research involves consideration of the composite properties of cft members with internal reinforcement, and this special case of internally reinforced cft is identified as rcft in this report. the research study used analytical tools verified using past experimental and analytical research on cft members and foundation connections without internal reinforcement. the research included comprehensive review of past research results including experiments and analysis of cft and rcft elements and connections. design models were evaluated and compared to prior test results to determine their accuracy and reliability. a comprehensive analytical study was performed to extend this prior research to current wsdot rcft applications. the analytical studies were calibrated to past experimental results to document their accuracy, and the analysis included development of basic design models, fiber or section based analysis, and detailed continuum based models. no experiments were included in this initial study, but observations from prior experimental research were to be used to support the work. the goals of this preliminary study were to develop initial answers to uncertainly in the design process of these components and their connections to permit the wsdot to begin to employ the benefits of composite action for these sub-structural systems. to that end, specific design recommendations from this preliminary research study are provided. finally, an overview of the additional research needed to further develop the deep foundation system is provided. concrete filled tubes,, caissons,, connections trac/uw 2012 |
| WA-RD 790.1 | Concrete Performance Using Low-Degradation Aggregates | Qiao | TRAC/WSU | 2012 | concrete performance using low-degradation aggregates qiao, p., mclean, d.i., chen, f. the durability of portland cement concrete (pcc) has long been identified as a concern by transportation communities around the united states. in this study, the long-term performance of two batches of concrete incorporating either low-degradation (ld) or normal (nm) aggregates subjected to freezing and thawing conditions was experimentally studied. the freezing and thawing test method (astm c666) was followed to condition all the test samples. dynamic modulus and fracture energy for both groups of concrete samples after different numbers of freeze-thaw cycles were measured through nondestructive modal and cohesive fracture tests, respectively. due to the higher air content in ld concrete, surface scaling was less severe under frost action. test results showed that different aggregate degradation has an important effect on the freeze-thaw resistance of the concrete and the rate of decrease in fracture energy with number of freeze-thaw cycles for the ld concrete is higher than for the nm concrete. compared to the dynamic modulus of elasticity, the fracture energy is a more sensitive parameter for evaluating concrete degradation caused by the frost action. thus, the degradation of aggregate in concrete can be better evaluated by the cohesive fracture test. additional research is needed to identify an appropriate threshold for when aggregate degradation properties become a concern. until that time, it is recommended that wsdot maintain their current restrictions on using low-degradation aggregates in concrete. concrete, freezing and thawing, durability, low-degradation aggregates, cementitious, materials, dynamic modulus, fracture energy trac/wsu 2012 |
| WA-RD 816.1 | Sustainable Design Guidelines to Support the Washington State Ferries Terminal Design Manual: Stormwater and Material Issues | Wolcott | TRAC/WSU | 2011 | sustainable design guidelines to support the washington state ferries terminal design manual: stormwater and material issues wolcott, m.p., poor, c., haselbach, l. in an effort to assist the developers of the terminal design manual in potentially addressing sustainable design issues, the overall goal is to produce sustainable design guidelines that will specifically address the unique needs and requirements of ferry terminals. in support of the development of these sustainable design guidelines, the specific objectives of this project are to: 1. review applicable sustainable design guidelines and rating systems. 2. assess specific needs as perceived by wsf terminal engineering staff. 3. compile standards and metrics potentially applicable to wsf terminals with a focus on materials use, site design, and consequences. 4. prepare a draft sustainable design guideline. 5. provide specific methods to address stormwater quality and quantity using lid methods. 6. provide specific recommendations where composite materials may provide unique solutions to material needs. the outcomes of the project are expected to be complementary to the current sms and other environmental documentation in place, or under consideration at wsf. sustainability, ferry terminals, stormwater, lid trac/wsu 2011 |
| WA-RD 780.1 | Washington’s Complete Street and Main Street Highways Program Case Studies and Practice Resource | Nicholls | TRAC/UW | 2011 | washington’s complete street and main street highways program case studies and practice resource nicholls, j., cannon, s., duffy, s., stevens, r. complete streets is a national movement that promotes accessibility for all users. typical complete streets components accommodate pedestrians, bicycles, transit users, personal vehicle and freight trucks. a growing number of communities in washington state and nationwide have existing complete streets policies or ordinances. washington state passed a complete streets bill (hb 1071) that went into effect july 2011, creating a program that would provide grants to communities that met appropriate criteria. washington state is initiating a grant program that would provide a funding source for complete streets and main street highways projects. there are 500 miles of main streets in washington state that are also state highways. complete streets and main street highways treatments must be context-specific based on size, location, and community needs. the complete streets and main street highways conversation is a continuum, encompassing a range of project size, scope, and systems. complete streets, main street highways, community design, project delivery trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 775.1 | GPS Truck Data Performance Measures Program in Washington State | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 2011 | gps truck data performance measures program in washington state mccormack, e.d., zhao, w. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), transportation northwest at the university of washington (uw), and the washington trucking associations (wta) have partnered on a research effort to collect and analyze global positioning systems (gps) truck data from commercial, in-vehicle, truck fleet management systems. this effort was funded by the washington state legislature, and its purpose is to develop a statewide freight performance measures program for use by wsdot. this document reviews the program’s previous phases and provides details about the latest phase of the program. the report also provides references to the technical documents that support the program. gps data, trucks, performance measures, freight trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 771.1 | Eastern Washington Steep Slope Research for Management of Highway Stormwater | Navickis-Brasch | WSU | 2011 | eastern washington steep slope research for management of highway stormwater navickis-brasch, a.s. highway embankments can provide an ideal location for integrating low impact development (lid) stormwater best management practices (bmps) into a highway setting, specifically sheet flow bmps such as vegetated filter strips (vfs) and dispersion. however, the design criterion at washington state department of transportation (wsdot) limits the embankment slope to 15% maximum. a possible justification for this limit is steeper slopes could concentrate flow, reducing the effectiveness of the bmp, and encouraging channelized flow that can erode the embankment. this design criterion can present a challenge to wsdot since highway embankments can be constructed, without vehicle safety barriers, on slopes as steep as 33% and when vfs or dispersion are required on s lopes greater than 15%, embankments need to be flattened and the roadway footprint expanded. this may result in the additional right of way (row) acquisition as well as additional construction and ecological costs from the expanded embankment. while studies have shown that vfs and dispersion areas can successfully meet runoff treatment and flow control goals on 33% slopes, limited research was found that evaluated the site characteristics that support stable embankments (without erosion) located at steeper slopes. in an effort to evaluate a design criteria, for both vfs and dispersion, that aligns with the 33% highway embankment limit, 45 sites in eastern washington were inventoried to determine the specific site characteristics that contribute to concentration of highway runoff on slopes steeper than 15%. based on a statistical analysis the embankment slope alone was not considered statistically significant to erosion severity compared to other site characteristics. instead, low vegetation coverage and a high percentage of sand had the strongest correlation to erosion severity. in addition, empirical observations at the sites noted conditions at the edge of pavement (eop) can also encourage channelized flows. based on these findings, a modified design criteria for vfs and dispersion bmps is recommended allowing embankment slopes up to of 33% when vegetation can be established, taking into consideration the soil characteristics. in addition, level spreaders may allow for dispersed flows regardless of the conditions at the eop. embankments, stormwater management, steep slopes, natural dispersion, vegetative filter strips wsu 2011 |
| Open-Graded Wearing Courses in the Pacific Northwest | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2011 | open-graded wearing courses in the pacific northwest muench, s.t., weiland, c., hatfield, j., wallace, l.k. the oregon department of transportation (odot) has been placing 3/4-inch nominal maximum aggregate size (nmas) open-graded wearing courses (ogwcs) in structural layers of 2 inches or more for about 30 years. despite this, ogwc performance in the pacific northwest is not well understood. this study determined the use and performance of odot ogwcs, with special attention given to 3/4-inch open-graded hma (previously referred to as "f-mix") and recommends guidelines for the future use of ogwcs. the best estimated service life of odot 3/4-inch open-graded hma ranges from 14 years (<5,000 adt) down to 7 years (>100,000 adt), which is less than comparable dense-graded mixes. the primary mode of distress is raveling and studded tire wear. reduced service life, uncertain and unquantified safety benefits, and a possible greater risk of early failure lead to a recommendation to discontinue use of 3/4-inch open-graded hma in oregon as a standard surface mix. ogwcs used elsewhere in the u.s. are not likely suited for odot use because of their susceptibility to studded tire wear and are not recommended for adoption. if 3/4-inch open-graded hma does continue in use, recommendations are as follows: (1) quantify its benefits, (2) restrict its use to low traffic (<30,000 adt), (3) re-calibrate pms expected life to be more in line with observed historical life, and (4) require the use of a windrow pick-up machine or end-dump transfer machine when paving ogwc. open-graded, hot mix asphalt, pavements, pavement performance trac/uw 2011 | |
| WA-RD 783.1 | Defining the Washington State Truck Intermodal Network | Goodchild | TRAC/UW | 2011 | defining the washington state truck intermodal network goodchild, a. in order to support wsdot in development of the washington state freight mobility plan, this document presents recommendations for criteria to be used in defining the washington state truck intermodal network. the state does not have an existing definition of the freight truck-intermodal system. to establish the criteria, this project reviewed methods used by other states, identified the facilities in washington specified by the national highway system, and compared these facilities to those identified by regional planning organizations. finally, recommendations are made for criteria to use in identifying the truck intermodal network for washington. essential freight facilities, truck intermodal network trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 763.1 | Review of the Growth and Transportation Efficiency Center Program, with Recommendations for Increasing Benefits to Suburban Cities | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2011 | review of the growth and transportation efficiency center program, with recommendations for increasing benefits to suburban cities hallenbeck, m.e., carlson, d. this report provides guidance to the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) in creating, supporting and enhancing growth and transportation efficiency centers (gtecs), especially those centers located within suburban cities. the report examines the goals of the gtec program and makes a variety of recommendations for growing the program and expanding its effectiveness in reducing peak period sov use under a variety of different budgetary scenarios. gtec, growth management, urban centers trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 766.1 | Examination of SR 167 HOT Lane Violation Patterns | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2011 | examination of sr 167 hot lane violation patterns hallenbeck, m.e., corey, j. the hot lanes on sr 167 south of seattle, washington, are separated from their respective general purpose lanes by a double white lane line. legal access to the hot lanes is limited to four locations southbound and six locations northbound. this study examined the frequency with which motorists illegally cross the double white lane line, rather than waiting for one of the legal access points. the study determined the locations and operating conditions under which violations most commonly occur.the study showed that during most times of the day and along most portions of the corridor, the number of illegal entry and exit movements is negligible. however, at a small number of locations and under specific congestion conditions, violation rates can exceed 1 per minute. the worst violation location is northbound, north of the s. 180th st on-ramp, just before the end of the northbound hot lane and after the last toll collection gantry. violations at this location appear to be caused by the three main factors: 1) in anticipation of the lane becoming a general purpose lane in less than another 500 feet, some motorists “jump in early.” 2) this location is often the point to which the queue from the i-405 interchange ramp backs up. violation rates increase significantly near the upstream end of any queue. 3) many vehicles entering the freeway at the s. 180th st ramp move as directly as possible to the left lane of the freeway and then merge into the hot lane. in congested conditions, these movements result in lane-line violations because the slow, heavy traffic allows the weave process to occur in a short distance. under faster free flow conditions, this weave movement requires a much longer distance, resulting in vehicle merges at the intended legal locations. high occupancy toll lanes, hot lanes, toll lane violations trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 761.1 | Incident Response Evaluation Phase 3 | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2011 | incident response evaluation phase 3 hallenbeck, m.e., pham,c ., watkins, k. this project investigated the basic relationship of incidents to delay on puget sound area freeways. the intent was to determine the amount of delay caused by incidents and the benefits obtained from the incident response actions taken by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). the analysis was based on data from 2006 and included all days in 2006. the study area included i-5 from sr 526 in the north to s. 320th in federal way in the south; all of i-90 west of milepost 19.5, which is east of front street in issaquah; all of i-405; sr 167 from i-405 to sr 18; and all of sr 520. the study showed that incidents, including crashes, do not, in and of themselves, cause measurable delay. they cause delay only when the disruption they create causes functional capacity to fall below actual demand. however, the researchers calculated that the average incident that does not involve a lane closure results in 576 vehicle-minutes of delay per minute the incident is present. if the incident closes a lane, the effect of that lane closure adds 814 vehicle-minutes of delay per minute of closure. for the 2006 study year, a conservative estimate is that crashes and other traffic incidents (including disabled vehicles, debris, and other events requiring wsdot intervention to remove hazards) cost travelers 5,300,000 vehicle-hours of delay, in addition to typical congestion delay, on the puget sound region’s freeway system. that is roughly 30 percent of the total delay from all causes that occurred on these roadways. approximately 11 percent of the total delay (1,950,000 veh-hrs) was the result of reported vehicle crashes. the study also determined that crash rates increase substantially when delays caused in part by incidents occur. in fact, a simple summary of the available data indicated that crash rates essentially double in corridors slowed by unexpected incident-related queuing. consequently, because reducing the duration of incidents results in faster clearance of incident-related queuing, it will also have a significant safety benefit, as measured in a reduced crash rate. incident response, performance evaluation trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 769.1 | HOV Action Plan | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2011 | hov action plan ishimaru, j.m., hallenbeck, m.e., wright, d., kang, j. despite the fact that travel speed and reliability on numerous segments of the high-occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes of the central puget sound freeway network are not meeting the adopted state performance standard, trends suggest that hov travel demand is expected to increase. this study was conducted to evaluate the performance of interstate 5 hov lanes between federal way and everett, washington, focusing on congestion; to identify congestion bottleneck segments and potential causes; and to develop a range of potential short-term (0 to 5 years) enhancements to improve hov traffic flow at bottlenecks. a review of estimated speeds and vehicle volumes for 2007 determined that the i-5 hov corridor as a whole does not meet the state standard during the peak travel periods in the dominant direction of traffic (inbound to seattle from the south and north in the am peak, outbound from seattle in the pm peak). eight hov lane segments were specifically identified as bottleneck locations of heavy congestion.the report details possible causes of congestion in these areas: heavy usage of the hov lane, roadway geometry, lane friction, merging conflicts, slow vehicles, and incidents. the report also discusses short-term options for addressing congestion at these locations: implementing general purpose on-ramp metering, implementing inside hov on-ramp metering, moving the hov lane endpoint approach the northbound express lane entrance, strengthening the incident response program, introducing buffer separation, reconfiguring express lane ingress/egress, introducing active traffic management, reserving hov lanes for bus transit only, and changing the occupancy requirement from 2+ to 3+. the advantages, disadvantages, and other issues related to these options are also discussed. high occupancy vehicle lanes, hov, performance monitoring, traffic congestion trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 743.2 | So Many Choices, So Many Ways to Choose: How Five State Departments of Transportation Select Safe Routes to School for Funding | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2011 | so many choices, so many ways to choose: how five state departments of transportation select safe routes to school for funding moudon, a.v., stewart, o., lin, l. safe routes to school (srts) programs support children safely walking and biking to and from school. each state department of transportation (dot) awards federal grant money to proposal applications made by local srts programs. because demand for federal srts funding far exceeds most states’ budgets for their program, state dots must carefully select the srts proposals that receive an award. by definition, most local program proposals that meet the federal guidelines to receive srts grant money will include elements that contribute to pedestrian safety. as a result, state dots that wish to leverage their srts funds are faced with the difficult task of choosing those proposals with the greatest potential to successfully increase the safety and number of children walking or biking to school. this report compares how five state dots – florida, mississippi, texas, washington, and wisconsin – select the most promising srts proposals for funding. it reviews how the five states approach the selection process by considering grant types, srts plans, eligibility requirements, program distribution policies, proposal review processes, and established selection criteria. the selection processes and criteria used are reviewed to highlight examples of best practices that consider (1) the four common barriers to walking and biking to school (distance, income, parent values and parent concerns), (2) the “five e’s” commonly used to classify srts program elements (engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation), and (3) the five conceptualized stages of an srts program (existing conditions, planning, proposal, implementation, and assessment of outcomes). the results of this review are insights into how the five state dots define an effective srts program and how they prioritize awards for the many good srts program proposals they receive. examples of effective selection practices are identified as a basis for making specific recommendations on what constitutes a promising proposal selection process that awards programs with the highest potential to increase the safety and number of children walking or biking to school. an appendix contains documentation on the original srts proposal selection protocols used by the five contributing state dots. safe routes to school, active commuting, non-motorized, transportation, grant administration, award selection, criteria trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 672.3 | ITS Evaluation - Phase 3 (2010) | Porter | TRAC/UW | 2011 | its evaluation - phase 3 (2010) porter, r.d., mccormack, e.d., briglia, p.m. this report documents the results of applying a previously developed, standardized approach for evaluating intelligent transportation systems (its) projects to 17 its earmark projects. the evaluation approach was based on a questionnaire to investigate technical, management, and organizational lessons learned. the report includes an evaluation report for each of the 17 its projects. each report includes a discussion of the following: · background · project description · system usage and benefits · cost, operations and maintenance · architecture and standards · lessons learned.most of the lessons learned in this evaluation phase were similar to those documented in previous evaluations. intelligent transportation systems, its, advanced real-time traveler information, traffic maps, congestion maps, traffic graphics trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 782.1 | Error Modeling and Analysis for Travel Time Data Obtained from Bluetooth MAC Address Matching | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2011 | error modeling and analysis for travel time data obtained from bluetooth mac address matching wang, y., malinovskiy, y., wu, y-j, lee, u.k. travel time data had been very difficult to collect until recently. current attempts at exploiting short-range communication protocols that rely on unique identifiers, primarily bluetooth, have significantly simplified the travel time collection task. many transportation agencies are now considering using bluetooth travel time estimates to feed a variety of applications, such as user information systems. as bluetooth-based travel time data collection increases in popularity, investigating the errors that are characteristic of this detection type becomes more important. a bluetooth sensor, called the media access control address detection (macad) system, was developed for travel time data collection in this study to facilitate testing system configurations and allow for future deployments. three types of antennae and three different sensor arrangements were tested to determine the effects of these variables on travel time error. the collected travel time data were compared to license plate reader data, which, because of their relatively small detection zone for vehicle license plate recognition, were taken as the ground truth travel time. a regression model was used to investigate whether travel time error can be predicted with observable explanatory variables. descriptive statistical analysis was also employed to evaluate the impacts of individual variables on the travel time error. the results suggested that a combination of sensors is desirable, despite the potential loss of accuracy, as the higher matching rates obtained by the system will improve sample size and reduce random error rates. findings of this study are helpful to transportation professionals attempting to understand the errors associated with the bluetooth-based travel time data collection technology and to configure the sensors to mitigate the errors. 17. key congestion, incident-induced delay, short-term traffic flow forecast trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 774.1 | Sustainable Roadside Design and Management for Urban Freeways in Western Washington | Robertson | TRAC/UW | 2011 | sustainable roadside design and management for urban freeways in western washington robertson, i., smith, l. this report addresses the question: what does it take to achieve and maintain sustainable urban roadside restoration projects in western washington that provide for necessary roadside functions at lowest lifecycle cost? it makes recommendations under five categories: general, agency communication and process, design, construction, and maintenance. it identifies two major problems common to urban roadside: the establishment of transient encampments and intense invasive weed pressures. urban roadside environments are extremely varied and serve many functions; therefore, the report does not recommend a single type of roadside planting or maintenance suitable for all situations. integrated vegetation management is a key tool for planning and implementing urban roadside maintenance. urban roadside restoration, low lifecycle cost, urban roadside maintenance, integrated vegetation, management, invasive weeds, sustainable plant, communities, transient encampment trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 781.1 | An Investigation of Underwater Sound Propagation from Pile Driving | Reinhall | TRAC/UW | 2011 | an investigation of underwater sound propagation from pile driving reinhall, p.g., dahl, p.h. the underwater noise from impact pile driving was studied by using a finite element model for the sound generation and a parabolic equation model for propagation. results were compared with measurements taken with a vertical line array deployed during tests at the vashon island ferry terminal near seattle in november 2009. tests showed that the dominant underwater noise produced by impact driving is from the mach wave associated with the radial expansion of the pile that propagates down the pile after impact at supersonic speed. the effectiveness of surrounding the pile in the water with a double-walled steel tube, also called a temporary noise attenuation pile (tnap), to reduce the underwater sound caused by pile driving operations was also investigated. tests and analysis showed that the noise attenuation capability of the tnap was limited to approximately 10 db because of the unconstrained propagation of mach waves directly from the sediment into the water. 17. pile driving, impact, acoustics, underwater noise, attenuation, propagation trac/uw 2011 |
| WA-RD 756.1 | Barriers to Implementing Low Impact Development Approaches in Washington State Roadways and Highways | Miccio | TRAC/UW | 2010 | barriers to implementing low impact development approaches in washington state roadways and highways miccio, c.e. low impact development (lid) is an approach to stormwater management that seeks to mimic the natural hydrologic functions of stormwater runoff prior to development. in general, lid techniques emphasize infiltration and evapotranspiration to remove pollutants and attenuate flows from urban runoff. as the largest land developer in washington state, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is interested in better understanding the challenges of applying lid techniques to a highway setting and learning ways to address those challenges. this report identifies barriers to implementing lid approaches in a state roadway setting and provides recommendations on how wsdot can overcome those barriers. this research question stems from a national pollutant discharge elimination system municipal stormwater permit issued by the washington state department of ecology (ecology) to wsdot in february 2009. barriers were identified through a literature review, ecology lid advisory committee meeting discussions, and interviews with people who are involved in stormwater management in a variety of capacities throughout washington state. low impact development, lid, stormwater, stormwater management trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 754.1 | Organizational Network Analysis for Two Networks in the Washington State Department of Transportation | Brown | TRAC/WSU | 2010 | organizational network analysis for two networks in the washington state department of transportation brown, s. organizational network analysis (ona) consists of gathering data on information sharing and connectivity in a group, calculating network measures, creating network maps, and using this information to analyze and improve the functionality of the group. ona was conducted for two functional groups in the wsdot. the overall organizational health of these networks, as defined by network indicators, is positive, with a large percentage of individuals indicating others in their network were effective at providing information necessary to get their work done. some individuals were over or under-connected in their networks. both networks would benefit from identifying network functions and members more explicitly through a accessible and stable resource. development of communities of practice in core strategic functions of both groups would facilitate productive interactions. organizational network analysis, network efficiency trac/wsu 2010 |
| WA-RD 753.1 | Seismic Retrofit of Cruciform-Shaped Columns in the Aurora Avenue Bridge Using FRP Wrapping | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2010 | seismic retrofit of cruciform-shaped columns in the aurora avenue bridge using frp wrapping mclean, d.i., walkenhauer, b.j. experimental tests were conducted on seven 1/3-scale column specimens to evaluate the vulnerabilities of existing cruciform-shaped columns and to develop appropriate retrofit measures that address the identified vulnerabilities. the specimens represented both solid and split columns in the aurora avenue bridge in seattle, washington. the as-built specimens failed at low ductility levels due to shear distress. fiber reinforced polymer (frp) jackets with frp inserts to anchor the jackets in the column reentrant corners along with steel confinement collars to provide confinement in the hinging regions were used to retrofit the column specimens. the retrofitted specimens developed plastic hinging in the column, with enhanced strength, energy and ductility capacities. guidelines were presented for designing the various components of the retrofit measures. bridges, columns, retrofitting, seismic response, shear, frp jacketing, frp anchors trac/wsu 2010 |
| WA-RD 750.1 | A Comparison of Operational Performance: Washington State Ferries to Ferry Operators Worldwide | Bennion | UW | 2010 | a comparison of operational performance: washington state ferries to ferry operators worldwide bennion, m.d. this project compares eight measures of performance related to transit service quality (e.g. trip reliability, on-time departures) and cost-efficiency (e.g. farebox recovery, subsidy per passenger) between washington state ferries (wsf) and 23 ferry operators worldwide. the project will discuss how setting targets and/or benchmarks for performance can progress government accountability for public services provided. the purpose was to use operational characteristics such as asset and traffic data to demonstrate where wsf ranks amongst peers in the ferry industry and to provide a reproducible basis for future comparisons. contact information and data was inputted into spreadsheets using e-mail questionnaires, phone interviews and extensive data mining. a profile will detail wsf and include a background of ferry transportation on the puget sound and the policy environment surrounding its current operations. several peers in the industry, including british columbia ferries and the alaska marine highway system, will be identified further with their respective policy and operational strategies discussed and 2009 performance analyzed. the project will find top ten annual rankings that include vessels and terminals operated and passengers and vehicles transported, and will analyze the results of the performance measures chosen. washington state ferries, wsf, ferry operations, marine transportation performance measures uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 747.1 | Mitigation Strategies for Early Age Shrinkage Cracking in Bridge Decks | Qiao | TRAC/WSU | 2010 | mitigation strategies for early age shrinkage cracking in bridge decks qiao, p., mclean, d.i., zhuang, j. early-age shrinkage cracking has been observed in many concrete bridge decks in washington state and elsewhere around the u.s. the cracking increases the effects of freeze-thaw damage, spalling, and corrosion of steel reinforcement, thus resulting in premature deterioration and structural deficiency of the bridges. in this study, the main causes of the early-age cracking in the decks are identified, and concrete mix designs as a strategy to prevent or minimize the shrinkage cracking are evaluated. different sources (eastern and western washington) and sizes of aggregates are considered, and the effects of paste content, cementitious materials (cement, fly ash, silica fume, slag), and shrinkage reducing admixture (sra) are evaluated. a series of fresh, mechanical and shrinkage property tests were performed for each concrete mix. the outcomes of this study identify optimum concrete mix designs as appropriate mitigation strategies to reduce or eliminate early-age shrinkage cracking and thus help minimize shrinkage cracking in the concrete bridge decks, potentially leading to longer service life. bridges, decks, shrinkage cracking, concrete mixes, aggregates, cementitious materials, shrinkage reducing admixture, free shrinkage, restrained shrinkage trac/wsu 2010 |
| WA-RD 731.1 | Identification Needs in Developing, Documenting, and Indexing WSDOT Photographs | Endicott-Popovsky | TRAC/UW | 2010 | identification needs in developing, documenting, and indexing wsdot photographs endicott-popovsky, b., simon, m. over time, the washington state department of transportation has accumulated image collections, which document important aspects of the transportation infrastructure in the pacific northwest, project status, and construction details. these images range from paper photographs to extremely high resolution digital (or digitized) aerial photography, collected by many departments using film cameras, cell phone cameras, digital snapshot cameras, digital slrs and special purpose geo-encoding stereographic cameras. due to the diverse collection methods and technologies, as well as the growth of the use of imaging at the department of transportation – there are many separate archives of images with multiple incompatible access methods. this assessment identifies the current state of archiving and indexing images at the department, summarizes a survey of key stakeholders in the current system, and recommends next steps toward developing an agency-wide image documentation and access system. image, photograph, collection, archive, index trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 757.1 | Triage Evaluation of Gusset Plates in Steel Truss Bridges | Berman | TRAC/UW | 2010 | triage evaluation of gusset plates in steel truss bridges berman, j.w., wang, b.s., roeder, c.w., olson, a.w., lehman, d.e. following research into the collapse of the i-35w steel truss bridge in minneapolis, minnesota, fhwa released recommendations for load rating the gusset plates of steel truss bridges. the recommendations include evaluation of several limit states, one of which requires the consideration of multiple load cases and possible lines failure, making the procedures somewhat difficult and time consuming to employ. given the large inventory of steel truss bridges in washington state and around the country, and the large number of unique joints and gusset plates on each bridge, a more expedient method for evaluating gusset plate resistance is highly desirable. the objective of this study is to develop a procedure to rapidly evaluate gusset plates in steel truss bridges. the procedure should be appropriately conservative and easy to apply and should be able to be implemented instead of the current fhwa recommendations. this study used analytical methods, originally developed for analysis of gusset plates in braced frames, to develop a rapid gusset plate assessment tool that meets that objective. to develop a rapid gusset plate assessment procedure, denoted the triage evaluation procedure (tep), specific gusset plate joints from washington state bridges were analyzed in detail. the tep contains three primary checks, namely, gusset plate yielding, gusset plate buckling, and fastener strength. analysis showed that the tep is conservative in relation to the fhwa recommendations for evaluating gusset plate strength and, when applied at service loads, identifies the same joint with a rating factor of less than 1.0 as the fhwa recommendations applied at strength loads. the researchers concluded that gusset plates on steel truss bridge may be safely and conservatively load rated by using the tep. when applied at service loads, the tep will result in a minimum number of joints falsely identified as yielding. furthermore, the tep was found to be considerably more efficient than the fhwa recommendations. gusset plates, steel truss bridges, load rating trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 744.5 | Effects of Loop Detector Installation on the Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Lifespan: Case Study on I-5 | Bodvarsson | TRAC/UW | 2010 | effects of loop detector installation on the portland cement concrete pavement lifespan: case study on i-5 bodvarsson, g.a., muench, s.t. the installation of loop detectors in portland cement concrete pavement (pccp) may shorten affected panel life, thus prematurely worsening the condition of the overall pavement. this study focuses on the performance of those loop embedded panels (lep) by analyzing pavement data collected by wsdot, and comparing it to the overall pavement performance on i-5 in king county. the results were divided by non-rehabilitated, diamond ground and dowel bar retrofit and diamond ground pccp, as was done in the reference paper, to facilitate comparison. overall, lep perform worse – regarding panel cracking – in comparison to loop free panels (lfp), except on the small section of i-5 that has been dowel bar retrofitted and diamond grinded. for the non-rehabilitated pccp, the difference between lep and lfp with 1 crack is less than 1% but more than twice as many lep have what is considered “failed” panels (2 or more cracks) than lfp. this might indicate that the loop installation affects more the severity of panel cracking than being the cause for it. using these results and assuming panel replacement of the cost of $20,000 each, the cost of loop installation to the pavement was found to be $560 each. traffic simulation was done for a section of i-5 to calculate delay due to lane closures, which loop detector installation constitutes. the user cost associated with the delay is a substantial part of the overall cost of loop installation, 40 – 60 percent depending on the number of affected lanes on the freeway. if user costs are accounted for, the overall cost of video and loop detection systems can be comparable. portland cement concrete, loop detectors, pavement life, pavement performance, life cycle cost analysis trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 737.1 | An Analysis of the Puget Sound In-Vehicle Traffic Map Demonstration | Briglia | TRAC/UW | 2010 | an analysis of the puget sound in-vehicle traffic map demonstration briglia, p. m., hallenbeck, m. e., fishkin, e., wu, y-j the purposes of this project were to gain a better understanding of the benefits of providing in-vehicle congestion information and to determine whether any detectable congestion level changes resulted from providing this information. the project tested an in-vehicle traffic map device (trafficgauge) using 2,215 participants from the puget sound region. three rounds of surveys (entry, daily and exit) took place between november 2007 and may 2008 in which participants used the trafficgauge for six months. the project also analyzed a roadway corridor to determine, in instances of unusual freeway congestion, how traveler’s behavior affects congestion on alternative roadways. the analysis looked for correlations between the performance of the study corridor’s three freeways and four arterials using conditional probability tables. most of the survey participants were young to middle-age males, well educated with middle or high incomes. the entry survey demographic data indicated that the participants were not representative of the general population but they were probably representative of those most likely to seek and pay for traveler information, particularly information delivered by an in-vehicle congestion map device. on half the occasions when participants reported changing routines in the daily surveys, they reported not receiving any benefits. for the entire study, 25 percent of participants reported not benefiting at all from the device. participants who changed routines saved time a mean number of 1.6 times. the mean amount of time saved on those instances was a little over 30 minutes. thirty-two percent of participants indicated that they did not save any time by using the device. over 59 percent of the participants indicated that the information provided by the device reduced their level of stress. the study participants could be divided into three groups. one (about 20 percent) thought highly of the device, were confident that it had saved them considerable time and stress, and would purchase the device. another (between 21 percent and 26 percent) saw little value in either the device or the information that it conveyed and would not purchase the device. the third, and largest, group saw value in the device and occasionally benefited from the information it provided. they did not, however, think that these benefits warranted purchasing the device. the corridor analysis indicated that even without arterial performance information, some travelers seek alternative routes when the freeway becomes congested. the corridor analysis confirmed that many travelers diverted either on the basis of what they see on the roadway or what they get from en-route traffic information sources. even the modest levels of diversion observed in this study increased arterial congestion, especially near freeway ramps. this visible arterial congestion near the freeway discouraged diversion. consequently, providing arterial performance information on the entire arterial via in-vehicle devices is likely to increase initial diversion, thereby degrading arterial performance. roadway agencies will, therefore, need to make traffic management of the ramps and arterial segments that connect the alternate routes a priority. traffic information, congestion information, in-vehicle trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 751.1 | Impacts of VMT Reduction Strategies on Selected Areas and Groups | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2010 | impacts of vmt reduction strategies on selected areas and groups carlson, d., howard, z. the state of washington has established benchmarks for reducing vehicle miles travelled (vmt). the ambitious targets call for vmt reductions of 18 percent by the year 2020, 30 percent by the 2035, and 50 percent by mid century. this report discusses estimates and examines impacts of vmt reduction strategies on selected groups and geographic areas mandated by state legislation. the five groups and areas were small businesses whose employees cross county lines to get to work, low-income residents, farmworkers - especially migrant workers, distressed counties with more than half the land in federal or tribal ownership. the study defined these groups and areas, established a typology of vmt reduction strategies, and made assumptions about behavior and trip lengths based on available literature. it then estimated impacts on the selected groups and areas and suggested several implementation steps and areas for further research. vehicle miles travelled, vmt, reduction strategies, economic impacts trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 744.3 | Studded Tire Wear on Portland Cement Concrete Pavement in the Washington State Department of Transportation Route Network | Cotter | TRAC/UW | 2010 | studded tire wear on portland cement concrete pavement in the washington state department of transportation route network cotter, a., muench, s.t. studded tires are legal in washington state and are typically allowed to be used each winter between the months of november and april. they are known to cause accelerated wheelpath wear resulting in additional pavement preservation costs. while studded tire use rates are hard to quantify, the volume of studded tire equipped vehicles is rather consistent across washington state. this report uses washington state pavement management system (wspms) data to explore studded tire wear on washington state department of transportation (wsdot) roads. the average portland cement concrete (pcc) pavement wears at about 0.01 inches per 1 million studded tire vehicle passes. the highest wear rates are near 0.5 mm/yr on i-90 in the spokane area, while the lowest wear rates are in the range of 0.04-0.09 mm/yr in many locations. stud wear rates are generally higher in the first 5 years of pcc pavement life and much less thereafter.while excessive stud wear problems are limited and not a widespread issue, specific locations with high stud wear rates are alarming. while several strategies have been attempted to limit stud wear, none outside of diamond grinding has proven effective. there are a few new materials (resin modified pavements, pcc surface texture techniques) that may yet prove effective. tests to determine the susceptibility of aggregate sources to stud wear are generally not reliable, however the micro-deval seems to be the most favorably rated. the wsdot current practice of designing in an extra inch of pavement to account for future thickness loss associated with diamond grinding is sound policy and should be continued. as more pcc pavement in washington state is due for replacement, wsdot should consider a hardness specification program like alaska’s in order to prevent the use of susceptible aggregate sources. concrete, pavement, portland cement, studded tires, wear, rutting, surface characteristics trac/uw 2010 |
| Evaluating Seattle Parking Tax Options | Litman | TRAC/UW | 2010 | evaluating seattle parking tax options litman, t., carlson, d., blumenthal, a., lee, j. this report describes and evaluates parking tax options for possible implementation by the city of seattle. a commercial parking tax is a special tax on priced parking. a nonresidential parking tax (nrpt) is a special tax that applies to both unpriced and priced parking. commercial parking taxes discourage the pricing of parking and concentrate impacts in a few areas. non-residential parking taxes distribute cost burdens more broadly, encourage property owners to manage parking supply more efficiently, which tends to reduce total parking costs, reduce automobile traffic, and reduce sprawl. although non-residential parking taxes are more challenging to implement, they tend to support more of seattle’s strategic planning objectives. parking, tax, nonresidential, commercial trac/uw 2010 | |
| WA-RD 748.1 | Developing a GPS-Based Truck Freight Performance Measures Platform | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 2010 | developing a gps-based truck freight performance measures platform mccormack, e.d., ma, x., klocow, c., currarei, a., wright, d. although trucks move the largest volume and value of goods in urban areas, relatively little is known about their travel patterns and how the roadway network performs for trucks. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), transportation northwest (transnow) at the university of washington, and the washington trucking associations have partnered on a research effort to collect and analyze global positioning system (gps) truck data from commercial, in-vehicle, truck fleet management systems used in the central puget sound region. the research project is collecting commercially available gps data and evaluating their feasibility to support a state truck freight network performance monitoring program. wsdot is interested in using this program to monitor truck travel times and system reliability, and to guide freight investment decisions. the researchers reviewed truck freight performance measures that could be extracted from the data and that focused on travel times and speeds, which, analyzed over time, determine a roadway system's reliability. the utility of spot speeds and the gps data in general was evaluated in a case study of a three-week construction project on the interstate-90 bridge. the researchers also explored methods for capturing regional truck travel performance. truck data, gps data, freight performance measures, travel reliability trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 743.1 | Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Statewide Mobility Asseesment Study Phase I Report | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2010 | safe routes to school (srts) statewide mobility asseesment study phase i report moudon, a.v. this report presents the results of phase one of a two phase study designed to support state-level management of the federal highway administration safe routes to school (srts) program. the study aims to achieve three objectives: (1) identify and use existing tools to establish benchmarks for children walking and biking to school, (2) provide recommendations for future allocation of srts funds, and (3) identify methods and tools to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of srts investments. phase one focused on the first objective. rates of walking and biking to school were found to vary considerably. therefore, benchmarks of children walking and biking to school should come from individual schools. the best tool for establishing these benchmarks was the national center for safe routes to school (ncsrts) student travel tally. the second two objectives were only explored in phase one. a literature review identified four major barriers to walking and biking to school that could be used to help filter program applications. data collected by this study, the ncsrts, and other agencies can contribute to srts project evaluations but because srts programs vary from state to state and the program is relatively new, many data are incomplete. consistent, standardized srts data collection is necessary to support robust project evaluations. these preliminary findings will be explored further during phase two. safe routes to school, active commuting, non-motorized, transportation, children’s travel behavior, school commute trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 744.1 | Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Best Practices Summary Report | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2010 | portland cement concrete pavement best practices summary report muench, s.t. this report summarizes the work and findings from wa-rd 744. this work consisted of four separate efforts related to best practices for portland cement concrete (pcc) pavement design and construction: (1) a review of past and current pcc pavement, (2) an analysis of pcc pavement studded tire wear on the wsdot network, (3) a life cycle assessment (lca) of pcc pavement rehabilitation options and (4) an analysis of the effects of loop detector installation on pcc pavement life. key findings are: (1) outstanding issues to resolve with pcc pavement include the impact of smaller maximum aggregate size, new dowel bar materials, and shorter joint spacing, (2) there is no effective means to mitigate studded tire wear, (3) stud wear is typically in the range of 0.04-0.09 mm/yr but tends to occur more quickly early on in pavement life, (4) excessive stud wear problems are limited and not a widespread issue, (5) an aggregate hardness program like alaska’s can help ensure stud wear does not become a major issue on newly constructed pavements, (6) life cycle assessment (lca) can be a useful information tool and tends to show that crack, seat and overlay rehabilitation of aged pcc pavement provides many environmental advantages; and (7) current loop embedment practices do not seem to affect pavement life however previous practices may have. 17. concrete, pavement, best practices, studded tires, wear, rutting, life cycle assessment, loop detectors, life cycle cost trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 744.2 | A Brief History of Long-Life WSDOT Concrete Pavements | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2010 | a brief history of long-life wsdot concrete pavements muench, s.t., pierce, l., uhlmeyer, j., anderson, k. the concrete pavements that were originally constructed in washington state as part of the interstate construction program have performed remarkably well considering the dramatic increase in the anticipated traffic loads. to date, the primary distress on the concrete pavements in washington state has been in the form of joint faulting (due to lack of dowel bars and underlying base/subgrade conditions), longitudinal cracking (which is believed to have occurred 3 to 5 years after construction) and wear due to studded tires. a number of factors have contributed to the long-life of these concrete pavements, such as, short joint spacing (usually 15 ft – 4.6 m), thickness (8-9 inches, 200-225 mm) and aggregate quality. however, a number of design modifications have evolved over time to improve pavement performance. these include the use of dowel bars, dowel bar type, mix design, hot mix asphalt base, joint design and joint spacing. this research documents the design and performance of the concrete pavements built in the 1960s, summarizes the design modifications and resulting pavement performance that has taken place over the last 40 years, summarizes the current construction practices and discusses concrete, pavement, performance, history, wear, trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 744.4 | Life Cycle Assessment of Portland Cement Concrete Interstate Highway Rehabilitation and Replacement | Weiland | TRAC/UW | 2010 | life cycle assessment of portland cement concrete interstate highway rehabilitation and replacement weiland, c.d., muench, s.t. life cycle assessment (lca) is a tool that can be used to identify ways to decrease the environmental impact of a product or process and to inform decision makers of the consequences of changes to the product or process. lca encompasses all aspects of a process or product from “cradle to grave”, including material extraction, transport, production, maintenance, and removal or recycling. this study is a comparative lca of three different replacement options for an aging portland cement concrete (pcc) highway: replacement with a new pcc pavement, replacement with hot mix asphalt (hma) pavement, and cracking, seating and overlaying (csol) the existing pavement with hma. each lca includes an appropriate maintenance schedule so that the pavements will have a 50 year life span and can be reasonably compared. the environmental impacts have been assessed according to common environmental concerns, such as global warming potential and acidification. this paper summarizes those impacts and provides information and recommendations to build “greener” highways in washington state. life cycle assessment, environment, concrete, pavement, portland cement, hot mix asphalt, crack seat and overlay, life cycle inventory, trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 758.1 / TNW2010-07 | Quantifying Incident-Induced Travel Delays on Freeways Using Traffic Sensor Data: Phase II | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2010 | quantifying incident-induced travel delays on freeways using traffic sensor data: phase ii wang, y., yu, r., lao, y., thomson, t. traffic incidents cause approximately 50 percent of freeway congestion in metropolitan areas, resulting in extra travel time and fuel cost. quantifying incident-induced delay (iid) will help people better understand the real costs of incidents, maximize the benefit-to-cost-ratio of investments in incident remedy actions, and facilitate the development of active traffic management and integrated corridor management strategies. currently, a number of algorithms are available for iid quantification. however, these algorithms were developed with certain theoretical assumptions that are difficult to meet in real-world applications. furthermore, they have only been applied to simulated cases and have not been sufficiently verified with ground-truth data. to quantify iid over a regional freeway network using existing traffic sensor measurements, a new approach for iid estimation was developed in this study. this new approach combines a modified deterministic queuing diagram with short-term traffic flow forecasting techniques to overcome the limitation of the zero vehicle-length assumption in the traditional deterministic queuing theory. a remarkable advantage with this new approach over most other methods is that it uses only volume data from traffic detectors to compute iid and hence is easy to apply. verification with the video-extracted ground truth iid data found that the iid estimation errors with the new approach were within 6 percent for the two incident cases studied. this implies that the new approach is capable of producing fairly accurate freeway iid estimates using volumes measured by existing traffic sensors. this approach has been implemented on a regional map-based platform to enable quick, convenient, and reliable freeway iid estimates in the puget sound region. congestion, incident-induced delay, short-term traffic flow forecast trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 752.1; TNW 2010-04 | Identifying High Risk Locations of Animal-Vehicle Collisions on Washington State Highways | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2010 | identifying high risk locations of animal-vehicle collisions on washington state highways wang, y., lao, y., wu, y-j, corey, j. animal-vehicle collisions (avcs) have been increasing with increases in both animal populations and motor vehicle miles of travel and have become a major safety concern nationwide. most previous avc risk studies have not considered factors related to human behavior or the spatial distribution of animal populations in depth because of missing datasets or the poor quality of data. the two common sources of data—the collision report (crpt) and carcass removal (cr) datasets—are often found significantly different. to address these data issues, two approaches were followed in this research. in the first approach, a fuzzy logic-based data mapping algorithm was developed to obtain a more complete avc dataset from the crpt and cr data. in comparison to the original cr dataset, the combined dataset increased the number of avc records by 13~22 percent. this combined dataset was used to develop and calibrate a microscopic probability (mp) model that can explicitly consider drivers’ behaviors and the spatial distributions of animal populations. in the second approach, a diagonal inflated bivariate poisson (dibp) regression model was developed to fit the two datasets simultaneously. the dibp model can effectively identify the overlapping parts of the two datasets and quantify the impacts of road and environmental factors on avcs. both proposed models used the crpt and cr data collected from ten selected study routes in washington state. the mp model results showed that variables including number of lanes and animal habitat areas are significantly associated with the probability of animals crossing the highway. two factors, speed limit and truck percentage, have impacts on the probability of a driver’s ineffective response. a wider median may decrease the probability of an animal failing to avoid a collision. the dibp results showed that speed limit, restrictive access control, and roadway segment length have an increasing relationship with avcs. furthermore, hotspots (high risk roadway segments) were identified for all the study routes on the basis of the modeling and data analysis results. these quantitative results will help wsdot develop countermeasures to avcs. animal vehicle collision, accident data, fuzzy logic, accident risk modeling, human factors trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 755.1 | Assessing and Mitigating Dock Shading Impacts on the Behavior of Juvenile Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.): Can artificial light mitigate the effects? | Simenstad | TRAC/UW | 2010 | assessing and mitigating dock shading impacts on the behavior of juvenile pacific salmon (oncorhynchus spp.): can artificial light mitigate the effects? simenstad, c., ono, k., toft, j. d., southard, s. l., soboeinski, k. l., borde, a. the shadows from large over-water structures built on nearshore habitats in the puget sound can reduce prey abundance and disrupt juvenile pacific salmon (oncorhynchus spp.) migratory behavior with potential consequences on survival rates. as part of an ongoing project to reduce the effects of ferry terminals on juvenile salmon, this study looked at the effectiveness of a fiber optic lighting system at mitigating dock shading impacts on juvenile salmon behavior. we conducted intensive visual observations, snorkel surveys, and video filming surveys at the port townsend ferry terminal (dock) from march through august 2008 and 2009 to test whether migrating salmon reacted to changes in light beneath the terminal and whether evident reactions by the salmon were moderated by the fiber optic lighting system. we found that during high tides shoals of juvenile salmon (primarily pink salmon o. gorbuscha) were reluctant to swim under the dock and also under the shaded areas. overall, less than 15 percent of juvenile salmon shoals penetrated under the terminal, and they typically remained within a few meters from the dock. no salmon swam completely under the dock during our observations in the study period. as a consequence of this dock avoidance behavior, ferry terminals likely delay migration for some juvenile salmon (pink salmon) by several hours per dock encounter, during high tide periods, daylight hours and on sunny days. our results also indicated that light transmitted or installed under some old and new terminals could mitigate dock shading impacts on juvenile salmon. however, our experience testing both fiber optic-transmitted natural and in situ artificial (halogen) light suggests that such light mitigation systems will need to (1) be more powerful, (2) be regulated to light only shaded areas, (3) operate on a natural light spectrum, and (4) distribute light over a wide area. the impacts of large over-water structures on juvenile salmon behavior likely alter juvenile salmon migration behavior in shallow nearshore waters, but with an unknown impact to growth and survival. the use of artificial light is a promising mitigation method because fish appeared to respond at a low light level. however, our results were not sufficient to determine whether artificial light could completely mitigate the effects of the dock and eliminate juvenile salmon avoidance behaviors. overwater structures, ferry terminals, shading, juvenile salmon, behavior, fiber optic lighting, system trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 740.1 | Development of a Resource Planning Index for Washington's Scenic and Recreational Highways | Ramsey | TRAC/UW | 2010 | development of a resource planning index for washington's scenic and recreational highways ramsey,k. washington state department of transportation local programs division requested the creation of a resource planning index (or “index”) for use in benchmarking and tracking the stewardship performance of investments associated with washington’s scenic and recreational highways. a gis analysis was performed to develop a unique index value for each 1000 feet of roadway. the index value was calculated based on the proximity of features of interest associated with specific opportunities for protecting, preserving, or enhancing resources associated with the state scenic and recreational highways. this index may be used in preliminary assessments of locations where there may be a confluence of such opportunities. as always, a local scale analysis of the location should assess exactly what opportunities exist there and whether a proposed project would actually provide the desired benefit or impact. scenic highways, recreational highways trac/uw 2010 |
| WA-RD 733.1 | State Highway as Main Streets: a Study of Community Design and Visioning | Nicholls | TRAC/UW | 2009 | state highway as main streets: a study of community design and visioning nicholls, j., reeves, p., the objectives for this project were to explore community transportation design policy to improve collaboration when state highways serve as local main streets, determine successful approaches to meet the federal requirements for visioning set forth in safetea-lu [23usc135(f)(3)(b)(ii)], find ways to assist local agencies in improving their grant applications to wsdot, identify new ways to translate context sensitive design guidance into practice, and support staff and organizational development by connecting the architecture profession and transportation engineering. for this study, student researchers participating in university of washington’s storefront studio program explored a number of community design and visioning methods and techniques, reviewed recent case studies from washington and other states, and based on findings, developed and field tested a recommended framework for community transportation design when state highways serve as main streets. this study finds that for wsdot projects on state highways that were identified as main streets (inside cities), some scope and schedule adjustments may be avoided by applying a greater degree of community design consideration in systems analysis and project development, resulting in a potential overall savings for the agency. main streets, community design, project delivery trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 732.1 | Seismic Assessment of WSDOT Bridges with Prestressed Hollow Core Piles, Part I | Cofer | TRAC/WSU | 2009 | seismic assessment of wsdot bridges with prestressed hollow core piles, part i cofer, w.f., edgawady, m., greenwood, s.m. there are 22 bridges with hollow-core pile foundations in washington state. sudden, catastrophic failure has been observed in tested piles of this configuration at displacement ductilities of our of less. to investigate the behavior of these piles and predict their in-service strength, a series of detailed nonlinear 3-d finite element (fe) analyses were performed. in addition, simplified 2-d nonlinear winkler beam models were developed to evaluate their ability to predict failure. the modeling techniques were calibrated through simulation of experimental test specimens and shown to be capable of capturing the behavior of prestressed hollow core concrete piles. in comparison with experiments, load capacity and displacement ductilities at yield and failure were reasonably well-predicted. results from the fe analysis of an in situ hollow pile illustrated that confining pressure supplied by the soil does not provide significant additional strength to the cover concrete. also, the subgrade place hinge was found to vary from 2.88 to 3.0 pile diameters, and it was located, on average, 610 mm (24 in.) below the ground level, depending on the soil type. the winkler beam models were found to provide conservative approximations to the load-displacement response of the 3-d fe models. the simplified analyses under-predicted load capacity and displacement ductility capacity by roughly 30 percent. earthquakes, piles, bridges, finite element, strength, failure, plastic hinge trac/wsu 2009 |
| WA-RD 724.1 | Design and Construction of a Field Test Site to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Compost Amended Bioswale for Removing Metals from Highway Stormwater Runoff | Maurer | UW | 2009 | design and construction of a field test site to evaluate the effectiveness of a compost amended bioswale for removing metals from highway stormwater runoff maurer, m. stormwater from impervious surfaces generally has to be treated by on or more best management practices (bmp) before being discharged into streams or rivers. compost use for treating stormwater has increased in recent years as trials show that compost amended soils and compost blankets prevent erosion and improve water quality. most of the trials to date have focused on applications where the stormwater sheet flows across a compost amended area or into a retention basin amended with compost. these types of installations are applicable to many locations, but there is a need for an end-of-pipe treatment that can handle concentrated flows. this is particularly true in roadway projects that are linear in nature and cut across land features and go from cut to fill sections frequently. bioswales are an approved bmp to remove nutrients from stormwater and are widely used in highway construction to move and treat stormwater. however, bioswales are not currently approved for dissolved metal removal from stormwater. compost amended soils have shown an increased capacity to remove dissolved metals from stormwater. this research will evaluate the effectiveness of a compost amended bioswale to remove dissolved metals from highway runoff. this thesis details the steps necessary for the site selection, design, and implementation of a stormwater bmp field test. stormwater, bioswale, compost, water quality, monitoring uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 719.1 | Reducing Auto Congestion Around Schools: Transportation Demand Strategies for Schools, Phase II Report | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2009 | reducing auto congestion around schools: transportation demand strategies for schools, phase ii report carlson, d., gruen, d., thacker, j. this study examined efforts at ten locations in urban, suburban, and rural areas of washington state to reduce auto use around schools. elementary and middle school efforts emphasized and facilitated alternatives to car trips through walking school buses, website networking, school-based campaigns, and infrastructure improvements. high school and higher education programs provided pre-paid transit service and transportation education. key strengths of these efforts were integration into a larger policy framework, and listening and learning from customers. commute trip reduction, ctr, safe routes to schools, transportation demand management, tdm, schools trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 672.2 | ITS Evaluation Framework - Phase 2 Update (2009): Seventeen Projects | Briglia | TRAC/UW | 2009 | its evaluation framework - phase 2 update (2009): seventeen projects briglia, p.m. this report documents the results of applying a previously developed, standardized approach for evaluating intelligent transportation systems (its) projects to 17 its earmark projects. the evaluation approach was based on a questionnaire to investigate technical, management, and organizational lessons learned. the report includes 15 evaluation reports for the 17 its projects. each report includes a discussion of the following: • background • project description • system usage and benefits • cost, operations and maintenance • architecture and standards • lessons learned. most of the lessons learned in this evaluation phase were similar to those documented in previous evaluations. intelligent transportation systems, its, advanced real-time traveler information, traffic maps, congestion maps, traffic graphics trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 636.2 | In-Service Evaluation of Major Urban Arterials With Landscaped Medians - Phase II | Briglia | TRAC/UW | 2009 | in-service evaluation of major urban arterials with landscaped medians - phase ii briglia, p.m., howard, z.n., fishkin, e., hallenbeck, m.e., st. martin, a. because of undesirable characteristics of some major arterials such as state route (sr) 99 north and south of seattle several cities are implementing redevelopment plans. these redevelopment proposals for sr 99 and other state routes include landscaped medians, many with trees placed close to the roadway in either the median or shoulder areas. however, wsdot’s clear zone width criterion may not always be met when trees are placed within curbed medians. to address this potential conflict, wsdot chose to adopt an in-service evaluation process that would study collision, environmental, operational, and maintenance experiences in the field. a report was prepared in 2007 that summarized an analysis of two of the 13 median treatment projects. that report also provided before data and condition information on all median sections. this report summarizes the analysis of five additional sections. because of changes in the methodology, previously reported accident rates were recalculated to be consistent with the after data from this analysis. data from the before and after periods were also analyzed at two control locations where no median treatments were installed. total, fatal, fixed object, pedestrian/bicycle, tree, curb/median and u-turn accident rates were analyzed. the percentages of intersection-related, driveway-related, and other accidents were analyzed. overall, accidents decreased significantly for the treatment locations, but no other types of accidents showed significant changes at either the treatment or the control locations, except for the percentage of other types of accidents at the control locations, which increased significantly. it appears that the installation of landscaped medians does not have a detrimental effect on safety and may result in an overall decrease in accidents, conclusions consistent with those of the first phase. trees, highway safety, aesthetic design, context, sensitive design, urban design, accident rates, injury, severity trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 735.1 | Remaining Life Assessment of In-Service Luminaire Support Structures | Frymoyer | TRAC/UW | 2009 | remaining life assessment of in-service luminaire support structures frymoyer, m.c., berman, j.w. recent fatigue failures of in-service luminaire support structures in washington and around the country have prompted concern about their fatigue resistance. most luminaire support structures in washington were designed without attention to fatigue or with vague and incomplete fatigue design provisions. furthermore, most luminaire support structures were installed during the construction of the interstate system in the 1960s, and as many as half are estimated to have exceeded their 25-year design life. this research was initiated to help the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) prioritize the inspection and replacement of luminaire support structures throughout the state and to develop rational inspection procedures. the research had four primary components: a literature review, experimental fatigue testing of two in-service luminaire poles, a finite element analysis of the pole base, and development of a framework for estimating remaining life. the extensive literature review found previous experimental studies, which were used to identify details in older wsdot luminaire support structures that may be critical and to help inform the selection of test specimens. quasi-static and high cycle fatigue testing were performed on two previously in-service luminaire poles to determine the stress concentration factors (scf) in critical details and determine fatigue resistance. the results were then compared to the finite element analysis and the fatigue classifications used in design. the finite element model was also used to determine the impact of parameters including base plate thickness, hand hole stiffener thickness, and location of anchor bolts. the individual components of a framework for estimating the remaining life of luminaire support structures in washington were developed on the basis of a procedure established by foley et al. (2004) in their study of the remaining life of sign bridge structures. the remaining fatigue life of the critical details in the previously in-service luminaire support structures were found to exceed their design life. cracking at the stiffened hand hole detail was found to be the ultimate limit state for both specimens but was observed at cycle counts that were well beyond the design life. high scfs were measured in both compression and tension at the cjp weld toe, indicating the importance of base plate flexibility, anchor bolt layout, and a uniform bearing surface. while it was not possible to know the load history for the selected specimens, it is clear that the number of damaging cycles was low and that the fatigue design life for these details is conservative. recommendations for luminaire inspection are provided. luminaire, fatigue, wind loading trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 730.1 | Development and Analysis of a GIS-Based Statewide Freight Data Flow Network | Goodchild | TRAC/UW | 2009 | development and analysis of a gis-based statewide freight data flow network goodchild, a., jessup, e., mccormack, e.d., andreoli, d., rose, s., ta,s. r., pitera, k. in the face of many risks of disruptions to our transportation system, this research improves wsdot’s ability to manage the freight transportation system so that it minimizes the economic consequences of transportation disruptions. this report summarizes 1) the results from a thorough review of resilience literature and resilience practices within enterprises and organizations, 2) the development of a gis-based statewide freight transportation network model, 3) the collection of detailed data regarding two important industries in washington state, the distribution of potatoes and diesel fuel, and 4) analysis of the response of these industries to specific disruptions to the state transportation network. the report also includes recommendations for improvements and additions to the gis model that will further the state’s goals of understanding the relationship between infrastructure availability and economic activity, as well as recommendations for improvements to the statewide freight transportation model so that it can capture additional system complexity. resilience, transportation, statewide model, disruption trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 686.1 | Statistical Assessment of Quality Assurance-Quality Control Data for Hot Mix Asphalt | LaVassar | TRAC/UW | 2009 | statistical assessment of quality assurance-quality control data for hot mix asphalt lavassar, c.j., mahoney, j.p., willoughby, k.a. recent trends in the paving industry have resulted in increased contractor involvement in the design, acceptance, and performance of hot mix asphalt (hma) pavements. as a result, questions have arisen about whether contractor process control tests, alternatively known as quality control (qc), should be incorporated into the acceptance and pay factor processes that state highway agencies currently use. to examine this issue, various statistical tests were used including f and t-tests to compare qc data to agency-obtained quality assurance (qa) results. the percentage of projects that exhibited statisti cally significant differences in mean values and variances was calculated and assessed. for projects that had statistically similar qc and qa results, the average difference between the two testing programs was calculated. the results of the statistical analysis were analyzed from both a statistical and engineering perspective. this report contains data from four st ate dots—california, minnesota, texas, and washington. these states also provided the funding for the study. hot mix asphalt, quality control, quality assurance, statistical assessment, student t-test, precision and bias trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 725.1; TNW 2009-13 | Greenroads: A Sustainability Performance Metric for Roadway Design and Construction | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2009 | greenroads: a sustainability performance metric for roadway design and construction muench,s., anderson,j. l. greenroads is a performance metric for quantifying sustainable practices associated with roadway design and construction. sustainability is defined as having seven key components: ecology, equity, economy, extent, expectations, experience and exposure. by greenroads standards, a sustainable roadway project is one that carefully and overtly integrates these components into the design and construction process to a substantially higher standard than current common practice. greenroads version 1.0 consists of 11 project requirements, 37 voluntary credits (worth 108 points) and up to 10 points worth of custom credits. project-level sustainability performance can be assessed by meeting all project requirements and any number of voluntary credit points. greenroads also sets "achievement levels" at different point values in order to provide recommended scoring levels. greenroads is compatible with other existing systems that can and have been applied to roadways and can be adopted in a number of ways, however the most likely are: (1) as an external standard, (2) as a project accounting standard, and (3) as a tool for competitive advantage for both private industry and public agencies. sustainability, roads, pavements, recycle, environment, economic, ecology, equity trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 773.1 | State Highways as Main Streets: A Study of Community Design and Visioning | Nicholls | TRAC/UW | 2009 | state highways as main streets: a study of community design and visioning nicholls,j., reeves,p. the objectives for this project were to explore community transportation design policy to improve collaboration when state highways serve as local main streets, determine successful approaches to meet the federal requirements for visioning set forth in safetea-lu [23usc135(f)(3)(b)(ii)], find ways to assist local agencies in improving their grant applications to wsdot, identify new ways to translate context sensitive design guidance into practice, and support staff and organizational development by connecting the architecture profession and transportation engineering. for this study, student researchers participating in university of washington’s storefront studio program explored a number of community design and visioning methods and techniques, reviewed recent case studies from washington and other states, and based on findings, developed and field tested a recommended framework for community transportation design when state highways serve as main streets. this study finds that for wsdot projects on state highways that were identified as main streets (inside cities), some scope and schedule adjustments may be avoided by applying a greater degree of community design consideration in systems analysis and project development, resulting in a potential overall savings for the agency. main streets, community design, project delivery trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 727.1 | Evaluation of Dowel Bar Retrofit for Long-Term Pavement Life in Washington State | Pierce | TRAC/UW | 2009 | evaluation of dowel bar retrofit for long-term pavement life in washington state pierce, l., muench, s.t. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) maintains approximately 2,400 lane miles of concrete pavements, many of which are on the heavily traveled interstate highway network. many of these concrete pavements have more than doubled their intended performance life. due primarily to traffic disruption, wsdot has long recognized the potentially costly rehabilitation and reconstruction needs of the aging concrete pavement network. in 1993, wsdot began dowel bar retrofitting its faulted concrete pavements. dowel bar retrofit has had varied success in the united states, primarily due to construction techniques. in washington state overall, dowel bar retrofit has been successful and has been determined to be a cost effective rehabilitation treatment. what is still unknown are the most applicable time or condition level (i.e. faulting and cracking condition) for applying dowel bar retrofit, its long‐term performance, and its failure mechanism. the outcomes of this study include guidelines for dowel bar retrofit project selection and construction best practices, a summary of dowel bar retrofit performance in washington state, and estimated dowel bar retrofit project costs. construction and maintenance, concrete pavements, retrofitting, rehabilitation, repairing, pavement distress, pavement, performance trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 721.1 | The Impacts of Tolling on Low-Income Persons in the Puget Sound Region | Plotnick | TRAC/UW | 2009 | the impacts of tolling on low-income persons in the puget sound region plotnick, r., romich, j., thacker, j. to improve our understanding of how tolling is likely to affect low-income populations in the puget sound region, this report accomplishes four objectives. it 1. reviews existing research on the impacts of tolling on low-income households in the united states 2. assesses the usefulness of currently available washington and puget sound data for estimating the impacts of tolling on low-income populations 3. develops a preliminary estimate of the impacts of tolling on low-income populations living in the puget sound region 4. suggests data collection and methodological strategies for future research that would yield better estimates of the impacts of tolling on low-income populations in the puget sound region and other parts of washington state. tolls, income, poverty trac/uw 2009 |
| WA-RD 717.1 | Detection of Voids in Prestressed Concrete Bridges Using Thermal Imaging and Ground-Penetrating Radar | Pollock | TRAC/WSU | 2008 | detection of voids in prestressed concrete bridges using thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar pollock, d.g., dupuis, k.j., lacour, b., olsen, k.r. thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar inspections were conducted on concrete specimens with simulated air voids. for the thermal imaging inspections, six concrete specimens were constructed during the month of june 2007 to simulate the walls of post-tensioned box girder bridges. the objective was to detect simulated air voids within grouted post-tensioning ducts, thus locating areas where the post-tensioning steel strands are vulnerable to corrosion. the most important deduction taken from these inspections was that pt-ducts and simulated voids were more detectable in the 20-cm (8-in.) thick specimens than in the 30-cm (12-in.) thick specimens. while inspections of the 20-cm (8-in.) thick specimens revealed the majority of their simulated voids, only one thicker specimen inspection (12-c) indicated the presence of simulated voids (four voids in two ducts). also, pt-ducts were much clearer and visible in the thermal images of the thinner specimens. ground-penetrating radar (gpr) inspection was conducted on 14 concrete specimens between august and october 2007. based on the gpr surveys conducted in this study, it is apparent that the detection of post-tensioning strands and simulated voids within grouted ducts embedded in concrete is possible with a 1.5-ghz gpr system. the layout of the top layer of steel reinforcement in each concrete specimen was evident in the gpr images, but the bottom layer of reinforcement was not clearly detected since it was effectively “hidden” beneath the top layer of rebar. although none of the post-tensioning strands and simulated air voids within the grouted steel ducts was detectable, simulated voids within plastic ducts were generally detectable in gpr images. the high dielectric constant of the steel ducts did not allow the microwaves to transmit through the surface of the duct and reach the simulated voids. however, the general location of the duct, its orientation and its depth in the concrete were accurately determined using gpr. thus it can be inferred that the void orientation is critical for detection in gpr images. bridge inspection, thermal imaging, gpr, ground-penetrating radar trac/wsu 2008 |
| WA-RD 716.1 | Retrofit of Rectangular Bridge Columns using CFRP Wrapping | Endeshaw | TRAC/WSU | 2008 | retrofit of rectangular bridge columns using cfrp wrapping endeshaw, m.a., elgawady, m., sack, r.l., mclean, d.i. this study investigated retrofitting measures for improving the seismic performance of rectangular columns in existing bridges. experimental tests were conducted on 0.4-scale column specimens which incorporated details that were selected to represent deficiencies present in older bridges in washington state. two unretrofitted specimens were tested to examine the performance of the as-built columns incorporating lap splices at the base of the columns and deficient transverse reinforcement. five columns were retrofitted with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (cfrp) composite wrapping and one specimen was retrofitted with a steel jacket. the specimens were subjected to increasing levels of cycled lateral displacements under constant axial load. specimen performance was evaluated based on failure mode, displacement ductility capacity and hysteretic behavior. for retrofitting of rectangular columns, it is recommended that oval-shaped jackets be used whenever possible. column specimens with oval-shaped jackets of steel and cfrp composite material performed similarly, both producing ductile column performance. failure in these specimens was due to flexural hinging in the gap region between the footing and retrofit jacket, leading to eventual low-cycle fatigue fracture of the longitudinal reinforcement. details and procedures for the design of ovalshaped steel jackets are provided in fhwa seismic retrofitting manual for highway bridges (2006). design guidelines for oval-shaped cfrp jackets are given in actt-95/08 (seible et al., 1995). oval-shaped jackets designed according to these recommendations can be expected to prevent slippage of lapped bars within the retrofitted region. design guidelines for rectangular-shaped retrofitting using cfrp composite materials are proposed for application to columns with cross-section aspect ratios of 2 or less. while no slippage of the lap splice was observed, it is conservatively recommended that rectangular-shaped cfrp wrapping be used only for the situation where controlled debonding of the lap splice is acceptable. carbon fiber reinforced polymer, bridge column retrofit trac/wsu 2008 |
| WA-RD 715.1 | Interpretation of Geotechnical Properties of Cement Treated Soils | Muhunthan | TRAC/WSU | 2008 | interpretation of geotechnical properties of cement treated soils muhunthan, b., sariosseiri, f. one of the most pressing needs for research in the geotechnical area is on the issue of the use of marginal soils (e.g. silts, soft rock, etc.) for fills and as backfill material for walls and bridge abutments. the lack of availability of higher quality materials and the added costs for these materials will eventually force engineers to use marginal soils when in the past these marginal soils were replaced with materials of better quality. often however, high water content and low workability of these soils pose difficulties for construction projects. frequently, additives such as lime, cement, fly ash, lime-cement-fly ash admixture, cement kiln dust, emulsified asphalt, geofiber, and polymer stabilizers are used to improve their engineering properties. the choice and effectiveness of an additive depends on the type of soil and its field conditions. nevertheless knowledge of mechanistic behavior of treated soil is equally important as selecting the stabilizer. this study first presents a critical examination of the use of various additives on soil improvement projects. it then presents a comprehensive examination of the effectiveness of cement treatment on geotechnical properties of soils from aberdeen, everett, and palouse regions from the state of washington. the addition of cement was found to improve the drying rate, workability and compaction characteristics of the soils. significant improvement in unconfined compressive strength and modulus of elasticity are attained by cement treatment of these soils. results of undrained triaxial tests showed that while cement treatment improved shear strength significantly, the type of failure behavior varied greatly. non-treated, 5%, and 10% cement treated soils displayed ductile, planar, and splitting type of failure, respectively. for 10% cement treated soils pore pressures rose rapidly to confining pressures resulting in zero effective confining pressure at failure. consequently, specimens split vertically. therefore, while increase in strength can be achieved by cement treatment, high percentages of cement should be used with extreme caution in field applications. the results of triaxial tests on aberdeen soil were interpreted using the critical state framework. as a result of cement treatment interlocking increased, critical state friction remained constant and soils displayed anisotropic behavior. the anisotropic model presented by muhunthan and masad (1997) was used to predict the undrained stress path. a combination of this model with extended griffith theory can be used to predict the complete shear behavior of cement treated soil in q-p΄ space. the main contributions of this study to practice are on quantifying improvement in mechanical behavior due to cement treatment and highlighting the fact that higher percentages of cement could turn stabilization from beneficial to an extremely dangerous practice. fill material, marginal soils, cement treated soil trac/wsu 2008 |
| WA-RD 712.1; TNW 2008-10 | Debonding of Hot Mix Asphalt Pavements in Washington State: an Initial Investigation | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2008 | debonding of hot mix asphalt pavements in washington state: an initial investigation muench, s.t., moomaw, t. recent evidence in washington state indicates that de-bonding of hma surface layers may become a significant problem. “de-bonding” describes a condition where adjacent layers of hma lose adhesion to one another and can become separated. typically, design and construction practice is to build in a certain amount of bonding, however the appropriate amount, testing and techniques are still under debate. for wsdot pavements, which are generally thick and long-lasting, this de-bonding is thought to be more prevalent between the surface layer (usually applied as a preservation overlay) and underlying layers. this de-bonding may contribute to early failure of the hma pavement surface layer, which can increase pavement preservation costs. this study gathers initial evidence on debonding in washington state and attempts to define the problem scope and potential performance impacts. specifically it attempts (1) determine if de-bonding occurs, (2) identify possible de-bonding mechanisms, (3) define the scope of de-bonding in wsdot pavements, (4) determine de-bonding impacts on pavement performance, and (5) identify the role of tack coats in de-bonding. hot mix asphalt, de-bonding, tack coat, bonding, layer, cracking, construction, asphalt, emulsion trac/uw 2008 |
| Cross Border Transportation Patterns at the Western Cascade Gateway: Implications for Mitigating the Impact of Delay on Regional Supply Chains | Goodchild | TRAC/UW | 2008 | cross border transportation patterns at the western cascade gateway: implications for mitigating the impact of delay on regional supply chains goodchild, a.v., albrecht, s., leung, l.y. this report presents a commercial vehicle profile of transportation patterns and a commodity profile of the primary border crossing along the western cascade border region of southwest british columbia, canada, and northwest washington, united states, in particular the corridor between the urban areas of vancouver, british columbia, and seattle, washington. because of the larger trade volumes along the eastern portion of the u.s./canadian border between michigan, new york, and ontario, trade research on the northern u.s. border has typically focused on trade along the eastern portion of the border between michigan, new york, and ontario, as well as on immigration and customs issues along the southern border with mexico. as a result, less attention has been given to the western portion of the u.s./canada border. this research begins to fill that gap with both a description of regional trade and a description of current delay patterns, consequences, and causes of delay. border crossing, commercial vehicle, freight, delay trac/uw 2008 | |
| WA-RD 671.1 | Managing Pedestrian Safety I: Injury Severity | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2008 | managing pedestrian safety i: injury severity moudon, a.v., lin, l., hurvitz, p. this study focused on the severity of injuries and fatalities incurred by pedestrians colliding with motor vehicles. this report includes a thorough review of the literature and a description of new research carried out on correlates of injury severity and measures of their relative effects on fata or high injury collisions. the correlates consisted of both individual-level factors and attributes of environments at or near pedestrian collision sites. the study focused on state routes in king county, washington. data came from police records processed by the washington state department of transportation from 1999 to 2004. they included objective and modeled data in gis on road characteristics, traffic conditions, and land uses at or near collision sites. pedestrian accident, pedestrian safety, injury severity, fatalities, transportation safety, injury prevention, geographic information systems, gis trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 684.3 | A Precast Concrete Bridge Bent Designed to Re-Center After an Earthquake | Cohagen | TRAC/UW | 2008 | a precast concrete bridge bent designed to re-center after an earthquake cohagen, l.; , pang, j.b.k., eberhard, m.o., stanton, j.f. in this study the post-earthquake residual displacements of reinforced concrete bridge bents were investigated. the system had mild steel that was intended to dissipate energy and an unbonded, post-tensioned tendon that was supposed to remain elastic and re-center the column. the columns tested had different mild steel to prestress ratios, which affected their re-centering ability. a re-centering ratio developed by hieber (2005), which took into account the external axial load, initial prestress force, and the mild steel ratio, was used to predict these re -centering capabilities. two 40 percent scale specimens with large-bar connection details and a central unbonded, post- tensioned tendon were tested by using pseudo-static loading. the large-bar system is a rapidly constructible precast system for use in seismic regions. the test columns had re-centering ratios of 1.6 and 1.2. a column with the same connection details but no prestress and a re-centering ratio of 0.9 was used as a reference. the displacement at zero force in the test was used as a proxy for the residual displacement after an earthquake. the tests showed that columns with a larger re-centering ratio did experience lower residual drifts, although this distinction only became clear for drift ratios that exceeded 2 percent. the tests also showed that increases in post-tensioning force led to slight increases in damage at high drift ratios. posttensioning, precast concrete, bridge substructure, columns, residual displacement, residual drift trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 684.2 | Rapidly constructible Large-Bar Precast Bridge-Bent Connection | Pang | TRAC/UW | 2008 | rapidly constructible large-bar precast bridge-bent connection pang, j.b.k., steuck, k.p., cohagen, l., eberhard, m.o., stanton, j.f. the use of precast components in bridge bents can accelerate bridge construction, but their use in seismic systems is challenging. such systems must have connections that are both easy to assemble on site, and have sufficient strength and ductility during earthquakes. a precast bridge bent beam-column connection that is suitable for rapid construction in seismic regions has been developed and tested. the connection features a small number of large (#18) vertical column bars grouted into large corrugated ducts embedded in the cap-beam. this combination provides speed and simplicity of erection, as well as generous construction tolerances. lateral-load tests on the system showed that it has strength and ductility similar to those of a comparable cast-in-place connection, and that deliberate debonding of a short length of the bars has little effect on its seismic performance. precast concrete, bridge construction, bents, bridge column, accelerated bridge construction, anchorage, ducts trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 707.1 | Evaluation of Engineering Treatments and Pedestrian and Motorist Behavior on Major Arterials in Washington State | Davis | TRAC/UW | 2008 | evaluation of engineering treatments and pedestrian and motorist behavior on major arterials in washington state davis, k., hallenbeck, m.e. this report examines pedestrian and motorist behavior on arterials in washington state and determines how, if at all, these behaviors change when various engineering treatments are applied. the treatments that were examined included crosswalk markings, raised medians, in-pavement flashers, signage, stop bars, overhead lighting, and sidewalks. the relationships between pedestrian travel and transit use, origin-destination patterns, traffic signals, and schools were also explored. the study examined seven locations in the state of washington. these were state route (sr) 7 at south 180th street in spanaway, sr 99 at south 152nd street in shoreline, sr 99 at south 240th street in kent, sr 2 between south lundstrom and king streets in airway heights, sr 2 at lacrosse street in spokane, sr 2 at rowan avenue in spokane, and sr 2 at wellesley avenue in spokane. because pedestrian-vehicle collisions are rare when specific locations are studied, other criteria were used to evaluate the conditions and behaviors that were present. these included "conflicts" such as running behavior, motorists having to brake unexpectedly to avoid a pedestrian, pedestrians waiting in the center lane to cross, and more. these unreported, but very common, occurrences enabled the researchers to gain a better understanding of both pedestrian and motorist concerns and behaviors and the effects that improvements might have. the study concludes that the causes of conflicts are highly varied: ignorance of or noncompliance with the law (by the motorist or the pedestrian), inattention, vehicles following too closely, impatience, anxiety in attempting to catch a bus, use or non-use of pedestrian facilities, placement of features in the built environment, and more. while pedestrian/motorist interaction improves with improved visibility (something which can be obtained through better engineering design and the removal of visual clutter) better education and/or enforcement will also be needed to achieve significant safety benefits. pedestrian safety, pedestrian areas, crosswalks trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 688.1 | Quieter Pavements Survey | Jackson | WSDOT | 2008 | quieter pavements survey jackson, n.c., vargas, a., pucinelli, j. this study looked at the performance of quieter pavements in use in the united states of america and europe with specific emphasis on those states that are using open-graded mixes for both friction or porous courses on an ongoing basis. all states were contacted and 34 states responded with information on their use of open-graded mixes and stone matrix asphalt (sma) mixes. eleven states were able to provide an estimate of the range and average service life of their open-graded mixes and three states provided information on the service life of their sma mixes. specifications for open-graded mixes and sma mixes were compiled from 20 states and compared to washington state's open-graded friction course mix and the open-graded mix used on recent test sections built by the washington state department of transportation quieter pavements, open-graded friction course, sma, service lives, specifications wsdot 2008 |
| WA-RD 703.1 | The Use of Small Unmanned Aircraft by the Washington State Department of Transportation | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 2008 | the use of small unmanned aircraft by the washington state department of transportation mccormack, e. d. small, unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) are increasingly affordable, easy to transport and launch, and can be equipped with cameras that provide information usable for transportation agencies. the washington state department of transportation conducted a series of uav tests to evaluate their capabilities while also exploring institutional issues. these tests, while exploring the general capabilities of uavs, focused on evaluating the use of a uav as an avalanche control tool on mountain slopes above state highways. wsdot’s maintenance division has an active snow avalanche control program that is designed to reduce highway closure time and hazards to motorists, and the use of uavs was seen as having some potential operational advantages. the uavs also captured aerial images suitable for traffic surveillance and data collection. the evaluation found that the main limitation to uav use is institutional, particularly the need to obtain approval to fly from the federal aviation administration (faa). this approval process will make uav use a challenge, but these issues may change as the faa considers new rules. 17. unmanned aircraft, avalanche control, traffic surveillance trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 696.1 | Effect of Intermediate Diaphragms to Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders in Over-Height Truck Impacts | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2008 | effect of intermediate diaphragms to prestressed concrete bridge girders in over-height truck impacts mclean, d.i., qiao, p., yang, m. the objectives of this study are three-fold: (1) develop/validate dynamic numerical finite element models to simulate the prestressed concrete bridge girders with intermediate diaphragms, (2) perform numerical parametric study to evaluate the effect of the critical factors on design of intermediate diaphragms, and (3) provide recommendations and guideline to better design of intermediate diaphragms to impact of over-height trucks. the conducted study aims to shed light on improved impact protection of prestressed concrete bridge girders with intermediate diaphragms and aid the wsdot in design, analysis, and consstruction of prestressed concrete bridges. the findings of this study assist in developing the specific standard of practice (such as, amendments to aashto standard specifications, wsdot standard specifications, policy directives, implementation manuals, or operating procedures) for design of prestressed concrete bridge girders with intermediate diaphragms. more importantly, the proposed recommendations and guideline help the bridge engineers to make better design decision for prestressed concrete bridges. intermediate diaphragms, prestressed concrete, bridge girders, over-height trucks trac/wsu 2008 |
| WA-RD 701.1 | An Analysis of Deer and Elk-Vehicle Collision Sites Along State Highways in Washington State. Completion Report, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. | Meyers | WSDOT/Washington Department of Fish & Wildlif | 2008 | an analysis of deer and elk-vehicle collision sites along state highways in washington state. completion report, washington department of fish and wildlife. meyers, w.l., chang, w.y., germaine, s.s., vander haegen, w.m., owens, t.e. approximately 3,000 deer and 85 elk carcasses are removed by wsdot personnel from washington state highways annually. the report provides an analysis of temporal and spatial relationships associated with carcass removal sites. models were developed to assess influences of road characteristics, habitat features, deer densities, and deer behavior to the frequency of vehicle collisions at carcass removal sites. vehicle collision, ungulates, deer, black-tailed deer, mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, habitat, highways, washington state, model wsdot/washington department of fish & wildlif 2008 |
| WA-RD 699.1 | Comprehensive Evaluation of Transit Signal Priority System Impacts Using Field Observed Traffic Data | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2008 | comprehensive evaluation of transit signal priority system impacts using field observed traffic data wang, y., hallenbeck, m.e., zheng, j., zhang, g., corey, j. , ma, x. to improve the level of service for community transit (ct) buses, the south snohomish regional transit signal priority (ss-rtsp) project was launched. to understand the overall benefit of this project, the ss-rtsp system was tested and evaluated after the hardware and software had been installed on the 164th street sw corridor (phase one) and the sr 99 corridor (phase two) in snohomish county, washington state. in this study, impacts of the ss-rtsp system on both transit and local traffic operations were quantitatively evaluated on the basis of field-observed data. simulation models were also built and calibrated to compute measures of effectiveness that could not be obtained from field-observed data. with simulation models and field observed data, the impacts of the ss-rtsp system on both transit and local traffic operations were quantitatively evaluated. our evaluation results showed that the ss-rtsp system provided remarkable benefits to transit vehicles, with insignificant negative impacts to local traffic on cross-streets under the current coordinated control strategy. the overall impact of the ss-rtsp system on local traffic at each entire intersection was not statistically significant at the p=0.05 level. to improve the performance of the current ss-rtsp system, more transit vehicles can be made tsp eligible. the average number of granted tsp trips was only 16.96 per day per intersection during the phase one test and 14.40 during phase two test. given that negative impacts of the ss-rtsp project on local traffic were not significant, more transit trips can be granted with proper tsp treatment to generate more benefits from the ss-rtsp system. further simulation-based investigations on tsp system operations and optimization were conducted. the research findings indicated that to achieve the best operation efficiency, the compatibility between tsp control schemes and signal control coordination should be strengthened to minimize transit disruption to signal coordination. tsp systems must be fully tested under different coordinated control plans prior to implementation. transit signal priority, traffic delay, loop detectors, signalized intersections trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 700.1 | Quantifying Incident-Induced Travel Delays on Freeways Using Traffic Sensor Data | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2008 | quantifying incident-induced travel delays on freeways using traffic sensor data wang, y., cheevarunothai, p., hallenbeck, m.e. traffic congestion is a major operational problem for freeways in washington state. recent studies have estimated that more than 50 percent of freeway congestion is cuased by traffic incidents. to help the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) identify effective countermeasures against such congestion-inducing incidents, a thorough understanding of travel delays caused by incidents is essential. by using traffic data extracted from archived loop detector measurements and incident log data recorded by the wasot incident response (ir) team, this research project developed a new algorithm for quantifying travel delays produced by different incident categories. the algorithm applies a modified deterministic queuing theory to estimate incident-induced delay by using 1-minute aggregated loop detector data. incident-induced delay refers to the difference between the total delay and the recurrent travel delay at the time and location influenced by the incident. the uniqueness of the delay calculation in this study is the use of a dynamic traffic-volume-based background profile, which is considered a more accurate representation of prevailing traffic conditions. according to the test results, the proposed algorithm can provide good estimates for incident-induced delay and capture the evolution of freeway traffic flow during incident duration. because actual traffic data measured by loop detectors were used in this study to compute vehicle arrival and departure rates for delay calculations, the estimated incident-induced delay should be very close to the reality. additionally, the proposed algorithm was implemented in the advanced roadway incident analyzer (aria) system. aria is a database-driven computer system that automates all the computational processes. more accurate incident delay information will help wsdot improve its understanding of congestion-inducing incidents and select more effective countermeasures against incident-related traffic congestion on freeways. traffic congestion, traffic delay, incidents, freeways, travel time, loop detectors, queuing theory trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 695.1 | Cost Effective Safety Improvements of Two-Lane Rural State Roads in Washington State | Van Schalkwyk | TRAC/Arizona State University | 2008 | cost effective safety improvements of two-lane rural state roads in washington state van schalkwyk, i., washington, s.p. two-lane rural highways in washington state represent approximately 4,900 miles. from 1999 to 2005, 42.8% of the fatal collisions reported on state highways occurred on two-lane rural highways. wsdot determined that the traditional high collision frequency location approach does not necessarily reflect the safety needs of two-lane rural highways. the research team first conducted a systematic review of the network and then developed a proposed decision-matrix for the selection of countermeasures on two-lane rural highways. a rate-based approach was used to show various trends across different user groups, geometric features, and contexts. it is generally accepted that the context of the two-lane rural highway would influence countermeasure choice. the project tested two contextual surrogates for the identification of particular two-ane rural highways that may exhibit safety characteristics that are different from the rest of the network. first proximity to k12 schools (in half mile increments up to 2 miles) was tested to determine whether it could assist in identifying more developed areas, such as rural town centers. it showed promise and identified areas with lower collision severity but higher collision frequency along with a higher incidence of pedestrial related collisions. second proximity to urban boundaries (increments up to 2 miles) as means to identify transition areas showed less promise. the decision-matrix summarizes countermeasure effectiveness by collision group and also makes reference to the findings from the systematic assessment. the project also included a limited before-after study of centerline rumble strip installations (clrs). although results indicate some benefits and possible collision increases, caution is noted in terms of application of these findings because of small sample sizes in the analysis and the fact that roadside characteristics could not be incorporated in the evaluation process. the report recommends the development of safety performance functions that would incorporate these features. these multivariate approaches could further assist the department in the development of system-wide and corridor level approaches for two-lane rural highways. two-lane rural highways, safety, countermeasures trac/arizona state university 2008 |
| WA-RD 706.1 | Eelgrass (Zostera marina. L.) Restoration in the Pacific Northwest: Recommendations to Improve Project Success | Thom | WSDOT | 2008 | eelgrass (zostera marina. l.) restoration in the pacific northwest: recommendations to improve project success thom, r., gaeckle, j., borde, a., anderson, m., boyle, m., durance,c., kyte, m., schlenger, p., stutes, j., weitkamp, d., wylie-echeverria, s., rumrill,s. we summarize eelgrass (zostera marina l.) restoration and mitigation project results and recommendations of transplant practitioners in the pacific northwest since 1990. our purpose is to provide current information for programs considering eelgrass restoration by providing a synthesis of what practitioners and researchers have learned through experimentation and monitoring of discrete projects throughout western washington and british columbia. reports, papers, personal communications, and a workshop were used to gather data on these projects. out general null hypothesis was that eelgrass can be restored to match natural eelgrass meadows in terms of structure and function. we concluded that, under favorable conditions, and if the reason for the initial loss of eelgrass is understood and corrected, that eelgrass can be restored. however, eelgrass restoration science is hampered by knowledge taps, reducing restoration success. eelgrass, restoration, pacific northwest wsdot 2008 |
| WA-RD 684.1 | Anchorage of Large-Diameter Reinforcing Bars Grouted Into Ducts | Steuk | TRAC/UW | 2008 | anchorage of large-diameter reinforcing bars grouted into ducts steuk, k.p., pang, j.b., eberhard, m.o., stanton, j.f. the use of a few large-diameter reinforcing bars for the construction of precast concrete bridge bents allows simplified construction by reducing the number of alignments to be made in the field. these bars are grouted into ducts in a precast concrete cap beam. in the proposed precast concrete substructure system, the grouted bars carry tensile forces across the joint between the column and cap beam. this joint is the yielding element in the structural system, and it is crucial to the performance of the structure that the bars yield before other failure mechanisms, including bond failure, occur. however, the cap beam is typically insufficient to anchor the bar, as the depth of the beam is substantially less than the american association of state highway and transportation officials (aashto) bridge code allows. for this project, 17 pullout tests were conducted to determine the bond characteristics and development length of large-diameter bars grouted into ducts. the bars tested ranged in size from #8 to #18. pullout tests conducted with embedment lengths of at least six bar diameters yielded the reinforcing bar, while the test conducted with an embedment length of 14 bar diameters resulted in bar fracture. the tests and subsequent analysis showed that the bond of these grouted connections is significantly better than the bond of bars cast directly into concrete. the development lengths needed to fully anchor the bar are therefore within the depth available in the cap beam. bond strength, deformed bars, cement grouts, precast concrete, bridge substructures, joint construction, bents, anchorage, ducts trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 697.1 | NovaChip - Experimental Feature Final Report | Russell | TRAC/UW | 2008 | novachip - experimental feature final report russell, m.a., pierce, l.m., uhlmeyer,j .s., anderson, k.w. an experimental application of novachip was evaluated on a section of sr-17 through the city of soap lake, washington. novachip was investigated as a possible substitute for hma class g that is normally specified through cities on routes that only warrant a bituminous surface treatment. the novachip was placed in the summer of 2001. pavement condition survey results and visual observations revealed that novachip was effective in reducing both the frequency and severity of cracking. ride quality has remained constant throughout the six year evaluation period and wear/rutting has been minimal. life cycle cost analysis showed that novachip is comparable to hma class g when analyzed on a total project cost basis, but not competitive when only the cost of the overlay is considered. novachip, bst, chip seal, life cycle cost trac/uw 2008 |
| WA-RD 713.1 | Evaluation of current Practices of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement/Virgin Aggregate as Base Course Material | McGarrah | UW | 2007 | evaluation of current practices of reclaimed asphalt pavement/virgin aggregate as base course material mcgarrah, e.j. every year hot mix asphalt (hma) roadways are rehabilitated by milling the existing roadway and replacing the milled portion with new hma. as a result of this practice, a tremendous amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (rap) is created. the federal highway administration estimates that 100 million tons of hma is milled each year (mapa, 2007). the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) currently allows rap to be recycled into new hma, but only 20% of the rap may be used in the new material. thus, a large portion of the milled asphalt ends up at contractors’ pits or landfills. due to the possible reduction in product and construction cost by using rap as base course in addition with increasing requests by contractors to do so, wsdot is investigating the possibility of blending rap with virgin material for use as a base course material. this report analyzes existing studies that have examined the properties and performances of 100% rap mixtures as well as rap/virgin aggregate blends. in addition, this report includes a survey of 12 state dot’s detailing current practices regarding the use of rap as base course and any corresponding specifications and testing procedures. reclaimed asphalt pavement, rap, base course,, pavement rehabilitation uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 674.1 | URETEK Stitch-In-Time | Anderson | WSDOT | 2007 | uretek stitch-in-time anderson,k. w., pierce,l. m., uhlmeyer,j. s. a section of portland cement concrete (pcc) pavement on interstate 5 near tacoma was the site of an experimental installation of the uretek method of undersealing and the uretek process called stitch-in-time for restoring load transfer to pcc pavements. after six years, the average load transfer efficiency of the i5 movable stitch-in-time joints, called accumulator joints, is 38 percent. in contrast, the average load transfer efficient of the dowel bar retrofit joints installed at the same time is 82 percent. the uretek undersealing method is doing an excellent job of supporting all of the panels in the experimental section. however, there is considerable cracking and spalling in the locked joints that are located between accumulator joints indicating areas of high stress concentration the stitch-in-time process is not recommended as a viable method to restore load transfer in pcc pavements. uretek, stitch-in-time, dowel bar retrofit, portland cement concrete pavement rehabilitations wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 667.1 | PCCP Texture Modification Using the Skidabrader | Anderson | WSDOT | 2007 | pccp texture modification using the skidabrader anderson,k. w., uhlmeyer,j., pierce,l. a skidabrader machine was used to remove the corduroy texture of a section of pccp on interstate 5 in seattle washington. the corduroy texture of the pavement was the product of a previous diamond grinding operation that improved the ride quality and restored the transverse profile of the pavement. skidabrader, pavement texture, pccp wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 666.1 | Performance of a Portland Cement Concrete Pavement with Longitudinal Tining, Transverse Tining, and Carpet Drag Finish | Anderson | WSDOT | 2007 | performance of a portland cement concrete pavement with longitudinal tining, transverse tining, and carpet drag finish anderson,k. w., uhlmeyer,j., pierce,l. this report describes the construction of a portland cement concrete pavement built with three finishing methods; carpet drag, longitudinal tining, and transverse tining. the three finishing methods will be compared for their ability to resist the wear from studded tires. ride and friction resistance will also be monitored and reported over the five year evaluation period. longitudinal tining, transverse tining, carpet drag, pccp wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 658.1 | Studded Tire Wear Resistance of PCC Pavements | Anderson | WSDOT | 2007 | studded tire wear resistance of pcc pavements anderson,k. w., uhlmeyer,j., pierce,l. the performance of portland cement concrete mixes with higher flexural strength, higher cement content, and with hard-cem additive and carpet drag finish will be evaluated over a period of five years to determine if they are more resistant to studded tire wear. special sections of each mix will be tested over a five year period to determine the rate of studded tire wear as compared to the wsdot standard 650 psi flexural strength mix and tined finish. in addition, the carpet drag finish will be compared to transverse tining with regard to providing adequate friction resistance over time and reducing tire/pavement noise. portland cement concrete, performance, studded tires wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 663.1 | Combined Aggregate Gradation as a Method for Mitigating Studded Tire Wear on PCCP | Anderson | WSDOT | 2007 | combined aggregate gradation as a method for mitigating studded tire wear on pccp anderson,k. w., uhlmeyer,j., pierce,l. two sections of pavement were built with different specifications for the gradation of the aggregates, one with the standard wsdot specification and one with a combined gradation, to determine if the use of the combined gradation would result in a pavement more resistant to studded tire wear. the standard gradation can result in a gap-graded aggregate whereas the combined gradation produces a more uniform gradation. wear rates calculated for the most recent data set collected in the fall of 2006 reveals no difference in wear rates between the pavements paved with the standard gradation versus those paved with the combined gradation. portland cement concrete pavement, combined gradation, pavement wear, studded tires wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 675.1 | Performance Analysis and Forecasting for WSDOT Highway Projects | Aziz | TRAC/UW | 2007 | performance analysis and forecasting for wsdot highway projects aziz,a. m. improving the way that wsdot performs business is an important objective to pursue. the objectives of this research were to develop tools that will monitor the contractor’s performance during construction in order to detect any unsatisfactory progress, and to develop tools that will improve the time and cost prediction of highway projects in order to reduce time and cost overruns. to achieve the first objective, the research surveyed other state dots about how they measure and evaluate work progress and contractor performance. the survey showed that a formal progress measurement and performance evaluation process is lacking in many states, and that there is an apparent lack of progress charts for measuring contractor performance. by using wsdot historical project data on actual payment estimates and the elapsed working days of each estimate in each project, the current research developed minimum performance bounds and average performance bounds for a set of successfully completed projects using regression analysis. performance bounds were developed for all projects and for clusters of projects grouped in categories based on quantities of asphalt concrete pavement/hot mix asphalt (acp/hma), contract value, project duration, and project miles. time and cost prediction models were developed through the application of general multiple regression analysis, ridge regression analysis, and nonlinear partial least-square regression analysis on wsdot historical project data. the models were developed on the basis of a number of major variables in pavement projects, including project duration (working days), final contract value (paid-to-contractor dollars), acp/hma quantity (tons), grading (tons, cy), surfacing (ton), and the number of project highway miles. performance and progress analysis, prediction, regression, estimating trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 672.1 | ITS Evaluation Framework, Phase 2 | Briglia | TRAC/UW | 2007 | its evaluation framework, phase 2 briglia,p. m., kopf,j., hallenbeck,m. e. this report documents the results of applying a previously developed, standardized approach evaluating advanced traveler information systems (atis) projects to a much more diverse group intelligent transportation systems (its) projects. the evaluation approach used structured interviews investigate technical, management and organizational lessons learned. the approach appeared well with this diverse group of projects. this report also includes the individual evaluation reports for the 16 its projects that evaluated. each report includes a discussion on background information, project description, architecture and standards, system usage and benefits and institutional and technical issues. evaluation, intelligent transportation systems, its, lessons trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 685.1 | Transportation Demand Strategies for Schools, Phase 1 | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2007 | transportation demand strategies for schools, phase 1 carlson, d., langworthy, m., wright, j., gruen, d. considerable portions (as much as 25% by some estimates) of commute time auto trips are taking students to school. this study seeks to learn what strategies can reduce and are reducing auto congestion around schools. phase 1 of the study includes a literature review summarizing the state of knowledge about the subject and helping to identify models and strategies. these include ride sharing clearing houses, supervised walking to school programs, carpooling, safe routes to schools programs, bicycling and mobility education, school siting policies and requirements, and the use of yellow school buses and public transit. these models guided the search for potential programs of interest in washington state to examine and learn from in phase 2 of the study. these programs of interest include safe routes to schools programs in urban and small city elementary schools, the use of fare-free transit, introduction of mobility education curriculum in high schools, a mandatory universal pass program at a university, a ride sharing website, and inclusion of a school in a growth and transportation efficiency center under the state’s commute trip reduction law. commute trip reduction, ctr, safe routes to, schools, transportation demand management, tdm trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 673.1 | Dynamic Pile Driving and Pile Driving Underwater Impulsive Sound | Carlson | WSDOT | 2007 | dynamic pile driving and pile driving underwater impulsive sound carlson,t. j., weiland,m. a. under contract to the washington state department of transportation, battelle, pacific northwest division, conducted a re-analysis of dynamic pile driving and impulsive underwater sound data acquired at wa dot construction projects (hood canal bridge and friday harbor ferry terminal) to better understand the mechanisms of impulsive sound generation by pile driving in support of efforts to determine the effects of impulsive sound on fish health and behavior. analysis focused on derivation of statistics from impulsive sound and dynamic pile driving data sets that permitted evaluation of the amount of variability in impulsive sound metrics that might be driven by variability in pile driving mechanics metrics. the energy required to drive a pile at various depths and substrates and an index of the sound energy produced during the pile drives were also compared. these comparisons yielded the conclusion that most of the variability in impulsive sound during driving of a pile can be accounted for by changes the impact hammer operator makes to overcome resistance to increases in pile depth. thus, it is the operation of an impact hammer in response to changes in substrate, not the substrate itself, that is responsible for the changes in impulsive energy metrics during driving of a pile. a recommendation of the study is that any future data acquisition and analysis efforts to improve understanding of linkages between pile driving mechanics and impulsive sound or underwater sound monitoring activities in support of construction activities include hammer stroke data as a basic element of underwater sound data sets. pile driving, underwater sound, impulsive sound, fish injury, bridge, ferry terminal wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 690.1 | Development of a Washington State Freight Data System | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2007 | development of a washington state freight data system casavant, k.l., jessup, e. this study identified freight data uses, needs and gaps, both nationally and in the state of washington. specific recommendations for providing the needed data and data generating processes include the following: - phase i: identification of data gaps, needs, and uses (timeframe: current and ongoing) an ongoing inventory of available freight data, relative to identified freight data needs, should be performed throughout the state and region. this process may be incorporated into the expected activities/duties proposed in these recommendations. - phase ii: librarian/educator, resource to manage freight data warehouse (timeframe: within six months). this individual or resources is a "data source" for the state; a contact for all agencies and businesses using transportation flow and operational data; and a participant in discussions as freight data needs arise in the state. - phase iii: freight database manager, technical resource (timeframe: within one year). the freight database manager will design/develop and maintain the freight data warehouse for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) freight data trac/wsu 2007 |
| WA-RD 680.1 | Program Scoping/ State of Practice for Washington State | Casavant | TRAC/ WSU | 2007 | program scoping/ state of practice for washington state casavant, k.l., jessup, e., holmgren, m. the overall goal of this research project was to investigate ways to accurately scope projects with an efficient process in a timely manner to align with the critical path development for programming and the legislative cycle. the need for improved cost estimation is an acknowledged essential element in the scoping of a project. past experiences throughout the world reveal how common and problematic these underestimations of cost and schedules, especially for mega-projects, have become. the accompanying public distrust, lack of confidence in project implementers, and lack of interest in increased funding have generated a great deal of literature, studies, website activity and media attention. in this research effort, much of the many volumes of material on the subject of scoping and cost escalation were reviewed. selected findings from selected differing sources formed the core of the review of literature section. these findings were then augmented by a broad survey and review of the activities and efforts of various states, usually by the departments of transportation in those states. those discussions and analyses of those activities allow specific findings and recomendations to be determined security, transportation, cevp trac/ wsu 2007 |
| WA-RD 676.1 | ITS Backbone | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2007 | its backbone dailey, d.j. in this brief report, we provide a description of the activities in each of the areas to which the backbone contributes, and we provide supporting statistics for each of these contributions. the form of these statistics varies by application area: (1) potential viewers, in the case of traffictv, (2) page views, in the case of mybus, (3) data stream use, in the case of busview, (4) number of downloads, in the case of the self describing data (sdd) toolkit and, (5) use of the web services. the its backbone has been financially supported by wsdot to provide a level playing field to distribute detailed real-time and historical data to the public, private, and research sectors. intelligent transportation systems, traffic data, traffic volume, lane occupancy, speed data, java, self describing data, archived data user services trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 677.1 | Superpave Gyratory Compactor Internal Angle of Gyration Study | DeVol | WSDOT | 2007 | superpave gyratory compactor internal angle of gyration study devol, j., krause, j., mclaughlin, s., willoughby, k., mclean, i. this study on the angle of gyration for superpave compactors was done to determine if there is a difference in the bulk specific gravity (gmb) – and ultimately the volumetric properties – when calibrating the compactor’s angle of gyration internally and externally. wsdot currently has troxler, pine, pine-brovold, and interlaken compactors across the state, so a representative sample (two to four compactors per region) was tested in this study. triplicate samples of hot-mix asphalt (hma) were used for each compactor. it was found that 41 percent of the compactors tested were not in specification when using the internal angle to calibrate the compactor. adjustments were made to those compactors and the bulk specific gravity results were compared. the results of the bulk specific gravity affect the volumetric properties of hma (va, vma, and vfa) and therefore can have an affect on the design and acceptance of hma. when calibrating the compactors via external angle (current aashto standard), the average air voids (target of 4.0) were 3.81 with a standard deviation of 0.54. when calibrating via internal angle, the average air voids were 3.98 with a standard deviation of 0.50. based on the results of this study, wsdot is working to: (1) evaluate additional gyratory compactors (both wsdot- and contractor-owned), (2) make changes to current verification/calibration procedures, and (3) implement the use of the internal angle of calibration for 2008. gyratory compactor, internal angle, bulk specific, gravity, angle of gyration, volumetric properties wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 664.1 | Reliability Based Design of Seismic Retrofit for Bridges | Fridley | WSDOT | 2007 | reliability based design of seismic retrofit for bridges fridley,k. j., ma,z. this research focused on developing reliability-based seismic retrofit assessment procedures for highway bridge columns. fragility curves were developed to assess the relative performance of various retrofit methods considering several limit states. analytical fragility curves are developed from scaled earthquake records and structural response models. a simplified, single-degree-of-freedom (sdof) structural model was assumed to reasonably represent the structural response of the bridge columns for this research. the structural configuration, geometry, and properties of the bridge columns came from washington state department of transportation standard bridge designs. scaled earthquake data were used to calculate the displacement history during the prescribed earthquakes, and structural displacement, ductility and dissipated energy, were determined to calculate damage indices (di). various retrofit methods were selected from the literature. for the retrofitted cases, different degrees of increase in mass, stiffness, damping, and ductility were taken from the literature, over those of the un-retrofitted structure. wsdot, reliability, fragility, bridge columns, seismic retrofit wsdot 2007 |
| Service Time Variability at the Blaine, Washington, International Border Crossing and the Impact on Regional Supply Chains | Goodchild | TRAC/UW | 2007 | service time variability at the blaine, washington, international border crossing and the impact on regional supply chains goodchild, a., globerman, s., albrecht, s. service times at vehicle processing facilities (borders, weigh stations, landside marine port gates) are variable, thereby causing transportation planning challenges for carriers that visit them on a regular basis. carriers must either build in more time than is necessary, therefore underutilizing their equipment, or risk missing delivery windows, which can result in fines or cause lost business opportunities. in this study, border crossing times at blaine, washington, are examined. the variability in crossing times at this border crossing, and the impact of this variability on regional supply chains is considered for bi-directional trade. directional, daily, hourly, and seasonal variations are examined. interviews with regional carriers were conducted to better understand the current response to variability, the benefit of a reduction in variability, and how this is related to the goods moved or to other business operating characteristics. this paper describes the level of variability in border crossing times and describes carriers’ responses to this variability. it is demonstrated that the primary strategy used, increasing buffer times, reduces carrier productivity. however, this cost is negligible due to the current nature of the market. border crossing, supply chain, transportation planning, goods movement, freight trac/uw 2007 | |
| M0XCB00000YTAY-01-SEWA | Destination 2030 – Taking An Alternative Route | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2007 | destination 2030 – taking an alternative route hallenbeck,m. e. the transportation system in the puget sound region is in crisis. regional transportation infrastructure and services are not keeping pace with population, employment, and travel demand growth. this gap is widening because our current transportation finance system—both statewide and within the region—is not generating enough revenue to repair and replace aging facilities, let alone add the capacity needed to meet current and projected demands. over the next 20 years, the state faces in the neighborhood of $80 billion in transportation needs. the puget sound region accounts for approximately $40 billion of that total. king county’s share alone equals roughly $30 billion. within the puget sound region, even if all of the proposed funding packages pass this november, we will be well short of the funds needed to meet these needs. puget sound, transportation , planning, transportation improvement fees, revenue trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 681.1 | Arterial Performance Monitoring Using Stop Bar Sensor Data | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2007 | arterial performance monitoring using stop bar sensor data hallenbeck, m.e., ishimaru, j.m., davis, k.d., kang, j.m. the primary objectives of this project were to analyze the potential of a hypothesis regarding the ability of traffic data from basic loop sensors to represent approximate arterial traffic conditions (congestion); to develop a prototype analytical method to implement that relationship, and to determine requirements and other issues associated with future application of the method. the hypothesis being tested was that there is a general relationship between 1) the data from an arterial loop sensor, and b) the overall level of congestion on the arterial segment near the loop for that direction of travel. specifically, lane occupancy percentage values from a loop sensor located just upstream from a stop bar for an arterial traffic signal were hypothesized to be a surrogate value for nearby arterial performance (specifically, congestion on traffic delay), and this relationship was proposed to be used to develop a basic arterial performance monitoring method to aid in planning and operational analyses, as well asl potential real-time monitoring applications such as online traffic maps. this research provided additional understanding of the feasibility of using basic sensor data to monitor performance on arterials, as well as outstanding issues. given the results thus far, the use of green-plus-amber occupancy values from a stop bar loop shows the most promise among the options analyzed; furthermore, the hardware and analytical requirements are not restrictive. there is a need for additional testing of the robustness of this method before it can be implemented. arterial, performance measurement, monitoring, loop detectors trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 682.1 | Assessment of the I-5 Portland Cement Concrete Pavements in King County | Hansen | TRAC/UW | 2007 | assessment of the i-5 portland cement concrete pavements in king county hansen, m.a., mahoney, j. p., jackson, n.c., hunter, c., pierce, l.m., turkiyyah, g. the interstate 5 portland cement concrete pavement (pccp) in king county has been in service for over 40 years, twice its planned design life. as such, i-5 is in need of a rehabilitation/reconstruction effort. this study provides wsdot information that will aid decision making about the timing, locations, and type of rehabilitation or reconstruction. extensive pavement conditions/distress data provided by wsdot were summarized, analyzed, and used to develop visual tools to communicate the condition of the i-5 pccp. the performances of the non-rehabilitated, diamond ground, and the dowel bar retrofit and diamond ground pccp were summarized and compared. use of such information shows that about 66 percent of i-5 in king county is in need of rehabilitation or reconstruction. to further illustrate these conditions, arc gis was used to map the various distresses/conditions, and the results suggest which sections of i-5 should be addressed early in the rehabilitation/reconstruction process. a field study assessing the i-5 pccp was conducted at the same location as a 1986 study, providing a unique opportunity to compare the pccp conditions over a span of 20 years. the field study showed that the number of cracks had more than doubled, spalling dimensions had increased, and faulting displacements had increased by more than 43 percent. the report concludes with a broad assessment of expected i-5 conditions and necessary wsdot actions for five-year increments (0 to 5 years, 5 to 10 years and greater than 10 years). portland cement concrete, pcc, pavement, performance, wear, iri, cracking, faulting trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 678.1 | A Guide to Documenting VISSIM-Based Microscopic Traffic Simulation Models | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2007 | a guide to documenting vissim-based microscopic traffic simulation models ishimaru, j.m., hallenbeck, m.e., beaulieu, m., davis, k., kieninger, d., mizuta, k., robinson-mccutchen, e., wright, d. this document is a guide to developing documentation for microscopic traffic simulation models developed for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) by using the vissim simulation environment. model documentation produced according to the guidelines in this document are designed to assist prospective project managers and model users in determining whether the associated model meets their analytical needs, as well as assisting future simulation model users/analysts who consider modifying or expanding the model. this guide provides a procedure for the development of vissim model documentation that reflects key elements of the model, including objectives, inputs, and functional components; describes the format, topics, and level of detail of the resulting documentation; and outlines a documentation methodology that does not require an unreasonable amount of time and effort. microscopic traffic flow traffic simulation computer program, documentation , traffic models trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 668.1 | Evaluation of Liquefaction Hazards in Washington State | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 2007 | evaluation of liquefaction hazards in washington state kramer, s.l. this report describes the results of a detailed investigation of improved procedures for evaluation of liquefaction hazards in washington state, and describes the development and use of a computer program, wsliq, that allows rapid and convenient performance of improved analyses. the report introduces performance-based earthquake engineering (pbee) concepts to liquefaction hazard evaluation. pbee procedures have been developed and implemented for evaluation of liquefaction potential, lateral spreading displacement, and post-liquefaction settlement. a new model for estimation of the residual strength of liquefied soil was also developed. the wsliq code was developed to have broad capabilities for evaluation of liquefaction susceptibility, liquefaction potential, and the effects of liquefaction. it provides new methods for dealing with the magnitude-dependence inherent in current procedures, and makes the common “magnitude selection” problem moot via a new multiple-scenario approach and through the use of pbee procedures. earthquake engineering, liquefaction, lateral spreading, settlement, residual strength, response spectrum, performance-based engineering trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 652.1 | Bituminous Surface Treatment Protocol | Li | TRAC/UW | 2007 | bituminous surface treatment protocol li, j., mahoney,j .p., muench, s.t., pierce, l.m. this study used the hdm-4 software to test the average annual daily traffic (aadt) and equivalent single axle load (esal) levels appropriate as criteria for selecting the application of bituminous surface treatments (bst) to wsdot pavements. it verified the feasibility of using bsts to maintain pavements with higher traffic levels than have been applied in the past. it also determined the validity of alternating the application of bst resurfacings and 45-mm hot mix asphalt overlays. in addition, the research estimated the impacts that increased use of bst surfaces would have on the performance of the state-owned route system. the basic recommendations are as follows: • adt of up to 2,000: apply bsts unless they are specifically exempted (such as paving through cities, limited bst routes, etc.). • adt of 2,000 to 4,000: apply a combination of bst and hma overlays used interchangeably, depending upon pavement condition. exemptions are allowed for paving through cities, limited bst routes, etc. • adt of greater than 4,000: apply hma overlays. this report is the first of two planned for the study. pavement management systems, pavement performance, computer models, pavement maintenance, bituminous overlays, overlay, asphalt concrete pavement trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 682.2 | Assessment of the I-5 Portland Cement Concrete Pavements in King County : Executive Summary | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 2007 | assessment of the i-5 portland cement concrete pavements in king county : executive summary mahoney, j.p., hansen, m.a., jackson, n.c., hunter, c.a., pierce, l.m. the interstate 5 portland cement concrete pavement (pccp) in king county has been in service for over 40 years, twice its planned design life. as such, i-5 is in need of a rehabilitation/reconstruction effort. this study provides wsdot information that will aid decision making about the timing, locations, and type of rehabilitation or reconstruction. extensive pavement conditions/distress data provided by wsdot were summarized, analyzed, and used to develop visual tools to communicate the condition of the i-5 pccp. the performances of the non-rehabilitated, diamond ground, and the dowel bar retrofit and diamond ground pccp were summarized and compared. use of such information shows that about 66 percent of i-5 in king county is in need of rehabilitation or reconstruction. to further illustrate these conditions, arc gis was used to map the various distresses/conditions, and the results suggest which sections of i-5 should be addressed early in the rehabilitation/reconstruction process. the report concludes with a broad assessment of expected i-5 conditions and necessary wsdot actions for five-year increments (0 to 5 years, 5 to 10 years, and greater than 10 years). portland cement concrete, pcc, pavement, rehabilitation, performance, wear, iri, slab cracking, faulting trac/uw 2007 |
| WSDOT: Sharing Data with Trusted Partners | Mason | TRAC/UW | 2007 | wsdot: sharing data with trusted partners mason, r.m., endicott-popovsky, b., simon, m., larson, r.e., mccrea, k. wsdot needs to share information with a wide array of information consumers, including the general public, contractors, vendors, and other government agencies. trusted partners need access to wsdot information sources. partners include washington and federal government agencies, counties, and cities; consulting firms, contractors, and subcontractors. the objective of this project was to help wsdot determine how to provide trusted business partners with flexible, secure access to wsdot systems and data with an access method that is able to meet current and anticipated data sharing requirements. accident rates trac/uw 2007 | |
| Financing Options for an Expanded Seattle Streetcar System and Network | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2007 | financing options for an expanded seattle streetcar system and network moudon, a.v., hallenbeck, m.e., hoag, a., sohn, d.w., park, s. this two-part study for the seattle urban league and the seattle streetcar alliance sought to guide decisions regarding the financing of a network of streetcar lines in and near downtown seattle. the first part of the study addressed the potential revenue and funding sources for the operation, maintenance, and capital costs of development streetcar lines. it drew from experiences around the country and abroad, particularly from the portland, oregon, and south lake union streetcar systems. the second part explored the social and economic characteristics of neighborhoods and districts that would affect the existing planned network of streetcar lines and that might affect future extensions to this existing network. streetcar, funding, revenue sources, operations, maintenance trac/uw 2007 | |
| WA-RD 670.1 | Rapid Pavement Construction Tools, Materials and Methods | Ozolin | TRAC/UW | 2007 | rapid pavement construction tools, materials and methods ozolin,b., muench,s. to address the need to deliver cost-effective projects while minimizing traffic impacts, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) desires to improve their knowledge, awareness and retention of rapid pavement construction tools, materials and methods. this project discusses the implementation, use and experience of using the following items related to rapid pavement construction: ca4prs (construction alternatives for pavement rehabilitation strategies), portland cement concrete (pcc) pavement panel replacement, polymer concrete and traffic closure windows. ca4prs is a microsoft access-based software program for predicting construction productivity for highway rehabilitation/reconstruction. it was tested in two case studies and has proved capable of providing meaningful scheduling and productivity inputs into early project planning. panel replacement techniques and polymer concrete construction are reviewed (including contractor interviews) in an effort to document past successes and failures as well as key decision points when making future project decisions. finally, a review of traffic closure windows for rapid construction is presented. accident rates trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 613.1 | Evaluation of Juvenile Salmon Leaping Ability and Behavior at the experimental Culvert Test Bed | Pearson | WSDOT/Battelle Pacific Northwest Division | 2007 | evaluation of juvenile salmon leaping ability and behavior at the experimental culvert test bed pearson, w.h., mueller, r.p., sargeant, s.l., may, l.k. this report provides data from the biological tests conducted in december 2004 and january 2005 by battelle pacific northwest division for the washington state department of transportation at the culvert test bed located at the washington state department of fish and wildlife skookumchuck hatchery near tenino, wa. the work reported here aimed to determine the leaping ability of juvenile hatchery coho salmon as the fish entered a perched culvert. results of the trials showed that the entry rate and passage success decreased as outfall drop increased. the dominant behavior used to accomplish entry varied with outfall drop. when overcoming the 0-cm and 12-cm outfall-drop configurations, juvenile coho predominantly used swim-in behavior. for the greater outfall drops of 20 and 26 cm, juvenile coho used leaping behavior for culvert entry. juvenile coho were not able to successfully overcome the 32-cm outfall drop, which was equivalent to approximately 3 body lengths for the 100-mm coho tested in this study culvert, juvenile coho salmon, fish passage, leaping, perch wsdot/battelle pacific northwest division 2007 |
| Forest Products Use of Roadways and Transload Facilities in Washington | Perez-Garcia | TRAC/UW | 2007 | forest products use of roadways and transload facilities in washington perez-garcia, j. washington's forest products sector has changed dramatically over the past several decades and with it the movement of timber and forest products. the predominant products are lumber with some plywood; they are shipped locally, regionally, and less internationally. the study provided the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) with an estimate of the current and future use of roadways and transload facilities in washington by washington's forest products sector. estimates of current and projected future use by wood product manufacturers will allow the wsdot to better plan its infrastructural needs to move products across the state efficiently. forest products, roadways, goods movement trac/uw 2007 | |
| WA-RD 679.1 | Data Quality Handling Approach of TRACFLOW software, Technical Report | Wright | TRAC/UW | 2007 | data quality handling approach of tracflow software, technical report wright, d., ishimaru, j.m. the tracflow software processes induction loop data to develop performance metrics for freeways in the seattle area. the loop data are sometimes subject to errors. to find and correct errors, the tracflow system uses a three-step approach to detect and address variations in the quality of the traffic data. each step can include data replacement if sufficient supporting data are present. this combination of methods is automated whenever feasible to more efficiently handle the large data sets involved. this report describes the three steps, detailing how each contributes to cleaner and more robust data sets. the objectives of these methods are to detect a higher percentage of anomalous data points, replace them with higher quality values, enable more of the data to be used, and increase overall automation of the process. freeways, performance, data quality, loop detectors, data banks, software trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 517.2 | An Assessment of WSDOT's Hot-Mix Asphalt Quality Control and Assurance Requirements | Willoughby | TRAC/UW | 2007 | an assessment of wsdot's hot-mix asphalt quality control and assurance requirements willoughby, k.a., mahoney, j.p. this report assesses various elements of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) hot-mix quality assurance (qa) specification. current wsdot qa specifications contain measures of in-place density, asphalt content, and aggregate gradation for contractor pay and special provisions allow for additional pay factor items based on volumetric properties. data from production paving projects suggests that use of the original pay items are adequate in determining the quality of hot-mix asphalt (as opposed to pay items based on volumetric mix properties). additionally, the option of increasing the minimum compaction level (currently 91 percent of theoretical maximum density) is recommended to increase quality. in addition, a contractor quality control (qc) program is recommended for consideration by wsdot. specification, statistics, hot mix asphalt, hma, asphalt concrete, pay factor, precision, superpave, compaction, quality control, quality assurance trac/uw 2007 |
| Side-By-Side Evaluation of VVDC and Citilog's MediaTD Video Detection Systems | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2007 | side-by-side evaluation of vvdc and citilog's mediatd video detection systems wang, y., zhang, g., corey, j., shahrivar, c. vehicle detection and classification data are important inputs for traffic operation, pavement design, and transportation planning. however, such data are not directly measurable by single-loop detectors, the most widely deployed type of traffic sensor in the existing roadway infrastructure. a number of commercial video-based traffic detection systems were developed for collecting traffic count and classification data by using widely available surveillance cameras. performance evaluation of these systems is of practical importance for traffic engineers to correctly choose the appropriate systems for their specific applications. in this study, a side-by-side evaluation of citilog's mediatd video detection system and the video-based vehicle detection and classification (vvdc) system was conducted. to sufficiently examine the practicality and robustness of both systems, six representative test scenarios were employed. these test scenarios included challenging video detection situations, such as transient light changes, slight camera vibrations, serious light reflection, and severe congestion. test results indicate that both systems worked well under certain test conditions but resulted in significant errors under some challenging test conditions. the vvdc system performed better than the mediatd system in most of the selected test scenarios. however, since the test scenarios were very limited, the comparison results of this study may not be general enough to apply to other locations and roadway conditions. image processing technique, vehicle detection, video-based traffic detection trac/uw 2007 | |
| WA-RD 687.1 | Hydrodynamic Regimes and Structures in Sloped Weir Baffled Culverts and Their Influence on Juvenile Salmon Pasage | Thurman | TRAC/UW | 2007 | hydrodynamic regimes and structures in sloped weir baffled culverts and their influence on juvenile salmon pasage thurman, d.r., horner-devine, a.r. the purpose of this study was to determine what hydraulic characteristics enhance or diminish upstream juvenile salmon passage within a sloped-weir baffled culvert. the culvert slope, baffle spacing, and baffle height were varied to observe flow regime trends that describe conditions suitable for fish passage. biological testing was conducted in conjunction with the hydraulic micro-acoustic doppler velocimeter (adv) measurements. there was considerable spatial variability in the flow created by the sloped baffles within the culvert. the asymmetry of flow (a), decreased for increasing discharge, larger baffle spacing and smaller baffle heights. to describe the flow features essential to fish passage, the interrelation between flow asymmetry, depth, and velocity were presented in comparison with biological testing. for the range of parameters tested, flows were described by a series of three jet regimes which were a function of water depth over baffles. comparing these regimes to the biological study revealed peak juvenile salmon passage was associated with a critical transition between jet regions. generalizing this transition for the entire data set using dimensionless scales provides professionals with guidance for retrofitting culverts. hydraulic characteristics, salmon passage, culverts trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 704.1 | Dynamic Modulus Test - Laboratory Investigation and Future Implementation in the State of Washington | Tashman | TRAC/WSDOT | 2007 | dynamic modulus test - laboratory investigation and future implementation in the state of washington tashman, l., elangovan, m.a. a database of dynamic modulus values for typical superpave mixes widely used in the state of washington was developed and used to investigate the sensitivity of the dynamic modulus to aggregate gradation. seven jmf mixes were selected for the study. percent passing sieve #200 of these mixes were changed by ± 2% to prepare additional mixes referred to as ‘modified mixes’. statistical analysis showed that using different jmf mixes significantly affected the dynamic modulus. this was not the case when modifying the jmf by changing the percent passing #200. a simple evaluation of the prediction accuracy of the 2002 mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (mepdg) was conducted in which the measured dynamic modulus was used as a key input parameter to predict pavement distresses. level 1 and level 3 predictions of rutting, longitudinal cracking, alligator cracking, and iri were compared with the field performance data. the design guide predicted iri and alligator cracking reasonably well. the predicted rutting of the jmf mixes agreed well with the dynamic modulus trend. it was found that the ±2% change in the passing #200 aggregate gradation did not affect the predicted distress significantly. dynamic modulus, dynamic modulus sensitivity, aggregate gradation, mepdg, predicted stress trac/wsdot 2007 |
| WA-RD 669.1 | Improving Predictions for Camber in Precast, Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders | Stanton | TRAC/UW | 2007 | improving predictions for camber in precast, prestressed concrete bridge girders stanton, j.f., rosa, m.a., eberhard, m.o. this research was conducted to develop improved methods of predicting camber in prestressed concrete girders. a computer program was written to calculate camber as a function of time. it takes into account instantaneous and time-dependent behavior of the concrete and steel and performs the calculations in a series of time steps. it was calibrated by comparing its predictions with the camber from 146 girders, measured in the fabricators yard both after release and at a later time. its long-term predictions were then compared with the responses of 91 girders that were monitored during construction at the keys road bridge site. the results showed that the response was sensitive to the predicted prestress losses, and that the 2006 aashto values for prestress loss provided much better estimates than did the 2004 provisions. in addition, the camber was found to depend on the elastic modulus of the concrete, its creep coefficient, and the use of the prestress losses in the calculation of the creep camber. to achieve the best match with the measured cambers, the aashto-recommended values for the elastic modulus and the creep coefficient had to be multiplied by adjustment factors and the prestress losses had to be taken into account when computing the creep component of camber. camber, deflection, girder, prestressed concrete, precast concrete, creep, shrinkage, eleastic modulus trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 636.1 | In-Service Evaluation of Major Urban Arterials with Landscaped Medians--Conditions as of 2004 | St. Martin | TRAC/UW | 2007 | in-service evaluation of major urban arterials with landscaped medians--conditions as of 2004 st. martin,a., milton,j., hallenbeck,m. e., nee,j. arterials such as state route (sr) 99 north and south of seattle have characteristics that are considered by many cities to be undesirable. in response, several cities are implementing redevelopment plans to increase the safety of the road, create a more aesthetically pleasing local environment, and enhance the economic vitality and attractiveness of the communities. the cities' redevelopment proposals for sr 99 and other state routes include landscaped medians, many with trees placed close to the roadway in either the median or shoulder areas. however, wsdot's clear zone width criterion may not always be met when trees are placed within curbed medians. to address the desires of cities to implement aesthetic designs, wsdot chose to adopt an in-service evaluation process that would study collision, environmental, operational and maintenance experiences in the field. this report summarizes the findings of two of the 13 median treatment projects included in the in-service evaluation of alternative median treatments. it provides before data and condition information on all median sections, but because most of the roadway sections have only recently been improved, it provides after data for only two phases of improvements, those on sr 99 in the city of seatac. the conclusions of the before and after analysis on those two sections of roadway indicate that no dramatic changes in roadway safety have occurred as a result of the change from continuous two-way left turn lanes and limited sidewalks to a streetscape that includes full sidewalks and landscaped medians with turn pockets, and where both sidewalks and medians include small trees as part of the landscaping. while no definitive conclusions about the safety impacts of landscaped medians can be drawn at this point in the multi-year in-service evaluation, it can be said that there is no indication that the roadways are less safe than before the landscaping was planted. therefore, it is recommended that the current in-service evaluation be continued as planned. trees, highway safety, aesthetic design, context sensitive design, urban design, accident rates, injury severity trac/uw 2007 |
| WA-RD 689.1 | Dynamic Response of Bridges to Near-Fault, Forward Directivity Ground Motions | Rodriguez-Marek | TRAC/WSU | 2007 | dynamic response of bridges to near-fault, forward directivity ground motions rodriguez-marek, a., cofer, w.f. research over the last decade has shown that pulse-type earthquake ground motions that result from forward-directivity (fd) effects can result in significant damage to structures. three typical post-1990 washington state department of transportation (wsdot) monolithic concrete bridges were chosen to investigate their nonlinear response to fd ground motions (fdgms) and non-fdgms. results showed that significant seismic damage may occur if the structural response is in tune with the period of the velocity pulse of the fdgm. this velocity pulse is a result of fault propagation effects in the near-fault, and occurs when the direction of slip and rupture propagation coincide. the period of the velocity pulse is proportional to the magnitude of the earthquake. the severity of the damand is controlled by the ratio of the pulse period to bridge fundamental periods. as a consequence of this, damage in a bridge with moderate periods (t=0.1s to 1.0s) may be more significant in smaller magnitude earthquakes where the pulse period is closer to the fundamental period of the structure. this was the case for both the mdof and sdof analyses of all three bridges in this research. the results showed also that the occurrence of high pga and/or pgv is only one of several conditions that can cause high demand on the bridges. of the three bridges considered, all typical concrete overpasses ranging from 50 m to 91 m in length, all generally survived the earthquake motions with only minor damage to their columns. however, colemn flexural failure was predicted for one model when subjected to two of the forward directivity ground motions. sdof bridge models for preliminary analyses were found to yield slightly unconservative base shears and displacements compared to that of the full bridge models under non-fdgm. for fdgm, the results of a simple sdof bridge model ranged from very conservative to slightly unconservative. therefore, nonlinear sdof analyses are specifically not recomnended in the case of fdgm since the results were not consistent. a more detailed mdof model should be used to assess bridge seismic performance so that ssi and the interaction of the longitudinal and transverse responses of the bridges can be included, particularly if a performance based design or assessment of the bridge is required. earthquakes, ground motions, near-fault, forward-directivity, dynamic response, bridges trac/wsu 2007 |
| The Role of the Highway Network Manager | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2006 | the role of the highway network manager hallenbeck, m.e. the role of the highway network manager (hnm) extends beyond simply overseeing key operational decisions. it includes ensuring that the data required to make those decisions are obtained and correctly used; that the facility performance that results from selected decisions is routinely tracked; that information is used to both improve control decisions and direct the resources of the agency; and that the decision criteria used to make those decisions accurately reflect the priorities of the transportation authority. to accomplish this job, the hnm must have access to, and effectively use, a variety of technologies and tools. this paper discusses what it takes to effectively perform such a job. smart highways, operations, manager, network, roadway, trac/uw 2006 | |
| Options for Making Concurrency More Multimodal | Hallenbeck | TRAC/Puget Sound Regional Council | 2006 | options for making concurrency more multimodal hallenbeck, m.e., carlson, d., ganey, k., moudon, a.v., montigny, l., steiner, r. the growth management act (gma) introduced the idea of “concurrency,” the policy goal of ensuring that development not outpace the provision of infrastructure. the gma directs jurisdictions to define and establish level of service (los) standards for their transportation systems. if new development will cause the transportation system to exceed the established los standards, the jurisdiction must deny the development unless transportation improvements and strategies are implemented to accommodate the development within six years, a process known as concurrency mitigation. this project team recommends that regions adopt a two-tiered concurrency system. the objective is to provide a more flexible incentive and disincentive system at the regional level while encouraging application of more multimodal transportation system measures at the local level. local jurisdictions should adopt multimodal concurrency measures that examine the existence (or lack) of the key facilities and services needed by the geographic subarea for which the concurrency system has been developed, regardless of the mode involved. regional agencies should be given the authority to define, develop, and apply a “regional concurrency system” that is in addition to the locally applied concurrency system. this regional authority would most likely be the existing mpo/rtpo unless an alternative regional authority were created or designated. transportation concurrency, multimodal, mobility trac/puget sound regional council 2006 | |
| WA-RD 653.1 | Operational Remote Sensing Solutions for Estimating Total Impervious Surface Areas | Alberti | Urban Ecology Research Laboratory/UW | 2006 | operational remote sensing solutions for estimating total impervious surface areas alberti,m., coe,s., jiang,y. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) commissioned this research, conducted by the urban ecology research laboratory (uerl) at the university of washington, to assist in effectively designing and managing operational, maintenance. and improvement activities within the context of the many growth management and clean water regulations and ordinances in washington state. the goals of this study were to: 1) implement a classification scheme for mapping the percentage of total impervious surfaces due to different types of transportation infrastructure based on satellite imagery, 2) develop and assess a remote sensing methodology for detection of road impervious surface area (risa) and the fraction of risa compared to the total impervious surface area (tisa), and 3) make recommendations on the imagery best suited for identifying impervious surfaces related to transportation infrastructure. the results of this analysis have important implications regarding the use of remote sensing to determine the contribution of impervious surface from transportation infrastructure at regional scales. higher resolution satellites, while more visually appealing, do not necessarily provide a net benefit in terms of accuracy that may justify their added expense. our results indicate that, in most cases, landsat performed as well if not better than the higher resolution spot imagery for determining regional scale roadway impervious surface area. the problem with using high resolution data for extracting road footprints at regional scales lies in the difficulty and cost of gathering a comprehensive set of imagery for the entire area of interest. furthermore, extracting road footprints from high resolution imagery is a difficult proposition. our findings recommend using digital imagery with other gis data that can serve as a proxy for road footprints. transportation rights-of-ways taken from vector parcel data were highly effective at limiting the area that could be considered as road. using this in combination with landsat impervious surface data proved to be an accurate and relatively simple way to estimate road impervious surface area. we recognize that not all areas are covered by the detailed parcel datasets used in this analysis. to fill these gaps, a simple predictive road impervious surface area model was developed using a combination of data developed and gathered for this project. linear regression was used to build the model and road impervious surface area extracted from test sites was used as the independent, or predicted, variable. the predictors, or independent variables, used in the model were total impervious surface (as measured by landsat or spot), urban area background, and total road length measured using readily available gis transportation data. all three independent variables were significant with a 95% confidence interval and the model as a whole was significant at the 99% level. impervious surface, remote sensing, predictive model, transportation urban ecology research laboratory/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 657.1 | Wear Resistant Pavement Study | Anderson | WSDOT | 2006 | wear resistant pavement study anderson, k.w., uhlmeyer, j., pierce, l., weston, j. this report documents the construction of three special pavement test sections on i-90 east of spokane, washington. the test sections included ultra-thin and thin whitetopping, modified class d open graded asphalt concrete, and micro/macro surfacing treatment. the majority of the project was built with a ½ inch superpave mix. the test sections were built to assess their potential as mitigation measures for studded tire wear. initial data collect on the sections indicate a rate of rutting of 1.8 mm per year on the whitetopping, 2.2 on the modified class d, and superpave sections and a rate of 2.6 mm per year on the micro/macro surfacing section. extensive cracking was noted in the section of whitetopping with a three inch thickness. ultra-thin whitetopping, thin whitetopping, open graded asphalt, micro surfacing macro surfacing, pavement wear, rutting, friction resistance wsdot 2006 |
| WA-RD 637.1 | Performance of a Portland Cement Concrete Pavement with Carpet Drag Finish | Anderson | WSDOT | 2006 | performance of a portland cement concrete pavement with carpet drag finish anderson,k. w., uhlmeyer,j., pierce,l., weston,j. this report documents the construction of a section of portland cement concrete pavement on i-5 in the vicinity of federal way, washington. the project included the use of a carpet drag finish on the pccp. use of the carpet drag finish is a departure from the tined finish that is normally used by wsdot. initial data was collect on pavement wear, ride, and friction resistance to develop a baseline for comparison over time and with other projects that use different finishing techniques such as tining. the project will be monitored for a period of five years to measure the performance of the carpet drag finish with respect to wear, ride, friction resistance, and potentially noise. 17. portland cement concrete pavement, carpet drag, pavement roughness, pavement wear, friction resistance, tining wsdot 2006 |
| WA-RD 661.1 | Phase I: Preliminary Environmental Investigation of Heavy Metals in Highway Runoff | Barber | TRAC/WSU | 2006 | phase i: preliminary environmental investigation of heavy metals in highway runoff barber,m. e., brown,m. g., lingenfelder,k. m., yonge,d. r. heavy metals in highway runoff continue to be a national concern for most transportation agencies including the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). in this project, a comprehensive critical review of the literature and data associated with heavy metals in stormwater runoff from highway settings was conducted to assist wsdot in better understanding the indicators associated with elevated concentrations in response to suggestions that locations for dissolved metals treatment bmps are to be determined based solely on average annual daily traffic. results found that multiple regression models have been used to predict contaminant concentrations with some success, however there are still considerable uncertainties related to the predictions due to the complexity and variability of highway settings. furthermore, studies indicate that multiple linear regression models are only applicable in the geographic region and range of conditions represented by the original data set. regional data necessary to populate and substantiate such a model for the state of washington do not currently exist. as such, additional runoff quality and ancillary information across a variety of washington highway aadt settings would be needed to improve the reliability associated with locating bmps for treating metals contamination. in discussing these uncertainties with wsdot and the department of ecology, it was determined that a multiple regression model was not feasible. stormwater, average annual daily traffic loading, water quality trac/wsu 2006 |
| WA-RD 662.1 | NCHRP Report 350 Test 3-11 of the Long-Span Guardrail with 5.7-M Clear Span and Nested W-Beams over 11.4 M | Buth | Texas Transportation Institute | 2006 | nchrp report 350 test 3-11 of the long-span guardrail with 5.7-m clear span and nested w-beams over 11.4 m buth, c.e., bullard jr., d.l., menges, w.l. the objective of this project was to develop a long-span guardrail design that meets nchrp report 350 evaluation criteria and is less expensive to construct than the existing design. the researchers reviewed design details of the long-span guardrails previously developed, especially the design presented by mark, to evaluate expected behavior of the guardrail when subjected to nchrp report 350 tests. design features that have been found to be important in terms of capacity of the guardrail to contain and redirect a vehicle are the structural strength and geometrics of the guardrail. lateral stiffness of the guardrail system is the primary design feature that determines maximum deflection of the guardrail during and collision and changes in lateral stiffness of the guardrail system along its length are the key features influencing pocketing of the vehicle.the barrier vii computer program was used to evaluate expected performance of the proposed design in nchrp report 350 tests. this program models a collision in two dimensions with a simple characterization of a vehicle and a detailed characterization of the guardrail. it was used to evaluate the expected deflections of the barrier and to predict any potential of the barrier to allow any unacceptable pocketing of the vehicle.reported herein are the details and results of the full-scale crash test performed on the long-span guardrail. the rail element ruptured and allowed the vehicle to penetrate the rail system. the vehicle subsequently rolled onto its side. therefore, the rail failed evaluation criteria for nchrp report 350 test 3-11. the abrupt change in stiffness of the rail element where it changes from two layer of w-beam (nested) to a single layer may have contributed to rupture of the single layer rail element. guardrail, longitudinal barrier, culvert, w-beam, nested, long-span, crash testing, roadside safety texas transportation institute 2006 |
| WA-RD 665.1 | Homeless Student Transportation Project Evaluation | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2006 | homeless student transportation project evaluation carlson,d., reder,s., jones,n., lee,a. washington state funded pilot homeless student transportation programs from 2004-2006 to implement provisions of the mckinney-vento homeless education assistance act (2001). the act requires school districts to provide transportation to homeless students wishing to remain in their school of origin. this formative evaluation addressed four questions about those pilot efforts: (1) what modes of transportation were used; (2) what did they cost; (3) which were preferred; and (4) did staying in the school of origin affect students’ academic performance? the student analyzed ridership and cost data from eight educational service districts and interviewed homeless students, parents, transportation coordinators and homeless liaisons. findings include the following: · districts used a wide array of methods to transport students, employing school buses, public transit, vans, taxis, private vehicles, fuel vouchers, mileage reimbursement, and transportation brokerage systems. school buses provided 38 percent of the trips, followed by third-party brokered transportation systems (cars, taxis, and vans) at 28 percent, an public transit at 22 percent.· homeless student transportation was usually expensive. the cost to the school districts of one-way homeless student trips varied widely depending on locality and mode, from a low of $0.14 to a high of $54. public bus service was the least costly mode; however, it was used mostly for older students and only available in selected areas. the cost for providing homeless students with public bus service ranged from $0.14 to $1.00 per one-way trip. by comparison, the cost for providing homeless students a one-way trip via school bus ranged from $4.50 to $54. (the average cost for a one-way school bus trip for the general student population is $0.67.staying in one’s school of origin was associated with better washington assessment of student learning (wasl) scores. in our limited data set, homeless students had lower grade point averages and lower wasl scores than the general student population. however, among homeless students, those staying in their school of origin achieved better wasl scores and better high school grades than those who changed schools. homeless persons, students, school buses, school dropouts trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 651.1 | HOT Lane Buffer and Mid-Point Access Design Review Report | Carter Burgess in association with Wilbur Smith Associates | TRAC/UW | 2006 | hot lane buffer and mid-point access design review report carter burgess in association with wilbur smith associates, the resource group, perteet, enviroissues, ibi group, demich consulting the purpose of this report is to provide an overview of buffer and midpoint access designs for concurrent flow, high occupancy toll (hot) lanes that are either in operation or under study and recommended the preferred buffer and access designs for these facilities. hot lanes are dedicated to transit, carpools and vanpools, but also allow solo drivers to use the facility for a toll when surplus capacity is available. with the application of a hot lane facility, a single occupant vehicle (sov) can choose to pay for the use of the surplus capacity in the lanes. tolls are adjusted to assure that these lanes keep flowing even when the regular lanes are congested. the primary tasks completed for this report include: - research on non-barrier-separated designs, locations and designs for access points, and enforcement measures through a literature review and survey of other state agency hot and/or hov lane designs; - evaluation of the various design options including safety, cost, and performance; and - documentation of the findings and design recommendations for future hot lane facilities in the state of washington. based on the information gathered for existing and planned concurrent traffic flow, high occupancy vehicle (hov) or hot facilities, this report presents the following recommendations: - a preferred buffer width between a hot lane and an adjacent general purpose lane of 4 feet, with a minimum recommended width of 2 feet if it is not feasible to provide a 4 foot buffer. - a continuous inside shoulder of 14 feet for enforcement and to serve as a breakdown lane, with a minimum 2-foot inside shoulder recommended to separate the travel lane from any barrier if the ideal width is not feasible. - midpoint access location openings of 1,000 feet per lane change; with a minimum length of 500 feet. for a combined access (allowing both ingress and egress), the length of the access point should be at least 1,000 feet (twice the minimum acceptable lane change distance of 500 feet). high occupancy toll lanes, hot lanes, buffers, access, median, barriers, high occupancy vehicles, tolls, pricing, state route 157, seattle trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 655.1 | The Use of Weather Data to Predict Non-Recurring Traffic Congestion | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | the use of weather data to predict non-recurring traffic congestion dailey,d. j. this project demonstrates the quantitative relationship between weather patterns and surface traffic conditions. the aviation and maritime industries use weather measurements and predictions as a normal part of operations, and this can be extended to surface transportation. data from two data mines on the university of washington campus were combined to evaluate the quantitative relationship between freeway speed reduction and rain fall rate as measured by doppler radar. the university of washington’s atmospheric science department maintains an archive of nexrad radar data, and the electrical engineering department maintains a data mine of 20-second averaged inductance loop data. the radar data were converted into rainfall rate, and the speed data from the inductance loop speed traps were converted into a deviation from normal performance measure. the deviation from normal and the rainfall rate were used to construct an impulse response function that can be applied to radar measurements to predict traffic speed reduction. this research has the potential to accomplish (1) prediction of non-recurring traffic congestion and (2) prediction of conditions under which incidents or accidents can have a significant impact on the freeway system. this linkage of weather to traffic may be one of the only non-recurring congestion phenomena that can be accurately predicted. this project created algorithms and implementations to correlate weather with traffic congestion. furthermore, it may provide a means for traffic management to determine where and when to proactively place resources to clear incidents. weather radar, weather forecasting, traffic congestion, nonrecurrent congestion, prediction, congestion management systems trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 659.1 | TrafficTV | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | traffictv dailey,d. j., bradbury,j. traffictv is a traffic and traveler information resource available to be broadcast on cable television. it began operation june 1, 1998 (under the name traffic channel). from a series of meetings held in june 2003 involving personnel from the washington state department of transportation and university of washington came a set of recommended changes. these changes were made to traffictv and are documented in this report. during the eight-year period of 1998 through 2005, the hardware and operating system supporting the traffictv application remained unchanged, and both became out of date. this project updated the automated traffictv application to use hardware and software that are more current. in addition, new functionality for communicating incident information and amber alerts were designed as part of this project and added to traffictv. this was done in coordination with wsdot operations. advanced traveler information systems, cable television, intelligent transportation systems, traffic congestion trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 660.1 | Deployment of a Virtual Sensor System Based on Probes, in an Operational Traffic Management System | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | deployment of a virtual sensor system based on probes, in an operational traffic management system dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) operates a central traffic management system (tms) for both day-to-day surveillance and traveler information. past efforts developed the ability to create real-time traffic speed information by using virtual sensors that are based on transit vehicle tracking data. this project developed a way to provide real-time congestion information from seattle area arterials and freeways to the wsdot tms by using the intelligent transportation system backbone. this system harvests existing automatic vehicle location (avl) data from within king county metro transit and transports the raw data to the uw, where a series of operations converts the data into roadway speed information. this roadway speed information is color coded on the basis of specific, localized conditions for the arterials and freeways to reflect traffic congestion. the resulting traffic data product is then provided to wsdot as a virtual sensor data source for roadways where presently there are no inductance loops. the project also created several user interfaces for traveler information, including a java application that displays the spatial and temporal average speeds of transit vehicles on a map of the major arterials and freeways and a type of traveler information map. this report also includes a quantitative evaluation of transit vehicles as traffic probes. a comparison of statistics between virtual sensors based on transit vehicles as probes and those from speed traps presently used by wsdot suggested this virtual sensor technology can be used to identify both recurring and non-recurring congestion with the accuracy associated with speed traps. this means that additional roadways that do not presently have speed traps can be instrumented without installing equipment in the roadway. probe vehicles, virtual sensors, transit buses, loop detectors, quantitative analysis, congestion map, arterial highways trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 635.2 | CCTV Technical Report - Phase 3 (The Automated Use of Un-Calibrated CCTV Cameras as Quantitative Speed Sensors-Phase 3) | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | cctv technical report - phase 3 (the automated use of un-calibrated cctv cameras as quantitative speed sensors-phase 3) dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. the washington state departmnt of transportation (wsdot) has a network of several hundred closed-circuit television (cctv) traffic surveillance cameras that are deployed for congestion monitoring on the freeways and arterials around seattle. the goal of the first two phases of this project was to create algorithms that would allow these cameras to make continuous quantitative measurements of vehicle speed. in the first two phases, a number of algorithms were developed and tested; the most successful of these was chosen for implementation in this, phase 3. the goal of this third phase was to implement the algorithms as prototype software. closed-circuit television (cctv), traffic surveillance, congestion monitoring, speed sensors, camera calibration trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 635.1 | The Automated Use of Un-Calibrated CCTV Cameras as Quantitative Speed Sensors - Phase 3 | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | the automated use of un-calibrated cctv cameras as quantitative speed sensors - phase 3 dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has a network of several hundred closed-circuit television (cctv) traffic surveillance cameras that are deployed for congestion monitoring on the freeways and arterials around seattle. the goal of the first two phases of this project was to create algorithms that would allow these cameras to make continuous quantitative measurements of vehicle speed. in the first two phases, a number of algorithms were developed and tested; the most successful of these was chosen for implementation in this, phase 3. the goal of this third phase was to implement the algorithms as prototype software. closed-circuit television (cctv), traffic surveillance, congestion monitoring, speed sensors, camera calibration trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 633.1 | A General Simulation Model for Use with Real Freeway Data to Perform Congestion Prediction--Phase 3 | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2006 | a general simulation model for use with real freeway data to perform congestion prediction--phase 3 dailey,d. j., wall,z. the overall goal of this project is to create a method for predicting traffic congestion on freeway corridors. this report documents the calibration of the model and demonstrates its verisimilitude across full days and over 10 miles. in addition, it provides a demonstration of the utility of the model by testing its ability to perform simulation of vehicle behavior under unusual conditions. inter-vehicle communication to improve safety is simulated, and the resulting safety and congestion reduction that can be gained by sharing vehicle states is demonstrated. inductance loops, traffic speed, simulation, ramp control, freeway, time headway, wireless trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 643.1 | Evaluation of Puget Sound HOV Lane Hours of Operation Pilot Project: Final Report | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2006 | evaluation of puget sound hov lane hours of operation pilot project: final report hallenbeck,m. e., ishimaru,j. m., kopf,j., nee,j., leth,m., forbis,l. in the summer of 2003, a two-year pilot program began that allows single-occupant vehicles (sov's) to use hov lanes on four of the five primary freeway corridors in the seattle area during the hours of 7:00pm to 5:00 am, seven days a week. after two years, the percentage and number of sov's using the hov lane increased at the start of the revised hours (7:00pm) at most locations evaluated, and the percentage of all traffic using the hov lane after 7:00 pm increased. at some locations, sov violation rates increased in the hov lane during the transition periods (6:45 pm to 7:00 pm, and shortly after 5:00 am); the increases were generally not large, with some exceptions at locations that also have significant general purpose pm congestion. some locations saw a drop in violation rates. traffic performance changes after 7:00 pm were difficult to determine, although estimates suggest a small shift toward slightly higher speeds in the gp lanes after 7:00 pm. there was almost no change in hov lane performance after 7:00 pm. a review of collision records for the periods 2001-2002 and 2004-2005 indicated that generally there were no adverse safety effects related to revising the hov lane hours of operation. the evaluation revealed a reduction in daily occurrence of run-off-road collisions, including during nighttime hours. additionally, no adverse safety effects were identified during the 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm period or during the entire nighttime when the hov lanes are open to general purpose traffic. there was evidence that safety improvements implemented before the start of the pilot project may have contributed to a lower rate of nighttime run-off-road type collisions. a traveler survey showed that among those who were already aware of the new policy, 31 to 45 percent associate the new hours of operation with perceived improvements in maneuverability, safety, and/or speeds, although a similar percentage of people surveyed did not perceive any change. there was sizeable support for the program among both sov and hov travelers, and a significant number of respondents had a more favorable opinion of the hov system as a whole because of the new hours of operation. at the same time, only slightly less than one-half of those surveyed were aware of the revised hours of operation. high occupancy vehicles, high occupancy vehicle lanes, single occupant vehicles, vehicle occupancy, freeway operations, freeway management system trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 646.1 | Freight Efficiency and Competitiveness Phase I | Jones | WSDOT/USDOT | 2006 | freight efficiency and competitiveness phase i jones,t., hartshorn,s., heffron,m., siegmund,m., duffy,t., hart,a. the freight efficiency and competitiveness study provides a comprehensive look at the freight delivery supply chain of major industries in the central puget sound region. the study pinpoints areas of inefficiency in the freight delivery system and provides data to support the creation of a strategic investment plan for washington state's freight transportation system. the report is organized into four sections: 1. introduction and executive summary; 2. overview of target supply chains; 3. issues, constraints and potential remedies based on freight interviews; 4. constraints, opportunities, and recommendations. the research and analysis for this project included indepth interviews with key freight personnel in washington state, industry research, and market analysis. these methods allowed a better understanding of the freight and supply chain issues of each industry. from this, the study was able to identify and quantify bottlenecks and deficiencies in the existing transportation system. freight, efficiency, competitiveness wsdot/usdot 2006 |
| WA-RD 650.1 | Warm Mix Asphalt for Cold Weather Paving | Kristjansdottir | TRAC/UW | 2006 | warm mix asphalt for cold weather paving kristjansdottir, o. increased environmental awareness and stricter emissions regulations have led to a development of warm mix asphalt (wma) to reduce the high mixing temperatures of regular hot mix asphalt (hma). its benefits are reduction in energy consumption during production and reduced emissions during production and placement. the three most tested methods are; wam foam, aspha-min zeolite and sasobit wax. all three methods reduce the viscosity of the binder at a certain temperature range, allowing the aggregate to be fully coated at lower temperatures than in hma production. previous research has not focused much on how wma functions in cold weather paving. this paper investigates wma’s potential in cold weather conditions and specifically how iceland, with such conditions, can benefit from it. the conclusions in this paper are drawn from a literature review and a survey that was conducted among iceland’s paving industry professionals. reduced emissions are especially beneficial in densely populated areas and in non-open air paving. the decreased viscosity allows effective compaction at lower temperatures where cool down rates are slower. wma’s disadvantages are mainly related to rutting and moisture susceptibility issues. using wma processes at hma production temperatures: 1) increases the temperature gap between production and cessation, allowing e.g. increased haul distances 2) facilitates compaction, which is beneficial for; stiff mixes and rap, paving during extreme weather conditions and reduction in compaction effort. icelandic professionals are generally positive towards wma, interested in testing it further for icelandic conditions, and hopeful about its potential for helping with some key problems in icelandic paving. the final conclusion is that wma is a viable option for cold weather conditions and for the paving industry in iceland, sasobit is most suitable of the three methods, and usage incentives are twofold: 1) as a compaction aid for mixes produced at, or close to, regular hma production temperatures, used to increase haul distances and/or pave during cold and difficult weather conditions, and sometimes slightly reduce fuel consumption as well. 2) as an environmentally friendly method when emissions approach limits, although not an issue today it may become one with stricter emissions regulations or increased production. warm mix asphalt, wma, hot-mix asphalt, hma, emissions trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 632.1 | Highway Project Delivery Requirements | Machek | WSDOT | 2006 | highway project delivery requirements machek,e., poe,c. the work of developing and delivering a highway project is governed by a wide array of state and federal requirements. the volpe national transportation systems center (volpe center) worked with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) to help make these requirements more transparent to the highway project team. the project included data gathering and documentation of wsdot's project delivery stages, the federal and state requirements relevant to each stage, and the roles and responsibilities of stateholders throughout the delivery of wsdot highway projects. the results were delivered as a series of web pages that illustrates the overall process and provides links to the federal and state requirements in each stage. project delivery, project management, legislation, regulation wsdot 2006 |
| WA-RD 639.1 | Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of Existing Multi-Column Bent Bridges | McDaniel | TRAC/WSU | 2006 | seismic assessment and retrofit of existing multi-column bent bridges mcdaniel,c. c. the main objective of this research was to assess the seismic vulnerability of typical pre-1975 wsdot prestressed concrete multi-column bent bridges. additional objectives included determining the influence of soil-structure-interaction on the bridge assessment and evaluating the effects of non-traditional retrofit schemes on the global response of the bridges. overall this research highlighted the vulnerability of non-monolithic bridge decks and shear-dominated bridge columns in pre-1975 wsdot prestressed concrete multi-column bent bridges as well as the importance of including soil-structure-interaction, calibrating the force/displacement characterization of the columns to experimental test data and detailed modeling of the bridges such as expansion joint/girder interaction. in the end, the seismic assessment of bridges is a cost/efficiency issue. each bridge is different, therefore, investing in improved analyses up front will enable an efficient use of the limited funds for bridge improvement, resulting in a significant savings overall. wsdot, prestressed concrete, multi-column bent, bridges, seismic assessment, retrofit trac/wsu 2006 |
| WA-RD 647.1 | Improving Dual-Loop Truck (and Speed) Data: Quick Detection of Malfunctioning Loops and Calculation of Required Adjustments | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 2006 | improving dual-loop truck (and speed) data: quick detection of malfunctioning loops and calculation of required adjustments nihan,n. l., wang,y., cheevarunothai,p. the capability of measuring vehicle lengths makes dual-loop detectors a potential real-time truck data source for freight movement studies. however, a previous study found that the dual-loop detection system of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) was not consistently reporting accurate truck volumes because of its sensitivity setting problems. specifically, the sensitivity problems found were: (1) sensitivity discrepancies between the two single loops that form a dual-loop detector; and (2) unsuitable sensitivity level settings for both single loops even when discrepancies weren’t significant. both problems can result in erroneous vehicle length estimates and, consequently, inaccurate truck counts. as an extension of the previous study, this research project developed an algorithm for the identification and correction of such loop sensitivity problems. the algorithm identifies dual-loop sensitivity problems using individual vehicle information extracted from high-resolution loop event data and corrects dual-loop sensitivities through a two-step procedure: 1) remove the sensitivity discrepancy between the two single loops and 2) adjust their sensitivities to the appropriate level. the algorithm was also implemented in a computer application named the advanced loop event data analyzer (aleda) system for convenient usage. elimination of dual-loop sensitivity problems enhances the reliability of the dual-loop detection system and improves the quality of truck volume data. the findings and products from this study will help wsdot obtain more accurate speed and truck volume data from the existing dual-loop detectors. loop detectors, speed, data collection, trucks, sensitivity trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 644.1 | Research on the Upstream Passage of Juvenile Salmon through Culverts: Retrofit Baffles | Pearson | Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwes | 2006 | research on the upstream passage of juvenile salmon through culverts: retrofit baffles pearson,w. h., southard,s. l., may,c. w., skalski,j. r., townsend,r. l., horner-devine,a. r., thurman,d. r., hotchkiss,r. h., morrison,r. r., richmond,m. c., deng,d. this report provides data from biological tests conducted november 2005 through january 2006 by battelle for the wsdot at the culvert test bed facility located at the wdfw skookumchuck hatchery near tenino, washington. fish tests evaluated passage success in a 40-ft. corrugated culvert without baffles or with three weir baffles at one culvert slope (1.14%) and over five flows (1.5, 3, 6, 8, and 12 cfs). the 3- and 8-cfs flows were tested under an additional backwatering condition. the relationships between natural logarithm of passage success of juvenile coho salmon (94 mm to 104 mm) and culvert discharge were statistically significant and curvilinear for all three configurations. for the configuration without baffles, passage success was about 40% at 1.5 cfs, increased to about 70% at 3 cfs, and then decreased to less than 10% and 12 cfs. the curves for configurations without baffles and with baffles and elevated backwatering condition did not differ significantly. both these curves wre significantly greater than the curve for the configuration with baffles and standard backwatering condition. backwatering influences passage success through baffled culverts and needs to be considered as an experimental variable in future studies. behavioral observations indicate the fish used low-velocity pathways and that these pathways differed between the baffled and unbaffled conditions and perhaps differed with flow for the baffled condition. culvert, juvenile coho, fish passage, baffles battelle memorial institute, pacific northwes 2006 |
| WA-RD 656.1 | Improving Truck and Speed Data Using Paired Video and Single-Loop Sensors | Wang | TRAC/UW | 2006 | improving truck and speed data using paired video and single-loop sensors wang,y., nihan,n. l., avery,r. p., zhang,g. real-time speed and truck data are important inputs for modern freeway traffic control and management systems. however, these data are not directly measurable by single-loop detectors. although dual-loop detectors provide speeds and classified vehicle volumes, there are too few of them on our current freeway systems to meet the practical needs of advanced traffic management systems. this makes it extremely desirable to develop appropriate algorithms to calculate speed and truck volume from single-loop outputs or from video data. to obtain quality estimates of traffic speed and truck volume data, several algorithms were developed and implemented in this study. these algorithms are (1) a speed estimation algorithm based on the region growing mechanism and single-loop measurements; (2) a set of computer –vision-based algorithms for extracting background images from a video sequence, detecting the presence of vehicles, identifying and removing shadows, and calculating pixel-based vehicle lengths for classification; and (3) a speed estimation algorithm that uses paired video and single-loop sensor inputs. these algorithms were implemented in three distinct computer applications. field-collected video and loop detector data were used to test the algorithms. our test results indicated that quality speed and truck volume data can be estimated with the proposed algorithms by using single-loop data, video data, or both video and single-loop data. the video-based vehicle detection and classification (vvdc) system, based on the proposed video image processing algorithms, provides a cost-effective solution for automatic traffic data collection with surveillance video cameras. for locations with both video and single-loop sensors, speed estimates can be improved by combining video data with single-loop data. trucks, data collection, computer vision, loop detectors, vehicle classification, video image processing, speed trac/uw 2006 |
| WA-RD 645.1 | Evaluation of the Influence of Tack Coat Construction Factors on the Bond Strength between Pavement Layers | Tashman | TRAC/WSU | 2006 | evaluation of the influence of tack coat construction factors on the bond strength between pavement layers tashman,l., nam,k., papagiannakis,t. this study investigated the influence of several factors on the adhesive bond provided by the tack coat at the interface between pavement layers. these factors included the surface treatment, curing time, residual application rate, and coring location. three tests were performed for measuring the bond strength between an existing hot mix asphalt (hma) and a new hma overlay, namely the florida dot shear tester, the utep pull off test, and the torque bond test. testing involved a css-1 type emulsion as the tack coat. the results from the three tests were statistically analyzed. generally, milling provided a significantly better bond at the interface between the existing surface and the new overlay. curing time had a minimal effect on the bond stength. the results indicated that the absence of tack coat did not significantly affect the bond strength at the interface for the milled sections, whereas it severely decreased the strength for the non-milled sections. the results also showed that increasing the residual rate of tack coat did not significantly change the bond strength at the interface. lastly, the coring location was found to be an insignificant factor. tack coat, interface, bond strength, shear strength, test for tack coat, statistical analysis, performance trac/wsu 2006 |
| WA-RD 648.1 | Impacts of Ferry Terminals on Juvenile Salmon Movement along Puget Sound Shorelines | Southard | Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwes | 2006 | impacts of ferry terminals on juvenile salmon movement along puget sound shorelines southard,s. l., thom,r. m., williams,g. d., toft,j. d., may,c. w., mcmichael,g. a., vucelick,j. a., newell,j. t., southard,j. a. this study used both standardized surveys and innovative fish tagging and tracking technologies to address whether wsf terminals alter the behavior of migrating juvenile salmon, and if so, which attributes mediate abundance patterns or behavioral changes. results showed that juvenile salmon were observed most frequently adjacent to ferry terminals, but were also observed far from and underneath the terminals. in some situations, juvenile salmon aggregated near the edge of the ferry terminal ows. variations in habitat, as mediated by tidal stage (affecting current magnitude and direction, light under structures, water level) and time of day (light level, sun angle, cloud cover), likely affect salmonid movement. juvenile chum were observed to remain on the light side of a relatively sharp light-dark "edge" over a short horizontal distance (e.g., five meters). these observations demonstrate that the shading caused by ferry terminals and other ows characteristics can deter or delay juvenile salmonid movement, and that this effect may be decreased at low tides when ambient light can better filter beneath the terminal structure. recommendations are made concerning the design and operation of wsf terminals with regard to minimizing the undesirable impacts of ows on juvenile salmonid movement as well as additional research. juvenile salmon, ferry terminals, salmon migration battelle memorial institute, pacific northwes 2006 |
| WA-RD 654.1 | Safety Evaluation Testbeds--An Assessment of Safety Project Prioritization in the WSDOT 12 Program | Shankar | Pennsylvania Transportation Institute/Washing | 2006 | safety evaluation testbeds--an assessment of safety project prioritization in the wsdot 12 program shankar,v., shyu,m., sittikariya,s., sikder,s. this study examines the feasibility of bayesian and data envelopment techniques for robust identification of safety priorities in the washington state dot improvement program. findings indicate that the methods employed in this study have potential for reliable predictions and identification of safety needs. a case study dataset of high accident locations was used to make this assessment. safety prioritization, bayesian methods, data envelopment analysis pennsylvania transportation institute/washing 2006 |
| WA-RD 600.1 | Improving Traffic Characterization to Enhance Pavement Design and Performance: Load Spectra Development | Al-Yagout | TRAC/UW | 2005 | improving traffic characterization to enhance pavement design and performance: load spectra development al-yagout, m.a., mahoney, j. p., pierce, l., hallenbeck, m.e. this research addresses the understanding of, and need for, load spectra in future pavement design procedures and as a stepping stone toward more complete pavement design. the primary objective of this project was to develop truck axle load spectra for washington state. to do this, axle load data collected at wim stations throughout washington state were used. the developed load spectra encompass the principal truck axles on the roadway network: single, tandem, and tridem. achieving this objective allows the washington state department of transportation, or any state highway agency with analogous traffic patterns, to accommodate the requirements of the 2002 design guide, developed through nchrp project 1-37a. a secondary objective of this project was to determine whether esals obtained from the developed load spectra are significantly different from historical values. because the developed load spectra are transformable to esals, state highway agencies that decide not to use the new guide can still choose to employ the esals produced with the load spectra. the project concluded that the developed load spectra are reasonable. for single axles they are comparable to the 2002 design guide and mnroad defaults. for tandem and tridem axles, they are slightly more conservative than defaults of the 2002 design guide and mnroad, but they are still within reason. in addition, the esals per vehicle class associated with the developed load spectra are comparable to washington state historical esals for vehicle classes 9, 10, and 13. the use of the newly developed esals per vehicle will generally increase design esals, but that increase will be due to inclusion of the less predominant vehicle classes (4, 6, 7, 8, and 11). agencies, axle, data, design, developed, development, equivalent single axel load, esal, highway, load spectra, pavement, pavement design, performance, project, research, roadway, single axle, traffic, transportation, truck, washington, washington state, weigh-in-motion, wim trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 610.1 | Development of the WSDOT Pile-Driving Formula and Its Calibration for Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) | Allen | WSDOT | 2005 | development of the wsdot pile-driving formula and its calibration for load and resistance factor design (lrfd) allen,t. m. prior to 1997, wsdot used the engineering news record (enr) formula for driving piling to the design capacity. washington state department of transportation (wsdot) sponsored research published in 1988 had shown that the enr formula was quite inaccurate, and that moving toward the gates formula would be a substantial improvement fragaszy et al. 1988). hence, in 1996, an in-house study was initiated to update the driving formula used for pile driving acceptance in the wsdot standard specifications. recently compiled databases of pile load test results were used as the basis for developing improvements to the gates formula to improve pile bearing resistance prediction accuracy. from this empirical analysis, the wsdot driving formula was derived. once the wsdot driving formula had been developed, the empirical data used for its development were also used to establish statistical parameters that could be used in reliability analyses to determine resistance factors for load and resistance factor design (lrfd). the monte carlo method was used to perform the reliability analyses. other methods of pile resistance prediction were also analyzed, and resistance factors were developed for those methods as well. of the driving formulae evaluated, the wsdot formula produced the most efficient result, with a resistance factor of 0.55 to 0.60. a resistance factor of 0.55 is recommended. dynamic measurement during pile driving using the pile driving analyzer (pda), combined with signal matching analysis (e.g., capwap), produced the most efficient result of all the pile resistance prediction methods, with a resistance factor of 0.70 to 0.80. impervious surface, remote sensing, predictive model, transportation wsdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 616.1 | WSDOT's Role in TDM: Strategic Interest, Structure, and Responsibilities | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2005 | wsdot's role in tdm: strategic interest, structure, and responsibilities carlson,d., hill,z., simmons,j., atchison,a. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has posed several questions about its role in transportation demand management (tdm), including how it defines tdm, what its strategic interest in tdm is, how tdm relates to its transportation goals, what responsibilities it should assume, and how it ought to structure itself to implement tdm. wsdot hired a research team at the university of washington evans school of public affairs to answer these questions, describing the current tdm environment, interviewing key stakeholders, and recommending approaches in each area. the research team found that tdm measures can enable the movement of more people and goods over existing and future state roads at far less capital, political, and environmental cost than construction of new highways. among its recommendations are that wsdot should do the following: · call out tdm as an explicit framework for managing and increasing the person throughput of the existing state transportation system. · take the lead in developing a tdm "brand," which will serve as a universal identifier for tdm campaigns at the local, regional, and state levels. · set targets for the number of people-not vehicles-moving through key corridors during peak periods and targets for the number of people choosing to not drive alone in key corridors during peak periods. · develop tdm priority areas where state transportation investments are linked to local transit-efficient land uses. tdm, transportation demand management, wsdot trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 609.1 | The CTR Performance Grant Program: Strengthening the Program's Structure and Market | Carlson | TRAC/UW | 2005 | the ctr performance grant program: strengthening the program's structure and market carlson,d., simmons,j., hill,z., atchison,a. through the commute trip reduction (ctr) performance grant program, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is breaking new ground by testing whether the state can obtain transportation capacity by purchasing single occupant vehicle trips as well as roadway infrastructure. wsdot hired a research team at the evans school of public affairs to examine the program's design and market structure to identify ways both could be modified to better achieve program goals. the research team determined that wsdot is a true innovator in seeking ways to increase capacity and reduce congestion, but that the ctr performance grant program could be more effective if wsdot clarified whether its primary goal is trip removal or innovation. furthermore, the state could more easily remove high impact trips from the transportation system if the program focused more narrowly on peak hour trips in high-use corridors. commute trip reduction, performance grant, transportation grant, trip reduction market trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 630.1 | Radar for Traffic Monitoring | Corbeil | Technology Service Corporation/WSDOT | 2005 | radar for traffic monitoring corbeil,a., pieramico,a., shipley,c. tsc investigated the technical feasibility of building a traffic monitoring sensor that is based on a police speed radar. this sensor would provide estimated vehicle counts and speeds along an extended stretch of remote roadway. tsc evaluated the visibility from two wsdot towers that were suggested as demonstration test sites. a radar system configuration was designed for future implementation, and required components and costs were identified. radar for traffic monitoring, traffic monitoring, remote traffic monitoring technology service corporation/wsdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 617.1 | AVL-Equipped Vehicles as Speed Probes (Phase 3) | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2005 | avl-equipped vehicles as speed probes (phase 3) dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) operates a central traffic management system (tms) for both day-to-day surveillance and traveler information. past efforts developed the ability to create real-time traffic speed information by using virtual sensors that are based on transit vehicle tracking data. in order for this new information source to be merged into the tms, a number of questions, such as probe density in time and space, needed to be resolved. this report presents the solution developed at the university of washington (uw). this solution provides real-time congestion information from seattle area freeways and arterials-i-5, i-90, sr 520 and sr 99-to the wsdot tms using the intelligent transportation system (its) backbone. this project harvests existing automatic vehicle location (avl) data from within king county metro transit and transports the raw data to the uw, where a series of operations converts the data into roadway speed information. this roadway speed information is color coded on the basis of specific, localized conditions for the arterials and freeways to reflect traffic congestion. the resulting traffic data product is then provided to wsdot as a data source for virtual sensors located in roadways where currently there are no inductance loops. in addition to creating the infrastructure for an avl-equipped fleet to serve as probe vehicles, this project created several user interfaces for traveler information. one is "storeview," a java application that displays the spatial and temporal average speeds of transit vehicles as color-coded bubbles on a map of the area's major arterials and freeways. a second type of traveler information, analogous to traffictv and wsdot's pictographic traffic maps, is also available. this report documents both the technical issues addressed in creating a virtual sensor data both the technical issues addressed in creating a virtual sensor data stream from probe vehicle data and the creation of a set of real-time traveler information applications. avl, bus, computing, geographic information systems, gis, probe, road traffic, speed sensors, traffic control, traffic engineering, traffic probes, transit, transit probes, transportation, virtual sensors trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 625.1 | Travel Behavior, Emissions & Land Use Correlation Analysis in the Central Puget Sound | Frank | Lawrence Frank & Co., Inc./WSDOT Urban Planni | 2005 | travel behavior, emissions & land use correlation analysis in the central puget sound frank,l., chapman,j., bradley,m., lawton,t. a growing body of research documents that land use relates with travel mode choice, distances and time spent traveling, and household level vehicle emissions. however, to date little work has been done at a sufficiently disaggregate scale to gain an understanding of how local governments should alter their land use policies and plans to reduce vehicle use and encourage transit and non-motorized forms of travel. this study of the four county central puget sound region links parcel level and use data with travel data collected from the puget sound household travel survey (pshts). the primary aid of the study is to describe how measures of land use mix, density, and street connectivity where people live and work influences their trip-making patterns including trip chaining and mode choice for home-based work trips, home-based non-work trips, and mid-day trips from work. land use measures are developed within one kilometer of the household and employment trip ends in the survey. tour-based models are developed to estimate the relative ujtility of travel across available modes when controlling for level of service, regional accessibility to employment, and socio-demographic factors. a secondary aim of the project is to estimate the linkages between land use and household generation of oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compoounds that are precursors to the formation of harmful ozone. emissions are estimated based on modeled speeds for am, pm, and off-peak travel at the trip link level and then aggregated to the household level. household emisisons are then correlated with land use patterns where people live when controlling for socio-demographic factors. an exploratory analysis was also conducted as part of this work to estimate how land use patterns where people work influences their modal choice and engagement in tmd programs offered by employers. the project relied on the commute trip reduction database from wsdot. however, it was found that additional development of these data is necessary before this type of analysis can be done. results are presented that document how much of an increase in the utilization of specific modes of travel for work and non-work travel would likely accrue from specific types of land use changes, and from changes to travel cost and travel time. land use, travel behavior, air quality, tour based modeling, modal choice lawrence frank & co., inc./wsdot urban planni 2005 |
| WA-RD 611.1 | Precast Concrete Pier Systems for Rapid Construction of Bridges in Seismic Regions | Hieber | TRAC/UW | 2005 | precast concrete pier systems for rapid construction of bridges in seismic regions hieber,d. g., wacker,j. m., eberhard,m. o., stanton,j. f. increasing traffic volumes and a deteriorating transportation infrastructure have stimulated the development of new systems and methods to accelerate the construction of highway bridges. precast concrete bridge components offer a potential alternative to conventional reinforced, cast-in-place concrete components. the use of precast components has the potential to minimize traffic disruptions, improve work zone safety, reduce environmental impacts, improve constructability, increase quality, and lower life-cycle costs. this study compared two precast concrete bridge pier systems for rapid construction of bridges in seismic regions. one was a reinforced concrete system, in which mild steel deformed bars connect the precast concrete components and provide the flexural strength of the columns. the other was a hybrid system, which uses a combination of unbonded post-tensioning and mild steel deformed bars to make the connections. a parametric study of the two types of systems was conducted using nonlinear finite element models to investigate the global response and likelihood of damage for various frame configurations. on the basis of this study, a practical method was developed to estimate maximum seismic displacements from the cracked section properties of the columns, the elastic design displacement response spectrum, and the base-shear strength ratio. the results of the global nonlinear finite element analyses suggest that the systems have the potential for good seismic performance. further analytical and experimental research is needed to investigate the constructability and seismic performance of the connection details. alternative, bridge, bridges, columns, concrete, concrete bridge, connections, constructability, construction, cost, costs, damage, design, developed, development, environmental, environmental impact experimental, finite element, highway, impact, impacts, infrastructure, methods, models, performance piers, precast, precast concrete, prestressed concete, quality, rapid construction, regions, reinforce concrete, research, response spectra, response spectrum, safety, seismic, seismic performance, steel strength, study, substructures, system, systems, traffic, traffic volumes, trasportation, volume trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 621.1 | Roadside Vegetation Management Study: Literature Review, Interview Summaries, and Decision Framework | Hill | TRAC/UW | 2005 | roadside vegetation management study: literature review, interview summaries, and decision framework hill,k., horner,r. r. this study was conducted for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) to explore both the need for and the variety of alternatives to the use of an annual application of herbicides for removing vegetation in the area immediately adjacent to the pavement edge. our study approached these questions in two different ways, developing both a literature review and a set of interviews with people who have specific knowledge or views of these issues. we conducted interviews with three groups of people to identify issues, maintenance alternatives, and significant literature references: (1) staff at other federal, state, and county transportation agencies, (2) staff and volunteers who work with advocacy groups, and (3) researchers at academic institutions who specialize in related areas. our literature review contains a set of citations that present related management issues and alternative practices. the abstracts for these references were included when available. to summarize what we learned from the interviews and literature sources, we developed a decision framework that could be used to guide wsdot district maintenance staff in formulating management plans for vegetation. the decision framework differs from current practice primarily in that it begins with the assumption that maintenance of the area immediately adjacent to the pavement is not necessary unless some particular, observable condition triggers the need for such maintenance. agencies, alternative, annual, best practices, condition, counties, developed, environmental management, framework, group, herbicides, integrated vegetation management (ivm), interviews, issues, maintenance, management, pavement, pavement edge, research, review, road ecology, roadside, roadside maintenance, roadside vegetation, study, transportation, vegetation management, washington, washington state, weeds, wsdot, zone 1 trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 631.1 | A Motorist and Pedestrian Behavioral Analysis on SR 7 | Kopf | TRAC/UW | 2005 | a motorist and pedestrian behavioral analysis on sr 7 kopf,j., hallenbeck,m. e. the objective of this project was to evaluate motorist and pedestrian behavioral changes resulting from federally funded engineering treatments on sr 7 in pierce county. the project installation included a median with a pedestrian refuge island, allowing pedestrians to cross one direction at a time. nearby transit stops were also relocated to concentrate pedestrians at a single crossing point. the goal of the project was to increase safety for pedestrians, with particular focus on pedestrians and motorists over the age of 65.a before-and-after analysis was conducted at s. 180th street on sr 7. the main performance measures included pedestrian crossing locations, wait times, changes in pedestrian behaviors, and changes in motorist behaviors. the safety treatments did not have the expected positive effect of encouraging pedestrians to use the median refuge for crossing. pedestrians were more likely to used the marked crosswalks in the before phase than the median refuge in the after phase. motorist yielding also decreased after the median installation.the true effects of the median installation may have been limited because of equipment constraints and project schedule. in addition, the sample size was small, particularly during the after phase, because of a low crossing rate at the site. this particular median design could potentially be more effective at a location with more frequent crossings. pedestrian safety, median refuge, pedestrian crossings, vehicle compliance trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 623.1 | Central Puget Sound Freeway Network Usage and Performance, 2003 Update | Kopf | TRAC/UW | 2005 | central puget sound freeway network usage and performance, 2003 update kopf,j., ishimaru,j. m., nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. this summary report presents an overview of the level of traveler usage (e.g., how many vehicles use the freeways), and travel performance (e.g., how fast they are traveling, where and how often congestion occurs) on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area. the freeways studied in this project are managed by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region. data presented in this report were collected by the wsdot's freeway surveillance system. the project that led to this report is intended to meet two separate purposes: 1) to enhance wsdot's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management effort on seattle-area highways, and 2) to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the second of these objectives. however, the software developed to assist in freeway data analysis for this project and many of the graphics presented in this report are directly applicable to the first objective. archived data user services (adus), congestion monitoring, freeway performance trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 608.1 | ARROWS Evaluation | Senn | TRAC/UW | 2005 | arrows evaluation senn, l., boselly, e. in a june 2002 meeting, winter maintenance managers at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) said that more accurate forecasts, that told not only where but when inclement weather was due, would be a valuable tool to aid them in keeping washington state highways safe and passable during winter months. in response, the wsdot its office teamed with the university of washington department of atmospheric sciences to build weather information and forecasting web pages specifically tailored to he managers' desire and needs. the result was the development of the arrows website, made available to all wsdot winter maintenance managers for the 2003-2004 winter season. wsdot subsequently conducted an in-house survey to determine what arrows users thought about the usefulness and presentation of information. this report presents the results of that survey, which have been sued as input to the continuing development of arrows. roadway maintenance, winter maintenance, road weather information systems, rwis, weather forecasts trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 619.1 | Measurement of Recurring and Non-Recurring Congestion: Phase 2 | Kopf | TRAC/UW | 2005 | measurement of recurring and non-recurring congestion: phase 2 kopf, j., nee, j., ishimaru, j.m., hallenbeck, m.e. in 2003, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) initiated a research effort to develop and test a methodology for estimating congestion delay on seattle area freeways. the initial phase of the research developed a preliminary methodology for both measuring congestion and assigning that congestion to specific lane blocking incidents. in phase 2 of this study, that methodology was automated and extended to include an examination of the effects of incidents occurring on the shoulders of the freeway, spillback from incident-caused congestion on one freeway that affects a second freeway that feeds traffic onto the initially congested facility, special events, and weather. because funding for this effort was extremely limited, only three corridors (with both directions analyzed independently) and two months of data were analyzed. the project found that the phase 1 methodology works well in assigning traffic congestion that occurs in the immediate time frame and geographic location of incidents to those incidents. it also showed that this process can be automated, making the data preparation effort now the primary determinant of the cost of additional work of this kind. unfortunately, even with the addition of shoulder incidents, special events, and weather to lane blocking events, the automated process is unable to assign a significant proportion of the non-recurring delay occurring on seattle freeways. the detailed analysis of freeway performance showed that much of the delay caused by specific incidents occurs in places or at times removed from the incident itself. the result is that much of the observed non-recurring delay can not be assigned to specific causes by the current analytical process. new analytical procedures will need to be developed in phase 3 of this work. the phase 2 analysis also confirmed that the congestion effects of specific incidents and other traffic disruptions are highly dependent on the background traffic conditions at the time of the disruption. while the phase 2 analysis did not produce all of the results desired, the additional analyses showed that the summary statistics output from the phase 2 software are useful as input to other analytical procedures. congestion causes, freeway performance, traffic congestion, washington, washington state, transportation, wsdot, research, methodology, congestion, seattle, freeway, developed, incident, study, effects, traffic, facilities, corridors, data, project, cost, analysis, performance, in-place, condition, statistics, software trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 606.1 | ATIS Evaluation Framework | Kopf | TRAC/UW | 2005 | atis evaluation framework kopf,j., nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. this report documents the results of five advanced traveler information system (atis) project evaluations performed for the washington state department of transportation. the projects encompass a range of devices in both urban and rural environments. guidelines and lessons learned for planning and operating atis programs were then developed from the evaluation results. these observations were clustered into common themes in the areas of maintenance, rural projects, project management, staffing, training, support, and customer response. as part of this effort, a standardized evaluation approach for atis projects was developed. the approach was designed to focus on technical, management, and organizational lessons learned. the method was effective in producing useful information about atis benefits and deployment issues. using that approach, an additional nineteen required atis evaluations will be performed in a second project phase. the additional evaluations will also provide an opportunity to further verify and strengthen the initial lessons learned, as well as to expand the method. advanced traveler information systems, atis, benefit, benefits, environment, evaluation, framework, intelligent transportation system, its, maintenance, management, planning, program, project evaluation, project management, rural, training, transportation, traveler information, urban, washington, washington state trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 588.2 | PCCP Models for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Decision-Making | Li | TRAC/UW | 2005 | pccp models for rehabilitation and reconstruction decision-making li, j., muench, s.t., mahoney, j.p., pierce, l., sivaneswaran, n. the majority of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) portland cement concrete (pcc) pavements have far exceeded their original design lives and have carried several times the traffic loading originally anticipated. wsdot is undertaking a major effort to identify both rehabilitation and reconstruction projects to improve its pcc pavements. this project was performed to estimate wsdot's concrete pavement performance. the current pcc pavement conditions were thoroughly analyzed. two major groups of concrete pavement deterioration models were systematically studied: hdm-4 and nchrp 1-37a. nchrp 1-37a models proved to be more suitable for wsdot conditions. the calibrated faulting and roughness models are able to present the typical performance of wsdot pcc pavements. these models can be used to assist wsdot in developing a plan for rehabilitating or reconstructing these pavements. pavement management, pavement performance, pavement deterioration models, dowel bar retrofit, wspms, hdm-4, nchrp 1-37a, roughness, spalling, transverse cracking, longitudinal cracking, faulting trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 602.1 | Information Tools to Improve Post-Earthquake Prioritization of WSDOT Bridge Inspections | Malone | TRAC/UW | 2005 | information tools to improve post-earthquake prioritization of wsdot bridge inspections malone,s., eberhard,m. o., labelle,j., ranf,t. university of washington researchers developed information tools to increase the speed and efficiency of washington state department of transportation (wsdot) post-earthquake response and recovery efforts. the researchers upgraded the pacific northwest seismograph network (pnsn) ground-motion processing software to rapidly generate and disseminate "shakemaps," which are maps of earthquake intensity. the researchers also implemented two procedures to estimate the likelihood of slight (or greater) bridge damage; these procedures are based on the intensity of earthquake shaking (obtained from the shakemaps) and on each bridge's location, year of construction, and bridge type (obtained from the washington state bridge inventory). the first procedure, developed at the university of washington, is based on observations of bridge damage from the 2001 nisqually earthquake. the second procedure is contained in the federal emergency management agency hazus software for predicting the lowest level of damage. shortly following an earthquake, e-mail and pager alert messages will be sent to wsdot personnel notifying them of the preliminary earthquake magnitude and epicenter. shakemaps and a prioritized list of bridges (ranked by likelihood of bridge damage) will be available on a web server at the university of washington and will be pushed to a wsdot ftp server. bridges, damage, earthquakes, fragilities, inspection, shakemap, washington, speed, washington state, transportation, wsdot, software, earthquake, bridge, construction, management trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 607.1 | Options for Benchmarking Performance Improvements Achieved from Construction of Freight Mobility Projects | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 2005 | options for benchmarking performance improvements achieved from construction of freight mobility projects mccormack,e. d., hallenbeck,m. e. this report documents the development of data collection methodologies that can be used to cost effectively measure truck movements along specific roadway corridors selected by transportation agencies in washington state. the intent of this study was to design and test methodologies that could be used to measure the performance of freight mobility roadway improvement projects against benchmarks, or selected standards, that would be used both as part of the project selection process and to report on speed and volume improvements that resulted from completed freight mobility projects. one technology tested was commercial vehicle information system and networks (cvisn) electronic truck transponders, which are mounted on the windshields of approximately 20,000 trucks in washington. by using software to link the transponder reads from sites anywhere in the state, the transponder-equipped trucks could become a travel-time probe fleet. the second technology tested involved global positioning systems (gps) placed in volunteer trucks to collect specific truck movement data at 5-second intervals. with gps data it was possible to understand when and where the monitored trucks experienced congestion and to generate useful performance statistics. the study found that both data collection technologies could be useful; however, the key to both technologies is whether enough instrumented vehicles pass over the roadways for which data are required. this basic condition affects whether the technologies will be effective at collecting the data required for any given benchmark project. the report also recommends the traffic data that should be collected for a benchmark program and the potential costs of using either data collection technology. agencies, commercial vehicle, condition, congestion, construction, corridors, cost, costs, data, data collection, design, development, freight, freight mobility, freight movement reliability, global positioning, global positioning systems, gps, improvement, methodology, mobility, networks, performance, positioning, probe program, project, research, roadway, software, speed, statistics, study, system, systems, technology, traffic, traffic data, transportation, travel time, truck, truck monitoring, trucks, volume, washington, washington state trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 601.1 | Seismic Behavior and Retrofit of Bridge Knee Joint Systems | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2005 | seismic behavior and retrofit of bridge knee joint systems mclean, d.i., shattarat, n.k. experimental tests were conducted on seven 1/3-scale specimens to define the vulnerabilities of existing outrigger bents under in-plane and out-of-plane seismic loading and to develop appropriate retrofit measures that address the identified vulnerabilities. the specimens represented bents with short and long outrigger beams in the sr-99 spokane street overcrossing in western washington state. the as-built specimens failed at low ductility levels due to shear distress, low torsional strength of the beam, and reinforcement bond failures with the joint. circular and d-shaped steel jackets were used to retrofit the regular and split as-built specimens, respectively. the retrofitted specimens developed plastic hinging in the column, with enhanced strength, energy and ductility capacities. threshold principal tension stress values describing the expected condition of the joints were established and compared to values obtained by other researchers. design and detailing guidelines for retrofitting outrigger bents were proposed. the guidelines include equations for the jacket thickness required to form a stable force transfer mechanism between the beam and the column reinforcement as well as to prevent joint failure. outrigger bents, knee joints, retrofitting, seismic response, bond, shear, torsion trac/wsu 2005 |
| WA-RD 638.1 | Understanding Flexibility in Transportation Design -- Washington | Milton | WSDOT | 2005 | understanding flexibility in transportation design -- washington milton,j., st. martin,a. this document provides conceptual guidance for the application of context-sensitive designs in the project development process and provides a compilation of issues that must be evaluated in highway design. the intent of this document is not to be a definitive standard. rather it is to offer information and tools to project staff to increase their understanding of how the different issues are interrelated, and how understanding this relationship leads to better decision-making during the evaluation and optimization of trade-offs. the contents of this document were developed to provide background information on the project development process, and the issues of liability surrounding flexibility in design. detailed discussions illustrate significant and distinguishing features of a variety of contexts in which projects may be located. also, guidance is provided for what type of users may be within each context, and how to develop a connection with the local community. each of these user groups has different needs associated with the design and operation of transportation facilities, and at times these needs conflict. many of these needs and the effect they may have on other users are discussed in this document. environmental considerations such as urban forestry, urban streams, natural resources, cultural and historic resources, air-quality, noise, vibration, night sky darkness, and the use of recycled materials are important components in context-sensitive designs. this document provides information on how to mitigate for possiboe impacts of transportation facilities on the natural environment, and how to enhance the built environment through the use of vegetation and other materials. typical design considerations such as intersection characteristics, gateway elements, roadside design, roadway geometrics, and streetscape amenities present potential trade-offs. the information offered in this document concerning these potential trade-offs aids designers and planners in balancing these trade offs during the project development process to achieve a safe, efficient, and aesthetically appealing transportation facility. context sensitive design, design flexibility, csd, css, design trade off, community involvement, roadside safety, aesthetic design, urban design wsdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 615.2 | Travel Indicators and Trends in Washington State--Summary | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2005 | travel indicators and trends in washington state--summary moudon,a. v., rousseau,g., sohn,d. w. this review of travel indicators in washington state aims to understand similarities and differences between the state and the nation and to detect changes or special conditions that need to be considered in the future. the work is intended to support general transportation policies and future state-level transportation plans. none of the travel indicators reviewed strongly suggests that travel conditions in the state stand out in the national context. two factors are prime in their association with travel demand: household income and development density. stagnant income explains why the demand for car travel has slowed over the recent past, yet future demand for car travel may increase if the economy improves. on the other hand, demand could remain stable if development density continues to increase. residential and population densities are positively associated with demand for modes other than single-occupancy vehicle (sov) travel. living in more compact residential areas and in alternative housing types, and renting versus owning a home, also relate to lower demand for sov travel. even at the aggregate level of national data, the puget sound region's transportation context differs from that of rural or other urbanized regions in the state. state policies need to recognize at least three different markets for transportation, which are found in rural, small town, and metropolitan areas. overall, washington state needs to stay tuned to national projections about the likely impacts on travel demand and transportation of general economic trends, the slow down in household formation, growth in car ownership among new immigrants, an aging population with changing driving patterns, and population growth in densely populated areas --where transportation systems investments and land-use policies can affect future travel behavior. travel indicators, travel trends, socio-demographicfactors, land-use factors, washington state trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 615.1 | Travel Indicators and Trends in Washington state | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2005 | travel indicators and trends in washington state moudon,a. v., rousseau,g., sohn,d. w. this review of travel indicators in washington state aims to understand similarities and differences between the state and the nation and to detect changes or special conditions that need to be considered in the future. the work is intended to support general transportation policies and future state-level transportation plans. none of the travel indicators reviewed strongly suggests that travel conditions in the state stand out in the national context. two factors are prime in their association with travel demand: household income and development density. stagnant income explains why the demand for car travel has slowed over the recent past, yet future demand for car travel may increase if the economy improves. on the other hand, demand could remain stable if development density continues to increase. residential and population densities are positively associated with demand for modes other than single-occupancy vehicle (sov) travel. living in more compact residential areas and in alternative housing types, and renting versus owning a home, also relate to lower demand for sov travel. even at the aggregate level of national data, the puget sound region's transportation context differs from that of rural or other urbanized regions in the state. state policies need to recognize at least three different markets for transportation, which are found in rural, small town, and metropolitan areas. overall, washington state needs to stay tuned to national projections about the likely impacts on travel demand and transportation of general economic trends, the slow down in household formation, growth in car ownership among new immigrants, an aging population with changing driving patterns, and population growth in densely populated areas --where transportation systems investments and land-use policies can affect future travel behavior. travel indicators, travel trends, socio-demographicfactors, land-use factors, washington state trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 620.1 | Transportation-Efficient Land Use Mapping Index (TELUMI) (Phase 3 of Integrating Land Use and Transportation Investment Decision-Making) | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2005 | transportation-efficient land use mapping index (telumi) (phase 3 of integrating land use and transportation investment decision-making) moudon, a.v., sohn, d.w. the objective of this project was to devise a conceptually simple tool that operationalized the complex relationship between land use and travel behavior. the telumi is a set of maps that depicts how the region’s urban form affects overall transportation system efficiency. nine map layers represent the effects of individual land-use variables on transportation efficiency. they include density (residential and employment), mix of uses (shopping and school traffic, the presence of neighborhood centers (nc)), network connectivity (block size), parking supply (amount of parking at grade), pedestrian environment (slopes), and affordable housing. the tenth layer is a composite index, which takes into account the relative effects of each of the nine variables on transportation efficiency, based on a statistical analysis that modeled the relationship between the land-use variables and king county bus ridership. each land-use variable is mapped by using three categories, which define zones of high, latent, and low transportation efficiency (te). high te values correspond to many convenient transportation options, including transit, non-motorized, and other non-sov travel options. low te corresponds to few transportation options beyond sov travel. latent te indicates that travel options remain limited, but that land-use conditions in these zones are favorable enough to permit easy and effective increases in future travel options—either via transportation system investments, demand management or other programmatic actions, or land-use changes. the visual dimension of the telumi’s maps make the tool an attractive means of communication with lay audiences, while its quantitative capabilities can speak to transportation and urban planning professionals. while the telumi now shows how to rate areas of the puget sound for their existing transportation efficiency, it can and should also be used to set goals for future transportation efficiency and to monitor progress over time. changes in the values of land-use variables can be assessed in terms of their impact on the region's overall transportation efficiency. land use, urban form, transportation efficiency, urban planning trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 612.1 | Analysis and Design of Wire Mesh/Cable Net Slope Protection | Muhunthan | TRAC/WSU | 2005 | analysis and design of wire mesh/cable net slope protection muhunthan,b., shu,s., sasiharan,n., hattamleh,o. a. since the 1950s, heavy gage wire mesh has been used along north american highways to control rockfall on actively eroding slopes. more robust fabrics, such as cable nets, have more recently been introduced to improve the capacity of these rockfall protection systems. to date, however, the design of these systems has been based primarily on empirical methods, engineering judgment, and experience. this report summarizes research that characterized existing performance, tested critical system components, back-analyzed system failures, evaluated typical loading conditions, and developed analytical models to refine engineering design of these systems. finally, guidelines were developed to support the design of these systems for a variety of loading conditions. specifically, the report provides design guidance on site suitability, characterizing external loads, fabric selection, anchorage requirements, and system detailing. rockfall, wire mesh, cable net, slope hazard mitigation, snow load, anchor, interface friction trac/wsu 2005 |
| WA-RD 641.1 | Rich Passage Passenger Only Ferry Study--Phase I | Osborne | FTA/USDOT | 2005 | rich passage passenger only ferry study--phase i osborne, p.d., macdonald, n.j. the rich passage passenger only fast ferry study is investigating the feasibility of restoring passenger only fast ferry (opff) service between seattle and bremerton. this report documents the first phase of the study, conducted between june 2004 and february 2005. rich passage shorelines are compartmentalized into several discrete littoral cells of varying dimension and sediment characteristics. beach response to poff operation is a result of poff and non-poff wakes, large water level variations and currents, and wind waves. the complexity of the problem and sensitivity of the community and environment, require a multi-disciplinary effort with tasks that include outreach to waterfront property owners and the general public, numerical model development and application, physical and biological monitoring, data analysis, coastal engineering, and research testing of candidate vessels. in the first phase of study, new physical and biological monitoring data were collected as a baseline for the current studies and for comparison against previous poff operations. model applications include: tidal circulation, wave climatology, beach profile evolution, and a new wake prediction model for high speed vessels. the wake model predicts the generation of wakes and transformation by tidal currents and bathymetry between vessel and shore. wake data from trials of various poffs were acquired to assist in model development and for successful validation. the wake model will be used to study the spatial variation in shore impacts from alternative candidate hull forms. in-situ testing of a foil-assisted catamaran was initiated to provide data for model validation and enhancement. high speed vessels, wake wash, wakes, beach dynamics, wake propagation model, mixed beach, super-critical, sub-critical, energy density, passenger only fast ferry fta/usdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 614.1 | Protocols for Evaluation of Upstream Passage of Juvenile Salmonids in an Experimental Culvert Test Bed | Pearson | WSDOT | 2005 | protocols for evaluation of upstream passage of juvenile salmonids in an experimental culvert test bed pearson,w. h., richmond,m., johnson,g., sargeant,s. l. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and its partner agencies developed a research program to design new and retrofit culverts. the goal of this program is to identify culvert bed configurations, designs, and associated hydraulic conditions that allow successful movement of juvenile salmonids upstream, while safely passing water, sediment, and debris downstream. wsdot, in cooperation with the washington department of fish and wildlife (wdfw), constructed a culvert test bed at the wdfs's skookumchuck hatchery in western washington state. battelle conducted experiments to establish protocols for future research on bed conditions, culvert shape, etc. this technical report describes various protocols, such as time of day, duration of test, and density of test fish, and provides hydraulic and biological characterizations of a baseline culvert. agencies, condition, culvert, culvert passage, culvert test bed, culverts, density, design, developed, evaluation, experimental, fish, its, juvenile salmonid, juvenile salmonid passage, program, research, retrofit, salmonids, transportation, washington, washington state, wildlife, wsdot wsdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 628.1 | Assessment and Mitigation of Potential Environmental Impacts of Portland Cement Concrete Highway Grindings | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 2005 | assessment and mitigation of potential environmental impacts of portland cement concrete highway grindings yonge,d. r., shanmugan,h. the primary objectives of this study were to quantify the affect of pcc slurry on roadside soil ph and to evaluate the effectiveness of using compost to at least partially neutralize slurry ph. soil ph as a function of depth was determined along known areas of slurry disposal (i-90 and sr-195). soil metal concentrations (cadminum, copper, lead and zinc) and soil calcium concentrations were also determined. slurry ph neutralization tests were performed by blending compost (from two different sources) with pcc grinding slurry at three slurry:compost ratios and monitoring ph as a function of time. roadside soil ph was shown to be significantly elevated in some areas along sr-195 and slightly elevated in some of the i-90 sampling locations. compost was shown to reduce slurry ph from about 12 to as low as 8.6 for a slurry:compost ratio of 5:1 (w/w). no significant difference between background soil metal concentrations and those in impacted areas was observed. portland cement concrete, highway resurfacing, diamond grinding, pcc, pcc slurry disposal trac/wsu 2005 |
| WA-RD 629.1 | Design of Precast Concrete Piers for Rapid Bridge Construction of Seismic Regions | Wacker | TRAC/UW | 2005 | design of precast concrete piers for rapid bridge construction of seismic regions wacker,j. m., hieber,d. g., stanton,j. f., eberhard,m. o. incorporating precast concrete components into bridge piers has the potential to reduce the construction time of a bridge and the negative impacts of that construction on traffic flow. practical methodologies are needed to design economical and safe piers out of precast concrete components. this research developed force‑based and displacement‑based procedures for the design of both cast‑in-place emulation and hybrid precast concrete piers. the design procedures were developed so that they require no nonlinear analysis, making them practical for use in a design office.the expected damage to piers designed with the procedures in a design‑level earthquake was estimated. the evaluation considered three types of damage to the columns of a pier: cover concrete spalling, longitudinal reinforcing bar buckling, and fracture of the longitudinal reinforcing bars. both the force‑based and displacement‑based design procedures were found to produce designs that are not expected to experience an excessive amount of damage in a design‑level earthquake. rapid construction, design procedures, hybrid, bridge trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 634.1 | Institutionalizing Flexibility in Transportation Design - Washington | St. Martin | WSDOT | 2005 | institutionalizing flexibility in transportation design - washington st. martin,a., shilbayeh,s., milton,j. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has initiated a multi-faceted, multidisciplinary approach to institutionalizing the processes of context-sensitive design/context-sensitive solutions (csd/css) into all highway projects. the concepts of csd/css are not always fully understood and have been construed at times as a license to drop the level of safety standards regardless of the needs of contexts of the facility. as a state highway agency wsdot, with its partners has focused on defining the philosophy and concepts of csd/css, creating a consistent approach to developing and implementing projects and training staff and partner agencies to improve understanding and to allow for the dissemination of information to stakeholders regarding the csd/css approach. this paper emphasizes the necessity of csd/css as a way of doing business, ensuring that the practice of designing transportation facilities involves an informed, balanced approach that considers safety, aesthetics, and community needs. experience has shown wsdot that to be successful requires support from the top of the agency. this was memorialized in an executive order detailing wsdot's csd/css approach. two documents were developed. the first to improve stakeholder and partner interaction and communication; and the second to better define the concept, trade-offs, and considerations when flexibility in design is part of the project development process. preliminary results of research on csd have shown that safe and aesthetically attractive features and contextual designs can be developed to meet the varied needs of project stakeholders. context sensitive design, flexibility in transportation design wsdot 2005 |
| WA-RD 624.1 | Summary Report: Washington State Road Weather Information Systems | Senn | TRAC/UW | 2005 | summary report: washington state road weather information systems senn,l. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has deployed advanced weather systems and products to support maintenance operations and to provide public information. the expanded system has tremendously improved the availability and quality of weather information for wsdot crews and the traveling public. use of current and forecast weather information has increased from nearly non-existent to an actively used, department-wide resource. this summary report overviews the various efforts, products, and reports generated since the beginning of the road weather project. availability, information systems, maintenance, public, public information, quality, road weather information system, system, systems, transportation, washington, washington state, weather prediction, winter road maintenance, wsdot trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 587.1 | Shoreline Armoring Research Program | Sargeant | WSDOT/Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory | 2005 | shoreline armoring research program sargeant, s. l., miller, m. c., may, c. w., thom, r. m. armoring involves the placement of erosion resistant materials (e.g., large rocks and boulders, cement, pilings, and large woody debris) or the use of bioengineering techniques along shorelines, streambanks, or in other areas of high flow velocities and/or wave-tidal energy to reduce or eliminate erosion of natural shorelines and risk to human infrastructure. unfortunately, altering the physical conditions of the streambank or shoreline through armoring, or bank stabilization, can radically alter the local characteristics of natural habitats and may influence the habitat for some distance surrounding the structure. bank stabilization also affects natural channel processes that are essential to habitat creation and maintenance. as a result, the ecological functions of the impacted area can be altered, including the use of these habitats by fish, macroinvertebrates, birds, and other organisms. conceptual models are used to organize available information relative to ecosystem impacts. this conceptual model and accompanying text outline relationships between shoreline modification techniques; the physical, chemical, and biological processes and functions of freshwater systems; and the potential impacts to salmonid fitness at both large (reach level) and small (site level) scales. particular emphasis is placed on the evaluation of effects on salmonid species and their essential habitat. armoring, shorelines, erosion, habitat, salmonid wsdot/battelle marine sciences laboratory 2005 |
| WA-RD 627.1 | Statewide Archive | Sanderson | TRAC/UW | 2005 | statewide archive sanderson,a., hallenbeck,m. e. this report describes an initial effort to develop intelligent transportation system (its) data archives that can be linked and accessed through a single, web accessible, geographic information system (gis) interface. this project was designed to test where this approach of linking disparate databases can help resolve some of the key issues associated with making transportation system performance data available throughout the department. these include 1) keeping the basic data structures manageably simple to reduce database cost and complexity, 2) allowing data archive control and primary management to remain at the local level to improve the quality control function, 3) providing easy access to staff throughout the organization, 4) providing an interface that makes it easy for staff unfamiliar with the data to learn what data are available in each database, and 5) providing a simple way of allowing staff to combine disparate datasets that share geographic characteristics. to test the concepts developed for this project, the project team created three specific databases and linked those databases through the spatial identifiers stored in wsdot’s geographic information system (gis.) summaries statistics from each of the three databases were developed to be useful to a wide range of wsdot staff, and are available through the internet. the prototype map interface to the three databases can be found at the following url: http://trac29.trac.washington.edu/tracmap/mapserver. traffic data integration, its data archives, adus trac/uw 2005 |
| WA-RD 604.1 | Seismic Behavior of Micropiles | Rodriguez-Marek | TRAC/WSU | 2005 | seismic behavior of micropiles rodriguez-marek,a., munhunthan,b. micropiles are grouted and small diameter piles that are traditionally used in foundation retrofit. experimental evidence has indicated that micropiles behave well under seismic loading due to their high flexibility. moreover, observations in the 1995 kobe earthquake indicate a good performance of friction piles under seismic loading. however, the seismic behavior of micropiles is not fully understood due to the limited number of full- and model-scale tests, as well as the limited amount of numerical modeling studies for micropiles. this project focuses on finite element modeling (fem) of single micropile and micropile groups under both static and dynamic loading. initially, dynamic fe soil models were developed to conduct site response analyses. the lateral vertical boundaries of the soil were set up in such a way that the reflection of the arrival waves at the boundaries was avoided. the results of the site response analyses were verified against the well-validated equivalent linear code shake. subsequently, fe models for micropiles were developed with two constitutive soil models, i.e. a linear elastic and a bounding surface plasticity model. the micropile/soil interface was modeled either with perfect bonding or with frictional interface elements. for dynamic loading cases, a sdof (single degree-of-freedom) superstructure was placed on top of the micropiles. parametric studies were performed for various independent variables including load intensity, non-linearity of soil, and soil stiffness for the static case; and soil non-linearity, input motion intensity, frequency contents of input motion, and the natural period of the superstructure for the dynamic case. the static and dynamic behavior of micropiles was studied via the effects of aforementioned independent variables on the deflections and bending moments along the micropile length. micropiles, soil structure interaction, site response, non-linear soil behavior, finite elements trac/wsu 2005 |
| WA-RD 618.1 | Application of a Simplified Analysis Method for Natural Dispersion of Highway Stormwater Runoff | Reister | TRAC/WSU | 2005 | application of a simplified analysis method for natural dispersion of highway stormwater runoff reister,m., yonge,d. r. this paper focuses on evaluating natural dispersion runoff infiltration performance by utilizing simulated rainfall-runoff data collected using a field-scale rainfall simulator coupled with a numerical model to study the effects of slope length, angle, and impervious contributory area on natural dispersion applications. a simplified equation was established, termed the lid design equation, to analyze natural dispersion performance based on multiple variables that can be determined for site specific conditions, allowing highway engineers to tailor natural dispersion requirements to various locations throughout washington. futhermore, the research and resulting evaluation procedure indicate that current evaluation procedures for the use of natural dispersion as a viable stormwater quantity control strategy are not physically accurate. low impact, infiltration, highway runoff, stormwater runoff, natural dispersion trac/wsu 2005 |
| Washington State Water Quality Opinion Survey: Clean Water in Washington | Brown | TRAC/UW | 2004 | washington state water quality opinion survey: clean water in washington brown, g. m. the survey questionnaire was designed for use by wsdot to elicit what residents in washington state are willing to pay for ameliorating non-point source pollution. this valuation survey will provide a dollar value that individuals or households are willing to pay to improve non-point source pollution in washington. there are many sources of non-point pollution so this value will have to be adjusted to reflect the department of transportation's contribution to reducing non-point source pollution using published data. non-point source pollution, clean water, water quality, surcharge, survey trac/uw 2004 | |
| WA-RD 590.1 | Plan for Pile-driving Research | Carlson | Battelle Pacific Northwest Division of Battel | 2004 | plan for pile-driving research carlson,t. j., sargeant,s. l., johnson,g. e. this document presents a plan pile driving research based on the issues and needs of the wsdot and resource agencies and on discussions that took place during an april 2004 pile driving workshop that was sponsored by wsdot and coordinated by battelle. the work plan is designed to meet wsdot/wsf needs for pile driving research and to further understanding of pile driving impacts to aquatic animals in the puget sound. acoustics, barotrauma, behavior, fish, hearing, pile-driving, research, wsdot, impacts battelle pacific northwest division of battel 2004 |
| WA-RD 605.1 | Determining the Potential Economic Viability of Inter-Modal Truck-Rail Facilities in Washington State | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2004 | determining the potential economic viability of inter-modal truck-rail facilities in washington state casavant,k. l., jessup,e., monet,a. efficient freight mobility is the result of successfully balancing he demand for transportation capacity and service with the quantity supplied of those services and capacities. a growing number of communities and economic interests in the state of washington recognize that efficient freight movement is directly associated with the health of their local and regional economies. as a result, state and local governments are being asked to improve freight mobility through operational improvements and new public infrastructure. inter-modal truck-rail facilities, where goods are transferred from truck to rail or vice-versa, for shipment to domestic markets of through gateways to international markets, are offered, or sought, as a means of improving the freight movement in the area. proposed public investment in such inter-modal facilities raises at least two questions: will the facility succeed in the private market place by generating a sustaining return as a commercial investment? and, is any public investment justified based on the public benefits involved? it is the combination of internal efficiencies and external competition that will affect the economic viability of the inter-modal facility itself. a great deal of information and analysis is needed to identify these necessary attributes and those operating characteristics that "would or could" produce private economic viability and, if necessary, a required rate of return on public investment. the general purpose of this research was to investigate and develop an applied methodology for determining the potential economic viability of inter-modal truck-rail facilities in washington state. the focus was on discerning the attributes, characteristics or market situations that are associated with successful projects, thereby suggesting a framework for economic feasibility analysis of an inter-modal truck-rail facility. freight, mobility, intermodal, rail, economic analysis trac/wsu 2004 |
| WA-RD 582.1 | Determination of the Effects of Anit-Icer Compounds upon the Rare Plant Hackelia Venusta | Chalker-Scott | TRAC/UW | 2004 | determination of the effects of anit-icer compounds upon the rare plant hackelia venusta chalker-scott,l., brickey,j. the objective of the study was to determine whether washington state department of transportation's winter use of road anti-icer compounds on highway 2 in chelan county, washington, is having an impact on the federally endangered plant species hackelia venusta. a contolled study was performed in the outdoor facilities at the center for urban horticulture-university of washington. this study evaluated two road anti-icer formulae available to wsdot in the 2000-2002 winter seasons by testing the effects of different anti-icer dilutions on plant and soil parameters. since it was not feasible to use h. venusta in a controlled study during the time of implementation, two other species were used. one species, mertensia platphylla, is a phylogenetic relative and the other, eriophyllym lanatum, is a non-related ecosystem associate. from the analysis, we were able to conlude that both road anti-icers begin to have detrimental effects by causing a decrease in aboveground biomass and survival on the two plant species examined when the concentrations reached 1part anti-icer: 100 parts solution. given the information obtained from our study's results, more work is needed in order to better understand the implications of these results on the effects road anti-icerformulae have on h. venusta. deicer compounds, hackelia venusta, research trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 595.1 | The Long-Term Performance of Geotextile Separators, Bucoda Test Site--Phase III | Collins | TRAC/UW | 2004 | the long-term performance of geotextile separators, bucoda test site--phase iii collins,b. m., holtz,r. d. this research was phase iii of field investigations carried out over 12 years at a test section in southwest washington state in an effort to quantify the contribution of geotextile separators to the long-term performance of pavement sections. five different geotextile separators, as well as a control (soil-only) section, were installed in a test section covering two lanes with different base course thicknesses on a low volume but heavily loaded rural highway west of bucoda, wash. phase i evaluated the performance of the separators during construction. phases ii and iii were conducted to evaluate the performance of the separators 5 and 12 years after construction, respectively. field and laboratory tests were conducted on the subgrade, granular base materials, and the geotextiles as part of the effort to correlate the performance of the pavement section to the presence of the geotextile separators. falling weight deflectometer (fwd) testing was also performed at the site as part of the effort to quantify the performance of the pavement section. the laboratory tests indicated that the geotextiles successfully performed their separation function over the 12-year period. however, the soil-only sections had a minimal amount of intermixing at the base course/subgrade interface, indicating that the separation benefits of geotextiles may not be realized under relatively thick pavement sections. field density tests indicated that the density of the subgrade in the sections with a geotextile generally increased between construction and the first field investigation, whereas the density of the soil-only sections remained about the same. similarly, the fwd tests showed that the most significant increase in the subgrade moduli occurred in the first few months following construction. however, the soil-only sections exhibited behavior similar to the sections with geotextiles during the fwd testing, suggesting that for the relatively thick pavement sections, incorporation of geotextiles may not have provided a significant contribution to the overall performance of the section over the 12-year period. some of the fwd results did suggest that geotextiles might contribute to an increase in the base course modulus over time. base, behavior, benefit, benefits, construction, control, density, falling weight deflectometer, field investigations, geotextile, geotextile separators, highway, materials, moduli, pavement, pavement performance, pavement section, research, rural, separators, subgrade, tests, volume, washington, washington state, weight, performance trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 585.1 | Screening Model for Determining Likelihood of Site Occupancy by Oregon Spotted Frogs (Rana pretisoa) in Washington State 11 | Germaine | 2004 | screening model for determining likelihood of site occupancy by oregon spotted frogs (rana pretisoa) in washington state 11 germaine,s. s., consentino,b. l. the oregon spotted frog is currently a federal candidate for listing under the endangered species act. the report provides a habitat screening that biologists in washington state can apply in the field to determine whether wetlands contain suitable habitat for the oregon spotted frog. in the event that this species is listed, the application of the model will facilitate a more streamlined consultation process of transportation projects in the event of this species. amphibians, endangered species act, frogs, habitat, model, occupancy, oregon spotted frog, pacific northwest, project, rana pretisoa, transportation, washington, washington state, wetlands, wildlife 2004 | |
| Truck Loading Patterns for Use in the NCHRP 1-37A Software for Montana Roadways | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2004 | truck loading patterns for use in the nchrp 1-37a software for montana roadways hallenbeck, m.e. this report describes the results of a review of 15 months of montana truck volume and weight data. the purpose of this review was to develop recommendations and traffic load data sets for use with the nchrp 1-37a pavement design software. for the initial testing and calibration of the new pavement design guide, it is recommended that montana develop and apply seasonal adjustment factors for three categories of trucks: single units, combinations, and multi-trailer trucks. truck, volumes, loading, seasonal factors, weight, axle trac/uw 2004 | |
| NCHRP 509 | NCHRP Report 509 - Equipment for Collecting Traffic Load Data | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW & Cambridge Systematics, Inc | 2004 | nchrp report 509 - equipment for collecting traffic load data hallenbeck, m.e., weinblatt, h. this report identifies the key issues that must be considered by state and other highway operating agencies in selecting traffic equipment for collecting the truck volumes and load spectra needed for analysis and design of pavement structures. the report also identifies steps that must be taken to ensure that the equipment performs appropriately and that, as a consequence, the data collected accurately describe the vehicles being monitored. the report is a useful resource for state personnel and others involved in the planning and design of highway pavements and structures. analysis, data, design, highway, pavement, pavements, structures, traffic, truck, volume, miscellaneous library trac/uw & cambridge systematics, inc 2004 |
| WA-RD 583.1 | Evaluation of Oil Rebate Expenditures Undertaken in Association with the Freeway and Arterial Management Effort (FAME) | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2004 | evaluation of oil rebate expenditures undertaken in association with the freeway and arterial management effort (fame) hallenbeck, p.k. oil rebate funds have allowed fame to spearhead technological breakthroughs in communication that both decrease the duration of congestion, and allow travelers to avoid the congestion as it occurs, thus decreasing energy used for travel, and pollutants generated by travel. oil rebate funds have allowed fame to perform a number of groundbreaking studies that have improved the state's ability to control and manage traffic. further, the $1.4 million in oil rebate funding for fame has been used to leverage over $4.6 milion from other funding sources.the majority of the 23 projects that have been partially or wholly funded by oil rebate monies have been very successful; meanwhile, projects with unsatisfactory outcomes were frequently terminated before completion, and rebate monies were re-allocated to other, more promising opportunities. the use of oil rebate funding has decreased the risks associated with investigating non-traditional approaches to traffic flow improvements, and allowed wsdot to begin quantifying benefits that could be gained from new approaches to dealing with congestion problems. energy savings, oil rebate, pollution reduction, research trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 594.1 | State-of-the-Art Report on Precast Concrete Systems for Rapid Construction of Bridges | Hieber | TRAC/UW | 2004 | state-of-the-art report on precast concrete systems for rapid construction of bridges hieber,d. g., wacker,j. m., eberhard,m. o., stanton,j. f. more extensive use of precast concrete components, which are fabricated off-site and then connected on-site, could allow bridges to be constructed more rapidly. the increased use of precast components in bridges also promises to increase work-zone safety and reduce environmental impacts for bridges that span waterways. this report discusses precast concrete systems that have been used for rapid bridge construction outside of washington state and evaluates whether they are suitable for use within western washington. the report also identifies key features that are important for successful precast concrete system applications. information on previously used systems was gathered through an extensive review of published literature. washington state department of transportation (wsdot) design and construction engineers, precast concrete producers, and bridge contractors were also consulted to obtain their input on the positive and negative aspects of applied systems. most applications have been used in areas of low seismic potential. by contrast, western washington is subject to strong earthquakes. because precast systems contain connections, and connections are typically vulnerable to seismic loading, a qualitative evaluation of the expected seismic performance of each system was deemed necessary. the researchers identified four types of precast concrete superstructure systems: full-depth precast concrete panels, partial-depth precast concrete panels, prestressed concrete multibeam superstructures, and preconstructed composite units. the four systems appear to have acceptable seismic behavior, but there are concerns associated with constructability and durability. precast concrete substructure systems have received much less attention than have superstructure systems. the use of precast substructure components can provide significant time savings by eliminating the time needed to erect formwork, fix steel, and cure concrete in the substructure. the success of the system depends strongly on the connections, which must hae good seismic resistance, have tolerances that allow easy assembly, and be suitable for rapid construction. bridge, bridges, concrete, construction, multibeam superstructures, precast concrete, precast substructures, prestressed concrete, rapid construction, state-of-the-art, systems, safety, environmental, environmental impact, impacts, span, washington, washington state, applications, transportation, wsdot, design, seismic, earthquake, seismic loading, evaluation, performance, superstructure, prestressed, seismic behavior, constructability, durability, steel, resistance trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 580.1 | In-Service Performance of Guardrail Terminals in Washington State | Igharo | St. Martin's College/WSDOT | 2004 | in-service performance of guardrail terminals in washington state igharo,p. o., murphy,j., glad,r. w. this research study was conducted to evaluate the in-service performance of existing guardrail end treatments and unrestrained pre-cast concrete barrier in washington state. for a selected area of the state highway system over a one-year period, local area maintenance personnel were tasked to document incidents, including extent of damage and repair costs, into a database using nchrp project 22-13 methodology. additional information (accident severity, e.g.) from police reports was gathered from the incidents and added to the database. the installation characteristics measured for breakaway cable terminals (bct) and slotted rail terminals (srt), along with the related crash data for these devices, showed overall acceptable performance when struck. review of the incident severities, together with the displacement and damage data on struck barriers in the study area, revealed no significant difference in bct and srt performance. the installation, damage, and displacement characteristics examined on struck concrete barrier showed that the pin and loop connections were holding well in incidents, and the barrier displacements during incidents were within the wsdot design specification for such systems. performance, guardrail, washington, washington state, guardrail end treaments, breakaway cable terminal (bct), roadside safety, slotted rail terminal (srt), research, end treatment, precast concrete, concrete, concrete barrier, highway, maintenance, incident, damage, repair, costs, cost, database, methodology, accident severity, data, barriers, wsdot, design, specification, systems st. martin's college/wsdot 2004 |
| WA-RD 596.1 | Seismic Analysis and Retrofit Study of the SR 99-Spokane Street Over-Crossing | Inouye | TRAC/UW | 2004 | seismic analysis and retrofit study of the sr 99-spokane street over-crossing inouye, b., lehman, d.e., stanton, j.f., kramer, s.l. the sr99-spokane street over-crossing is located in seattle, washington, and was built in the late 1950s. its construction is mostly of reinforced concrete; the reinforcement detailing is poor by modern seismic standards, particularly with respect to confinement, and the underlying soils are also weak. furthermore, the structure contains many "outrigger bents", in which columns are displaced from their ideal locations to accommodate passage of railroad tracks beneath the structure. these outrigger bents cause significant asymmetry in the structure that could lead to unusual and undesirable seismic response. in this study, the seismic response of the structure was evaluated analytically and seismic retrofit strategies were developed and evaluated. in a companion experimental study by washington state university (wsu), the as-existing structure was investigated by testing scale models of representative bents, and one retrofit strategy was also tested. in this report, modeling approaches are discussed in detail, and the results of evaluations of the as-existing structure as well as the retrofit strategies are presented. some components of the structure (e.g. the deck, the already-jacketed columns and the soil-foundation-structure system) were found to be critical to an accurate determination of response and were therefore modeled in some detail. site-specific ground motions at three different hazard levels were used. the structure was found to be vulnerable, especially to the 72- and 475-year ground motions. the knee-joints that connect the outrigger beams and columns were found to be the most critical components, and their vulnerability was shown to be influenced by the type of retrofit performed on the outrigger column. retrofit strategies included some designed to increase the strength and ductility of the components, and some intended to reduce the demands on them. columns, concrete, construction, ductility, evaluation, experimental, hazard, its, knee-joints, modeling, models, outriggers, reinforced concrete, reinforcement, retrofit, seattle, seismic, seismic response, soil-structure interaction, strength, washington, washington state trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 642.1 | Deception Pass Log Rail | Jepperson | WSDOT | 2004 | deception pass log rail jepperson,o. w., williams,w. f., albin,r. b., bullard,d. l. washington state route 20 in northwest washington passes through the deception pass state park. the civilian conservation corps (ccc) constructed the portion of sr 20 within the park in the mid 1930's. as part of this work, the ccc constructed a stone masonry bollard and log rail system to delineate the edge of the road and prevent early model vehicles from leaving the roadway (see figure 2). due to their age, quality of workmanship, and importance to the surroundings, the bridges and log rails are eligible for the national register of historic places. previous attempts to replace this rail with a crashworthy system were unsuccessful due to concerns for preserving the aesthetic and historic integrity of the park. a new approach was adopted that began with understanding the context of the highway and the concerns of the other stakeholders. in addiiton, the stakeholders were educated on the safety issues. as a result, a solution was developed that was acceptable to all of the stakeholders. the primary solution involved the development of a new barrier that replicated the appearance of the original log rail. this barrier was crash tested in accordance with the nchrp report 350 tl-2 criteria and is available for use in other locations where an aesthetic barrier is desired. guardrail, barrier, log rail, timber rail, wood rail, crash test, aesthetic, context sensitive wsdot 2004 |
| WA-RD 592.1 | Reflectivity of Pavement Markings: Analysis of Retroreflectivity Degradation Curves | Kopf | TRAC/UW | 2004 | reflectivity of pavement markings: analysis of retroreflectivity degradation curves kopf,j. the intent of this project was to develop retroreflectivity degradation curves for roadway pavement markings. to accomplish this objective, this study utilized a vehicle-mounted laserlux retroreflectometer to take measurements on approximately 80 test sections throughout washington state. the resulting retroreflectivity values from roadways with similar average annual daily traffic (aadt) and environments displayed a significant amount of variability. best-fit trendlines were extrapolated to determine when each category of paint would fall below a selected minimum threshold of 100 mcd/m2/lux and require repainting.unfortunately, given the variability of the data observed to date, it may not be possible, even with the collection of more data, to create striping performance predictions that have a high level of statistical confidence. according to that schedule, long line painted markings should be painted at least once a year, and heavy wear, long line pavement markings should be painted at least twice a year. degradation curves, laserlux retroreflectometer, pavement, pavement markings, retroreflectivity, roadway, washington, washington state, traffic, environment, data, performance, prediction, line trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 597.1 | Assessing the Benefits of Traveler and Transportation Information Systems | Kristof | TRAC/UW | 2004 | assessing the benefits of traveler and transportation information systems kristof,t., lowry,m., rutherford,g. s. the goal of advanced traveler information systems (atis) is to provide travelers with information that will facilitate their decisions concerning route choice, departure time, trip delay or elimination, and mode of transportation. the benefits of atis projects can be evaluated through field studies, simulation software, and surveys. an evaluation method called the its deployment analysis system (idas) is suggested for use by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). idas is a "sketch" planning tool intended for screening and prioritizing all intelligent transportation systems (its) projects (not just atis projects). the software evaluates a number of benefits. these are determined by changes attributable to the deployment of its in vehicle miles traveled (vmt), vehicle hours traveled (vht), volume-capacity (v/c) ratios, and vehicle speeds throughout a given network. the idas evaluation depends on a number of assumptions that affect the calculations of costs and benefits. the idas developers recommend that these assumptions be inspected by local agencies and adjusted to better represent local conditions. the assumptions about the impacts on vmt, vht, v/c ratios, and vehicle speed are particularly important. consequently, suggestions are made within this report for adjustments that wsdot should make to these default values. these values will allow the wsdot to successfully employ idas for atis evaluation. advanced traveler information systems, agencies, analysis, assessing, atis, atis benefits, atis evaluation, benefit, benefits, condition, cost, costs, deployment, evaluation, idas, impact, impacts, information systems, intelligent transportation system, intelligent transportation systems, its, its deployment analysis system, planning, prioritizing, project, research, software, speed, study, survey, surveys, system, systems, transportation, traveler information, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 588.1 | Application of HDM-4 in the WSDOT Highway System | Li | TRAC/UW | 2004 | application of hdm-4 in the wsdot highway system li, j., muench, s.t., mahoney, j.p., pierce, l., sivaneswaran, n. this project performed extensive study and systematic research on the application of the highway development and management system (hdm-4) to the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) highway system. data processing, testing, calibration, and analysis were executed to provide the wsdot with a new budget planning tool. hdm-4 flexible pavement deterioration models were calibrated with the assistance of the washington state pavement management system. a method to calibrate concrete pavement distress models is proposed. this research also explored the application of hdm-4 analysis at the project, program, and strategic levels. the applications include prediction of pavement conditions during a defined analysis period, calculation of required budgets for optimal pavement conditions and maximum economic indicators, establishment of optimized work programs under varying levels of constrained budgets, and other applications for wsdot. hdm-4, models, pavement maintenance, pavement management, pavement performance, pavement preservation, vehicle operating costs, research, highway, development, management, management system, washington, washington state, transportation, wsdot, data, calibration, analysis, planning, pavement, deterioration, concrete, program, applications, prediction, condition, indicators trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 589.1 | An Approach for Estimating Infiltration Rates for Stormwater Infiltration Dry Wells | Massman | TRAC/UW | 2004 | an approach for estimating infiltration rates for stormwater infiltration dry wells massman,j. w. this report describes an approach for estimating infiltration rates for dry wells that are constructed using standard configurations developed by the washington state department of transportation. the approach was developed recognizing that the performance of these dry wells depends upon a combination of subsurface geology, groundwater conditions, and dry well geometry. the report focuses on dry wells located in unconsolidated geologic materials dry wells, infiltration rates, hydrogeologic, systems, stormwater trac/uw 2004 |
| Options for Benchmarking Performance Improvements Achieved from Construction of Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB) Projects | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 2004 | options for benchmarking performance improvements achieved from construction of freight mobility strategic investment board (fmsib) projects mccormack,e. d., hallenbeck,m. e. this report documents the development of data collection methodologies that can be used to cost effectively measure truck movements along specific roadway corridors selected by the freight mobility strategic investment board (fmsib.) the intent of this study was to design and test methodologies that could be used to measure the performance of freight mobility roadway improvement projects against benchmarks, or selected standards, which would be used both as part of the project selection process and to report on speed and volume improvements that resulted from completed fmsib projects. one technology tested was commercial vehicle information system and networks (cvisn) electronic truck transponders, which are mounted on the windshields of approximately 20,000 trucks traveling in washington. these transponders are used at weigh stations across the state to improve the efficiency of truck regulatory compliance checks. by using software to link the transponder reads from sites anywhere in the state, the transponder-equipped trucks could become a travel time probe fleet. the second technology tested involved global positioning systems (gps) placed in volunteer trucks recruited for this project to collect specific truck movement data at 5-second intervals. with gps data it was possible to understand when and where the monitored trucks experienced congestion. by aggregating this information over time, it was possible to generate performance statistics related to the reliability of truck trips, and even examine changes in route choice for trips between high volume origin/destination pairs. the study found that both data collection technologies could be useful; however, the key to both technologies is whether enough instrumented vehicles pass over the roadways for which data are required. this basic condition significantly affects whether the transponder and gps technologies will be effective at collecting the data required for any given fmsib benchmark project . the report also recommends the traffic data that should be collected for a benchmark program and the potential costs of using either data collection technology. freight movement reliability, truck monitoring, development, data, data collection, methodology, cost, truck, roadway, corridors, freight, freight mobility, mobility, design, performance, speed, volume, commercial vehicle, networks, trucks, washington, software, travel time, probe, global positioning, global positioning systems, positioning, systems, gps, congestion, statistics, reliability, condition, traffic, traffic data, program, costs trac/uw 2004 | |
| State Route 99 Traffic Signs: Software Interface | Mclean | Sound Transit/TRAC | 2004 | state route 99 traffic signs: software interface mclean, s., dailey, d.j., cathey, f.w. this report consists of four sections. the first section provides an overview of the software constructed to service the signs, a description of how the software works, and how to configure the applications. the second section details an experiment requested by sound transit in october of 2003. the third section describes results from an experiment in january 2004. the fourth section gives the results of an experiment in april and may of 2004. software, traffic, traffic signs, applications, transit sound transit/trac 2004 | |
| WA-RD 584.2 | HOV Lane Performance Monitoring 2002 Report -- Vol. 1 | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2004 | hov lane performance monitoring 2002 report -- vol. 1 nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes, also known as carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ride sharers and motorcyclists that meet the occupancy requirement. by restricting access, the hov lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time, and experiencing greater time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (gp) lanes. to accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual hov system report to document system performance, examining the hov lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent gp lanes. hov lane violation rates are also evaluated. this report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of hov lane use and performance in the puget sound area in 2002. it presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use hov lanes, the reliability of the hov lanes, the travel time savings in comparison to gp lanes, violation rates and public perceptions. this information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing hov lane system in the puget sound area, and in planning for other hov facilities. this is volume 1 of a two-volume set. volume 2 provides an overview of major trends in hov lane performance by comparing data presented in the 2000 hov performance report. analysis, benefit, benefits, carpool, data, facilities, freeway, gp lanes, high occupancy, high occupancy vehicle, hov, hov facilities, hov lanes, hov performance, monitoring, occupancy, performance, performance monitoring, planning, policy, public, reliability, research, speed, transit, transportation, travel time, violation, volume trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 584.1 | HOV Lane Performance Monitoring 2002 Report: Volume 2--Trends | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2004 | hov lane performance monitoring 2002 report: volume 2--trends nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes, also known as carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ride sharers and motorcyclists that meet the occupancy requirement. by restricting access, the hov lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time, and experiencing greater time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (gp) lanes. to accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual hov system report to document system performance, examining the hov lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent gp lanes. hov lane violation rates are also evaluated.this report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of hov lane use and performance in the puget sound area in 2002. it presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use hov lanes, the reliability of the hov lanes, the travel time savings in comparison to gp lanes, violation rates and public perceptions. this information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing hov lane system in the puget sound area, and in planning for other hov facilities.this is volume 1 of a two-volume set. volume 2 provides an overview of major trends in hov lane performance by comparing data presented in the 2000 hov performance report. hov lanes, hov performance, high occupancy, research trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 581.1 | Investigation of Flow and Local Scour Characteristics Around a Partially Submerged Permeable WSDOT Barb | Papanicolaou | TRAC/WSU | 2004 | investigation of flow and local scour characteristics around a partially submerged permeable wsdot barb papanicolaou,a. n. t., kjos,l. j., fox,j. f. barbs are wide crested trapezoidal structures, typically constructed of riprap gravel, which project out from the streambank and are oriented upstream into the main flow. barbs reduce erosion along streambanks by deflecting current into the center of the channel aiding in the protection of bridge piers and abutments. the overall objective of this study is to establish design criteria for permeable barbs within non-navigable mild sloped gravel bed streams. the report consists of two major parts. part one focuses on the flow characteristics around a submerged permeable barb to understand the flow regimes "formed" within the vicinity of a barb. part two utilizes the quantitative data that are gathered in part one and investigates the complex evolution of local scour around the permeable barb under clear-water scour conditions. permeable and impermeable barbs, scaling, time-averaged flow and turbulent parameters, backwater analysis, scour depth, research trac/wsu 2004 |
| WA-RD 593.1 | Remote Sensing Applications for Environmental Analysis in Transportation Planning: Application to the Washington State I-405 Corridor | Xiong | Oak Ridge National Laboratory/WSDOT/U.S. Dept | 2004 | remote sensing applications for environmental analysis in transportation planning: application to the washington state i-405 corridor xiong,d., lee,r., saulsbury,j. b., lanzer,e. l., perez,a. the project's major objective is to demonstrate and assess the applicability of commercial remote sensing products and spatial information technologies to environmental analysis in transportation planning, using the i-405 corridor in washington state as a test case. the project consisted of six major tasks: 1) undertake field study in two stages, first to collect ground-truth data prior to image analysis, and then to evaluate the image-analysis results against the "real-world." 2) compile and evaluate available image data and fuse these data to create the best possible resource for image data analysis. 3) characterize land use and land cover in the region by using erdas's imagine imaging processing software and customized software procedures for land cover imagine imaging processing software and customized software procedures for land cover classification on the image data. 4) integrate the land use and land cover characterization from the previous task with geographic information systems (gis) and other data to provide land use/land cover and transportation images, and related analysis to support the nepa process. 5) develop estimates and compare the cost, value, and usefulness of information developed using conventional nepa-study methods with those developed in this project. 6) document the procedures, analysis, and findings to institute technology transfer steps for future nepa analyses. the major products of this project include: (a) a spatial database of image data from a variety of remote sensing sources, and derived and interpreted information in gis format, including land use and land cover information; (b) software procedures that access multiple remote sensing and gis (rs/gis) data sources to derive land use and land cover information, and identify and delineate areas where proposed transportation development might cause adverse environmental impacts; (c) results of a case study of the costs, value, and usefulness of products derived from conventional data-gathering practices, compared to those developed in this study, based on the assessments of professionals who participated in the actual i-405 corridor environmental impact statement process; and (d) this report, which documents the methods and results of the research, and a companion guidebook on procedures for developing remote sensing - geographic information system (rs/gis) products. transportation remote sensing, nepa, land use, land cover mapping, environmental assessment, i-405 corridor oak ridge national laboratory/wsdot/u.s. dept 2004 |
| WA-RD 593.2 | Guidance on Using Remote Sensing Applications for Environmental Analysis in Transportation Planning | Xiong | Oak Ridge National Laboratory/WSDOT/USDOT | 2004 | guidance on using remote sensing applications for environmental analysis in transportation planning xiong,d., lee,r., saulsbury,j. b., lanzer,e. l., perez,a. this report is a "guidebook" on how to use remote sensing applications to support environmental assessment in transportation planning. the methods use landsat 7 imagery and commercially available remote-sensing software to produce maps and related information suitable for a programmic environmental impact statement. the report covers the following major topics: background on environmental analysis in transportation planning, and the value and limitations of remotely sensed data; staff, hardware, software, and data requirements; software application for land use - land cover classification; fieldwork for land use - land cover classification training and verification; use and integration of other geographic information and imagery files; and production of remote sensing - geographic information system maps and other information. the methods are illustrated through applications to the i-405 corridor in the state of washington. transportation, remote sensing, land use land cover mapping, environmental assessment oak ridge national laboratory/wsdot/usdot 2004 |
| WA-RD 586.1 | Feasibility of Backcalculation Procedures Based on Dynamic FWD Response Data | Turkiyyah | TRAC/UW | 2004 | feasibility of backcalculation procedures based on dynamic fwd response data turkiyyah,g. m. the falling weight deflectometer test (fwd) is a commonly used method for the evaluation of the structural performance of pavement systems. in the fwd test, a large weight is raised off the ground and dropped onto a rubber loading pad creating an impulse load representative of the real loading imposed by heavy traffic on the pavement. the excitation produced by the loading sets off waves in the pavement and underlying soil. deflection time histories are gathered by an array of sensors placed at several nearby locations. the traditional method for interpreting the fwd data to backcalculate structural pavement properties, involves extracting the peak deflection from each displacement trace of the sensors (deflection basin) and matching it through an iterative optimization method to the deflections predicted by a static model of the pavement. this approach is computationally efficient; and when the depths of the layers are known, and their properties are largely homogeneous with depth, the procedure is effective in backcalculating layer properties. however, when the depths are uncertain or when the moduli vary within a layer, the static backcalculation scheme may not yield reliable results.the goal of this study is to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of using the complete time history of the fwd test to overcome some of the limitations of the static backcalculation procedure, and recover pavement layer moduli distribution and thickness. the problem is also formulated as a numerical minimization problem, where the unknowns are the resilient moduli of thin "computational layers" that discretize the profile. our initial finding is that this optimization formulation regularized by constraints on the magnitude and spatial gradient of the moduli, coupled with a continuation scheme for imposing the regularization terms, can overcome the ill-posedness nature or the original optimization problem. the computational effort for solving this inverse problem, however, is very significant as it requires repeated calls to the expensive forward problem: an elastodynamic simulation in stiff heterogeneous media. additional work is needed to speed up the forward problem to be able to perform a more comprehensive evaluation with field data. research, falling weight deflectometer, weight, evaluation, performance, pavement, systems, traffic, data, moduli, profile, speed trac/uw 2004 |
| WA-RD 591.1 | Median Crossover Accident Analyses and the Effectiveness of Median Barriers | Shankar | TRAC/Washington | 2004 | median crossover accident analyses and the effectiveness of median barriers shankar,v., chayanan,s., sittkariya,s., shyu,m. b., ulfarsson,g., kumar juvva,n. this research explored the use of count models to determine design and weather factors correlated with median crossover crashes on washington state highways. the study 1) developed a roadside data system that can be consistently and systematically used in all six regions of washington state; 2) developed a decision matrix comprising geometric, environmental, and traffic factors for estimating cross-over probability ranges; and 3) examined the impacts of barriering. longitudinal data for the period 1990 to 1994 containing crash information on vehicle crossovers on non-barriered medians on washington state highways were used as the dataset for this study. two types of statistical models were examined: 1) a model that forecasts the mean number of yearly median crossovers, and 2) a model that examines the contribution of roadway geometrics, median widths, weather, traffic volumes and roadside characteristics to the annual societal cost of median crossovers. results of the study suggest these design policies: barrier all medians less than or equal to 50 feet wide; do not install barriers for medians wider than 60 feet; consider case-by-case barriering medians in the 50-foot to 60-foot range. barrier policy, count models, median crossovers, median width, negative multinomial trac/washington 2004 |
| WA-RD 503.2 | PCCP Intersections Design and Construction in Washington State | Uhlmeyer | TRAC/UW | 2003 | pccp intersections design and construction in washington state uhlmeyer, j.s. the primary objective of this study was to summarize information related to the use of portland cement concrete pavement (pccp) for urban intersection construction in washington state. pccp construction has been used in washington state since the early 1900s, but only since 1994 has the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) begun reconstructing a selection of urban intersections with pccp. statewide, fifteen pccp intersections have been constructed on state highways, and more will be built in the future. pccp intersections eliminate the significant rutting problems that sometimes occur with asphalt-surfaced roadways. this report includes lessons learned about pccp intersection construction costs, life cycle costs, traffic control/staging, design, and construction considerations, and quality control issues. concrete intersections, urban intersections, concrete pavement, concrete construction, pavement rutting, traffic control, fast track paving, accelerated construction, life cycle cost analysis (lcca) trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 522.2 | Prediction of Reinforcement Loads in Reinforced Soil Walls | Allen | TRAC/UW | 2003 | prediction of reinforcement loads in reinforced soil walls allen,t. m., bathurst,r. j. proper estimation of soil reinforcement loads and strains is key to accurate design of the internal stability of geosynthetic and steel reinfoced soil structures. current design methodologies use limit equilibrium concepts to estimate reinforcement loads for internal stability design, with empirical modifications to match the prediction to observed reinforcement loads at working stresses. this approach has worked reasonably well for steel reinforced walls but appears to seriously overestimate loads for geosynthetic walls.a large database of full-scale geosynthetic walls (16 fully instrumented, full-scale geosynthetic walls and 14 walls with limited measurements), full-scale steel reinforced wall sections was utilized to develop a new design methodology based on working stress principles, termed the k-stiffness method. this new methodology considers the stiffness of the various wall components and their influence on reinforcement loads. results of simple statistical analyses to evaluate the ratio of predicted to measured peak reinforcement loads in geosynthetic walls were telling: the aashto simplified method results to an average ratio of measured to predicted loads of 0.45 with a coefficient of variation (cov) of 91 percent, whereas the proposed method results in an average of 0.99 and a cov of 36 percent. the proposed method remains accurate up until the point at which the soil begins to fail (approximaely 3 to 5 percent strain). for steel reinforced mse walls, the improvement was more modest: aashto's simplified method results in an average ratio of predicted to measured loads of 1.12 with a (cov) of 45 percent, whereas the new k-stiffness method results in an average of 0.95 and a cov of 32 percent. the objective of the method is to design the wall reinforcement so that the soil within the wall backfill will not reach a state of failure consistent with the notion of working stress conditions. this soil failure limit state is not considered in the design methods currently available, yet, given the research results presented herein, is likely to be a controlling limit state for geosynthetic structures.the fruit of this research is a more accurate method for estimating reinforcement loads, thereby reducing reinforcement needs and improving the economy of reinforced soil walls. the scope of this research was limited to reinforced soil walls that utilize granular (non-cohesive, relatively low silt content) backfill. reinforcement, walls, loads, strains, creep, design, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 563.1 | Central Puget Sound Freeway Network Usage and Performance, 2001 Update | Avery | TRAC/UW | 2003 | central puget sound freeway network usage and performance, 2001 update avery,r. p., ishimaru,j. m., nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. this summary report presents an overview of the level of traveler usage (e.g., how many vehicles use the freeways) and travel performance (e.g., how fast they are traveling, where and how often congestion ocurs) on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area. the freeways studied in this project are managed by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region. data presented in this report were collected by the wsdot's freeway surveillance system. the project that led to this report is intended to meet two separate purposes: 1) to enhance wsdot's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management efforts on seattle-area highways, and 2) to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the second of these objectives. however, the software developed to assist in freeway data analysis for this project and many of the graphics presented in this report are directly applicable to the first objective. analysis, archived data user services (adus), congestion, congestion monitoring, control, data, flow, freeway, freeway performance, highway, information dissemination, its, management, monitoring, performance, public, research, surveillance, traffic, traffic management, traffic monitoring, transportation, urban, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 562.1 | Interaction Between the Roadway and Roadside--An Econometric Analysis of Design and Environmental Factors Affecting Segment Accident Rates | Chayanan | TRAC/UW | 2003 | interaction between the roadway and roadside--an econometric analysis of design and environmental factors affecting segment accident rates chayanan, s., nebergall, m., shankar, v., juvva, n., ouyang, y. the purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between roadway and roadside accident rates for washington state highways to improve the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot) process of modeling roadway and roadside accident rates and to arrive at possible improvements in the efficiency of wsdot's safety project programming process. the project tested the use of the seemingly unrelated regression estimation (sure) model to model the roadway and roadside simultaneously. the theoretical advantage of the sure approach is that it does not impose any a priori assumptions on the explicit linkage between roadway and roadside accident rates, and there is no theoretical support for explicit linkage, either. the data used to derive this model were from a random sample of 500 one-mile sections from the washington state highway system. traffic data included traffic volumes, truck compositions, aadt, traffic speeds, and other relevant information. geometric data included lane, shoulder, median, curve, and intersection information. historical weather data such as monthly precipitation and temperature were collected from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration database. in comparing significant explanatory variables between the roadway accident rate and roadside accident rate models, very few variables were common. this confirms that it is preferable to specify separate functional forms for roadway and roadside accident rates. empirical results indicated that correlation between roadway and roadside accident rates was insignificant, indicating that efficiency gains from the sure model would be minimal. the important finding from a programming standpoint is that jointly modeling the roadway and roadside simultaneously would not result in significant efficiency improvements in comparison to the current state-of-the-practice in washington state. roadway, roadside, accident rates, safety programming, research, washington, washington state, highway, transportation, wsdot, modeling, safety, regression, linkage, data, traffic, traffic data, volume, truck, speed, median, temperature, database, models trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 565.1 | ITS Backbone Infrastructure | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2003 | its backbone infrastructure dailey, d.j. in this brief report, we provide a description of the activities in each of the areas to which the backbone contributes, and we provide supporting statistics for each of these contributions. the form of these statistics varies by application area: (1) potential viewers, in the case of traffic tv, (2) page views in the case of mybus, (3) data stream use, in the case of busview, and (4) number of downloads, in the case of the sdd toolkit. intelligent transportation systems, backbone, real-time data, standard interface, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 579.1 | AVL-Equipped Vehicles as Speed Probes (Phase 2) | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2003 | avl-equipped vehicles as speed probes (phase 2) dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. performance monitoring is an issue of growing concern both nationally and in washington state. travel times and speeds have always been of interest to traveler-information researchers, but as they become a key measure in performance monitoring, this interest is now greater than ever. however, instrumenting the roadway infrastructure to obtain this type of data is very expensive. in this project, we use transit vehicles as probe sensors and develop a framework to use the vehicle position estimates as a speed sensor.this report documents the second phase of a three-phase project that will create a robust set of virtual sensors for freeways and arterials. the first phase was a proof of principle that examined the statistics of successfully using transit vehicles as traffic probes. the results of the second phase are presented in this report. an optimal filter method is described that estimates acceleration, speed, and position as a function of space and time. the third phase will implement a server to place speed estimates from the transit probe virtual sensors into the wsdot northwest region's operational traffic management system. wsdot will benefit from this work by gaining additional traffic management sensing capabilities without the additional installation and maintenance costs of cabinets, loops, and communications. the traveling public in metropolitan seattle will benefit from having additional traveler information about arterials that can be used as alternatives to freeway travel. publication of results that validate the techniques used to derive virtual sensors from transit probe vehicles will have a national impact as an increasing number of cities use transit fleet management systems. bus, transit, probe, claman filters, kalman smoother, gis, avl, tcip, mml, virtual sensors, traffic probes, transit probes, speed sensors, geographic information systems, road traffic, traffic control, traffic engineering computing, transportation, research trac/uw 2003 |
| The Mobile Data Communications for Bus and Rail -- Automatic Vehicle Location Demonstration Project | Dailey | Sound Transit/TRAC/UW | 2003 | the mobile data communications for bus and rail -- automatic vehicle location demonstration project dailey, d.j., cathey, f.w., mclean, s. the mobile data communications project provides a functional test and demonstration of a multi-agency, gps-based, automatic vehicle location (avl) system. this multi-agency system includes vehicles and data for: (1) sound transit bus service operated by community transit and pierce transit, (2) community transit and pierce transit internal transit service, as well as, (3) sounder commuter rail service. schedule data, both spatial and temporal, is obtained from all the agencies and is combined with software developed by the universityof washington called mybus/busview. the original mybus application predicts arrival/departure times and presents them in a publicly available web page.the application created in this project performs these functions using data from all the agencies participating. in addition, it provides the functionality of busview, a web-based vehicle location display, for transit agencies and customers, across all the agencies. this document reports the results of a joint sound transit and university of washington evaluation effort of the mobile data communications demonstration project.automatic vehicle location (avl) is the technology that allows transit agencies to perform such tasks as: (1) real-time schedule adherence, for operations and planning, (2) provision of traveler information, such as vehicle/departure times for customers, (3) interior stop announcements and displays, for on-board customers, and (4) automatic vehicle location information to dispatcher, for operations and safety. creating a multi-modal version of the publicly available transit information applications is both technically and politically challenging. the four agencies who provide data to this effort are at very different stages in the use of real-time data. obtaining usable schedule information, both spatial and temporal, can be a challenging activity in such an environment. however, in a relatively short time, we constructed multi-modal applications useful to all four agencies. this was facilitated by a database designed around tcip concepts and a pre-existing component architecture that allowed us to reuse components and plug together new applications incrementally.the gps-based tracking implementation proved to be effective in most cases, with the exception of some downtown seattle locations. since most of sound transit's service and the other agencies' bus services operate in areas outside the downtown core, a gps-based avl solution would work for most service. in the case of downtown service, the addition of dead reckoning equipment would improve the position estimates. coordination between the spatial and temporal schedule efforts and any future avl effort will need to improve if the avl system is to be successful. avl, automatic vehicle location system, busview sound transit/trac/uw 2003 | |
| The Possibilities of Transportation Concurrency -- Proposal and Evaluation of Measurement Alternatives | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2003 | the possibilities of transportation concurrency -- proposal and evaluation of measurement alternatives hallenbeck, m.e., carlson, d., simmons, j. the cities of bellevue, kirkland, issaquah, and redmond, commenced a two-year cooperative study in fall 2001 to: describe and access the four cities' existing approaches to transportation concurrency, develop and analyze alternative approaches that are more multi-modal in nature, evaluate and analyze approaches with a focus on assisting the four cities in reaching the objectives of the growth management act and the region's vision 2020 plan, and recommend changes, if necessary, to state and local laws to improve the effectiveness of transportation concurrrency.washington state's growth management act (gma) requires that jurisdictions' infrastructure keep pace with development. the concurrency reqirement applies to all aspects of a local government's infrastructure, including roadways, sewers, and water. however, the act only requires jurisdictions to adopt ordinances that establish a concurrency measurement system for transportation. as a result, the ability of the transportation system to support new development has become the primary test for whether development and infrastructure are "concurrent."the gma directs jurisdictions to establish level of service (los) standards for their transportation systems. the transportation los standards serve as a baseline for determining whether current transportation facilities can accommodate new development. if the new development will cause the transportation system to exceed the pre-determined los standards, the jurisdiction must deny the development unless transportation improvement and strategies are made to accommodate the development within six years, a process known as concurrency mitigation.the four eastside cities have sufficient flexibility under current law to develop, implement, and fund a variety of multi-modal concurrency approaches, both within their own jurisdictions and among one or more of their neighbors. a regional approach to transportation could be coordinated under the existing authority of the puget sound regional council, requiring a change in state enabling lesiglsation only if a form of metropolitan government were desired. consequently, the project team does not recommend significant changes to current state and local concurrency legislation at this time. concurrency, level of service standards, growth management act trac/uw 2003 | |
| WA-RD 568.2 | Measurement of Recurring versus Non-Recurring Congestion | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2003 | measurement of recurring versus non-recurring congestion hallenbeck,m. e., ishimaru,j. m., nee,j. a research effort was initiated to develop and test a methodology to estimate the extent to which urban congestion is produced by the routine presence of large numbers of vehicles on a facility (so-called recurring congestion) versus unexpected disruptions or other events (non-recurring congestion), particularly lane blocking incidents. an analysis was performed using a preliminary methodology to estimate the magnitude, extent, and relative causes of congestion on urban freeways in the central puget sound region of washington state. this information is designed to assist transportation agencies in 1) selecting the most appropriate strategies to improve freeway operations, and 2) allocating available resources to achieve those improvements. this paper documents the preliminary methodology and results from this ongoing research project. recurring congestion, non-recurring congestion, transient congestion, freeway performance monitoring, its data arachiving, incident database trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 568.1 | Measurement of Recurring versus Non-Recurring Congestion: Technical Report | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2003 | measurement of recurring versus non-recurring congestion: technical report hallenbeck,m. e., ishimaru,j. m., nee,j. this report documents the technical results of a wsdot-sponsored research effort to determine the nature and cause of congestion on seattle-area freeways based on an analysis of available databases of traffic incidents and freeway performance. the focus of this effort was to develop a methodology for estimating freeway congestion as a function of its estimated cause (principally, its recurring or non-recurring nature) by using readily available data, as well as to develop, implement, and use a prototype tool set that would apply that methodology.the resulting methodology and tool set produce estimates of congestion (delay) associated with recurring and non-recurring conditions as a function of various user-specified parameters and assumptions. the method is able to analyze seattle area corridors using data from existing databases. the process makes extensive use of the trac-flow analysis process, as well as supplementary prototype tools. recurring congestion, non-recurring congestion, transient congestion, freeway performance monitoring, its data archiving, incident database trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 566.1 | Freight Data from Intelligent Transportation System Devices | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2003 | freight data from intelligent transportation system devices hallenbeck,m. e., mccormack,e. d., nee,j., wright,d. as congestion increases, transportation agencies are seeking regional travel time data to determine exactly when, how, and where congestion affects freight mobility. concurrently, a number of regional intelligent transportation systems (its) are incorporating various technologies to improve transportation system efficiency. this research explored the ability of these its devices to be used as tools for developing useful historical, and perhaps real-time, traffic flow information.regional transponder systems have required the installation of a series of readers at weigh stations in ports, along freeways, and at the washington/british columbia border. by linking data from these readers, it was possible to anonymously track individual, transponder-equipped trucks and to develop corridor-level travel time information. however, the research found that it is important to have an adequate number of data points between readers to identify non-congestion related stops. another portion of this research tested five gps devices in trucks. the research found that the gps data transmitted by cellular technology from these vehicles can provide much of the facility performance information desired by roadway agencies. however, obtaining sufficient amounts of these data in a cost effective manner will be difficult. a third source of its data that was explored was wsdot's extensive loop-based freeway surveillance and control system.the output from of each of the its devices analyzed in this research presented differing pictures (versions) of freight flow performance for the same stretch of roadway. in addition, its data often covered different (and non-contiguous) roadway segments and systems or geographic areas. the result of this wide amount of variety was an integration task that was far more complex then initially expected.overall, the study found that the integration of data from the entire range of its devices potentially offers both a more complete and more accurate overall description of freight and truck flows. freight data, its devices, data collection, data management, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 570.1 | Effects of Retrofitting Applications on Reinforced Concrete Bridges | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 2003 | effects of retrofitting applications on reinforced concrete bridges itani,r., lao,x. the objective of this research is to evaluate the effects of different retrofit applications on the global response of short-spanned reinforced concrete bridges. the global responses investigated include structural displacement and ductility. modeling element characterizations that vary with the associated retrofit applications are taken as parameters in the sensitivity study. retrofitting methods addressed in this study include steel jacketing of columns, foundation, and abutment retrofit. the corresponding parameters representing structural elements include linear foundation springs, nonlinear abutment springs, and various column-jacketing plans. a three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element model of the dry wash bridge was developed and the results were used as the baseline in the parametric studies. a nonlinear modal pushover procedure was employed to perform the analyses in the longitudinal and transverse direction of the bridge. results were analyzed by conducting parametric study to evaluate the effects of different retrofit schemes on the bridge global behavior. reinforced concrete bridge retrofitting, parametric study, column steel jacketing, foundation spring, abutment spring, structure ductility trac/wsu 2003 |
| WA-RD 649.1 | Development of High Performance Concrete and Evaluation of Construction Joints in Concrete Floating Bridges | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 2003 | development of high performance concrete and evaluation of construction joints in concrete floating bridges itani,r., masad,e., balko,b., bayne,b. floating bridge concrete must be watertight, durable, workable, and must have sufficient cohesiveness to prevent segregation in heavily congested deep walls. the mix design must experience minimal creep and shrinkage to reduce prestress losses, and shrinkage cracking. as a result of recent concrete research, new mixes were created incorporating various quantities of fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, poly-carboxylate ether superplasticizers, and caltite waterproofing admixture. this research focuses on concrete with a water binder ratio of 0.33 and a slump in the range of 8 to 9 inches. workability characteristics of the fresh concrete are analyzed and hardened concrete properties tested in this research are compressive strength, chloride ion permeability, and creep and drying shrinkage properties. it was found that metakaolin was successful in producing mix designs with similar properties as silica fume modified concrete. satisfactory strength was achieved through increasing the fly ash and lowering the silica fume contents, though, chloride ion permeability was negatively affected. the removal of silica fume and the inclusion of caltite decreased the concrete’s resistance to chloride ion permeability and produced concrete that failed to attain the required 28-day ultimate compressive strength of 6500 psi. the second part of this study focuses on developing an experimental setup to evaluate products and construction methods to help prevent water leakage through construction joints in pontoon floating bridges. a pressure system was used to apply significant pressures to concrete test specimens containing a construction joint. different products and construction methods were used in constructing the joints to determine the most effective methods for preventing water penetration in the field. the testing results have shown compaction effort is the most important factor in water leakage through a joint. increased compaction in laboratory specimens leads to less water leakage through construction joints. product selection was ineffective in preventing water leakage if concrete compaction was inadequate. concrete, performance, fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, polycarboxylate, caltite, creep, shrinkage, compressive strength, permeability, construction joint, leakage, waterstop, accident rates, compaction, watertight trac/wsu 2003 |
| WA-RD 569.1 | Cotton Duck Bearing Pads: Engineering Evaluation and Design Recommendations | Lehman | TRAC/UW | 2003 | cotton duck bearing pads: engineering evaluation and design recommendations lehman,d. e., roeder,c. w., larsen,r., curtin,k. cotton duck bearing pads (cdp) are sometimes used to support loads and accommodate movements and rotations at bridge bearings. cdp are preformed elastomeric pads consisting of thin layers of elastomer interlaid with fabric, and they are manufactured under military specifications with limited guidance from the aashto. the behavior of these cdp bearing pads was experimentally evaluated to establish design models for predicting this behavior, to determine the variation in behavior expected with different bearing pad manufacturers, and to develop design recommendations. this research is a follow-up study of an earlier research program sponsored by arkansas state university.cdp bearing pads from three different manufacturers were tested, and the test program included dynamic and static (or monotonic) tests of bearings in shear, compression,and rotation. in general, the static tests were used to evaluate strength, stiffness, deformation limits, and general pad behavior. the dynamic tests examined durability and performance under repeated loading and deformation.the results of this test program were used to develop design recommendations, and an appendix includes a draft of proposed wording for modification of the aashto lrfd specifications to include these design recommendations. in addition, a spreadsheet was developed in microsoft excel to accomplish the calculations necessary to complete the design. cotton duck bearing pads, cdp, bridge bearings, bridge design, loads, bridge, specifications, specification, behavior, design, models, research, program, tests, strength, durability, performance trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 564.1 | A Next-Generation Land Surface Model for the Prediction of Pavement Temperature | Mass | TRAC/UW | 2003 | a next-generation land surface model for the prediction of pavement temperature mass,c. f. to meet the information needs of highway maintenance managers, a system for real-time prediction of pavement temperatures was developed at the university of washington. this system utilizes the noah land surface model (national center for environmental prediction, oregon state university, air force, hydrologic research lab lsm) to estimate fluxes of energy to and from the pavement surface and resulting pavement surface temperatures. data from real-time mm5 weather prediction model forecasts, performed twice-daily at the uw, were used as initial and boundary conditions in pavement temperature simulations. results of these simulations were compared to observations and the system's forecast skill was verified. pavement temperature, pavement surface, real-time prediction, weather prediction, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 578.2 | A Design Manual for Sizing Infiltration Ponds | Massman | TRAC/UW | 2003 | a design manual for sizing infiltration ponds massman,j. stormwater infiltration facilities help reduce the hydrologic impacts of residential and commercial development. the design of these facilities is particularly challenging because of large uncertainties associated with predictions of both short-term and long-term infiltration rates. this manual describes step-by-step procedures for collecting and analyzing data and information needed to size infiltration ponds. the procedures were developed recognizing that the performance of infiltration facilities depends upon a combination of nearsurface soil characteristics, subsurface geology, groundwater conditions, and pond geometry. the manual focuses on infiltration ponds located in unconsolidated geologic materials. stormwater infiltration facilities, infiltration rates, full-scale infiltration tests, stormwater infiltration design trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 578.1 | Implementation of Infiltration Ponds Research | Massman | TRAC/UW | 2003 | implementation of infiltration ponds research massman,j. stormwater infiltration facilities help reduce the hydrologic impacts of residential and commercial development. the design of these facilities is particularly challenging because of large uncertainties associated with predictions of both short-term and long-term infiltration rates. full-scale “flood tests” conducted at four infiltration facilities in western washington suggest that lateral flow along the sides of the ponds may be significant. this is similar to “bank storage” that occurs in stream channels. more efficient designs may require a larger ratio of side area to bottom area and that maintenance activities should be considered for the sides as well as the bottom of the pond. saturated hydraulic conductivity values estimated from measuring air conductivity and from regression equations derived from grain size parameters were compared to full-scale infiltration rates for 15 sites in western washington. the estimated values for saturated hydraulic conductivity were up to two orders-of-magnitude larger than the full-scale infiltration rates for some sites and were two orders-of-magnitude smaller at others. these results show that infiltration rates cannot be reliability estimated on the basis of soil properties alone; information related to the hydraulic gradient is also important. computer models were compared to identify the flow systems for which saturated models provide reasonable approximations. the difference between saturated and unsaturated flow models was lowest in highly permeable soils and increased as the hydraulic conductivity of the soil decreased. the simulations suggest that steady-state infiltration rates calculated with a saturated model will be 20 to 30 percent smaller than rates calculated with an unsaturated model for the range of hydraulic conductivities typically found beneath western washington infiltration ponds. a comparison of steady-state and transient simulations showed that the steadystate assumption may significantly underestimate infiltration rates. stormwater infiltration facilities, infiltration rates, hydraulic conductivity estimates, full-scale, infiltration tests, stormwater infiltration design, numerical simulations, trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 558.1 | Experimental Response and Analysis of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2003 | experimental response and analysis of the evergreen point floating bridge mclean,d. i., peterson,s. t. on january 20, 1993, the evergreen point floating bridge incurred structural damage at two mooring cables and at various other locations during a storm event of approximately a 20-year return period magnitude. the two mooring cables damaged were the shorter and stiffer cables located at the ends of the bridge. following the l993 storm, larger mooring cables with sealink elastomeric devices were installed at the areas where cable distress was noted to resist higher cable loads and to provide energy absorption and reduced cable stiffness. in this study, cable forces were measured during the winter season of 2001-2002 to evaluate the effectivensss of the replacement mooring cables. from the experimental measurements, it was found that the special replacement mooring cables have reduced the load attraction at the shorter end cables when compared to cable tension values reported for the pre-retofit analysis. however, the measurements indicate that the replacement cables continue to attract loads between 64% and 79% higher than those measured at the longer and more flexible cables located near the midspan of the floating bridge during storm events of a 1-year return period magnitude. floating bridge, wave loading, experimental response, sealink elastomer, mooring cable, research trac/wsu 2003 |
| WA-RD 574.1 | Strategies and Tools to Implement Transportation-Efficient Development: A Reference Manual. Phase 2 of Integrating Land Use and Transportation Investment Decision Making | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2003 | strategies and tools to implement transportation-efficient development: a reference manual. phase 2 of integrating land use and transportation investment decision making moudon,a. v., cail,m., pergakes,n., forsyth,c., lillard,l. this reference manual addresses land use and development practices that support and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of associated transportation systems. it references strategies and tools used to foster transportation-efficient land-use patterns (transportation-efficient development is defined as supporting the use of alternative transportation modes while reducing the need to drive alone). the manual documents state-of-the-art best practices at the national level, in addition to practices that are specific to washington state and the puget sound region.the manual is in two parts: regulatory strategies and tools and financial strategies and tools. the strategies (six regulatory and four financial) relate to the planning and policy-making environment shaping land use those general approaches and related policies used to plan transportation-efficient land use and development. each strategy in turn contains a number of tools, the specific mechanisms used to guide the implementation of the strategies. detailed explanations of how the tools have functioned or can work are provided, along with examples of specific applications and case studies to illustrate the scope and extent of the tools' effectiveness.the reference manual is the second product of a three-phase project by the washington state department of transportation, which is known as integrating land use and transportation investment decision-making. the first phase reviewed current land-use and development practices by the various local jurisdictions. it is summarized in implementing transportation-efficient development: a local interview (wsdot 2002, wa-rd 549.1). the third phase will integrate findings from phases 1 and 2 with other data to produce criteria for evaluating the transportation efficiency of land-use and development patterns. it will provide wsdot with a method to assess how existing and planned land uses could extend, support, or shorten the lifespan of existing or planned transportation system capacity. land use and transportation, smart growth, development, zoning, codes, parking, affordable housing, public, private financial strategies, transportation efficiency trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 560.1 | A Motorist and Pedestrian Behavioral Analysis Relating to Pedestrian Safety Improvements | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2003 | a motorist and pedestrian behavioral analysis relating to pedestrian safety improvements nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. the objective of this project was to evaluate motorist and pedestrian behavioral changes thatresulted from changes in the roadway environment, traffic enforcement activities, and a public information campaign. a "before" and a four-phased "after" analysis was conducted to evaluate motorist and pedestrian behavioral changes at the study sites: n. 165th st and n. 170th st on sr 99 in the city of shoreline. the main measures of effectiveness used to evaluate this project were pedestrian crossing locations, changes in pedestrian behaviors (e.g., whether pedestrians used the crosswalks), and changes in motorist behaviors (e.g., the willingness of drivers to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks before and after the improvements).the results of the study showed that the safety treatments had a positive effect on pedestrianbehavior in that pedestrians used the installed refuge island for crossing. the safety treatments also significantly improved vehicle compliance in yielding for pedestrians. however, poor driving behavior can still be improved. a reduction in pedestrian conflict rates and a lack of change in vehicle evasive behavior imply that pedestrians were not any less careful after implementation of the treatments.while the true effect of each treatment phase may have been limited at the study sites because of the implementation process, construction constraints, and project schedule, the study observed the following findings for the various treatments. first, no meaningful difference was observed in vehicles yielding at marked vs. unmarked crosswalks. the push-button activated roving eyes signs had a positive effect on motorists' yielding action. motorists responded positively to yield bars. this study may be limited in reflecting the true impact of traffic enforcement. pedestrian safety, pedestrian crossings, vehicle compliance trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 518.2 | Evaluation of the Instant Tow Dispatch Pilot Program in the Tacoma Area - A Supplement to the Evaluation of the Service Patrol Program in the Puget Sound Region | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2003 | evaluation of the instant tow dispatch pilot program in the tacoma area - a supplement to the evaluation of the service patrol program in the puget sound region nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. as part of a larger service patrol pilot demonstration effort, the service patrol study steering committee proposed a separate element, the instant tow dispatch program (it)--also known as an "expedited" rotational call-out tow truck program--to be evaluated for its potential to reduce incident response time. the goals of the it test program were to decrease congestion and reduce potential safety risk on the highway by providing timely removal of blocking collisions or disabled vehicles.in the original test operations from january through april 2002, the it disptach was not successfully implemented as designed because the protocol for the expedited dispatch process was not followed consistently. the project partners subsequently decided that additional effort should be made, and another round of data collection over a three-month period followed from september through november 2002. while efforts were made to ensure that the protocol for the expedited dispatch process was consistently followed, the use of expedited tows in the tacoma study area was still limited in the coverage area during the hours of its operation. as a result of the limited number of data collected, no definitive conclusion about the program's effectiveness can be established. however, the available information seems to indicate that the it protocol allows two vehicles to be notified more quickly than the standard rotational tow truck call-out protocol; hence, it would help decrease overall incident time and resulting traveler delay.this supplement summarizes the institutional and operation issues affecting the it dispatch pilot program, the evaluation results based on the operations from september through november 2002, and the evaluation's recommendations. service patrols, incident response time, traffic delay, traffic safety, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 567.1 | Breeding Phenology, Nesting Success, Habitat Selection, and Census Methods for the Streaked Horned Lark in the Puget Sound Lowlands of Washington | Pearson | Washington Dept. of Natural Resources | 2003 | breeding phenology, nesting success, habitat selection, and census methods for the streaked horned lark in the puget sound lowlands of washington pearson,s. f. the streaked horned lark is a recognized subspecies of the horned lark and is a federal and state candidate for listing under the state and federal endangered species act. in the spring and summer of 2002, three field assistants and the author conducted research on this subspecies at four research sites in the south puget sound. the specific objectives of this research were five-fold: 1) describe streaked horned lark breeding phenology and life history; 2) assess reproductive success in four of the populations where males have been reported singing and performing flight displays; 3) identify habitat features important to successful breeding at the nest site and territory scales; 4) assess the impacts of human activities on streaked horned larks at the 13th division prairie; 5) develop a streaked horned lark survey protocol that could be used by washington department of transportation biologists to determine species presence or absence. breeding phenology, nesting success, habitat selection, census methods, streaked horned lark, research washington dept. of natural resources 2003 |
| WA-RD 576.1 | Dowel Bar Retrofit - Do's And Dont's | Pierce | WSDOT | 2003 | dowel bar retrofit - do's and dont's pierce, l., uhlmeyer, j.s., weston, j.t. this report documents construction and inspection guidelines for the successful construction of a dowel bar retrofit project. construction, construction techniques, dowel alignment, dowel bar, dowel bar retrofit, inspection, project, retrofit wsdot 2003 |
| WA-RD 559.1 | An Evaluation of Stormwater Permeable Rapid Infiltration Barriers for Use in Class V Stormwater Injection Wells | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 2003 | an evaluation of stormwater permeable rapid infiltration barriers for use in class v stormwater injection wells yonge,d. r., roelen,p. stormwater injection wells are widely used as stormwater management systems. these wells may act as a low resistance conduit for contaminants transported by stormwater to enter groundwater. this paper summarizes the testing of a natural filtration medium, referred to as a stormwater permeable rapid infiltration barrier (sprib), that has been proposed as a potential retrofit option for stormwater injection wells in spokane, washington, because of its theoretical contaminant attenuation capabilities and its good hydraulic properties. this medium was tested in the laboratory and at a field site using near field-scale columns to determine its useful life span in terms of metal (cu, pb, and zn) removal capacity and maintenance of acceptable infiltration rates. after a series of simulated storm events, the sprib demonstrated contaminant concentration reduction rates of total metals greater than 99% and soluble metals from 91% to 98%. surface clogging of the columns by stormwater particulate matter was shown to be the limiting factor in the useful life span of an unmaintained sprib. based on the observed linear decline in infiltration rates due to sediment loading, the predicted life span of sprib is 20 to 22 storms (roughly 6 months in the spokane area) before infiltration falls below acceptable rates (8 to 12 in/hr). a significantly longer life span is expected if pretreatment for suspended solids or periodic sprib maintenance is performed. highway runoff, stormwater treatment, dry well, retrofit, research trac/wsu 2003 |
| WA-RD 573.1 | Assessing Overwater Structure-related Predation Risk On Juvenile Salmon Field Observations and Recommended Protocols | Williams | Pacific NW Laboratory | 2003 | assessing overwater structure-related predation risk on juvenile salmon field observations and recommended protocols williams, g.d., thom, r. m., shreffler, j.a., southard, l., o'rourke, k., sargeant, s.l., cullinan v.i., moursund, r., stamey, m. the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether conditions associated with over-water structures enhance predation pressure on juvenile salmon in puget sound. washington state ferry served as model. over-water structures for exploring these issues. this document reports bird and survey results from six north-central puget sound wsf terminals and paired reference sites over both "pre" and "peak" periods of outmigrating salmon fry abundance from april 1 to may 10, 2002. we conclude that potential salmon predators were slightly more abundant at wsf terminals as compared with unmodified shorelines, although large aggregations were not observed on any occasion. the spatial distribution patterns of both bird and fish predators rarely overlapped with juvenile salmon oriented in surface waters close to shore. we were unable to verify whether potential predators were more abundant during peak salmon out-migration, because salmon were available in these habitats throughout the duration of our study. we found no evidence that avian, marine mammal, or fish predators consumed more juvenile salmon near wsf terminals than along shorelines without over-water structures. few species appeared to be targeting abundant in near-shore habitats, and we observed only two occasions in which predators (one tern sp. one staghorn sculpin) had consumed juvenile salmon. several hypotheses are offered as to why we did not observe elevated rates of predation on juvenile salmon in the face of their greater relative availability to predators in near-shore habitats. assessing, availability, condition, ferry, fish, habitat, habitats, issues, juvenile salmon, marine, model, nearshore habitat, over-water structure, overwater, overwater structure, overwater structures, predation, prediation risk, pressure, salmon, structure-related, structures, study, survey, washington, washington state pacific nw laboratory 2003 |
| WA-RD 577.1 | Automata Model for Congestion Prediction | Wall | TRAC/UW | 2003 | automata model for congestion prediction wall,z., dailey,d. j. the overall goal of this project is to create a method for predicting traffic congestion on freeway corridors. when implemented, it will provide a traffic service like that of "pin-point doppler" weather radar that can predict growing or dissipating congestion. preliminary versions of the model used real-time loop data to successfully reproduce traffic behavior under moderately congested conditions. to improve the model for heavily congested conditions, the model had to be accurately calibrated. the process of calibrating the model revealed that inductance loop errors were preventing accurate results. an algorithm to correct the data from improperly functioning loops was developed and published at the 2003 transportation research board annual meeting. the corrected loop data from the tdad (traffic data acquisition and distribution) data mine are now being used to calibrate the model. the algorithm created in support of this effort can be used with malfunctioning loops to improve the freeway management system performance monitoring effort. general automata, loop data, real-time data, traffic management, congestion prediction, recurring congestion, non-recurring congestion, car following, research trac/uw 2003 |
| UrbanSim: Development, Application and Integration with the Wasatch Front Regional Travel Model, Technical Report | Waddell | Center for Urban Simulation and Policy Analys | 2003 | urbansim: development, application and integration with the wasatch front regional travel model, technical report waddell, p., franklin, j., britting, j. the objective of this report is to present the results of a project to evaluate the application of the urbansim land use model system and its integration with the wasatch front regional council (wfrc) travel model system. the intent is to describe reasonably completely the entire process of developing and applying urbansim in the greater wasatch front region, including the development of the database, estimation and calibration of model parameters, integration with the wfrc travel model system , and validation of the model system through sensitivity analysis designed to explore the responsiveness of the model to major transportation system and land use policy changes. urbansim, land use, modeling, planning center for urban simulation and policy analys 2003 | |
| WA-RD 571.1 | NovaChip | Uhlmeyer | Materials Laboratory//WSDOT | 2003 | novachip uhlmeyer,j. s., pierce,l. m., weston,j. t. novachip is marketed as a pavement rehabilitation, preventive maintenance, or surface treatment that has an extremely durable surface with improved skid resistance and resistance to rutting and wear. as a thin (3/8 to 3/4 inch), gap-graded hot-mix asphalt, novachip is recommended for structurally sound pavements and has the possibility of being a viable alternative to a bituminous surface treatment (bst) or a thin dense-graded overlay. for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), the first novachip application in washington state was selected as a replacement to a bst or sb17 through the city of soap lake. this report summarizes the design and construction experiences learned on this project, performance to date, and includes discussion of costs and future use recommendations in washington. novachip, asphalt, thin overlay, research materials laboratory//wsdot 2003 |
| WA-RD 553.1 | Evaluation of Displacement-Based Methods and Computer Software for Seismic Analysis of Highway Bridges | Symans | TRAC/WSU | 2003 | evaluation of displacement-based methods and computer software for seismic analysis of highway bridges symans,m. d., shattarat,n. k., mclean,d. i., cofer,w. f. the response of bridges when subjected to seismic excitation can be evaluated by a number of analysis methods. the traditional approach to seismic analysis focuses on forces (so-called force-based methods of analysis) while current design practice is moving towards an increased emphasis on displacements (so-called displacement-based methods of analysis). the primary objective of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of various commerically-available computer programs for performing practical displacement-based seismic analysis of highway bridges. a secondary objective was to identify the fundamental differences between force-based and displacement-based methods of analysis, particularly as they apply to highway bridges. the objectives of the project were met by utilizing four different computer programs to evaluate the seismic response of a simple two-span highway bridge. the seismic response was evaluated using two force-based methods of analysis (response spectrum and time-history) and two displacement-based methods (capacity spectrum and inelastic demand spectrum). furthermore, the effects of two differnent abutment and bent foundation support conditions were evaluated. the experience gained by utilizing the computer software revealed that some programs were well suited to displacement-based analysis, both from the point-of-view of being efficient and providing insight into the behavior of plastic hinges. the results of the seismic analyses demonstrated that force-based methods of analysis may be conveniently used to prioritize cases under which displacement-based methods of analysis should be applied. furthermore, the displacement-based methods of analysis that were used produced different predictions of nonlinear response with neither method being regarded as producing accurate results due to a number of simplifications inherent in the methods. finally, the displacement-based methods of analysis appear to be attractive to practicing engineers in the sense that they emphasize a graphical evaluation of seismic performance. displacement-based seismic analysis, force-based seismic analysis, pushover analysis, nonlinear static analysis, capacity spectrum analysis, bridge design, earthquake, research trac/wsu 2003 |
| WA-RD 575.1 | Algorithms for Estimating Mean Vehicle Speed Using Uncalibrated Traffic Management Cameras | Schoepflin | TRAC/UW | 2003 | algorithms for estimating mean vehicle speed using uncalibrated traffic management cameras schoepflin,t. n., dailey,d. j. this report documents the second project, in a series of three research projects funded by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), that will enable already deployed, uncalibrated cctv cameras to be used as traffic speed sensors. the principle traffic speed sensors currently deployed by wsdot are inductance loops; however, in some locations, it is impractical or too expensive to install loops. in addition, a large number of un-calibrated cameras are already in place and being used by the traffic management operators to qualitatively assess traffic both on the freeway and on arterials. these projects will leverage the existing cameras to provide a quantitative measurement of traffic speed similar to that which can be obtained using loops in the roadway. the implementation of this research will culminate with software that creates an automated system compatible with the existing tms. this system will leverage the existing camera investment to create a new set of speed sensors that increases the geographic extent of the tms's quantitative surveillance capabilities.in the second phase, reported on here, roadway features are used to augment the camera calibration. this overcomes the occlusion problem, or apparent blending together of small vehicles as seen in the far field of the camera images, that existed in the first phase. activity maps, fog lines,and vanishing points are a few of the additional features used, and the details of these algorithms are described in this report. these results havae also been peer reviewed and published. cctv cameras, video image processing, calibration, speed sensor, vehicle length distribution, kalman filter, research trac/uw 2003 |
| WA-RD 514.1 | Dynamic Stiffness of Piles in Liquefiable Soils | Arduino | TRAC/UW | 2002 | dynamic stiffness of piles in liquefiable soils arduino,p., kramer,s. l., ping,l., baska,d. a. this research developed tools and procedures for evaluating the stiffness of pile foundations in liquefiable soils during earthquakes. previous research on dynamic stiffness performed for the washington state department of transportation resulted in the development of a manual that provided simple charts for estimating the stiffnesses of typical pile foundations in soil deposits typical of those encountered in washington state. the tools and procedures developed in the current project were based on up-to-date models for liquefiable soil and for soil-pile interaction, which obviated the need for many of the simplifying assumptions used in the manual. the tools were developed by updating and extending the capabilities of two computer programs developed in part during previous wsdot research studies.a greatly improved model for describing the seismic response of liquefiable soil was implemented into a nonlinear, effective stress site response analysis (wave). this model, termed the uwsand model, allows estimation of the response of typical sands to the stresses induced by earthquake shaking. the model has the important advantage of being easily calibrated with commonly available data. it captures important aspects of the behavior of liquefiable soils, including the phase transformation behavior associated with cyclic mobility that strongly influences free-field response and soil-pile interaction. the model has been successfully validated against field observations of soil liquefaction.soil-pile interaction analyses were performed with an extended version of the program dynopile. dynopile was modified to allow different pile head loading conditions, including the attachment of a single-degree-of-freedom structure to the pile head to allow coupled analysis of soil-pile-structure interaction. a windowsbased version of dynopile was developed.the modified wave and dynopile programs were used to improve and extend the stiffness charts for liquefiable soils that were presented in the manual. wave and dynopile can also be applied to site-specific evaluation of dynamic pile stiffness by using the same procedures used to develop the improved charts. piles, liquefaction, foundation stiffness, foundation damping, lateral spreading, seismic response, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 531.1 | Occurrence of Lynx in North Cascades Corridor | Aubry | WSDOT | 2002 | occurrence of lynx in north cascades corridor aubry, k.b., koehler, g.m., naney, r. information on the effects of paved roads on lynx is urgently needed for managers to accurately assess the impacts of such roads on habitat use by lynx at the landscape scale. in particular, information is needed on the extent to which such roads may serve as barriers to lynx movements and dispersal, and disrupt connectivity among subpopulations. the objectives of this study are to (1) use hair-snagging techniques and dna analyses to conduct surveys to detect the presence of lynx along the washington state highway 20 (north cascades highway) corridor in north-central washington, and (2) attempt to document lynx crossing this highway during the snow-free period when vehicular traffic is present on the highway. lynx, habitat, state highways wsdot 2002 |
| WA-RD 512.3 | Ground-Water Quality and Levels, and Surface-Water, Meteorological and Other Environmental Data Collected at Two Storm-Water Retention Basins near DuPont, Washington, Water Years 1998-2000 | Bidlake | WSDOT | 2002 | ground-water quality and levels, and surface-water, meteorological and other environmental data collected at two storm-water retention basins near dupont, washington, water years 1998-2000 bidlake,w. r., frans,l. m. hydrologic, meteorological, and other environmental data were collected from water years 1998 to 2000 near two recently constructed storm-water retention basins near dupont, washington. a mixture of gypsum, grass seeds, and mulch was added to soils of one of the basins to slow infiltration by water. six monitoring wells were installed in may 1997 near the two retention basins: one upgradient of the basins, four adjacent to the basin without gypsum, and one near the basin with the gypsum soil amendment. water-quality samples were collected to monitor possible changes in ground-water chemistry. ground-water levels in selected wells were measured both manually with a steel tape and with automatic monitoring systems. water level of an intermittent pond in the gypsum-treated basin was monitored, as were selected meteorological and other environmental variables. the hydrologic, meteorological, and other environmental data are presented in this report. accident rates wsdot 2002 |
| WA-RD 525.1 | Evaluation of Methods to Increase Light Under Ferry Terminals | Blanton | Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory//Battelle | 2002 | evaluation of methods to increase light under ferry terminals blanton,s. l., thom,r. m., borde,a., diefenderfer,h., southard,j. to address concerns of resource agencies about the potential impacts of ferry terminal expansion on valuable habitat functions and resource use of nearshore areas, the pacific northwest national laboratory (pnnl), in partnership with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), conducted field trials with off-the-shelf products that promote light passage through dock structures. these products included a suntunnel(tm), deck prisms, and a metal halide greenhouse light. light measurements (photosynthetically active radiation, par), were also recorded beneath glass blocks and a metal grating installed at clinton ferry terminal on whidbey island, washington. a review of other studies measuring the effects of dock shading and alternate dock materials was conducted.par measurements from this study were related to minimum requirements for eelgrass zostera marina photosynthesis and to the known maximum photosynthetic "saturation" rate for z. marina. we also related par measurements to what we know about light requirements for macroalgae and kelp, and light effects on juvenile salmonid feeding and passage under overwater structures. all of the light technologies tested could provide enough light for eelgrass growth underneath a ferry terminal that is being expanded or rebuilt if certain requirements are met. for example, all of the technologies (some signgly and some in multiples) could provide adequate light for eelgrass if the dock is no greater than 15 ft. above the eelgrass and certain air:water ratios are met. at increased distances between the deck and eelgrass, the air:water ratio and total distance light must travel begin to limit the technolgies that could successfully be applied. in general, the products predicted to provide the most to the least light to eelgrass are the grating, suntunnel, metal halide greenhouse light, and prisms. light levels required to allow fish to feed and to form schools are low , and much less than those required for photosynthesis (ali 1959). based on ali's data, our research indicates that installing any of the tested light products would likely maintain light levels under the dock above those required for active feeding by juvenile salmonids. light, overwater structure, nearshore habitat, photosynthesis, salmonids, eelgrass, transportation, highway, port, washington, research battelle marine sciences laboratory//battelle 2002 |
| WA-RD 539.1 | Juvenile Coho Movement Study | Bolton | TRAC/UW | 2002 | juvenile coho movement study bolton, s.m., moss, j., southard, j., williams, g.d., deblois, c., evans, n. this pilot study was initiated to investigate movement patterns, habitat utilization, and velocity preferences for young of the year coho salmon (oncorhynchus kisutch) during the spring in western washington and examine potential factors controlling redistribution timing in the fall. water velocity appeared to be an important factor in predicting juvenile coho (< 55 mm) distribution. mark-recapture studies indicated that upstream movement by juvenile coho through culverts is low. timing for fall redistribution of juvenile coho from main channels into off-channel habitat was investigated in relation to water temperature, stream flow, date, and moon phase. the majority of movement by juvenile coho in the skagit, suiattle, and stillaguamish river basins occurred during new and half moon phases. movement into off-channel habitat by juvenile coho in the hoh river basin corresponded with floods where flow increased by 2000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and coincided with a new moon. studies at remote site incubators, indicate that recently emerged coho fry move up and downstream. upstream movement ranged between 100 and 200 meters from april through june. after june, coho fry were found over 500 m upstream. juvenile coho salmonids, movement patterns, velocity, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 529.1 | Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS): Enabling Proactive Maintenance Practices in Washington State | Boon | TRAC/UW | 2002 | road weather information systems (rwis): enabling proactive maintenance practices in washington state boon,c. b., cluett,c. washington state department of transportation's (wsdot) rweather program has significantly integrated and expanded the capabilities of road weather information systems (rwis) in the state, enabling proactive winter maintenance practices and better informed winter travel decisions. the report reviews the potential benefits of a comprehensive, integrated rwis, including cost-efficient snow and ice control strategies and improved safety and mobility. use of, and attitudes toward, rwis by wsdot maintenance personnel are examined, and barriers to the expanded use of rwis technologies are identified. public response to the rweather traveler information website is evaluated. recommendations are presented for more fully utilizing rwis capabilities. road weather information system, rwis, winter maintenance, snow and ice control, traveler information, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 557.1 | Functions and Benefits of Rural Airports in Washington | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2002 | functions and benefits of rural airports in washington casavant,k. l., newkirk,j. the economic benefits of major airports are well known and acknowledged; less well known is the benefit to the state and rural communities provided by rural airports. the rural airport system, and its users, are caught on the horns of a dilemma. the need for local airport services is never more critical but the vitality of the rural washington airport system, and the capability to support that system, does not mirror the past vigor of the state economy. this report identifies the wide range of benefits that rural communities receive because they have an airport. the study used a qualitative research framework, combining individual inerviews and available literature to identify "emerging themes" of airport activities. these themes are: economic development and airports--the box that must be checked; health care --emergency service; business and commerce; public safety, disaster and emergency response; and enriching community life. for those policy makers and citizens concerned about the future of rural communities, the future of rural airports must be given attention. this study's results support their role as an essential public facility. airports, aviation, benefits, general aviation, research, rural trac/wsu 2002 |
| WA-RD 540.1 | Methodology for Determining Washington State Value-Added of Freight Moved in Washington Corridors | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2002 | methodology for determining washington state value-added of freight moved in washington corridors casavant,k. l., sorensen,p., chase,b. determining the marginal value of improved freight mobility along with a corridor requires full information on tonnage, dollar value of freight movements and services used in moving these products and the value-added characteristics of those products. this report investigates whether a practical methodology, applicable in the real world, can estimate value-added components of freight moving on washington's transportation system. determining this value-added can be done with the methodology identified in this study though it was found that specific data availability varied heavily from commodity to commodity, from corridor to corridor and project to project. the general results, and restructive assumptions and data deficiencies necessary for statewide analysis, cast doubt on specific findings. regional or highway segment analysis can be more precise, if the data are locally developed. the basic model, consisting of kowledge about traffic levels, commodity composition, commodity value and value added of the commodity can reveal the importance of a corridor or region of interest to the state's economy. freight, value-added, washington, methodology, research trac/wsu 2002 |
| WA-RD 543.1 | A Brief Report on 2001 Activities for ITS Backbone Infrastructure | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2002 | a brief report on 2001 activities for its backbone infrastructure dailey,d. j. the its backbone performs several important tasks for ongoing efforts at the washington state department of transportation and university of washington. the backbone (1) supports existing traveler information applications for both traffic and transit information, (2) supports real-time access to wsdot data for a variety of public and private groups, (3) off-loads the interaction and support of data users external to wsdot, (4) provides a standard interface so that all roadway data are available equally to outside agencies/groups, (5) supports research activities within wsdot, research funded by wsdot at the uw, and research at universities and agencies nationwide, and (6) provides a standard interface to include new data sources into the existing traffic management system. intelligent transportation systems, backbone, real-time data, standard interface, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 534.1 | AVL-Equipped Vehicles as Traffic Probe Sensors | Dailey | TRAC/UW/TransNow | 2002 | avl-equipped vehicles as traffic probe sensors dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w. in this report, we present new algorithms that use transit vehicles as probes to determine traffic speeds and travel times along freeways and other primary arterials. we describe a mass transit tracking system based on automatic vehicle location (avl) data and a kalman filter to estimate vehicle position and speed. we also describe a system of "virtual" probe sensors that measure transit vehicle speeds using the track data. examples showing the correlation between probe data and inductance loop speed trap data are presented. we also present a method that uses probe sensor data to define vehicle speed along an arbitrary roadway as a function of space and time, a speed function. we present the use of this speed function to estimate travel time given an arbitrary starting time. finally, we introduce a graphical application for viewing real-time speed measurements from a set of virtual sensors that can be located throughout king county on arterials and freeways. automatic vehicle location (avl), kalman filter, transit vehicles, speed sensors, research trac/uw/transnow 2002 |
| WA-RD 484.1 | Traffic Data Acquisition and Distribution (TDAD) | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2002 | traffic data acquisition and distribution (tdad) dailey,d. j., myers,d., pond,l., guiberson,k. the wide variety of remote sensors used in intelligent transportation systems (its) applications (loops, probe vehicles, radar, cameras, etc.) has created a need for general methods by which data can be shared among agencies and users who own disparate computers systems.in this report, we present a methodology that demonstrates that it is possible to create, encode, and decode a self-describing data stream using the following: 1. existing data description language standards 2. parsers to enforce language compliance 3. a simple content language that flows out of the data description language 4. architecture neutral encoders and decodes based on asn.1 travel time, data mine, jdbc, data user services, adus, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 537.1 | A Cellular Automata Model for Use with Real Freeway Data | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2002 | a cellular automata model for use with real freeway data dailey,d. j., taiyab,n. the exponential rate of increase in freeway traffic is expanding the need for accurate and realistic methods to model and predict traffic flow. traffic modeling and simulation facilitate an examination of both microscopic and macroscopic views of traffic flows and are therefore considered one of the most important analytical tools in traffic engineering. this report presents a cellular automata model for traffic flow simulation and prediction (cats). cellular automata models quantize complex behavior into simple individual components. in this model, the freeway being simulated is discretized into homogeneous cells of equal length, and time is discretized into timesteps of equal duration. the cats model allows users to define locations within the road topology where volume and density data will be calculated so that the model results can be compared to observed highway data. cellular automata, traffic modeling, dynamic simulation, prediction, control, ramp metering, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 516.1 | Median Treatment Study on Washington State Highways | Glad | Washington State Dept. of Transportation | 2002 | median treatment study on washington state highways glad,r. w., albin,r. b., mcintosh,d. m., olson,d. k. across the median crashes are high severity, often fatal crashes occuring when errant vehicles cross the median and enter the opposing lanes of travel. guidelines for the installation of median barriers presented in the aashto roadside design guild were developed in the 1960's. a study of across the median crashes on washington's multilane, divided state highways, with full access control, was conducted to evaluate median barrier guidelines and identify specific highway sections where installation of a barrier is desirable. a benefit/cost analysis was conducted to evaluate the cost of effectiveness of median barrier installation. the analysis was used to develop revised guidelines for median barrier installation. in addition, the benefit/cost methodology provides a means for ranking median barrier needs based on past crash history. this ranking will allow these improvements to compete for safety improvement funds. across-the-median crashes, median, median barrier, concrete barrier, cable barrier, guardrail, research washington state dept. of transportation 2002 |
| WA-RD 548.1 | Development of an Automated Deer Detector | Gribble | WSDOT | 2002 | development of an automated deer detector gribble, r. p. the washington state depatment of transportation (wsdot) has a requirement to place detectors that will detect the presence of deer along selected roadways. battelle marine sciences laboratory was tasked with the design and fabrication of a detector system that would consist of a beam of energy emitted from an emiter that would be received by a detector placed at a maximum distance of 1000 feet along the side of the road. the height of the beam above the ground needed to be approximately 3 feet, and there needed to be a clear line of sight between the emitter and the detector. the design incorporated two emitters, two detectors, and two sign modules into one full system. one set of each would be placed on either side of the roadway, with the distance from the side of the roadway and the type of posts used to be specified by wsdot. a family radio service (frs) radio communication system would relay an alarm signal to a traffic warning sign also placed along the side of the roadway. the system needed to be battery powered and capable of being charged by solar power. it also needed to be robust and opeate under most all anticipated weather conditions.the primary purpose of this program was to identify the best technology that would provide the most robust system that is relatively weather independent. commercial availability and low cost were of prime importance. a single channel or one emitter, one detector, and one sign module was constructed and tested. this single channel system was set up on a test range on battelle property to determine the correct configuration to be used, and the range, detection sensitivity, weather affects, and robustness were tested. deer, detection, warning system, wsdot 2002 |
| WA-RD 550.1 | Effects of Large Overwater Structures on Epibenthic Juvenile Salmon Prey Assemblages in Puget Sound, Washington | Haas | TRAC/UW | 2002 | effects of large overwater structures on epibenthic juvenile salmon prey assemblages in puget sound, washington haas,m. e., simenstad,c. a., cordell,j. r., beauchamp,d. a., miller,b. s. although large over-water structures alter nearshore habitat in a number of ways, little work has been done to study how docks affect nearshore fauna. in puget sound, juvenile chum, pink, and ocean-type chinook salmon migrate along the shorelines and feed extensively on shallow water epibenthic invertebrates. as part of an ongoing project on the effects of ferry terminals on juvenile salmon, this study looked at the effects of large overwater structures on juvenile salmon and their prey. the epibenthic assemblage was sampled for juvenile salmon prey with four sampling regimes: monthly-stratified sampling of epibenthic invertebrates at three terminals, one-time eelgrass patch at a single terminal, one-time high-resolution cross-terminal at a single terminal, and one-time terminal structure sampling at two terminals. the response variables tested included taxa richness and densities of (1) total epibenthos, (2) total juvenile salmon prey,(3) common or abundant salmonprey taxa and (4) common or abundant non-salmon prey taxa.both the stratified-monthly and eelgrass sampling indicated that terminals negatively affected all summary response variables and many individual taxa. high-resolution cross-terminal sampling results were less clear, but the negative impacts of the terminal were evident for some taxa. finally, terminal structure sampling results showed some differences in assemblages on different structure-types and elevations, and an overall smaller abundance of epibenthos on terminal structures than on intertidal sediment and benthic vegetation. in general, these results agreed with impact predictions based on vessel disturbance (propeller wash) and shading of benthic vegetation, and with assessments of these attributes completed during the sampling season. the researchers concluded that decreases or changes in the epibenthos density, diversity, and assemblage at these large overwater structures were probably caused by four interacting factors: direct disturbance or removal by vessel traffic, reduced or compromised benthic vegetation, physical habitat alterations, and biological habitat alterations. overwater structures, ferry terminals, nearshore habitat, juvenile salmon, epibenthic assemblage, research trac/uw 2002 |
| The Concurrency Calculation Process -- Current Procedures and Potential Alternatives | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2002 | the concurrency calculation process -- current procedures and potential alternatives hallenbeck, m.e., carlson, d., simmons, j. the first section of this report briefly describes how concurrency is calculated. the second section describes the limitations of those procedures and highlights important issues raised by project stakeholders that should be addressed in changes to the current system. the third section presents a preliminary review of alternatives that are being considered in the near term to replace or refine the current process. this specific list of alternatives was included in the original scope of work by the four cities. they are briefly analyzed for implementation in the near term. it is the project team's opinion that none of these solutions resolve the larger issues identified in the second section of this report. as a result, additional approaches to concurrency need to be considered by the four cities if they wish to resolve these issues. the fourth and final section of this report briefly identifies the primary subject areas that need further investigation if the project team is to develop functional alternatives to the current concurrency process that address the limitations in the second section of this report. the four cities (bellevue, issaquah, kirkland, redmond) participating in this project use concurrency determination procedures that are similar in style and structure but that differ in technical execution. concurrency, calculation, limitations, alternatives trac/uw 2002 | |
| WA-RD 532.1 | Internal Stability Analyses of Geosynthetic Reinforced Retaining Walls | Holtz | TRAC/UW | 2002 | internal stability analyses of geosynthetic reinforced retaining walls holtz,r. d., lee,w. f. this research project was an effort to improve our understanding of the internal stress-strain distribution in grs retaining structures. our numerical modelling techniques utilized a commercially available element program, flac (fast lagrangian analysis of continua). in this research, we investigated and appropriately considered the plane strain soil properties, the effect of low confining pressure on the soil dilation angle, and in-soil and low strain rate geosynthetic reinforcement properties.modeling techniques that are able to predict both the internal and external performance of grs walls simultaneously were developed. instrumentation measurements such as wall deflection and reinforcement strain distributions of a number of selected case histories were successfully reproduced by our numerical modeling techniques. moreover, these techniques were verified by successfully performing true "class a" predictions of three large-scale experimental walls.an extensive parametric study that included more than 250 numerical models was then performed to investigate the influence of design factors such as soil properties, reinforcement stiffness, and reinforcement spacing on grs wall performance. moreover, effects of design options such as toe restraint and structural facing systems were examined. an alternative method for internal stress-strain analysis based on the stress-strain behavior of grs as a composite material was also developed. finally, the modeling results were used to develop a new technique for predicting grs wall face deformations and to make recommendations for the internal stability design of grs walls. analysis, behavior, design, experimental, flac, geosynthetic, geotechnical, materials, modeling, models, performance, prediction, pressure, program, reinforcement, research, retaining wall, retaining walls, stability, structures, systems, walls trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 555.1 | North Seattle Advanced Traffic Management System (NSATMS) Project Evaluation | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2002 | north seattle advanced traffic management system (nsatms) project evaluation ishimaru, j.m., hallenbeck, m.e. this report documents the findings of the evaluation of the north seattle advanced traffic management system (nsatms) project. the evaluation was originally designed to analyze the potential transportation benefits and costs of a regional arterial traffic data sharing system that would obtain traffic signal system information (volumes, signal timing plans, etc.) from participating agencies and then share the data among those agencies. the operational goal was to allow each agency to make better control decisions by providing it with real-time knowledge of traffic conditions outside of its own control system boundaries. because of a series of technical and project management issues, the system as originally envisioned was not successfully implemented. as a result, this evaluation does not include an analysis of direct operational benefits. it does, however, include a discussion of the expected institutional benefits, as well as an extensive "lessons learned" section based on the project team's review of the nsatms effort. of particular note were the importance of effective and ongoing lines of project communication, and the critical need to properly evaluate the fundamental nature of the project and provide a well-matched project management structure. the lessons learned from this project provide instructive guidelines for those who are contemplating future its system development efforts of comparable scope and complexity. despite the limited successes of the nsatms effort, the evaluation team found continued support for the regional arterial atms concept within the puget sound region. follow-on research that contributes to a better understanding of the benefits, costs, and technical requirements of an arterial traffic management system is desired by many of the project participants. intelligent transportation systems, arterial signal control systems, traffic control strategies, archived data user services (adus), data sharing, evaluation, seattle, advanced traffic management systems, traffic, traffic management, management, management system, transportation, transportation benefit, benefits, benefit, costs, cost, arterial, traffic data, data, volume, control, condition, its, project management, analysis, line, development, atms, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 542.2 | Rapid Repair Design of Temporary Support Systems for Bridges Damaged by Earthquakes in the State of Washington. Appendix A: Design Manual | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 2002 | rapid repair design of temporary support systems for bridges damaged by earthquakes in the state of washington. appendix a: design manual itani,r., fridley,k., heath,l. the scope of this project is to provide designs for the rapid construction of shoring systems for damaged bridges due to earthquakes in the state of washington. using a broad range of loading criteria and established bridge geometries, several shoring systems were developed for 75% of the bridge types in washington that are encountered in typical field scenarios. using materials commonly available in the puget sound stockyards, steel and a wood/steel combination shoring system were developed to shore standardized concrete pre-stressed girder bridges, concrete box girder bridges, or steel plate girder bridges. the temporary shoring can span a height of 15 to 40-feet. a handbook, with a flowchart and detailed construction drawings, was developed to provide wsdot inspection engineers with tools to administer the full, appropriate completion of the shoring systems to allow the public and emergency crews to traverse damaged bridges. shoring systems, bridges, earthquake, pre-engineered plans trac/wsu 2002 |
| WA-RD 549.1 | Implementing Transportation-Efficient Development: A Local Overview | Kavage | TRAC/UW | 2002 | implementing transportation-efficient development: a local overview kavage,s., moudon,a. v., cail,m., lee,c., pergakes,n. transportation-efficient development is development that supports the use of alternative transportation modes while reducing the need to drive alone. the project assumed that transportation-efficient developjent is effective at changing people's travel behavior. to study implementation of transportation-efficient development, relationships between local regulations and approved project proposals were examined in 19 study areas along two major state highway corridors in the central puget sound region in washington state. within each sudy area, local planners filled out a survey that was used to inventory local land-use regulations. development proposals within each study area were evaluated to document implementation. interviews with local planners supplemented the survey responses and provided more detail on the types of programs, incentives,and other actions and processes used to encourage transportation-efficient development.findings highlighted the importance of local land-use regulation in implementing transportation-efficient development. largely, study areas that had zoned for transportation-efficient development were able to implement it, while those that did not have regulations in place that required of continued development did not have as much success in implementation. as a basic tool for guiding development, regulations work. in addition to regulations, a variety of other actions had been used to implement transportation-efficient development in the study areas. design review programs had been particularly effective, and several study areas had used incentives successfully as well.this research project is the first of a three-phase wsdot process titled "integrating land use and transportation investment decision-making." in phase 2, findings from this research will be integrated into a resource guide, "guide to transportation-efficient land use and development patterns." the findings from this work will also serve as the cornerstone for phase 3, a project that will examine the inclusion of more detailed land-use criteria into wsdot's corridor planning and programming processes. this project also represents part of the local match for the fta-funded project "trans-lake washington tdm & land use effectiveness review & enhancement." transit-oriented development, land use and transportation, linkage, smart growth, land use, regulation, implementation development, codes trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 533.1 | Infiltration Characteristics, Performance and Designs of Stormwater Facilities | Massman | TRAC/UW | 2002 | infiltration characteristics, performance and designs of stormwater facilities massman,j., butchart,c. d., stolar,s. storm water infiltration facilities help reduce the hydrologic impacts of residential and commercial development. the design of these facilities is particularly challenging because of large uncertainties associated with predictions of both short-term and long-term infiltration rates.full-scale "flood tests" conducted at four infiltration facilities in western washington suggest that lateral flow along the sides of the ponds may be significant. this is similar to "bank storage" that occurs in stream channels. more efficient designs may require a larger ratio of side area to bottom area and that maintenance activities should be considered for the sides as well as the bottom of the pond. saturated hydraulic conductivity values estimated from measuring air conductivity and from regression equations derived from grain size parameters were compared to full-scale infiltration rates for 15 sites in western washington. the estimated values for saturated hydraulic conductivity were up to two orders-of-magnitude larger than the full-scale infiltration rates for some sites and were two orders-of-magnitude smaller at others. these results show that infiltration rates cannot be reliably estimated on the basis of soil properties alone; information related to the hydraulic gradient is also important. computer models were compared to identify the flow systems for which saturated models provide reasonable approximations. the difference between saturated and unsaturated flow models was lowest in highly permeable soils and increased as the hydraulic conductivity of the soil decreased. the simulations suggest that steady-state infiltration rates calculated with a saturated model will be 20 to 40% smaller than rates calculated with an unsaturated model for the range of hydraulic conductivities typically found beneath western washington infiltration ponds. a comparison of steady-state and transient simulations showed that the steady-state assumption may significantly under-estimate infiltration rates. stormwater infiltration facilities, infiltration rates, hydraulic conductivity estimates, full-scale infiltration tests, numerical similations, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 521.3 | Effects of Shoreline Hardening and Shoreline Protection Features on Fish Utilization and Behavior at Washaway Beach, Washington | Miller | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Battell | 2002 | effects of shoreline hardening and shoreline protection features on fish utilization and behavior at washaway beach, washington miller,m. c., williams,g. d., o'rourke,l. k., sargeant,s. l., southard,j. a. in 1998, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) with funding assistance from the federal highway administation, constructed a groin and underwater dike adjacent to state route 105 on the north side of willapa bay in the vicinity of north beach. the structure was designed to arrest the northward migration of a deep ebb tidal channel that, if continued to move northward, threatened to erode the only transportation link connecting tokeland and the shoalwater indian reservation with grayland and westport. the structure was built in two segments: an above-water portion, generally referred to as the groin (locally known as jacobson's jetty), and an underwater portion, referred to as the dike. as a condition of the emergency construction authorization, wsdot agreed to conduct a biological monitoring program to evaluate the effect of the structure on the habitat and migration habits of salmonids that pass through the estuary and coastal area on their way in or out of willapa bay. accident rates pacific northwest national laboratory/battell 2002 |
| WA-RD 521.2 | Effects of Shoreline Hardening and Shoreline Protection Features on Fish Utilization and Behavior at Washaway Beach, Washington (Report 2) | Miller | Washington State Deptartment of Transportatio | 2002 | effects of shoreline hardening and shoreline protection features on fish utilization and behavior at washaway beach, washington (report 2) miller,m. c., williams,g. d., o'rourke,l. k., southard,j. a., slanton,s. l. this report is the second in a series of reports detailing the procedures used and the results obtained from studies designed to determine the impacts of erosion control structures on habitat at willapa bay, washington. the erosion control structure, consisting of a 1600-ft rock groin and an attached 930-ft underwater dike was placed on washaway beach in 1998 to protect state route (sr) 105 from erosion. the project background is more fully described in phillips and pierce (1999). the location and general layout of the area surrounding the rock groin is locally known as "jacobson's jetty."the objectives of the study are to develop an understanding about whether groin-type structures on the outer coast can alter migratory movement or predation pressure on juvenile and adult salmon. the washaway beach dike and groin structure is an example of such a feature and provides an opportunity to conduct coupled studies on the physics and associated ecology of these sructures in this environment. research washington state deptartment of transportatio 2002 |
| WA-RD 556.1 | Pedestrian Safety and Transit Corridors | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2002 | pedestrian safety and transit corridors moudon,a. v., hess,p. this research examines the relationship between pedestrian accident locations on state owned facilities (highways and urban arterials) and the presence of riders loading and alighting from bus transit. many state facilities are important metropolitan transit corridors with large numbers of bus stops users, so that these facilities have higher pedestrian exposure to traffic and an increased number of collisions. the research also examines the association between pedestrian collisions and other pedestrian travel generators, such as concentrations of retail activity and housing, as well as environmental conditions such as wide roadways, high traffic volumes, and high speed limits.on the basis of a retrospective sampling approach and logistic regression models, the study shows that bus stop usage is strongly associated with pedestrian collisions along state facilities. less strong, but significant associations are shown to exist between retail location and size, traffic volume, and number of traffic lanes, and locations with high levels of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. the findings suggest that facilities with high numbers of bus riders need to accommodate people walking safely along and across the roadway. they support the development of state dot programs for multi-modal facilities that integrate travel modes in major regional facilities within local suburban communities and pay specific attention to the role of transit in shaping the demand for non-motorized travel on the facilities. also, state dot, local jurisdiction, and transit staff must work together to identify facilities and locations where bus riders are at risk and take appropriate steps to ensure pedestrian safety. multimodal facilities, pedestrian collisions, pedestrian safety, research, transit trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 506.2 | HOV Lane Performance Monitoring: 2000 Report Executive Summary | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2002 | hov lane performance monitoring: 2000 report executive summary nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes, also known are carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ridesharers, and motorcyclists that meet the occupancy requirement. by restricting access, the hov lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time and experiencing greater travel time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (gp) lanes. to accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual hov system report to document system performance, examining the hov lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent gp lanes, as well as the lanes' violation rates.this report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of hov lane use and performance in the puget sound area in 2000. it presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use those lanes, the reliability of the hov lanes, travel time savings in comparison to general purpose lanes, violation rates, and public perceptions. this information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing hov lane system in the puget sound area and in planning of other hov facilities.descriptions of the tool set and methodology for analyzing hov facility usage and performance in terms of vehicle and person throughput, travel time, and speed reliability measures are provided in a separate report, evaluation tools for hov lanes performance monitoring. high occupancy vehicle, hov, throughput, speed, reliability, travel time trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 506.1 | HOV Lane Performance Monitoring: 2000 Report | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2002 | hov lane performance monitoring: 2000 report nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes, also known are carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ridesharers, and motorcyclists that meet the occupancy requirement. by restricting access, the hov lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time and experiencing greater travel time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (gp) lanes. to accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual hov system report to document system performance, examining the hov lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent gp lanes, as well as the lanes' violation rates.this report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of hov lane use and performance in the puget sound area in 2000. it presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use those lanes, the reliability of the hov lanes, travel time savings in comparison to general purpose lanes, violation rates, and public perceptions. this information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing hov lane system in the puget sound area and in planning of other hov facilities.descriptions of the tool set and methodology for analyzing hov facility usage and performance in terms of vehicle and person throughput, travel time, and speed reliability measures are provided in a separate report, evaluation tools for hov lanes performance monitoring. high occupancy vehicle, hov, throughput, speed, reliability, travel time trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 535.1 | Evaluation of Dual-Loop Data Accuracy Using Video Ground Truth Data | Nihan | TRAC/UW/Trans/NOW | 2002 | evaluation of dual-loop data accuracy using video ground truth data nihan,n. l., zhan,x., wang,y. this study evaluated the accuracy of truck data collected by dual-loop detectors on the seattle area freeways. the objectives of the study were to 1) quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of a representative sample of dual-loop measurements of vehicle volumes and vehicle classifications on the seattle flow system, 2) identify the types and causes of dual-loop data inaccuracies, and 3) recommend appropriate methods for improving the types and causes of dual-loop measurements.one representative station with four dual-loop detectors was selected for an extended error analysis. the detector measurements were compared to ground truck data collected via a video image system. data for 20-second intervals were compared for peak and off-peak periods. since there was no documentation on the settings of the dual-loop system clock, an independnent analysis was conducted to synchronize the dual-loop and video image systems clocks before analysis.ln general, three dual-loop error types were identified through comparison of dual-loop and video ground-truth data: (1) underestimation of vehicle volumes, (2) incorrect flagging of bin 3 vehicles to bin 4, (4) incorrect assignment of bin 2 vehicles to bins 1 and 3.dual-loop measurement errors such as those described above may be due to defects in system hardware, software, or the underlying measurement algorithm. because hardware errors were virtually eliminated as a factor in the current study, the serious errors that still occurred were most likely due to defects in the underlying dual-loop algorithm or in the implementation program. therefore, to radically improve the quality of dual-loop data, and thus the quality of real-time truck data on the flow system, the wsdot dual-loop algorithm and its corresponding implementation program should be the emphasis of future research. dual-loop detectors, vehicle volumes, vehicle classification, research trac/uw/trans/now 2002 |
| WA-RD 545.2 | Culvert Design Flows For Fish Passage And Structural Safety In Ease Cascade and Blue Mountain Streams 51 | Orsborn | TRAC/WSU | 2002 | culvert design flows for fish passage and structural safety in ease cascade and blue mountain streams 51 orsborn, j.f., orsborn, m.t. the pervasive problem of restoring fish runs to their natal streams is characterized in many regions of washington by improperly placed culverts. the replacement of these fish migration barriers requires knowledge of design flows: floods for structural safety and migration season high and low flows. high flows block fish passage with velocities that exceed their swimming capabilities. during low flows, the migration barrier is caused by a lack of enough water depth to support the bodies of the fish. the estimation of these fish passage and safety flows in ungaged streams is impeded in eastern washington due to: the wide range of conditions (5 to 110 inches per year of precipitation); diverse geology and soils; a lack of stream-gaging stations with long-term records; changes in land use; and the seasonal impacts of irrigation diversions and well on the remnant flows. past efforts to estimate these flows have not been successful. therefore, the wsu project was undertaken to model the high migration season flow in all of eastern washington. in addition, wsu established 20 stream-gaging stations on salmon streams along the east side of the cascade mountains plus the blue mountains. our complementary project was developed to estimate other design flows in the water resource inventory areas and 49, in which the wsu gage sites are located. united states geological survey (usgs) gage records in those (and in and 47) were used to develop our models that estimate the following statistical flows: 100-year, 25-year and 2-year daily and peak floods; the average annual flow and its variability; ranges of mean monthly flows (maximum, average and low); the 7-day average, 2-year, 10-year, 20-year low flow; and the 30- and 60-day average low flows. the model results are, for the most part, very good. the standard error of estimate ranges are: for floods, 2 -37%; average annual flow, 10-37%; maximum annual flow, 6 -14%; annual flow, 13 -23%; and flows, 3 -22%. monthly average flows reflected the strong influences of seasonal variability and irrigation withdrawals: due to winter frozen iowa flows (3%)in the entiat,-wenatchee region, and august low flows (242%) in the blue mountains due to irrigation. all flow estimation equations were based on usgs stream-gaging data from continuous located in the located in the wria's. annual, barrier, barriers, condition, culvert, culverts, data, design, design flows, developed, equations, error, fish, fish passage, flood, flow, hydrologic models, impact, impacts, its, land use, land-use, model, models, project, safety, salmon, season, seasonal, soil, structural safety, survey, velocity, washington, winter trac/wsu 2002 |
| WA-RD 547.1 | Multimodal Investment Choice Analysis - Vol. I: Phase I | Young | TRAC/UW | 2002 | multimodal investment choice analysis - vol. i: phase i young, r., barnes, j., rutherford, g.s. the multimodal investment choice analysis (mica) project is developing a computer-based tool to assist the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), the washington state transportation commission, and the washington state legislature in making state transportation funding decisions. the function of mica is to summarize the multimodal budgetary tradeoffs that will result from varying funding allocation and priority scenarios. mica's methodology is based on benefit-cost and goal achievement analyses. the project has completed the first phase of research. the purpose of this two-volume report is to document the analysis methodology contained within the mica program, as well as general findings from the first phase of this research effort. this document is also designed to serve as a user's manual for operating the mica program. while challenges still exist, the results of the phase i research effort indicate that development of a multimodal analysis tool is feasible. statewide programming, prioritization, multimodal, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 547.2 | Multimodal Investment Choice Analysis - Vol. II: Program Code | Young | TRAC/UW | 2002 | multimodal investment choice analysis - vol. ii: program code young,r., barnes,j., rutherford,g. s. the multimodal investment choice analysis (mica) project is developing a computer-based tool to assist the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), the washington state transportation commission, and the washington state legislature in making state transportation funding decisions. the function of mica is to summarize the multimodal budgetary tradeoffs that will result from varying funding allocation and priority scenarios. mica's methodology is based on benefit-cost and goal achievement analyses. the project has completed the first phase of research. the purpose of this two-volume report is to document the analysis methodology contained within the mica program, as well as general findings from the first phase of this research effort. this document is also designed to serve as a user's manual for operating the mica program. while challenges still exist, the results of the phase i research effort indicate that development of a multimodal analysis tool is feasible. statewide programming, prioritization, multimodal, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 523.1 | Mapping of Subtidal and Intertidal Habitat Resources: Hood Canal Floating Bridge, Washington | Woodruff | TRAC/UW | 2002 | mapping of subtidal and intertidal habitat resources: hood canal floating bridge, washington woodruff,d., borde,a., williams,g. d., southard,j., thom,r. m., simenstad,c., garono,r., robinson,r., norris,j. the washington state department of transportation is planning to repair and replace portions of the hood canal bridge. to minimize construction impacts, it is important to spatially evaluate the location of biological resources, such as eelgrass (zostera marina), geoduck clams (panopea abrupta), and rockfish (sebastes app.), near the bridge, particularly at the eastern and western termini, and associated construction sites.an underwater mapping effort was conducted during janaury 2001, during a season noted for dieback of eelgrass and senescence, whereas casi imagery was collected during the summer of 2000 when eelgrass cover was at a maximum. although the two methods produced some minor differences in the eelgrass patch margins, the vast majority of the areas overlapped along the eastern terminus where both methods were employed. hence, the resulting maps for both the eastern and western termini should be considered accurate delineations of eelgrass (cover type and geopositional accuracy). at both the eastern and western termini, close to the bridge, a general lack of eelgrass continuity was noted. however, continuous beds were mapped on both sides at varying distances from the bridge.the merged intertidal-subtidal eelgrass maps are the result of one of the first integrated mapping efforts of nearshore eelgrass in the northwest. the spatially referenced data collected on substrate type, fish, and macroinvertebrates will allow examination of habitat usage in the future near the eastern and western termini of the bridge. eelgrass, underwater video, hood canal, casi, hyperspectral, remote sensing, habitat assessment, gis, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 554.1 | Economic Impacts of Access Management | Vu | TRAC/UW | 2002 | economic impacts of access management vu,p., shankar,v., chayanan,s. access management has been widely defined as the planning, design, and implementation of land-use and transportation strategies that control the flow of traffic between roads and surrounding land. management and control of vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle, air, and sea traffic occurs through various forms of access, including traffic signals, turning lanes and restrictions, driveway spacing management, intelligent transportation systems, gating and hubbing schemes, and port terminal management. the engineering of transportation systems thus involves access management as a critical negotiations tool. previous studies on access management have focused mainly on the positive benefits of access management relating to reductions in accident counts and severities, and improvement in traffic flow. however, the evolution of transportation systems design is also influenced greatly by the perceptions of system users, and to date, research on perceptions of access has been limited. user perceptions of access affect business vitality as well as residential quality of life. this study addressed the perceived economic impacts that access management has specifically on businesses. this study collected 280 surveys from businesses along six major commercial corridors in western washington, as well as business-related data from geographic information systems. the researchers then focused on statistical frameworks for analyzing perceived economic impacts. perceived economic impact due to access management was first assumed and then later proven to correlate implicitly and explicitly to perception of accessibility for any given business. model estimation was conducted by using joint density models to capture the perceptual inter-relationships between business accessibility and patronage. factors found to be statistically significant included business type, business operational variables, corridor and street environment variables, and willingness-to-pay amounts. the identification of significant business factors offers insights into how businesses view access management. in the dialogue on design requirements between public development review units and private land developers, such information can provide a successful and efficient negotiations tool. access management, land use, economic impacts, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 511.2 | Summary: TravelAid | Ulfarsson | TRAC/UW | 2002 | summary: travelaid ulfarsson,g., shankar,v., vu,p., mannering,f. l., boyle,l., morse,m. this report discusses the effectiveness of using variable message signs (vms) and in-vehicle traffic advisory systems (ivu) on a mountainous pass (snoqualmie pass on interstate 90 in washington state) for changing driver behavior. as part of this project, variable message and variable speed limit information were placed along a 61-km segment of i-90 between north bend, wash., and cle elum, wash. the study area was the region where i-90 passes over the cascade mountains through the snoqualmie pass. the signs, which were implemented during the winter of 1997-98, provided weather and roadway information to motorists with the intention of reducing the number and severity of accidents.an analysis of accidents on snoqualmie pass was conducted with historical accident data. several accident models were used to estimate accident frequencies severity. the report reviews the analysis of speed data over snoqualmie pass and reports on lane-mean speeds and deviations.next, the potential users' needs for variable message information and their willingness to use in-vehicle information were assessed. a survey was distributed and analyzed to explore these questions. an econometric analysis was performed of potential speed reductions for various weather conditions. a second set of analyses was then performed on the surveys to investigate the characteristics associated with drivers who would use an in-vehicle system and those who would not use the information provided by the in-vehicle unit.a laboratory experiment was conducted on the use of an in-vehicle system and vms. a driving simulator was used for this study. mean speed and deviation from the mean speed were analyzed, as was the effectiveness of the systems over each 4.68-km (3 mile) stretch. the effect of vms on the relationship between mean speeds and speed deviations was analyzed. traveler information, variable message signs, in-vehicle traffic informaiton, variable speed limit, driving simulation trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 538.1 | A Statistical Analysis of Factors Associated with Driver-Perceived Road Roughness on Urban Highways | Shafizadeh | TRAC/UW | 2002 | a statistical analysis of factors associated with driver-perceived road roughness on urban highways shafizadeh,k., mannering,f. l., pierce,l. this study linked physical quantitative roadway measures with subjective, driver-perceived measures of roughness on urban highways. 56 participants from the general public were placed in normal traffic conditions and asked their opinions about pavement roughness on 40 predetermined highway test segments. driver evaluations were collected with other data, such as speed and in-vehicle noise, and matched with driver-specific socio-demographic data and pavement-specific data from the washington state department of transportation and its pavement management system.results from an ordered logit model indicated that the international roughness index (iri) is the single best predictor of driver-perceived road roughness and driver acceptability. pavements with low iri values generally corresponded with low roughness rankings and high levels of user acceptability. other factors statistically associated with driver-perceived measures of road roughness included measured iri, the presence of pavement maintenance, the presence of joints or bridge abutments, the age of the pavement surface, the vehicle type, levels of in-vehicle noise, the speed of vehicle, and the gender and income of the driver.this study also provided empirical data that can be used to both support or challenge the federal iri acceptability threshold of 170 in/mi (2.7 m/km) recommended by the federal highway administration. pavement preservation, roughness, international roughness index, ride quality, pavement management systems, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 551.1 | An Overview of Studded and Studless Tire Traction and Safety | Scheibe | TRAC/UW | 2002 | an overview of studded and studless tire traction and safety scheibe,r. r. studded tires have generated much controversy over the years; a number of states have banned them, while others, including washington, have restricted their use and passed legislation to require lighter-weight studs. this report reviews recent studies that have addressed the performance and safety of the current generation of studded tires as well as the new "studless" winter tires on late-model vehicles. the well-documented correlation between studded tires and pavement wear was not the focus of this work.the issues surrounding studded tire performance and safety are complex. from the standpoint of traction alone, studded tires, when new, often provide some benefit over the other tire types on ice-covered roads when the temperature is near f reezing. however, the advent of the new studless tires has diminished the marginal benefit, and recent studies suggest that the infrequent, narrow range of conditions necessry for benefit from studded tires may not outweigh their detrimental effect on tracton in dry or wet conditions on certain pavement types. in addition, a host of primary and secondary safety factors are related to studded tire use, many of which are very difficult to quantify, including facets of driver behavior and safety perception. studded tire, traction, performance, safety, winter, research, kirkland trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 544.1 | Regional Precipitation-Frequency Analysis and Spatial Mapping of Precipitation for 24-Hour and 2-Hour Durations in Western Washington | Schaefer | WSDOT | 2002 | regional precipitation-frequency analysis and spatial mapping of precipitation for 24-hour and 2-hour durations in western washington schaefer,m., barker,b., taylor,g., wallis,j. this report documents the findings of regional precipitation-frequency analyses of 24-hour and 2-hour precipitation annual maxima for western washington. it also describes the procedure used for spatial mapping of the precipitation-frequency estimates for selected recurrence intervals.this study is an update of the information contained in the precipitation-frequency atlas published by the national weather service in l973. data collection for the nws study ended in 1966, and this study includes the 34-years of record collected since 1966. these additional data provide a precipitation database with more than double the record length than was available in the original nws study.since the original study, major advances have been made in the methods for statistical analysis of precipitation annual maxima, and for spatial mapping of precipitation in complex terrain. specifically, l-moment statistical analysis techniques conducted with a regional framework have greatly improved the reliability of precipitation magnitude-frequency estimates, particularly for rare storm events. development of the prism model incorporating digital terrain data has also improved the spatial mapping of precipitation and increased the reliability of estimating precipitation in the broad areas between precipitation measurement stations. these methodologies are particularly effective in areas with high topographic and climatic variability such as in western washington, where mean annual precipitation varies from less than 20-inches to over 200-inches. both of these methodologies have been utilized in conducting the precipitation-frequency analyses and in developing the isopluvial maps for selected recurrence intervals. accident rates wsdot 2002 |
| WA-RD 552.1 | Analysis of Web-Based WSDOT Traveler Information: Testing Users' Information Retrieval Strategies | Sauer | TRAC/UW | 2002 | analysis of web-based wsdot traveler information: testing users' information retrieval strategies sauer,g., kolko,b., rose,e., haselkorn,m. this report details the findings of a usability study for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) of traffic and weather information on the web. the purpose of this test was to examine the user experience associated with retrieving traveler information, such as road conditions, traffic congestion, pass information, construction, and weather, from the wsdot traffic and weather site. usability testing, world-wide web, users' retrieval strategies, traveler information, research trac/uw 2002 |
| WA-RD 545.1 | Modeling Hydrology For Design Of Fish Passage Structures 50 | Rowland | TRAC/WSU | 2002 | modeling hydrology for design of fish passage structures 50 rowland, e.r., hotchkiss, r.h., barber, m e. an estimated 2,400 to 4,000 hydraulic structures are barriers to fish passage in washington state. many are culverts inadequately sized for fish recently, the washington department of fish and wildlife established statewide guidelines to incorporate fish migration into culvert design by providing two approaches: stream simulation and hydraulic design. stream simulation involves culverts to be wider than the natural channel under bank-full conditions. the hydraulic design option requires culverts to satisfy minimum depth and maximum hydraulic drop constraints ranging from 0.8 to 1.0 a and permissible velocities from 2.0 to 6.0 depending on species and culvert length. the permissible velocity criterion is to be met during fish passage design flow. a new model is presented for fish passage design flows at streams in eastern washington. the model is founded on two key concepts: a unique definition of fish passage design flow and an area based approach for estimating flow at ungaged streams. the fish design flow was developed by combining the concepts of allowable fish delay, established to be 3 days, with a consecutive day analysis. this design flow ensures that fish are not delayed for than 3 consecutive days during a water year. a fish passage design flow per area is assigned to previously delineated subwatersheds in eastern washington. similarity relationships, derived basin characteristics, relate geological survey gaging stations to sub-watersheds in eastern washington. these relationships form the basis for a value of fish passage design flow per unit area to each sub-watershed in eastern washington. the percent standard error for this model was calculated as 36%. this is a significant improvement the 75% standard error calculated for the model that previously addressed fish passage design flows in eastern washington. analysis, barrier, barriers, channel, condition, culvert, design, design flows, developed, error, fish, fish passage, flow, hydrologic models, improvement, model, modeling, structural safety, structures, survey, velocity, washington, washington state, wildlife trac/wsu 2002 |
| Application of a Heavy Vehicle Brake Condition Monitoring System | Reinhall | TRAC/UW TRB | 2002 | application of a heavy vehicle brake condition monitoring system reinhall, p. g., scheibe, r. r. malfunctioning brakes represent the most common safety violation for commercial vehicles. the objectives of this project were to advance research of on-board measurement of a few brake-related parameters in order to monitor the effectiveness of air brakes, and to refine an algorithm for warning drivers and/or information authorities of impending brake failure. in particular, the feasibility of using air pressure data to determine brake stroke, a vital parameter in determining the effectiveness of the total braking system, was explored. the brake conditioning monitoring system (bcms), previously known as the intelligent brake warning system ((ibwd), has two regimes that independently assess brake performance through measurement of only a few parameters. the second regime, which was the focus of the present research, contains an algorithm that considers the effect of brake pressure response time (particularly release decay time) to enhance diagnostic capability. results showed that brake chamber air pressure decay time, even at low application pressures of approximately 100-140 kpa, was a good predictor of brake stroke. brakes, heavy vehicles, monitoring, failure trac/uw trb 2002 | |
| Traffic Congestion and Travel Reliability: How Bad Is the Situation and What Is Being Done About It? | Lomax | TRAC/UW / TTI | 2001 | traffic congestion and travel reliability: how bad is the situation and what is being done about it? lomax, t., turner, s., hallenbeck, m., boon, c., margiotta, r. this white paper is one of a series that identifies opportunities to improve the operation and management of our nation's transportation system. the summary notes that current congestion as evident in the growing peak period and the unpredictable nature of delay is a major source of frustration among travelers. no single strategy is sufficient to achieve acceptable reliability in a system that is consistently at or near capacity. recognizing that new construction has serious drawbacks transportation agencies are improving roadway operations successfully by using advanced travel management systems incident management systems traveler information and lane management techniques. congestion, , reliability, operations, management trac/uw / tti 2001 | |
| WA-RD 528.1 | Application of the K 0-Stiffness Method to Reinforced Soil Wall Limit States Design | Allen | WSDOT | 2001 | application of the k 0-stiffness method to reinforced soil wall limit states design allen, t.m., bathurst, r.j. a new design methodology for estimating reinforcement loads in reinforced soil walls, termed the k 0-stiffness method, has been developed. this new method has been demonstrated to more accurately estimate reinfocement loads and strains in reinforced soil walls than do current design methodologies. step-by-step procedures are provided to lead the designer through the reinforced soil wall internal stability design process using this new methodology. these step-by-step design procedures have been developed with a limit states design approach consistent with current design codes (in north america this is termed load and resistance factor design, or lrfd). specifically, consideration has been given to strength and serviceability limit states. load and resistance factors, based on statistical data where feasible, have been developed for use with this method. the results of examples from actual wall case histories were summarized and analyzed to assess how well the new methodology performs relative to current design practice. from this analysis of the design examples, the following was observed: for geosynthetic walls, the k 0-stiffness method has the potential to reduce required backfill reinforcement capacity relative to current design methodology by a factor of 1.2 to 3. for steel reinforced soil walls, the reduction in the reinforcement capacity relative to what is required by current design methodology is more modest, on the order of 1.0 to 2.1. given these findings, use of the k 0-stiffness method can result in substantial cost savings, especially for geosynthetic walls, because of reduced reinforcement needs. reinforcement, walls, loads, strains, creep, design, research, methodology, soil, developed, stability, design process, codes, north, resistance, strength, data, analysis, geosynthetic, steel, cost wsdot 2001 |
| WA-RD 522.1 | Prediction of Soil Reinforcement Loads in Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls | Allen | TRAC/UW | 2001 | prediction of soil reinforcement loads in mechanically stabilized earth walls allen,t. m., bathurst,r. j. proper estimation of soil reinforcement loads and strains is key to accurate design of the internal stability of geosynthetic and steel reinforced soil structures. current design methodologies use limit equilibrium concepts to estimate reinforcement loads for internal stability design, with empirical modifications to match the prediction to observed reinforcement loads at working stresses. this approach has worked reasonably well for steel reinforced walls but appears to seriously overestimate loads for geosynthetic walls. a large database of full-scale geosynthetic walls (16 fully instrumented, full-scale geosynthetic walls and 14 walls with limited measurements) and 20 fully instrumented, full-scale steel reinforced mse wall sections was utilized to develop a new design methodology based on working stress principles, termed the k0-stiffness method. this new methodology considers the stiffness of the various wall components and their influence on reinforcement loads. results of simple statistical analyses to evaluate the ratio of predicted to measured peak reinforcement loads in geosynthetic walls were telling: the aashto simplified method results in an average ratio of predicted to measured loads of 2.9 with a coefficient of variation (cov) of 86%, whereas the proposed method results in an average of 1.12 and a cov of 41%. the proposed method remains accurate up until the point at which the soil begins to fail (approximately 3 to 5% strain). for steel reinforced mse walls the improvement was more modest: aashto's simplified method results in an average ratio of predicted to measured loads of 1.04 with a (cov) of 51%, whereas the new k0-stiffness method results in an average of 1.12 and a cov of 35%. the objective of the method is to design the wall reinforcement so that the soil within the wall backfill will not reach a state of failure consistent with the notion of working stress conditions. this soil failure limit state is not considered in the design methods currently available, yet, given the research results presented herein, is likely to be a controlling limit state for geosynthetic structures.the fruit of this research is a more accurate method for estimating reinforcement loads, thereby reducing reinforcement needs and improving the economy of mse walls. the scope of this research was limited to mse walls that utilize granular (non-cohesive, relatively low silt content) backfill. reinforcement, walls, loads, strains, creep, design trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 513.1 | Development of the Simplified Method for Internal Stability Design of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls | Allen | WSDOT | 2001 | development of the simplified method for internal stability design of mechanically stabilized earth walls allen, t. m., christopher, b., elias, v., demaggio, j. in 1994, a technical working group under the auspices of the t-15 technical committee on substructures and walls of the american association of state highway and transportation officials (aashto) bridge subcommittee, was formed to reevaluate the design specifications for mechanically stabilized earth (mse) walls contained in the aashto standard specifications for highway bridges (1996). one of the areas of focus was the internal stability design of mse walls. several methods for calculating the backfill reinforcement loads were available at that time in the aashto standard specifications, and the intent was to unify the design methods to simplify and clarify the specifications. to accomplish this, full-scale mse wall case history data were gathered and analyzed so that the unified method developed could be calibrated to the empirical data, since all of the methods available were empirical in nature. the effect of simplifications in the method, such as how vertical soil stresses are calculated and how reinforcement stiffness is considered in the design, could also be evaluated with these full-scale wall data to ensure that the unified method developed was adequately accurate. from this effort, the aashto simplified method was developed.this report summarizes the development of the simplified method. it uses a number of full-scale mse wall case histories to compare the prediction accuracy of the simplified method to that of the other methods currently available and focuses primarily on steel reinforced mse walls. the theoretical assumptions used by the simplified method, as well as the other methods, are also evaluated and compared in light of the empirical evidence. this evaluation showed that the prediction accuracy of the simplified method is at least as good as that of the other methods, while the simplified method still simplifies calculations. this evaluation also showed, however, that all of the methods have limitations that must be considered. soil reinforcement, mechanically stabilized earth walls, mse walls, earth pressure, stability, sands, loads wsdot 2001 |
| WA-RD 512.2 | Prelimninary Assesment of Infiltration Rates and Effects on Water Quality of Selected Infiltration Media for Use in Highway Runoff Retention Basins in Washington State | Ames | U.S. Geologic Survey, Tacoma, WA/WSDOT | 2001 | prelimninary assesment of infiltration rates and effects on water quality of selected infiltration media for use in highway runoff retention basins in washington state ames,k. c., inkpen,e. l., frans,l. m., bidlake,w. r. infiltration experiments were undertaken to investigate an infiltration medium that could be used in retention basins to decrease the infiltration rate to between 5 and 10 inches per hour and to also decrease the concentrations of some pollutants in highway runoff. fourteen infiltration media formulations were tested in small-scale preliminary infiltration tests to estimate their infiltration rates and select candidates for further study. subsequent cylinder infiltrometer tests were then conducted using two of the media to gather additional infiltration rates estimates and to investigate the potential effects of the infiltration media on the water quality of highway runoff. a formulation of 70-percent sand, 15-percent clay, and 15-percent mulch had a steady-state infiltration rate of between 1 and 3 inches per hour. two bataches of the 90-percent sand, 5-percent clay, and 5-percent mulch formulation were tested. the first batch of the formulation had a steady-state infiltration rate of betwen 9 and 10 inches per hour and was consistent between replicate tests. the second batch had a steady-state infiltration rate of approximately 36 inches per hour, and a subsequent test using the second batch in a second infiltrometer had a steady-state infiltration rate of approximately 50 inches per hour.water-quality samples taken prior to and after infiltration of highway runoff through the 90-percent sand, 5-percent clay, and 5-percent mulch formation indicate that there may be a decrease in the concentrations of dissolved copper, lead, zinc, and cadmium as well as total petroleum hydrocarbons and nitrate plus nitrite. the infiltration medium may also increase the concentrations of total and dissolved arsenic, total lead, total copper, and suspended and dissolved solids. further testing would be needed to establish if the changes in water quality are statistically significant. runoff, infiltration, retention basins u.s. geologic survey, tacoma, wa/wsdot 2001 |
| WA-RD 526.1 | Effects of Turbidity and Suspended Solids on Salmonids | Bash | TRAC/UW | 2001 | effects of turbidity and suspended solids on salmonids bash, j., berman, c., bolton, s.m. protection of washington state's salmonids requires that transportation officials consider the effect of suspended sediments released into streams during transportation projects. many state and provincial criteria are based on a threshold of exceedance for background levels of turbidity. however, determining natural background levels of turbidity is a difficult endeavor. the inconsistent correlation between turbidity measurements and mass of suspended solids, as well as the difficulty in achieving repeatability using turbidimeters contributes to concerns that turbidity may not be a consistent and reliable tool determining the effects of suspended solids on salmonids. other factors, such as life stage, time of year, size and angularity of sediment, availability of off-channel and tributary habitat, and composition of sediment may be more telling in determining the effect of sediment on salmonids in northwestern rivers.for short-term construction projects, operators will need to measure background turbidities on a case-by-case basis to determine if they are exceeding regulations. however, transportation projects may also produce long-term, chronic effects.to adequately protect salmonids during their freshwater residence, tss data on physiological, behavioral, and habitat effects should be viewed in a layer context, incorporating both the spatial geometry of suitable habitat and the temporal changes associated with life history, year class, and climate variability. spatial and temporal considerations provide the foundation to decipher legacy effects as well as cumulative and synergistic effects on salmonid protection and recovery. turbidity, salmonids, suspended solids, research, wsdot, environmental trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 524.1 | Ecological Issues in Floodplains and Riparian Corridors | Bolton | TRAC/UW | 2001 | ecological issues in floodplains and riparian corridors bolton, s.m., shellberg, j. this white paper examines and synthesizes the literature pertaining to the current state of knowledge on the physical and biological effects of alluvial river channelization, channel confinement, and various channel and floodplain modifications. it also examines and summarizes literature on the mitigation, rehabilitation and restoration of rivers affected by these human modifications. data gaps in our current understanding of physical and biological process, the effects of human modifications, and appropriate rehabilitation or restoration techniques are also reviewed.the paper overviews ecological and habitat issues associated with streams and riparian zones in washington state and the pacific northwest. the results of the literature review are documented in a synthesis of the ecological and habitat effects of channelization, channel confinement and construction. the physical and morphologic effects of channelization are first reviewed to highlight how habitat templates have been or potentially could be modified. then, the responses of different groups of organisms (invertebrates, fish, plants, birds, mammals) that are dependent on functional riparian corridors are reviewed. data gaps in our current knowledge in connecting cause and effects relationships in complex ecological systems are reviewed. the functional importance of hyporheic and perirheic zones in alluvial streams is also reviewed.the paper includes a section on habitat protection and mitigation techniques. alternative management strategies such as passive (vs. active) restoration, streamside vegetation retention or promotion, and modified in-channel vegetation removal are reviewed. recommendations by various authors on minimizing impacts during design and construction are also summarized. preservation ofchannel morphology, incorporation of vegetation into embankments, and alternative bank protection techniques are also explored.in recent years there has been a societal push to rehabilitate and/or restore streams and rivers degraded by channel modifications. the paper ends with a review of large-scale rehabilitation and restoration projects and techniques in the literature. floodplain, riparian, alluvial river channelization, channel confinement, restoration, wsdot, environmental trac/uw 2001 |
| Transit Signal Priority System Performance Monitoring and Optimization for King County Department of Transportation Metro Transit Division | Boon | TRAC/UW | 2001 | transit signal priority system performance monitoring and optimization for king county department of transportation metro transit division boon, c.b. transit signal priority (tsp) is one of several strategies being implemented by king county metro transit to improve customer service and increase fleet efficiency. specifically, tsp systems are designed to improve schedule adherence (on-time performance) and decrease travel time by limiting, or even avoiding, the time that buses spend stopped at traffic signals. tsp can improve customer satisfaction by reducing signal-related stops for a smoother ride, reducing signal-related delay for a faster trip, and reduce travel time variability for improved on-time performance. the operational efficiency benefits of tsp include shorter travel times and decreased travel time variability, which help reduce scheduled running times, and the ability to speed up late buses, helping to minimize service disruptions. significant reductions in travel time may decrease the number of buses required to provide service on a route, or may allow existing vehicle resources to accommodate reduced speed attributable to increased congestion. to make the best use of tsp technology, it is important to monitor how well the system is working and what impact it is having. in the case of tsp, not only do decision-makers within the transit agency have a vested interest in the performance of the system, but those in traffic jurisdictions do as well. kc metro transit's tsp system is designed to provide selected buses with extra "green time" (an extended green signal or an early green signal by truncating the red signal phases) to generate travel time and reliability benefits for transit services. for traffic jurisdictions, allocating green time at individual intersections, and within a network of intersections, requires balancing the needs of general traffic, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles with the desire to provide tsp benefits to transit. transit, buses, transit signal priority, travel time, traffic signal trac/uw 2001 | |
| WA-RD 497.1 | Strategic Freight Transportation Analysis (SFTA) | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | strategic freight transportation analysis (sfta) casavant,k. l. the overall purpose of this report was to scope the structure and focus of a new ewits-ii project to insure statewide coverage. this was done by reviewing the successful ewits output and interviewing users, planners and decision makers in the state, emphasizing emerging needs and improvement options.sfta, the result of the scoping, is a statewide research and implementation project designed to analyze existing conditions and recommend enhancements to the freight mobility transportation system in washington state. sfta will be funded at $1.8 million over a six-year period. specific study initiatives identified are trade and traffic flows, freight corridor identification, strategic resource access road network, new databases, shortline railroad issues and adaptive research management. sfta, ewits, planning, data, adaptive research management trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 499.1 | Impacts of Heavy Axle Loads on Light Density Lines in the State of Washington | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | impacts of heavy axle loads on light density lines in the state of washington casavant, k.l., tolliver, d. the overall purpose of this report was to determine how shippers and shortline railroads are impacted by the use of heavy cars (286,000 lb) on branch lines with light rail or deferred tie maintenance. specific objectives were to determine how shippers were handling the problem, the need for investment in trackage and the magnitude of that investment to sustain viability of shortline railroads and branch lines in washington state.even with innovative short run solutions, investment in upgrading trackage appears to be the only longterm solution. approximately 480 miles need to be upgraded to effectively handle 280,000-pound carloads. it will cost $250,000-300,000 per mile to upgrade inadequate branch lines. the cost for the state of washington is from $110 to $141 million, not including bridge rehabilitation. if lines aren't upgraded, many of them may be abandoned and the economic benefits of the larger railcars are lost to shippers. heavy cars, $286✐ pounds, shortline, light density trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 505.1 | Smart Trek: A Model Deployment Initiative | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2001 | smart trek: a model deployment initiative dailey,d. j. the smarttrek project was implemented by a consortium of government agencies, private sector firms, and the university of washington. the project resulted in a variety of intelligent transportation system (its) applications that help traffic management personnel and the traveling public. this report documents the components of the smarttrek project implemented by the university of washington. it provides a summary and evaluation of those applications and is a "one-stop shopping" overview of the uw smarttrek activities. intelligent transportation system, advanced traffic management systems, advanced public transportation system, advanced traveler information systems, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 527.1 | The Use of Uncalibrated Roadside CCTV Cameras to Estimate Mean Traffic Speed | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2001 | the use of uncalibrated roadside cctv cameras to estimate mean traffic speed dailey,d. j., cathey,f. w., pumrin,s. in this report, we present a novel approach for estimating traffic speed using a sequence of images from an un-calibrated camera. we assert that exact calibration is not necessary to estimate speed. instead, to estimate speed we use (1) geometric relationships inherently available in the image, (2) some common sense assumptions that reduce the problem to 1-dimensional geometry, (3) frame differencing to isolate moving edges and track vehicles between frames, and (4) parameters from the distribution of vehicles lengths. video image processing, calibration, camera, speed sensor, vehicle length distribution, transportation, highway, research trac/uw 2001 |
| Costs and Benefits of Constructibility Reviews | Dunston | Transportation Research Board, NCHRP | 2001 | costs and benefits of constructibility reviews dunston, p. s., mcmanus, j.f., gambatese, j.a. together, nchrp report 390, "constructibility review process for transportation facilities," and nchrp report 391, "constructibility review process for transportation facilities--workbook," provide rationale, explanation, and guidelines for a state highway agency (sha) to implement its own constructibility review process (crp). the american association of state highway transportation officials (aashto) subcommittee on construction has subsequently produced a more concise constructibility review best practices guide to encourage wider crp implementation among state highway agencies. this report follows the aforementioned in further addressing barriers to implementation and in developing procedures for measuring costs and benefits of crp's. critical elements that are emphasized for crp implementation are (1) the institutionalization of a constructibility champion with responsibility to oversee crp practice and an ongoing training program; (2) a resolution to acknowledge the shortcomings of a schedule-driven process or a quality-driven process; (3) a formal written policy on the timing, procedures, tools, and appropriate level of review; and (4) an industry-endorsed procedure for contactor involvement in the crp. the benefit-cost model produced from this study emphasizes the impact of the crp in reducing costs due to inefficiencies in the design process for transportation projects and constructibility oversights in the design. constructability review, cost-benefit, modeling, transportation research board, nchrp 2001 | |
| WA-RD 515.1 | Weave Analysis and Performance: The Washington State Case Study | Glad | WSDOT | 2001 | weave analysis and performance: the washington state case study glad,r. w., milton,j. c., olson,d. k. this research study summarizes current practices for weaving section design and their development from a literature review. current methodologies and modeling techniques were assessed and then tested with actual characteristics of a major weave section in washington state. the analysis compared estimated level of service of the techniques for the weaving section and on alternative designs to consider operational improvement opportunities. a safety analysis for collision type and severity was conducted on the accidents through the weaving section, with predicted effects for the alternative designs. the study recommends that weaving sections undergo critical review of traffic projections and roadway characteristics before implementation to avoid operational impacts that can stretch beyond the localized section. further research on the safety impacts in weaving sections is also recommended. weaving sections, weaving, itraf, fresim, research wsdot 2001 |
| WA-RD 493.2 | Central Puget Sound Freeway Network Usage and Performance. 1999 Update, Volume 2: Trends | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2001 | central puget sound freeway network usage and performance. 1999 update, volume 2: trends ishimaru,j. m., nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. this two-volume summary report presents an overview of the level of traveler usage (e.g., how many vehicles use the freeways) and travel performance (e.g., how fast they are traveling, where and how often congestion occurs) on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area. volume 1 focuses on descriptive snapshots of 1999 freeway usage and performance, while volume 2 provides a comparative analysis, looking at trends and variations in the usage and performance of the highway network as a function of different background conditions at selected locations. data presented in this report were collected by the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot's) freeway surveillance system.the project that led to this report is intended to meet two separate purposes: 1) to enhance wsdot's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management efforts on seattle-area highways, and 2) to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the second of these objectives.however, the software developed for this project and many of the graphics presented in this report are directly applicable to the first objective.this report is one of three products resulting from this wsdot project. in addition to this report, this project produced a set of software tools to assist in freeway data analysis, as well as a technical report describing the evaluation approach, process, and analytical tool set that were developed to analyze freeway usage and performance in the central puget sound region. the freeways studied in this project are managed by wsdot using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region. archived data user services (adus), congestion monitoring, freeway performance, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 493.1 | Central Puget Sound Freeway Network Usage and Performance. 1999 Update, Volume 1 | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2001 | central puget sound freeway network usage and performance. 1999 update, volume 1 ishimaru,j. m., nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. this two-volume summary report presents an overview of the level of traveler usage (e.g., how many vehicles use the freeways) and travel performance (e.g., how fast they are traveling, where and how often congestion occurs) on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area. volume 1 focuses on descriptive snapshots of 1999 freeway usage and performance, while volume 2 provides a comparative analysis, looking at trends and variations in the usage and performance of the highway network as a function of different background conditions at selected locations. data presented in this report were collected by the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot's) freeway surveillance system.the project that led to this report is intended to meet two separate purposes: 1) to enhance wsdot's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management efforts on seattle-area highways, and 2) to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the second of these objectives.however, the software developed for this project and many of the graphics presented in this report are directly applicable to the first objective.this report is one of three products resulting from this wsdot project. in addition to this report, this project produced a set of software tools to assist in freeway data analysis, as well as a technical report describing the evaluation approach, process, and analytical tool set that were developed to analyze freeway usage and performance in the central puget sound region. the freeways studied in this project are managed by wsdot using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region. archived data user services (adus), congestion monitoring, freeway performance, research trac/uw 2001 |
| A Queuing Analysis at the U.S./Canadian Peace Arch Border Crossing | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2001 | a queuing analysis at the u.s./canadian peace arch border crossing ishimaru, j.m., nee, j., mccormack, e.d. the peace arch international border crossing in blaine is located in whatcom county, washington, connecting the u.s .interstate 5 corridor with british columbia highway 99. of the four border stations collectively known as the cascade gateway (peach arch, pacific highway, lynden, and sumas), the peace arch crossing is the busiest in terms of vehicle throughput. these border crossings have experienced growth in vehicle volumes as commercial traffic and the regional population have increased in recent years. in 1997, about 11,500 vehicles entered the u.s. at the peach arch crossing on a daily basis. the incoming vehicle volumes tend to be seasonal, increasing during warmer months (e.g., 11 percent of total annual vehicle volumes were in the month of august) and decreasing during the winter season (e.g., 6 percent of total annual vehicle volumes were in the month of december). recognizing that the growth of population and traffic has a major impact on cross-border mobility, the international mobility and trade corridor (imtc) project, a coalition of u.s. and canadian public and private organizations, were formed to address the challenge of maintaining efficient movement through the cascade gateway border crossing between lower british columbia and whatcom county in washington state. as part of the imtc project, the whatcom council of governments (wcog), in its joint role as a regional metropolitan planning organization (mpo) and regional transportation planning organization (rtpo), has received federal and state funding to complete a bi-national origin-destination and commodity flow study for freight and travelers. among the tasks in that cross-border study is an analysis of system performance and queues associated with border crossing operations at the peace arch border station in blaine, washington. in order to develop strategies used to enhance mobility, it is important to understand how the facilities and strategies used to process travelers at the border can affect, as well as respond to, varying traffic patterns. queuing analysis, simulation, traffic demand, border crossing, operations, mobility trac/uw 2001 | |
| WA-RD 520.1 | Seismic Instrumentation for the Alaskan Way Viaduct | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 2001 | seismic instrumentation for the alaskan way viaduct kramer,s. l., jones,a. l., eberhard,m. o., arduino,p. the alaskan way viaduct, which runs along the seattle waterfront, is highly susceptible to damage during earthquakes. previous studies have shown that extensive soil liquefaction could cause collapse of sections of the viaduct through a complex mechanism that involves the seismic performance of a neareby seawall. occurrence of such collapse events would be expected to occur at some time after the initiation of earthquake shaking, thereby providing some period of time in which motorists could potentially be kept from entering the viaduct. the purpose of this project was to evaluate the feasibility of instrumenting the viaduct to (a) provide warning of potentiallly unsafe situations, and (b) reduce post-earthquake closure times by speeding the process of evaluating the condition of the viaduct following earthquake shaking.because of the numerous and significant sources of uncertainty in the prediction of collapse, a probabilistic approach to the warning system problem was adopted. this procedure accounted for, to the extent possible given available information, uncertainties in ground shaking characteristics, uncertainties in soil properties, uncertainties in seawall behavior, uncertainties in viaduct foundation behavior, and uncertainties in structural response. the results are expressed in estimated collapse probabilities for various warning system triggering levels. selection of triggering levels will require balancing the costs and benefits of successful and unsuccessful collapse predictions.structural analyses of specific sections of the viaduct were used to develop recommendations for performance monitoring instrumentation. proposed response levels for inspection and inspection/closure are also presented. seismic instrumentation, liquefaction, structural analysis, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 491.1 | Soil Bioengineering for Upland Slope Stabilization | Lewis | TRAC/National Riparian Service Team, USDA, Fo | 2001 | soil bioengineering for upland slope stabilization lewis,l., salisbury,s. l., hagen,s., maurer,m. the objective of the study was to provide alternatives called soil bioengineering methods for slope and shallow rapid landslide stabilization along different roadside environments. additional objectives were to educate wsdot personnel in site selection, soil bioengineering techniques, and construction; to provide soil bioengineering decision-making skills. three study sites were selected, based upon the following criteria: safety, visibility, accessibility, representation of disparate moisture conditions, climate, and erosion types, illustration of different techniques, availability of additional funding, and wsdot input. three different combinations of soil bioengineering techniques were used to stabilize upland slopes on the roadside. results indicate soil bioengineering is an effective means of upland slope stabilization on erosional slopes and shallow rapid landslides and is practical and economical. composted biosolids improved soil workability and enhanced the native plant community during the first year. benefit, biosolids, branchpacking, brush layering, cordon, cost, cribwall, erosion, erosion control, fascine, landslides, live cribwall, live gully repair, live staking, native plants, research, slope stabilization, soil bioengineering, willow wall trac/national riparian service team, usda, fo 2001 |
| WA-RD 530.1 | Implementation of High Performance Concrete in Washington State | Masad | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | implementation of high performance concrete in washington state masad,e., james,l. in this study, the performance of five typical mix designs from four different regions in washington state is assessed. the performance characteristics that are evaluated include four durability properties: freeze-thaw durability, scaling resistance, abrasion resistance, chloride penetration, and one strength-related property: compressive strength.determination of the current level of performance of existing concrete mixes is the first step toward fully implementing performance-based specifications. knowing the level of durability of existing mix designs will give wsdot a starting point in defining new levels of durability for higher performance mixes. previously, the selection of appropriate mix designs was based solely on the flexural or compressive strength of the mix. the results of this study enable mix designs to be selected by matching the performance grade with exposure conditions.a map of the state of washington outlining freeze-thaw zones is presented to indicate exposure conditions. this may be used to match pavement performance grades with actual field conditions. recommendations based on experimental findings and the literature review are provided for improving the durability of the mixes. concrete, performance, freeze-thaw, scaling, abrasion, permeability, research trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 483.1 | Infiltration Characteristics, Performance, and Design of Storm Water Facilities | Massman | TRAC/UW | 2001 | infiltration characteristics, performance, and design of storm water facilities massman,j. w., butchart,c. d. this report provides comments and suggestions related to the washington state department of ecology's draft manual, entitled stormwater management in washington state. these comments and suggestions are focused on those sections of the draft manual that relate to infiltration facilities. specific issues that are addressed include the following:. consistency in analytical approaches for estimating surface runoff and infiltration. additional approaches for estimating infiltration rates using soil texture data. comparison of recommended infiltration rates with selected literature values. comparison of recommended infiltration rates with selected measurements. field measurements for estimating infiltration rates. stormwater management, infiltration trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 482.2 | Retrofit of Split Bridge Columns - Appendices - Retrofit Design Calculations | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | retrofit of split bridge columns - appendices - retrofit design calculations mclean,d. i., el-aaarag,m. h., rogness,p. d. many older bridges in washington state contain split reinforced concrete columns as common members between adjacent bridge sections. the split detail was incorporated in columns to allow for movements in the bridge due to temperature and shrinkage effects. it is expected that these split columns will perform poorly in the event of a significant earthquake. this study investigated retrofitting measures for improving the seismic performance of existing split columns.experimental tests were conducted on one-third scale split column specimens which were representative of the split column present in the spokane street overcrossing near seattle. various retrofit measures were evalauted. specimen performance was evaluated on the basis of load capacity, displacement ductility, and hysteretic behavior.tests on specimens representing as-built conditions revealed vulnerabilities that have previously been observed in the field or are expected to occur during a major earthquake. poor performance evident in the as-built specimens included crack propagation from the base of the split, lap splice degradation, and shear failure in the split sections.retrofit design focused on enhancing the column seismic performance while at the same time preserving as much of the gap between the split sections as possible. procedures were developed for the design of steel jacketing as a retrofit measure for the split columns. circular jacketing was used for the section below the split and for retrofitting a deficient lap splice. "d" shaped jackets were used for the split sections to provide confinement in flexural hinging regions and to increase shear strength. tests on specimens retrofitted with the steel jacketing showed significant improvements in performance when compared to that for the as-built specimens.three compaanies who manufacture composite retrofit systems were invited to participate in this project. each company was provided with unretrofitted specimens for which they designed and installed their company's retrofit system. while some differences in performance were obtained with the various retrofit systems, all retrofitted specimens showed significant improvements in performance when compared to that for the as-built specimen. research trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 482.1 | Retrofit of Split Bridge Columns | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | retrofit of split bridge columns mclean,d. i., el-aaarag,m. h., rogness,p. d. many older bridges in washington state contain split reinforced concrete columns as common members between adjacent bridge sections. the split detail was incorporated in columns to allow for movements in the bridge due to temperature and shrinkage effects. it is expected that these split columns will perform poorly in the event of a significant earthquake. this study investigated retrofitting measures for improving the seismic performance of existing split columns.experimental tests were conducted on one-third scale split column specimens which were representative of the split column present in the spokane street overcrossing near seattle. various retrofit measures were evalauted. specimen performance was evaluated on the basis of load capacity, displacement ductility, and hysteretic behavior.tests on specimens representing as-built conditions revealed vulnerabilities that have previously been observed in the field or are expected to occur during a major earthquake. poor performance evident in the as-built specimens included crack propagation from the base of the split, lap splice degradation, and shear failure in the split sections.retrofit design focused on enhancing the column seismic performance while at the same time preserving as much of the gap between the split sections as possible. procedures were developed for the design of steel jacketing as a retrofit measure for the split columns. circular jacketing was used for the section below the split and for retrofitting a deficient lap splice. "d" shaped jackets were used for the split sections to provide confinement in flexural hinging regions and to increase shear strength. tests on specimens retrofitted with the steel jacketing showed significant improvements in performance when compared to that for the as-built specimens.three compaanies who manufacture composite retrofit systems were invited to participate in this project. each company was provided with unretrofitted specimens for which they designed and installed their company's retrofit system. while some differences in performance were obtained with the various retrofit systems, all retrofitted specimens showed significant improvements in performance when compared to that for the as-built specimen. accident rates trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 521.1 | Effects of Shoreline Hardening and Shoreline Protection Features on Fish Utilization and Behavior, Washaway Beach, Washington | Miller | WSDOT | 2001 | effects of shoreline hardening and shoreline protection features on fish utilization and behavior, washaway beach, washington miller,m. c., thom,r. m., williams,g. d., southard,j. a., blanton,s. l., o'rourke,l. k. the shoreline in the vicinity of cape shoalwater, pacific county, washington, has been undergoing extreme erosion for nearly a century. with a shoreline retreat rate that has averaged between 100 and 130 feet per year, the site has been identified as having the most severe erosion rate of any location on the us west coast. in 1998, the washington state departmet of transportation constructed a groin and dike along the north channel at north cove in an attempt to halt and possibly reverse the erosion trend and to protect state route 105, which was threatened by the northward migration of the channel.the emergency project was completed in november 1998. the structures placed on the site consisted of a 1600 ft rock groin extending on an approximate n-s line from sr 105 and attached to a 930 ft underwater dike, aligned perpendicular to the navigation channel. these were designed to slow erosion and facilitate accretion of sediments along the most vulnerable section of the highway. in addition, a beach nourishment was undertaken in which 350,000 cy of sand was placed on the beach, along the existing riprap wall immediately seaward of the highway and to the east of the structure which is locally known as jacobson's jetty.placement of the structure and fill has raised concerns about impacts on the biota residing in or transiting the area, particularly the loss of habitat for the brown pelican and snowy plover, and destruction of dungeness crab through dredging of beach nourishment material. concern has also been expressed that construction of the rock structures may have altered the nearshore migration pattern of out-migrating juvenile salmon. the juveniles may be forced to swim into deeper water around the end of the structure, where they could be more susceptible to predation by birds, mammals, and fish. it was also felt that the rock structures and embayment might increase the density of salmon predators such as lingcod, scuplins, cabezon, and seals. sand was initially placed over the groin to fill the void space betwen the large rocks and thus discourage the use of the groin by predatory fish. however, the fill was quickly washed away during the storms in the winter of 1998-99.the federal highway administration (fhwa) and wsdot entered into an agreement with other state and federal resource agencies and the shoalwater tribe to pursue environmental issues in an adaptive framework. to this end, bird monitoring has commenced and dungeness crab impacts are being mitigated through placement of oyster shell within willapa bay.the potential impacts of erosion control structures on habitat, particularly in regard to salmon and other esa listed or threatened species, is of concern to wsdot. rock armor used to control erosion, protect property, or redirect flows modifies habitat in ways that are as yet unquantified. this letter report documents the methods used and the results obtained from a field data collection program at washaway beach that was aimed at studying habitat characteristics and species location and abundance at the groin and dike and comparing it to a nearby control site. this is the first in a proposed series of studies that will document the habitat and occurrence of migrating salmonids through the spring out-migration of juveniles and the fall return of adults. research wsdot 2001 |
| WA-RD 519.1 | Targeting Pedestrian Infrastructure Improvements: A Methodology to Assist Providers in Identifying Suburban Locations with Potential Increases in Pedestrian Travel | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 2001 | targeting pedestrian infrastructure improvements: a methodology to assist providers in identifying suburban locations with potential increases in pedestrian travel moudon,a. v. this project yielded three tools for allocating investments to improve pedestrian infrastructure. the tools are tailored to suburban clusters and corridors where past research has shown that the potential exists for substantial volumes of pedestrian travel. the first two tools, pedestrian location identification (pli) tools 1 and 2, help differentiate between suburban areas that do and do not have potential for pedestrian travel. the third tool, pedestrian infrastructure prioritization (pip) decision system, supports decisionmaking processes to allocate investments in infrastructure improvement to areas that do have potential for pedestrian travel. the tools generally yield benefits at the policy, implementation, and scientific levels.pli-1 and pli-2 focus on medium-density residential land development, areas that have been neglected in the past as locations with potential for pedestrian travel. by considering combinations of land uses that are generators and attractors of pedestrian travel, they capture the characteristics of land-use mixes that have the highest potential for substantial volumes of pedestrian trips. by using small spatial units of land-use data, they adequately capture the characteristics of actual development on the ground and, specifically, those characteristics that support pedestrian travel. the small units of data also allow a precise and accurate measurement of the land-use characteristics of the small areas that correspond to shortwalking distances.pip is a synthesis of previous efforts to identify the environmental and policy variables that affect pedestrian travel. it acknowledges three types of environmental factors known to affect pedestrian travel demand: area-wide characteristics defined by land uses and development patterns, characteristics of the transportation facilities, and policies that determine the level of support for pedestrian travel. pip provides a complete yet flexible framework for making decisions regarding infrastructure. it allows jurisdictions to work with their own internal set of priorities. pedestrian travel, pedestrian infrastructure, suburban, prioritization, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 517.1 | A Quantification and Evaluation of WSDOT's Hot-Mix Asphalt Concrete Statistical Acceptance Specification | Muench | TRAC/UW | 2001 | a quantification and evaluation of wsdot's hot-mix asphalt concrete statistical acceptance specification muench, s.t., mahoney, j.p. this report clarifies the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) hotmix asphalt (hma) statistical acceptance specification's statistical basis and how its key components influence overall specification performance and contractual pay.the wsdot specification uses a variable sampling plan to measure in-place density, asphalt content, and aggregate gradation. specification bands on these three quality characteristics are reasonable and consistent with typical material, sampling, testing, and construction variability. pay is determined by calculating a percentage within limits (pwl), then applying a series of parabolic pay equations, depending on sample size.the methods used by wsdot balance risk between the contractor and wsdot well but result in two issues that differ from similar specifications: (1) expected pay for material produced at acceptable quality level (aql) is greater than 1.0, and (2) wsdot's aql is 95 pwl but contractors seem to consistently produce material near 90 pwl the issues are not critical, and therefore, the specification should not be changed. however, if the third and final report in this series, which studies quality characteristics to be measured for superpave design mixes, results in major recommended changes, then we recommend reviewing the aql and pay factors to bring the specification into fine with actual practice. asphalt concrete, hma, hot mix asphalt, pay factor, research, specification, statistical acceptance specification, statistics, washington state trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 518.1 | Evaluation of the Service Patrol Program in the Puget Sound Region | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2001 | evaluation of the service patrol program in the puget sound region nee, j., hallenbeck, m.e. the service patrol pilot demonstration in seattle and tacoma was managed by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and operated by washington state patrol (wsp) cadets and contracted registered tow truck operators (rttos). two other roving services, not funded as part of this pilot effort but included to a limited extent in this evaluation, were the roving patrol service provided by wsdot on the sr 520 and i-90 floating bridges and the privately sponsored motor assistance vehicle from aaa's rescuevan. the evaluation examines how the similarities and differences among the different service delivery modes (e.g., the intensity of deployment, equipment choices, service delivery, costs) affect the impact of the service patrol operation on traffic conditions (e.g., reductions in delay) and the level of motorist satisfaction. this report also discusses feedback by the agencies participating in the service patrol program on institutional and operational issues that contribute to or hinder the success of the program. operational characteristics and operating statistics are reported to convey factors that describe program effectiveness. the results of the study indicate that the use of a combination of service providers has benefits that no single provider can duplicate, and the cost implications of changing the program are small enough that any potential savings would be fairly minor. the pilot project resulted in a variety of intangible benefits, such as improved interagency coordination and cooperation, more efficient utilization of personnel, and a better understanding of each partner's roles and contributions toward congestion relief. the positive viewpoint toward the service patrol was uniform, regardless the service mode. therefore, no significant changes to the existing pilot program are recommended at this time. service patrols, incident response time, traffic delay, traffic safety, research, seattle, washington, washington state, transportation, wsdot, truck, evaluation, floating bridge, bridges, bridge, costs, cost, traffic, condition, program, statistics, benefits, benefit, congestion trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 510.1 | Surveillance Options for Monitoring Arterial Traffic Conditions | Nee | TRAC/UW | 2001 | surveillance options for monitoring arterial traffic conditions nee,j., hallenbeck,m. e. the interest in and need for monitoring and reporting on arterial traffic conditions have increased with the growing implementation of both traffic management and traveler information systems. because an increasing number of travelers are turning to the internet for information, agencies are seeking ways to present arterial traffic data on this medium that are both understandable and useful to the public. at the same time, these same data must provide additional operational insight to public agency traffic management staff. however, although the idea of reporting arterial conditions is similar to that of monitoring and reporting freeway traffic conditions, different and innovative methods appear necessary for arterials because freeways and arterials differ in many aspects, particularly the effects of signals on traffic flow and speed.the research approach for this project consists of a literature search, a series of personal interviews, and the development and user testing of alternative internet-based information displays. the results of the study confirm that jurisdictions have a high level of interest in obtaining arterial traffic condition information for both arterial management and public information purposes. however, existing sensor coverage and equipment capabilities, as well as the manner in which data are (or are not) captured, require that much work be done before existing data sources can supply traffic data to internet-based display systems. the study results provide some basic guidelines agencies can follow to obtain traffic information if no existing data sources are available, along with recommendations for presenting that arterial traffic data to the public. arterial traffic information, surveillance, traffic monitoring, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 508.2 | Executive Summary--Overwater Structures: Marine Issues | Nightingale | TRAC/UW | 2001 | executive summary--overwater structures: marine issues nightingale,b., simenstad,c. a. this paper synthesizes 30 years of literature documenting the potential effects specific overwater structures pose to important estuarine and nearshore marine habitats for juvenile salmon and other fishes in the pacific northwest. while the fish and shellfish species discussed are known to specifically use nearshore habitats, we also examine potential impacts at the broader scale of the nearshore ecosystem.overwater structures have been proved to pose potential mortality and fitness risks to these animals and their ecosystems. mechanisms of impact are characterized as changes in light, wave energy, and substrate regimes. modifications to these regimes by the construction of, presence of and operations around overwater structures have been found to produce significantly different distributions of invertebrates, fishes, and plants in under-dock environments than in adjacent non-shaded vegetated habitats.effects of light limitation (shading) from overwater structures on migratory organisms such as juvenile salmon have been characterized as 1) behavioral barriers that can deflect or delay migration; 2) reduced prey resource production and availability (i.e. .carrying capacity.), and 3) altered predator-prey relationships associated with high intensity night lighting alterations to the nighttime ambient light regime. this paper identifies known visual thresholds associated with light limitation for salmonids and other juvenile fishes.empirical findings indicate that the cumulative impacts of overwater structures can have significant impacts on ambient wave energy patterns and substrate types. given what is known concerning biota and substrate relationships and shoreline geomorphology (drift cell) processes determining those substrates, the basic unit of measurement for establishing change thresholds to identify overwater structure effects is likely related to drift cell characteristics and scale. at this time, drift cell thresholds are not established; however, we conclude that thresholds are needed to avoid and mitigate cumulative effects. further studies are recommended to determine plant and animal behavioral thresholds and the nature and extent of direct and cumulative effects. docks, ramps, overwater structures, breakwaters, environmental impact, marine, estuarine, fish, shellfish, eelgrass, cumulative effects, underwater light, shoreline structure, habitats, salmon trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 508.1 | Overwater Structures: Marine Issues | Nightingale | TRAC/UW | 2001 | overwater structures: marine issues nightingale,b., simenstad,c. a. this paper synthesizes 30 years of literature documenting the potential effects specific overwater structures pose to important estuarine and nearshore marine habitats for juvenile salmon and other fishes in the pacific northwest. while the fish and shellfish species discussed are known to specifically use nearshore habitats, we also examine potential impacts at the broader scale of the nearshore ecosystem.overwater structures have been proved to pose potential mortality and fitness risks to these animals and their ecosystems. mechanisms of impact are characterized as changes in light, wave energy, and substrate regimes. modifications to these regimes by the construction of, presence of and operations around overwater structures have been found to produce significantly different distributions of invertebrates, fishes, and plants in under-dock environments than in adjacent non-shaded vegetated habitats.effects of light limitation (shading) from overwater structures on migratory organisms such as juvenile salmon have been characterized as 1) behavioral barriers that can deflect or delay migration; 2) reduced prey resource production and availability (i.e. .carrying capacity.), and 3) altered predator-prey relationships associated with high intensity night lighting alterations to the nighttime ambient light regime. this paper identifies known visual thresholds associated with light limitation for salmonids and other juvenile fishes.empirical findings indicate that the cumulative impacts of overwater structures can have significant impacts on ambient wave energy patterns and substrate types. given what is known concerning biota and substrate relationships and shoreline geomorphology (drift cell) processes determining those substrates, the basic unit of measurement for establishing change thresholds to identify overwater structure effects is likely related to drift cell characteristics and scale. at this time, drift cell thresholds are not established; however, we conclude that thresholds are needed to avoid and mitigate cumulative effects. further studies are recommended to determine plant and animal behavioral thresholds and the nature and extent of direct and cumulative effects. docks, ramps, overwater structures, breakwaters, environmental impact, marine, estuarine, fish, shellfish, eelgrass, cumulative effects, underwater light, shoreline structure, habitats, salmon trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 507.1 | Dredging Activites: Marine Issues | Nightingale | TRAC/UW | 2001 | dredging activites: marine issues nightingale, b., simenstad, c.a. this paper synthesizes scientific information on the effects of dredging activities on marine habitats. direct and long-term effects, dredge methods, regulatory framework, contaminated sediment issues, and a separate bibliography of contaminated sediment-related reports are also presented.direct behavioral effects include entrainment, increased turbidity, fish injury due to suspended sediment exposure, decreased dissolved oxygen levels, and the effects of noise. a turbidity threshold of 200 mg/l could reduce dredge-induced salmonid prey-predator reaction changes. high sediment loadrelated fish injury deserves further analysis. gill injury thresholds specific to marine environments have not been identified. suspended sediment size, shape, and exposure duration are likely important risk assessment factors for salmonids and other fishes. the most relevant issue is likely the fish ability to avoid plumes and dredge areas. benthic infauna, epibenthic and demersal organisms, such as borrowing shrimp, crabs, and fish, are subject to entrainment risks. a clearer understanding of dredging effects to biota requires further synthesis of physiology, life-history strategies, water column use, and timing.in washington state, maintenance dredging conversion of shallower subtidal to deeper subtidal habitats is much more frequent than new construction dredging conversion of intertidal to subtidal habitats, which is rarely allowed. loss of intertidal habitats represents potential reductions in coastal habitat carrying capacity. the fish effects of channel deepening alteration to estuarine-freshwater mixing are most evident during early life history stages. productivity recovery rates range from three months to many years, depending on the species. lack of long-term and dredge pre- and post-project monitoring makes it difficult to conclusively identify effects. dredging, cumulative effects, long-term effects, marine, estuarine, fish, shellfish, habitats, salmon, fish injury, dredge disposal, contamination, sediments, disposal, environmental impact, turbidity, suspended sediments, dissolved oxygen trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 500.1 | An Evaluation of the Impacts of Highway Deicers on Peshastin Creek | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 2001 | an evaluation of the impacts of highway deicers on peshastin creek yonge,d. r., marcoe,n. the effects of the highway deicing activities on the peshastin creek watershed were studied over a 6-month period from december 1999 to may 2000. three threatened and/or endangered species: steelhead (oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chinook salmon (oncorhynchus mykiss) and bull trout (salvelinus confluentus) inhabit the stream and, therefore, a study of the effects of deicing activities was warranted. five reaches along peshastin creek and its tributaries were selected for the collection of weekly grab samples and three of these reaches were outfitted with continuous monitoring equipment. water quality tests, microtox(r) toxicity tests, benthic macro invertebrate enumeration and streambed substrate sieve analyses were used to evaluate the influence of deicing activities (application of traction sand and iceban, a liquid deicer) on peshastin creek. chloride exhibited signs of preferential elution and was also found to be significantly higher in concentration in areas adjacent to the us highway 97. the maximum recorded chloride concentration in peshastin creek was 3.3 and 2.7 mg/l at reach 2 and reach 4, respectively. the non-impacted reaches of peshastin yielded an average chloride concentration of 0.62 mg/l. heavy metal concentrations (soluble and total) were much lower than the us epa recommended limits. the benthic macro invertebrate study, although qualitative in nature, suggested that the deicing activities did not adversely impact the three fish food organisms that were quantified. streambed substrate analyses indicated that the traction sand used in deicing activities had no measurable negative impact on known spawning locations. the physical, chemical, and biological parameters evaluated in this study indicate that deicing activities along sr 97 had no measurable negative impact on peshastin creek. highway deicing, stream impact, deicer toxicity, highway sanding trac/wsu 2001 |
| WA-RD 476.1 | Construction-Related Asphalt Concrete Pavement Temperature Differentials and the Corresponding Density Differentials | Willoughby | TRAC/UW | 2001 | construction-related asphalt concrete pavement temperature differentials and the corresponding density differentials willoughby, k.a., read, s.a., mahoney, j.p., muench, s.t., pierce, l.m., thompson, t.r., uhlmeyer, j.s., moore, r., anderson, k.w. the detrimental effects of low compaction temperatures or aggregate segregation have been documented for at least forty years. lower compaction temperatures are directly related to an increase in air void content, which decreases the strength of the pavement. even with a perfect mix design, if the mix is not properly compacted in the field, the final product will not last for its intended length of time.the goals of this study were to determine what kind of problem the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) experiences with hot-mix paving, whether temperature differentials or aggregate segregation or both, the possible causes of those problems, and what wsdot can do to fix the problem. the study found that wsdot experiences temperature differentials on many projects and to some extent aggregate segregation (typically in longitudinal streaks). the study also found that because many factors are involved with paving operations, no one single piece of equipment or operation will guarantee that temperature differentials willnot occur, but that techniques can be utilized to offset the effects of the temperature differentials.the study utilized a density profile procedure that provides a method of determining the effect of the temperature differentials in the finished product. it can locate potential areas of low density, test those areas, and provide results (via a nuclear asphalt content gauge) to determine the extent of the problem.density differentials are a primary concern in hot-mix paving. if temperature differentials exist, but the finished pavement has a uniform density of 93 percent or greater for dense-graded mixes, then the pavement should serve its intended purpose for its intended length of time. the density profile procedure does not guarantee a uniform mat density, but it can be used as a quality control tool to help attain a uniform density. this could be a major step in achieving a higher quality hot-mix product. hot-mix pavement, asphalt pavement, temperature differentials, density differentials, density profile, inplace density trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 511.1 | TravelAid | Ulfarsson | TRAC/UW | 2001 | travelaid ulfarsson,g., shankar,v., vu,p., mannering,f. l., boyle,l., morse,m. this report discusses the effectiveness of using variable message signs (vms) and in-vehicle traffic advisory systems (ivu) on a mountainous pass (snoqualmie pass on interstate 90 in washington state) for changing driver behavior. as part of this project, variable message and variable speed limit information were placed along a 61-km segment of i-90 between north bend, wash., and cle elum, wash. the study area was the region where i-90 passes over the cascade mountains through the snoqualmie pass. the signs, which were implemented during the winter of 1997-98, provided weather and roadway information to motorists with the intention of reducing the number and severity of accidents.an analysis of accidents on snoqualmie pass was conducted with historical accident data. several accident models were used to estimate accident frequencies severity. the report reviews the analysis of speed data over snoqualmie pass and reports on lane-mean speeds and deviations.next, the potential users' needs for variable message information and their willingness to use in-vehicle information were assessed. a survey was distributed and analyzed to explore these questions. an econometric analysis was performed of potential speed reductions for various weather conditions. a second set of analyses was then performed on the surveys to investigate the characteristics associated with drivers who would use an in-vehicle system and those who would not use the information provided by the in-vehicle unit.a laboratory experiment was conducted on the use of an in-vehicle system and vms. a driving simulator was used for this study. mean speed and deviation from the mean speed were analyzed, as was the effectiveness of the systems over each 4.68-km (3 mile) stretch. the effect of vms on the relationship between mean speeds and speed deviations was analyzed. traveler information, variable message signs, in-vehicle traffic information, variable speed limit, driving simulation trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 509.1 | Maintaining Freight Mobility Options in Washington State: Innovative Approaches to Preserving Rail Freight Service | Taylor | Wilbur Smith Associates/WSDOT | 2001 | maintaining freight mobility options in washington state: innovative approaches to preserving rail freight service taylor,r. s. since 1970, the washington state's rail system has shrunk from approximately 5,008 route miles to 3,123 miles. many rural communities and shippers no longer have rail service due to rail line abandonments. of the remaining rail system in the state, approximately 1,600 miles are light density rail lines that are most vulnerable to abandonments. this document reports the results of a study of means of preserving service on these potentially endangered rail lines.the changing nature of the rail system, both nationally and in washington state, is documented along with what these changes mean to the public and system stability. the reasons rail line are abandoned are reviewed and the revenue-cost relationship, the heart of the issue, is discussed at some length including how adjustments in both revenues and costs can impact line viability. public assistance forms and availability are documented as are the existing and potential roles of various public bodies at both the state and local level. findings are summarized, conclusions reached , stated, and recommendations made. rail service, rail line abandonments, research wilbur smith associates/wsdot 2001 |
| Case Studies of Motor Vehicle Fires | Shields | TRAC/UW | 2001 | case studies of motor vehicle fires shields, l.e., scheibe, r.r., angelos, t e., mann, r. in 1967, federal motor vehicle safety standard 301 was first issued. its stated purpose was to "reduce deaths and injuries occurring from fires that result from fuel spillage during and after motor vehicle crashes." since that time, many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of this standard as well as fire safety in general. most of the studies were analyses of motor vehicle crash databases providing little or no detailed information as to the actual fuels involved in ignition, ignition sources, propagation paths and times, and injury mechanisms. in this report, the methodologies used in data collection and summaries of results from case studies of motor-vehicle fires are presented. these case studies were conducted to provide sufficient detail of collision-fire incidents to further understanding of the cause(s) of fire, fire propagation rates and paths, and the mechanisms and extent of resultant injuries. methodologies described include detailed data collection forms, notification of events, and systems necessary to protect privacy and comply with privacy inspections of vehicles and crash sites, incident reconstruction, and analysis of injury mechanisms. data collected are available in more detail within a database developed using microsoft access 2000. an adobe acrobat (pdf) version of the database is also available. this report provides the context of collected data and an introduction to accessing data within the database. while fires resulting from collisions are rare and occur due to the confluence of improbable events, case studies show that fires can occur in a wide range of crash circumstances and severity. data presented herein illustrate cases that include a wide variety of post-collision ignition times, fluid system breaches, ignition source availability, impact types, and impact severity. photographs, inspection results, witness statements, and investigator experience are the bases for the data presented. the database and supporting final report are presented to provide basic data for their inherent value; few general conclusions are imparted. motor vehicle, fire, case studies, collision, fire propagation, injury trac/uw 2001 | |
| WA-RD 494.1 | Fatigue Cracking of Riveted, Coped, Stringer-to-Floorbeam Connections | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 2001 | fatigue cracking of riveted, coped, stringer-to-floorbeam connections roeder,c. w., macrae,g. a., kalogiros,a. y., leland,a. fatigue cracking has been noted in a number of riveted, coped stringer-to-floorbeam connections on truss bridges in washington state. the fatigue cracking has raised uncertainty regarding the future performance and life expectancy of these bridges. this laboratory experimental research study evaluated the expected performance of these critical connections to better understand the causes of the fatigue cracking and to compare and evaluate several damage limitation methods for this critical location.sixteen test specimens were built and tested. during the initial testing, the goal was to develop fatigue cracks in the region of the cope. the cracks were observed, and the rate of crack growth was closely monitored. the results of this work showed that the rate of initial visible cracking is dependent on the surface condition of the cope. rough or notched copes develop cracks after a very few cycles. once the crack has developed, the rate of crack growth does not depend on the surface condition of the cope.a damage limitation method (dlm) was applied to most specimens. three methods--the hole drilling method, the drilled hole with inserted bolted, and the bolt removal method--were evaluated. after the dlm was applied, the specimen was retested to determine whether and when further crack growth occurred. the rate of crack growth was closely monitored, and the relative effectiveness of alternative dlms were determined.a design and evaluation procedure was developed for predicting the time required for crack development and for selecting appropriate connection stiffnesses for application of the dlms. this method utilizes load spectra developed in previous field investigations and methods for translating the load spectra into an effective stress and number of cycles for the fatigue evaluation. models are provided for evaluating connection stiffness and for analyzing the effect of the connection stiffness on the stringer moments. coped stringers, damage limitation, fatigue, fatigue cracking, fatigue life, repair, riveted connections, research trac/uw 2001 |
| WA-RD 437.1 | Identification And Assessment Of Superior And Inferior Performing WSDOT Pavements | Baker | TRAC/UW | 2000 | identification and assessment of superior and inferior performing wsdot pavements baker, m.j., mahoney, j.p. the washington state pavement management system (wspms) offers an organized methodology that wsdot decision makers use to determine optimum strategies for providing and maintaining pavements in a serviceable condition over a given period of time. it also helps improve decision-making efficiency, provide feedback on the consequences of decisions, and ensure the consistency of decisions made at different management levels within wsdot. unfortunately, it is not possible, by simply scanning the wspms, to pinpoint reasons why pavement sections made of the same general surface materials and subjected to similar traffic and climatic conditions differ in performance. what the wspms can do is assist engineers in developing a candidate list of pavement sections with superior and inferior performance. common characteristics that linkmultiple pavement sections are of particular interest, in part because they may reflect a common practice(e-g., nighttime construction) that leads to superior or inferior performance.this study undertook various extensive analyses and comparisons to help illustrate common attributes of washington state pavements with superior and inferior performance. the research also reviewed field performance data for interstate 90 within the 1999 version of the wspms. the purpose was to examine all pavement segments on the 480 km of interstate 90 within washington state.reducing variability will allow wsdot to produce more consistent pavement performance and will allow increasingly effective planning and forecasting. an almost certain byproduct of this increased planning effectiveness will be a more efficient allocation of available funding. assessment, condition, construction, data, effectiveness, forecasting, management, management system, materials, methodology, pavement, pavement management, pavement performance, pavement section, pavements, performance, planning, research, superior inferior, system, traffic, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 477.3 | High Performance Concrete in Washington State SR 18/SR 516 Overcrossing: Final Report on Girder Monitoring | Barr | TRAC/UW | 2000 | high performance concrete in washington state sr 18/sr 516 overcrossing: final report on girder monitoring barr, p., eberhard, m.o., stanton, j.f., khaleghi, b., hsieh, j.c. high performance concrete (hpc) is the name given to a class of materials that exhibit properties superior to those of conventional concrete. the federal highway administration has developed a program to encourage the use of hpc in bridges. as part of that program, this project was undertaken to investigate the long-term behavior of a hpc pretensioned concrete girder bridge, with emphasis on the monitoring of prestress losses. this report provides the results from the program of girder design, nd three years of monitoring and evaluation. a companion report provides results of the materials testing program (barr et al 2000a). live-load distribution, skew, diaphragms, continuity, lifts trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 477.2 | High Performance Concrete in Washington State SR 18/SR 516 Overcrossing: Final Report on Material Tests | Barr | TRAC/UW | 2000 | high performance concrete in washington state sr 18/sr 516 overcrossing: final report on material tests barr, p., fekete, e., stanton, j. f., khaleghi, b., eberhard, m.o. high performance concrete (hpc) is the name given to a class of materials that exhibit properties superior to those of conventional concrete. the federal highway administration developed a program to encourage the use of hpc in bridges. as part of that program, this project was undertaken to investigate the long-term behavior of a hpc pretensioned concrete girder bridge, with emphasis on the monitoring of prestress losses. this report provides the results from the three-year materials testing program. a companion report (barr et al. 2000) provides the results of the girder design, monitoring and evaluation program. live-load distribution, skew, diaphragms, continuity, lifts trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 477.1 | Live Load Distribution Factors for Washington State SR 18/SR 516 Overcrosssing | Barr | TRAC/UW | 2000 | live load distribution factors for washington state sr 18/sr 516 overcrosssing barr, p., stanton, j.f., eberhard, m.o. this report presents an evaluation of live-load distribution factors for a series of three-span, prestressed concrete girder bridges. the response of one bridge, measured during a static live-load test, was used to evaluate the reliability of a finite-element model. twenty-four variations of this model were then used to evaluate the procedures for computing live-load distribution factors that are embodied in three bridge design codes. the finite-element models were also used to investigate the effects that lifts, intermediate diaphragms, end diaphragms, continuity, skew angle and load type have on distribution factors. for geometries similar to those considered in the development of the american association of state highway and transportation officials (aashto) load and resistance factor design (lrfd) specifications (1994), the distribution factors computed with the finite-element models were within 6 percent of the code values. however, for the geometry of the bridge that was tested, the discrepancy was 28 percent. lifts, end diaphragms, skew angle and load type significantly decreased the distribution factors, while continuity and intermediate diaphragms had the least effect. if the bridge had been designed using the distribution factors calculated with the finite-element model rather than the code values, the required concrete release strength could have been reduced by 6.9 mpa (1000 psi), or the live load could have been increased by 39 percent. live-load distribution, skew, diaphragms, continuity, lifts trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 495.1 | Vegetated Stormwater Facility Maintenance | Cammermayer | TRAC/UW | 2000 | vegetated stormwater facility maintenance cammermayer,j. w., horner,r. r., chechowitz,n. this study had three objectives and associated work components: component i--assess routine highway ditch cleaning alternatives ("service levels') for water quality benefits; component 2--survey biofiltration swales to evaluate conditions promoting water quality benefits; and component 3--assess restabilization and revegetation options for use after ditch cleaning and for restoring biofiltration swale vegetation.component 1 tested the water quality effects of three service levels in freeway ditches: (1) excavated to original elevation and shape along the upstream three-quarters of the length and then sodded, (2) excavated along the entire length and straw-covered, and (3) excavated along the upstream three-quarters of the length and then strawcovered. component 2 surveyed representative swales along central puget sound area highways for a variety of geometric, hydraulic and vegetative characteristics. survey data were analyzed to develop maintenance, design, and construction guidelines. in component 3 vegetation establishment from seed was assessed in replicate plots in a freeway ditch with the assistance of restabilization aids: (1) coconut fiber blanket, (2) straw held in place with stapled jute mat, (3) straw without covering, and (4) polyacrylamide (pam). cost-benefit analyses were performed in components 1 and 3.the overall best service level for water quality benefits was excavating the first three quarters and retaining vegetation in the remainder. the ditch treated in this manner was capable of reducing tss by approximately 40 percent, total phosphorus by about 50 percent, and total and dissolved cu and zn each by roughly 20 to 25 percent. it is recommended as the standard procedure when cleaning ditches that discharge to a natural receiving water. analysis of survey data showed that biofiltration swales with broad side slopes, wide bases, and total storage volumes equivalent to 3 inches of runoff from the impervious drainage area consistently supported good vegetation cover and showed few signs of damage. for assisting grass growth, straw held in place with stapled jute mat had a clear advantage in effectiveness over the alternatives and a slight economy advantage over the coconut mat. stormwater facility, maintenance, biofiltration swales, revegetation, water quality, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 465.1 | Video Image Processing to Create a Speed Sensor | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2000 | video image processing to create a speed sensor dailey, d.j., li, l. image processing has been applied to traffic analysis in recent years with different goals. in this report, a new approach is presented for extracting vehicular speed information, given a sequence of real-time traffic images. we extract moving edges and process the resulting edge information to obtain quantitative geometric measurements of vehicles. this differs from existing approaches because we use simple geometric relations obtained directly from the image instead of using reference objects to perform camera calibrations. our method allows the recovery of the physical descriptions of traffic scenes without explicit camera calibration.in this report, extensive experiments using images from active transportation management system (tms) freeway cameras are reported. the results presented in this report demonstrate the validity of our approach, which requires neither direct camera control nor placement of a calibration object in the environment. we further argue that it is straightforward to extend our method to other related traffic applications. cctv cameras, moving edge detection, research, speed sensor, video image processing trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 467.1 | Busview: An APTS Precursor and JA Deployed Applet | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2000 | busview: an apts precursor and ja deployed applet dailey,d. j., maclean,s., pao,i. the busview-x project constructed and demonstrated the use of an advanced public transportation system (apts) to show the viability of providing real-time transit information to transit riders. this project (1) designed an advanced graphical transit information system using data from king county metro transit's existing automatic vehicle location (avl) system and the puget sound's regional intelligent transportation systems (its) backbone; (2) created a world wide web page to launch the application; and (3) demonstrated the system's viability by providing real-time transit coach locations to personal workstations on the university of washington campus.as a precursor to an apts for the puget sound region, busview-x was designed to (1) provide real-time coach location information to the test group; (2) enhance king county metro's existing investment in avl technology without disrupting existing operations; (3) evaluate avl accuracy; (4) encourage increased ridership, modal change, and productivity; and (5) be compatible with federal efforts to develop a national its architecture. busview-x was constructed in an open systems model that supported a distributed computing environment. it used the x-windowing system for graphical support. busview-x was used 2, 490 times over a period of 670 days from november 1995 to september 1997.during the seattle smart trek model deployment initiative, the ideas developed in the campus-based version of busview-x were used to create a new version, busview, that could be widely supported on the internet. busview was written in the java programming language so that graphical representation of transit information could be available anywhere on the internet. the incorporation of a graphical toolkit into java and its inclusion in widely available www browsers allowed the researchers to replace the x-window system with www browsers as the graphic user interface.both versions were well received by users. comments from buxview-x were used to improve the design of busview during the smart trek deployment. refinements to busview are ongoing. automatic vehicle location (avl), positioning, transit, real-time data, java applet, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 463.2 | A Self-Describing Data Transfer Methodology for ITS Applications: Executive Summary | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2000 | a self-describing data transfer methodology for its applications: executive summary dailey,d. j., meyers,d., pond,l. a wide variety of remote sensors used in intelligent transportation systems (its) applications (loops, probe vehicles, radar, cameras) has created a need for general methods by which data can be shared among agencies and users who own disparate computer systems.in this paper, we present a methodology that demonstrates that it is possible to create, encode, and decode a self-describing data stream using the following:1. existing data description language standards2. parsers to enforce language compliance3. a simple content language that flows out of the data description language4. architecture neutral encoders and decoders based on asn.1 self-describing data, sql, its data, its architecture, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 463.1 | A Self-Describing Data Transfer for ITS Applications | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 2000 | a self-describing data transfer for its applications dailey,d. j., meyers,d., pond,l. a wide variety of remote sensors used in intelligent transportation systems (its) applications (loops, probe vehicles, radar, cameras) has created a need for general methods by which data can be shared among agencies and users who own disparate computer systems.in this paper, we present a methodology that demonstrates that it is possible to create, encode, and decode a self-describing data stream using the following:1. existing data description language standards2. parsers to enforce language compliance3. a simple content language that flows out of the data description language4. architecture neutral encoders and decoders based on asn.1 self-describing data, sql, its data, its architecture, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 488.2 | Potential Use of Puget Sound HOV Lanes by General Purpose Vehicles in Off-peak Hours: A Summary Paper | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 2000 | potential use of puget sound hov lanes by general purpose vehicles in off-peak hours: a summary paper hallenbeck,m. e., ishimaru,j. m., nee,j. off-peak traffic volumes in the puget sound region of washington state are increasing, and public concern about congestion during non-commute periods has caused wsdot to reexamine the current policy of restricting hov lanes to transit vehicles and carpools 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. in many parts of the country, hov lanes are open to general traffic during nonpeak hours. should wsdot adopt this less restrictive lane use policy?this report examines the tradeoffs that a change in weekend hov lane usage would involve. the basic issues that are examined include the following:-what congestion relief benefits would result?-would these changes have adverse impacts on hov formation and/or hov lane compliance rates?-would the weekend use of hov lanes by general purpose vehicles create safety concerns?-would highway and transit operational problems be created?-what would be the monetary impacts of changing weekend hov lane usage?supported by a variety of performance graphics and statistics, the report concludes that no improvement in mobility would be obtained by relaxing the current puget sound hov lane operating restrictions to allow off-peak use of the hov lanes by general purpose traffic. hov, hov performance, freeway performance reporting trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 488.1 | Weekend Freeway Performance and the Use of HOV Lanes on Weekends | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 2000 | weekend freeway performance and the use of hov lanes on weekends ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e., nee,j. weekend traffic volumes in the puget sound region of washington state are increasing, and public concern about congestion during non-commute periods has caused wsdot to reexamine the current policy of restricting hov lanes to transit vehicles and carpools 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. in many parts of the country, hov lanes are open to general traffic during non-peak hours. should wsdot adopt this less restrictive lane use policy?this report examines the tradeoffs that a change in weekend hov lane usage would involve. the basic issues that are examined include the following:-what congestion relief benefits would result?-would these changes have adverse impacts on hov formation and/or hov lane compliance rates?-would highway and transit operational problems be created?-would the weekend use of hov lanes by general purpose vehicles create safety concerns?-what would be the monetary impacts of changing weekend hov lane usage?supported by a variety of performance graphics and statistics, the report concludes that no improvement in mobility would be obtained by relaxing the current puget sound hov lane operating restrictions to allow weekend use of the hov lanes by general purpose traffic. hov, hov performance, freeway performance reporting trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 485.1 | Perspectives on Successful Telework Initiatives | Kunkle | WSU Energy Program | 2000 | perspectives on successful telework initiatives kunkle,r. the concept of telework was introduced in the 1970's as a way to substitute telecommunications technology for the commute to work (nilles 1998). telework promised many environmental, family, employee, and business benefits. with continued advances in information and communication technology, there were great expectations for the growth of telework and its benefits. while the practice of telework has grown, in many respects the high expectations have not been fulfilled.we believe there is value in reexamining telework in order to more proactively take advantage of the beneficial impacts telework might be able to provide to businesses and citizens. the purpose of this research is to develop new perspectives on successful, long-term telework initiatives at organizations in order to better understand how and why initiatives mature, how organizations view telework initiative benefits, and the implications for supporting telework in the future.we conducted research about telework in three areas: telework and the changing nature of work, telework in organizations, and telework and transportation. we used a combination of research methods including secondary research, analysis of successful telework initiatives at three organizations (involving 31 interviews with coordinators, managers and teleworkers), and interviews with key informants. telework, telecommute, organizational change, workforce demographics, flextime, job sharing, research wsu energy program 2000 |
| WA-RD 498.1 | QA Specification Practices | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 2000 | qa specification practices mahoney, j.p., backus, a.w. this report provides an initial examination of current quality assurance (qa) and quality control (qc) programs at state highway agencies (shas). of specific interest is the states' use of statistically based specifications.the report overviews questionnaire results from the neighboring shas, recently obtained information from the texas department of transportation on mix segregation, and sample results from the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) qa database.this report is the first of two that examine the current wsdot qa hot mix specification. quality assurance, pavement, specifications, survey, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 487.1 | Summary Report On The State Pavement Technology Consortium | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 2000 | summary report on the state pavement technology consortium mahoney, j.p., pietz, m.d., anderson, k.w. this report documents the first year results of a pooled fund study among four states (california, minnesota, texas, and washington state) and describes the structure and objectives. the planned continuation of this collaboration during the next two years is described. the pooled fund project established a working relationship among the four state dot organizations. under this agreement, each state allocated funding to allow selected dot personnel and university researchers to participate in a series of technical meetings. washington acted as the lead state for this pooled fund project, and produced the minutes and other documentation.four technical meetings were held between july 1999 and january 2000, one in each of the four participating states. the general format for these meetings included presentations from the host dot and associated research institutions, followed by specific topics of common interest to the four states. the four states quickly identified topics of mutual interest via this process. to provide the ability to study these topics and those identified in the future, the state dot research managers agreed to establish a management framework to continue information sharing, to plan funding commitments and assure proper oversight and management of the collaborative studies.described. california, consortium, framework, management, meeting, minnesota, objectives, pavement, project, research, study, technology, texas, washington, washington state trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 492.1 | A Framework for WSDOT Pavement Research | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 2000 | a framework for wsdot pavement research mahoney, j.p., pietz, m.d., anderson, k.w., pierce, l.m. this study documents the development of a pavement research framework for the washington state department of transportation. the framework extends over a six-year period (three biennia) and includes provision for extensive collaboration with other agencies, the private sector, and national funding organizations. pavements, research, framework, prioritization trac/uw 2000 |
| A Web-Based Transportation Database Query System: Technical Description | Maldonado | TRAC/UW | 2000 | a web-based transportation database query system: technical description maldonado, w. f., wright, d. r., hallenbeck, m. e., ishimaru, j. m. this report describes the results of a project to create a transportation database query system that demonstrates the feasibility of accessing roadway data from a multi-county region in the puget sound area using a web browser. the system requires maps created from a gis, a database system that supports sql queries using php and javascript code, and a server accessible from the web. the test website created in this project allows users to select individual roadway segments for which data are available, and display various types of user-selected performance measures for particular time periods. a large portion of this document is aimed at helping puget sound regional council programming staff understand the steps required to operate and maintain the database and web software that constitute the system. this process is somewhat complex, although that complexity allows this system to be "easy to use" by transportation planning staff. this means that some portions of this document are really intended for (and primarily useful only to) individuals with a background in one or more specific computer programs used in developing the database/web system (such as arcview gis). because this document assumes a working knowledge of those programs, and because some of the procedures described in this report can be performed equally well by a number of commercially available products (e.g., drawing or paint programs), detailed step by step instructions are not provided in those instances. database, roadway data, sql, geographic information system, queries trac/uw 2000 | |
| WA-RD 490.1 | Polyacrylamide (PAM) Flocculant Dissolution Rate Testing for an Experimental Passive Dosing System | McCormack | Department of Civil Engineering, Saint Martin | 2000 | polyacrylamide (pam) flocculant dissolution rate testing for an experimental passive dosing system mccormack,t., house,k. wsdot is considering the use of polyacrylamide (pam) flocculant to reduce stormwater runoff turbidity at highway construction sites. this research project conducted a testing program to determine the dissolution rates of pam introduced to simulated stormwater flow by using an experimental geotextile "teabag" dosing system.the testing program simulated "teabags" placed in 2 configurations: 1) suspended in a pipe culvert, and 2) placed in a standard catchbasin insert. the flume in the saint martin's college school of engineering hydraulics laboratory was used to conduct a full-scale simulation of flow regimes for these 2 configurations.five types of geotextile fabric, five types of pam flocculant, and ten configurations of teabag placement were tested. empirical relationships between the dissolution rate and flow were found by regressing the test results.pam dissolution rate was found to vary as an inverse power function with flow rate, and directly with the amount of pam introduced into the flow stream. the type of geotextile fabric and the type of pam flocculant had only a minor effect on dissolution rate. polyacrylamide (pam), flocculant, stormwater, turbidity, highway construction, dissolution rate, geotextile, research department of civil engineering, saint martin 2000 |
| WA-RD 496.1 | Documentation of the Design and Construction of the New Tacoma Narrows Bridge | McCrumb | TRAC/UW | 2000 | documentation of the design and construction of the new tacoma narrows bridge mccrumb, m., rutherford, g.s., mahoney, j.p. the newest tacoma narrows bridge will be the largest suspension bridge built in the united states in 40 years. it will also be the first project completed under washington state's public-private initiatives act. this study outlines the documentation plan for the design and construction of the new tacoma narrows bridge. the plan includes research task orders associated with the design and construction of the bridge relative to: public relations/educational opportunities, written documentation, and potential research. tacoma narrows bridge, research trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 479.1 | Equilibrium Geomorphologic Conditions for High Gradient Bed Streams | Papanicolaou | TRAC/WSU | 2000 | equilibrium geomorphologic conditions for high gradient bed streams papanicolaou,a. n. t., maxwell,a. r. the goal of this study was to identify the flow conditions under which stable bedforms exist; provide the geometric characteristics of these bedforms; measure the magnitude of the streamwise velocity and energy dissipation factor; and determine the friction factor under various flow conditions and gravel sizes. design criteria and recommendations for stable bedforms were provided upon the termination of this research. stable bedforms are defined as those bedforms of which the spatial characteristics (height and spacing) do not change with time. the focus of this study was on streams with slopes greater than the 3%, as clear design requirements for bed geomorphologic stability are lacking for these cases, and are of particular interest in design and retrofit of culverts for both anadromous and resident migratory fish passage. step-pools geomorphologic characteristics, frictional characteristics, bed failure conditions, hydraulics characteristics for high gradients bed streams trac/wsu 2000 |
| WA-RD 474.1 | Contaminant Detention in Highway Grass Filter Strips | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 2000 | contaminant detention in highway grass filter strips yonge,d. r. a 17-month sampling campaign was initiated to investigate the potential for vegetated highway shoulders to retain suspended solids, metals, and total petroleum hydrocarbons. a site along sr 8 in western washington was selected and three full-scale test plots constructed for evaluation of contaminant retention capability. the data indicated that tph and suspended solids were effectively removed. metal concentration reduction was also effective when consideration was given to inadvertent pretreatment afforded by the highway runoff collection system. consequently, the vegetated highway shoulder, located along hundreds of miles of highway can afford a cost effective means of contaminant retention. highway runoff, vegetative filter strips, contaminant retention, metal retention trac/wsu 2000 |
| WA-RD 481.1 | Algorithm Design, User Interface, and Optimization Procedure for a Fuzzy Logic Ramp Metering Algorithm: A Training Manual for Freeway Operations Engineers | Taylor | TRAC/UW | 2000 | algorithm design, user interface, and optimization procedure for a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm: a training manual for freeway operations engineers taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. this training manual describes in detail the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm implemented system-wide in the greater seattle area. the method for defining the inputs to the controller and optimizing the performance of the algorithm is explained. instructions are given for observing and tuning the algorithm through the user interface. examples of how to solve various problems are also provided. fuzzy logic control, intelligent transportation systems, freeway operations trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 481.2 | Evaluation of a Fuzzy Logic Ramp Metering Algorithm: A Comparative Study Among Three Ramp Metering Algorithms Used in the Greater Seattle Area | Taylor | TRAC/UW | 2000 | evaluation of a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm: a comparative study among three ramp metering algorithms used in the greater seattle area taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm was implemented on 126 ramps in the greater seattle area. two multiple-ramp study sites were evaluated by comparing the fuzzy logic controller (flc) to the other two ramp metering algorithms in operation at those sites over a four-month period. at the first study site, the days when the flc was metering had lower mainline occupancies and higher throughput volumes in comparison to the days when the local algorithm was metering. at the second study site, the days when the flc was metering had mainline occupancies that were similar, queues that were shorter, and throughput that was similar to the days when the bottleneck algorithm was metering. ramp metering, fuzzy logic control, intelligent transportation systems, freeway operations, transportation management software trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 481.3 | A Programmer's Guide to the Fuzzy Logic Ramp Metering Algorithm: Software Design, Integration, Testing, and Evaluation | Taylor | TRAC/UW | 2000 | a programmer's guide to the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm: software design, integration, testing, and evaluation taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm was implemented on 126 ramps in the greater seattle area. this report documents the implementation of the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm at the northwest district of the washington state department of transportation.this programmer's guide contains the software design for the new and modified code, the integration procedure, the results of software regression testing, the test results of new functionality, a discussion of the performance evaluation software used, the algorithm's transferability to other regions, and recommendations for the future.two other related reports cover the project's research approach, evaluation method, and the results of on-line testing of the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm, as well as the algorithm design and tuning technique. ramp metering, fuzzy logic control, intelligent transportation systems, freeway operations, transportation management software trac/uw 2000 |
| WA-RD 489.1 | I-90 Snoqualmie Pass Wildlife Habitat Linkage Assessment | Singleton | USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Resear | 2000 | i-90 snoqualmie pass wildlife habitat linkage assessment singleton,p. h., lehmkuhl,j. f. a multi-scale assessment of wildlife habitat connectivity and barriers to animal movement along 35 miles of interstate 90 between snoqualmie pass and cle elum, washington was conducted from january 1998 to march 2000. this assessment consisted of 5 components: 1) landscape-scale gis "least-cost path" modeling to evaluate relative habitat linkage for 4 guilds of wildlife species. 2) gis analysis of deer and elk road-kill distribution. 3) automatic camera surveys to evaluate wildlife distribution in the vicinity of the highway. 4) existing highway structure monitoring to document wildlife use of bridges and culverts. 5) winter snow tracking surveys to document animal distribution and highway crossing locations. we found that linkage areas identified by gis habitat linkage modeling for high mobility habitat generalist species and moderate mobility late successional forest species corresponded to areas with high deer and elk road-kill density and frequent highway crossing documented during snow tracking. we identified 4 deer and elk road-kill concentration areas and evaluated the habitat characteristics of these areas. automatic camera survey detection rates did not differ for camera stations more or less than 1 mile from the highway for most species, but did differ between different highway segments. bridges and dry drainage culverts were used by 15 mammal taxa. however, medium and large carnivores commonly detected in the vicinity of the highway were not recorded in highway structures. during 250 miles of snow tracking surveys, we recorded 49 highway crossings by coyote, 13 by bobcat, and 5 by raccoon. highway crossing locations recorded during snow tracking were clustered in distribution. results of this study were used to identify areas of high landscape permeability for animal movement relative to adjacent areas along the highway corridor. wildlife, habitat, corridors, highway barriers, research usda forest service, pacific northwest resear 2000 |
| WA-RD 199.1 | 69th Annual TRB Meeting | Anderson | WSDOT | 1999 | 69th annual trb meeting anderson, k.w. this annual meeting covered a wide variety of transportation issues. bridge and design issues were discussed, material and pavement specification, as well as strategic planning and traffic control. 69th, annual, bridge, control, design, meeting, pavement, planning, specification, strategic planning, traffic, traffic control, transportation, trb wsdot 1999 |
| WA-RD 471.1 | A Synthesis on Studded Tires | Angerinos | TRAC/UW | 1999 | a synthesis on studded tires angerinos, m.j., mahoney, j.p., moore, r., o'brien, a. in the winter of 1998, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) proposed legislation to amend the revised code of washington with respect to studded tires. in april 1999, legislation was passed that changed washington's laws regarding studded tire use. these legislative changes were intended to reduce pavement wear on washington state's highway system caused by studded tires without losing any of the safety benefits that tire studs provide.from the time that studded tires were first introduced, the advantages, disadvantages, and effects of studded tires on vehicles, drivers, and pavement systems have been the object of research and controversy. some states have chosen to ban the use of studded tires altogether, while others, such as oregon and now washington, have passed legislation that is intended to reduce the road wear impacts of studs.this report presents a brief history of the studded tire. the report also explores the relationship between pavement wear and developments in studded tires that have taken place over the past 40 years. this information should provide a background that helps to support and explain the amendments to the revised code of washington regarding studded tires. studs, tires, studded tires, pavement wear rates, studded tire legislation trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 478.1 | Origin and Destination Studies Literature Search Results | Bradshaw | TRAC/UW | 1999 | origin and destination studies literature search results bradshaw,c. this report summarizes the findings of a literature search conducted in support of a washington state department of transportation effort to plan an origin and destination study in the interstate 5 corridor.the objective was to support the study project team by providing information useful indetermining the appropriate scope, budget, and design of a survey that will most efficiently and effectively meet the project's objectives.the report documents findings relevant to surveys of passenger automobiles that make inter-city highway trips. it does not address surveys of freight traffic or the use of urban roadway networks. license plate surveys, origin and destination studies, research, travel surveys trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 461.1 | Washington State Department of Transportation Advanced Traveler Information Systems Business Plan | Bradshaw | TRAC/UW | 1999 | washington state department of transportation advanced traveler information systems business plan bradshaw,c., hallenbeck,m. e., mcintosh,d. this report sets out wsdot's view of the appropriate roles, responsibilities and allocation of costs for public and private providers of advanced traveler information systems (atis) services, given wsdot's goals of providing traveler information to promote the safety and efficiency of its transportation facilities, encouraging private sector investment in atis services, and reducing wsdot's atis costs.the report provides background about current atis services, infrastructure, and participants in the puget sound region, the area of washington in which atis implementation is most advanced. the report describes the private sector atis business opportunity and the need to balance that opportunity with public sector goals of broad access to traveler information. it discusses the emerging private sector market for fee-based atis services and projects a significant expansion of the market in the puget sound region beginning in about 2002, based on a detailed atis market analysis.the reort recommends near-term actions that respond to the current speculative and highly volatile consumer marker for atis services and a still developing public infrastructure model for data sharing (the its backbone). these recommendations include guidelines for public/private cooperation, promotioin and enhancement of the its backbone, and testing the revenue potential of current wsdot atis services through the smart trek program.for the long term, the report recommends that wsdot prepare for the anticipated expanded private sector atis market by taking actions to move toward private sector funded operation of the its backbone. the report also recommends that in two to three years, the performance of the its backbone concept and operating model be reviewed for continued appropriateness to the emerging private sector atis market. advanced traveler information systems, atis, business plan, its implementation, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 473.1 | HOV Lane Performance Monitoring: 1998 Annual Report | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1999 | hov lane performance monitoring: 1998 annual report brown,w. w., nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes, also known as carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ridesharers, and motorcycles that meet the occupancy requirement. by restricting access, the hov lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time and experiencing greater travel time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (gp) lanes. to accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual hov system report to document system performance, examining the hov lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent gp lanes, as well as the lanes' violation rates.this report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of hov lane use and performance in the puget sound area in 1998. it presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use those lanes, the reliability of the hov lanes, travel time savings in comparison to general purpose lanes, violation rates, and public perceptions. this information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing hov lane system in the puget sound area and in planning for other hov facilities.descriptions of the tool set and methodology for analyzing hov facility usage and performance in terms of vehicle and person throughput, travel time, and speed and reliability measures are provided in a separate report titled evaluation tools for hov lanes performance monitoring. other relevant supplemental information, such as historical quarterly occupancy and probe vehicle speed data, is available from the hov report web site at . high occupancy vehicle, hov, throughput, speed, reliability, travel time, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 469.1 | Irregularly Sampled Transit Vehicles Used As Probe Vehicle Traffic Sensors | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1999 | irregularly sampled transit vehicles used as probe vehicle traffic sensors dailey,d. j., elango,c. traffic performance monitoring is an issue of growing concern both nationally and in washington state. as a key measure in performance monitoring, travel times and speeds have been growing in importance. in this project, we used transit vehicles as probes to indicate travel times and speeds and developed a framework for modeling the time series that arose from sampling transit vehicle locations as a function of time. these samples of vehicle location were obtained from the king county metro automatic vehicle location (avl) system.an optimal filter method was developed to estimate speed as a function of space and time. in this work, an optimal solution for the state vector, containing the variables speed and position, was found at each step by using the kalman filter result. this type of filter solution requires the creation of a model for the process--in this case, a relationship between location and time for the vehicles and a model to account for measurement errors. furthermore, the use of such formalism depends upon the assumption that the deviations of the actual system from the idealized model are normally distributed.the errors in the measurement model were taken directly from the specification documents for the operation of the avl system. given known measurement properties, a linear relationship between position and time was postulated for the model of vehicle motion. this, in effect, suggested a constant velocity model for subsets of the travel path, where the deviations from this model were identified as part of the randomness inherent in the process (e.g., stopping and starting were effectively noise). it was further postulated that a vehicle trip over the same route at the same time of day but on differing days was an ensemble realization of one process. with these postulates, the model was applied to data from both freeways and arterials to test the assumption that the deviation of the data from the model would be normally distributed.a kolmogorov-smirnov distribution membership test was used to validate the normality of the statistics of the residual differences between the data and the linear approximation. in most ranges of travel, the resulting probability of distribution membership was on the order of 0.9, indicating that the assumption of normally distributed errors was indeed a good one. automatic vehicle location (avl), traffic performance monitoring, traffic probes trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 466.2 | FLOW Evaluation Design | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 1999 | flow evaluation design ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. this report describes an evaluation approach, process, and analytical tool set that were developed to analyze freeway usage and performance in the central puget sound region. it also functions as a user's guide, describing the range of performance measures used and the methods and tools available to estimate them, along with step-by-step instructions. this report also serves the important purpose of documenting the analytical assumptions and limitations of the evaluation method.this report is one of three projects of a washington state department of transportation (wsdot) project to enhance the department's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management efforts on seattle-area highways, and to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the first of these objectives. in addition to this report, this project produced a set of software tools to assist in freeway data analysis, as well as an interim report documenting the level of traveler usage and travel performance on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area for 1997. the freeways studied in this project are managed by wsdot using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region.the data analysis procedures described in this report are intended to facilitate a series of periodic evaluations of the central puget sound urban highway network and the wsdot flow system. they were also designed to have general capabilities, so that they can be employed at any freeway location of interest, provided that the appropriate data have been collected. this evaluation process focuses on mainline (gp and hov) performance measures; plans call for eventual expansion of the process to include other aspects of the wsdot flow system. archived data user services (adus), congestion monitoring, freeway performance trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 466.1 | Central Puget Sound Freeway Network Usage and Performance | Ishimaru | TRAC/UW | 1999 | central puget sound freeway network usage and performance ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. this summary report presents an overview of the level of traveler usage (e.g., how many vehicles use the freeways) and travel performance (e.g., how fast they are traveling, where and how often congestion occurs) on the principal urban freeways in the central puget sound area for 1997. data presented in this report were collected by the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot's) freeway surveillance system.the project that led to this report is intended to meet two separate purposes: 1) to enhance wsdot's ability to monitor and improve its traffic management efforts on seattle-area highways, and 2) to provide useful information to the public and decision makers about the status of the freeway system's operational performance. this report is primarily intended to meet the second of these objectives. however, the software developed for this project and any of the graphics presented in this report are directly applicable to the first objective.this report is one of three products resulting from this wsdot project. in addition to this report, this project produced a set of software tools to assist in freeway data analysis, as well as a technical report describing the evaluation approach, process and analytical tool set that were developed to analyze freeway usage and performance in the central puget sound region. the freeways studied in this project are managed by wsdot using its flow system, a coordinated network of traffic monitoring, measuring, information dissemination, and control devices that operates on urban state and interstate highways in the central puget sound region. archived data user services (adus), congestion monitoring, freeway performance, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 451.1 | WSDOT BMP's for Stormwater Runoff in Confined Spaces | Koob | TRAC/WSU | 1999 | wsdot bmp's for stormwater runoff in confined spaces koob, t.l., barber, m.e. confined spaces bmps were discussed in regard to hydraulic and pollutant removalperformances. various filter media having potential for use in filtration vaults were evaluated. columntests using fifteen types of filter media (aquarium rocks, cedar bedding, charcoal, corn cobs, gardenbark, glass beads, kitty litter, iron oxide coated sand, peat moss, persolite, sand, ch zeolite, xy zeolitesand/steel wool, and wsu compost) were run with a synthetic stormwater runoff influent. effluentsamples were collected over time and analyzed for cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, nitrate, phosphate, ph,tss, and tph. results indicate that garden bark, peat moss, sand, and wsu compost are the best filtermedia for treating stormwater runoff in vaults. initially, they have acceptable hydraulic properties topass water through the filters and have good pollutant removal abilities. over time, however, evidenceof clogging can be seen. further field testing is recommended to determine actual operation andmaintenance schedules. design guidelines are included for the recommended filter media. highway runoff, pollutant removal, metals, filter media, column studies trac/wsu 1999 |
| WA-RD 486.1 | Superpave--Washington DOT's Assessment and Status | Leahy | WSDOT | 1999 | superpave--washington dot's assessment and status leahy,r. b., briggs,r. n. funded by the 1987 intermodal surface transportation efficiency act, the strategic highway research program (shrp), was a five year, $150 million research program to improve the performance of the nation's roads by addressing four key areas: concrete and structures; highway safety and maintenance; asphalt; and long-term pavement performance. nearly one-third of the $150 million was allocated for the study of asphalt, specifically to develop performance based specifications that would relate material properties of the binder and the mix to field performance. superpave (superior performing asphalt pavements) encompasses the products of the shrp asphalt research program and consists of three interrelated elements: an asphalt binder specification with supporting tests; a mix design and analysis system with supporting tests; and performance prediction models. this report is a compilation and synthesis of washington dot's (wsdot) experience with selected components and concepts of the shrp/superpave technology to include the following: performance graded (pg) binder usage and specification validation; gyratory mix design; the superpave shear test (sst); and field performance of the superpave mixes.binders typically specified by wsdot (ar400ow and pbas -2, -5, -6. -6gr) were classified in terms of five superpave performance grades: pg 58-22; 64-22; 64-28; 64-34; and 70-28. although data from 171 weather stations suggest that as many as 6 low- and 5 high-temperature grades could be specified, binder availability and regional pavement distress were used to develop guidelines for statewide pg usage. three binders were recommended for use in the western, northeastern and southeastern regions of the state as follows: pg 58-22; pg 58-34; and pg 64-28, respectively. validation of the binder specification with respect to low temperature cracking was accomplished using binder and field performance data from 28 projects. the results were very encouraging: the original shrp algorithm for binder selection correctly "predicted" field performance in 22 of 28 cases, whereas the ltpp algorithm for binder selection correctly "predicted" field performance in 26 of 28 cases.additionally, a laboratory experiment using the superpave shear test (sst) apparatus was undertaken to test the effectiveness of binder "bumping," i.e., increasing the high temperature grade because of exceptionally high traffic volume and/or slow or standing traffic. the data clearly indicate that the sst is an effective tool for discriminating between binders and that 'bumping" may be effective in reducing pavement rutting. permanent shear strain for specimens made with a pb 70-xx binder was only 25 to 33% of the shear strain for specimens made with a pg 58-xx binder.as originally configured, the superpave mix design matrix included seven traffic levels and four temperature regimes for 28 possible compaction levels. recognizing that the 28 compaction levels made for a somewhat unwieldy system, wsdot attempted to reduce the number of compaction levels by conducting a series of mix designs at each compaction level. the results of the limited experiment suggest that it might be possible to limit the number of compaction levels required for mix design. research by brown et. al. (nchrp 99) tends to confirm this as they have suggested reducing the number of compaction levels and provided more definitive guidance with respect to each level.since 1993 wsdot has place 44 projects which include some component of the superp ave technology. for 17 of these projects parallel hveem and superpave mix designs were conducted. in 13 of the 17 cases, the superpave design asphalt content was equal to or greater than the hveem design asphalt content, though the difference was usually no more than 0.2%. a fundamental difference between hveem and superpave mix design methods is the compaction device. data from these field projects indicate that the current kneading and gyratory compaction protocols (at least for 109 gyrations) yield similar air void contents.as noted previously, washington dot has placed 44 projects which involve some component of the superpave technology. for 18 of the projects a conventional hveem mix design was conducted using a pg binder (hveem-pg). the remaining 26 projects were truly superpave, i.e., the materials selection and mix design were established in accordance with the asphalt institute's sp2, superpave level 1 mix design. according to wsdot practice the following numerical indices trigger maintenance: pavement structural condition (psc) 10 mm; or international roughness index (iri) > 500 cnvkm. although relatively "young", the 44 projects are performing quite well. the average values of rutting, psc, and iri (4, 91, and 121, respectively) are all well below the "trigger" values. with respect to rutting and psc, the performance of hveem-pg and superpave projects is virtually identical. however, the ride quality of the superpave projects is a bit rougher than the hveem-pg binder projects: iri of 134 for the former and 103 for the latter. the higher values of iri measured on the superpave projects may be the result of the typically coarser aggregate gradation or differences in construction techniques.wsdot's superpave experience has not been without challenges. still, its overall experience has been very encouraging. experimentation with the revised compaction matrix, continued use of the sst, field validation of the "bumping" experiment, and long-term monitoring of field performance will provide the necessary data to allow wsdots critical assessment of superpave's technical merit and economic viability. shrp, superpave, asphalt, intermodal, transportation, transportation efficiency, highway, research, program, performance, concrete, structures, highway safety, safety, maintenance, pavement, specifications, specification, asphalt pavement, pavements, tests, design, analysis, prediction, models, washington, wsdot, data, temperature, cracking, ltpp, traffic, volume, compaction, materials, condition, international roughness index, roughness, index, ride quality, quality, aggregate, construction, its, monitoring wsdot 1999 |
| WA-RD 475.1 | Analysis of Roadside Accident Frequency and Severity and Roadside Safety Management | Lee | TRAC/UW | 1999 | analysis of roadside accident frequency and severity and roadside safety management lee, j., mannering, f.l. in washington state, priority programming for evaluating accident prevention and mitigation (safety improvement) involves analysis of roadside features, but the effects that such features. have on the frequency and severity of accidents is not well understood. this study investigated the relationships among roadway geometry, roadside characteristics, and run-off-roadway accident frequency and severity to provide a basis for identifying cost-effective ways to improve highway designs that will reduce the probability of vehicles leaving the roadway and the severity of accidents when they do.to better understand the effects of roadside features on accident frequency and severity, the researchers surveyed other states' priority programming practices. the survey showed that proactive approaches, in general, are in their infancy, and none of them adequately accounts for the effects of roadside features on accidents.to quantify the effects of roadside features on accident frequency and severity, the researchers gathered data from the northbound direction of state route 3 in washington state. for accident frequency analysis, negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial models of monthly accident frequency were estimated. the findings showed both significant differences and similarities in the factors that affect urban and rural accident frequencies. the results indicated that run-off-roadway accident frequencies can be significantly reduced by increasing lane and shoulder widths; widening medians; expanding approaches to bridges; shielding, relocating, and removing roadside hazardous objects; and flattening side slopes and medians. the statistical analysis also provided an estimate of the magnitude of the influence of these factors.the effects of roadside features on run-off-roadway accident severity were studied with a nested logit model. roadside features that were found to significantly affect the severity of run-off-roadway accidents included bridges, cut-type slopes, ditches, culverts, fences, tree groups, sign supports, utility poles, isolated trees, and guardrails. as was the case for the frequency analysis, elasticity estimates allowed quantification of the effects of roadside features on accident severity. accident analysis, roadside features, accident frequency, accident severity, highway safety, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 468.1 | Costs and Benefits Associated with the WSDOT CTR Program | Lovrich | TRAC/WSU | 1999 | costs and benefits associated with the wsdot ctr program lovrich,n., nice,d., weber,e. washington has sought to reduce commute trips to the workplace in 9 of the state's most populous counties. such a reduction is sought to ameliorate congestion on the roadway, improve air quality, conserve fossil fuels, and promote environmental quality. legislation has been in place since 1991 requiring both private and public employers of 100+ employees in those 9 counties to formulate plans for the implementation of varied incentives to encourage alternatives to single occupancy vehicle (sov) travel. this legislation requires the wsdot to monitor (by means of a biennial employee survey) progress toward a quite ambitious goal of a 35% reduction in sov travel by 2005. this goal remains quite far from being met; the most recent survey-based estimate is that a 7% reduction has been achieved thus far. this study entails the use of a complex survey of employees in public and private sector organizations participating in this "commute trip reduction" (crt) program. the questionnaire developed for this study is designed to gathered information on the nature of "switchers" - that is, those employees who are indeed making use of alternatives to sov travel to the workplace. what is their profile (if any)? what factors - internal to their beliefs and values and external in their context for making decisions about commute trip modes of travel - distinguish switchers from sov commuters? what level of support obtains for a market approach to sov reduction by attaching a price to the choice of sov workplace commuting? the answers observed to these questions, and sharing the survey findings and detailed comments of employees for their own organizations with local etcs, are the principal deliverables associated with this project. this final report sets forth the results of the employee survey, set against a fairly thorough reading of the research literature in this area. over 900 employees in 16 diverse (public and private, large and small, western, central, and eastern region) organizations participating in the program returned completed surveys. the majority of these surveys were accompanied by length comments, signifying that the survey did indeed touch the deeper roots of employee decision-making in this area of individual choice. preliminary analysis revealed that the range of variation in organizations, in the several attitudinal scales and indices employed, and in the extent of non-sov commuting reported would permit a fruitful analysis on the questions posed above. of 902 respondents, 372 indicate that they are "switchers" to alternatives to sov commuting. a profile of the switcher does emerge from this study based on both bivariate and multivariate (multiple regression and discriminant analysis) analyses. switchers tend to value ctr incentives, come from organizations where the ctr program is strongly supported, engage in other environment-protective activities, perceive the presence of reasonably convenient alternatives to sov travel, and be less concerned with the "convenience and flexibility" benefits of sov commuting than sov commuters. while there is clearly not a majority sentiment favoring sov pricing, there is indeed evidence that a significant minority of employees are willing to experiment with some type of market-oriented pollution/congestion costing policy directed to the urban transportation gridlock phenomenon. commute trip reduction, ctr, transportation demand management, tdm, single occupancy vehicle, sov, high occupancy vehicle lanes, hov, government-imposed markets, vanpools, carpools, public transportation, land use planning, congestion pricing, environmental attitudes, environmental beliefs, environmental-regarding behaviors trac/wsu 1999 |
| WA-RD 460.2 | Technology and Safety on Urban Roadways: The Role of ITS for WSDOT | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 1999 | technology and safety on urban roadways: the role of its for wsdot mccormack, e.d., legg, b. this report examines the relationship between intelligent transportation systems (its) and safety from an urban perspective.existing urban its systems are either system-level or site-level applications. system-level its, such as freeway management systems or traffic signal networks, address safety concerns only indirectly. these systems are designed to improve traffic flows and thus indirectly reduce collisions caused by congestion. other system-level its used to increase the efficiency of transit, commercial vehicle, and emergency service operations also benefit safety indirectly. site-level its applications, such as railroad/highway crossing warnings or work zone systems, are installed to directly address safety concerns. however, these applications are limited to specific locations identified as hazardous.most urban crashes in washington involve multiple vehicle collisions caused by driver error at locations that have not been identified as hazardous. future its systems known collision avoidance systems (cas) hold considerable promise for urban roadway safety because these in-vehicle devices will inform drivers of judgment errors and can do so at many locations along an urban roadway system.a handful of its applications are so well tested that they can be aggressively pursued by wsdot as tools to reduce urban crashes. most of these applications include the various systems, such a ramp meters and incident detection, used for freeway management. other its safety applications, while promising, still need to be fully documented and are best used as demonstration applications. most of these applications involve sensor technology used to warn drivers about road and roadside hazards at specific sites. the greatest safety benefit from its may come from in-vehicle collision warning systems. these applications should evolve from a number of large federal research projects and private industry initiatives that are under way. given their potential impact on safety, wsdot should monitor applications of these projects. roadway safety, its, urban, washington state, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 460.1 | The Contribution of ITS to Rural Safety: A Look at Crashes in Washington State | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 1999 | the contribution of its to rural safety: a look at crashes in washington state mccormack,e. d., legg,b. increasingly, transportation professionals are using technology, known as intelligent transportation systems (its), to address transportation problems. this paper investigates the potential applications of its to safety issues on rural roadways in washington. the most frequent type of rural crashes and their casual factors are identified from the state's collision report form. the ability of its applications to reduce these types of crashes is then discussed.in washington state, the factors that contribute most to rural crashes is human behavior. some its applications, such as speed warning systems, may be good solutions at known hazardous locations. however, most human behavioral issues, such as inattention or poor driver judgment, cannot be directly addressed by its application that are currently available.in washington, crashes due to some aspect of the roadside environment involved about one third of the vehicles. its offer a viable alternative to traditional engineering solutions for a number of these types of crashes by informing drivers about roadside hazards. its weather systems and traveler information systems in general, can indirectly improve rural safety by providing information about travel and roadway conditions. rural intersections, work zones, and railroad crossings are other potentially hazardous areas where its may be useful.the final factor that contributes to a small percentage of rural crashes is the vehicle and- its applications may help indirectly by making trucks more compliant with safety laws and by improving the efficiency of safety inspections.its emergency notification systems also offer some safety benefits by mitigating some of the consequences of rural crashes.for the wsdot, a handful of its safety applications have been well enough tested that they can be aggressively used as tools to reduce rural crashes. however, many more its safety applications, although promising, still need to be fully documented and would be best applied in this state as a demonstration of future potential. most of these applications would warn drivers about road and roadside hazards. the greatest benefit from its for rural safety may come from future applications that will address rural crashes caused by human behavior. these applications will evolve from a number of the large federal research projects that are under way and are still a number of years away from providing benefits on a wide scale. given their potential impact on rural safety, wsdot should monitor these projects closely. rural accidents, rural travel, rural safety, its, washington state, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 473.2 | Evaluation Tools for HOV Lane Performance Monitoring | Nee | TRAC/UW | 1999 | evaluation tools for hov lane performance monitoring nee,j., ishimaru,j. m., hallenbeck,m. e. this report describes the evaluation approach and the process for acquiring data, performing analysis, and presenting output with a new analytical tool set for measuring hov facility usage and performance in the central puget sound region. specifically, the tool set includes the programs cdr (compact disc data retrieval), cdr auto, cdr analyst, and associated utilities designed to produce graphical output. a description of the available analysis tools is provided.because data collection and analysis procedures for many of the existing measures, such as average car occupancy (aco), speed, and travel time (using baseline and hovtt methods), as well as hov violations and a public opinion survey, were documented extensively in the previous hov evaluation and monitoring reports, they are not covered in this report. for related information, please refer to the previous documents, as well as to the project's web site at . for performance results of the hov facility, please refer to the annual hov lane performance monitoring report. high occupancy vehicle, hov, throughput, speed, reliability, travel time trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 470.1 | Demand Forecasting for Rural Transit | Painter | TRAC/WSU | 1999 | demand forecasting for rural transit painter, k.m., casavant, k.l. demand forecasting for rural transit is a tool that will aid rural planners and analysts in the allocation of scarce resources for this typically underserved population. three washington models are based on the characteristics of usage for several regional transportation systems currently in place in nonmetropolitan areas in washington state. the first model, total transit demand-all (ttd-all) uses average values for ridership by population subgroup from four regional systems in washington to predict ridership for other areas. a second model, total transit demand-fare (ttd-fare) uses the same approach as the first but excludes the fare- free regional transportation system which has markedly different characteristics from the systems with fares. a third, more in-depth model, disaggregated transit demand (dtd), was developed using a separate equation for each population subgroup. ridership behavior estimates were obtained from random sample telephone surveys in two of the regions used in this study. model results show significant regional variation in ridership by population subgroup. rural transit, demand forecasting, transit planning, public transit trac/wsu 1999 |
| WA-RD 462.6 | SWIFT - Evaluation Summary | Wetherby | TRAC/UW | 1999 | swift - evaluation summary wetherby, b., perez, w. the swift (seattle wide-area for travelers) project was a field operational test of a wide area its communications system using a flexible fm sub-carrier high speed data system (hsds). the test was conducted in a partnership with wsdot, king county metro transit, delco electronics, inc., ibm, seiko communications systems, metro traffic control and the federal highway administration. three devices were used, by the public, to receive the traveler a delco car radio (capable of providing vector navigation in addition to personal paging and the messages); a seiko wrist watch pager; and a portable computer (capable of providing graphic displays of traffic advisories and bus positions). after the 15-month test, interviews with the 600 seattle commuters/participants were conducted to assess user acceptance. a communications study evaluated the adequacy of the hsds system to disseminate traveler information. architecture study assessed the effectiveness of the various components to carry out swift operations. institutional issues study documented the history of the project and assessed the institutional issues confronted. a deployment cost study investigated the cost of deployment of a swift system and assessment of potential profitability. the first five reports in this series detail individual aspects of the project. acceptance, assessment, bus, computer, control, cost, counties, data, deployment, effectiveness, evaluation, highway, institutional, interviews, issues, its, miscellaneous library, paging, portable computer, project, public, seattle, speed, study, swift, system, systems, traffic, traffic advisories, traffic control, transit, traveler information, wsdot trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 472.1 | Impacts of Ferry Terminal on Juvenile Salmon Migrating Along Puget Sound Shorelines: Phase I--Synthesis of State of Knowledge | Simenstad | TRAC/UW | 1999 | impacts of ferry terminal on juvenile salmon migrating along puget sound shorelines: phase i--synthesis of state of knowledge simenstad, c.a., nightingale, b., thom, r.m., shreffler, d.k. this project is assessing whether ferry terminals affect juvenile salmon migrating along estuarine and nearshore marine environments and, if so, how design of and modifications to both ferry terminals and operations can mitigate those impacts. this project has three phases. this report summarizes results from phase i (status of knowledge, initial terminal surveys) and implications for phase ii and iii research.we addressed three issues about overwater structures impacts on juvenile salmon: (1) alteration in migratory behavior, (2) reduction in prey production and availability, and (3) increased predation. an assessment of over 60 direct sources of information found evidence that juvenile salmon react to shadows and other artifacts in the shoreline environment created by shoreline structures. while changes in light have been shown to affect salmon migration behavior and thus potentially place them at increased mortality risk, we found no quantitative information on the significance of these behavioral responses to juvenile salmon survival. juvenile salmon also encounter limited prey resources under shoreline structures when important habitats such as eelgrass (zostera marina) are disturbed. modifications to light, temperature, salinity, nutrient levels, and wave action beneath an overwater structure influence the rate of photosynthesis, plant distribution, and survival of specific plant species that directly or indirectly support prey resource composition and production. despite considerable speculation about increased predation around docks, quantitative evidence for significant increases in predation on salmon associated with docks is lacking.we also conducted short-term underwater diving and video surveys at five ferry terminals (clinton, kingston, port townsend, seattle, vashon) to gather preliminary information on the relationships among variations in over-water structures, fish occurrence and relative abundance, light conditions, biological communities, and potential predators. juvenile salmon were observed migrating under several structures.existing information indicates that the effects of shoreline structures on migrating juvenile salmon may vary, depending on the design and orientation of the shoreline structure, extent of alteration of the underwater light field, and presence of artificial light. however, our understanding of the significance of short-term delays in the salmons' migration and cumulative or synergistic effects is insufficient to provide the quantitative relationships that would be necessary as the basis for developing retrofitting or design modifications. field studies are recommended. salmon migration, shoreline structure, fish habitat impacts, underwater light, predation, research trac/uw 1999 |
| WA-RD 480.1 | Impacts of Ferry Terminals on Juvenile Salmon Migrating Along Puget Sound Shorelines: Phase II--Field Studies at Port Townsend Ferry Terminal | Shreffler | Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory | 1999 | impacts of ferry terminals on juvenile salmon migrating along puget sound shorelines: phase ii--field studies at port townsend ferry terminal shreffler,d. k., moursund,r. a. the university of washington (uw) and battelle marine sciences laboratorv (msl) are jointly conducting a multiyear, three-phased research program to determine whether ferry terminals affect migrating juvenile salmon, and if so, how future design of ferry terminals and modifications to both terminals and operations can mitigate those impacts. phase i resulted in a report synthesizing the technical knowledge regarding the potential effects of shoreline structures on migrating juvenile salmon. this report summarizes our results from phase ii pilot field studies at the port townsend ferry terminal in spring 1999 and provides recommendations for proposed onsite tests of the effects of a range of different wsdot ferry terminals and vessel activity patterns in phase iii (spring-winter 2000). the overall goal of phase ii was to perform pilot field experiments with releases of hatchery chum and chinook fry to test whether the port townsend terminal stops or delays the natural migration of juvenile salmon. monitoring methods included diving surveys, beach seining surveys, single-beam and split-bearn hydroacoustics, remote underwater video, and in situ light sensors.river otters directly and indirectly resulted in mortalities to approximately 29,000 of the 30,000 chinook fry and 39,700 of the 40,000 chum frv that we were holding in net pens for experiments. we released the remaining fish 30 in from the southern edge of the port townsend ferry terminal on june 11, 1999. on the basis of this one-time experiment, we found no evidence that the port townsend ferry terminal was a barrier to the migration of the 1000 chinook that we released. we havc no data or observations for the 300 chum fry after their release. the released chinook fry stayed in a school and did not disperse upon encountering the port townsend ferry terminal. the chinook fry did not divert their migratory route into deeper water or around the offshore perimeter of the terminal. surface observations, underwater video, and the single-beam and split-beam hydroacoustics confirmed that the chinook migrated from the release point directly to the shadow line underneath the terminal. the chinook fry stopped at the shadow line and then displayed a consistent behavior of swimming underneath the terminal. the chinook fry stopped at the shadow line and then displayed a consistent behavior of swimming from the darkness of the shadow line and near the bottom into the light to feed at the surface. as the sunset and the shadow line progressed further underneath the terminal, the chinook school appeared to follow the shadow line under the terminal and, we assume, out the other side. however, we caution that it is neither prudent nor valid to conclude that ferry terminals either do or do not have an effect on juvenile salmon migration, on the basis of these preliminary findings. the loss of the majority of our fish for experiments, the harddrive crash on the navigation computer, and the malfunctioning of some of the singlebeam transducers compromised this study. the fundamental question of whether ferry terminals are a "barrier ' to juvenile salmon migration remains unanswered. salmon migration, over-water structure, hydroacoustics, underwater video, light sensors, chum salmon, chinook salmon, research battelle marine sciences laboratory 1999 |
| WA-RD 457.1 | Juvenile and Resident Adult Salmonid Movement and Passage Through Culverts | Kahler | TRAC/UW | 1998 | juvenile and resident adult salmonid movement and passage through culverts kahler, t.h., quinn, t.p. an outcome of the washington state department of transportation's juvenile fish passage workshop on september 24, 1997, was agreement that a literature review was necessary to determine the state of knowledge about juvenile salmonid movement and passage through culverts at road crossings. this report summarizes the findings of the literature review. the conclusion of this literature review is that stream dwelling salmonids are often highly mobile. upstream movement was observed in nearly all studies that were designed to detect it, and in all species, age classes, and seasons. there are variations in the movement patterns of fish populations both between and within river systems. the role of turbulence in affecting the ability of fish to pass through culverts is poorly understood and deserves further investigation. countersunk culverts have proved to be better for fish passage than culverts with or without other modifications for fish passage. juvenile salmonid, resident salmonid, fish movement, spawning migration, swimming ability, fishway, fish passage, countersunk culvert, culvert hydraulics, baffled culvert, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 371.3 | An Evaluation of Soil Nailing Analysis Packages-Vol III | Banerjee | TRAC/UW | 1998 | an evaluation of soil nailing analysis packages-vol iii banerjee, s., finney, a., wentworth, t., bahiradhan, m. comparative evaluations of seven soil nail wall design computer programs are described and analyzed. the performance evaluations of the available programs (snail, nail-solver, stars, nailm, goldnail, talren, and colduim) was accomplished by conducting a number of example analyses. ten hypothetical cases and five case studies used in the analyses represented common design scenarios. also examined were the magnitude and distribution of loads on the nails under normal working conditions. this was accomplished by observing the response of soil nails for a number of walls instrumented with strain gages. from this a general approach for estimating nail loads from strain history data was developed. computer program, design, research, soil nailing, walls, working loads trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 371.2 | Evaluation of Design Methodologies for Soil-Nailed Walls--Volume 2: Distribution of Axial Forces in Soil Nails Based on Interpretation of Measured Strains | Banerjee | TRAC/UW | 1998 | evaluation of design methodologies for soil-nailed walls--volume 2: distribution of axial forces in soil nails based on interpretation of measured strains banerjee, s., finney, a., wentworth, t., bahiradhan, m. comparative evaluations of seven soil nail wall design computer programs are described and analyzed. the performance evaluations of the available programs (snail, nail-solver, stars, nailm, goldnail, talren, and colduim) was accomplished by conducting a number of example analyses. ten hypothetical cases and five case studies used in the analyses represented common design scenarios. also examined were the magnitude and distribution of loads on the nails under normal working conditions. this was accomplished by observing the response of soil nails for a number of walls instrumented with strain gages. from this a general approach for estimating nail loads from strain history data was developed. computer program, design, research, soil nailing, walls, working loads trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 371.1 | Evaluation of Design Methodologies for Soil-Nailed Walls--Volume I | Banerjee | TRAC/UW | 1998 | evaluation of design methodologies for soil-nailed walls--volume i banerjee, s., finney, a., wentworth, t., bahiradhan, m. comparative evaluations of seven soil nail wall design computer programs are described and analyzed. the performance evaluations of the available programs (snail, nail-solver, stars, nailm, goldnail, talren, and colduim) was accomplished by conducting a number of example analyses. ten hypothetical cases and five case studies used in the analyses represented common design scenarios. also examined were the magnitude and distribution of loads on the nails under normal working conditions. this was accomplished by observing the response of soil nails for a number of walls instrumented with strain gages. from this a general approach for estimating nail loads from strain history data was developed. soil nailing, walls, computer program, design, working loads, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 459.2 | Review of MicroBENCOST for WSDOT Mobility | Barnes | TRAC/UW | 1998 | review of microbencost for wsdot mobility barnes,j. the microbencost software was developed by the texas transportation institute (tti) to calculate user benefits and costs for several types of highway improvement analysis. the purpose of this report was to review the capabilities and the drawbacks of this software and to assess the feasibility of its use for benefit/cost (b/c) analysis in the washington state department of transportation mobility division (wsdot mobility). this review shows that for the most part, the overall procedures of microbencost are comparable to many employed by wsdot mobility (i.e., similar components are included in benefit and cost calculations, and similar project types can be analyzed). however, the output of the program depends on many default values that differ from wsdot mobility's and are designed not to be overwritten. additionally, the program utilizes some calculations that are much more complex and require more detailed data than those currently used by wsdot mobility. finally, although the general procedures utilized by the software are accepted and widely used throughout industry, they have inherent drawbacks that conflict with the analysis of alternative transportation solutions. adoption of microbencost would not advance wsdot mobility toward the goal of including more alternative transportation solutions in the process.adoption of microbencost is certainly feasible but would require substantial work by someone who understands both the coding of the program and the sensitivity of its output to any revisions, as well as the wsdot benefit-cost procedures. the primary advantage of utilizing microbencost would be that once the default values and procedures had been established, the program could allow better standardization and automation of some benefit/cost calculation methods. however, the change would require a tradeoff decision regarding whether the review, consensus-building, and refinement of both the software and existing mobility procedures would be justified by some degree of increased standardization. the end result would be a more elaborate way to do a portion of the same benefit/cost calculations, with no added capability for more comprehensive evaluation or for analysis of alternative transportation solutions. transportation benefit, costs analysis, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 459.1 | Peak Spreading Analysis: Review of Relevant Issues and Synthesis of Current Practice: Phase I | Barnes | TRAC/UW | 1998 | peak spreading analysis: review of relevant issues and synthesis of current practice: phase i barnes,j. peak spreading is relevant in several types of analyses, particularly analysis for capital construction investments, air quality analysis for conformity requirements, and analysis for transportation demand management investments. this review was conducted in response to issues raised at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) regarding the benefit/cost assumptions and calculations that could or should be made regarding the phenomenon of peak spreading. this report identifies the transportation planning issues associated with peak spreading, reviews efforts that have been made to account for it in analysis, and makes recommendations specific to the priorities of the state of washington.four categories of analysis approaches were reviewed: (1) a post-processing technique in which hourly factors are applied to the daily traffic volumes' output by a forecasting model;.(2) peak spreading adjustments that were made to the four-step modeling process; (3) attempts to develop more sophisticated stand-alone peak spreading models, which could then be used as sub-models within the more traditional forecasting process; and (4) stand-alone models that were completely independent of the four-step forecasting process.because consistent statewide forecasting methods have not yet been implemented, peak spreading analysis methods developed for wsdot in the short term should be independent of four-step forecasting models. however, the establishment of a common travel demand forecasting framework throughout the state would definitely make longer-term modeling approaches more feasible. in the short- to mid-term, directional historical traffic data that have been collected by wsdot should be compiled for key freeway locations. these historical traffic profiles could be used to formulate simple models on the basis of future estimated growth rates to predict future traffic conditions. in the longer term, a departure time element should be included in the ongoing research at the university of washington, the goal of which is to include a more robust variety of traveler choices in travel demand forecasting. peak spreading, transportation planning, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 456.1 | HOV Evaluation and Monitoring: Phase IV | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1998 | hov evaluation and monitoring: phase iv brown, w.w., jacobson, e.l. this report presents and summarizes the baseline data collected in falfillment of the requirements for the washington state department of transportation grant "hov lane evaluation and monitoring." this report provides the information. necessary to analyze hov lane performance and elopment. data collection results and analysis are presented, followed by conclusions and recommendations.the data contained herein were collected during phase i, phase ii, phase iii, and phase iv of the high occupancy vehicle lane (hov) monitoring project (july 1992-june 1997). the data collection methodology is described in the final report, hov monitoring and evaluation tool". included in this report are the following primary and secondary measures of hov lane performance: (1) average vehicl occupancy data, (2) travel time data, (3) public opinion survey results, (4) transit ridership data, (5) enforcement, compliance, and adjudication data, and (6) accident data. data collection issues and their implications for data availability are discussed.it is important to note that this report does not evaluate the hov lane system in the puget sound region. rather, it is a compilation of the data necessary to conduct a meaningful evaluation. although an analysis of public opinion, transit ridership, enforcement and accident data is provided, the report's primary purpose is to simply present the data and discuss issues associated with its use,-not to provide an extensive analysis. high occupancy vehicle, hov, hov lane evaluation, traffice observation, hero, freeway travel times, data trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 455.1 | Modeling of Rigid pavements: Joint Shear Transfer Mechanisms and Finite Element Solution Strategies | Davids | TRAC/UW | 1998 | modeling of rigid pavements: joint shear transfer mechanisms and finite element solution strategies davids, w.g., turkiyyah, g.m., mahoney, j.p. this report documents the moldeling strategy and associated verification which permits analysis of multiple pcc plain jointed slabs. several subbase/soil layers below the slabs and separation of the slab and base layer are considered. load effects include those associated with both multiple tire and linear temperature gradients. a technique for modeling aggregate interlock shear transfer across pcc pavement joints is developed and verified. the overall development is contained in the computer program everfe. the computer program uses a graphical user interface which aids its use. aggregate, aggregate interlock, analysis, base, computer, computer program, developed, development, everfe, finite element, finite elements, its, joints, joints load transfer, modeling, pavement, pavements, pcc, permits, program, rigid pavement, temperature, tire trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 454.1 | Evaluation Of The Full Weekend Closure Strategy For Highway Reconstruction Projects: I-405 Tukwila To Factoria | Dunston | TTRAC/UW | 1998 | evaluation of the full weekend closure strategy for highway reconstruction projects: i-405 tukwila to factoria dunston,p. s., mannering,f. l. in august 1997, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) adopted a strategy of closing a single direction of freeway over an entire weekend for constructing the overlay on a 5.5-mile (8.85-km) section of 1-405. work was performed over two weekends. data were collected from field measurements, records, and surveys to assess construction quality, construction costs, and user impacts. results were compared to historical data from wsdot and from an nchrp synthesis study.overlay surface smoothness, density, and gradation quality were good, and no difference in consistency was found between night and day paving. public response from motorists was decidedly positive, while business perceptions were mixed. traffic simulations indicated that the total closure was preferable to single lane closures over multiple nights. a decision checklist was developed for use in making the closure strategy decision. asphalt overlays, highway reconstruction, highway rehabilitation, weekend closures, weekend paving, user impacts, quality, research ttrac/uw 1998 |
| Initial Design Document for the Traffic Database for the Puget Sound Region | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1998 | initial design document for the traffic database for the puget sound region hallenbeck, m. e. a number of puget sound regional council analytical tasks require traffic data to describe the use and performance of regional roadways. this type of data is also often requested from the psrc by private companies and member agencies. this report documents the design of a central database whose objective is to provide the psrc (and others) with easy access to the traffic data already collected in the metropolitan region. electronic copies of collected traffic statistics will be obtained from member jurisdictions, reformatted, and geocoded within psrc's geographic information system (gis). these data will then be available to psrc staff and member agencies as needed. this report presents an overview of the database, a description of its structure, a description of design decisions made by psrc staff, the data processing tasks required by the database software, and a description of necessary future actions. freeway performance, data collection, data analysis, database, psrc, puget sound regional council trac/uw 1998 | |
| Choosing the Route to Traveler Information Systems Deployment | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW & ITS America | 1998 | choosing the route to traveler information systems deployment hallenbeck, m.e., trac staff the balance of public and private sector roles and responsibilities has been a principal topic of debate within the atis committe of the intelligent transportation society of america (its america) for many years. in february 1994, the atis committee sponsored its first major effort in this area, a workshop on service delivery models for atis. focusing on the appropriate roles for the public and private sectors, participants developed service delivery models for exchanging information between data sources and atis devices. the models addressed not only technical issues but institutional and liability issues as well. the process revealed a solid consensus on the basic functions and information flows involved in collecting, fusing, and distributing traveler information. participants had different views of the proper roles for the private and public sectors, but there was a fair amount of agreement on key issues, such as the need for a publicly provided minimum level of service.in l995 and l996, as the national its architecture took shape, the concept of information service providers (isp) as fusers and disseminators of traveler information emerged. the isp concept reflected the better understanding we were gaining about the complexity of providing timely, accurate,and useful information to travelers. by 1997, it became clear that public officials who were leading efforts to interact with the private sector to provide atis services in their region or state were doing so without much assistance, save the personal contact they may have had with officials from other areas of the country who were grappling with the same issues. what was missing was a collected body of information that would present the entire set of issues that needs to be considered when agencies plan their role in atis. this document is meant to serve as that body of information. advanced traveler information systems, atis, business plan, urban transportation, trac/uw & its america 1998 | |
| WA-RD 439.1 | Planting for Sustainable Roadsides: Empirical and Experimental Studies and Recommendations for Western Washington | Hamilton | TRAC/UW | 1998 | planting for sustainable roadsides: empirical and experimental studies and recommendations for western washington hamilton, c.w., bell, r., giblin, d., wolf, k., ewing, k. over a year and a half, research was conducted to assess the performance of selected plant materials on western washington highway roadsides, to experimentally evaluate different soil covers for their effects on plant performance and weed control, to experimentally evaluate different site preparation techniques for their effects on plant performance, and to consider aesthetic perception as it might influence roadside landscape design. the ultimate goal is a highway roadside landscape that serves functional, ecological, and aesthetic purposes in a cost-effective manner sustainable over the long term. evaluations of 12 roadside landscape sites and synthesis of performance data concerning 22 woody species--14 native and eight exotic--suggest that drought stress is the primary cause of poor plant performance, exacerbated by nutrient-poor, fast-draining sandy loam soils. all species, even those that perform well under such conditions, benefit from compost application at the time of planting. species that are naturally adapted to water stress should be emphasized, including several natives that heretofore have been seldom utilized. erosion-control mixes of aggressive exotic grasses often out compete woody plants, to the long-term detriment of slope stability; native buncli grasses and low shrubs are recommended instead. invaders such as himalayan blackberry are best controlled by herbicides, well timed mowing, and shading out by desirable native trees. experiments suggest that soil covers of clover or weed mats suppress weeds more successfully than do bark mulch or nutramulch plus residual herbicide. cover, however, out competed woody species for water, resulting in 95 percent mortality, so weed mats are clearly recommended where economically feasible. park-like landscapes of well-spaced large trees and low understory densities are most positively perceived by observers. such landscapes, however, may not be as functionally or ecologically appropriate, nor as cost effective, as "messier" landscapes. therefore, designers of highway roadside landscapes are challenged to devise solutions that best meet local criteria for success. roadside vegetation, washington native plants, site preparation, soil cover, roadside landscape perception, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 452.2 | Geosynthetic Reinforced Wall Analysis Phase II: Use of In-Soil Geosynthetic Behavior to Predict Deformantions--Volume 2: Implementation--Computer Codes and Files | Holtz | TRAC/UW | 1998 | geosynthetic reinforced wall analysis phase ii: use of in-soil geosynthetic behavior to predict deformantions--volume 2: implementation--computer codes and files holtz, r.d., lee, w.f. as part of he reconstruction of i-90 in seattle, washington, wsdot designed and supervised the construction of a geosynthetic reinforced soil (grs) retaining wall located on rainier ave, seattle. the rainier ave wall had a maximum height of 12.6 m and supported a nearly 6-m-high surcharge rill. at the time it was constructed, it was the highest grs wall in the world. the wall was extensively instrumented and monitored during and after construction to evaluate its face deflections and the strain levels occurring in it. to define the actual stress distribution occurring in the rainier ave wall, a two-phase research project was conducted by the university of washington. phase i included an extensive laboratory test program that used a newly developed plan strain device. numerical analysis and modeling of the results of the instrumentation and laboratory tests constituted phase ii. the major tasks of the phase ii project were to (1) analyze the test results of the unit cell device (ucd), a plane strain grs element testing device developed in phase i; (2) develop numerical models of the rainier ave wall suing both material properties and test results of the ucd; and (3) using the rests of tasks 1 and 2, develop a methodology for analyzing the working stress-strain distribution in the grs retaining structures. geosynthetic reinforced soil, retaining wall trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 452.1 | Geosynthectic Reinforced Wall Analysis Phase II: Use of In-Soil Geosynthetic Behavior to Predict Deformantions--Volume 2: Implementation--Computer Codes and Files | Holtz | TRAC/UW | 1998 | geosynthectic reinforced wall analysis phase ii: use of in-soil geosynthetic behavior to predict deformantions--volume 2: implementation--computer codes and files holtz,r. d., lee,w. f. as part of the reconstruction of interstate 90 in seattle, washington, wsdot designed and supervised the construction of a geosynthetic reinforced soil (grs) retaining wall located on rainier avenue, seattle. the rainier avenue wall had a maximum height of 12.6 m and supported a nearly 6-m-high surcharge fill. at the time it was constructed, it was the highest grs wall in the world. the wall was extensively instrumented and monitored during and after construction to.evaluate its face deflections and the strain levels occurring in it.to define the actual stress distribution occurring in the rainier avenue wall, a two-phase research project was conducted by the university of washington. phase i included an extensive laboratory test program that used a newly developed plane strain device. numerical analysis and modeling of the results of the instrumentation and laboratory tests constituted phase h.the major tasks of the phase ii project were to (1) analyze the test result of the unit cell device (ucd), a plane strain grs element testing device developed in phase 1; (2) develop numerical models of the rainier avenue wall using both material properties and test results of the ucd; and (3) using the results of tasks i and 2, develop a methodology for analyzing the working stress-strain distribution in the grs retaining structures.the phase ii project was conducted from september 1995 to december 1997. during this period, two research programs were conducted simultaneously. one program concentrated on analyzing the ucd test results, and the other on developing the numerical models of the rainier avenue wall. significant results were obtained from both research programs. products of the phase ii research include an elasticity model that is capable of analyzing grs behavior, composite properties of grs elements, and four numerical models of the rainier avenue wall. irnproved understanding of the working stress-strain distribution inside grs retaining structures was also obtained with these products. geosynthetic reinforced soil, retaining walls, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 430.1 | Effects of Liquefaction on Pile Foundations | Horne | TRAC/UW | 1998 | effects of liquefaction on pile foundations horne,j. c., kramer,s. l. liquefaction of soils has caused considerable damage to pile-supported structures such as bridges and buildings in earthquakes. this project attempted to identify the most important impacts of liquefaction on pile foundations and to develop and verify new tools that allow those effects on pile foundation performance to be evaluateda literature review indicated that the majority of damage to pile foundations has been caused by lateral movement of liquefied soil. evaluation of the effects of lateral spreading on pile foundations requires that the soil displacements caused by lateral spreading be predicted and that the response of a pile foundation to those lateral displacements be predicted. in answer to the shortcomings of currently available estimation procedures, this project developed computational models for predicting lateral spreading deformations and pile-soil interaction. to validate the models against closed-form elastic solutions, they were compared with other computer programs that have some of the capabilites of the models and with field performance from available case histories.free-field ground surface displacements produced by lateral spreading vary widely, but they are influenced most strongly by the initial and residual shear strength of the liquefiable soil, the gradation of the liquefiable soil, the initial state of shear stress within the deposit, the earthquake magnitude, and the distance from the site to the fault rupture zone. pile reponse to lateral spreading is strongly dependent on surface slope, soil strength, and pile flexural stiffness, but it is relatively independent of groundwater table depth, pile diameter, pile length, and p-y curve stiffness.both models developed in this study account for nonlinear, inelastic soil behavior and consider the development of excess porewater pressure and its effects on soil stiffness and strength. the pile-soil interaction model accounts for frequency-dependent radiation damping behavior in the time domain and allows computation of dynamic pile displacements, bending moments, shear forces, and soil reactions. by allowing computation of free-field displacements both at and below the ground surface and by considering the effects of those motions on the pile throughout the earthquake shaking, the proposed model offers a practical, rational tool for evaluating lateral spreading effects on pile foundations. liquefaction, lateral spreading, piles, deep foundation, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 462.3 | SWIFT - Deployment Cost Study | Jensen | TRAC/UW | 1998 | swift - deployment cost study jensen, m. the seattle wide-area information for travelers (swift) project was a highly successful intelligent transportation system (its) field operational test (fot) that was conducted over a four-year period from 1993 to 1997. the purpose of the project was to test the efficacy of a high speed data system (hsds), or fm sub-carrier, to disseminate incident, bus and speedlcongestion information via three different end-user devices: pager watch, portable computer and in-vehicle navigation device. six hundred ninety (690) commuters, many with route- or mode-choice options, participated in the fot and provided user-acceptance evaluations. other evaluation components examined the system architecture, communications coverage, institutional issues, and consumer acceptance. the primary purpose of the swift deployment cost study was to provide an independent life cycle cost estimate (lcce) of an operational and fully deployed swift system. moreover, it is intended to provide both the swift participants and the fhwa with a measure of the commercial viability of "swift-like" systems nationwide. table es- 1 shows the organizations that were included in the swift deployment cost study lcce and commercial viability analysis.table es-1. deployed swift participants (costirevenue participants).industry government/institutionaiseiko communications systems, inc. (scs) king countymetro networks university of washingtonetak, inc.ibm (fot development only)delco electronics (fot development only)the methodology for the swlft deployment cost study lcce relied on standard proven costestimation and data collection and analysis techniques to provide cost estimates for each swiftparticipant shown above across the following three life-cycle phases:1) fot development (costs of current swift test)king county metro transituniversity of washington (uw)2) commercial development (additional development and procurement costs for fullydeploying an operational swift system (follows the completion of the swift test)3) annual commercial operations (annual operations costs for a fully deployed swiftsystem)a summary of the resulting life cycle cost estimate (lcce) for the deployed swift system ispresented in table es-2. here, the fot development phase (based on swift test actuals) wasestimated to cost $6.4 million, the commercial development phase was estimated to cost $1.5million, and the annual commercial operations costs were estimated to be $0.8 million.-- -swift deployment cost study i acceptance, analysis, annual, bus, computer, consumer, cost, costs, counties, data, data collection, deployment, development, evaluation, incident, institutional, intelligent transportation system, issues, its, methodology, mode choice, networks, portable computer, project, seattle, speed, swift, system, systems, transportation, washington trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 450.1 | Ground Motions Due to Large Magnitude Subduction Zone Earthquakes | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1998 | ground motions due to large magnitude subduction zone earthquakes kramer,s. l., silva,w. j., baska,d. a. the notion that the cascadia, subduction zone (csz) has produced very large earthquakes in the past, and that it can be expected to produce very large earthquakes again, is now widely accepted in the seismological and engineering communities. because no records of ground shaking or damage exist for historical csz earthquakes, it is difficult to evaluate their potential effects on bridges, buildings, embankments, and other structures. however, recent advances in engineering seismology now allow the numerical simulation of earthquakes, including fault rupture, the propagation of seismic waves from the fault to the site of interest, and amplification of the resulting rock motions by shallow soil and rock layers beneath the site.rock outcrop motions were simulated for three csz earthquake scenarios: magnitude 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 earthquakes. the magnitude.8.0 earthquake was assumed to result from rupture of the portion of the csz adjacent to the northern part of the state; the larger magnitude earthquakes were associated with rupture on a portion of the csz extending along the entire length of the state. thirty different simulations of each earthquake scenario were analyzed. for each, rock outcrop motions were computed at each of 13 locations within washington state. site response analyses were then performed for 15 soil profiles at the 13 locations.the rock outcrop motions showed amplitudes, frequency contents, and durations that were significantly different than the ground motions that civil structures are commonly designed for in washington state. peak accelerations and spectral acceleration at t=0.3 sec, were all considerably lower than the values on which most current design procedures are based. spectral accelerations for t=1.0 sec were less than those on which current design procedures are based for mw=8.0 earthquakes, but they were comparable for mw=9.0 earthquakes and, at some sites, for mw=8.5 earthquakes. csz ground motions have strong long-period (low frequency) components and thus should be more damaging to structures with long natural periods.. finally, the durations of csz ground motions are much longer than those of the motions on which current design procedures are based. this aspect of csz motions may be quite significant for reinforced concrete structures and potentially liquefiable soil deposits in which the accumulation of damage depends on the number of load or stress reversals that occur during earthquake shaking. earthquake, response spectra, cascadia subduction zone, green's function, seismic design, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 449.1 | Seismic Performance and Retrofint of Multi-Column Bridge Bents | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1998 | seismic performance and retrofint of multi-column bridge bents mclean,d. i., kuebler,s. e., mealy,t. e. this study investigated retrofitting measures for improving the seismic performance of existing multi-column bridge bents. experimental tests were conducted on 1/4.5-scale footing and column assemblages which incorporated details that were selected to represent deficiencies present in older bridges. various retrofit measures for the bents were evaluated. the specimens were subjected to increasing levels of cycled inelastic lateral displacements under constant axial load. specimen performance was evaluated on the basis of load capacity, displacement ductility, strength degradation and hysteretic behavior.tests on the as-built specimens resulted in severe cracking in the footings due to insufficient joint shear strength in the column/footing connections. however, due to structural redundancy, the bents continued to resist lateral loads until eventual bent failure occurred as a result of flexural hinge degradation in the columns.measures developed previously for retrofitting single-column bent bridges were found to be effective in improving the performance of the footings and columns. when all substructure elements were retrofitted, a ductile bent response was obtained. retrofitting only some of the substructure elements resulted in incremental improvements in performance according to the number of elements retrofitted. while extensive damage occurred in the unretrofitted elements, the damaged regions continued to transfer forces during testing, enabling a stable bent response until failure occurred within one or more of the retrofitted elements.the addition of a stiff link beam just above the footings was found to be effective in preventing damage in the footings during testing, and a reasonably ductile bent response was achieved. because the link beam retrofit may not require retrofitting of the footings, this strategy may be a very cost-effective approach for retrofitting multi-column bents. seismic retrofitting, reinforced concrete, bridge, substructures, multi-columns bents, research trac/wsu 1998 |
| A Manual of Instruction for Implementation of the Constructability Review Process--Washington State Ferries | McManus | TRAC/UW | 1998 | a manual of instruction for implementation of the constructability review process--washington state ferries mcmanus, j. f., mcintosh, d. this document provides guidelines for implementing the washington state ferries (wsf) constructability review process (crp) into the wsf project development process. the crp described in this guide is consistent with the crp being implemented within wsdot. these guidelines were created to outline the crp and to describe and facilitate its integration into the various elements of the project development process. the crp was developed through research conducted by the department of civil engineering at the university of washington in coordination with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and the staff and management of wsf. the crp is consistent with modern project development and the production of high quality transportation projects.the constructability review process is designed to help improve the quality and constructability of a project. the most important benefits expected from the crp are a more efficient project development process and cost-effective projects that are biddable, buildable, operable, and maintainable. to achieve these goals, the crp comprises a number of constructability reviews, which are performed at various stages during the course of the project development process. constructability review, manual, washington state ferries, wsf trac/uw 1998 | |
| WA-RD 459.3 | Econometric Estimation of Peak Spreading in the Seattle Metropolitan Area | Morely | TRAC/UW | 1998 | econometric estimation of peak spreading in the seattle metropolitan area morely, k.a. peak spreading is becoming common on urban roadways as existing facilities reach capacity and traffic volumes continue to grow. being able to accurately model peak spreading behavior is necessary to accurately assess the travel time saving benefits of capital improvement projects, in addition to other reasons. several types of peak spreading models have been developed in recent years, each with varying levels of success and limitations. this report used historical data and trends to develop a peak spreading model for the seattle metropolitan area. a two-part model was used in an attempt to develop a stand-alone peak-spreading model. although this model did not produce the intended results, it serves as an important step in the process. the use of a logit model to predict the peak spreading phenomenon is an innovative approach that deserves additional study. peak spreading, transportation planning, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 453.1 | Mobility Programming Criteria and Evaluations Procedures | Morely | TRAC/UW | 1998 | mobility programming criteria and evaluations procedures morely,k. a. this technical report provides a comprehensive overview of the benefit-cost methodology used by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) as part of its prioritization of roadway capacity improvements. this report also reviews wsdot's entire prioritization process, which has been discussed in other previous reports.this report provides a look into the different types of spreadsheets wsdot currently uses and details how the benefits and costs are calculated for each type of improvement. it should serve as a reference manual for the benefit-cost calculations of future roadway capacity improvement projects. benefit-costs, capacity improvements, mobility, prioritization, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 462.5 | SWIFT - Communications Study | Murphy | WSDOT/Science Applications International Corp | 1998 | swift - communications study murphy, j., costa, r. this document discusses the rationale, procedures, results, discussion, and conclusions of the seattle wide-area-information for travelers (swift) communication study evaluation that was conducted for the washington state department of transportation. included are background explanations of the issues involved in t researching, planning, and conducting the coverage testing that was conducted as part of this evaluation. for the purposes of this report, testing was accomplished using the swift high speed data system (hsds) as it was deployed in the seattle, washington, area by seiko and configured to provide traffic incident, speed/congestion, and real-time bus position information to test participants during the swift field operational test evaluation. the swift system was designed to provide traffic incident speed/congestion, and real-time bus position information, among other information (e.g., personal paging and general information messages) to three receiving devices designed to use the seiko hsds fm sub-carrier system . swift, traveler information, high speed data wsdot/science applications international corp 1998 |
| WA-RD 426.2 | An Assessment of the Zero-Rise Ordinance in King County | Palmer | TRAC/UW | 1998 | an assessment of the zero-rise ordinance in king county palmer,r., petroff,c. floodplain regulation strives to balance the benefits of reducing flood hazards to human life and property against the costs of limiting encroachment on areas that, under normal conditions, have appeal for many kinds of development. the 1990 enactment of a zero-rise ordinance in king county tightened floodplain regulations enough that agencies responsible for maintaining safe bridges and roadways are now hampered by excessive design and construction costs. agencies responsible for maintaining transportation safety must now work in a highly restrictive regulatory environment in which bridge replacements and improvements are prohibitively expensive or impossible without variances from one or more regulations.the general purpose of this project was to evaluate the implications of the zero-rise regulation for bridge builders in the king county roads division and the washington state department of transportation. the study found the following:economic trade-off of compliance vs. noncompliance: the results of the impact analysis showed that the potential benefits of maintaining the state's infrastructure by replacing, widening, or building new bridges and roads should be considered when development is restricted within the floodplains. the additional costs for compliance with the zero-rise ordinance would be uniformly much greater than the marginal cost of damages due to additional flooding for the bridges studied.ability to predict, model, and measure changes. because of the uncertainties in input parameters, it was not usually possible to predict changes in the water surface elevations to within 0.01 ft. the range of variation for predicted backwater elevations, given realistic levels of uncertainty in inputs, were up to an order of magnitude larger than the 0.01 ft limit. a steady, one-dimensional hydraulic model, which is an economical and commonly used tool for assessing water surface profiles, was not generally accurate enough to delineate the floodplain to within 0.01 feet.alternatives to the zero-rise ordinance: an analysis of alternatives to a zero-rise ordinance suggested that, for a limitation law set to a technically enforceable tolerance, exemptions for public structures could be evaluated on the basis of economics. flood, floodplain, zero-rise trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 462.1 | SWIFT Seattle Wide-Area Information for Travelers | Wetherby | TRAC/UW | 1998 | swift seattle wide-area information for travelers wetherby, b., rajka, h., van aerde, m. the swift (seattle wide-area information for travelers) field operational test was intended to evaluate the performance of a large-scale urban advanced traveler information system (atis) deployment in the seattle area. the unique features of the swift atis were the provision of information for multiple transportation modes, the delivery of this information using three different devices, and the use of the fm sideband as the primary communication medium. approximately 800 system users were recruited during the course of the study. the swift architecture study is one of five component studies to the overall system evaluation. this report details the results of the swift architecture study based on the evaluation. traveler information, advanced traveler information system, atis, multimodal, swift trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 462.4 | SWIFT - Institutional Issues | Wetherby | TRAC/UW | 1998 | swift - institutional issues wetherby, b. the seattle wide-area information for travelers (swift) project was a highly successful intelligent transportation system (its) field operational test (fot) that was conducted over a four-year period from 1993 to 1997. the purpose of the project was to test the efficacy of a high speed data system (hsds), or fm sub-carrier, to disseminate incident, bus and speed congestion information via three different end-user devices: pager watch, portable computer and in-vehicle navigation device. six hundred ninety (690) commuters, many with route- or mode-choice options, participated in the fot and provided user-acceptance evaluations. other evaluation components examined the system architecture, communications coverage, deployment cost and institutional issues that affected the project.the primary purpose of the swift institutional issues study evaluation was to collect information regarding the institutional issues (e.g., policies, jurisdictional issues, internal and external factors) that affected design, development, testing, deployment and conduct of the swift field operational test (fot); determine how these issues were overcome and what lessons could be learned. a secondary purpose of the evaluation was to document the history of the swift project.the methodology for the swift institutional issues study consisted of two sets of questionnairesand two sets of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with fourteen (14) swift team memberrepresentatives at two different points during the conduct of the swift fot: about midway through the conduct of the test and after the test was completed. all swift team member responses were independently collected and swift institutional issues were primarily identified by determining which topics were addressed by two or more individuals. historical information was collected from various sources throughout the project.swift represents one of the first atis fots conducted in this country. earlier tests were conducted in orlando, fl (travtek) and minneapolis st. paul (genesis) among others, yet the swift fot appears to have extended considerably the available database of information regarding atis effectiveness and acceptance. the addition of real-time bus information, in particular, has set the swift fot apart from others already conducted.one of the significant aspects of the swift teaming agreement was the long-term interest in its and commitment of the organizations involved. for instance, the majority of the swift team members articulated a long-term interest in its deployments. in addition, three organizations-seiko, etak and metro traffic control-+ommitted themselves to fielding a "swift-like" system after the project was completed. this degree of interest and commitment resulted in all of the swift team members working together in a very effective, cooperative fashion throughout the fot.a critical organizational structure that was instituted to implement swift was the weeklyteleconference. this simple, yet cost-effective method of managing and discussing the technicalissues involved with the project was attributed by many of the swift team members to aprimary instrument of the project's success. in particular, the swift teleconferences enabledthe representatives of each organization to keep abreast of the developmental status of theproject, to brainstorm solutions to encountered problems and to develop scheduling sense. atis, bus, computer, congestion, congestion information, cost, data, database, design, development, effectiveness, evaluation, incident, institutional, intelligent transportation system, interviews, issues, its, methodology, mode choice, policy, portable computer, project, scheduling, seattle, speed, swift, system, tests, traffic, transportation trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 441.1 | Treatment of Vactor Solids | Watts | TRAC/WSU | 1998 | treatment of vactor solids watts,r. j., jones,a., harrington,m. a pilot study was established to evaluate the most effective, economical, and practical method to treat vactor solids and street sweepings. eleven piles of contaminated solid materials ranging in size from 1.25 yd3 to 5 yd3 were treated using a matrix of conditions involving frequency of turning, fertilizer addition, peroxygen addition, and surfactant amendment. the treated piles, which were evaluated over 400 days, showed no difference in total petroleum hydrocarbon (tph) and polycyclic aromatic hyrdrocarbon (pah) levels relative to the control piles that were neither aerated nor fertilized.the results of this study show that the most economical treatment of vactor solids can be achieved using intrinsic bioremediation; i.e., letting the contaminants of vactor solids and street sweepings biodegrade naturallly. if sufficient land is available such a treatment scheme would require minimal operation and maintenance costs while providing an environmentally-acceptable fill product at the end of treatment. vactor solids, road sweepings, bioremedition, solids treatment, transportation wastes trac/wsu 1998 |
| WA-RD 458.1 | Evaluation of Travel Demand Management Strategies in the Trip Generation Phase of a Network-Based Modeling Approach | Wallace | TRAC/UW | 1998 | evaluation of travel demand management strategies in the trip generation phase of a network-based modeling approach wallace, b.p. current trip generation models are insensitive to the effects of travel demand management (tdm) strategies. to evaluate the potential effectiveness of tdm solutions, transportation professionals must rely largely on the results of case studies, which cannot be generalized for areas other than the one in which the study was performed. to evaluate tdm strategies in a context that is sensitive to the unique characteristics of each urban area, tdm strategies should be incorporated into regional travel demand models.five tdm strategies affecting trip generation rates were examined: land-use strategies, pricing strategies, telecommunications, alternative work schedules, and on-site facilities. to analyze these strategies, household, person, and trip data from the puget sound transportation panel (pstp) were used. variables derived from the pstp data that may help explain the impacts of these tdm strategies were evaluated for significance in trip generation models for the following purposes: home-based work, home-based shopping, home-based other, work-other, and other-other. the trip generation models were specified with poisson and negative binomial regression techniques. after the models had been estimated, the significance of the variables representing the impacts of tdm strategies was analyzed and justified.many of the "tdm variables" were indeed significant in the trip generation models; however, in some cases, the significance of the variables can be attributed to factors that are not related to the effects of tdm strategies. for example, the effects of trip chaining appeared to have played a major role in the significance of certain variables. however, some variables appeared to explain the effects of certain tdm strategies quite well. with further research, the four-step modeling process may provide a viable mechanism for evaluating the impacts of tdm strategies on trip generation rates. travel demand management, trip generation models, travel demand modeling, research trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 462.2 | SWIFT - Consumer Acceptance Study | Trombly | TRAC/UW | 1998 | swift - consumer acceptance study trombly, j., wetherby, b., dixson, a. the seattle wide-area information for travelers (swift) operational test was intended to evaluate the performance of a large-scale, urban advanced traveler information system (atis) deployment in the seattle area. with the majority the swift system completed by june 30,1996, the swift field operational test (fot) evaluation was conducted from july 1, 1996, through september 20, 1997. the unique features of the swift atis included the provision of information for multiple transportation modes, the delivery of this information using three different devices, and the use of fm sideband as the primary communications medium. this report details the findings for the swift consumer acceptance study based on the evaluation objectives that were identified in the swift evaluation plan (1995). the primary objectives of the swift consumer acceptance study were to assess the following: importance of traveler information in travel planning, usefulness of swift traveler information in travel planning, minimum set of user services and device features required to provide viable product and services, user perceptions of swift device usefulness, willingness-to-pay for different services. user perceptions of changes in travel convenience and efficiency, user perceptions of changes in traffic congestion, air quality, energy consumption, and safety. , acceptance, air quality, analysis, assessment, atis, availability, bus, computer, congestion, congestion information, consumer, data, data collection, energy, environmental, evaluation, group, impact, impacts, improvement, incident, interviews, objectives, performance, planning, portable computer, quality, reliability, safety, seattle, study, swift, system, systems, traffic, traffic congestion, transit, transportation, travel, traveler information, urban trac/uw 1998 |
| WA-RD 464.1 | Mycoremediation of Aged Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Soil | Thomas | Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory/Pacific N | 1998 | mycoremediation of aged petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants in soil thomas,s., becker,p., pinza,m. r., word,j. q. there are several treatments available for the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. some use chemical or mechanical methods, others make use of incineration, and still others use biological materials, either native or introduced, to remove or degrade the contaminants. battelle marine sciences laboratory (msl) and the washington state deparment of transportation (wsdot) conducted a 4-month experiment to compare the efficacy of three different biological approaches--mycoremediation, bioremediation, and enhanced bacterial remediation--used under open environmental exposure to threat three excavated, aged-oil-contaminated soils stored at the wsdot maintenance yard, bellingham, washington. the msl designed the experiment in collaboration with wsdot, and the project was jointly funded. at the end of this experiment, the results were not conclusive in distinguishing the outcome of the various treatments; none appeared to meet the prescribed criterion for success, namely attainment of the method a cleanup level of total petroleum hydrocarbons (tph) prescribed by the washington state department of ecology (wsdoe) in washington administrative code (wac) 173-340 (wac 1996) and ecology publication no. ecy-97-600 (wsdoe 1997) during the allotted time period. however, much useful information was gained by the exercise,and progress was made in understanding the variables that challenge the transition from mesocosm to large-scale deployment of remediation biotechnology. this study also showed that toxocity testing of treated and control sols using native plants and invertebrates can offer valuable information on the suitability of treated substrate for beneficial uses. accident rates battelle marine sciences laboratory/pacific n 1998 |
| WA-RD 447.1 | Fatigue Cracking of Riveted Steel Tied Arch and Truss Bridges | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 1998 | fatigue cracking of riveted steel tied arch and truss bridges roeder,c. w., macrae,g. a., arima,k., crocker,p. n., wong,s. d. riveted steel truss and tied arch bridges in washington state have experienced significant cracking that is due to fatigue loading. the lewis river and toutle river bridges are good examples of these two bridge types. they are both on the southbound lanes of interstate 5 and experience heavy truck traffic. this research study addressed the fatigue cracking on these two bridges.the cracking on these two bridges was summarized and analyzed. computer models of the two bridges were developed, and static and dynamic analyses of the bridges were performed. instrumentation was installed on both bridges in 1996. controlled load and weight station tests were performed on the two bridges with trucks of known weight and geometry traveling at known speeds. the results of these measurements were used to evaluate the overall behavior of the two bridges and to calibrate the instruments for further testing with trucks of unknown weight and geometry.upon completion of the calibration tests, uncontrolled truck traffic was measured for the two bridges over 3 to 4 weeks. extensive data were obtained for the two bridges, and load spectra were developed. these were combined with historic truck traffic data and predictions for future traffic in the 1-5 corridor, and fatigue was estimated for critical components of the two bridges.the toutle river bridge was found to be very sensitive to dynamic vibration under truck loading, and fatigue cracking noted in the floorbeams of this bridge was found to be deformation driven. there is also a potential for stress driven fatigue cracking in the tie chord in coming years.the lewis river bridge was found to have serious fatigue cracking potential in the copes of the strincyers for the deck system. there is less serious potential for fatigue cracking at the cover plate terminations of the floorbeams. there appears to be little potential for fatigue cracking in the truss members, unless there 'is an extreme nonuniform distribution of stress through the built-up members.the ramifications of the fatigue cracking and possible repairs and modifications were evaluated. bridge fatigue cracking, steel truss bridge, tied arch bridge, research trac/uw 1998 |
| HOV Lane Evaluation and Monitoring Project: HOV Travel Times (by Floating Car Method) | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1997 | hov lane evaluation and monitoring project: hov travel times (by floating car method) brown, w.w., jacobson, e.l. this report summarizes the travel time data collected by the floating car method between october 1, 1995, and march 31, 1997. this method (hov tt fcm) was developed in response to renewed inquiries from the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) for current travel time data, and was designed to provide data with a minimum use of resources. data collected by this method can not be considered statistically significant because of the sampling procedure used; but rather it should be viewed as spot checks of the hov system’s performance. included within this report are a brief introduction to the hovtt program, an overview of the methodology employed to analyze the data, statistical analysis of the data, and a section outlining the conclusions and summary. high occupancy vehicle, hov lane, travel time, data collection, floating car method trac/uw 1997 | |
| WA-RD 445.1 | Rubber-Asphalt Open-Graded Friction Course I-5 Columbia River Bridge to 29th Street | Anderson | WSDOT | 1997 | rubber-asphalt open-graded friction course i-5 columbia river bridge to 29th street anderson, k.w. performance evaluations were conducted of open-graded friction course sections constructed using conventional binders, rubber modified binders, and polymer modified binders. visual inspections of the pavements eleven years after construction were inconclusive with regard to the superiority of any one type of binder, as all were performing on an equal basis. rubber asphalt, open-graded, friction course, polymer wsdot 1997 |
| WA-RD 418.1 | Stormwater Runoff Cost/Benefit Project Prioritizing Stormwater Outfalls | Barber | TRAC/WSU | 1997 | stormwater runoff cost/benefit project prioritizing stormwater outfalls barber,m. e., schaftlein,s., anderson,d. environmental mitigation of storm water runoff from highways and bridges is becoming a critical part of every new project. when deciding which projects should be constructed first, it is necessary to determine which project provides the best return on the investment. determining environmental benefits has been difficult because it is hard to place a dollar value to reducing or eliminating pollution. the goal of this research was to establish a scientifically justifiable approach for evaluating the benefits of environmental enhancement. the report documents the literature review and the condition indexing methodology adopted. a support program was developed for windows 95 and nt operating systems that enables users to quickly evaluate and compare projects. the final results is a b/c ratio for each project. since the costs associated with construction are well known, the gross benefit can also be determined. condition indexing, environmental enhancements, project evaluation, environmental mitigation trac/wsu 1997 |
| WA-RD 428.1 | Analysis of the Initial Application of the State of Washington Highway Mobility Project Ranking Procedure and Recommended Revisions for the Upcoming Biennium | Barnes | TRAC/UW | 1997 | analysis of the initial application of the state of washington highway mobility project ranking procedure and recommended revisions for the upcoming biennium barnes,j., rutherford,g. s. this study was prompted by the impending prioritization of washington state department of transportation (wsdot) highway mobility projects for the 1997-1999 biennium. the ranking procedure that was analyzed and refined in the study is based on a methodology called "technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution," commonly known as topsis; it is the final step in wsdot's current process for prioritizing proposed projects. topsis normalizes project scores in an evaluation matrix into dimensionless units, multiplies each of the scores by relative assigned weights, formulates a theoretical "ideal-best" project and a theoretical "ideal-worst" project, and prioritizes proposed projects by calculating their relative distances between the ideal solutions.all the revisions to the prioritization procedure were based on feedback from wsdot personnel on the 1995-1997 programming cycle. their requests were transformed into four major objectives: 1) increase user friendliness to minimize user errors and reduce production time; 2) increase the consistency between relative rankings of the same projects on different lists, regardless of the characteristics of the other projects on the lists; 3) reconcile the mathematical results of the program with general "intuitive" understanding of how the program works, particularly with regard to the influence of the benefit-cost ratio over the final rankings; 4) create a "seamless" transition for wsdot regions from the previous version of the ranking procedure to the new version.the research focused on mitigating an observed sensitivity to project mix. rank order consistency was improved by introducing scoring constraints and standardized project ideals by normalizing or truncating three criteria categories. the resulting algorithm, topsis-8, is a new version of the topsis ranking algorithm studied. statewide programming, prioritization, mobility, multimodal, costs efficiency, community support, wetlands, noise, water quality, land use, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 440.1 | Performance of Geotextile Separators, Bucoda Test Site: Phase II | Black | TRAC/UW | 1997 | performance of geotextile separators, bucoda test site: phase ii black,p. j., holtz,r. d. a full-scale field study was conducted to investigate the influence of five different geotextile separators on the performance of a pavement system. five years after the geotextiles had been installed, the site was excavated to evaluate the soil and geotextile conditions, collect representative samples for laboratory testing, and perform a series of in-situ test.the fine-grained subgrade soils appeared to have consolidated since the geotextiles were installed. density tests suggested that the subgrade in sections containing geotextiles consolidated more than in the test sections without geotextiles. evidence of subgrade fines migration into the base course aggregates was found at some of the explorations where geotextiles were installed. however, the fines migration did not appear to adversely affect the performance of the pavement system.permittivity testing suggested that heat-bonded geotextiles are more susceptible to clogging than needle-punched or slit-film geotextiles. initial base course layer thickness was found to significantly affect the strength and elongation failure of the geotextiles. the lighter-weight geotextiles contained more construction damage; however, the damage was not reflected in the results of the strength tests.evaluation of current filtration and survivability criteria indicated that the fhwa filtration design criteria produce reasonable predictions of filtration performance, whereas the maximum aos values specified by task force 25 and wsdot may not always be effective in preventing fines migration. the task force 25 survivability criteria for geotextile separators appear reasonable, whereas the wsdot survivability creteria may be too restrictive for some conditions. geotextile, geotextile separators, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 367.2 | Accuracy and Precision in the Analysis and Design of Floating Bridges | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1997 | accuracy and precision in the analysis and design of floating bridges brown, c. measurement of wind characteristics and the kinematic performance of floating bridges are proposed. the relationship between these measurements is then used as a check of detailed analyses and a statement of accuracy. the use of these measurements and the detailed analytical results are applied to the initial design of these bridges. wind, floating bridge, forces trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 414.2 | HOV Evaluation and Monitoring: Phase III | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1997 | hov evaluation and monitoring: phase iii brown,w. w., jacobson,e. l. this report presents and summarizes the baseline data collected in falfillment of the requirements for the washington state department of transportation grant "hov lane evaluation and monitoring." this report provides the information. necessary to analyze hov lane performance and elopment. data collection results and analysis are presented, followed by conclusions and recommendations.the data contained herein were collected during phase i, phase ii, and phase iii of the high occupancy vehicle lane (hov) monitoring project (july 1992-june 1997). the data collection methodology is described in the final report, hov monitoring and evaluation tool". included in this report are the following primary and secondary measures of hov lane performance: (1) average vehicl occupancy data, (2) travel time data, (3) public opinion survey results, (4) transit ridership data, (5) enforcement, compliance, and adjudication data, and (6) accident data. data collection issues and their implications for data availability are discussed.it is important to note that this report does not evaluate the hov lane system in the puget sound region. rather, it is a compilation of the data necessary to conduct a meaningful evaluation. although an analysis of public opinion, transit ridership, enforcement and accident data is provided, the report's primary purpose is to simply present the data and discuss issues associated with its use,-not to provide an extensive analysis. high occupancy vehicle, hov, hov lane evaluation, traffic observation, data trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 438.1 | Reusable Truck Mounted Attenuator | Carney | WSDOT | 1997 | reusable truck mounted attenuator carney, j.f. iii this final report describes the development and full-scale crash testing of a reusable truck mounted attenuator that dissipates kinetic energy through the lateral deformation of a nested cluster of high molecular weight/high density polyethylene (hmw/hdpe) cylinders. this 100 km/h impact attenuation device, called the vanderbilt truck mounted attenuator (vtma), satisfies the crash testing requirements of national cooperative highway research program (nchrp) report 350 and has been approved by the federal highway administration (fhwa) for use on the national highway system.most impact attenuation devices currently employed require the replacement of damaged structural components and spent energy dissipating elements following an impact event. until these repairs and refurbishments are carried out, such safety devices are largely ineffective in that they are not able to dissipate kinetic energy in a subsequent impact such that relevant occupant risk parameters are within prescribed limits. the vtma is a reusable and self-restorative truck mounted attenuator. it can dissipate large amounts of kinetic energy, undergo significant deformations and strains without fracturing, and then essentially regain its original shape and energy dissipation potential following an impact with an errant vehicle. highway safety, truck mounted attenuator, maintenance free, reusable, polyethylene, self-restoration wsdot 1997 |
| WA-RD 446.1 | An Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Ice Warning Sign Placement Features | Carson | TRAC/UW | 1997 | an investigation into the effectiveness of ice warning sign placement features carson, j., nee, j., mccormack, e.d. road surface conditions, particularly ice and snow, are not a permanent feature of the roadway. this lack of permanence in hazard formation, location, and duration makes effective signing difficult. to compensate for this difficulty in predicting ice warning signing requirements, two practices have emerged: oversigning and standard sign placement. the purpose of the project was to provide (1) insight into the effectiveness of current ice warning signing placement practices based on other state practices, ice-related accident locations and frequencies, and public attitudes toward the warning signs; (2) insight into driver behavior related to ice warning signs based on public response and observed driver behavior; and (3) possible recommendations for ice-related accident "trouble spots" not currently signed.the research approach comprised four primary tasks: (1) conducting a national review to learn of previous ice warning sign experiences, (2) identifying current placement practices for ice warning signs in washington, (3) considering public attitudes about and responsiveness to washington's ice warning signs, and (4) examining problems related to public safety and state liability in washington.on the basis of positive public support for ice warning signs, wsdot's perceived liability in the event of an ice warning sign accident, and the terms required to escape or minimize liability damages (i.e.. proof of a reasonable and systematic process for placing signs), the continued use of ice warning signs is recommended. however, signs should be placed not at standard, sometimes irrelevant locations (e.g., entrances to state routes) but rather at high-risk areas (e.g. at bridges or locations identified by motorists) or locations with a history of ice-related accidents. ice warning signs, winter driving, winter safety, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 427.1 | Analytical Evaluation of Retrofit Strategies for Multi-Column Bridges | Cofer | TRAC/WSU | 1997 | analytical evaluation of retrofit strategies for multi-column bridges cofer,w. f., mclean,d. i., zhang,y. many retrofit measures have been proposed and then implemented into existing highway bridges. the goal of seismic strengthening is not intended to retrofit a bridge to be "earthquake-proof", but to minimize the likelihood of a structural collapse. an amount of acceptable damage may occur during a design level earthquake. the combination of retrofit measures and the acceptable damage greatly complicates the structural properties for a bridge. it is necesary to use analytical and experimental means to verify the effectiveness of various retrofit combinations.the objectives of this research are: (1) to investigate analytically the feasibility and advantages of applying the retrofit measures developed for single-column bent bridges to multi-column bend bridges; (2) to evaluate analytically the effects and benefits of current column retrofit strategies for multi-column bridges and propose the most effective measures for strengthening bridges; (3) to evaluate the performance of earthquake restrainers and find the change of seismic load and displacements cause by their installation.to achieve the objectives, an existing nonlinear dynamic bridge analysis program with elastic-perfectly plastic column behavior and a conventional hysteresis model was modified in order to include softening behavior and a more realistic hysteresis rule for cyclic loading.both two- and three-dimensional structural models for two actual bridges from washington were analyzed by inputting a typical seismic record. the two-dimensional models were used to evaluate column retrofitting measures, and the three-dimensional model was used to evaluate the performance of longitudinal earthquake restrainers. both artial and full column retrofit stratgies were shown to result in decreased maximum earthquake response and decreased plastic deformation of columns for the bridge bent compared to the case without retrofitting. therefore, it was concluded that the partial column retrofit strategies were feasible after a ductility capacity of the bridge is exactly defined. the opening displacements at expansion joint hinges were decreased due to the installation of longitudinal restrainers. additionally, the redistribution of earthquake forces caused by their installation was not significant. many retrofit measures have been proposed and then implemented into existing highway bridges. the goal of seismic strengthening is not intended to retrofit a bridge to be "earthquake-proof", but to minimize the likelihood of a structural collapse. an amount of acceptable damage may occur during a design level earthquake. the combination of retrofit measures and the acceptable damage greatly complicates the structural properties for a bridge. it is necessary to use analytical and experimental means to verify the effectiveness of various retrofit combinations. bridge, earthquake, retrofit, analysis, columns trac/wsu 1997 |
| WA-RD 444.1 | Seattle Smart Traveler | Dailey | TransNow/TRAC/UW | 1997 | seattle smart traveler dailey,d. j., loseff,d., meyers,d. seattle smart traveler (sst) is a world wide web (www) application designed to test the concept of "dynamic" rideshare matching. sst collects spatial and temporal trip information by using a series of www pages, performs a match by sending sql specifications to a database engine, and supports both the standard phone-based contact methodology, as well as two new, unique contact methodologies based on e-mail. carpool, rideshare, world wide web, database, research transnow/trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 434.1 | Experimental Study of Automotive Brake System Temperatures | Emery | TRAC/UW | 1997 | experimental study of automotive brake system temperatures emery,a. f., kumar,p., firey,j. c. modern automotive disk brake systems can generate extremely high temperatures under high but short duration braking loads or under relatively light but continuous braking. one consequence of the high disk and pad temperatures is a gradual heading of the brake hydraulic fluid, which can lead to boiling of absorbed water and loss of braking.this paper describes an experiment in which fluid and braking system temperatures, pressures, and operating conditions (vehicle speed, braking energy dissipation) were measured in three different classes of operating vehicles during brake application and subsequent brake release. brake failure was observed and correlated to moisture content of the fluid, severity of brake application, and application time. in addition, a finite element and lumped capacity analysis of the system was conducted. the analytically predicted temperature histories agreed well with the measure temperatures and can be used to estimate the time at which the fluid will boil. brake failure, brake fluid boiling, automotive brakes, disc brake failure, research trac/uw 1997 |
| Vehicle Volume Distributions by Classification | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW & Chaparral Systems | 1997 | vehicle volume distributions by classification hallenbeck, m.e., rice, m., smith, b., cornell-martinez, c., wilkinson, j. this report documents the findings of a study of variability in traffic volumes by vehicle classification. it is meant to update the report, highway performance monitoring system, vehicle classification case study, by douglas mactavish and donald neuman (1982). this project studied data from a broader geographic distribution of those sites and included a larger data collection period at each site. traffic volumes, vehicle classification, ltpp trac/uw & chaparral systems 1997 | |
| Estimating Annual Vehicle Loads at LTPP Test Sites | Hallenbeck | 1997 | estimating annual vehicle loads at ltpp test sites hallenbeck,m. e., rice,m. traffic data, vehicle loads, pavement loadings, long term pavement performance project, ltpp 1997 | ||
| WA-RD 443.1 | Evaluation of the PuSHMe Regional Mayday System Operational Test | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1997 | evaluation of the pushme regional mayday system operational test haselkorn,m., spyridakis,j., gautschi,d., semple,k., o'connor,c. pushme tested two systems, one voice and the other text-based, that allowed drivers to signal a need for in-vehicle emergency assistance to a monitored response center. evaluation occurred in four areas: (1) performance, (2) usability, (3) market analysis and (4) institutional issues. it was concluded that these systems could approach 100% successful operation in a true market deployment though in a simulated deployment there was a 70.5% success rate of all trials. user response was generally favorable. market analysis suggested numerous strategies, including that pricing should favor usage fees over purchase cost. institutional analysis found serious obstacles to collaboration between private and public response centers, but also alternatives to the collaborative model such as a focus on non-emergency services or private response groups "becoming" the public emergency service provider through outsourcing. emergency response service, 911, e-911 emergency service, transportation service, public responsibility transportation service trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 413.1 | Method for Prioritizing Intersection Improvements | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1997 | method for prioritizing intersection improvements mannering,f. l., larson,l. the most common type of intersection improvement considered by many state dots is signalization. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) uses a system called the intersection priority array, which was originally developed by ching. this system provides a tool for objectively considering numerous intersections. although the system is useful, it only addresses the need for a relative priority of a signal. it does not address other actions that may improve the safety and efficiency of the intersection. the goal of this research project was to develop a system for analyzing the need for left- and/or right-turn lane improvements to an intersection and prioritizing the severity of that need.development of the system was based on two questions it would have to answer about the intersection:1. is a left-or right-turn lane recommended for a particular intersection? this question is answered on the basis of traffic conditions and accident history. threshold values for volume and accident history are determined from published engineering studies.2. how severe is the need for a turn lane compared to other intersections being considered? to answer this question, the system assigns dollar values to delay conditions and accident history specific to the intersection. dollar values are assigned to accidents over the worst 12-month period in a 3-year accident history. the system then calculates the reduction in the delay that would result from installing the left- or right-turn lanes by using regression equations from published engineering studies or standards such as the highway capacity manual.the scaled sum of the accident and delay costs is the severity score for the specific intersection improvement.the benefits of this system are that it is an objective method of ranking intersections against others and it is easy to use. it requires data that are easily obtainable from resources available at most traffic offices. channelization, left-turn lanes, right-turn lanes, prioritization, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 417.1 | Noncontact Lap Splices in Bridge Column-Shaft Connections | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1997 | noncontact lap splices in bridge column-shaft connections mclean,d. i., smith,c. l. lap splices in reinforced concrete members typically consist of bars overlapped and placed in contact with each other. in the case of a large-diameter foundation shaft connecting to a smaller-diameter column, it is not possible to have the longitudinal bars be continuous, nor is it possible to provide a standard lap splice; instead an offset or noncontact lap splice of the longitudinal bars is required. with a noncontact lap splice, transfer of forces from one spliced bar to the other occurs through the surrounding concrete, and transverse reinforcement is typically required to provide satisfactory splice performance. current code provisions on noncontact lap splices are very limited.this study experimentally investigated the behavior of noncontact lap splices in bridge column-shaft connections. tests were performed on near full-scale panel specimens, representing a cross-section of a column-shaft connection, and on 1/4 scale column-shaft specimens under both monotonic and cyclic loading. variables investigated included lap splice length, lapped bar spacing, and spacing of transverse reinforcement. specimen performance was evaluated in terms of load capacity, failure mechanism, and strength degradation.two-dimensional and three-dimensional truss models were developed to predict, the behavior of noncontact lap splices. experimental results supported the proposed behavioral models. inclined cracks developed in the concrete which defined compression struts running between the offset lapped bars. transverse reinforcement was required to provide equilibrium to the struts. tests on specimens detailed based on the proposed models resulted in no strength degradation or slippage of the lapped reinforcing bars even when subjected to cyclic loading. equations were proposed for the design of noncontact lap splices, including recommendations for required overall lap length and transverse reinforcement. reinforced concrete, bridge, reinforcing splices, columns, foundation shafts, research trac/wsu 1997 |
| A Manual of Instruction for the Implementation of the Constructability Review Process | McManus | WSDOT/TRAC | 1997 | a manual of instruction for the implementation of the constructability review process mcmanus, j f., gambatese, j.a., mcintosh, d. this document provides guidelines for implementing the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) constructability review process (crp). these guidelines were created to outline the crp and to describe and facilitate its integration into and coordination with the various elements of the department's project development process. the constructability review process (crp) was developed through research conducted by the department of civil engineering at the university of washington in coordination with wsdot staff and management.the constructability review process is designed to help improve the level of constructability of a project. the most important benefits expected from the crp are an efficient project development process and a cost-effective project that is biddable, buildable, and maintainable. to achieve these goals, the crp is composed of a number of constructability reviews performed at various stages during the course of the project development process. the first review occurs during project planning when the draft project definition report (pdr) has been completed. subsequent reviews occur at the 0 percent, 30 percent, 60 percent, and final stages of ps&e development. while the entire crp is a four-step review process, all four reviews apply only to major or very complex projects. for smaller or less complex projects, a modified crp review sequence, with fewer reviewers, may be used. constructability review process, crp, constructability, manual, project development wsdot/trac 1997 | |
| WA-RD 406.2 | Determination of Rheological Parameters of Pile Foundations for Bridges for Earthquake Analysis | Cofer | TRAC/WSU | 1997 | determination of rheological parameters of pile foundations for bridges for earthquake analysis cofer,w. f., modak,s. in the seismic design criteria for highway bridges, there is a significant lack of guidance on ways to incorporate the effect of soil-structure interaction in determining seismic response. for this study, a simple analytical model for pile and pile group foundations is presented for use in dynamic modeling of bridge superstructures. both the axial and lateral pile response is considered. this simple model consists of a set of nonlinear springs, dampers, and masses for each degree-of-freedom of the pile, and it is based on the winkler hypothesis. the spring behavior was established by using the finite element method for static load conditions and a typical soil from washington state. the lumped damping constants and masses were based on realistic approximations. the p-y and t-z curves for single piles and two-pile groups were presented for two pile diameters. using these curves as near-field winkler elements, combined with established far-field elements, the dynamic response of a single pile when subjected to a half-sine impulse load was compared to that of a more rigorous, nonlinear, three-dimensional finite element analysis. close agreement was observed. for design, suggestions were made on ways to develop an approximately equivalent foundation model consisting of a single mass, spring, and damper. bridge, earthquake, piles, group, finite element trac/wsu 1997 |
| WA-RD 432.1 | Effects of Site Design on Pedestrian Travel in Mixed-Use, Medium-Density Environments | Moudon | TRAC/UW | 1997 | effects of site design on pedestrian travel in mixed-use, medium-density environments moudon,a. v., hess,p., snyder,m. c., stanilov,k. this research project focused on whether high or low incidence of pedestrial travel in mixed-use, medium density environments is due to site design characteristics and, specifically, to the presence of direct, continuous, and safe pedestrial systems.the study examined twelve neighborhood centers, or "sites," in the puget sound area of washington. the twelve sites were selected to match in terms of gross residential density, median income, automobile ownership, and intensity and type of neighborhood commercial development. pedestrians and bicyclists who traveled into the commercial area were recorded. a clear break emerged between urban and suburban sites. the average urban pedestrian volume as 37.7 per hour per 1,000 residents, three times higher than the 12.5 per hour per 1,000 residents in suburban sites.these results strongly support the hypothesis that, when other variables are held constant, the urban versus suburban difference in route directness and completeness of pedestrian facilities (namely, block size and sidewalk length) affects pedestrian volumes. the results also question the common belief the people do not walk in the suburbs. given appropriate land-use conditions, pedestrian facility improvement programs in suburban areas could support pedestrian travel and have a significant influence on mode choice. pedestrian facilities, travel behavior, land use, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 435.1 | Washington's Incident Response Team Program Evaluation | Nam | TRAC/UW | 1997 | washington's incident response team program evaluation nam, d., mannering, f.l., nee, j., carson, j. in washington, an irt program was initiated in the greater seattle area in 1990 and has been steadily expanding to other urban areas within the state. while the irt program continues to grow, no comprehensive effort has been made to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. without such an evaluation, (1) potential improvements to the efficiency of the existing irt program cannot be identified and realized, and (2) wsdot has no assurance that the resources dedicated to the irt program are efficiently allocated. without a formal evaluation, competition for funding and resources may result in inappropriate program down-sizing or discontinuation.the research approach followed in this effort consisted of a national review of similar programs, a comprehensive review of wsdot's irt program organization and operation in the northwest, olympic, southwest, and eastern regions and the respective maintenance areas, modeling exercises to quantify irt program benefits, and general public and other response personnel surveys to determine perceived benefits of the irt program.a significant amount of inconsistency was noted no only at the wsdot maintenance area level but also among individual irt members. inconsistency in operation makes it difficult (1) to determind the effectiveness of different operating styles, (2) for other response personnel to work effectively with wsdot's irt members, (3) to build concensus among the motoring public for continued program support, and (4) for wsdot irt members to be confident in their actions. the general public is likely unaware of these inconsistencies in operation because of their infrequent contact. hence, the public is supportive of the irt program as an incident management tool. other response personnel are away of the inconsistencies yet continue to strongly support the irt program. if inconsistent operation by the wsdot irt members continue, interdisciplinary relationships could suffer. a benefit to cost ratio for the irt program was determined to be 4.3:1 to 12.9:1. recommendations to improve the effectiveness of wsdot's irt include improving call-out procedures, developing minimum guidelines for on-site services and equipment, standardizing documentation methods, and increasing awareness of the irt program within and outside of wsdot. incident response, incident response team, benefit to costs ratio, incident duration trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 433.1 | Forging The Links: The Report of a Policy Study on Created Wetlands for the Washington State Department of Transportation | Perkins | The Evergreen State College | 1997 | forging the links: the report of a policy study on created wetlands for the washington state department of transportation perkins,j., murphy,r., jones,l. e., pratt,r., savage,m. this research project examined the activities at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) to mitigate losses of wetlands on 33 sites governed by permits from the u.s. army corp of engineers and other agencies, through 1995. several concerns defined the reasons wdot commissioned this study, including the rapid growth in the number of sites, uneven and unpredictable biological performaces of the sites, and highly diverse expectations from regulators. the major outcomes include (1) recommendations to establish a coherent mitigation program within wsdot; (2) suggestions for setting objectives, criteria, and standards; (3) methodologies to track all aspects of costs; and (4) revisions in monitoring methods and the monitoring report. specific research findings are organized within five key categories that provdie challenges to the ability of the department to engage in successful mitigation: political, policy, fiscal, organizational, and biological. recommendations include defining objectives for compensatory mitigation as specific wetland functions; establishing consistent methodology and coordination amongst pre-impact assessment, mitigation design, and monitoring; coordinating between mitigation design and construction; establishing methods for evaluation of mitigation costs and linking this knowledge to biological performance; using monitoring data to formulate standards of success for new mitigation projects; and developing the monitoring report into a document for evaluating and learning about mitigation. compensatory mitigation, wetland monitoring, wetland function, standards of success, mitigation costs, national mitigation survey the evergreen state college 1997 |
| WA-RD 436.1 | How Do You Implement Less Auto-Dependent Urban Form? | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1997 | how do you implement less auto-dependent urban form? pivo,g. the purpose of this study was to help planners and policy makers implement urban form that is less auto-dependent in suburban communities. this was accomplished by developing a general theory. the theory was derived by synthesizing established concepts of urban change. the priciples followed from that theory, and both were tested and illustrated in a case study of kirkland, washington, which has made significant progress toward less auto-dependent land-use patterns since 1970.both the theory and case study suggest that urban development patterns are created by the actions of and interaction between the public and private sectors. these sectors respond to feedback given by consumers and citizens, as well as to goals and values, available resources, and development rules. certain conditions in this process will result in greater density and mix in suburban communities. paramount among these are increased access and amenities in order to attract development and to avoid an anti-development public backlash. certain planning principles can help produce these conditions.the case of kirkland, washington, shows that these principles can work in a real world setting to produce progress toward less auto-dependent urban form. land use and transportation, suburbs, urban development, urban form, kirkland, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 431.1 | Learning from Truckers: Moving Goods in Compact, Livable Urban Areas | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1997 | learning from truckers: moving goods in compact, livable urban areas pivo,g., carlson,d., kitchen,m., billen,d. this study sought to understand how to best move and deliver goods in compact urban centers while maintaining the other functions of a vibrant, healthy center for social and commercial exchange. the research approach utilized focus groups of unionized truck drivers who work in urban and suburban centers in metropolitan seattle. the objective of this qualitative research was to gain particpants' insights and perspectives about the design, regulatory, enforcement, and management factors that facilitate or impede their ability to carry out their jobs. this study represents the only documented case in which truck drivers themselves were asked about issues affecting freight movement and compact urban form, issues of increasing importance in metropolitan areas seeking to reinforce existing urban centers and create new ones out of low density suburban areas. drivers provided specific observations and suggestions in the categories of curb space and alley management, pedestrian interaction, building entrances, loading docks and signage, zoning and design, and technology and equipment. urban goods movement, livable urban centers, truck drivers' insights, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 426.1 | An Assessment of the Zero - Rise Ordinance in King County | Wood | TRAC/UW | 1997 | an assessment of the zero - rise ordinance in king county wood,a., palmer,r., petroff,c. floodplain regulation strives to balance the benefits of reducing flood hazards to human life and property against the costs of limiting encroachment on areas that, under normal conditions, have appeal for many kinds of development. the 1990 enactment of a zero-rise ordinance in king county tightened floodplain regulations enough that agencies responsible for maintaining safe bridges and roadways are now hampered by excessive design and construction costs. agencies responsible for maintaining transportation safety must now work in a highly restrictive regulatory environment in which bridge replacements and improvements are prohibitively expensive or impossible without variances from one or more regulations.the general purpose of this project was to evaluate the implications of the zero-rise regulation for bridge builders in the king county roads division and the washington state department of transportation. the report- documents the development of the zero-rise regulation of the 1990 sensitive areas ordinance- compares the king county floodplain regulation to other similarly restrictive regulations in other states and counties and to other "absolute zero"-type regulations- assesses the costs of the ordinance for bridges designed since 1990-evaluates the effectiveness of procedures for obtaining variances from the zero-rise criterion.on the basis of this work, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) king county has more restrictive floodplain regulations than other locales in which a zero-rise water surface constraint has been adopted. the report recommends that conflicts between the zero-rise regulation and swdm constraints be resolved on the basis of the relative importance of each for preventing flood damages. 2) the zero-rise ordinance has cause king county significant cost increases for bridge work, whereas the benefits of the ordinance have not been formally demonstrated. 3) the zero-rick paradigm has been found to be unworkable in well-tested examples of national environmental policy. 4) the intended balancing of flood mitigation against increased bridge expense has not occurred. flood, floodplain, zero-rise, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 419.1 | Catalyzed Peroxide Soil Pilot Study | Watts | TRAC/WSU | 1997 | catalyzed peroxide soil pilot study watts,r. j., dilly,s. e., haller,d. the scale up of the catalyzed hydrogen peroxide treatment of petroleum contaminated soils was investigated with emphasis on the optimum catalyst, a risk-based treatment protocol, transport of reagents through the soil, and scale up requirements. the results showed that iron (iii) sulfate was the most effective catalyst, that a risk-based end point for tph removal was significantly more cost effective, and that reagent requirements were independent of soil mass. petroleum, diesel, soil treatment, remediation, fenton's reagent trac/wsu 1997 |
| WA-RD 442.1 | On-Line Implementation of a Fuzzy Neural Ramp Metering Algorithm | Taylor | TRAC/UW | 1997 | on-line implementation of a fuzzy neural ramp metering algorithm taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm will address the needs of seattle's freeway system and overcome limitations of the existing ramp metering algorithm. this project progressed toward implementing and testing a fuzzy neural ramp metering algorithm on-line at the traffic systems management center (tsmc) for the washington state department of transportation's northwest district. improvements were made to neural network predictors to allow better generalization.code was written for the fuzzy ramp metering algorithm and its interface with the pre-existing tsmc code. of the new code written, approximately 95 percent of it was for the interface, and only 5 percent of it was for the ramp metering algorithm itself. interfacing the fuzzy controller with the existing tsmc software required modification of 16 pre-existing files related to the ramp metering database, real-time skeleton, and ramp metering and data collector communications.a method was developed and code was written to directly send metering rates from the vax to the 170 and to implement them, whereas previously only a metering rate adjustment had been possible. the operator interface was designed and code was written to enter fuzzy tuning parameters and fuzzy equations. the specifications for each new parameter were designed.although this code was written, it has not yet been implemented on-line because of time constraints. preparation for on-line implementation required more time that anticipated because of the unexpected complexity of the pre-existing tsmc code. on-line implementation and testing will proceed on a wsdot/transnow project that begins in september 1997.in addition to software design, further planning was necessary to ensure smooth implementation and quality performance. the testing plan was developed in greater detail to include software quality testing. primary and backup study sites were chosen, and an evaluation technique was selected. a risk assessment plan was developed to mitigate future problems. artificial neural networks (ann), fuzzy logic controller (flc), traffic data prediction, ramp metering, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 442.2 | Documentation of TSMC Software that Interfaces with Traffic Analysis Programs | Taylor | JTRAC/UW | 1997 | documentation of tsmc software that interfaces with traffic analysis programs taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm will address the needs of seattle's freeway system and overcome limitations of the existing ramp metering algorithm. this project progressed toward implementing and testing a fuzzy neural ramp metering algorithm on-line at the traffic systems management center (tsmc) for the washington state department of transportation's northwest district. improvements were made to neural network predictors to allow better generalization.code was written for the fuzzy ramp metering algorithm and its interface with the pre-existing tsmc code. of the new code written, approximately 95 percent of it was for the interface, and only 5 percent of it was for the ramp metering algorithm itself. interfacing the fuzzy controller with the existing tsmc software required modification of 16 pre-existing files related to the ramp metering database, real-time skeleton, and ramp metering and data collector communications.a method was developed and code was written to directly send metering rates from the vax to the 170 and to implement them, whereas previously only a metering rate adjustment had been possible. the operator interface was designed and code was written to enter fuzzy tuning parameters and fuzzy equations. the specifications for each new parameter were designed.although this code was written, it has not yet been implemented on-line because of time constraints. preparation for on-line implementation required more time that anticipated because of the unexpected complexity of the pre-existing tsmc code. on-line implementation and testing will proceed on a wsdot/transnow project that begins in september 1997.in addition to software design, further planning was necessary to ensure smooth implementation and quality performance. the testing plan was developed in greater detail to include software quality testing. primary and backup study sites were chosen, and an evaluation technique was selected. a risk assessment plan was developed to mitigate future problems. artificial neural networks (ann), fuzzy logic controller (flc), traffic data prediction, ramp metering jtrac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 429.1 | Effect of Road Shoulder Treatments on Highway Runoff Quality and Quantity | St.John | TRAC/UW | 1997 | effect of road shoulder treatments on highway runoff quality and quantity st.john,m. s., horner,r. r. this project examined the role that road shoulders play in the stormwater runoff process. the goal of the research was to determine the type of shoulder treatment that yields the least quantity of runoff of the highest quality. three types of shoulder materials were tested: conventional asphalt, gravel, and porous asphalt. porous asphalt allows water to penetrate and flow through the pavement to a sublayer, and it can be used in place of conventional asphalt on low-traffic roadways. each of the three shoulder materials were tested in duplicate on a heavily traveled, two-lane road north of redmond, washington. stormwater runoff from the road flowed onto the shoulder test sections and was collected in a stormwater collection system at the base of the test sections. flow-weighted composite samples were collected, and both runoff quantity and quality were evaluated.on the basis of results from 11 storms monitored between november 1995 and august 1996, several trends were identified. the porous asphalt shoulders demonstrated a greater potential to reduce runoff volumes and peak discharge rates than gravel and conventional asphalt shoulders. during typical wet season storms (.76 cm [.3 in]), the porous asphalt and gravel shoulder test sections reduced runoff volumes by approximately 85 and 30 percent, respectively, in comparison to the conventional asphalt test sections. the ability of the porous asphalt and gravel shoulder test sections. the ability of the porous asphalt shoulders to reduce pollutant loads far exceeded that of the gravel and conventional asphalt shoulders. during typical wet season storms the solids and pollutant loads from the porous asphalt shoulders were more than 90 percent lower than the loads from the conventional asphalt shoulders. the gravel shoulders yielded load reductions ranging from 10 to 70 percent lower than the conventional asphalt, although orthophosphorus load exceeded those of the conventional asphalt shoulder by nearly 30 percent.removal rates were highest for those pollutants that were correlated with total suspended solids (0.70<r^2<0.95), indicating that physical mechanisms of settling and filtration were critical in removing pollutants from the runoff over both porous asphalt and gravel shoulders. the porous asphalt shoulders were more efficient at removing soluble pollutants, particularly ortho-phosphorus, than the conventional asphalt and gravel shoulders. after one year of use the porous asphalt shoulders showed no signs of clogging, maintaining infiltration rates of 4445 cm/hr (1750 in/hr). road shoulder, porous asphalt, runoff, pollutant loading, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 421.1 | Mitigation Between Regional Transportation Needs and Preservation of Eelgrass Bed: Volume I | Simenstad | TRAC/UW | 1997 | mitigation between regional transportation needs and preservation of eelgrass bed: volume i simenstad,c. a., thom,r. m., olson,a. m. the objectives of this study are to understand effects of ferry terminals and ferry operations on eelgrass (zostera marina l.) meadows in puget sound and to design appropriate measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for associated impacts.dramatic increases in population and ferry traffic in western washington have resulted in the need to expand existing terminals. our studies have shown that eelgrass meadows near ferry terminals are affected by light reduction and other initial and long-term disturbances associated with terminal construction and maintenance, propeller wash, and bioturbation by macroinvertebrates (i.e.. sea stars and dungeness crab). experimental work on light showed that below about 3m m-2 d-1 photosynthetically active radiation (par) for one to two weeks resulted in death of the plants. long-term growth and par monitoring, as well as short-term measurements in eelgrass meadows, corroborated this value. technological measures to mitigate impacts showed that concrete blocks with clear plastic centers, reflective material placed under terminals, and artificial lighting could all enhance light under the terminals. restoration of damaged meadows adjacent to the terminals is proposed as a viable alternative for mitigating impacts from terminal expansion. eelgrass, mitigation, shoreline impacts, light limitation, research trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 421.2 | Mitigation Between Regional Transportation Needs and Preservation of Eelgrass Beds--Appendices: Volume II | Simenstad | TRAC/UW | 1997 | mitigation between regional transportation needs and preservation of eelgrass beds--appendices: volume ii simenstad, c.a., thom, r.m., olson, a.m. the objectives of this study are to understand effects of ferry terminals and ferry operations on eelgrass (zostera marina l.) meadows in puget sound and to design appropriate measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for associated impacts.dramatic increases in population and ferry traffic in western washington have resulted in the need to expand existing terminals. our studies have shown that eelgrass meadows near ferry terminals are affected by light reduction and other initial and long-term disturbances associated with terminal construction and maintenance, propeller wash, and bioturbation by macroinvertebrates (i.e.. sea stars and dungeness crab). experimental work on light showed that below about 3m m-2 d-1 photosynthetically active radiation (par) for one to two weeks resulted in death of the plants. long-term growth and par monitoring, as well as short-term measurements in eelgrass meadows, corroborated this value. technological measures to mitigate impacts showed that concrete blocks with clear plastic centers, reflective material placed under terminals, and artificial lighting could all enhance light under the terminals. restoration of damaged meadows adjacent to the terminals is proposed as a viable alternative for mitigating impacts from terminal expansion. eelgrass, mitigation, shoreline impacts, light limitation trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 416.1 | The NEXRAD Radar System as a Tool in Highway Traffic Management | Seliga | TRAC/UW | 1997 | the nexrad radar system as a tool in highway traffic management seliga, t.a. the next generation weather radar (nexrad) program is a joint effort of the u.s. department of commerce, department of defense, and department of transportation for the purpose of defining, procuring, and installing a network of doppler radars throughout the united states. the radar has been designated the wsr-88d by these agencies.the first phase of this project concentrated on gaining acess to data from the seattle wsr-88d radar. this succeeded through the cooperation and combined efforts of the university of washington's department of atmospheric sciences (das) and the cognizant federal agency, the local office of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration's national weather service (noaa/nws). consequently, nexrad information dissemination service (nids) level iii data were received and archived continuously by the das and were available for study in this project via internet connection, computer disk, or tape.the phase ii of this project, the use of the nexrad data for application to ground transportation systems was examined. the ability to derive traffic-based weather products from the nexrad radar measurements was established. indices to characterize weather-related driving conditions were developed. data on traffic flow for the i-5 marysville to tacoma corridor were obtained and combined with the radar-derived traffic indices. in addition to data access, the investigation examined the nature of the algorithms used by noaa/nws to produce the various nids products and developed an algorithm for point rainfall estimation that accounts for storm motion. concepts of a storm detection, tracking, and forecasting algorithm were established as the means for future analysis and demonstrations. nexrad radar, precipitation estimation, accident analysis, traffic safety, weather hazards trac/uw 1997 |
| WA-RD 428.2 | A Sensitivity Analysis and Implementation Review of the Mobility Improvements Prioritization Method | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1997 | a sensitivity analysis and implementation review of the mobility improvements prioritization method rutherford,g. s., reed,t. l. this study was prompted by the impending prioritization of washington state department of transportation (wsdot) highway mobility projects for the 1997-1999 biennium. the ranking procedure that was analyzed and refined in the study is based on a methodology called "technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution," commonly known as topsis; it is the final step in wsdot's current process for prioritizing proposed projects.the report used the wsdot programming method as a case study of one flexible framework for assessing projects related to all highway modes. rank order sensitivity to estimate erros and to various categorical weight distributions was investigated. furthermore, direct comparisons were made between the wsdot priority programming method, a wsdot system planning method, and a puget sound regional council project prioritization method. the goals of the report were to inform the policy-making debate over assigning subjective category weights and selecting pertinent catergories of criteria, and to investigate the range of acceptable error in project performance predictions. in so doing, the reliability and adequacy of the wsdot ranking methodology was also assessed. statewide programming, prioritization, mobility, multimodal, costs efficiency, community support, wetlands, noise, water quality, land use trac/uw 1997 |
| Development of an Intelligent Air Brake Warning System for Commercial Vehicles | Reinhall | TRAC/UW TRB | 1996 | development of an intelligent air brake warning system for commercial vehicles reinhall, p.g., scheibe, r.r. malfunctioning brakes represent the most common safety violation for commercial vehicles. the objectives of this project were to research on-board measurement of a few brake-related parameters in order to monitor the effectiveness of air brakes and to develop an algorithm for warning drivers and/or information authorities of impending brake failure. an intelligent brake warning device (ibwd) algorithm was developed with three modes: static, training, and operational. brakes, commercial vehicles, monitoring, failure trac/uw trb 1996 | |
| WA-RD 425.1 | Relationship Between Side Slope Conditions and Collision Records in Washington State | Allaire | WSDOT | 1996 | relationship between side slope conditions and collision records in washington state allaire, c., ahner, d., abarca, m., adgar, p., long, s. design guidelines for road side slopes in washington state follow generalized methods and require cost-benefit analysis. prior to this research project, the effects of current methodology had not previously been evaluated. this report outlines the results of research on the effectiveness of slope flattening in reducing the number and severity of collisions on washington state highways in rural areas. a before and after study was performed by analyzing 3r and 2r projects in washington state which included side slope flattening that were accomplished from 1986 through 199 1.the study shows that side slope flattening reduces both the number and severity of collisions when compared to highway sections without side slope flattening. even when including the effects of various non-structural initiatives which have helped reduce collisions, slope flattened sections exhibited lower collision rates. the research lends credence to current design practice which utilizes benefit-cost analysis when prioritizing roadside safety improvement projects. ror, benefit-costs analysis, roadside safety wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 388.2 | Investigation of Culvert Hydraulics Related to Juvenile Fish Passage | Barber | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | investigation of culvert hydraulics related to juvenile fish passage barber,m. e., downs,r. c. culverts often create barriers to the upstream migration of juvenile fish. fish will not travel upstream under high water velocity conditions. it is hypothesized that low velocity regions exist near culvert boundaries. therefore, the objective of this study was to determine hydraulic characteristics of culverts with different flow conditions. methods of predicting flow profiles were developed by both chiu and mountjoy. two equations were compared to experimental results. the mountjoy equation proved to yield better results for velocity profile predictions. an area of flow corresponding to a predetermined allowable velocity can be calculated using the mountjoy equation. this can then be used in the design of culverts as fish passage guidelines. the following technical report contains adetailed description of background information, experimental methodology, the results of experimental tests, and an analysis of both the chiu and mountjoy equations. culvert, velocity profile, fish passage, hydraulics trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 388.1 | Investigation of Culvert Hyrdaulics Related to Juvenile Fish Passage | Barber | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | investigation of culvert hyrdaulics related to juvenile fish passage barber,m. e., downs,r. c. culverts often create barriers to the upstream migration of juvenile fish. fish will not travel upstream under high water velocity conditions. it is hypothesized that low velocity regions exist near culvert boundaries. therefore, the objective of this study was to determine hydraulic characteristics of culverts with different flow conditions. methods of predicting flow profiles were developed by both chiu and mountjoy. two equations were compared to experimental results. the mountjoy equation proved to yield better results for velocity profile predictions. an area of flow corresponding to a predetermined allowable velocity can be calculated using the mountjoy equation. this can then be used in the design of culverts as fish passage guidelines. the following report contains a summary of background information, experimental methodology, the results of experimental tests, and an analysis of both the chiu and mountjoy equations. culvert, velocity profile, fish passage, hydraulics, research trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 405.1 | Riderlink Demonstration Project Evaluation Report | Bradshaw | WSDOT | 1996 | riderlink demonstration project evaluation report bradshaw, c., wong, j., morton, b., wade, r. the purpose of the riderlink project was to demonstrate the effectiveness of providing electronic access to multi-modal transportation information including bus schedules and route maps, vanpool and carpool information, ridematch applications, biking tips, ferry schedules, real-time freeway congestion and road construction updates. the project was a joint effort by king county metro and the overlake transportation management association. riderlink was developed as a world wide web site on the internet. electronic touch-screen kiosks with access to riderlink were set up at three employer sites and all overlake tma employee transportation coordinators had a connection to riderlink throughout the demonstration period. riderlink proved to be an effective way to present easy-to-use, and easy-to-update, transportation information on desktop machines in homes and offices. delivering riderlink through touch-screen kiosks at employment sites was not as successful. world wide web, internet, employer transportation programs wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 378.4 | Special Noise Barrier Applications: Phase III: Technical Report | Cohn | WSDOT/University of Louisville | 1996 | special noise barrier applications: phase iii: technical report cohn, l.f., harris, r.a. this report examines five special noise barrier applications that exist in addition to the conventional vertical reflective barrier. the acoustic, aesthetic, and economic feasibility of absorptive t-top, y-top, slanted-top, single-wall absorptive, and absorptive parallel noise barriers are addressed s they compare to a conventional noise barrier. based on acoustic, aesthetic, and economic impacts, conclusions and recommendations are drawn on the more promising of these special barrier applications for selected wsdot project. for each project selected, a standard barrier design was completed, followed by application of he five special treatments. roadway barrier, noise, reflective, performance wsdot/university of louisville 1996 |
| WA-RD 378.3 | Special Noise Barrier Applications: Phase III | Cohn | WSDOT/University of Louisville | 1996 | special noise barrier applications: phase iii cohn, l.f., roswell, h.a. this report examines five special noise barrier applications that exist in addition to the conventional vertical reflective barrier. the acoustic, aesthetic, and economic feasibility of absorptive t-top, y-top, slanted-top, single-wall absorptive, and absorptive parallel noise barriers are addressed s they compare to a conventional noise barrier. based on acoustic, aesthetic, and economic impacts, conclusions and recommendations are drawn on the more promising of these special barrier applications for selected wsdot project. for each project selected, a standard barrier design was completed, followed by application of he five special treatments. roadway barrier, noise, reflective, performance wsdot/university of louisville 1996 |
| WA-RD 410.1 | ITS Data Fusion | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1996 | its data fusion dailey,d. j., harn,p., lin,p. this project has accomplished three significant tasks. first, a state-of-the-art literature review has provided an organizational framework for categorizing the various data fusion projects that have been conducted to date. a popular typology was discussed which situates data fusion technologies in one of three levels, depending on the degree to which sensor data is correlated to provide users with meaningful transit recommendations. the trade-offs that accompany higher-level data fusion efforts -- in terms of computing power and memory requirements -- were noted. the advantages of multiple-sensor data fusion projects in terms of cost, accuracy, and reliability were also discussed and contrasts were drawn with the traditional deployment of highly accurate, single sensors. specific techniques of data fusion were described and their possible applications to its projects were explored. in fact, this report is one of the first to consider how data fusion technology might be productively applied to the needs of transportation management. a second major component of this report is the description provided of a local data fusion application. this project employs data fusion techniques to correlate input from multiple highway sensors and generate reliable traffic predictions. the resulting information can be displayed for use by commuters as they choose from among various transit options. the architecture of this data fusion system is described in detail. the third component of the project was to create a statistically based algorithm to estimate speed from volume and occupancy measurements. the algorithm presented explicitly accounts for the statistics of the problem and provides a robustness test for the speed estimate. traveler information, its backbone, distributed computing, client server model, its architecture, speed estimates, volume, occupancy, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 394.1 | Automatic Transit Location System | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1996 | automatic transit location system dailey, d.j., haselkorn, m., guiberson, k., lin, p. this project provides a state-of-the-art review of avl technologies which highlights king county metro transit's avl system. this project further demonstrated the use of real-time transit information derived from the metro avl system to produce a prototypical display of real-time transit coach locations suitable for wide area advance traveler information (atis) use. this project demonstrated the viability of combining multi-agency data with different technology roots in a single development environment that encourages interagency collaboration in the creation of its applications and services. this was accomplished in a rich and flexible development environment, created at the university of washington and used to leverage a proprietary avl system to a public atis prototype. culvert, velocity profile, fish passage, hydraulics, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 411.1/TNW 96-01 | ITS Backbone Design and Demonstration | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1996 | its backbone design and demonstration dailey,d. j., haselkorn,m., lin,p. traffic congestion is an increasing problem in many areas of washington state. efforts to control traffic flows and mitigate congestion must rely on the ability to accurately monitor the state of traffic flow on highways and arterials. we present a conceptual framework for its development to monitor traffic conditions and show how this framework solves numerous high-level problems associated with its development. a sample instantiation, the backbone project, demonstrates the viability of our unified its conceptual framework and shows that such a framework can be implemented at reasonable cost and with a high likelihood of successful operation. this project was sponsored by wsdot and executed at the university of washington. traveler information, backbone, distributed computing, client server, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 389.2 | The Assessment of Groundwater Pollution Potential Resulting from Stromwater Infiltration BMP's | Hathhorn | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | the assessment of groundwater pollution potential resulting from stromwater infiltration bmp's hathhorn,w. e., yonge,d. r. washington state has begun a program to dispose of highway runoff in which a priority has been given to the use of infiltration type technologies (e.g. infiltration basins, dry wells, etc.). heavy metals are the most prevalent priority pollutant in highway runoff. though traditionally these heavy metals are thought to possess relatively large retardation factors within the subsurface, previous studies have indicated a possibility of their transport being facilitated through complexation with natural organic matter (nom). if ignored this form of transport may pose serious errors in the prediction of metal(s) breakthough times and mass loadings to underlying groundwaters. in addressing this issue, soil columns were tested under loading conditions similar to actual infiltration bmp's to assess the performance of these facilities in removing heavy metals (cd, cu, pb, zn) from infiltrating water. experiments were performed investigating the effects of high and low concentrations of nom on metals attenuation by field soils. results show that high concentrations of nom actually improved soil column performance. the data revealed that metals speciation and background metals present in the soil are important factors to consider, because they can affect expected metals removal rates of soils. the hydraulics of the system played a secondary role to the geochemistry. results suggest that infiltration can be a viable alternative in disposing of runoff at low metals concentrations. modifications to guidelines were discussed to improve the long-term performance of infiltrations facilities. infiltration bmps, highway runoff, heavy metals, facilitated transport, humic substances trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 389.1 | The Assessment of Groundwater Pollutions Potential Resulting from Stormwater Infiltration BMP's | Hathhorn | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | the assessment of groundwater pollutions potential resulting from stormwater infiltration bmp's hathhorn,w. e., yonge,d. r. washington state has begun a program to dispose of highway runoff in which a priority has been given to the use of infiltration type technologies (e.g. infiltration basins, dry wells, etc.). heavy metals are the most prevalent priority pollutant in highway runoff. though traditionally these heavy metals are thought to possess relatively large retardation factors within the subsurface, previous studies have indicated a possibility of their transport being facilitated through complexation with natural organic matter (nom). if ignored this form of transport may pose serious errors in the prediction of metal(s) breakthough times and mass loadings to underlying groundwaters. in addressing this issue, soil columns were tested under loading conditions similar to actual infiltration bmp's to assess the performance of these facilities in removing heavy metals (cd, cu, pb, zn) from infiltrating water. experiments were performed investigating the effects of high and low concentrations of nom on metals attenuation by field soils. results show that high concentrations of nom actually improved soil column performance. the data revealed that metals speciation and background metals present in the soil are important factors to consider, because they can affect expected metals removal rates of soils. the hydraulics of the system played a secondary role to the geochemistry. results suggest that infiltration can be a viable alternative in disposing of runoff at low metals concentrations. modifications to guidelines were discussed to improve the long-term performance of infiltrations facilities. infiltration bmps, highway runoff, heavy metals, facilitated transport, humic substances, research trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 321.2 | Performance of Geotextile Separators | Holtz | TRAC/UW | 1996 | performance of geotextile separators holtz,r. d. this research involved field investigations and laboratory testing to evaluate the properties and overall performance of geotextile separators exhumed from the roadway at eight sites in eastern and central washington (phase i), and 14 sites in western washington (phase ii). both nonwoven and woven geotextile separators of different in-service ages were examined in detail, and specimens were tested in the laboratory for strength and hydraulic characteristics. the subgrade condition and geotechnical properties of the base course aggregate and subgrade soils were also evaluated.although all of the geotextile separators performed their intended separation function adequately, the geotextiles experienced very different levels of damage during construction. base aggregate type, rather than initial aggregate lift thickness, appeared to have the most influence on the level of damage. all of the recovered geotextiles installed under an angular base aggregate sustained some damage, while geotextiles installed under sub-rounded to rounded aggregate experienced minor damage, if any. the woven slit-films and needle-punched nonwoven geotextiles experienced similar reductions in strength, and both survived the installation conditions reasonably well (except for one lightweight, needle-punched nonwoven, which was overstressed during installation and which may have been installed under an excessively thin pavement section). although the heat-bonded nonwovens were heavily damaged during installation, they were installed under some of the more severe site survivability conditions.test results indicated that the permittivity of the woven slit-films and the needle-punched nonwovens both increased by similar percentages after being washed. the heat-bonded nonwovens had the highest percentage increases in permittivity after washing; this finding suggests that they clog more than other geotextiles. there was evidence that the woven slit-films experienced much more blinding than did the other geotextiles, and that iron staining and caking may also have affected their drainage performance adversely. most woven slit-film geotextiles did not meet the filtration require-ments set forth by task force 25 (1) and christopher and holtz (2) when they were placed on fine-grained subgrade soils.the unwashed (i.e., "undisturbed") permittivity results also indicated that most woven slit-film geotextile permeabilities fell well below the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot) required value. the presence of caked fines on the upper surface of three woven slit-films could indicate that their pore openings were too large for the intended filtration function, and that they might be subject to fines migration. however, the evidence on this point was inconclusive. there was no other evidence of fines migration at any of the sites.all of the pavements examined were in good condition, and damage to the geotextile separators did not appear to have had any negative impact on the pavements' long-term performance. although one pavement surface showed signs of premature failure, this could not be attributed to the performance of the geotextile separator. geotextile separators, field investigations, performance evaluation, construction damage, aggregate, subgrade, pavement trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 353.4 | Evaluation of Violation and Capture of Overwidth Trucks: A Case Study | Jessup | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | evaluation of violation and capture of overwidth trucks: a case study jessup, e.l., casavant, k.l. this report concludes the four phase evaluation of washington's fee and fine system. the primary focus of this report is the occurrence and capture of overweight vehicles at three selected evaluation sites in the eastern washington: pasco, chattaroy, and cashmere. weigh-in-motion data was utilized to determine any changes which occur in truck traffic when weight stations are open and closed. violation rates are estimated between 20% and 22% with capture rates between 20% and 27%, depending on the site. violation and capture rates, in addition to truck volume and axle weights, are further calculated for different truck types during all hours of the day. the analysis also includes seasonal variations in all variables. highway, violation, capture, season trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 397.1 | The Measurement of Roadway PM10 Emission Rates Using Tracer Techniques | Kantamaneni | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | the measurement of roadway pm10 emission rates using tracer techniques kantamaneni,r., claiborn,c. the u.s. environmental protection agency (epa) has designated spokane, wa a non-attainment area for particulate matter with a diameter equal to or less than 10 micrometers (pm10). observed 24hr pm10 standard exceedances, neglecting windblown dust contributions from surrounding agricultural areas, stem primarily from residential wood combustion and unpaved and paved roads.particulate matter emission rates from roadway related activities, that are used to develop emission inventories, are currently based on highly uncertain epa approved empirical correlations. in this work, stationary and mobile point source tracer release techniques were used to determine pm10 emission rates from 4-lane commercial/residential paved roads under sanded and unsanded conditions, and from unpaved roads relative to site specific vehicular and ambient parameters. measured street (4+ lanes; >10,000 vehicles/day) emission factors for unsanded and sanded roads were respectively 40% and 10% lower than the epa approved reference value. notably the sanded condition was not four times greater than the unsanded case, as current epa guidance suggests. preliminary results indicate a consistent relationship between pm10 and relative humidity under unsanded conditions. evidence suggests that street sweeping has a negligible effect on pm10 emission reduction. considerable uncertainties were observed with the empirical emission factor equation. in face, experimental observations were on average 90% lower than the empirical predictions.within the constraints imposed by the variable experimental conditions, the deduced emission factors for unpaved roads agreed reasonable well with the unpaved road empirical formula. limited correlations were observed with ambient meteorological parameters.the capability of the "upwind-downwind" concentration method to provide accurate emission factor predictions is also presented. within a factor of two uncertainty limit, the simflux gaussian dispersion model predictions agreed well with the experimentall determined emission factors. lateral and vertical dispersion seen to dominate roadway diffusion characteristics during periods of high and low wind speed, respectively. aerosol, particulate matter, pm10, emissions, air quality trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 402.1 | Microzonation for Temperature and Wind for the State of Washington | Kappayil | TRAC/UW | 1996 | microzonation for temperature and wind for the state of washington kappayil,s., reed,d. temperature and wind are the major microclimate parameters that were considered the microzonation of washington state. thermal movements associated with bridges and wind pressure loadings for traffic signs, signals, and luminaires are major concerns in washington. air temperature data for 49 stations across the state were obtained and were converted to the corresponding composite bridge temperature values. maps of maximum, minimum, and range of air and bridge temperatures were created to identify the temperature pattern of the state and also to develop an isothermal map of mean bridge temperature ranges. wind microclimate study included an investigation into incorporating a three-second gust wind into the aashto standards for calculating wind pressure on structural supports of traffic signs, signals, and luminaires. the new value of ch (boundary layer profile factor), the primary parameter that changes when using a 3-second gust, were obtained by comparing the velocity profiles for the hourly, fastest-mile, and 3-second gust wind speeds. adjustment of the gust factor is also included. temperature, wind loadings, bridge structural design, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 412.1 | Dynamic Response of Peats | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1996 | dynamic response of peats kramer,s. l. the objectives of this project were to investigate the dynamic behavior of peat and to evaluate the influence of that behavior on the dynamic response of peat deposits. during the course of the research, the objectives were expanded to explore the effect of strong earthquake shaking on pile foundations embedded in peat deposits.an experimental investigation was undertaken using samples of a peat deposit typical of many large peat deposits in western washington. this deposit, known locally as mercer slough in bellevue, washington, is crossed by a series of bridges that form interstate 90 and its collector-distributor ramps. test speciments were obtained by careful, undisturbed sampling of the mercer slough peat. the specimens were tested in a specially modified resonant column device.the resonant column tests showed that the peat was very soft and that its stuffness increased with effective confining pressure in a manner similar to that displayed by cohesionless soils. the peat exhibited nonlinear stress-strain behavior, and the degree of nonlinearity was observed to decrease with increasing effective confining pressure. damping was observed to increase with the increasing shear strain, but at a rate that decreased with increasing effective confining pressure. special tests designed to investigate frequency dependence of peat stiffness and damping showed that the degree of frequency dependence was relatively small.a series of ground response analyses was performed to investigate the seismic response of peat deposits. three vertical profiles through mercer slough were analyzed using both equivalent linear and nonlinear ground reponse analyses. the analyses showed that the soft nature of the mercer slough peat would produce amplification of the long-period components of an earthquake ground motion. substantial long-period motions can produce large dynamic displacements that are potentially damaging to bridges and bridge foundations. comparison of the equivalent linear and nonlinear ground response analyses showed that the equivalent linear model tended to oversoften the peat at low effective confining pressures, leading to underprediction of ground motion amplitudes at low periods. peat, ground response, foundation, earthquake engineering, research trac/uw 1996 |
| FHWA-FLP-95-008 | Estimation of Seasonal Effects for Pavement Design and Performance-Volume III | Mahoney | USDA-Forest Service/Technology and Developme | 1996 | estimation of seasonal effects for pavement design and performance-volume iii mahoney, j. p., pierce, l.m., copstead, r.l. this volume is part of a three-volume set. volume i was used to examine pavement seasonal effects with primary concentration on seasonal adjustments to surface deflections (for overlay design) and moduli ratios for use with mechanistic-empirical design procedures. volumes 2 contains documentation for the results shown in volume 1. this volume is used to illustrate design procedure and examples incorporating these seasonal effects. both bituminous and aggregate surfaced road will be illustrated. pavement moduli, seasonal, nondestructive testing usda-forest service/technology and developme 1996 |
| WA-RD 409.1 | A Framework for the Constructability Review of Transportation Projects | McManus | TRAC/UW | 1996 | a framework for the constructability review of transportation projects mcmanus, j. f., phillip, n. a., stanton, j. f., turkiyyah, g. m. the objective of this project was to recommend to the washington state department of transportation a new process for conducting constructability reviews. in phase i of the project, the researchers sought to define the problem, identify critical issues, and develop the initial elements of a constructability review process (crp).to understand how wsdot develops its projects, the researchers obtained documents and briefs on a current series of management studies; reviewed wsdot's manuals, directives, and guides describing the project development process involved; and conducted an extensive round of interview with wsdot staff and management, as well as interviews with consultants and others involved with the process. they also reviewed projects on sr 18 in the northwest region.the crp model was developed concurrently with other studies focusing on other aspects of improving the wsdot project development process. although significant changes are being implemented that should result in improvements, the researchers found that issues germane to constructability remain. these include the need for wsdot to consider constructability in a statewide project management process; to form a multi-disciplinary crp team at the project scoping phase; for closer communication, coordination, and team building between the headquarters structures service center and the regional design offices; for plans review coordination with the final constructability review; for structured project checklists for use throughout the project development process; and for an accessible record of design decisions made, as well as design and post-contract lessons learned.the researchers agree that re-engineering being done to the project development process is making improvements that are consistent with the constructabilityt enhancement provided by the crp. the main aspects of this new process are as follows: at the draft project identification report (pir) stage, a project-level value engineering study should be considered for projects that are major, costly, or that include complex features to evaluate every possibly alternative for the project. a set of up to four constructability reviews should be implemented, with the number depending on the project's type, size and complexity. the general purpose of the constructability review is to assure that constructability issues, including maintainability, are identified and resolved before completion of the ps&e. a system of checklists and a compendium of lessons learned should be developed for use throughout the project. constructability, quality, design, construction, maintenance trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 403.1 | The Relationship Between Highway Geometrics, Traffic Related Elements, and Motor Vehicle Accidents | Milton | TRAC/UW | 1996 | the relationship between highway geometrics, traffic related elements, and motor vehicle accidents milton, j.c., mannering, f.l. poisson and negative binomial regression techniques were used as a means to predict accidents on the basis of highway geometrics and traffic related factors. for a particular highway section the overall number of accidents was predicted using both poisson and negative binomial distributions. the predictions were then compared with actual accident statistics. both methods use a log-linear function to ensure that accident prediction is always non-negative. the primary data sources were the washington state department of transportation's transportation information and planning support database for geometric and traffic information and the washington state patrol's accident database for accident information. the maximum likelihood method was used to estimate the model coefficients. the results suggested that horizontal curvature, daily traffic, speed, number of lanes, and tangent length between curves are significantly correlated with accident occurrence. the results indicated that if accident data are dispersed relative to the mean, negative binomial regression is the most appropriate method of analysis. vehicle accidents, geometric design, safety, safety management systems, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 424.1 | Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Lane Lines I-5, Nisqually River Bridge to Gravelly Lake I/C | Miner | WSDOT | 1996 | methyl methacrylate (mma) lane lines i-5, nisqually river bridge to gravelly lake i/c miner, c.m. the placement of methyl methacrylate (mma) lane lines and edge stripes in a field installation, and the visual observation of mma performance, are documented in this report. methyl methacrylate, lane lines, edge stripes, striping, raised pavement markers, rpm wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 423.1 | Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Lane Lines I-90 Asahel Curtis I/C to Kachess River | Miner | WSDOT | 1996 | methyl methacrylate (mma) lane lines i-90 asahel curtis i/c to kachess river miner, c.m. this report documents the installation and performance of methyl methacrylate lane lines used in a mountain pass environment. methyl methacrylate, lane lines, raised pavement markers wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 423.1 | Contech-A 2000 PVC Sewer Pipe: SR 224 West Richland to SR240 | Miner | WSDOT | 1996 | contech-a 2000 pvc sewer pipe: sr 224 west richland to sr240 miner,c. m. the construction and pressure testing of a field instlation of contech-a 2000 pvc sewer pipe are documented in this report. accident rates wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 420.1 | An Evaluation of Motorist Aid Call Boxes in Washington | Nee | TRAC/UW | 1996 | an evaluation of motorist aid call boxes in washington nee, j., carson, j., legg, b. the purpose of a motorist aid call box system is to provide motorist assistance, to improve safety, and to serve as an incident detection tool. it also provides motorists with a sense of security and good will toward operating agencies. in spite of these positive aspects, call box system effectiveness is not perceived uniformly among areas where they are used. the washington sate department of transportation is incrementally expanding their existing call box system due to public requests. this project provides a greater understanding of the current system performance by examining the level of effort to monitor and maintain washington's call box system, the frequency of call box usage, and the system benefits to better understand current practice and to direct future deployment of call boxes. call box, research trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 404.1 | The Retardation of Heavy Metals in Stormwater Runoff by Highway Grass Strips | Newberry | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | the retardation of heavy metals in stormwater runoff by highway grass strips newberry,g. p., yonge,d. r. investigations regarding the introduction of contaminants to the aquatic environment through highway runoff began in the late 1970's. interest in this area of study has continued to increase, particularly in the area of design, operation, and effectiveness of contaminant mitigation devices. contaminants of concern in highway runoff include metals, organics, and suspended solids.to determine the effectiveness of these grass strips as a retention mechanism, a full-scale grass strip model was constructed that allowed control of slope and stormwater contaminant feed rate. the model was 1.2 m wide (perpendicular to flow path) and contained a 3 m grass section. a simulated highway stormwater was developed that contained sediment, lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc. the research approach was divided into three main areas: (i) determination of the hydraulic retention time for various slope and flow combination, (ii) estimation of retention times for selected metals, (iii) analysis of the fate of the metal contaminants with regard to spatial location as well as plant uptake. hydraulic detention time over a range of slope/flow combinations was estimated using a bromide tracer technique.the largest portion of metals were retained within the initial 1 m of the grass strip and 0.4 inches of depth. these analytical findings were supported by visual observations that indicated that the stormwater sediment was retained in the upper 1 m of the grass strip. overall metal retention was estimated by mass balance and it was determined that 84% of zinc, 93% of lead, and >99% of cadmium and copper applied to the grass strip was retained. over the duration of nine indivdual storm events, no signifigant metal breakthrough was observed at the test strip outlet or in the first set of monitoring wells placed 0.6m from the stormwater inlet distribution device. stormwater contaminants, stormwater metal removal, highway runoff, vegetated slopes, grass strips, research trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 408.1 | Hot In-Place Recycling, SR-97 West Wapato Road to Lateral A Road (SB) | Pierce | WSDOT | 1996 | hot in-place recycling, sr-97 west wapato road to lateral a road (sb) pierce, l.m. the construction of the washington state department of transportation's first hot in-place recycling project is documented. the project is located in the eastern portion of the state southwest of yakima on sr-97. the two southbound lanes for approximately 5.5 miles were recycled using the pyrotech brand of equipment.the report also includes a description of the hot in-place recycling process, equipment specifications, a discussion of the limitations and benefits of the process, and a survey of other state dots' experience with the process. asphalt concrete, recycling, in-place, construction wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 407.1 | Rubber Modified and Performance Based Asphalt Binder Pavements, I-5 Nisqually River to Gravelly Lake | Pierce | WSDOT | 1996 | rubber modified and performance based asphalt binder pavements, i-5 nisqually river to gravelly lake pierce,l. m. this report describes the construction of asphalt pavements made with three types of asphalt binders. the three types of binders were pba-6, pba-6gr (ground rubber), and ar4000w. the two modified binders, pba-6 and pba-6gr, are being evaluated to determine their resistance to rutting as compared to the conventional binder, ar4000w.construction was not without problems. cyclic segregation, defined as repetitive areas of asphalt mix segregation that occur at approximately every truck load, was a major problem on the northbound lanes. a material transfer device was used on the southbound lanes which minimized the cyclic segregation effect.at the time of this report (approximately two years and 1.0 to 2.0 million esals), there is no data that indicate which of the three asphalt binder types will have better performance. the project will be monitored over the next five to ten years to identify if any added performance is gained in any one of the mixes. rubber asphalt pavement, performance based asphalt pavement, cyclic segregation, construction wsdot 1996 |
| WA-RD 391.1 | Catalytic Pavement Borders | Watts | TRAC/WSU | 1996 | catalytic pavement borders watts,r. j., jones,a. p. the use of a solid photocatalyst, titanium dioxide, as an amendment incorporated into pavement surfaces was investigated as a basis for controlliing nonpoint hydrocarbon runof. titanium dioxide is an inexpensive and conservative material that, when activated by sunlight, generates oxygen radicals capable of degrading common hydrocarbon contaminants characteristic of nonpoint highway runoff.six materials were evaluated for fixing the photocatalyst onto pavements; paint base and concrete sealant were most effective. a number of contaminants were effectively degraded using the photocatalytic process including hexadecane, anthracene, and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol. standard procedures (e.g., chloride anallysis, addition of scavengers) were used to assess the applicability of photocatalytic pavement borders to a range of waste compounds; the data showed that the process has potential to degrade most compounds present in nonpoint highway runoff. the results of this laboratory study indicted that photocatalytic pavement borders have significant potential for mitigating nonpoint highway runoff. nonpoint runoff, hydrocarbons, photocatalysis, solar energy, research trac/wsu 1996 |
| WA-RD 415.1 | The Potential for Freight Productivity Improvements Along Urban Corridors | Trowbridge | TRAC/UW | 1996 | the potential for freight productivity improvements along urban corridors trowbridge, a., nam, d., mannering, f.l., carson, j. the impacts that would result from providing "reserved capacity" for trucks rather than restricting trucks are considered in this study. in the extreme case, trucks would be allowed to travel in a dedicated or exclusive lane. a more moderate approach would be to provide a cooperative dedicated lane in which vehicles such as trucks and buses could share a common lane and yet be separated from general traffic.the study determined the following. reserved-capacity strategies for trucks would offer (1) nearly $10 million in annual travel time savings for the trucking industry, (2) a savings of about 2.5 minutes per average truck trip (less than 8 percent savings in trip travel time), and (3) almost $30 million in annual travel time savings for single-occupancy vehicles in the seattle region. the difference in travel times between the reserved-capacity strategy that would add trucks to the existing hov lanes and the one that would add an exclusive truck lane would be insignificant, providing little justification for the construction of an exclusive truck lane. in all likelihood, the impact of reserved-capacity strategies on safety would be small, depending on the particular reserved capacity strategy. reserved capacity strategies for trucks would accelerate pavement deterioration in the reserved lanes, but the reduction in the pavement deterioration rates of the general purpose lanes might help to balance future reconstruction costs. surveys of the general public and subsequent statistical analysis showed considerable resistance to reserved-capacity strategies for trucks. however, this resistance is not unlike that encountered when hov lanes were first considered.it is the recommendation of this study that the idea of reserved-capacity strategies for trucks continue to be presented to the trucking industry, to the public, and to other impacted agencies for discussion and consideration. the study showed that the adverse impacts of such strategies are easily manageable and there is at least potential for freight-productivity improvements. agencies, analysis, annual, buses, construction, corridors, cost, costs, deterioration, exclusive truck lanes, freight, freight mobility, hov, hov lanes, impact, impacts, improvement, lanes, pavement, public, reconstruction, research, resistance, safety, seattle, statistical analysis, survey, travel, travel time, travel times, truck, trucking, trucks, urban trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 387.1 | Design Of Seismic Restrainers For In-Span Hinges | Trochalakis | TRAC/UW | 1996 | design of seismic restrainers for in-span hinges trochalakis, p., eberhard, m.o., stanton, j.f. currently, two commonly used restrainer design methods are those mandated by the american association of state and highway transportation officials (aashto) and the california department of transportation (caltrans). to evaluate these methods and perhaps develop a new method, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) sponsored this study.using sample wsdot designs and seismic retrofitting guidelines from wsdot and caltrans, the researchers developed a model of a two-frame bridge with a single in-span hinge. the nonlinear response of the bridge was studied to determine the maximum opening experienced at the in-span hinge and the maximum relative displacements at the abutments.to identify the parameters most important in restrainer design and in predicting the unrestrained maximum relative abutment displacements, the researchers varied eleven parameters. the parametric study identified the parameters that significantly influenced the maximum relative hinge displacement (mrhd) and the maximum relative abutment displacements (mrad). currently, two commonly used restrainer design methods are those mandated by the american association of state and highway transportation officials (aashto) and the california department of transportation (caltrans). to evaluate these methods and perhaps develop a new method, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) sponsored this study.using sample wsdot designs and seismic retrofitting guidelines from wsdot and caltrans, the researchers developed a model of a two-frame bridge with a single in-span hinge. the nonlinear response of the bridge was studied to determine the maximum opening experienced at the in-span hinge and the maximum relative displacements at the abutments.the aashto empirical seat width equation and the caltrans restrainer design method were compared with the results of nonlinear time history analysis. the empirical seat width equation produced conservative results while the caltrans method produced inconsistent results, a large amount of scatter and some significantly unconservative values.using the results of the parametric study, the researchers developed a new restrainer design method that predicted the mrhd much more accurately than the caltrans method. the researchers also developed a method for estimating the unrestrained mrad. bridge, design, hinge, earthquake, evaluation, restrainers trac/uw 1996 |
| WA-RD 387.2 | Unseating of Simply Supported Spans During Earthquakes | Trochalakis | TRAC/UW | 1996 | unseating of simply supported spans during earthquakes trochalakis,p., eberhard,m. o., stanton,j. f. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) is currently retrofitting many older bridges to prevent their superstructures from unseating during earthquakes. in bridges whose simply supported spans have inadequate bearing lengths, wsdot most frequently connects adjacent spans with high-strength rod restrainers. the study described in this report was undertaken to determine whether restrainers in this manner are effective in preventing span unseating and to develop a method for identifying vulnerable simply supported spans. a companion report considered the design of seismic restrainers for in-span hinges.the researchers developed a nonlinear analytical model of a four-span, simply supported, prestressed concrete bridge. variations of this model were subjected to four ground motions to determine the maximum relative displacements between the simply supported spans and their supports. the maximum relative displacements at the piers depended most on the bearing friction resistance, the earthquake motion, and the size of the joints in the deck. the maximum relative displacements at the abutments depended most on the bearing resistance and the earthquake motion.based on the results of the parametric study, the researchers developed a new method to estimate the susceptibility of bridges to unseating of simply supported spans. the researchers also found that restrainers connecting adjacent spans are ineffective in reducing the relative displacements between the superstructure spans and their supports. bridge, design, span, unseating, earthquake, evaluation trac/uw 1996 |
| Pilot Study: Developing Roadside Design Guides for Roadside Areas | Schauman | TRAC/UW | 1996 | pilot study: developing roadside design guides for roadside areas schauman,s., hamilton,c. w., witherspoon,b., watson,d., van anda,k., bell,r. this pilot study begins the process of developing conceptual design guidelines for roadside restoration. the ultimate goal for the guidelines is to provide cost-effective plant selection, design, installation, and management that will be valued by the public and function to enhance safety. this pilot study explored two basic questions. the first was, what do viewers see on the roadsides beyond the fog line? because this question could not be answered within the scope of this effort, the study was limited to using photo simulation to ask the question, do viewers see trees along the roadside? along with this basic question was the task of evaluating various photo simulation techniques for accuracy, cost effectiveness, and ease of use. because video simulation of real scenes in real time was cost prohibitive, the surveys used computer-generated still photos of actual scenes with trees added or taken away from the scene. although the results varied, this pilot indicated that people do notice trees and prominent landmarks. the researchers also concluded that that simple, cost-effective photos simulations could be used to survey the viewer's ability to differentiate among roadsides with various numbers of trees, among various planting design alternatives, and perhaps among tree species.the second question was, how can urban and semi-urban roadside sites be classified horticulturally, and which currently used plants perform well? to answer it, researchers first constructed a theoretical classification of sites based on various above-ground characteristics, including vegetation type (remnant or planted), levels of maintenance, plant selections (ornamental versus naturalistic), dominant vegetation fon-n (herbaceous, shrub, or tree), and degree of slope. they then surveyed horticultural conditions at 28 sites along 1-90, 1-5, and 1-405 that represented a range of site classification categories. results of the survey suggested that soil conditions are fairly uniform across a wide range of sites. poor soil fertility, compaction, and poor drainage are common problems.assessment of plant performance at these sites revealed that many of the woody plants showed signs of canopy or branch loss, stunted growth, and/or insect infestation. overall, plant performance at most sites was rated 3 on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (good). restoration, landscaping, plants, photo simulation trac/uw 1996 | |
| Capacity Improvements Extension Task Report | Reed | TRAC/UW | 1995 | capacity improvements extension task report reed, t., barnes, j., rutherford, g.s. the purpose of this report is to provide the results of the background research conducted to date, to enable development of a quantification method for benefits and costs of proposed transportation demand management (tdm) projects for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). ultimately, an analysis approach would allow tdm projects to be included in the priority programming process for the 1997-99 biennium. in order for this to happen, the costs and benefits of tdm projects must be quantified in a way that will be consistent among projects for equitable comparison, yet flexible enough to reflect the unique characteristics of the vast array of possible strategies and strategy combinations. the information presented herein is not all-inclusive; but it is does provide a foundation upon which further research on evaluation and prioritization for tdm projects can be pursued. the report also presents the results of background research conducted to date on the costs and benefits of access control. this research provides the theoretical groundwork and a starting point for selecting the appropriate quantification approach for use in the mobility prioritization process for the 1997-1999 biennium. capacity improvements, transportation demand management, tdm, benefit-cost analysis, access control, prioritization trac/uw 1995 | |
| IU 95.6 | Affirmative Action Process and Programs at the WSDOT | MacLachlan | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | affirmative action process and programs at the wsdot maclachlan, s., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report considers the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot) affirmative action and diversity-related programs for two of the agency's top occupational categories: official and administrators and professional engineers. the purpose of the report is not to evaluate the wsdot's affirmative action program; rather, it is to present publicly available information in a format that makes the following issues more readily understandable: 1) how the wsdot establishes its affirmative action goals, the data sources upon which they are based, and the agency's resulting affirmative action goals; 2) how the demographic makeup of the wsdot's professional engineers and officials and administrators compare with the agency's stated affirmative action goals; and 3) net demographic change among these groups at the wsdot between 1990 and 1994. affirmative action, program, engineers, administrators, transportation, innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| IU 95.2 | An Exploration of Bicycle Use in the U.S.: National Findings and Local Implications | MacLachlan | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | an exploration of bicycle use in the u.s.: national findings and local implications maclachlan, s., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report connects the barriers to encouraging utilitarian bicycling with the funding opportunities afforded by the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act (istea). chapter one presents findings of the barriers to bicycling as outlined by three case studies. safety hazards are discussed in detail. chapter two presents new data regarding bicycle safety concerns from puget sound area employees and recommends facility design improvements. chapter three supplements the national bicycling and walking study by describing the parts of istea that most pertain to bicycles. finally, new primary data are presented as to how metropolitan planning organizations are allocating some of their istea funds for bicycle projects. bicycle, non-motorized transportation, barriers, safety, istea innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| WA-RD 367.1 | Wind on the Evergreen Point Bridge: January 27 to March 31, 1994 | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1995 | wind on the evergreen point bridge: january 27 to march 31, 1994 brown, c., paige, k. the data collected over the title period were used to establish the accuracy of the long term measurements at the site, the protocol for the use of the weatherpak mobile anemometer, the fit of the data with a gumbel type i distribution, the optimum of the 15-minute averaging period, and the invariance of the gust: average wind speed ratio. wind, floating bridge, forces trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 392.1 | Maintenance Free Crash Cushion | Carney | WSDOT | 1995 | maintenance free crash cushion carney, j.f. iii this final report describes the development and full-scale crash testing of a reusable crash cushion which dissipates knetic energy through the lateral deformation of a row of nine-high molecular weight/high density polyethylene (hmw/hdpe) cylinders. this 100km/h impact attenuation device, called the react 350, satisfies the new crash testing requirements of national cooperative highway research program (nchrp) report 350 and has been approved by the federal highway adminstration (fhwa) for use on the national highway system.most impact attenuation devices currently employed require the replacement of damaged structural components and spent energy dissipating elements following an impact event. until these repairs and refurbishments are carried out, such safety devices are largely ineffective in that they are not able to dissipate kinetic energy in a subsequent impact such that relevant occupant risk parameters are within prescribed limits. the react 350 is a reusable and self-restorative narrow hazard crash cushion. it can dissipate large amounts of kinetic energy, undergo significant deformations and strains without fracturing, and then essentially regain its original shape and energy dissipation potential following an impact with an errant vehicle. highway safety, impact attenuation devices, maintenance free, reusable, polyethylene, self-restoration wsdot 1995 |
| WA-RD 378.2 | Barrier Design Files: Supplement to Special Noise Barrier Applications, Phase II | Cohn | WSDOT/University of Louisville | 1995 | barrier design files: supplement to special noise barrier applications, phase ii cohn, l. f., harris, r. a. this report examines five special noise barrier applications that exist in addition to the conventional vertical reflective barrier. the acoustic, aesthetic, and economic feasibility of absorptive t-top, y-top, slanted-top, single-wall absorptive, and absorptive parallel noise barriers are addressed s they compare to a conventional noise barrier. based on acoustic, aesthetic, and economic impacts, conclusions and recommendations are drawn on the more promising of these special barrier applications for selected wsdot project. for each project selected, a standard barrier design was completed, followed by application of he five special treatments. roadway barrier, noise, reflective, performance wsdot/university of louisville 1995 |
| WA-RD 378.1 | Special Noise Barrier Applications, Phase II | Cohn | WSDOT/University of Louisville | 1995 | special noise barrier applications, phase ii cohn, l.f., harris, r.a. this report examines five special noise barrier applications that exist in addition to the conventional vertical reflective barrier. the acoustic, aesthetic, and economic feasibility of absorptive t-top, y-top, slanted-top, single-wall absorptive, and absorptive parallel noise barriers are addressed s they compare to a conventional noise barrier. based on acoustic, aesthetic, and economic impacts, conclusions and recommendations are drawn on the more promising of these special barrier applications for selected wsdot project. for each project selected, a standard barrier design was completed, followed by application of he five special treatments. roadway barrier, reflective, performance, noise wsdot/university of louisville 1995 |
| WA-RD 352.1 | Development and Evaluation of an Incident Response Database for Washington State | Cutting | TRAC/UW | 1995 | development and evaluation of an incident response database for washington state cutting,a., porter,r. d., mannering,f. l. incidents (vehicle accidents and disablements) significantly contribute to the growing traffic congestion problem in washington state. to mitigate the adverse impacts of incidents, wsdot has established a number of incident management systems that employ a variety of incident management procedures; however, it is difficult to quantify the effectiveness of these incident management procedures because the appropriate data are lacking. this study developed a database program to resolve this data deficiency and provide a single, consistent, statewide incident management database. to develop the database program, extensive interviews with incident management personnel were conducted and a review of the extant literature was undertaken. with this information in hand, the incident management database program was developed and tested extensively in the field. the data entry program was developed using foxpro, a relational database software for dos-, macintosh-, unix, or windows-based computers. the resulting software package is easy to use or modify as needs evolve. based on field tests of the database program, there is no doubt that its widespread use could eventually have a significant impact on the evaluation and development of incident management systems in washington state. incident response database, incident management, geographic information system, gis trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 360.2 | IVHS Data and Information Structure | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1995 | ivhs data and information structure dailey,d. j., haselkorn,m., elliott,s. d. this comprehensive research report has been developed as a fundamental resource for providing wsdot managers with a better understanding of the current wireless environment that can guide future decisions on mobile communications. the background histories and conclusions developed as a result of this research should prove valuable in helping the wsdot to make wise choices when investing in wireless technologies.this research project has consisted primarily of a comprehensive literature review of wireless communications technologies to establish an historical backdrop outlining the growth of today's mobile communications systems, while also describing the current state of the art. this extensive literature review has been supplemented by personal interviews with industry representatives and wsdot officials. analog cellular, digital cellular, cellular digital packet data, personal communications service, cordless, radiopaging, wireless, mobile radio, ardis, ram, geostationary satellites, meteor burst, ct-2, dect, paging, data networks, global positioning, remote sensing trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 363.1 | Seismic Vulnerability of the Alaskan Way Viaduct: WSDOT Typical Unit | Eberhard | TRAC/UW | 1995 | seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct: wsdot typical unit eberhard,m. o., de la colina,j., ryter,s. an engineering team from the university of washington (uw) evaluated the seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct, located in seattle, washington. this report presents the evaluation of a typical three-bay unit that was designed by wsdot. the evaluation team performed response-spectrum analyses and nonlinear analyses for both fixed-base and pinned-base conditions. the team considered a widely used soft-soil spectrum and worst-case, site-specific spectra. wherever possible, the uw team evaluated the vulnerability to each failure node following two or three procedures, including those proposed by the applied technology council (1983) and priestley, seible, and chai (1992).the evaluation team found that the vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct exceeds that of bridges built to current standards. the vulnerability is a result of a combination of two factors: (1) the ground motion is likely to strongly excite the viaduct; and (2) many of the wsdot unit's structural components are likely to behave in a brittle manner. the following deficiencies were identified as the most critical.*the first-story column-reinforcement splices are too short, they have too little confinement reinforcement, and they are located in regions likely to experience large ductility demands.*the column/beam joints have inadequate confinement reinforcement, and during strong ground motions, they could experience a diagonal tension failure.*the shear strength of the first-story columns is marginal.*if the first-story columns develop their flexural capacity during an earthquake, the pile-supported footings could fail in shear. bridge, earthquake, evaluation, reinforced concrete trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 393.1 | HOV Evaluation and Monitoring: Phase II | Etchart | TRAC/UW | 1995 | hov evaluation and monitoring: phase ii etchart,g., brown,w. w., jacobson,e. l., benuska,m., hansen,m., ulberg,c. this report presents and summarizes the baseline data collected in fulfillment of the requirements for the washington state department of transportation grant "hov lane evaluation and monitoring." this report provides the information necessary to analyze how lane performance and development. data collection results and analysis are presented, followed by conclusions and recommendations.the data contained herein were collected during phase i and phase ii of the high occupance vehicle lane (hov) monitoring project (july 1992-june 1995). the data collection methodology is described in the final report, hov monitoring and evaluation tool. included in this report are the following primary and secondary measures of hov lane performance: (1) average vehicle occupancy data, (2) travel time data, (3) public opinion survey results, (4) transit ridership data, (5) enforcement, compliance, and adjudication data, and (7) accident data. data collection issues and their implications for data availability are discussed.it is important to note that this report does not evaluate the hov lane system in the puget sound region. rather, it is a compilation of the data necessary to conduct a meaningful evaluation. although an analysis of public opinion, transit ridership, enforcement and accident data is provided, the report's primary purpose is to simply present the data and discuss issues associated with its use--not to provide an extensive analysis. high occupancy vehicle, hov, hov lane evaluation, traffic observation trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 376.1 | Bellevue Smart Traveler: Design, Demonstration, and Assessment | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1995 | bellevue smart traveler: design, demonstration, and assessment haselkorn, m., spyridakis, j., blumenthal, c., michalak, s., goble, b., garner, m. new approaches must be taken to make high occupancy vehicle (hov) commuting more attractive. one approach is to use innovative communication technology to provide commuters with the means to easily and flexibly arrange for hov commuting to and from their downtown office buildings. the goal of the study was to design and test an information system that would help decrease single-occupancy vehicle (sov) travel to a downtown employment center by making alternative commuting options more attractive and easier to access. the project team accomplished this goal by developing, implementing, demonstrating, and testing a traveler information center (tic) prototype in downtown bellevue, washington. the main function of the bellevue smart traveler (bst) tic was to help commuters form dynamic rideshare groups, as well as to provide traffic congestion and transit information. the tic integrated phone and paging technology to deliver three types of personal commuter information: (1) dynamic ride matching information, (2) current traffic congestion information, and (3) transit information. the usage patterns and various surveys that were conducted suggested that participants liked the idea of dynamic ridesharing, liked the presentation of the information, liked the technology, were willing to offer rides, and used bst to receive other forms of information. however, for various reasons they were either unable or unwilling to form ride matches. traveler information center, ridesharing, ride matching, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 385.1 | A Real-Time Traveler Information System: Expansion, Implementation, and Evaluation | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1995 | a real-time traveler information system: expansion, implementation, and evaluation haselkorn, m., spyridakis, j., dailey, d.j., miller, c., goble, b., garner, m. this report documents the third phase of efforts to develop traffic reporter, an advanced traveler information system for the puget sound region. traffic reporter is a pc-based, graphical, interactive program that displays real-time traveler information.the goal of this project was to help commuters make more efficient use of puget sound-area freeways by providing them with accurate information about traffic conditions. on-road surveys of puget sound commuters and other data provided the basis for the first traffic reporter design and prototype. useability tests guided the development of a second prototype. in phase 3, we conducted additional useability tests and developed a third version. this report describes in detail the features of the second prototype, the results of the useability tests, and the program enhancements implemented in phase 3. we also tested two methods of delivery: tv and radio traffic reporters and a touch-screen kiosk version. intelligent transportation systems (its), advanced real-time traveler information, traffic maps, congestion maps, traffic graphics trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 383.1 | The Washington State Department of Transportation Memorandum of Agreement for Wetland Compensation Banking: County and Tribal Participation | Hershman | TRAC/UW | 1995 | the washington state department of transportation memorandum of agreement for wetland compensation banking: county and tribal participation hershman, m.j., green,w. j. wetlands compensation banking is an emerging tool for coordinating wetland compensatory requirements of the section 404 program of the clean water act, as well as requirements of some state and local regulatory programs. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) wetland compensation bank program (wcbp) memorandum of agreement (moa), signed on september 15, 1994, by five federal agencies and three state agencies, coordinates state and federal actions when a compensation bank is implemented in connection with a highway development project. local county, city, and tribal governments are included as participants in the moa process. the goal of this report was to identify important issues wsdot must consider when it implements the wcbp within county and tribal government jurisdictions. thirteen county governments and four tribal governments were asked to answer questions about their government structure and policy framework, as well as a series of questions specific to the moa process. both county and tribal governments are generally impressed with the quality of the moa and are very interested in participating in the process. a majority of governments would like to see an increased role for county and tribal governments, including a voting membership on the program's oversight committee, early participation in site selection, and possible joint ventures in developing and/or managing banks. the responses reflect an awareness by the counties and tribes that, although the moa is an agreement between state and federal agencies, the implementation of the agreement on the ground and in the landscape will mainly impact local jurisdictions and their inhabitants. wetlands, wetland compensation banking, wetland mitigation, county government, tribal government, local wetland plans, watershed plans, wsdot program coordination, wetlands protection, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 390.1 | Measuring Level of Service and Performance in Public Transportation | Hodge | TRAC/UW | 1995 | measuring level of service and performance in public transportation hodge,d. c., orrell iii,j. d. this study considered both the conceptual and empirical aspects of performance evaluation criteria and processes. at the conceptual level, the research approach included (1) developing a cross-referencing software application for describing and linking the various legislative details that define the context for public transportation delivery and evaluation, (2) developing a conceptual framework for categorizing and interpreting various public transportation evaluation criteria, and (3) evaluating the evolving attempts to redefine level of service (los) criteria, especially as they relate to istea, growth management, and state public transportation plan requirements. at the empirical level, the research approach included (1) exploration of the application of evaluation criteria in four prototypical planning situations, including one planning application designed specifically to support wsdot's development of a framework to assess basic accessibility for public transportation in washington state, and (2) exploration of multivariate statistical profiles of selected public transportation performance and geographic context variables using section 15 and census data. the empirical portion of the project applied both geographic information system (gis) and statistical analysis tools. public transportation, performance measures, level of service, section 15 data, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 362.1 | I-90 Lane Conversion Evaluation | Kim | TRAC/UW | 1995 | i-90 lane conversion evaluation kim, s., koehne, j., mannering, f.l. the purpose of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of converting a general purpose traffic lane to an hov lane on interstate 90 between issaquah and bellevue way. the research effort included consideration of vehicle occupancies, travel time, safety, and public support. a successful lane conversion would demonstrate the potential to save the cost of constructing new highway lanes when existing highway lanes were available for conversion.from an operational perspective, we can conclude that the hov lane conversion did not have an adverse impact on travel speeds or travel times. moreover, a reduction in speed variance was observed after the hov lane conversion, which suggests a possible improvement in safety. finally, an analysis of speed-flow relationships showed that the hov lane had a significant impact, but the adverse consequences of this impact would be felt only in highly congested conditions. a relatively low hov violation rate of 4.6 percent was observed, possibly indicating that the benefit gained from using the hov lane may have been minimal. no change was noted in the average vehicle occupancy for the overall facility. the accident investigation was limited because of time constraints and hampered by outside factors; nearly half of the accidents were possibly attributable to unrelated construction.from a public opinion standpoint, the i-90 lane conversion in the seattle area can be classified as a qualified success. while a slight majority of commuters oppose the conversion, public opinion for and against is surprisingly close. it appears that with effective marketing and careful implementation, lane conversions can be successfully undertaken. however, it is important to recognize that significant opposition may arise from young commuters, from higher income households with a high number of adults, from commuters with fixed work times, from regular sov users, and from commuters who will be forced to make departure time changes. to reduce their opposition, commuters who fit this mold should be addressed through informational campaigns and other strategies. lane conversion, take-a-lane, operational analysis of hov lanes, public attitudes toward hov lanes trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 373.1 | Urban Goods and Intercity Freight Movement | Klastorin | TRAC/UW | 1995 | urban goods and intercity freight movement klastorin, t., pivo, g., pilcher, m., carlson, d., hyman, c., hansen, s., hess, p., thatte, a. this study examined the freight movement and logistics patterns of six businesses located in urban and suburban centers of metropolitan seattle. its two principle objectives were (1) to identify key factors that influence location and transportation choices, patterns, and times and (2) to build a sound foundation for future research regarding urban freight movement's relationship to compact urban form.the study found that firm location decisions are driven more by land costs than by transportation costs; proximity to denser urban areas means more business for four of six firms investigated; transportation managers adjust to increased congestion; innovations such as smaller trucks and urban-edge transfer stations facilitate freight movement in dense areas; and site and roadway design can have a big impact on urban goods movement. a variety of new approaches, including freight consolidation, congestion pricing, freight friendly urban design, and insights of truckers, were suggested for further analysis. urban goods, intercity freight movement, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 363.3 | Seismic Vulnerability of the Alaskan Way Viaduct: SED Typical Unit | Knaebel | TRAC/UW | 1995 | seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct: sed typical unit knaebel,p., eberhard,m. o., de la colina,j. an engineering team from the university of washington (uw) evaluated the seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct, located in seattle, washington. this report presents the evaluation of a typical three-bay unit that was designed by the city of seattle engineering department (sed). the evaluation team performed response-spectrum analyses and nonlinear analyses for the fixed-base condition. the team considered a widely used soft-soil spectrum and worst-case, site-specific spectra. wherever possible, the uw team evaluated the vulnerability for each failure mode following procedures proposed; by the applied technology council; and by researchers at the university of california, san diego.the evaluation team found that the vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct exceeds that of bridges built to current standards. the vulnerability is a result of a combination of two factors: (1) the design ground motion would strongly excite the viaduct; and (2) many of the structural components lack the ductility required by current standards. the following deficiencies were identified as the most critical.*the lower-story columns have inadequate transverse reinforcement, and could fail in shear before they develop their flexural capacity.*the first- and second-story joints have inadequate confinement reinforcement, and during strong ground motions, they could experience a diagonal-tension failure.*if the base of the lower-story columns develop their flexural capacity, the footings could fail in shear. bridge, earthquake, evaluation, reinforced concrete trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 363.4 | Seismic Vulnerability of the Alaskan Way Viaduct: Summary Report | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1995 | seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct: summary report kramer, s.l., eberhard, m.o. university of washington researchers studied the structural and geotechnical aspects of the seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct. a design-level earthquake would strongly shake the viaduct and cause widespread liquefaction of the underlying loose, saturated soils. the liquefaction would likely cause the foundations to settle and to move laterally. the alaskan way viaduct's reinforcing details make the viaduct particularly vulnerable to strong shaking and to foundation movements induced by liquefaction. in a design level earthquake, the alaskan way viaduct would be severely damaged and multiple sections could collapse. liquefaction, seismic hazard analysis, foundation stiffness, foundation damping, lateral spreading trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 363.2 | Seismic Vulnerability of the Alaskan Way Viaduct:--Geotechnical Engineering Aspects | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1995 | seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct:--geotechnical engineering aspects kramer, s.l., sivaneswaran, n., tucker, k. this report describes the geotechnical engineering aspects of a seismic vulnerability analysis of the alaskan way viaduct in seattle, washington. the alaskan way viaduct is an approximately 40ld, two-level, reinforced concrete structures that carries some 86,000 vehicles per day along the seattle waterfront. subsurface data from previous investigations for construction of the alaskan way viaduct and other structures in the general area were collected and interpreted. the existing subsurface data was supplemented by additional borings, cone penetration test soundings, shear wave velocity tests, and laboratory tests. the existing and supplemental subsurface data was then combined to form a model of the subsurface conditions along the length of the viaduct. a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis was performed to develop design-level ground motions for use in the seismic vulnerability analysis. these ground motions were used as input for site-specific ground response analyses that predicted the nature of ground shaking along the length of the viaduct. the ground response analyses also predicted cyclic loading levels that were used in subsequent liquefaction analyses. foundation stiffness and damping characteristics of the existing foundations were analyzed for use in analyses of the dynamic response of the alaskan way viaduct superstructure. the subsurface investigations revealed evidence of potentially liquefiable soils along the majority of the length of the alaskan way viaduct. review of historical documents verified that the soils were deposited in a manner that has produced liquefiable soils in other parts of the u.s. and the world, and that liquefaction has been observed near the alaskan way viaduct in past earthquakes. a detailed liquefaction hazard evaluation that considered issues of susceptibility, initiation, and effects was conducted. the evaluation indicated that widespread liquefaction would be caused by the design-level ground motions. this liquefaction could cause bearing failure of the pile foundations that support the viaduct. it could also produce significant post-earthquake settlement and lateral movement that could cause severe damage or collapse of the viaduct. liquefaction, seismic hazard analysis, foundation stiffness, foundation damping, lateral spreading trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 335.1 | WSDOT Pavement Guide--Volume 2 | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1995 | wsdot pavement guide--volume 2 mahoney, j.p. this guide has been prepared for wsdot personnel in designing, constructing and maintaining pavement structures. volume 2 (pavement notes) contains 11 sections and is used to provide an overview of information important in designing pavement structures. such information is intended to provide insight into the pavement design, evaluation, and rehabilitation process. pavement management trac/uw 1995 |
| Vehicle / Pavement Interaction At The PACCAR Test Site | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1995 | vehicle / pavement interaction at the paccar test site mahoney,j. p., chatti,k., winters,b. c., moran,t. j. accident rates trac/uw 1995 | |
| WA-RD 315.2 | The WSDOT Pavement Management System-Operational Enhancement | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1995 | the wsdot pavement management system-operational enhancement mahoney, j.p., seferian, m. this report documents potential enhancements in three areas for the washington state pavement management system (wspms): (1) a checking scheme for the annual pavement condition survey, (2) models for use in estimating vehicle operating costs due to pavement deterioration and their use in the optimal timing of rehabilitation, and (3) an alternate method for estimating pavement performance equations. the earlier report prepared for this study (wa-rd 315.1, statistical methods for wsdot pavement and material applications) provides an overview of various statistical methods. a purpose of that report was to explain statistical methods (with special emphasis on regression analysis) in a straightforward manner to a broad group of users. pavement management systems, pavement, sampling, statistics, costs models, regression analysis, modules trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 384.1 | Vehicle/Pavement Interaction at the PACCAR Test Site | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1995 | vehicle/pavement interaction at the paccar test site mahoney, j.p., winters, b.c., chatti, k., moran, t.j., monismith, c.l., kramer, s.l. the condition of the u.s. highway system has been and continues to be a major concern of both the highway and trucking communities. this is understandable given the fact that in 1990, combination vehicles with five or more axles accounted for 91 percent of the 18,000 pound equivalent axle loads (esals) on rural interstate highways. this heavy vehicle traffic and the pavement system it travels on combine to generate a perpetual cycle of pavement deterioration and rehabilitation. increasing truck traffic leads to predictable pavement damage that in turn contributes to potentially increasing dynamic loading of the pavement. this cycle continues until some form of pavement rehabilitation is undertaken. the trucking community alters the design and operation of their vehicles largely due to economic considerations (profit) but also in response to the ride quality (or lack thereof) of the infrastructure to which they are bound. on the other hand, the pavement community is constantly updating design and construction practice to improve pavement performance. unfortunately, both parties develop a form of "technical tunnel vision" and work to resolve some of the same concerns without the benefit of a possible mutual effort. as such it was recognized that there was a need to improve our mutual understanding of truck pavement interaction. often, but not always, a beneficial change in one community (such as smoother pavements) benefits the other (less truck/cargo damage).this report is part of a multiphased research project entitled "truck/pavement interaction" conducted jointly by the university of washington, university of california-berkeley, washington state department of transportation (wsdot), california department of transportation (caltrans), and paccar, inc. this is an attempt to promulgate a mutually beneficial dialog between the pavement and trucking communities. the objective of the research is to investigate how different truck suspensions, tire/axle combinations, tire loads, and tire pressures affect pavement response and conversely how pavement condition affects truck performance and damage. these objectives will be accomplished by operating instrumented trucks over an instrumented pavement section. truck, pavement interaction, pavement strains, falling weight deflectometer, truck speed, tire pressure, spatial repeatability, back calculation, moduli trac/uw 1995 |
| IU 95.1 | Congestion Pricing: An Examination of Feasibility Issues | McCormack | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | congestion pricing: an examination of feasibility issues mccormack, e.d. congestion pricing is a promising tool for the reduction of urban traffic congestion. several localities have shown it to be feasible, both technically and administratively. however, the biggest obstacle to congestion pricing is political resistance. implementation would require ideological attractiveness in addition to technical feasibility. a successful congestion pricing program would have to address deeply felt concerns over equity, revenue distribution, and political acceptability. congestion pricing, equity, revenue, politics innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| IU 95.7 | The Transportation Impacts of Mixed Land-Use Neighborhoods | McCormack | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | the transportation impacts of mixed land-use neighborhoods mccormack, e.d., chang, j., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. developers and planners have suggested that mixing land uses can educe automobile dependency by making more goods and services available within walking and short driving distances. this research used two-day travel diary and demographic survey of 900 households in three puget sound neighborhoods characterized by two or more distinct land uses. this data set was then compared with detailed household travel data collected throughout king county by the puget sound regional council. the data were adjusted for compatibility and compared to see whether the travel behavior of residents of mixed-use neighborhoods was significantly different from the travel behavior of residents in king county neighborhoods that featured more homogenous land-use patterns. mixed land use, demographics, survey, travel behavior, trips innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| WA-RD 382.1 | Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Bridge Substructures with Spread and Pile-Supported Foundations | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1995 | seismic evaluation and retrofit of bridge substructures with spread and pile-supported foundations mclean,d. i., saunders,t. d., hahnenkratt,h. h. this study investigated retrofitting measures for improving the seismic performance of the substructures of existing bridges. retrofit measures for both pile-supportes and spread footings were investigated. experimental tests were conducted on 1/3-scale footing and column assemblages which incorporated details that were selected to represent deficiencies present in older bridges. retrofit measures were applied to both the columns and footings. the speciments were subjected to increasing levels of cycled inelastic lateral displacements under constant axial load. specimen performance was evaluated on the basis of load capacity, displacement ductility, strength degradation and hysteretic behavior.tests on the as-built speciment resulted in a brittle failure due to insufficient joint shear strength in the column/footing connection. an added reinforced concrete overlay provided an effective retrofit for the as-built footings. the overlay resulted in increased shear resistance, allowed for the addition of a top mat of reinforcement to provide negative moment strength, and increased the positive moment capacity by increasing the effectve depth of the pile cap. all retrofitted specimens developed plastic hinging in the columns with a resulting ductile response under the simulated seismic loading. special detailing was required in the column lap splice regions in order to maintain the integrity of the splices. in specimens that were overturning critical, increased overturning resistance was provided by enlarging the footing plan size, by providing additional piles, or by providing tie-downs through the footing. seismic retrofitting, reinforced concrete, bridge, substructures, research trac/wsu 1995 |
| WA-RD 365.1 | Freeway Traffic Data Prediction Using Artificial Neural Networks and Development Of A Fuzzy Logic Ramp Metering Algorithm | Meldrum | TRAC/UW | 1995 | freeway traffic data prediction using artificial neural networks and development of a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm meldrum,d. r., taylor,c. e. this research project develops a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm utilizing artificial neural network (ann) traffic data predictors. considering the highly beneficial effects of ramp metering, such as reduced travel times and lower accident rates, optimizing metering rates is of great importance. the research objective is to overcome limitations of the current seattle ramp metering algorithm, which reacts to existing bottlenecks rather than preventing them. an algorithm with predictive capabilities can help prevent or delay bottleneck formation. hence, an accurate 1 -minute ann prediction provides a powerful asset to the ramp metering algorithm. the research project divides into two stages: the ann traffic data predictor and the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm. this research focuses primarily on the ann traffic data predictors, but also lays the groundwork for the fuzzy logic ramp metering concepts and algorithm.the ann predicts 1 minute in advance significantly better than previous techniques in the seattle area, as well as demonstrates robustness to faulty loop detector data. a multi-layer perceptron type of ann predicts congested mainline volume and occupancy for a station when given past values of volume and occupancy for that particular station and the adjacent upstream station. this data prediction provides an input to the fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm. the ramp metering rate is then based on both current and predicted traffic flow. by considering the freeway as a control system instead of one section at a time, the new algorithm should avoid an oscillatory ramp metering rate, and achieve equilibrium more quickly and smoothly. artificial neural networks (ann), fuzzy logic control (flc), freeway traffic prediction, ramp metering trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 370.1 | Bicycle Facilities and Use | Moritz | TRAC/UW | 1995 | bicycle facilities and use moritz, w.e. interest is increasing in realizing the transportation potential of the bicycle for purposes other than recreation. at the same time, information is lacking about the relationship between facilities and use. this project addressed this lack of information in four tasks. the first task synthesized the elements required to create a cycling-friendly environment, which is characterized by five elements: coherence, directness, safety, attractiveness, and comfort. cyclist classification schemes were investigated, along with several important operational characteristics of the bicycle and rider that affect facility design. the second task developed a comprehensive list of bicycle facilities, including 23 major categories with 55 subdivisions. third, methods for measuring bicycle use were investigated, along with the results from various surveys and counts. the fourth task was the creation of a framework for selecting facilities improvements with the goal of identifying the geographical areas most likely to benefit from such improvements. the framework is a two-step process that looks first at demographic and land-use issues and then focuses on facility and access deficiencies. a case study demonstrated the change in use that resulted from filling in a 'missing link' in a regional trail near seattle. a set of appendices to the report provide extensive information on facilities, sample survey forms, and detailed results obtained from 3000 user of the burke-gilman trail/sammamish river trail system in seattle and king county. bicycle facilities, bicycle use, bicycle survey techniques, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 400.1 | Proximate Commuting: A Demonstration Project of a Strategic Commute Trip Reduction Program | Mullins | TRAC/UW | 1995 | proximate commuting: a demonstration project of a strategic commute trip reduction program mullins, g., mullins, c. the goal of the key bank of washington proximate commuting demonstration project was to test the hypothesis that a substantial amount of long distance commuting is unnecessary and undesirable for many commuters, that it it can be prevented or significantly reduced at multisite employer locations (e.g., banks, retail chains, government agencies, etc.) trough more deliberate efforts to match new and existing employees to work sites closer to their homes. commuting, proximate commuting, travel time reduction trac/uw 1995 |
| IU 95.3 | Analysis of Bicyclist Counts in the Puget Sound Area and Spokane | Niemeier | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | analysis of bicyclist counts in the puget sound area and spokane niemeier, d.a., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. beginning in january of 1993, a bicycle volume count program was established at several locations in the puget sound region and at one location in spokane, washington. the count provided a preliminary basis for assessing: (a) the number of bikers during various times of the year and (b) the number of cyclists during any single count period. this report describes how the count data were collected. it also describes results based on weekday counts at each location. this is followed by a review of weekend counts by location. the report also provides estimates of both average daily weekday and weekend volumes for each location. bicycle, volumes, count, data innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| IU 95.4 | An Analysis of Bicyclist Survey Responses from the Puget Sound Area and Spokane | Niemeier | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | an analysis of bicyclist survey responses from the puget sound area and spokane niemeier, d.a., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. in the spring of 1993, a bicycle intercept survey was conducted at three locations in the puget sound area and at one location in spokane, washington. the survey elicited data on various household, person, and travel data. this report presents a detailed summary of the sampling frame and questionnaire design. this is followed by a discussion of the survey results, beginning with the weekday am peak-period results, followed by the weekend results. bicycle, survey design, travel data, trips, demographics innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| WA-RD 381.1 | Freeway Congestion Prediction | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1995 | freeway congestion prediction nihan,n. l. the objectives of this study were to develop a predictive algorithm for freeway congestion and investigate and evaluate the current tsmc definition of freeway congestino or "bottleneck" conditions. data were collected along a section of the i-5 mainline northbound beginning at downtown station 108 and ending at montlake terrace station 193 using two approaches: (1) time series modeling, and (2) pattern recognition. a pattern recognition approach was used to identify the best criteria for "bottleneck" definition and also to identify the best criteria for predicting "bottleneck" conditions. the time period for collection was 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. with a data time interval of 20 seconds.the study concludes that: (1) the current definition of "bottleneck" conditions misses true forced-flow conditions approximately half of the time. a new definition is proposed. (2) a simple method for predicting congestion that can be easily incorporated into the tsmc computer system is proposed. (3) an alternative method of selecting the appropriate metering rate is proposed and further investigation of this criterion is suggested. (4) an imporved method of identifying "chattering" errors in loop detectors was discovered as a by-product of the current study. it is recommended that the new criterion be incorporated in the tsmc error analysis routine. congestions prediction, ramp controls, freeway operations, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 398.1/TNW 95-03 | Video Image Processing for Freeway Monitoring and Control: Evaluation of the Mobilizer | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1995 | video image processing for freeway monitoring and control: evaluation of the mobilizer nihan,n. l., leth,m., wong,a. this research project installed, tested, and evaluated the mobilizer video imaging system within the washington state department of transportation's (wsdot) traffic systems management center (tsmc). the mobilizer (developed by condition monitoring systems (cms)) is a third generation video image processing system that uses a tracking technology as opposed to previous generation systems that use a tripwire technology. cms advertises mobilizer's ability to link vehicle sightings at multiple camera locations, translating to travel time estimates along a roadway section. in addition to travel time estimates, the system produces volume, speed, density, distance headway, vehicle classification, and truck percentage data at each camera location. the data are reported for individual lanes, as well as for a section aggregate.some of the key objectives of this research were to (1) determine site locations for evaluation; test video compatibility (e.g., quality, field of view, freeway flow levels, camera reliability); (2) establish methods for obtaining reference or "ground truth" data for comparison with the system output; and (3) study feasibility of using the mobilizer for measuring volume, density, and travel time and its accuracy for different flow and environmental conditions. video detection, mobilizer, freeway control, freeway monitoring. video detection, mobilizer, freeway control, freeway monitoring trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 386.1 | Improved Error Detection Using Prediction Techniques and Video Imaging | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1995 | improved error detection using prediction techniques and video imaging nihan, n.l., wong, m. this research project evaluated an algorithm developed in the previous project (nihan et al., detector data validity), and developed anew data error detection algorithm by employing a video imaging data collection technology called autoscopetl. this new algorithm was calibrated with data from the seattlemetropolitan area. it helps to determine the reliability of 20-second loop detector data that are used for the operation of the ramp metering system.both the existing and the new algorithms were tested for their effectiveness with an extensive data set that contains manually simulated erroneous data. the test data were collected from various locations on 1-5 that covered different characteristics such as lane type, lane configuration, and geometric. while bothalgorithms were effective in screening out hanging-off errors, chattering, and spurious pulses, the new algorithm provides a much more effective detection for hanging-on errors, especially in congested conditions.the principal findings and recommendations of this research were as follows: 1 .the autoscopetm data collection results were checked against itself for internal consistency and tested against manual counts for accuracy. we have found that the results were consistent with the developer's claim of an accuracy level of 92. 18 percent to 98.32 percent for traffic counts. 2.the new error detection algorithm resulted from this project showed a marked improvement over the original one, especially in screening out the hanging-on errors that occur in congested conditions. 3.the feasible region of volume/occupancy data fell within two parabolic envelopes, substantiating the traditional understanding of this relationship. 4.except for chattering data and spurious pulses (which are treated as erroneous data), the other error flags can denote either detector malfunctions, or the existence of some "abnormal" traffic pattern, such as that caused by an incident therefore, the recognition of the erroneous data's location can possibly help to identify incidents happening in congested traffic. however, since this particular function has not been tested in this prqject~ it may be an issue worthy of future investigation. 5.a preliminary investigation of the relationship between vehicle length and the g-value was done; and empirical 20-second data supported the theoretical understanding of this relationship. it was recommended that studies with different time-slices be done to further investigate this relationship. 6.the new error detection algorithm can be implemented in the wsdot control system in the seattle 1-5 corridor. it will improve the integrity of the loop data, and hence, improve ramp control and freeway operation.the autoscopetm system can be used for algorithm development and for calibration of other facilities, such as hov lanes. it can also be used for real-time data collection, analysis, and traffic control particularly at construction sites, where detection loop operations are usually interrupted. loop detectors, error detection, incident detection, video imaging trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 372.1 | A Roughness Model Describing Heavy Vehicle-Pavement Interaction | Papagiannakis | TRAC/WSU | 1995 | a roughness model describing heavy vehicle-pavement interaction papagiannakis,a. t., gujarathi,m. s. this study deals with the pavement roughness characteristics that affect pavement-heavy vehicle interaction. dynamic vehicle response data from two sources was analyzed, namely experimental data obtained with the instrumented vehicle developed by the nrcc and simulated data obtained with a quarter-vehicle simulation. it was found that the vehicle response parameter of interest in this interaction is the sprung mass vehicle acceleration because it relates to both pavement/vehicle damage as well as to ride quality/cargo damage. the sprung mass vertical acceleration transfer function showed a distinct sensitivity to a pavement roughness excitation frequency of 3.5 hz. a pavement roughness statistic was proposed based on the vertical sprung acceleration of the sprung mass. it is calculated by multiplying the spectral density of the roughness profile by the square of a reference transfer function and integrating the result. this procedure was implemented into a pc-based computer software program called trri (truck response to roughness index). truck, roughness, index, profile, research trac/wsu 1995 |
| WA-RD 379.1 | A Review of Crumb-Rubber Modified Asphalt Concrete Technology | Papagiannakis | TRAC/WSU | 1995 | a review of crumb-rubber modified asphalt concrete technology papagiannakis, a.t., lougheed, t.j. this study presents an analysis of the characteristics of crumb-rubber modified (crm) asphalt pavements. it is comprised of a state-of-the-art literature review and laboratory testing conducted with a brookfield viscometer. the reaction that occurs between the rubber and asphalt is not a chemical reaction, but rather a diffusion process that includes the physical absorption of aromatic oils from the asphalt into the polymer chain of the rubber. the presense of crm in asphalt produces a thicker binder, which increases aging and oxidation resistance. the presence of carbon black in crm imrpoves binder durability. the temperature susceptibility of the mix is reduced, causing more uniform fatigue characteristics. crm applications have been met with various degrees of success because existing quality control and quality assurance methods have not been developed enough to ensure desired binder properties in the field. crumb-rubber, susceptibility, viscosity, research trac/wsu 1995 |
| WA-RD 361.1 | Seismic Vulnerability of Strutted-Column Bridge Bents | Pappas | TRAC/WSU | 1995 | seismic vulnerability of strutted-column bridge bents pappas,g. j., marsh,m. l. strutted-column bents represent a type of reinforced concrete bridge substructure found in some bridges built before the early 1970's. the bents were designed using steel detailing and confinement that is inappropriate for ductile behavior. these bents consists of two or more columns that are connected by horizontal beams/struts, at some location along the clear heights of the columns. the presence of the struts in these bents causes an increase in the number of locations that inelastic demands can occur, relative to the number found in typical bents. the struts also increase both the lateral stiffness and strength of the bents. these features coupled with the poor detailing and confinement cause uncertainty about the seismic performance of the strutted-column bents. the seismic vulnerability of strutted-column bents was assessed by: 1) determining the characteristics and the construction details of the bents in an inventory of bridges with strutted-column bents, 2) evaluating the bents to determine the anticipated inelastic demands that they might experience and their potential to meet these demands, and by 3) experimentally testing two subassemblages that were representative of the beam-column joint regions of those bents that were determined to be the most seismically vulnerable. the subassemblages exhibited poor hysteretic behavior after they attained their respective yield displacements because of the deterioration of strut bar anchorage in their b-c joints. the information that was obtained from the three phases of work was used to appraise the seismic performance potential of the bents and the bridges. the bents and the bridges should perform satisfactorily if the displacement ductility demands in the b-c joint regions of the bents are less than four. large values could jeopardize the performance of the bents, and hence the performance of the bridges as well. reinforced concrete bridge, bridge bents, inelastic response, beam-columns joints, reversed cyclic loading trac/wsu 1995 |
| WA-RD 380.1 | Land-Use Trends Affecting Auto Dependence in Washington's Metropolitan Areas, 1970-1990 | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1995 | land-use trends affecting auto dependence in washington's metropolitan areas, 1970-1990 pivo,g., hess,p., thatte,a. in order to better integrate land use and transportation planning and implement less auto dependent land use patterns, it is useful to know where and to what extent the urban land market is producing less auto-dependent urban growth. data on the population density, housing density, employment density, jobs-housing balance, and retail-housing balance of metropolitan cities and unincorporated places in washington state were examined for the 1970-1990 time period. analyses included the examination and comparison of statistical distributions and thematic maps in each decade. during the twenty year period, there was an increase in the proportion of the population living in jobs- and retail-housing balanced communities and an increase in housing densities. meanwhile, population and employment densities declined. density declines were attributable to falling household size, suburbanization, and the growth of very low density urban fringe developments. distinct geographic patterns were found in density changes but changes in balance measures were less predictable. relationships between land use variables were found and associations between both density and balance and less auto use were confirmed. it is recommended that efforts be made to promote greater density and balance in certain urban areas and that land use information be used to target communities whose land use patterns are capable of supporting greater transit use and less outcommuting. land use trends, balanced communities, population density, housing density, employment density, land use patterns, urban growth, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 399.1 | Automated Video-Based Survey of Travel Times in HOV vs. General Purpose Lanes | Woodson | WSDOT | 1995 | automated video-based survey of travel times in hov vs. general purpose lanes woodson, j.b., shuldiner, p.w., d'agostino, s.w. transformation systems, inc. was hired to perform automated video-based travel time surveys for the high occupancy vehicle (hov) and the adjacent general purpose (gp) traffic lane on two freeway corridors in the seattle area. the purpose of the project was to demonstrate and test the use of machine-vision technology for travel time data collection. evaluating techniques for determining travel times and speeds is necessary for the wsdot to determine whether its hov lane performance criteria are being met. the project used hi-8 video cameras to collect very-high quality video tapes of vehicle license plates. the video tapes were then processed at computer recognition systems, inc. in cambridge, massachusetts, with a specialized computer programmed to convert the video images into computer data files. the report details the video survey methodology; the data acquired through license plate recognition, including date, time, location, and direction of travel; and the comparison data used to determine respective travel times for hov and gp traffic lanes.the field data were collected from monday, june 19, 1995, through thursday, june 22, 1995, for each four-hour morning peak period (6:00m 10:00 am) on westbound sr 520 and for each four-hour evening peak period (3:00-7:00 pm) on northbound im5. in all, over 90,000 license plates were analyzed, representing approximately 75 percent of the traffic volume. the license plate data were used to "match" vehicles between camera stations and to compute travel times on more than 200 vehicles per hour in high volume traffic conditions.results on northbound 1-5 indicate that the evening peak period commute away from downtown seattle in the gp lane can be 2.0 to 2.7 times longer than the same commute using the hov facilities for the 5.75 kilometers (157 miles) of freeway monitored (between ne 117th and ne 185th street). results averaged over the four weekdays for the entire four-hour evening period indicate approximately 60 percent longer commute times in the gp lanes compared to hov lanes (the 1-5 inside hov lane has a two-person minimum occupancy requirement).similar results on westbound sr 520 could not be statistically verified for the morning peak period because of the relatively low number of vehicles observed during the survey period (transit buses were not counted and the sr 520 outside hov lane has a three-person minimum occupancy requirement). however, there was evidence of approximately 50 percent longer commute times in the gp traffic lanes between 7:30-8:00 am than the vehicles observed in the hov lane on sr 520 for the 1.75 kilometers (1.09 miles) of freeway monitored (between 92nd ave. ne and 76th ave. ne). travel times, hov, high occupancy vehicle, gp lanes, video, license plates, machine vision, commute times wsdot 1995 |
| WA-RD 374.1 | Thin Polymer Bridge Deck Overlays - WSDOT's 10 Year Evaluation 280 | Wilson | WSDOT | 1995 | thin polymer bridge deck overlays - wsdot's 10 year evaluation 280 wilson, d.l., henley, e.h. jr this report summarizes wsdot's 10 year of experience with "epoxy" and "methl methacrylate" (mma) thin polymer bridge deck overlays. bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, bridge deck repairs, deck, evaluation, overlay, overlays, polymer, polymer concrete, thin overlay, wsdot wsdot 1995 |
| WA-RD 377.1 | An Evaluation of Public Opinion about Congestion Pricing and Tolls | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1995 | an evaluation of public opinion about congestion pricing and tolls ulberg, c., macfarland, g. policy makers and transportation agencies are viewing various forms of transportation and congestion pricing as ways to deal with both congestion and increasingly scarce funding for the transportation system. to aid local governments in determining whether congestion pricing would be feasible in the puget sound region, this project assessed public attitude toward transportation pricing and explored ways to present information to the public that would increase their understanding.the research methodology included three data gathering techniques, seven 90-minute employer-based focus group sessions involving 86 people; thirteen interviews with regional elected officials, business leaders, and public managers; and three forums composed of previous focus groups participants to review the observations and conclusions of the study.on the basis of the participants' emphasis and our own observations, we believe that the following are the most important conclusions about public opinion from our study: 1) pricing programs must ensure a reasonable level of mobility by providing good alternatives to sovs. 2) pricing must be applied region-wide if it is to be effective and to have any chance of addressing geographic equity issues. 3) how the revenues are used is critical to public acceptance. 4) there must be well considered ways to deal with traffic and parking spillover. 5) income equity issues must be addressed. 6) members of the public must believe that transportation pricing will reduce congestion if they are to support it. 7) the public must have a high level of confidence in the technology. congestion pricing, tolls, public opinion, public education, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 359.1 | An Analysis of Factors Accounting for Successes and Failures in the Acceptance and Utilization of Employer TDM Programs By Employees | Poulenez-Donovan | TRAC/UW | 1995 | an analysis of factors accounting for successes and failures in the acceptance and utilization of employer tdm programs by employees poulenez-donovan,c., ulberg,c. washington state's commute trip reduction (ctr) legislation was created to reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption, and air pollution. among other actions, it requires businesses of a particular size to develop plans that will meet single-occupancy vehicle and vehicle miles traveled reduction goals. many companies will attempt to reach these goals through transportation demand management (tdm) programs.before the passage of this legislation, a number of large employers around the country had created and implemented tdm programs. however, little detailed information existed about these companies' efforts. although some limited studies had documented the types of incentives they offered to workers, they had not included any information concerning the reasons that some organizations' tdm efforts had succeeded while others had failed.this project studied a select population of employers in a tri-county area (king, snohomish, and pierce counties) in order 1) to gain a detailed understanding of what other tdm programs have done, 2) to uncover the factors that help determine a program's effectiveness and its utilization by an organization's employees, and 3) to give direction to research and planning as the state's legislated tdm efforts begin and develop.the findings of this study led to several conclusions and recommendations regarding the ways that tdm policies can be reformulated to better accomplish their desired goals. six specific recommendations arose from a combination of survey, interview, and program review findings: 1) jurisdictions and organizations must first identify all policies that relate to the targeted behavioral changes and then make those policies consistent in their support of the change goals; 2) the primary means of communication about an organization's tdm program efforts should be informational sessions provided in work group settings; 3) extensive, specific "how-to" information on selecting and utilizing hov commute modes should be provided to all employees; 4) behavioral change goals should be graduated and public; 5) program efforts should include public monitoring and specific feedback regarding behavioral change goal attainment; and 6) supervisors and managers should be encouraged or required to model and reinforce the importance of hov commuting by doing so themselves. tdm, organizational culture, attitudes, trip reduction trac/uw 1995 |
| FHWA-FLP-95-007 | Estimation of Seasonal Effects for Pavement Design and Performance-Volume II | Uhlmeyer | USDA-Forest Service/Technology and Developmen | 1995 | estimation of seasonal effects for pavement design and performance-volume ii uhlmeyer, j.s., mahoney, j.p., hanek, g., wang, g., copstead, r.l., janssen, d. worldwide, pavement design and analysis is moving toward deflection or mechanistic-empirical procedures. a difficulty with these procedures is that they require some type of adjustment factor to adjust the measured deflections or the layer elastic moduli used in the procedure because of*the time of day and year (season) when field measurements are taken, and*the effects of climate related material variations on pavement performance.the basic objectives of this study were to examine seasonal adjustment factors for deflections and layer moduli and to provide guidelines for selecting seasonal adjustment factors that provide a more realistic pavement design.three sets of tests sites were used in the study. the associated appendices are:*japan - appendix a *washington state dot - appendices b and c*olympic national forest - appendix d nondestructive testing, pavement moduli, seasonal usda-forest service/technology and developmen 1995 |
| WA-RD 395.1 | Simulation Testing of a Fuzzy Neural Ramp Metering Algorithm | Taylor | TRAC/UW | 1995 | simulation testing of a fuzzy neural ramp metering algorithm taylor,c. e., meldrum,d. r. a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm will address the needs of seattle's freeway system and overcome limitations of the existing ramp metering algorithm. the design of the fuzzy logic controller (flc) reduced the sensitivity to sensor data, which frequently contains errors or noise. the rule base effectively balanced two opposing needs: to alleviate mainline congestion by restricting the metering rate, and to disperse the ramp queue by increasing the metering rate. to avoid oscillation between these two conflicting demands, the controller used inputs that were more descriptive of congestion levels, providing smooth transitions rather than threshold activations.testing was performed using the freeway simulation software fresim. a multiple-ramp study site from seattle's i-5 corridor was modeled using data such as freeway geometry, entry volumes, desired speeds, and driver behavior. to evaluate the flc under a variety of conditions, entry volumes and incidents (such as a blocked lane or reduced capacity) were varied to create six test data sets. the performance of the flc was compared to that of other available controllers, including clock, demand/capacity, and speed metering. the objective was to maximize total vehicle miles, maximize mainline speeds, and minimize delay/vehicle-mile while maintaining an acceptable ramp queue. for five of the six data sets, the flc outperformed the other three controllers. in the flc, sensors from the on-ramp were helpful in maintaining an acceptable ramp queue. future work will involve on-line testing of the flc. artificial neural networks (ann), fuzzy logic controller (flc), traffic data prediction, ramp metering, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 355.1 | An Assessment of Washington State Traveler Information Systems Based On A General Atis Taxonomy | Spyridakis | TRAC/UW | 1995 | an assessment of washington state traveler information systems based on a general atis taxonomy spyridakis, j., plumb, c., haselkorn, m., michalak, s. this project provided an early, objective assessment of selected efforts to develop washington state advanced traveler information systems (atiss). to accomplish this goal, the study team developed a taxonomy of current atiss nationwide; this taxonomy was used to develop instruments for the assessment. in addition to the specific assessments done under this project, the taxonomy and assessment tools developed could, with some refinement, be used as a model for iterative, standardized assessment of atis projects nationwide. using these assessment tools, some of the study team's conclusions were as follow: (1) flow's system goals are appropriate to the audience but cannot be fully achieved in the location at which it was assessed, and an interactive interface would be more appropriate for the delivery of flow's information; (2) traffic reporter has a high degree of user acceptance, but it is hindered in achieving its implicit goals because of location; (3) the proposed canadian border crossing atis would not achieve its goals with two of the three technologies proposed; and (4) although bellvue smart traveler achieves two of its goals, the other two are not fully achieved, mainly because of an appropriate audience. ivhs, evaluation, atis, flow, bellevue smart traveler, traffic reporter trac/uw 1995 |
| IU 95.5 | Joint Development at Park-and-Ride Lots: An Assessment of Services and Amenities | Hoel | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1995 | joint development at park-and-ride lots: an assessment of services and amenities hoel, r., snyder, m.c., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. joint development of park-and-ride lots involves a public-private partnership between businesses, transit agencies, and local governments. such an arrangement consolidates retail services into a single area and, thus, has the potential to improve individual park-and-ride facilities and transit system networks. new retail stores on the premises can add to the attractiveness of parking lots. the attraction of new capital funding sources and increased transit ridership may encourage transit operators and transportation policy-makers to support join development. this report examines several issues surrounding joint development at park-and-ride lots. first, joint development may benefit commuters, surrounding residential areas, and government agencies. second, security concerns are a barrier to higher park-and-ride patronage, but joint development and other design techniques can improve personal and vehicle safety. third, the results of a market feasibility study of convenience services at park-and-ride lots are examined to understand the range of potential services possible through joint development. fourth, the results of a survey of park-and-ride patrons at three puget sound area facilities are considered. the survey was conducted to learn about park-and-ride lot users' attitudes toward the facilities, the quality of services currently offered, the elements users consider important, and the goods and services users would like available. park-and-ride, development, retail, public-private partnership, survey innovations unit/trac 1995 |
| WA-RD 295.1 | Prioritization of Capacity Improvements | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1995 | prioritization of capacity improvements rutherford,g. s., niemeier,d. a., reed,t. l. this technical report summarizes the prioritization of capacity improvements study (pcis), the purpose of which was to develop a new methodology for prioritizing mobility improvement projects to reflect state transportation policy plan objectives. this report includes a discussion of the preexisting category c prioritization formula, an overview of state-of-the-art prioritization methods for regional and statewide project programming elsewhere, a detailed discussion of the proposed ranking methodology for mobility improvements, and finally, a description of the implementation process for the 1995-97 biennial programming cycle at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). this study focused on the safe, cost-effective movement of people and goods; the encouragement of high occupancy vehicles and alternative modes; land use-transportation compatibility; environmental conservation; social and economic impacts; institutional coordination; and local support, all of which are explicit goals in the stae transportation policy plan. the new prioritization framework has several advantages. it is flexible enough to accomodate future changes in state policy. additionally, it represents a significant step toward the ability to evaluate and rank multimodal mobility projects in direct response to transportation policy and service objectives. wsdot is clearly in the forefront of such planning efforts nationwide. there are many opportunities for further study, and it is recommended that the washington state department of transportation continue to push the known boundaries of economic analysis as innovative, multimodal solutions are considered increasingly frequent in the mobility improvement program. such efforts will allow decision makers to make the best use of limited state resources. statewide programming, proritization, capacity improvements, mobility, istea, multimodal, costs efficiency, community support, wetlands, noise, water quality, land use trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 396.1 | Transit Implications of HOV Facility Design | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1995 | transit implications of hov facility design rutherford, g.s., maclachlan, s., semple, k. while several authorities have assembled comprehensive general resources on the design and operation of hov facilities at large, none has yet done this from the perspective of transit. the lack of transit-specific research has left unanswered questions such as "what are transit's interests, and how are they best served in hov facility design and operations?" in addressing these questions, the authors of this report have brought together many pieces of available transit-related hov research into a single document. the report covers technical aspects of hov design and operations by dividing the domain into two components: freeways and arterials. part one, "arterial hov treatments", begins with descriptions of arterial hov lane types: concurrent flow, contraflow, and median lanes; transit malls, bus streets, and shoulder converstion. operating characteristics of arterial hov lanes, including queue bypasses , signalization, and intelligent transportation systems (its) advances, are explored. the physical characteristics of arterial hov lanes are also discussed, including reference to cross-sections, turning radii, and bus stop design. part two, "freeway hov treaments", begins by considering the perspective of those who see the very existence of hov lanes that are open to both buses and carpools as evidence of erosion of an original commitment to transit. a discussion of occupancy policy as related to operational efficiency follows. the next section, on freeway hov facility design, covers topics such as retrofitting as opposed to new construction, and basic hov lane types, and their relative advantages. the issue of inside vs. outside hov lane location is also discussed. next, ramp types and designs are described, with reference to concerns such as gradients, clearance, transition lanes, and turning radii. a planning section covers cost-benefit analysis. the report concludes with sections on safety, enforcement, and the role of traffic management centers. hov, high occupancy vehicle facilities and operations, transit, arterial, freeway, ramps trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 369.1 | Field Measurements of Dynamic Wheel Loads on Modular Expansion Joints | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 1995 | field measurements of dynamic wheel loads on modular expansion joints roeder,c. w. modular expansion joints are frequently used on bridges with large movements, and fatigue cracking has been noted on a number of these joints. past studies have examined fatigue design procedures and theoretically predicted joint behavior under traffic loading. these studies have shown that the dynamic characteristics of these joints are variable, and the fatigue design loads must vary with the joint characteristics. this research report describes a field investigation of the dynamic loads and behavior of a swivel joist modular joint system. the study was performed to verify the response predicted in past theoretical studies, to establish the dynamic characteristics of the joint, and to determine appropriate fatigue design loads on the joint. the measurements are described and analyzed in detail. the report develops important conclusions regarding the dynamic loads on the joint, the distribution of load between elements of the joint, and the relative importance of different load components. the subject joint was shown to be more sensitive to vertical loads and less sensitive to horizontal loads than suggested by existing fatigue design methods. traffic patterns were shown to have a significant impact on the behavior of this joint system. the report includes fatigue design recommendations. cracking, fatigue, dynamic wheel loadings, modular expansion joints, expansion joints, fatigue design loads, steel, research trac/uw 1995 |
| WA-RD 358.1 | Stormwater Contaminant Removal by Chemical | Price | TRAC/WSU | 1995 | stormwater contaminant removal by chemical price, f., yonge, d.r. the washington state department of transportation designs, operates, and maintains stormwater detention basins for flood control. initiatives by the washington state department of ecology have prioritized the consideration of stormwater quality as well as quantity for stormwater treatment. modification of existing stormwater detention basins could afford an efficient mechanism for addressing water quality by enhancing contaminant removal.a scale model of a typical basin was constructed to investigate contaminant removal capabilities of existing detention basins. a simulated highway stormwater runoff was fonnulated and applied in scale model detention basin testing over a range of flow rates. four coagulants were evaluated for their ability to enhance removal of sediment and metals.coagulant addition resulted in significant increases in metal removal over the range of stormwater flow rates studied. the greatest improvement was observed at the higher flow rates. enhanced metals removal resulted from increased removal of small particles and their sorbed metals. further improvement in contaminant removal was observed following the addition of an influent baffle, resulting in improved basin hydraulic characteristics which increased solids detention and minimized short circuiting. stormwater, sediment removal, contaminaint removal, highway runoff trac/wsu 1995 |
| NCHRP 201 | Multimodal Evaluation in Passenger Transportation | Rutherford | NCHRP | 1994 | multimodal evaluation in passenger transportation rutherford, g.s. this document presents information on the state of the art in multimodal evaluation for planning and programming based on information gathered in 1991 and 1992. sources include mail survey responses of state departments of transportation (dots), canadian provinces, and regional governments, as well as a literature search. as expected, this information-gathering process uncovered few good examples of multimodal planning and programming evaluation, a result that reflects the largely inflexible modal funding process in place prior to the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act (istea) of 1991 and the slow process of change in transportation planning procedures. three major federal efforts in multimodal evaluation are reviewed in this synthesis, along with 18 state, regional, and corridor projects that were uncovered in the survey process. five of the surveyed projects were developed into case studies that reflect current practice in intercity, regional, and urban corridor evaluation. an extensive review of evaluation criteria and measures of effectiveness is provided. this synthesis concludes that new training, assistance, and guidelines for multimodal. evaluation should be provided at the national level, with an emphasis on updating and expanding existing resources. it also concludes that effective multimodal evaluation is hindered by the lack of a commonly accepted multimodal measure of mobility. multimodal transportation, evaluation, planning nchrp 1994 |
| WA-RD 259.2 | 1993 Tour of Modified Binder Pavements | Anderson | WSDOT | 1994 | 1993 tour of modified binder pavements anderson,k. w. a pavement tour of modified asphalt binders was conducted in april and may of 1993 by various personnel of the construction and materials sections of the washington state department of transportation and the asphalt paving association of washington. the tour participants' comments for each section of pavement are summarized and a brief discussion fo the relative performance of the sections is presented accident rates wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 344.1 | ADS HDPE Sewer Pipe, I-90 Third Lake Washington Bridge Maintenance Facility | Anderson | WSDOT | 1994 | ads hdpe sewer pipe, i-90 third lake washington bridge maintenance facility anderson, k.w., gubbe, j. the construction and pressure testing of a field installation of ads hdpe corrugated pvc sewer pipe is documented in this report. bridge, construction, drainage, facilities, maintenance, pipes, plastic, pressure, pvc, washington wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 353.3 | An Evaluation of County and City Road Weight Enforcement Efforts in the State of Washington | Barron | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | an evaluation of county and city road weight enforcement efforts in the state of washington barron, c.j., jessup, e.l., casavant, k.l. the objective of this study was to determine the degree of participation in road weight enforcement programs for cities and counties in the state of washington. this is accomplished through the use of a survey to cities and counties throughout the state.the results indicate that larger cities and more urban counties have greater involvement in weight enforcement programs, whereas smaller cities and more rural couties have less involvement. only six cities in the state were directly involved in weight control enforcement programs with seattle and tacoma having the most active programs. eleven of the 39 counties in the state were identified as having full weight enforcement programs and 5 counties having only partial weight enforcement programs. highway, overweight, truck, permits, fines, fees, court trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 353.2 | A Case Study of the Effectiveness of Washington's Fine System for Overweight Violations | Barron | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | a case study of the effectiveness of washington's fine system for overweight violations barron, c.j., jessup, e.l., casavant, k.l. the main objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of washington's fee and fine system in recapturing the physical and resultant financial damage to pavements caused by overload vehicles, through the court and legal process. this was accomplished through interviews with weight enforcement officials and court personnel in addition to a detailed examination of over 8,000 citations from nine counties between september 1991 and august 1992. the results provide a complete examination of washington's fee and fine system and help identify weakness in the system. truck, overweight, highway, permits, fines, fees, court trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 343.1 | HOV Evaluation and Monitoring | Benuska | TRAC/UW | 1994 | hov evaluation and monitoring benuska,m., hansen,m., ulberg,c. this report presents and summarizes the baseline data collected in fulfillment of the requirements for the washington state department of transportation grant "hov lane evaluation and monitoring." this report provides the information necessary to analyze hov lane performance and development. data collection results and analysis are presented, followed by conclusions and recommendations.the data contained herein were collected during the first year of the high occupancy vehicle lane (hov) monitoring project (july 1992-june 1993). the data collection methodology is described in the final report, hov monitoring and evaluation tool. included in this report are the following primary and secondary measures of hov lane performance: (1) average vehicle occupancy data, (2) travel time data, (3) public opinion survey results, (4) transit ridership data, (5) enforcement, compliance, and adjudication data, and (7) accident data. data collection issues and their implications for data availability are discussed.it is important to note that this report does not evaluate the hov lane system in the puget sound region. rather, it is a compilation of the data necessary to conduct a meaningful evaluation. although an analysis of public opinion, transit ridership, enforcement and accident data is provided, the report's primary purpose is to simply present the data and discuss issues associated with its use, not to provide an extensive analysis. high occupancy vehicle, hov, hov lane evaluation, traffic observation trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 318.1 | HOV Monitoring and Evaluation Tool | Benuska | TRAC/UW | 1994 | hov monitoring and evaluation tool benuska, m., hansen, m., ulberg, c. this report summarizes the methodology used by the washington state transportation center in fulfillment of the requirements for the washington state department of transportation grant 'hov lane evaluation and monitoring tool.' this report describes the types of data collected, how the data was collected, and the uses of the data. the report then makes some preliminary findings based on the analysis to date. designing a system for evaluating the performance of high occupancy vehicle lanes includes establishing methods for collection and analysis of vehicle occupancy, travel time, and public opinion data. secondary sources include data on enforcement of hov lane restrictions, accidents, and transit ridership. the objective of this report is to identify the most effective and efficient method for collecting and analyzing the required data. issues addressed in identifying the most appropriate methodology included the following: selecting data collection sites, developing a computer program to facilitate data collection and storage, management of traffic observers, scheduling, developing computer programs for auditing and analyzing data, developing a system for mailing public opinion surveys to commuters observed in the field, and analysis of the public opinion data. it is important to note that this report concerns the development of a methodology and is not designed to be an authoritative analysis of the effectiveness of high occupancy vehicle lanes. the analysis of the data described in this report will be published in a forthcoming report for the companion project, 'hov lane evaluation and monitoring.' traffic surveillance and control, hov lane evaluation, traffic observation trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 310.1 | Refertilization of Roadside | Brauen | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | refertilization of roadside brauen, s., stahnke, g. roadsides prone to scotch broom and alder invasion were used to evaluate the timing and rate of ibdu, escote 150 slow release nitrogen (srn) application and the effects of fall grass/legume overseeding on improving cover. fall fertilization with srn increased cover and biomass of grass along roadsides where good bentgrass or fescue populations existed. a 20 to 40% increase in grass cover was realized with fall fertilization at > 90 kg srn ha-1 and significantly reduced open space where seeds of invading species could germinate. poor grass growth occurred following spring srn application and 45 kg n ha-1 in the fall as srn or 16-16-16 was too low to improve cover. liming and overseeding of grass/legume mixes were not reliable as a one-time method to improve grass/legume cover when precipitation began by early october. overseeding may be successful if practiced regularly and by mid-september when moisture might be available during some years. no overseeding grass or legume species survived better than another when overseeded in early october. a 5-year test program is recommended. fall apply srn to roadsides prone to scotch broom invasion where good bentgrass/fine fescue populations exist. the srn should consist of a 0.6 cm minus particle ibdu, escote 150 and urea combination (40:40:20 w/w, respectively) in a 2:1:1 ratio with p2o5 and k20 in a 2-1-1 ratio. divide each test area into annually mowed, biannually mowed or non-mowed areas. overseeding with fertilization should occur in early september. the seed mix should consist of 70% improved varieties of slender, creeping red or hard fescue, 20% fine-leaved perennial ryegrass and 10% colonial bentgrass. dwarf white clover, although a desirable component of the mix, is not suggested unless seed is pre-inoculated and sufficient p, k and lime have been previously applied. roadside vegetation, grass legume establishment, grass competition, scotch broom, alder, red fescue, bentgrass, lime, fertilization, nitrogen trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 345.1 | Potential of Automatic Vehicle Identification in the Puget Sound Area | Butterfield | TRAC/UW | 1994 | potential of automatic vehicle identification in the puget sound area butterfield, e., haselkorn, m., alalusi, k. this report presents the results of an evaluation of a prototype automatic vehicle identification (avi) system. avi can identify and locate specific vehicles at a precise location. we chose to investigate a loop-based avi systems, primarily because the puget sound area freeway system has numerous inductive loop detectors already in place, and we expected that the current method of collecting traffic could be augmented by an avi system. however, before implementing any large-scale avi system, we first wanted to test a small scale, prototype system based on technology that 'piggy backs' avi detectors on existing loop detectors. the tests revealed a failure to detect buses at the rate of nearly on-in-five expected detections. while the exact cause or causes of the failures are not completely clear, we suspect the loop system itself to have been the prime contributor to the failures. we recommend further testing and troubleshooting to help determine the viability of the avi system. we also recommend implementing and testing a method for remote access of avi data. assuming that the technical difficulties can be solved (or that a nearly on-in-five detection error rate is acceptable), there are potential applications of loop-based avi technology in the puget sound region. these include (1) performance monitoring of hov lanes, (2) regulation of hov lane use, (3) real-time location data for advanced public transportation systems, and (4) transit fleet management. traffic surveillance and control, automatic vehicle identification, avi, advanced public transportation system, ivhs trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 353.1 | A Case Study of Motor Vehicles Violating Special Weight Permits in the State of Washington | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | a case study of motor vehicles violating special weight permits in the state of washington casavant, k.l., barron, c.j., jessup, e.l. the objective of this paper was to address the problem of the accelerated highway and bridge deterioration from overloaded trucks by developing a profile of trucks which exceed overweight permit authorization. the profile of trucks in violation of overweight permits include location, seasonal variation, commodity group, origin/destination, scale type, and permit type. the profile was developed from a statewide telephone survey of permit violations between november 1, 1991, and october 31, 1992, and provide policy makers, transportation planners and law enforcement officials greater understanding of the nature of load related damage created by overload permit violations. highway, overweight, truck, permits, fines, profile trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 329.1 | Roadside Tire Noise | Chalupnik | TRAC/UW | 1994 | roadside tire noise chalupnik, j.d., anderson, d. this study investigated the noise produced by a single passenger vehicle tire heard at the roadside. this report presents the study's equipment and the development of the data reduction techniques. to choose test sites, selection criteria were applied that would provide extraneous artifacts from influencing the results of the study. special care was taken to minimize microphone wind noise caused by the high speed turbulent flow of the measurement process. measurements were taken on both old and new class b asphalt, class d asphalt, and portland cement concrete pavement. the results are presented in graphical form. the results indicated that the class d asphalt surfaces measured in this study did not produce lower roadside noise, and these surfaces were no more acoustically absorbent than the other road surfaces. noise, traffic noise, tire noise, roadway noise, tire, surface interaction trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 303.1 | Measurement and Source Apportionment of PM 10 Roadway Emissions | Claiborn | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | measurement and source apportionment of pm 10 roadway emissions claiborn, c., mitra, a., westberg, h., lamb, b. the objectives of this research are to develop a methodology for assessing pm 10 emissions from roads, and to compare emission factors developed from this method to those published factors currently in use by regulatory agencies. upwind and downwind concentrations of pm 10 were monitored at several paved and unpaved roadway sites in eastern washington and northern idaho. a novel method for measuring pm 10 emission rates that used an inert, atmospheric tracer to simulate the road sources of pm 10 was developed. using this methodology, pm 10 emission rates were measured from paved and unpaved roads. the results of this study demonstrate that the use of an inert tracer in a line source to simulate roadway pm 10 emissions can provide a tool for improving the existing emission inventories for fugitive pm 10 emissions from roads. the emission factors calculated for unpaved roads were similar in magnitude to those currently used by the department of ecology. the factors for paved roads were nearly an order of magnitude higher than those currently in use. pm 10 emission rates for paved roads were found to be highly variable, depending on parameters that include wind speed, the variability in the wind direction, and traffic and roadway conditions. environmental, air pollution, particulate matter, pm 10, fugitive emissions, emission factors, dispersion models trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 328.2/NTIS No. PB940181799 | Analytical Modeling of Foundations for Seismic Analysis of Bridges | Cofer | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | analytical modeling of foundations for seismic analysis of bridges cofer,w. f., mclean,d. i., mcguire,j. w. the response of bridges when subjected to seismic excitation may be significantly influenced by the dynamic properties of their foundations. with current design practice, foundation elements are typically considered as elastic springs without consideration of material and radiation damping. the objectives of this research were to identify general foundation models that are suitable for modeling soil-structure interaction in seismic bridge analysis, to modify an existing nonlinear seismic bridge analysis computer program to include a new element capable of representing such models, and to conduct a parametric study to assess the effect of the increased energy dissipation mechanisms on the response of bridge substructures. for spread footing foundations, three different models were identified and applied to a typical two-column bridge bent. the seismic response for each model was compared with conventional elastic and fixed-base models. several soil stiffness values and earthquake records were considered for analysis. maximum values of displacement, plastic hinge rotation, and cumulative plastic hinge rotations were noted and compared. it was concluded that the use of the foundation models can produce an important change in the bridge response when compared to that of the fixed -based models, depending on the frequency and content of the earthquake and the stiffness of the soil. the effects of radiation damping were observed to be insignificant for foundations on stiff soil, but important for those on soft soil. in addition, the performance of the simpler damped foundation models was found to be quite similar to that of more complex models. bridge, earthquake, soil-structure interaction, foundation, analysis, modeling trac/wsu 1994 |
| TRB 940424 | An Optimal Recursive Estimate for Detecting Traffic Anomalies using Real Time Inductance Loop Data | Dailey | Transportation Research Board | 1994 | an optimal recursive estimate for detecting traffic anomalies using real time inductance loop data dailey, d.j. this paper describes the use of an optimal recursive predictor (kalman predictor) with inductance loop data to produce an anomaly detector. it details the construction of the system function or transition matrix, used in the optimal predictor, directly from the statistics of the problem. it demonstrates the use of a prediction algorithm with inductance loop data gathered on interstate five in seattle, washington. it discusses the scaling of thresholds necessary for anomaly detection but does not provide specific threshold values. this technique of dynamic prediction used with thresholds could have potential value to traffic management systems that rely heavily on inductance loop data. traveler information, its backbone, distributed computing, client server model, its architecture, speed estimates, volume, occupancy, traffic surveillance and control, inductance loop data, traffic management systems, trb transportation research board 1994 |
| WA-RD 332.1 | Investigation of GPS and GIS for Traveler Information | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1994 | investigation of gps and gis for traveler information dailey, d.j., lin, p. traffic congestion is an increasing problem in many areas of washington state. efforts to control traffic flows and mitigate congestion must rely on the ability to accurately monitor the state of traffic flow on highways and arterials. this project, sponsored by wsdot and executed at the university of washington, combines two important aspects of geodesy, geographical information systems (gis) and the global positioning system (gps), to produce a traveler information system. this project produced a computer application that draws a graphical representation of the transportation data (a map) on an x-terminal. this project also produced a second computer application to perform real-time vehicle positioning using gps. these two applications operate in a client/server paradigm is used to combine location and congestion information on one, digitally generated map display. traffic surveillance and control, gps, gis, traveler information, maximum likelihood, digital maps, distributed computing, client server trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 313.2 | Concrete Pumping Effects on Entrained Air-Voids: Appendices | Elkey | TRAC/UW | 1994 | concrete pumping effects on entrained air-voids: appendices elkey, w., janssen, d., hover, k.c. pumping is a frequently used method of efficiently transporting concrete from the delivery vehicles to the formwork. unfortunately, pumping concrete can affect the air content of a concrete mix. this has caused concern about the possible loss of resistance of the concrete to freezing and thawing. the actual effect of pumping on the air content measured for the concrete is not consistent; in some cases air content has increased, while in others it has decreased. previous work has shown that pumping causes pressure in the concrete, and this pressure can alter the air-void system. the purpose of this work was to verify previously identified changes in the air-void system, and to examine the effect of pressure on concrete mixes containing various admixture combinations. the stability of an air-void system with respect to pressurization was found to depend upon both the actual air content and the admixture(s) used in the mix. higher air contents improved resistance to changes from pressurization, while the use of lignosulfonate-based water-reducers decreased the stability. type f flyash improved the stability. air-entraining agent type appeared to also affect stability, but additional testing would be required to establish statistically significant effects based on air-entraining agent type. concrete pumping, pressure, air voids, entrained air, freezing and thawing, spacing factor, specific surface, philleo factor trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 313.1 | Concrete Pumping Effects on Entrained Air-Voids | Elkey | TRAC/UW | 1994 | concrete pumping effects on entrained air-voids elkey, w., janssen, d., hover, k.c. pumping is a frequently used method of efficiently transporting concrete from the delivery vehicles to the formwork. unfortunately, pumping concrete can affect the air content of a surfacing concrete mix. this problem has caused concern about the possible loss of the concrete's resistance to freezing and thawing. the actual effect of pumping on the air content measured for the concrete is not consistent; in some cases air content has increased while in others it has decreased. previous work has shown that pumping causes pressure in the concrete and that this pressure can alter the air-void system. the purpose of this work was to verify previously identified changes in the air-void system and to examine the effect of pressure on concrete mixes containing various admixture combinations. the stability of an air-void system with respect to pressurization was found to depend upon both the actual air content and the admixture(s) used in the mix. higher air contents improve resistance to changes from pressurization, while the use of lignosulfonate-based water-reducers decreased the stability. type f flyash improved the stability. air-entraining agent type also appeared to affect stability, but additional testing would be required to establish statistically significant effects based on air-entraining agent type. concrete pumping, pressure, air voids, entrained air, freezing and thawing, spacing factor, specific surface, philleo factor trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 316.2 | Precipitation Identification for Hazard Reduction | Ferguson | USDA Forest Service/Pacific NW Research Stati | 1994 | precipitation identification for hazard reduction ferguson,s. a. the results of a 2-year project to investigate the feasibility of automatically detecting precipitation type for highway hazard-reduction programs in the cascade mountains of washington state are reported. the project investigated available technology for remote identification of precipitation type, selected a suitable sensor for testing, and compared field and laboratory tests with visual observations. modifications of the hardware and software were conducted to optimize the use of precipitation identification (pid) sensors in operational hazard-reduction programs.a pid sensor was installed at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) observation station at snoqualmie pass, and was connected to automatic data-logging equipment. another pid was equipped for mobile use and tested at mountain sites in alaska, other areas of washington, and in japan.data from each sensor were compared against visual observations. the results of this analysis showed adequate performance from the pid. the analysis also showed that the pid data can be a valuable asset to the hazard mitigation programs along mountain highways, particularly when combined with data-loggers, totaling precipitation gages, and computer graphics. precipitation identification, rain, snow, hazard, avalanche usda forest service/pacific nw research stati 1994 |
| TRB 940425 | The Impacts of Mixed Use and Density on the Utilization of Three Modes of Travel: The Single Occupant Vehicle, Transit, and Walking | Frank | Transportation Research Board | 1994 | the impacts of mixed use and density on the utilization of three modes of travel: the single occupant vehicle, transit, and walking frank, l.d. presented in this paper are findings from an empirical analysis to test the impacts of land-use mix, population density, and employment density on the use of the single occupant vehicle (sov), transit, and walking for both work trips and shopping trips. the hypothetical relationships tested focused on whether there is a relationship between urban form and modal choice, whether this relationship exists when controlling for non-urban form factors, whether this relationship is linear or non-linear, and whether a stronger relationship exists between modal choice and urban form when they are measured at both trip ends as opposed to either the origin or destination. a review of literature and experiences suggested that a fair amount of information is known about the impacts of destiny on mode choice. however, considerable debate exists over whether density itself is actually the casual stimulus to a surrogate for other factors. to address this issue, a database was developed with a comprehensive set of variables for which density may be a proxy, e.g., demographics and level of service. this analysis employed a correlational research design in which modal choice was compared among census tracts with differing levels of density and mix. findings from this research indicate that density and mix are both related to mode choice, even when controlling for non-urban form factors for both work trips and shopping trips. furthermore, the relationship between population and employment density and mode choice for sov, transit, and walking in non-linear for both work and shopping trips. transit usage and walking increase as density and land-use mix increase, while sov usage declines. findings from this research suggests that measuring urban form at both trip ends provides a greater ability to predict travel choices than looking at trip ends separately. findings also suggest that increasing the level of land-use mix at the trip origins and destinations is also related with a reduction in sov travel and an increase in transit and walking. land-use, mixed use, population density, sov, transit, walking, trb transportation research board 1994 |
| WA-RD 351.2 | An Analysis of Relationships Between Urban Form (Density, Mix, and Jobs: Housing Balance) and Travel Behavior (Mode Choice, Trip Generation, Trip Length, and Travel Time) | Frank | TRAC/UW | 1994 | an analysis of relationships between urban form (density, mix, and jobs: housing balance) and travel behavior (mode choice, trip generation, trip length, and travel time) frank,l. d. this project is part of a research agenda to discover ways to plan and implement urban forms that reduce dependence on the single occupancy vehicle (sov). the purpose of this project was to empirically test the relationship between land use density, mix, jobs-housing balance, and travel behavior at the census tract level for two trip purposes: work and shopping. this project provides input into policies at the national, state, and local level, targeted at the reduction of sov travel. this research employed a correlational research design in which urban form (e.g., density) and travel behavior (e.g., mode choice) relationships were analyzed while controlling for non-urban form factors (e.g., demographics). data for travel behavior variables (modal choice, trip distance, and travel time) were obtained from the puget sound transportation panel. data for the urban form variables (employment density, population density, mix, and jobs-housing balance) were obtained from the u.s. census bureau, the washington state employment security department, and the king county assessor's office. the databases developed for this study were composed of these data sources, matched together by one common variable: the census tract. the databases were structured around two separate units of analysis: the trip and the tract. relationships between urban form and modal choice were analyzed at the tract level, while urban form relationships with trip distance and travel time were analyzed at the trip level. simple statistical analytical methods were used to identify relationships between urban form and travel behavior variables, including t-tests, linear correlation, partial correlation, multiple regression, and cross-tabulation. findings from the application of these methods indicated that employment density, population density, and land-use mix were negatively correlated with sov usage and positively correlated with transit usage and walking for both work and shopping trips. employment density, population density, and land-use mix were negatively correlated with trip distance. travel time was positively correlated with employment density and negatively correlated with mixing of uses for work trips. the jobs-housing balance was negatively correlated with trip distance and travel time for work trips. transit, walking, and sov usage were found to have non-linear relationships with population and employment density for both work and shopping trips. an analysis of density thresholds was conducted to identify levels of population and employment density, where significant decreases in sov travel and increases in transit and walking occurred. density, mixed use, jobs-housing, mode choice, trip length, travel times, land use, urban form, travel behavior trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 351.1 | Relationships Between Land Use and Travel Behavior in the Puget Sound Region | Frank | TRAC/UW | 1994 | relationships between land use and travel behavior in the puget sound region frank, l.d., pivo, g. this project is part of a research agenda to discover ways to plan and implement urban forms that reduce dependence on the single occupancy vehicle (sov). the purpose of this project was to empirically test the relationship between land use density, mix, jobs-housing balance, and travel behavior at the census tract level for two trip purposes: work and shopping. this project provides input into policies at the national, state, and local level, targeted at the reduction of sov travel.this research employed a correlational research design in which urban form (e.g., density) and travel behavior (e.g., mode choice) relationships were analyzed while controlling for non-urban form factors (e.g., demographics). data for travel behavior variables (modal choice, trip distance, and travel time) were obtained from the puget sound transportation panel. data for the urban form variables (employment density, population density, mix, and jobs-housing balance) were obtained from the u.s. census bureau, the washington state employment security department, and the king county assessor's office. the databases developed for this study were composed of these data sources, matched together by one common variable: the census tract. the databases were structured around two separate units of analysis: the trip and the tract. relationships between urban form and modal choice were analyzed at the tract level, while urban form relationships with trip distance and travel time were analyzed at the trip level. simple statistical analytical methods were used to identify relationships between urban form and travel behavior variables, including t-tests, linear correlation, partial correlation, multiple regression, and cross-tabulation. findings from the application of these methods indicated that employment density, population density, and land-use mix were negatively correlated with sov usage and positively correlated with transit usage and walking for both work and shopping trips. employment density, population density, and land-use mix were negatively correlated with trip distance. travel time was positively correlated with employment density and negatively correlated with mixing of uses for work trips. the jobs-housing balance was negatively correlated with trip distance and travel time for work trips. transit, walking, and sov usage were found to have non-linear relationships with population and employment density for both work and shopping trips. an analysis of density thresholds was conducted to identify levels of population and employment density, where significant decreases in sov travel and increases in transit and walking occurred. density, mixed use, jobs-housing, mode choice, trip length, travel times, land use, urban form, travel behavior trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 354.1 | Development of a Transportation Data Center | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1994 | development of a transportation data center hallenbeck,m. e. as a result of the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act of 1991 (istea) and various state laws and regulations, the data needs of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) are changing to reflect the increase in intermodal policy and planning work required by the wsdot. this report describes alternative approaches to obtaining and internally managing the data needed to meet these requirements. specifically, it explores the utility, functionality, and organizational structure of a transporation data center within the department. data management, management systems trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 317.2 | Recommended Congestion Monitoring Options For WSDOT | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1994 | recommended congestion monitoring options for wsdot hallenbeck,m. e. this report provides detail on the options for monitoring traffic congestion within the state of washington. it refines initial estimates of straffing and equipment resource needs for the data collection systems analyzed. this document also answers questions raised by the recommendations made in the phase1 report for this project. finally, this report provides specific recommendations for near-term actions the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) can take towards providing a cost-effective congestion monitoring system for the state's urban areas. congestion, congestion monitoring, performance monitoring, istea management systems trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 320.2 | Truck Loads and Flows Task A - Summary Report | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1994 | truck loads and flows task a - summary report hallenbeck, m.e., kim, s. this study describes the analysis of truck volume data collected by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) over four and one half years, from 1988 through 1993. the primary objectives of this research were to: investigate the patterns in truck volumes at various locations in washington state; determine whether seasonal factors can be developed and applied to short-duration truck volume measurements to better estimate average annual conditions; develop an easy procedure that other states can use to create their own seasonal factoring process, and produce a guidebook that explains this process and lists the necessary steps and concisely. this report summarizes all but the last of these objectives. this last objective is met in another summary report. traffic surveillance and control, transport, weight, pavement management systems, truck counts, traffic counting trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 309.3 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Implementing Transparent Borders--Recommended Action | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1994 | western states transparent borders project: implementing transparent borders--recommended action hallenbeck,m. e., koehne,j., scheibe,r. r., rose,d., leech,j. the western states transparent borders project involved an assessment of the institutional barriers to implementing transparent borders technologies for interstate commercial vehicle operations (cvo) in idaho, montana, nevada, oregon, utah, washington, and wyoming. the results of the fact finding and associated analysis were documented in two sets of reports. two reports were produced for each participating state, and reflected the individual structure, needs, and operations of that state. these reports are "description of current state practices", and "institutional barriers and recommended actions". this report provides a summary of these two sets of reports, as well as conclusions drawn since the publishing of those reports. the project team determined that the key barriers to the transparent border system implementation are 1) a lack of a mandate from top management or the low priority for commercial vehicle operations within various state agencies; 2) a lack of communication about the status of, need for, cost of, and benefits from intelligent vehicle highway system (ivhs) cvo incentives, and 4) a lack of standards for technologies and procedures needed for ivhs cvo. to surmount these barriers requires that any selected course of action provided for: 1) affordable participation for both state agencies and private firms; 2) national leadership to initiate the program; 3) small an incremental program development steps to keep initial costs low; 4) develop of compelling arguments for implementation of the transparent borders program; 5) top management support for program implementation; 6) dedicated funding for system development and implementation. the project team recommends a phase implementation of an electronic credential verification system for all seven participating states. a description of the proposed system is included in this report. ivhs cvo, commercial vehicle operations, trucking, credentials verification trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 320.1 | Truck Flows and Loads for Pavement Management | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1994 | truck flows and loads for pavement management hallenbeck, m.e., o'brien, a. this report describes procedures state departments of transportation can use to determine the location and frequency of their truck monitoring activities. the objective of the recommended procedures is to help a state design a program that cost-effectively meets its needs for truck data within its overall pavement management design and management process than is currently available, thereby increasing the reliability of pavement designs; decreasing overall pavement construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation costs; and improving a state's ability to manage its pavement infrastructure. this summary report discusses:* the procedures required to determine the number and distribution of permanent, automatic vehicle classification (avc) and weigh-in-motion (wim) devices within a state, * a system for using the data gathered with these devices to adjust data from short duration vehicle classification and wim counts to better estimate average annual conditions, * the appropriate length of short duration avc and wim counts required to develop annual average estimates of travel within specified levels of precision, and * research performed in florida and washington that illustrates the variability of vehicle classification and truck weight data that states can expect to find on their roads. pavement management systems, truck counts, traffic counting trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 322.1 | Toxicity of Additives Used to Control Odors in Recreational Vehicle Wastewater | Hindin | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | toxicity of additives used to control odors in recreational vehicle wastewater hindin,e. this report consists of three phases. phase one was a review of existing information on all aspects of recreational vehicle (rv) wastewater additives. surveys and interviews were held with retailers selling rv wastewater holding tank additives, rv owners on rv users. the surveys and interviews revealed that formaldehyde-methonal additives were the most widely used followed by paraformaldehyde formulations. the second phase explored the toxicity if the commercially available additives when used in a dosage recommended by the manufacturer. the microtox r toxicity bioassay and the change of oxygen uptake by sewage degrading microorganisms were used as indicators of toxicity. formaldehyde-methonal formulation showed the greatest immediate toxicity. this was followed in decreasing toxicity by the alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy ethanol, paraformaldehyde, quaternary ammonium chloride, and enzyme-detergent formations. enzymes which contained an inert filler were found to be non-toxic. the adverse impact of the additive on the oxygen uptake rate showed that the formaldehyde-methanol had a biocidal effect while enzyme formulations had no effect. the other additives caused by a slow down in the rate of oxygen uptake by microorganisms. the final phase of the study characterized the rv wastewater being dumped at the rest area dump stations and the characteristics of various wastewater streams in the biological treatment systems. the three parameters monitored were the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (5-day bod), ph and microtox toxicity. environmental, rv chemical additives, toxicity of rv additives, rv wastewaters trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 297.1 | Pilot Study of an Unstable Slope Management System | Ho | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | pilot study of an unstable slope management system ho,c., knutson,r. a. previously, an unstable slope management system (usms) had been developed to prioritize the repair of unstable slopes. this report describes the process of implementing and testing the usms. the original system was comprised of two parts, a database and programs that determined the priority ratings of the slopes. these components of the usms were modified to create a system that was more user friendly and better able to prevent errors than the original usms. during the course of the project changes were made as necessary to the programs or databases to correct for errors. modifications to tile usms included upgrading the software used to create the usms. the usms was tested using data on actual slopes having various degrees of active failure located in district 4 of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). district 4 was selected because it exhibits a wide variety of conditions applicable to tile usms. sites were selected by wsdot personnel who were familiar with the area. a total of thirty-nine failure sites were identified and entered into the usms. a parametric study of the results was performed to determine the effect of changing of the weighting factors used. landslides, slopes, management systems trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 333.1 | Seismic Response Spectra | Ho | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | seismic response spectra ho, c., shawish, k.m. design response spectra were developed for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) for nine soil groups representative of deposits that can be found in washington state. these response spectra differ from the spectra developed for and adopted by the applied technology council (atc). unlike the atc spectra, the wsdot spectra are based on the subduction zone setting that dominates pacific northwest seismicity. both sets of spectra are based on numerical studies using shake. the new response spectra were developed using new dynamic moduli curves for cohesive soils which have been accepted as more representative of the properties of the soils in the region. shake tends to attenuate high frequencies. shake based analysis compared well with analysis based on a nonlinear finite element code. the basis of most recent atc attenuation maps is outlined, and found to be based on similar assumptions and methodology as the original atc attenuation maps and not compatible with washington state seismicity. response spectra, earthquake, seismic, subduction zone, attenuation trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 277.1 | Fare-Free Policy: Cost, Impacts on Transit Service, and Attainment of Transit System Goals | Hodge | TRAC/UW | 1994 | fare-free policy: cost, impacts on transit service, and attainment of transit system goals hodge, d.c., orrell iii, j.d., strauss, t.r. this study sought to understand the potential and problems associated with fare-free transit policy. washington state is extraordinary in the number of such systems that are fully fare-free. experiences with fare-free policy in washington are overwhelmingly positive; a result that is consistent with other completely fare-free systems in the u.s. identified in this research. we conclude that fare-free policy does make a difference and that smaller communities especially are better served by a fare-free policy. this positive review of fare-free policy conflicts with common thinking about the policy within the transit industry. we conclude that much of the negative interpretation of the policy is based on a very limited set of experiments with the policy of larger systems. this research points out why these experiments should not be used to dismiss the policy and why the policy's potential success is largely dependent upon transit agency management issues. furthermore, we present a conceptual overview of why the removal of the fare box results in substantial ridership increases above the levels predicted using standard fare elasticity relationships. this conceptual overview of the relationship between fare-free policy and ridership levels is also suggested as a helpful tool for interpreting the value of increased ridership in juxtaposition to the different objectives of pubic transportation. transit, fare policy, fare-free, transit ridership trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 229.1 | 1989 Westside Chip Seal Study | Jackson | TRAC/UW | 1994 | 1989 westside chip seal study jackson, d.c., jackson, n.c., mahoney, j.p. this report summarizes the results of reviews of chip sealing practices in the state of washington. background data is presented regarding the problems encountered in past chip sealing projects. revised specifications are presented for the application of chip seals in both eastern and western washington. bituminous surface treatment, chip seal, data, review, specification, specifications, washington trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 267.3 | Design Criteria for Outer Structures at Ferry Landings | Jahren | TRAC/UW | 1994 | design criteria for outer structures at ferry landings jahren, c.t., margaroni, s., scarpelli, a. in this research, global positioning system (gps) technology was used to track the velocity and position of ferry vessels during berthing maneuvers, and vessel characteristics that affect berthing maneuvers were reviewed. ferry vessels were tracked for 24 berthing maneuvers and five complete crossings. the research team found that the plot of vessel speed vs. distance from the landing structure was consistent and that the crews used a consistent sequence throttle settings as they approached the berth. changes of slope in a speed vs. distance plot were correlated to changes in throttle setting. vessels used a variety of approach paths when they were more than 1,000 ft from the landing; however, the paths converged when the vessels were within 500 ft of the landing. records of sea trials provided information on vessel turning and stopping ability. on the basis of the findings, a velocity vs. distance envelope was developed for use as a ferry landing design criteria. the report recommends that gps tracking become a regular part of the ferry terminal design procedure and that future vessel tracking be conducted during sea trials and difficult landing situations. ferry, vessel, port design, berthing, ferry landing, design, fender design, ferry terminal design, global positioning systems, sea trials trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 348.1 | Blast Densification for Mitigation of Dynamic Settlement and Liquefaction | Kimmerling | WSDOT | 1994 | blast densification for mitigation of dynamic settlement and liquefaction kimmerling,r. e. a loose debris avalanche deposit, resulting from the 1980 eruption of mt. st. helens, was encountered during the foundation geotechnical investigation for bridge 12 on spirit lake memorial highway (sr 504) in the mt. st. helens national volcanic monument, washington. the deposit was determined to be at risk of experiencing liquefaction and/or dynamic settlement during the design seismic event for the structure (richter magnitude 6.5 and peak ground acceleration 0.55g). the experimental use of deep blasting was selected by the washington state department of transportation and approved by the federal highway administration, to densify the deposit full depth (up to 43 meters) for the purpose of mitigation the liquefaction and dynamic settlement risks. the contract for the work utilized a test section to evaluate the blast design. revisions were made to the blast design based on the results of the test section blasting, and production blasting was completed in december 1992. numerous instruments were used to monitor and quantify the results of the blast densification. standard penetration testing (spt) before blasting indicated average, corrected blowcounts of about eight full depth in the deposit. post blasting spt blowcounts increased to above the goal of about 25 in the upper 15 meters of the deposit, and to above about 20 below 15 meters. modified becker penetration testing corroborated the spt results. total ground surface settlement of up to 1.5 meters was observed. volumetric compressive strains on the order of about 8% were determined on the basis of surface settlement and slope iclinometer measurements. accident rates wsdot 1994 |
| TRB 940331 | Case Studies of Freeway-to-Freeway Ramp and Mainline Metering in the U.S., and Suggested Policies for Washington State | Klastorin | Transportation Research Board | 1994 | case studies of freeway-to-freeway ramp and mainline metering in the u.s., and suggested policies for washington state klastorin, t., pivo, g., pilcher, m., carlson, d., hyman, c., hansen, s., hess,p., thatte,a. to mitigate increasing traffic congestion and to improve highway safety, state departments of transportation have come up with some innovative strategies for optimizing the efficiency of congested freeway sections. two such strategies are freeway-to-freeway ramp metering and mainline metering. freeway-to-freeway ramp metering involves installing traffic signals (either on their side of the roadway or overhead) on the ramps found at freeway-to-freeway interchanges. mainline metering involves installing traffic signals (usually overhead) on the mainline of a freeway. this paper examines some examples of freeway-to-freeway ramp metering in the united states, namely, in minnesota and california. the advantages and disadvantages of freeway-to-freeway ramp metering are discussed. this paper then describes the only known operating example of mainline metering in the united states. implementation and operational issues of mainline metering are discussed. the paper suggests that a complete and thorough analysis should take place prior to the installation of any freeway-to-freeway or mainline metering system. this analysis is needed to ensure that safety is maintained and that environmental concerns are addressed. the suggested policy on freeway-to-freeway ramp metering is as follows: 'install meters on freeway-to-freeway ramps where system performance and efficiency will be improved.' the suggested policy on mainline metering is as follows: 'install mainline meters on freeways approaching bottleneck locations where analysis indicates that improved traffic operations will result.' guidelines for both metering types are listed in the paper. traffic surveillance and control, traffic congestion, ramp metering, trb transportation research board 1994 |
| WA-RD 342.1 | An Evaluation of the Lift Axle Regulation (WAC 468.38.280) in Washington | Koehne | TRAC/UW | 1994 | an evaluation of the lift axle regulation (wac 468.38.280) in washington koehne,j., mahoney,j. p. the lack of uniformity in lift axle regulations and practices among states and princes hinders the efficiency of commercial vehicle operations. some jurisdictions ban their use altogether. the objective of this study is to determine whether current lift axle regulations as stated in wac 468.38.280 are still appropriate, given (1) other state and provincial practices, (2) associated safety concerns, (3) pavement damage due to misuse, and (4) the economic implications of regulatory change. on the basis of the conclusions, a number of recommendations can be made. efforts should focus on improving the use of existing enforcement resources and personnel. concurrent with the change in enforcement practices, efforts should be made to change the fee/fine structure to reduce or eliminate the benefit achieved from operating illegally. effort should also be made to establish common specifications among the states or provinces that have comparable regulations. additional data collection describing lift axle use is recommended. on the basis of the information collected through this project, a complete ban of lift axles cannot be justified at this time. this conclusion is based on (1) a lack a definitive safety-related data that prove lift axles are a safety risk, (2) a lack of definitive data that prove that lift axles are either being raised inappropriately or are over/underloaded and the extent to which this is occurring, and (3) a lack of of quantitative data that describe the economic impacts to the trucking industry of banning lift axles. additional specificiations in the regulation are not recommended, because they would only serve to (1) complicate the enforcement procedure, (2) increase the compliance burden for the industry and (3) ultimately lead to a non-enforcement of these requirements. lift axles, retractable axles, weight enforcement, uniformity among states, non-uniformity among states, trucking, truck safety, pavement damage trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 347.1 | Rubber Modified and PBA-6 Asphalt Binder Pavements, SR-5, Lewis County Line to SR-12 368 | Livingston | WSDOT | 1994 | rubber modified and pba-6 asphalt binder pavements, sr-5, lewis county line to sr-12 368 livingston, j., anderson, k.w. this report documents the construction of two experimental test sections of asphalt concrete pavement containing polymer and ground rubber additives. the two sections are located on i-5 south of olympia, washington and were constructed in the summer of 1992.the test sections were paved with an open-graded using pba-6 and asphalt cement binders. pba-6 is a performance based asphalt cement with a polymer additive. is a performance based asphalt cement but with ground tires as the additive. the is a for a new product developed by the u.s. oil and refining company of tacoma, washington. the completed test sections are performing well, although the pba-6gr section is flushing due to too high of an initial asphalt content. the sections will be monitored of 10 years to determine long-term performance. additive, asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, asphalt content, asphalt pavement, concrete, construction, counties, crumb-rubber, developed, experimental, line, open-graded, pavement, pavements, performance, performance based specifications, polymer, rubber, tire, tires, washington wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 330.1 | Rubberized ACP Class "D" SR-520, Evergreen Point Floating Bridge to SR 908 | Livingston | WSDOT | 1994 | rubberized acp class "d" sr-520, evergreen point floating bridge to sr 908 livingston,j., schultz,r. l. the construction and performance history are described for a rubberized, open-graded pavement placed on sr-520 near kirkland, washington. the section has lasted longer than the average conventional open-graded pavement, but it is not clear that the addition of the rubber was the only contributing factor in the increased life of the section. accident rates wsdot 1994 |
| FHWA-FLP-95-006 | Estimation of Seasonal Effects for Pavement Design and Performance-Volume I | Uhlmeyer | USDA-Forest Service/Technology and Developme | 1994 | estimation of seasonal effects for pavement design and performance-volume i uhlmeyer, j.s., mahoney, j.p., hanek, g., wang, g., copstead, r.l., janssen, d., worldwide, pavement design and analysis is moving toward deflection or mechanistic-empirical procedures. a difficulty with these procedures is that they require some type of adjustment factor to adjust the measured deflections or the layer elastic moduli used in the procedure because of: * the time of day and year (season) when field measurements are taken, and * the effects of the climate related material variations on pavement performance. the basic objectives of this study were to examine seasonal adjustment factors for deflections and layer moduli and to provide guidelines for selecting seasonal adjustment factors that provide a more realistic pavement design. three sets of deflection basins (japan, wsdot, and u.s. forest service) were used to estimate seasonal moduli. the evercalc version 3.3 backcalculation program was used to estimate these layer moduli. based on such results, along with those in the literature, a set of moduli ratios were developed (see chapter 6). additionally, recommendations on deflection ratios were made.worldwide, pavement design and analysis is moving toward deflection or mechanistic-empirical procedures. a difficulty with these procedures is that they require some type of adjustment factor to adjust the measured deflections or the layer elastic moduli used in the procedure because of: * the time of day and year (season) when field measurements are taken, and * the effects of the climate related material variations on pavement performance. the basic objectives of this study were to examine seasonal adjustment factors for deflections and layer moduli and to provide guidelines for selecting seasonal adjustment factors that provide a more realistic pavement design. three sets of deflection basins (japan, wsdot, and u.s. forest service) were used to estimate seasonal moduli. the evercalc version 3.3 backcalculation program was used to estimate these layer moduli. based on such results, along with those in the literature, a set of moduli ratios were developed (see chapter 6). additionally, recommendations on deflection ratios were made. nondestructive testing, pavement, pavement moduli, seasonal usda-forest service/technology and developme 1994 |
| WA-RD 366.1 | Evaluation and Application of Washington State's Incident Response Guide | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1994 | evaluation and application of washington state's incident response guide mannering,f. l., koehne,j. the purpose of the project was to (1) re-evaluate the effectiveness, appropriateness, and format of the incident response guide currently used in the northwest region, and (2) provide the northwest, olympic, southwest, and eastern regions with electronic versions of an incident response guide for them to complete with their own information and keep updated.in-depth interviews were conducted with the northwest region's incident response team (irt) personnel, who are currently utilizing the incident response guide.an evaluation of the northwest region's incident response guide indicated the following: (1) the effectiveness of the original incident response guide, field reference, was minimal for field response personnel at the scene of an incident; training and experience proved more useful than documentation. (2) the original incident "response guide, office reference, proved more effective and appropriate as a reference for administrative and new irt personnel. (3) the format and organization of the original incident response guide wer inappropriate for use by administrators and new personnel. (4) as the irt program has evolved, a number of procedures, resources, and contacts have changed; the electronic format of the updates incident response guide will help facilitate these updates.the modification of the northwest region's incident response guide for use in other wsdot regions proved to be a simple step in ensuring consistency in incident response programs statewide for the following reasons: (1) much of the required background information and recommended irt procedures are the same statewide. (2) the impetus for developing a formal outline of incident response procedures, equipment, and resources is minimized when all the requirements are specified in a fill-in-the-blank format. incident management, incident response, incident response teams, incident response guide, incident response training trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 326.1 | An Intial Evaluation of the WSDOT Quality Assurance Specification for Asphalt Concrete | Markey | TRAC/UW | 1994 | an intial evaluation of the wsdot quality assurance specification for asphalt concrete markey, s.j., mahoney, j.p., geitz, r.h. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) did a trial implementation of a quality assurance (qa) specification for asphalt concrete during the 1989 paving season. to assess the qa specification, data from both non-qa and qa projects built that year were compared. based on these results, the qa projects were evaluated as having improved quality. subsequently, the qa specification was fully implemented within wsdot. quality assurance, statistics, asphalt concrete trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 340.2 | Structural Response to Long-Duration Earthquakes | Marsh | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | structural response to long-duration earthquakes marsh,m. l., gianotti,c. m. the effects of postulated cascadia subduction zone earthquakes on inelastic structural response have been quantified. the earthquakes studied ranged in size from those previously recorded to the largest plausible event, a magnitude 9.5, 240 second duration earthquake. artificial acceleration records attenuated to epicentral distances corresponding to coastal range sites and puget sound sites were generated. these records were used as input for inelastic response history analyses of single-degree-of-freedom systems with either bilinear or degrading stiffness hysteric relationships. the results indicate that the maximum displacements are not significantly greater that those produced by previously recorded events or by records that are compatible with current design code response spectra. however, the inelastic energy dissipated and the numbers of displacement cycles are somewhat greater for the largest events, although the energy demands and cyclic demands are similar to those from previous events for magnitudes up to 8.5. since, the maximum credible event is not well established at this time, no changes to the current design procedures are recommended. structures, seismic, earthquake, subduction zone, duration effects, inelastic response, damage demands, response spectra, inelastic energy, cyclic loading trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 375.1 | Wetland Evaluation Based on Current Structure and Function: Final Report | McCloskey | TRAC/Boise State University | 1994 | wetland evaluation based on current structure and function: final report mccloskey,r. j., tiedemann,r. b. accident rates trac/boise state university 1994 |
| WA-RD 357.1 | Seismic Performance of Bridge Columns With Interlocking Spiral Reinforcement | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | seismic performance of bridge columns with interlocking spiral reinforcement mclean, d.i., buckingham, g.c. transverse reinforcement in bridge columns normally consists of spiral reinforcement in columns with circular cross-sections and tied reinforcement in columns with square or rectangular cross-sections. the circular shape of spiral reinforcement in inherently efficient in providing confinement to the concrete core and restraint of longitudinal bar buckling. in contrast, rectangular columns require cross-ties and/or overlapping ties in addition to the perimeter tie in order to provide adequate confinement and restraint of bar buckling. as an alternative reinforcing scheme, interlocking spiral reinforcement has been used in california for columns with rectangular cross-sections. however, several important design elements are not addressed in th caltrans specification, and the performance of columns with interlocking spirals has not been fully established.this study experimentally investigated the seismic behavior of columns incorporating interlocking spirals under flexural, shear and torsional loadings. the main tests were performed on approximately 1/5-scale column speciments subjected to incraeasing levels of cycled inelastic displacements under constant axial load. rectangular and oval cross-sections with either two interlocking spirals or conventional ties were investigated. variables studies included the performance of interlocking spirals compared to ties, the amount of spiral overlap, an the size of longitudinal bars required in the overlap region to maintain spiral interlock.columns with interlocking spirals performed as well or better than columns with ties, despite approximately 50% more transverse reinforcement being provided in the tied columns. test results indicated improved performance when the center-to-center spacing of interlocking spirals was not greater than 0.6 times the spiral diameter. at least four longitudinal bars of approximately the same size as the main longitudinal reinforcement are required in the overlap regioin to maintain spiral interlock. procedures were developed for predicting the axial, shear, flexural and torsional strengths of columns with the interlocking spirals. seismic design, bridge, columns, reinforced concrete, transverse reinforcement trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 299.1/NTIS No. PB94-178860 | Seismic Analysis of the Westbound Lanes of the I-90 Bridges Crossing Mercer Slough | McLean | TRAC/UW | 1994 | seismic analysis of the westbound lanes of the i-90 bridges crossing mercer slough mclean,d. i., cannon,i. b. s. this study investigated the seismic response of the westbound lanes of i-90 crossing mercer slough. mercer slough is filled with a very soft, thick peat deposit. both linear and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed, including special analyses, linear time-history analyses and nonlinear time-history analyses. variables considered in the analyses included different column and foundation stiffness, different seismic input, different simultaneous seismic input, and non-linear joint behavior. the response of the bridge was found to be extremely sensitive to seismic input and, to a lesser extent, foundation stiffness. consideration of nonlinear effects tended to lessen the bridge response. the analyses also indicated that a long, loosely connected bridge, such as that crossing the mercer slough, can be adequately analyzed using a fairly short section of the bridge. all of the different analyses indicated that elements in the bridge would probably be close to or exceed their capacity during an earthquake. problem areas which were identified included the inability of the expansion joints to sustain large relative displacements and the possible overloading of the columns in flexure. bridge and construction, bridge, seismic responses, peat, dynamic wheel loadings analysis, earthquake trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 321.1 | Performance of Geotextile Separators in Western Washington | Metcalfe | TRAC/UW | 1994 | performance of geotextile separators in western washington metcalfe,r. c., holtz,r. d. fourteen geotextile separators, with different in-services ages, were exhumed in western washington and their short (survivability) and long-term (filtration/drainage) performances were evaluated. the geotextile samples, which included six woven slit-films, six needle-punched nonwovens, and two heat-bonded nonwovens, were taken back to the laboratory in order to evaluate their overall condition and to perform permittivity and strength tests on specimens of each fabric. samples of the subgrade and base materials were also evaluated in the laboratory. the results indicated that all of the geotextile separators adequately performed their intended separation function, although they experienced very different levels of damage during construction. there was evidence of in-service mechanical damage at one of the sites. the damage to the geotextiles was influenced more by the base aggregate type, rather than the initial lift thickness, although both must be considered in design. all of the recovered geotextiles which were installed under an angular base aggregate sustained damage to some degree. even two heavier weight fabrics, a 231 g/m2 woven slit-film and a 204 g/m2 needle-punched nonwoven, sustained damage under angular base material. all of the fabrics which were installed under subrounded to rounded base aggregate experienced minor to no damage. the woven slit-films and the needle-punched nonwovens experienced similar reductions in strength and both survived the installation conditions reasonably well (except for one lightweight needle-punched nonwoven fabric which was overstressed during installation and also may have been installed under too thin of a pavement section). the heat-bonded nonwovens were heavily damaged during installation; however, they were installed under some of the higher site survivability conditions. the results of the permittivity tests indicated that the woven slit-films and the needled-punched nonwovens both had similar percent increases after being washed. the heat-bonded nonwovens had the highest percent increases in permittivity after being washed, which suggests that they clog more than the other fabrics. there is evidence that the woven slit-films experienced much more blinding than the other fabrics, and that iron staining and caking could also have a detrimental effect on their drainage performance. in all but one case, the woven slit-film fabrics did not meet the task force 25 (1989) and christopher and holtz (1989) filtration requirements needed for the subgrade soils with which they were in contact. the unwashed (i.e., 'undisturbed') permittivity results also indicate that most of the permeabilities of the woven slit-film fabrics fell well below wsdot's required value. the presence of caked fines on the upper surface of three woven slit-films could have indicated that their pore openings were too large for the intended filtration function and they might be subject to fines migration, although this was inconclusive. there was no other evidence of fines migration at any of the sites. all of the pavements were in good condition, and the damage of the geotextile separators appeared to have no negative impact on the pavements' long-term performance. there was one pavement surface which showed signs of premature failure; however, this was not attributed to the performance of the geotextile separator. geotextile separators, condition, performance evaluation, aggregate, subgrade, pavement trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 350.1 | Finite Element Study of the Rehabilitation of Faulted Portland Cement Concrete Pavements | Muhunthan | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | finite element study of the rehabilitation of faulted portland cement concrete pavements muhunthan,b., jennings,a. the objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of dowel bar retrofitting of faulted z7 pcc pavements by (1) modeling fwd test data for computer model development and verification, (2) evaluating long term effects by simulating material degradation of the rigid pavement system, and (3) determining and classifying deficiencies and trends of the parametric study.the results of the finite element analysis shows that remediation in the form of dowel bar retrofitting greatly reduces fault development. use of a dowel bar significantly raised the stress concentration of the concrete at the dowel bar-concrete interface. however, these stresses are well below the levels that cause failure. simulated degradation of the base course increased stresses in the dowel bar and concrete area. pressure differentials in base course were reduced with use of a dowel bar. recommendations for future analysis are also made. pavement, faulting, modeling, dowel bar, retrofit trac/wsu 1994 |
| TRB CS 084 | Duration of Trip-Making Activities by Men and Women: A Survival Analysis | Niemeier | Transportation Research Board | 1994 | duration of trip-making activities by men and women: a survival analysis niemeier, d.a., morita, j. the purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survival analysis for the duration of particular trip-making activities based on sex. specifically, this study investigates the duration of those activities related to household and family support shopping, personal business, and free time and how these durations vary between men and women. it was found that there were no significant differences in the survival curves (i.e. durations) of free-time or personal business activities; this suggests that men and women spend approximately similar amounts of time on these activities; although it is not known if the activities themselves are similar (for example, banking versus getting gas). alternatively, sex was found to be a very significant indicator of the duration of household and family support shopping activities. in the model specification, assuming all variables except sex are the same, it was found that women were 1.32 time more likely than men to spend a longer period of time in a household and family support shopping activity. additionally, it was found that women are 1.33 times more likely than men to have a longer household and family support duration if the activity is nested in the journey to work trip.this report summarizes phase i of the prioritization capacity improvements (pci) project. as part of this study, three tasks were completed. an evaluation of the existing prioritization method for capacity improvements was completed. a state-of-the-art assessment was conducted and included detailed review of three prioritization methods. finally, a ranking methodology and evaluation criteria were proposed to address the state transportation policy goals associated with urban mobility. the framework and criteria are applicable for ranking general widening, sc & di, hov, bridge, interchange, and geometric capacity improvement projects. phase ii will add criteria addressing remaining state policy goals. phase iii will expand criteria to allow multimodal projects. transportation planning, sex, work trip, shopping trip, trb transportation research board 1994 |
| WA-RD 305.3 | Lateral-Load Response Of Two Reinforced Concrete Piers | O'Donovan | TRAC/UW | 1994 | lateral-load response of two reinforced concrete piers o'donovan,t., eberhard,m. o., maclardy,j. a., marsh,m. l. this study was part of a washington state department of transportation (wsdot) program to assess the vulnerability of multiple-span highway bridges built before 1984. during the first series of static tests (phase i), discussed in a previous report, a three-span, reinforced concrete bridge was subjected to large lateral loads. in phase ii, described in this report, the researchers greatly reduced the resistance that the abutments provided so that they could evaluate the lateral-load resistance of the piers. the researchers then subjected the piers to large, transverse cyclic displacements with drift ratios of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 percent.the piers resisted repeated loadings to a force equal to one third of the bridge's weight. the envelope to the pier's hysteretic response indicated that the system yielded at a drift ratio of 0.7 percent. whereas the top of the columns spalled at large drift ratios, the damage to the bottom of the columns was limited to flexural cracks. the pier's measured response was compared to that calculated by the researchers, the california department of transportation, and the wsdot. the calculated responses were found to be strongly sensitive to the assumed steel and soil properties. on the basis of the experience gained in performing the tests, the researchers made recommendations for those planning to perform future tests of large structures. in -addition, while acknowledging the limitations of a single series of static tests, the researchers concluded that (1) the tests should serve as a benchmark against which to evaluate proposed analytical models, (2) at an effective acceleration of 0.2g, the seismic damage to the isolated bridge would probably be minor, (3) at an effective acceleration of 0.4g, the piers would likely sustain heavy damage, and (4) the wsdot should investigate the influence of soil properties on column damage to determine when geotechnical tests are warranted. bridge, earthquake, piers, reinforced concrete, tests, modeling, lateral loads trac/uw 1994 |
| WA-RD 346.1 | Dowel Bar Retrofit, I-90 Kachess River to Yakima River 348 | Pierce | WSDOT | 1994 | dowel bar retrofit, i-90 kachess river to yakima river 348 pierce, l., korynta, a. this report documents the rehabilitation of a faulted portland cement concrete pavement with epoxy coated dowel bars. the dowel bars were installed parallel with centerline at each joint to reestablish panel to panel interlock. the construction project also included the trial installation of tied pcc shoulders as a means of stabilizing the panels. diamond grindling was also included in the contract to bring the retrofit pavement back to a smooth longitudinal profile.early performance results indicate that the retrofit dowel bars are performing better than the tied shoulders with regard to preventing the reoccurrence of faulting. concrete, construction, dowel bar, epoxy, faulting, pavement, pcc, pccp rehabilitation, performance, portland cement concrete, profile, project, rehabilitation, retrofit wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 364.2 | Washington Integrated Networked Geo-Based System (Wings) Implementation Plan | Weston | WSDOT | 1994 | washington integrated networked geo-based system (wings) implementation plan weston, r.f., sandersen, j., walker, l.a., middleton, r. the purpose of this study is to provide the washington state department of transportation, aviation division (wsdot/ad) with the broad-based vision needed to apply new and emerging technology in geographic information systems (gis) to aviation planning and reporting systems.the purpose of this study is to provide the washington state department of transportation, aviatior division with the broad-based vision needed to apply new and emerging technology ir geographic information systems to aviation planning and systems. this is the second two reports. report documented the user needs, established data and application priorities, and presented a conceptual design for sharing geographic information pertaining to washington's airports with airport sponsors, the aviation administration (faa), and other wsdot divisions. report provides an implementation plan. this report builds upon the conceptual design to provide a broad-based implementation plan. three implementation activities are described in phases. project organization and staffing requirements for policy, management, technical operations, and technical support are discussed in section 3. section 4 addresses the estimated resource requirements for wsdot to make the implementation of wings a success. included are requirements for personnel, data conversion from a manual to a computer-based system, and hardware. the of the report discusses issues and what next steps are required to begin the implementation of wings. airports, aviation, aviation planning, data, design, geographic information system, geographic information systems, gis, implementation plan, information systems, management, manual, planning, policy, project, system, systems, technology, transportation, washington, washington state, wings, wsdot wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 337.1 | Process Conditions for the Total Oxidation of Hydrocarbons | Watts | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | process conditions for the total oxidation of hydrocarbons watts,r. j., stanton,p. c. the use of fenton's reagent for completely oxidizing hexadecane and benzo[a]pyrene (bap) to their thermodynamic endpoints, carbon dioxide and water, was investigated. confirmation of oxidation was determined by using 14c-labeled compounds and recovering the evolved 14co2. experimental design procedures incorporating factorial matrices were used to determine optimal treatment conditions based on three variables at five levels. oxidative treatments were conducted in silica sand and a palouse loess soil. silica sand experiments investigated the effects of slurry volume, hydrogen peroxide concentration, and iron (ii) concentrations. in the palouse soil systems, the variables investigated included slurry volume, hydrogen peroxide concentration, and ph.aggressive conditions were required for oxidizing hexadecane and benzo[a]pyrene in silica sand, which were related to their slow rates of desorption. under optimal conditions, 74% of the hexadecane and 73% of the benzo[a]pyrene were oxidized to c02 and h20. in both cases, optimal treatment conditions entailed the use of 14,700 mm hydrogen peroxide. treatment conditions differed in that slurry volumes of 4.0 x f.c. and an iron (ii) concentration of 25 mm were required for hexadecane oxidation while slurry volume of 0.25 x f.c. and an iron (ii) concentration of 5 mm were required for the oxidation of benzo[a]pyrene.in soils, the presence of organic matter and other species that compete for and quench hydroxyl radicals require additional reagents to promote oxidative treatment. under optimal conditions, 67% of the hexadecane and 78% of the benzo[alpyrene were oxidized toc02 and h20. the optimal conditions, 67% of the two compounds was found at the same treatment conditions. these conditions consisted of 14,700 mm hydrogen peroxide, a slurry volume of 20 x field capacity and a ph of 8.0. more importantly, the ability of mineral catalyzed hydrogen peroxide for oxidizing contaminants at a neutral ph was documented.the results show that hydrocarbons corm-non to diesel, motor oil, and other refractory petroleum products may be oxidized to c02 and h20 using fenton's reagent. soil remediation, fenton's reagent, hydrocarbons, hexadecane, benzol[a]pryrene, chemical oxidation, mineralization trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 338.1 | On Site Treatment of Contaminated Soils Using Catalyzed Peroxide | Watts | TRAC/WSU | 1994 | on site treatment of contaminated soils using catalyzed peroxide watts,r. j., spencer,c. j., stanton,p. c. treatment of contaminated water, timbers and soils was investigated using catalyzed hydrogen peroxide, a procedure based on fenton's reagent [hydrogen peroxide and iron (ii)]. the process produces hydroxyl radicals which oxidize essentially all organic contaminants. fenton' s methodology was used to treat total petroleum hydrocarbons (tph) in an oil-water separator effluent from the wsdot white pass maintenance station. results indicated that the presence of surfactants affected treatment efficiency. although surfactants lowered the effectiveness of the process, 25% of the tph was removed. wood posts contaminated with pentachlorophenol (pcp) and creosote were treated using the catalyzed peroxide process, resulting in 84% degradation of pcp and 74% degradation of creosote with 6% hydrogen peroxide and 56 mg/l fe. estimated chemical cost for treatment was $1.00/kg of wood. a central composite rotatable design was used to investigate the interactions between hydrogen peroxide concentrations, slurry volume, initial contaminant concentration, and soil organic carbon content in the catalyzed hydrogen peroxide remediation of diesel-contaminated soil to develop design criteria for soil remediation. two separate experimental matrices were investigated: 1) high slurry volumes and low peroxide concentrations, and 2) low slurry volumes with high peroxide concentrations. time required for high volume/high concentration reactions were complete within three days. the results showed that soil organic carbon content was an insignificant variable in the catalyzed peroxide treatment of diesel-contaminated soils. however, significant interactions were found for the remaining three variables. data were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbon (tph) degradation and treatment stoichiometry. although both systems could achieve equal levels of treatment, stoichiometry of the high volume/low concentration system was significantly more efficient; therefore, high volume/low concentration was the most economical system for the remediation of diesel-contaminated soils. hazardous wastes, diesel contaminated timbers, soil remediation, fenton's reagent, catalyzed hydrogen peroxide trac/wsu 1994 |
| WA-RD 298.1 | Vehicle Occupancy Forecasting | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1994 | vehicle occupancy forecasting ulberg,c. the design of hov lanes and other hov facilities depends on volumes of hov's expected to use the facilities. currently, there is no good method for predicting vehicle occupancy on specific highway facilities. the basic objective of this research was to incorporate the best previous transportation models with new information on psychological and demographic determinants of mode choice into a model that forecasts vehicle occupancy for specific highway facilities. in order to do this, four different data sets were investigated. each one allowed us to investigate one or more aspects of a comprehensive model to forecast vehicle occupancy. the basic approach tested in this research was the 'integrated model of a consumer choice,' first proposed by tybout and hauser in 1981. it incorporates a wide variety of factors involved in transportation decision-making. most of the findings from the four data sets analyzed for this study were consistent with the literature and with each other. the research concluded that, in order for transportation model to adequately forecast vehicle occupancy, it should take into account that 1) mode choice changes over time, 2) attitudes and perceptions are important in mode choice, 3) attitudes and perceptions can be influenced by experience, 4) household composition is important, 5) commute length varies by type of job and location, 6) constraints influence the process in complicated ways, and 7) two person carpools are different from larger carpools. the dynamic aspects of mode choice are critical to understand. until we have more good time series data and the ability to adequately understand it, our models of mode choice and vehicle occupancy will be deficient. traffic surveillance and control, vehicle occupancy, transportation model, transportation surverys, panel data, hov facilities trac/uw 1994 |
| IU 94.1 | Congestion Pricing: A Transportation Demand Management Strategy | Sommers | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1994 | congestion pricing: a transportation demand management strategy sommers, v.m., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report describes congestion pricing, a transportation demand strategy that seeks to reduce roadway use during congested periods by imposing a direct disincentive - a fee. first explored in the 1970's, congestion pricing was largely abandoned until recently. its revival is due to several factors, including increased congestion, air quality deterioration, and concern about fuel consumption. the following topics are covered in this report: the history of congestion pricing, implementation concepts and technologies, pricing guidelines, and potential benefits and risks. examples from throughout the world are used to illustrate these issues. prior to implementation of congestion pricing, further research in the following areas is recommended: 1) the price elasticity of travel demand, 2) the probable effects of congestion pricing on the transportation system as a whole, 3) congestion pricing's effects on different income populations and other equity -related concerns, and 4) legal and institutional barriers. congestion pricing, travel demand, transportation demand management, price elasticity innovations unit/trac 1994 |
| SHRP-C-391 | Resistance of Concrete to Freezing and Thawing | Janssen | Strategic Highway Research Program | 1994 | resistance of concrete to freezing and thawing janssen, d., snyder, m.b., the mechanisms of damage to concrete from repeated cycles of freezing and thawing are not well understood and continue to be intensively studied. this report discusses those factors that relate to the paste portion of concrete and actors that relate to the coarse aggregate portion of the concrete. a summary presents preliminary results of the field work related to those two factors. concrete, freezing, thawing, damage strategic highway research program 1994 |
| TRR 940151 | Daily Travel Patterns and Electric Vehicles: An Exploratory Data Analysis | Rutherford | TRB | 1994 | daily travel patterns and electric vehicles: an exploratory data analysis rutherford,g. s., niemeier,d. a., kooperberg,c. the purpose of this paper is to examine the distributional characteristics of daily travel distances and how these distances relate to day of week and trip purpose in the context of current electric vehicle range attributes. this evaluation indicated that there was at least a 25 percent probability that study participants would exceed 44 miles and a less than 6 percent probability that they would exceed 90 miles on any given weekday of travel. this suggests that at least 94 percent of the study participants daily travel needs, in terms of distances, may be met by electric vehicles with a range of at least 90 miles. in addition, cluster analysis suggest that upper limits may be closer to 138 miles for one cluster and between 150 and 220 miles for another, rather than 90 miles as defined by current ev range constraints. there are some individuals traveling in excess of this limit but who are still included in clusters driving fewer average daily miles. for these individuals, the data suggests that longer trips are infrequent and without recurring pattern and thus, in multi-car households, utilizing a conventional vehicle for these trips may be acceptable. trb trb 1994 |
| WA-RD 349.1 | Martin Way O'xing Ceva-Crete Expansion Joint System, Bridge No. 5/337 | Roper | WSDOT | 1994 | martin way o'xing ceva-crete expansion joint system, bridge no. 5/337 roper,t. h., henley,e. h., jr. this final report details the field performance of a ceva-crete expansion joint system on an i-5 bridge in olympia, wa. the ceva-crete system employs an elastomeric concrete that is vulcanized in place to handle impact loads on the joint and a low density closed cell material (evazote 50) that is epoxied to the steel nosing of the joint, to act as the seal. the performance of the joint system was evaluated after a five year period. accident rates wsdot 1994 |
| WA-RD 356.1 | Expansion Joint Systems for the Transition Spans | Roper | WSDOT | 1994 | expansion joint systems for the transition spans roper,t. h., henley,e. h. jr for floating bridge construction, the transition span from shore to the floating portion of the structure is subject to longitudinal movement in combination with horizontal and vertical rotation. these large movements pose special problems for the expansion joint system at both ends of the transition span. the expansion joint system selected for these conditions must accommodate the wide range of movements involved and remain watertight, corrosion free, durable, require little or no maintenance, and have a useful life of 25 to 30 years.the purpose of this experimental project is to gain knowledge about the effectiveness of the modular expansion joint system over time and to obtain knowledge about field installation techniques and structural performance. due to weld cracking in similar expansion joints used in the existing sr 90 third lake floating bridge, it was deemed prudent to require a five-year warranty on the expansion joints on this project. the state will monitor the performance during the warranty period.the evaluation of warranty provisions for these expansion joint systems has been fhwa approved as special experimental project no. 14. this experimental project is a part of fhwa's program of encouraging innovative concepts in contracting procedures. expansion joints, bridge deck rehabilitation, construction wsdot 1994 |
| TBID93.1 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current State Practices-IDAHO | Koehne | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current state practices-idaho koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., hallenbeck, m.e. as part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the "transparent borders" concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one that will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results form the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle highway system (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices within state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in idaho. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in idaho, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, permitting, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway systems, ivhs, transparent borders, trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 319.1 | Concrete Paving Blocks: An Overview | Abate | TRAC/UW | 1993 | concrete paving blocks: an overview abate,lt m. k. the use of concrete block pavement (cbp) is limited in the u.s., as most research papers are published elsewhere. this report examines cbp's from several perspectives to provide an overview of this alternative pavement technology. first, the cbp system is described. the importance of using the proper bedding sand graduations is stressed, and the phenomenon of lock-up, or interlock, is explained. the various design methods for cbp's are also presented, and the concept of equivalency factors is discussed. next, the structural performance of several cbp costs in the puget sound area are provided, and the prices paid by wsdot for asphaltic concrete and portland cement concrete are reviewed to determine their cost competitiveness with cbp. pavement, concrete blocks, design, costs trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 296.3 | Automated Vessel Logs--Volume 3: "User's Guide for the Log Prototype" | Beck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | automated vessel logs--volume 3: "user's guide for the log prototype" beck,e. h., hallenbeck,m. e. this project developed a prototype computer-aided vessel log system for the washington state ferry system (wsf). the researchers generated three reports that describe the results of their research. this third volume contains a user's guide for prototype software. the other two volumes include a summary report and a technical description of the program itself. the first volume (the summary report) contains a description of the project and summaries the design and testing results of the prototype software program in details. part one of the second volume was written for technical administrators who must understand the program's production to enable them to direct refinement of the prototype. part two of the second volume was written for the programmers who will develop the code refinements. the second volume also contains the source code listings for all this project's programs. a diskette containing all of the program's source code and executable programs has been sent to the wsf service planning manager at colman dock. marine, ferry operations, vessel logbooks trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 296.2 | Automated Vessel Logs - Volume 2: Technical Aspects of the Log Prototype | Beck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | automated vessel logs - volume 2: technical aspects of the log prototype beck,e. h., hallenbeck,m. e. this project developed a prototype computer aided vessel log system for the washington state ferry system (wsf). the researchers generated three reports that describe the results of their research. this report, which is the second volume of three, contains a two-part guide that describes that prototype software program in detail. part one of this second volume was written for technical administrators who must understand the program's production to enable them to direct refinement of the prototype. part two of this volume was written for the programmers who will develop the code refinements. this volume also contains the source code listings for all of this project's programs. the other two volumes are a summary report for the project and a user's guide. the first volume (the summary report) contains a description of the project and summarizes the design and testing results of the prototype automated vessel log. the third volume contains a user's guide for the prototype software. a diskette containing all of the program's source code and the executable programs has been sent to the wsf service planning manager at colman dock. traffic surveillance and control, marine, ferry operations, vessel logbooks trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 296.1 | Automated Vessel Logs: Volume 1 | Beck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | automated vessel logs: volume 1 beck, e.h., hallenbeck, m.e. this project developed a prototype computer-aided vessel log system of the washington state ferry system (wsf). the researchers generated three reports that describe the results of their research. this first volume contains a description of the project and summarizes the design and testing results of the prototype automated vessel log. the second volume contains a two-part guide that describes that prototype software program in details. part one of this second volume was written for technical administrators who must understand the programs' production to enable them to direct refinement of the prototype. part two of the second volume was written for the programmers who will develop the code refinements. the second volume also contains the source code listings for all this project's programs. the third volume contains a user's guide to the program. a diskette containing all of the program's source code and the executable programs has been sent to the wsf service planning manager at colman dock.,trac/university of washington traffic surveillance and control, marine, ferry operations, vessel logbooks trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 323.1 | An Evaluation of Weather Information Technologies for Snow and Ice Control Operations | Boselly III | TRAC/WSU | 1993 | an evaluation of weather information technologies for snow and ice control operations boselly iii, s.e. since 1998, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has been testing the use of weather information technologies in support of snow and ice control operations. in 1989 wsdot contracted with a private meteorological service, had road thermography conducted on state roads in area 5 of district 1, and installed sensor systems in four area 5 locations. the thermography was also used as a basis for obtaining forecast temperature profiles for the state roads on which the thermographic analysis had been conducted. the pavement temperature forecasts, meteorological forecasts were all to be integrated into the snow and ice control decision process. the wsdot contracted with the matrix management group to evaluate the maintenance response to the new information, actual or potential cost savings with the information , and possible or real improvements in safety and service to the traveling public, and to suggest additional locations within the state which could benefit from improved weather information and/or operational changes in snow and ice control procedures which might result from the new information. the report presents a review of weather information system elements, provides an overview of the technologies in use by wsdot, describes use of weather information by managers, and notes some problems. a detailed benefit-cost analysis was not conducted; a parallel effort was done for a nationwide project, and complete structured cost data were not generated by the wsdot for this analysis. however, national results are discussed in terms of the scale of wsdot operations. the participation and results associated with the pilot program were found to be mixed. a need for training of managers and operational decision makers in the full concept and expectations of a road weather information system, and in the particular technologies described therein, is perhaps the central focus of this report. although the evaluation noted limited success, national and international studies point to a greater potential for reducing costs and improving service for snow and ice control. because of that potential, additional locations for installing sensors are suggested. road weather information systems, weather information, thermography, snow and ice control trac/wsu 1993 |
| IU 93.3 | Advanced Bus Technologies: Current Practice and Future Projections | Brockman | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | advanced bus technologies: current practice and future projections brockman, g., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report describes advanced technologies already in existence and those that are likely to be applied in bus transportation over the next 20 years. five application areas are examined: (1) bus information systems, (2) fare-payment methods, (3) bus monitoring, (4) bus control, and (5) roadway technology. transit, multimodal, information systems, fare payment, automatic vehicle location, avl, signal priority innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 294.1 | An Economic Evaluation of a Multimodal Transportation System: Grain Transportation in Eastern Washington | Casavant | TRAC/UW | 1993 | an economic evaluation of a multimodal transportation system: grain transportation in eastern washington casavant,k. l. multimodal systems offer efficiencies from complementary and competitive interactions. this study uses a least cost spatial equilibrium model to determine how alternative policies and firm decisions affect the performance of a multimodal grain transportation system. the analysis finds this system is extremely competitive and much of the competitive structure comes from intermodal movement via truck-barge. it also found that the operating structure of the shipping firm utilizing the system directly affects the performance. transportation planning, multimodal, grain transportation, spatial equilibrium trac/uw 1993 |
| IU 93.4 | Congestion on SR 520: A Study of Comprehensive Ramp Metering Alternatives | Chang | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | congestion on sr 520: a study of comprehensive ramp metering alternatives chang, j., mccormack, e.d., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report summarizes describes a research project that used computer simulations to explore potential solutions to the growing congestion problems on one for the puget sound region's major commute routes. sr 520 is one of he region's most congested freeways; slowdowns on this corridor adversely affect traffic on connecting freeways such as i-405 and i-5. this project explored two linked, no-build options: ramp metering only, on the om-ramps of sr 520, and ramp metering plus hov bypass lanes. computer simulation revealed that metering ramps onto sr 520 would improve he mainline traffic flow however, the simulation also predicted that it would create long queues at the metered ramps, for both single-occupancy vehicles (sovs) and high-occupancy vehicles (hovs). given the hov orientation of this project, an effort was made to give hovs delay-free access to the improved mainline flow. for this purpose, hov bypass lanes on the metered ramps were simulated. model output indicated that bypass lanes would, in fact, give hovs a clear time advantage over sovs without degrading mainline flows or significantly worsening ramp delays for sovs. ramp metering, high-occupancy vehicle, hov bypass, congestion, simulation innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 304.1 | Special Noise Barrier Applications | Cohn | WSDOT | 1993 | special noise barrier applications cohn, l.f., harris, r.a. this report summarizes an investigation of the technical aesthetic, and economic feasibilities of incorporating special noise barrier applications into a highway noise control program. the intent of the report is to take as a starting point the thin, vertical, reflective barrier now used in most applications. special barrier applications are those beyond the thin vertical reflective barrier.the investigation of technical feasibility relates to the formulation of the effects of absorptive treatments, slanted tops, t-tops, and other special applications. the economic and aesthetic feasibility investigations examine the value of employing these special applications in lieu of thin, vertical, reflective barriers. the research reported on herein was performed on behalf of the washington state department of transportation. the intent of the was for background studies of the effects of special treatments, so the could be in a position to implement pilot projects at a later date. absorption, absorptive, applications, barrier, barriers, control, highway, insertion loss, noise, parallel barrier, program, project, research, transportation, washington, washington state wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 312.1 | Evaluation of Surface Friction Guidelines for Washington State Highways | Corsello | TRAC/UW | 1993 | evaluation of surface friction guidelines for washington state highways corsello, p. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) determines wet-pavement surface friction characteristics by conducting skid-test in accordance with applicable aashto and astm standards. the results of the skid-tests are used in conjunction with other criteria to assist in selecting pavements for resurfacing (the primary criteria is wet-pavement accident rates). this paper examines literature from the united states and abroad on friction number guidelines for highways. on the basis of an analysis of the literature, a revised friction number guideline is recommended to wsdot. the new guideline is similar to those developed by other highway departments and is based on research conducted over the last 25 years. most importantly, the new guideline provides wsdot with a more realistic friction range for assessment of highway pavements. skid number, friction number, skid resistance, criteria, program trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 300.1 | Improved Error Detection for Inductance Loop Sensors | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1993 | improved error detection for inductance loop sensors dailey, d.j. this report describes the use of an optimal recursive predictor (kalman predictor) with inductance loop data to produce an anomaly detector. it details the construction of the system function or transition matrix used in the optimal predictor directly from the statistics of the problem. it demonstrates the use of a prediction algorithm using inductance loop data gathered on interstate 5 in seattle, washington. it discusses the scaling and values of thresholds necessary for anomaly detection. this type of dynamic prediction and threshold can be valuable to traffic management systems that rely heavily on inductance loop data. traffic surveillance and control, inductive loops, volume occupancy, kalman filter, anomaly detection, traffic trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 292.1 | Improved Estimates of Travel From Real Time Inductance Loop Sensors | Dailey | TRAC/UW | 1993 | improved estimates of travel from real time inductance loop sensors dailey, d.j., haselkorn, m., nihan, n.l. the real time motorist information system (rtmis) under development at the university of washington uses a ratio of volume to occupancy with a correction factor (often denoted as 'g') to estimate speed. this correction factor is a function of road topology and occupancy. this project will initially produce a value for the correction factor for every pair of loops being used in the rtmis. it will further produce a correlation between correction factor and occupancy for each set of loop pairs. the correction factor is produced using speed estimates from cross-correlation time delay measurements of on road data.the real time motorist information system (rtmis) under development at the university of washington uses a ratio of volume to occupancy with a correction factor (often denoted as 'g') to estimate speed. this correction factor is a function of road topology and occupancy. this project will initially produce a value for the correction factor for every pair of loops being used in the rtmis. it will further produce a correlation between correction factor and occupancy for each set of loop pairs. the correction factor is produced using speed estimates from cross-correlation time delay measurements of on road data. traffic surveillance and control, induction loops, speed cross correlation, volume occupancy trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 324.1 | Foundation-Soil Interaction Analysis of Bridges - Volumes I and II | Dames & Moore- Inca Engineering | WSDOT | 1993 | foundation-soil interaction analysis of bridges - volumes i and ii dames & moore- inca engineering dames & moore and their subcontractor, inco engineers, have prepared this manual of practice for conducting bridge foundation-soil interaction analyses. the manual is intended to assist engineers in the bridge design office at the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) who perform dynamic analysis of bridge-foundation systems. the primary purpose of the manual is to present practical and accurate methods of estimating the foundation stiffness matrices for abutment or pier foundations supported on footings or piles. these matrices are needed for soil-structure interaction analysis to more accurately determine the seismic loads acting on the bridge superstructure and on the abutment and pier foundations.this manual of practice consists of two volumes. volume i presents five bridge example problems:1. coldwater creek2. deadwater slough3. ebey slough4. northup way5. fhwathe first four examples are actual wsdot bridges and the fifth example is a fictitious bridge that appeared in a 1991 fhwa course notebook on seismic design of highway bridges.volume ii presents the input and output files of the seisab computer program for the dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis of bridges. the seisab computer program is currently used by wsdot in the seismic design of washington state bridges.dames & moore recommends the fhwa and novak methods to estimate bridge foundation stiffness matrices. these methodologies are presented in detail in the coldwater creek example problem in volume i. in this example, the basic theory and relevant equations or inputs for implementing these methodologies are provided first and are immediately followed by their application to the coldwater creek bridge. the appropriate equations or inputs from the fhwa and novak methodologies presented not the coldwater creek example problem are identified and applied in the other four bridge example problems. volume i also contains three appendices. the basis for the recommendation of the fhwa and novak methods is provided in appendix a, which is a reproduction of the 1992 dames & moore report to wsdot on the evaluation of methods to estimate foundation stiffnesses. appendix b consists of selected pages from the bmcol 76 computer program user guide; this computer program, which computes the load-deflection and moment-rotation curves for single piles, is part of the fhwa methodology. appendix c presents the method for transforming the foundation stiffness matrices from one coordinate system to another. this transformation process is important because the coordinate systems assumed in the fhwa and novak methods are generally different and therefore are not necessarily the same as the seisab coordinate system. coordinate transformations are also discussed in the coldwater creek example problem. analysis, bridge, bridge design, bridge foundation, bridges, computer, computer program, design, equations, evaluation, foudation-soil, foundation, foundation stiffness, highway, interaction, loads, manual, methodology, methods, piles, program, seismic, seismic design, soil-structure interaction, superstructure, system, systems, transportation, volume, volumes i & ii, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 341.1 | Heavy Vehicles vs. Urban Pavements | De Bolt | WSDOT | 1993 | heavy vehicles vs. urban pavements de bolt, p.g., chinn, e. an analysis was conducted of the impact that overweight vehicles have and will have on the life of the pavements in the seattle metropolitan area. the study focuses on major metro bus routes with both rigid and flexible pavements.recommendations arc made to mitigate the impact of the higher loads from the bus fleet. these recommendations include route modifications to avoid streets with thinner, under designed pavements, increasing pavement thickness for rebuild or overlaid streets, and the purchase of vehicles, which meet legal axle loads. analysis, axle, bus, buses, heavy vehicles, impact, loads, overweight, pavement, pavement design, pavement service life, pavements, seattle, urban wsdot 1993 |
| The Effects of Organizational Relationships on Employer-Based Transportation Demand Management Programs: A Case Study on One Large Employer | Dye | TRAC/UW | 1993 | the effects of organizational relationships on employer-based transportation demand management programs: a case study on one large employer dye, d.l. washington state's commute trip reduction law requires major employers to reduce the number of commute trips made by their drive-alone employees. this reduction will be accomplished through implementation of employer-based transportation demand management (tdm) programs. to help employers develop and implement effective tdm programs, the washington state transportation center (trac) conducted research on organizational culture and its effects on the utilization and acceptance of employer-based tdm programs. the effects of organizational relationships on tdm program utilization were examined in a case study of one, large private employer. the research showed that employees' levels of satisfaction with the company's tdm program, their perception of management support for the company's tdm program, and their perception of peer group support for the company's tdm program were not significant factors in commute mode decisions. however the research did show that parking availability and cost, access to transit, and access to alternative modes of travel were significant in employee commute mode decisions.washington state's commute trip reduction law requires major employers to reduce the number of commute trips made by their drive-alone employees. this reduction will be accomplished through implementation of employer-based transportation demand management (tdm) programs. to help employers develop and implement effective tdm programs, the washington state transportation center (trac) is conducting research on organizational culture and its effects on the utilization and acceptance of employer-based tdm programs. the effects of organizational relationships on tdm program utilization were examined in a case study of one, large private employer. the research showed that employee's levels of satisfaction with the company's tdm program, their perception of management support for the company's tdm program, and their perception of peer group support for the company's tdm program were not significant factors in commute mode decisions. however the research did show that parking availability and cost, access to transit, and access to alternative modes of travel were significant in employee commute mode decisions. commute trip reduction, transportation demand management, tdm, commute mode trac/uw 1993 | |
| WA-RD 305.2 | Lateral-Load Response of a Reinforced Concrete Bridge | Eberhard | TRAC/UW | 1993 | lateral-load response of a reinforced concrete bridge eberhard,m. o., maclardy,j. a., marsh,m. l., hjartarson,g. this study was part of a washington state department of transportation (wsdot) program to assess the vulnerability of highway bridges built before 1984. researchers applied slowly-varying transverse loads to a three-span, reinforced concrete bridge, including the superstructure, piers, and abutments. the purpose of the test was to measure the transverse stiffness of the bridge and to estimate each support's contribution to stiffness. the researchers also evaluated analytical models by comparing the calculated and observed responses. the bridge was extremely stiff and strong. in two cycles to a load equal to 45 percent of the bridge's weight, the maximum bridge displacement was 0.15 inch. during these cycles damage was minimal. at a load equal to 65 percent of the bridge's weight, the pier displacement was 0.30 inch. after the bridge had been excavated, the stiffness decreased to 15 percent of its original stiffness. the stiffness further decreased to 8 percent of the initial stiffness after the superstructure had been isolated from the abutments. the university of washington (uw), california department of transportation (caltrans) and wsdot models underestimated the stiffness of the bridge in its initial state. the uw model probably overestimated the resistance of the polystyrene at the abutments and underestimated the stiffness of the soil at the wingwalls. the caltrans model was too flexible because it neglected the resistance of the bearing pads and polysterene, and underestimated the soil stiffness. the researchers concluded that (1) the test can serve as a valuable benchmark against which to evaluate proposed seismic-evaluation procedures and models, (2) bridges that are similar to the test bridge are not highly vulnerable to transverse motions, (3) complex soil modeling is not justified if soil test data are not available, and (4) nonlinear analysis was necessary to reproduce the details of the observed response. bridge and construction, bridge, earthquake, reinforced concrete, tests, modeling, lateral loads trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 305.1 | Lateral-Load Response of a Reinforced Concrete Bridge: Final Report | Eberhard | TRAC/UW | 1993 | lateral-load response of a reinforced concrete bridge: final report eberhard, m.o., maclardy, j.a., marsh, m.l., hjartarson, g. this study was part of a wsdot program to assess the vulnerability of highway bridges built before 1984. researchers applied slowly varying transverse loads to a three-span, reinforced concrete bridge, including the superstructure, piers, and abutments. the purpose of the tests was to measure the transverse stiffness of the bridge and to estimate each support's contributions to stiffness. the researchers also evaluated analytical models by comparing the calculated and observed responses. the researchers concluded that (1) the tests can serve as a valuable benchmark against which to evaluate proposed seismic-evaluation procedures and models, (2) bridges that are similar to the test bridge are not highly vulnerable to transverse motions, (3) complex soil modeling is not justified if soil test data are not available, and (4) nonlinear analysis was necessary to reproduce the details of the observed response. bridge , earthquakes, reinforced concrete, tests, modeling, lateral loads trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 219.2 | WSDOT Traffic Forecasting Guide Volume II: Forecasting Instructions | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | wsdot traffic forecasting guide volume ii: forecasting instructions hallenbeck, m.e. the washington state department of transportation has produced a guide to improve the development of traffic forecasts used by department engineers and planners. the guide is intended to help standardize the methodology for developing forecasts; provide an 'audit trail' of the steps and assumptions behind each forecast; and ensure that the assumptions underlying the forecasting process have carefully been considered. the guide is split into two volumes. the first volume describes the forecasting process and reviews the issues that must be addressed. the second volume provides more detailed instructions for the forecasting process. volume 2 assumes that the user is already familiar with the issues that effect traffic forecasts and understands why different inputs to the forecasting process are important. persons new to traffic forecasting should read volume 1 before continuing with this volume. volume 2 of the guide describes the steps required to perform a forecast for wsdot. the guide assists planners in obtaining and organizing the information needed for a forecast, provides guidance on the factors to include in a forecast, and gives a consistent structure for analyzing those data and reporting results. the appendices provide an extra set of worksheets and tables for the forecasting process, directions for using the spreadsheet templates that are discussed in chapter 3, summary information on four-step computer models supported by wsdot, a summary of data sources for the forecasting process, an example forecast, and a set of 3-1/2 inch, ibm pc compatible diskettes that contain the spreadsheet templates discussed above. traffic forecasting, forecasting, transportation planning trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 219.1 | WSDOT Traffic Forecasting Guide Volume I: Introduction to the Forecasting Process | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | wsdot traffic forecasting guide volume i: introduction to the forecasting process hallenbeck, m.e. the washington state department of transportation has produced this guide to improve development of traffic forecasts used by the department engineers and planners. the guide is intended to help standardize the methodology for developing forecasts, provide an 'audit trail' of steps and assumptions behind each forecast, and ensure that the assumptions underlying the forecasting process have been carefully considered. the guide is split into two volumes. the first volume describes the forecasting process and reviews the issues that must be addressed. the second volume provides detailed instructions for the forecasting process. volume 1 contains background information on the steps involved in forecasting and the factors that must be considered as part of a traffic forecast. it should be used to introduce staff to the traffic forecasting process. it will also help identify the resources required to forecast traffic and then assist in analyzing and applying those resources. volume 2 of the guide contains a more precise description of how to perform the forecast. in addition, the volume 2 appendices contain copies of the worksheets that should accompany any forecasts engineers perform and instructions on using several lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets that were designed to ease the forecasting process. lastly, volume 2 contains a copy of the lotus 1-2-3 templates for use by engineers and planners. traffic surveillance and control, traffic forecasting, forecasting, transportation planning trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 320.3 | Final Technical Report For Task A: Truck Loads and Flows | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | final technical report for task a: truck loads and flows hallenbeck,m. e., kim,s. this study describes the analysis of truck volume data collected by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) over four and one half years, from 1988 through 1993. the primary objectives of this research were to: investigate the patterns in truck volumes at various locations in washington state; determine whether seasonal factors can be developed and applied to short-duration truck volume measurements to better estimate average annual conditions; develop procedures for routinely calculating and applying these values in washington; develop an easy procedure that other states can use to create their own seasonal factoring process, and produce a guidebook that explains this process and lists the necessary steps clearly and concisely. this report presents the findings for all but the last of these objectives. this last objective is met in another report. pavement management systems, truck counts, traffic counting trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 314.1 | Summary of Truck Loading Patterns in Washington State | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | summary of truck loading patterns in washington state hallenbeck,m. e., kim,s. this report summarizes a brief analysis of washington state department of transportation (wsdot) weigh-in-motion data. the report includes data from ten permanent wim sites: four bending plate scales and six piezo-electric scales. the intent of this report is to provide an overview of the truck loading patterns observed at these sites, and to provide improved esal loading estimates for use by the wsdot. the ten sites selected for this study reflect the variety of traffic loading conditions found within in the state. they are geographically dispersed across the state, represent a number of functional roadway classes, and serve a range of traffic volumes.wsdot collected the data according to the 13 vehicle classifications set by the fhwa, the results in this report are presented with reference to both the fhwa system and to the wsdot system. the wsdot system, which is used in its pavement design guide and is incorporated into its traffic data computer system (trips) divides vehicles into four classes: cars, single units, double units, and multi-trailer units. weigh-in-motion, wim, truck seasonality, truck loadings trac/uw 1993 |
| TBUT93.2 | Western Transparent Borders Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommended Actions UTAH | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western transparent borders project: institutional barriers and recommended actions utah hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., rose d., leech, j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing ivhs commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations.the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying those costs.the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. 'me system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as the benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. ivhs, cvo, credentials verification, commercial vehicle operations trac/uw 1993 |
| TBOR93.1 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current State Practices OREGON | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current state practices oregon hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r. as a part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the 'transparent borders' concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results from the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle systems (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices with in state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in oregon. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in oregon, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. ivhs, commercial vehicle operations, cvo, credentials verification trac/uw 1993 |
| TBNV93.1 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current State Practices NEVADA | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current state practices nevada hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r. as a part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the 'transparent borders' concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results from the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle systems (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices with in state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in nevada. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in nevada, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway system, ivhs, transparent borders, trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| TBMT93.1 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current State Practices MONTANA | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current state practices montana hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r. as a part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the 'transparent borders' concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results from the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle systems (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices with in state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in montana. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in montana, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. ivhs , commercial vehicle operation, cvo, credentials verification trac/uw 1993 |
| TBWY93.1 | Western States Transparent Border Project: Description of Current State Practices WYOMING | Koehne | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent border project: description of current state practices wyoming koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., hallenbeck, m.e. as a part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the 'transparent borders' concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results from the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle systems (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices with in state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in wyoming. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in wyoming, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway system, ivhs, transparent borders, trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| TBOR93.2 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommended Actions-OREGON | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: institutional barriers and recommended actions-oregon hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., rose, d., leech, j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing ivhs commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations.the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying those costs.the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. 'me system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as the benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. ivhs, commercial vehicle operations, cvo, credentials verification trac/uw 1993 |
| TBNV93.2 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommendations-NEVADA | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: institutional barriers and recommendations-nevada hallenbeck, m e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., rose, d., leech, j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing ivhs commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations.the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying those costs.the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. 'me system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as the benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway system, ivhs, transparent borders, trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| TBMT93.2 | Western States Transparent Border Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommended Actions-MONTANA | Scheibe | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent border project: institutional barriers and recommended actions-montana scheibe, r.r., hallenbeck, m. e., koehne, j., rose, d., leech, j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing intelligent vehicle highway systems (ivhs) commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations.the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying those costs.the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. 'me system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as the benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. ivhs , commercial vehicle operation, cvo, credentials verification trac/uw 1993 |
| TBID93.2 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommend Actions-IDAHO | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: institutional barriers and recommend actions-idaho hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., rose, d., leech, j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing ivhs commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations.the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying those costs.the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. 'me system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as the benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. transport, weight, truck, weights, borders trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 309.2 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Institutional Barriers and Recommend Action--WASHINGTON | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: institutional barriers and recommend action--washington hallenbeck,m. e., koehne,j., scheibe,r. r., rose,d., leech,j. this is the second report for an fhwa sponsored project that is investigating the barriers to implementing ivhs commercial vehicle operations (cvo) technologies in seven northwestern states. this report describes the barriers to implementing the ivhs cvo technologies and the steps needed to surmount those barriers. the report is intended to serve as a blueprint for state agency efforts to use to successfully and incrementally improve the efficiency with which they regulate trucking industry operations. the project team concludes that the primary barriers to implementation of ivhs cvo technologies are neither institutional nor regulatory. instead, the barriers are a combination of economic uncertainty and a lack of shared vision among the various states, state agencies, and trucking industry groups. although institutional and regulatory barriers exist in the seven participating states, these barriers are relatively unimportant in comparison to the barriers that arise from disagreements over the system's intended functions, the cost of providing the system, and the parties responsible for paying the costs. the project team has reached the conclusion that the only way to surmount the barriers produced by the above conditions is to create a modular system that will allow both states and private companies to enter into the ivhs cvo process for little cost. the system will have to be expandable to allow its capabilities to grow as benefits from ivhs cvo technologies become more apparent and as funding becomes available. the initial system must be simple, low cost (for both states and trucking firms), relatively easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the needs of different states and state agencies. finally, benefits commensurate with the costs of participating in the system must be available to all involved agencies and trucking firms. ivhs cvo, credentials verification, commercial vehicle operations trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 293.2 ; NTIS No. PB93-208908 | Freeway and Arterial Integrated Control System | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1993 | freeway and arterial integrated control system hallenbeck,m. e., nisbet,j. a computer system was developed to integrate three pre-existing traffic control systems. these three systems were the traffic signal systems on sr-99 and sr 522 in northern king county and the freeway ramp metering system (flow system) on interstate 5 north of the seattle central business district. this project continued previous wsdot research, described in the report 'arterial control and integration, final report,' march 1990. the integration system developed in this effort consisted off a single microcomputer that communicated with both the mini-computer that operated the flow system and the microcomputer through which an operator controlled both arterial signal networks. to minimize development effort and costs and to demonstrate the potential for adding integration capabilities to traffic control systems, the integration system relied extensively on the control system's existing capabilities. tests of the integration system produced mixed results. the basic system design was flexible and met the needs described in the earlier wsdot report. the control system also showed that it can use the data collected by one control system and adjust the control strategy of another, independent system. unfortunately, the integration system was not a complete success and therefore was not implemented by wsdot. the integration system suffered from unreliable inter-computer communications. the communications difficulties were caused by 'off-the-shelf' computer networking software that was not sufficiently fault tolerant for real-time control system applications. that is, the integration system experienced intermittent communications failures between the control system computers. these failures disrupted system operation, and that disruption could have significantly degraded traffic operations. a system operator was able to easily fix the communications failures, but the integration computer could not automatically handle them. traffic surveillance and control, traffic control systems, traffic control integration, atms, advanced traffic control management system trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 327.2 | Noise Mitigation Strategies - Technical Report | Herman | WSDOT | 1993 | noise mitigation strategies - technical report herman, l.a., bowlby, w. noise mitigation strategies involving both noise reduction at the source of transportation noise at the receiver of transportation noise are reviewed. the following major sources of noise within a motor vehicle were considered: engine, intake, exhaust, cooling fan, transmission, and tire noise. current research intended to address methods of reducing noise far each of these sources is discussed. it was found that vehicle manufacturer efforts in the u.s. to reduce vehicle noise is currently being motivated marketplace for quiet vehicles. in addition to the potential noise reduction from specific components of the vehicle, it was found that the type of roadway pavement can have a significant effect on noise. a key strategy for reducing transportation noise at the receiver of the noise is land use compatibility planning. local agencies who have successfully implemented and use compatibility planning programs were interviewed. these programs fall into two broad categories. the first category is land use compatibility brought about by zoning. in this category, land uses that are inherently with transportation noise sources are adjacent to the sources. the second category, referred to as proponent mitigation, involves a process of mitigation needed to make the use with transportation noise through mitigation efforts funded by the proponent of the development. it was found that noise and land use compatibility programs were most beneficial to communities in the earlier stages of development whereas the use of a local noise ordinance was found to be more beneficial to communities that are more fully developed. agencies, developed, development, land use, land use compatibility, land-use, methods, mitigation, noise, noise abatement, noise barriers, noise reduction, pavement, planning, program, research, roadway, tire, tire noise, traffic noise, transportation, vehicle noise, zoning wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 327.1 | Noise Mitigation Strategies | Herman | WSDOT | 1993 | noise mitigation strategies herman, l.a., bowlby, w. noise mitigation strategies involving both noise reduction at the source of transportation noise and at the receiver of transportation noise are reviewed. the following major sources of noise within a motor vehicle considered: engine, intake, exhaust, cooling fan, transmission, and tire noise. current research intended to address methods of reducing noise far each of these sources is discussed. it was found that vehicle manufacturer efforts in the u.s. to reduce vehicle noise is currently being motivated marketplace for quiet vehicles. in addition to the potentialnoise reduction from specific components of the vehicle, it was found that the type of roadway pavement can have a significant effect on noise. a key strategy for reducing transportation noise at the receiver of the noise is land use compatibility planning. local agencies who have successfully implemented and use compatibility planning programs were interviewed. these programs fall into two broad the first category is land use compatibility brought about by zoning. this category, land uses that are inherently with transportation noise sources are adjacent to the sources. the second category, referred to as proponent mi involves a process of mitigation needed to make the use with transportation noise through mitigation efforts funded by the proponent of the development. it was found that noise and land use compatibility programs were most beneficial to communities in the earlier stages of development whereas the use of a local noise ordinance was found to be more beneficial to communities that are more fully developed. agencies, developed, development, land use, land use compatibility, land-use, methods, mitigation, noise, noise abatement, noise barriers, noise reduction, pavement, planning, program, research, roadway, tire, tire noise, traffic noise, transportation, vehicle noise, zoning wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 286.1 | Management of Hazardous Waste from Highway Maintenance Operations | Hindin | TRAC/WSU | 1993 | management of hazardous waste from highway maintenance operations hindin, e. this report consists of three phases. phase one is a review of existing information on all aspects of highway maintenance waste management. a survey was conducted with the state transportation-highway departments in the us and its territories and canada. the information obtained in response to the questionnaire, such as quantity of specific waste material and their concentration of specific hazardous material and the method of treatment of disposal was placed in a computer software database for easy accessibility. phase two is the characterization of the highway maintenance waste. the waste consisting of road sweepings, vactor sludges, and ditch diggings were found to be contaminated with hazardous substances. three pollution indicators, total petroleum hydrocarbons (tph), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pah), and the microtox solid-phase bioassay toxicity test (mspt) were used to define the waste. the geometric mean and range for all three parameters were determined for each waste category. road sweepings were categorized into three age groups: recently collected, recently stored, and aged material. the recently collected material had the highest level of pollution parameters. road sweepings were sieved into three fractions. the smallest particle size fraction was found to have the largest concentration of the pollution parameters. based on the waste characterization, the following full scale treatment technologies are suggested to render the highway maintenance waste non-toxic: land farming or bioenvelope, solids washing and rotary kiln incineration. as a pre-treatment, rotary screening is recommended. the treated solids can be disposed of in sanitary landfills or used as road fill. environmental, highway maintenance waste characterization, highway pollution, total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, microtox solid-phase bioassay test trac/wsu 1993 |
| WA-RD 271.1/NTIS No. PB92-228394 | Lateral Capacity of WSDOT Bearing Anchor Bolt Details | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 1993 | lateral capacity of wsdot bearing anchor bolt details itani, r., nakib, r., stone, d.s. the objective of this research is to recommend a rational design method for bridge anchor bolt connections by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). an experimental investigation of the behavior of 3/4 inch diameter and 1-1/2 inch diameter, a449 canister/grout anchor bolts under various loading conditions was conducted. shear loads were applied to anchor bolts subjected to various eccentricities, and results obtained were used to develop tension/shear interaction relationships. elliptical tension/shear interaction relationships provided the best fit to the test data. however, closed-form solutions using tri-linear tension/shear interactions could be conservatively used by bridge designers at wsdot. to verify the tension/shear interaction relationships, tests were performed on half-scale multiple anchor bolt connections, consisting of two anchor bolts parallel to the applied shear load. the strengths indicated from by the multiple anchor bolt tests were conservative when compared to the results obtained form the testing program. it has also been determined that the aisc/lrfd (25) tension stress limits for bearing type connections could be used for designing wsdot anchor bolt connections with a449 1-1/2 inch diameter bolts. anchor bolts, ductile behavior, combined loads, interaction relationships trac/wsu 1993 |
| WA-RD 253.2 | Ferry Landing Design Phase I: Technical Report | Jahren | TRAC/UW | 1993 | ferry landing design phase i: technical report jahren, c.t., jones, r. a procedure is developed for selecting design criteria for the berthing energy fender systems at ferry landings. in particular, end berthing arrangements are considered. a sample of 568 landing events are reviewed to find the distribution of approach velocity for kinetic energy calculations. an upper bound for the berthing coefficient is also identified. the design procedure is developed that involves 1) identification of the upper limits of the approach velocity by analyzing a sample of berthing events, 2) selection of a safety factor by making systematic judgments, 3) selection of a berthing coefficient based on experimental results, and 4) selection of design berthing energy using the kinetic energy formula. further research is recommended to improve the placement of landing aids and to develop design criteria for other landing structures. ferry, port, vessel, design, design criteria, fender, marine engineering, field test, harbors trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 253.1 | Ferry Design Landing Phase I | Jahren | TRAC/UW | 1993 | ferry design landing phase i jahren, c.t., jones, r. a procedure is developed for selecting design criteria for the berthing energy fender systems at ferry landings. in particular, end berthing arrangements are considered. a sample of 568 landing events are reviewed to find the distribution of approach velocity for kinetic energy calculations. an upper bound for the berthing coefficient is also identified. the design procedure is developed that involves 1) identification of the upper limits of the approach velocity by analyzing a sample of berthing events, 2) selection of a safety factor by making systematic judgments, 3) selection of a berthing coefficient based on experimental results, and 4) selection of design berthing energy using the kinetic energy formula. further research is recommended to improve the placement of landing aids and to develop design criteria for other landing structures. ferry, port, vessel, design, design criteria, fender, marine engineering, field test, harbors trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 331.1 | Ferry Wake Study: Final Report | Johnson | TRAC/UW | 1993 | ferry wake study: final report johnson, o. this report describes the findings of an extensive literature search on the impact of alternative ship designs on the wake and wash generated by high speed passenger ferries. also included in the report are bibliographic citings of reports and articles describing the environmental impacts of various size and shape waves. ferry, vessel wakes, vessel wash, wake impacts trac/uw 1993 |
| TBUT93.1 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current Practices-UTAH | Koehne | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current practices-utah koehne, j., scheibe, r.r., hallenbeck, m.e. as part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the "transparent borders" concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report results from the first phase of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle highway system (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices within state and federal agencies and organizations that affect cvo in wyoming. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in wyoming, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, permitting, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway system, ivhs, transparent borders trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| IU 93.5a | Demographic, Technological, and Legislative Changes: Their Implications for State DOTs | Koltonowski | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | demographic, technological, and legislative changes: their implications for state dots koltonowski, e., maclachlan, s., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. maintenance and improvement of the nation's transportation infrastructure is an ongoing challenge. population growth, increased reliance on the personal automobile, the 'graying' of america, suburban sprawl, and the need to safeguard the environment are among the many factors that add to its complexity. the net result is that the landscape against which policy makers must shift and weigh competing claims on transportation resources is changing. that the organizational structures of state departments of transportation (dots) are changing in response is obvious. the real question is 'exactly how and in response to what issues?' this research project sought to explore that question by surveying state departments of transportation directly. surveys were mailed to all 50 state dots and to transportation agencies in the district of columbia and puerto rico. forty-three state dots responded; this technical appendix is a record of their responses. of the issue areas covered in the survey, the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act was found to have had the greatest impact on the organization of state dots. other important issue areas included the following: the clean air act amendments, the concept and practice of transportation demand management, intelligent vehicle highway systems, the linkage between transportation planning and land use management, the need to develop alternative funding sources, and transit improvements. respondents also indicated that the need for high-level technical skills, including the ability to approach problems from an intermodal perspective, to interpret regulatory policy, and to manage complex financial systems is, and will continue to be, a pressing concern. survey, transportation , issues, resources, departments of transportation, legislation, technology, demographics innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 269.2 | Evaluation of Tieback Performance Appendix A-Summary of Tieback Observations | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1993 | evaluation of tieback performance appendix a-summary of tieback observations kramer, s.l. the economy and effectiveness of tiebacks for support of temporary excavations has led to their increased use for support of permanent excavations. to better understand the characteristics and performance of tiebacks, a field observation program was undertaken. various characteristics of over 900 tiebacks exhumed from an excavation along i-90 in mercer island, washington were observed in the field. the geometric spacing of the tiebacks appeared to be quite uniform. centering of the anchor tendon in the augured hole was generally good, although some instances of significantly off-center anchor tendons that could be examined in the field. evidence of grease leakage at the end of the trumpets was observed as a number of tieback locations. while physical disturbance of the tiebacks during excavation was undoubtedly responsible for much of the observed leakage, leakage was also observed at a number of tiebacks that appeared to be undisturbed. on the basis of the observations made in the field, no specific changes on the current wsdot design method and specifications for tiebacks appear to be necessary. tiebacks, retaining walls, ground anchors, corrosion, corrosion protection trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 264.1 | Seismic Response-Foundation in Soft Soils | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1993 | seismic response-foundation in soft soils kramer, s.l. a geotechnical investigation was performed to develop information needed for an evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of a series of interstate highway bridges that cross a thick peat deposit in washington. the research focused on estimation of dynamic pile stiffness, characterization of dynamic properties of the peat, and prediction of ground motions. a series of free vibration and forced vibration tests were performed on an 8-in. diameter pipe pile installed in the peat. the results of these tests were used to develop methods of estimation of the dynamic stiffness of other piles. a three-phase laboratory testing program was undertaken to investigate the dynamic properties of the peat. ground response analyses were performed to investigate the influence of the peat on seismic ground motions. the results of the analyses indicated that the ground response would be expected to vary along the alignment of the bridges in accordance with the variation in peat thickness. the peat exhibited very low stiffness in the field and laboratory tests, and is not expected to transmit large accelerations, particularly in the central portions of the bridges where it is thick. the investigation has improved understanding of the dynamic response of peat and its implications with respect to seismic ground motions, but has also revealed the need for further research in this area. piles, seismic responses, peat, dynamic load testing, bender elements trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 339.1 | Local Background Levels of Carbon Monoxide in Urban Areas | Larson | TRAC/UW | 1993 | local background levels of carbon monoxide in urban areas larson, t., moseholm, l., cain, c., slater, d. the objective of this study is to obtain a better understanding of co concentrations immediately upwind of urban roadways, the 'local background' values, and how these concentrations depend upon the surrounding traffic and the general meteorology. measurements were made at seven sites during the winter of 1993. local background co concentrations were characterized by an absence of short term fluctuations, a steady buildup during the period between 3:00 pm and 11:00pm, and a lack of spatial gradients in the eight-hour averages were observed for 'trafficked' sites versus 'urban park' sites, with mean values of 1.6 and 1.0ppm respectively. a simple regression model was developed to predict the local background co. this regression model included distance from the roadway, average daily traffic on nearby roadways, and the frequency of low wind speeds (r2=0.74; f=170). a new co sampler was also developed as a part of this project. environmental, carbon monoxide, local background, models, air pollution, air sampling trac/uw 1993 |
| IU | Intermodel Integration: Ferries, Transit and Other Transportation Modes | Loewenherz | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | intermodel integration: ferries, transit and other transportation modes loewenherz, f., rutherford, g. s., ishimaru, j.m. the puget sound council of government's vision 2020 framework maintains that the region should "provide fewer capacity improvements than are needed to accommodate demand" the objective of this research project was to explore ways to meet demand for ferry services without relying solely on physical expansion of capacity. the focus of the study was the analysis of responses to a detailed passenger survey sponsored by the marine division of the wsdot in an effort to identify candidate technologies and strategies to improve intermodal connections with the state's ferry system. vision 2020, ferry service, intermodal, operations innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 335.1 | WSDOT Pavement Guide--Volume I | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1993 | wsdot pavement guide--volume i mahoney, j.p. this guide has been prepared for wsdot personnal in designing, constructing, and maintaining pavement structures. volume 1 is divided into two parts: part i includes policy statements on pavement design and rehabilitation and part ii a set of notes which provide background information on pavement design, construction, performance, rehabilitation, and maintenance. volume 2 contains computer user guides and case studies pavement. pavement management trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 274.1 | The WSDOT Pavement Management System - A 1993 Update | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1993 | the wsdot pavement management system - a 1993 update mahoney, j.p., kay, r.k., jackson, n.c. this first report documents some of the more fundamental features of the washington state pavement management system (wspms). included is an overview of pavement management principals. recent additions to the wspms include the rehabilitation scoping technique and revised pavement rating scores. these are documented in the report. pavement, pavement management, performance, pavement policy trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 315.1 | Statistical Methods for WSDOT Pavement and Material Applications | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1993 | statistical methods for wsdot pavement and material applications mahoney, j.p., seferian, m. this document is an upgraded version of research report wa-rd 143.2 (february 1988) and is principally the result of continuing work on the wsdot pavement management system (wspms). various statistical methods have been used in the wspms and the research team wanted to summarize some of these applications in a separate, straightforward report which may be of value to a broader group of users. statistics, regression, materials, pavement, models trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 325.1 | Crash Testing and Evaluation of a Low-Speed W-Beam Guardrail System | Mak | WSDOT | 1993 | crash testing and evaluation of a low-speed w-beam guardrail system mak, k.k., bligh, r.p., bullard jr., d.l. the objective of this study was to crash test and evaluate the impact performance of a w-beam guardrail system with 12-ft 6-in. post spacing, intended for lower-speed applications. guardrails, w-beam, low-speed wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 307.1 | Truck Restriction Evaluation: The Puget Sound Experience | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1993 | truck restriction evaluation: the puget sound experience mannering, f.l., loehne, j.l., araucto, j. large trucks are often perceived to restrict the free flow of general traffic and present a safety hazard. in addition, the delay caused by trucks is thought to detrimentally affect the economy, and repetitive heavy loads increase pavement deterioration. truck lane restrictions attempt to achieve one or more of four purposes: (1) improve highway operations, (2) improve the level of safety, (3) facilitate more even pavement wear, and (4) ensure better operation and safety through construction zones. three study sites and a control site were selected in puget sound region to test the effectiveness of truck lane restrictions in achieving these purposes. three types of analysis were performed: (1) an in-depth analysis to determine how the implementation of a lane restriction would impact the operation, safety, and life of the facility and the economic impacts for the region, (2) a site comparison analysis to determine whether the results from the in-depth analysis could confidently be applied to other areas in the region, and (3) a survey analysis to determine the opinions of truckers, motorists, industry, and enforcement officials with respect to lane restrictions. at this time, truck lane restrictions are not recommended for further implementation in the puget sound region. this recommendation is based on (1) a lack of obvious operation, safety-related, economic, or pavement related benefits, (2) lack of consistency between the sites, and (3) some noted resistance to lane restrictions from the motor carrier industry. transport, weight, large truck, lane restrictions, route restrictions, time-of-day restrictions, speed restrictions, operational impacts, safety impacts trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 290.1 | Development of an Emergency Response Guide for Washington State Department of Transportation Highway Maintenance Engineers | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1993 | development of an emergency response guide for washington state department of transportation highway maintenance engineers mannering,f. l., louie,m. this report details the research involved in developing the emergency response guide for highway maintenance managers. the emergency response guide for highway maintenance managers details wsdot's emergency management procedures and describes how managers should respond to and handle emergencies resulting from natural or technological disasters that impact the transportation system and associated physical plants. the guide further describes wsdot's emergency related organizational roles and responsibilities. this report describes the information contained in each section of the guide, identifies the sources of the information, and outlines the procedures the authors used to obtain the information. this report also contains recommendations for improving wsdot's emergency preparedness. traffic surveillance and control, emergency response, emergency preparedness, disaster response trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 267.1 | Ferry Landing Design II: Vessel Tracking Methods for Ferry Landing Design | Margaroni | TRAC/UW | 1993 | ferry landing design ii: vessel tracking methods for ferry landing design margaroni, s., jahren, c.t. methods for recording the approach path and approach velocity of berthing vessels are developed and tested. methods include video camera observations from shore, video camera observations of the radar screen, and global positioning system (gps) tracking. the methods are tested on the washington state ferry edmonds to kingston crossing. the video methods are useful for preliminary studies to obtain approximate results and familiarize investigators with the berthing process. the gps records provide more precise results with less data reduction effort than other methods. twenty four berthing maneuvers are recorded. analysis of the gps record shows a consistent pattern of velocity reductions as the vessel nears the landing structure. ferry, vessel, port design, berthing, global positioning systems, ferry landing design, fender design, ferry terminal design trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 301.1/TNW 92-10.1 | HOV Improvements on Signalized Arterials in the Seattle Area--Volume I: 2 Case Studies | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | hov improvements on signalized arterials in the seattle area--volume i: 2 case studies nihan,n. l. this report presents an analysis of hov improvements for two signalized arterials in the seattle metropolitan area. the first involves a planned 1,000 foot queue jumper lane on ne pacific street in the university district of seattle. this planned improvement was studied prior to its implementation in spring of 1990. as part of the study, an extensive before-data set was developed. the planned improvement is now in place,and an extensive after-study is now in progress as part of a follow-up project. the second study was more of a feasibility analysis of possible hov improvements for a suburban arterial. specifically, ne 85th/redmond way, an arterial that stretches 2.5 miles, from interstate 405 in kirkland to willows road in redmond, was identified as one of the highest priority candidates for arterial hov improvements. because of limited arterial hov experience in seattle and nationwide, the study of these two very different types of hov arterial improvements provided important information for future arterial plans. this project investigated hov improvements for arterials in the seattle area, simulated the operation of those improvements for the two case studies, developed a data set for evaluating the impacts of the improvements, and carried out some preliminary evaluations. the preliminary findings of these two case studies suggested favorable outcomes for the planned hov improvements. keeping in mind that these analyses must be evaluated in the context of the surrounding network, the results of these two case studies are optimistic. traffic surveillance and control, arterial hov, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 288.2 | Application of Pattern Recognition to Forecast Congested Conditions on the Freeway for Use in Ramp Metering-Volume II | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | application of pattern recognition to forecast congested conditions on the freeway for use in ramp metering-volume ii nihan, n.l., babla, m.d. the current project addressed two major weak points of the existing wsdot ramp control system. one weak point in the system is the fact that it reacts to the problem (congestion), rather than preventing the problem. the other weak point in the system is its reliance on detector data that may be in error. both of these problems can be minimized by developing methods to accurately predict short-term traffic data. by predicting the onset of congestion early enough, the ramp metering system can act to prevent or delay occurrence of the problem. also, if a detector has failed or is malfunctioning, the data from the detector can be estimated from short-term predictions based on neighboring detectors. at the beginning of the current project, the researchers had hoped that the same model would provide a basis for both forecasting congestion (for predictive ramp control) and replacing erroneous data (predicting actual values). however, the best method for filling in missing detector data turned out to be multivariate time series analysis. several pattern recognition and time series models were tested for further development. in both cases, the simpler models turned out to be the best choices, and in both cases, further model testing and development were recommended. the research on both model types continues in follow-up studies that are expected to lead to incorporation of these models in the new tsmc computer system. bridge and construction, turner proposal, concrete bridge, fatigue, overload, replacement costs, remaining life, route assessment, maximum moments, maintenance, design loads, continuity, traffic surveillance and control, ramp controls, freeway management, traffic flow forecasts, forecast models, ramp metering trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 288.3 | Evaluation of a Prediction Algorithm for A Real-Time Ramp Control System-Volume III | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | evaluation of a prediction algorithm for a real-time ramp control system-volume iii nihan, n.l., cabrera-gonzalez, i. the current project addressed two major weak points of the existing wsdot ramp control system. one weak point in the system is the fact that it reacts to the problem (congestion), rather than preventing the problem. the other weak point in the system is its reliance on detector data that may be in error. both of these problems can be minimized by developing methods to accurately predict short-term traffic data. by predicting the onset of congestion early enough, the ramp metering system can act to prevent or delay occurrence of the problem. also, if a detector has failed or is malfunctioning, the data from the detector can be estimated from short-term predictions based on neighboring detectors. at the beginning of the current project, the researchers had hoped that the same model would provide a basis for both forecasting congestion (for predictive ramp control) and replacing erroneous data (predicting actual values). however, the best method for filling in missing detector data turned out to be multivariate time series analysis. several pattern recognition and time series models were tested for further development. in both cases, the simpler models turned out to be the best choices, and in both cases, further model testing and development were recommended. the research on both model types continues in follow-up studies that are expected to lead to incorporation of these models in the new tsmc computer system. bridge and construction, turner proposal, concrete bridge, fatigue, overload, replacement costs, remaining life, route assessment, maximum moments, maintenance, design loads, continuity, traffic surveillance and control, ramp controls, freeway management, traffic flow forecasts, forecast models, ramp metering trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 301.4 | HOV Improvements on Signalized Arterials in the Seattle Area--Volume IV: Simulation Planning and Evaluation | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | hov improvements on signalized arterials in the seattle area--volume iv: simulation planning and evaluation nihan,n. l., chen,h. the main research objective of this study is to improve the limitations on arterial traffic simulation models traf-netsim and transyt-7f so that they can be used to overcome the above hov lane planing deficiencies. for instance, after integrating the improved traffic operation models, the evaluation methods can be more adequate for consideration of complex variables associated with arterial hov lanes. the traffic impacts of hov lanes can be analyzed from these improved traffic models; therefore, the relationship between traffic impacts and mode shift behavior can be modeled more accurately. finally, the guidelines to install a successful hov lane can be derived according to the results of hov lane evaluation. in brief, the objectives of this study are to: 1. modify the logic of traf-netsim turning movements for simulating arterial hov lanes realistically. 2. modify the calculation algorithms of traf-netsim link statistics to provide the travel time of each vehicle type for hov lane evaluation. 3. develop the smoothing factor analytical method for transyt traffic platoon dispersion model so that this model can be enhanced and applied appropriately in mixed-flow and priority lane traffic analysis. 4. develop two iteration algorithms for transyt traffic platoon prediction so that this model can simulate congested flow accurately. the scope of this study is limited to focus on the planning process of arterial concurrent flow hov lanes using traffic simulation models traf-netsim and transyt-7f. traffic surveillance and control, arterial hov, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 301.2 | Improvements on Signalized Arterials in the Seattle Area Volume II: State of the Art Review | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | improvements on signalized arterials in the seattle area volume ii: state of the art review nihan, n.l., davis, j.e. the primary objectives for this study were to investigate state-of-the-art techniques for providing hov incentives on arterial routes.the primary goal of making hov improvements has been to increase the efficiency of transportation systems. secondary objectives have been to reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, increase modal shift, save travel time, and reduce congestions. reviews of existing facilities have synthesized operational results into useful generalizations. hov facility issues include safety, enforcement, planning/design guidelines, classification schemes, and performance measures. arterial hov improvements have had mixed success, though the lack of good before-and-after studies is significant. hov facilities have been studied with a variety of computer models. in system analysis, hov lanes may be better justified as people movers when they are compared with other fixed-transit alternatives than when they are compared with automobile traffic in adjacent, nonrestricted lanes.during the coming decade the hov system will continue to expand. this project has an opprotunity to contribute significantly to the understanding of the techniques and potentials for arterial hov improvements. the first step, a review of the existing literature, establishes a basis for the research to follow. traffic surveillance and control, arterial hov, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 288.5 | Short-Term Forecasts of Freeway Traffic Volumes and Lane Occupancies Phase 2-Volume V | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | short-term forecasts of freeway traffic volumes and lane occupancies phase 2-volume v nihan, n.l., knutson, k.l. the current project addressed two major weak points of the existing wsdot ramp control system. one weak point in the system is the fact that it reacts to the problem (congestion), rather than preventing the problem. the other weak point in the system is its reliance on detector data that may be in error. both of these problems can be minimized by developing methods to accurately predict short-term traffic data. by predicting the onset of congestion early enough, the ramp metering system can act to prevent or delay occurrence of the problem. also, if a detector has failed or is malfunctioning, the data from the detector can be estimated from short-term predictions based on neighboring detectors. at the beginning of the current project, the researchers had hoped that the same model would provide a basis for both forecasting congestion (for predictive ramp control) and replacing erroneous data (predicting actual values). however, the best method for filling in missing detector data turned out to be multivariate time series analysis. several pattern recognition and time series models were tested for further development. in both cases, the simpler models turned out to be the best choices, and in both cases, further model testing and development were recommended. the research on both model types continues in follow-up studies that are expected to lead to incorporation of these models in the new tsmc computer system. bridge and construction, turner proposal, concrete bridge, fatigue, overload, replacement costs, remaining life, route assessment, maximum moments, maintenance, design loads, continuity, traffic surveillance and control, ramp controls, freeway management, traffic flow forecasts, forecast models, ramp metering trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 301.3/TNW 92-10.3 | HOV Improvements on Signalized Arterials in the Seattle Area--Volume III: NE 85th HOV Study | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1993 | hov improvements on signalized arterials in the seattle area--volume iii: ne 85th hov study nihan,n. l., rubstello,l. o. this paper will discuss the problems that are inherent with adding a higher speed hov lane to an arterial with its unlimited access points. investigation of current literature will show that although freeway hov applications have been researched and understood to an adequate degree, almost no data of any kind is available to predict the effectiveness of an arterial hov project. further, it will be proposed that not only does the research not exist, but that the 'measures of effectiveness' to evaluate existing arterial hov lanes are severely lacking. in addition to the literature search, a motorist survey was handed out to collect data describing commute trip behavior. questions about trip origin, destination, and purpose were asked to determine what residential and commercial zones were being served by n.e. 85th/redmond way, and for what purpose. the questionnaire also requested information on the duration of the trip and the occupancy of the vehicle. this data was used as input for a mathematical model to predict the volumes on the facility one year after the implementation of an hov lane. the fact that the model was based on past freeway applications across the nation, and the threats to validity that causes, will also be presented. the final questions on the survey concerned the motorists' own prediction about how likely they were to carpool and what they thought were some of the problems preventing them. these views will be compared with the results from the model. the predictions and resulting effectiveness of the project will be evaluated versus the stated objectives of the eastside transportation program (etp) policy statement. traffic surveillance and control, arterial hov, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1993 |
| IU 93.6 | Travel Patterns in Mixed Use Neighborhoods | Zemotel | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | travel patterns in mixed use neighborhoods zemotel, l., nielsen, k., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this working paper, 'travel patterns in mixed use neighborhoods,' summarizes phase i of a research effort by the innovations unit of the washington state transportation commission. the study is based on previous innovations unit research, described in the 1992 report, land use-transportation linkage (kestle et al. 1992), the focus of which was the impact of land use policies on transportation systems. this working paper describes surveys conducted in four neighborhoods in the state of washington (three in king county and one in spokane) to gather data on travel behavior in neighborhoods that have a good mix of housing, shopping, and services; in other words, mixed use neighborhoods. the survey consisted of telephone interviews to determine household characteristics and the subsequent collection of travel diaries to assess household travel habits by mode and purpose. preliminary results indicate the preponderance of trips for both family and personal business on both weekdays and weekends. although auto is the dominant mode, results indicate the potential for shared rides in all neighborhoods and for the walk mode in the in-city neighborhoods. directions for future research are suggested, including the study of the potential for reducing vehicle miles traveled (vmt) in mixed use neighborhoods; the relationships among mixed use development, household demographics, and travel behavior; the possibility of substituting walking for auto use; and methods for alleviating weekend traffic congestion based on a better understanding of the components of weekend travel. mixed use, transportation, survey, neighborhood, linkage, land use, policy, travel behavior, development, walking, traffic, congestion innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 311.2 | Incident Management System Demonstration | Zeller | TRAC/UW | 1993 | incident management system demonstration zeller, s.r., mannering, f.l. this report assesses the usefulness of the guide 'framework for developing incident management systems' in developing incident management systems for small to medium-sized urban areas. the assessment was conducted on the incident management system in tacoma, washington. the research approach consisted of four components: 1) study of the process that produced tacoma's existing incident management systems, 2) inventory and evaluation of tacoma's existing incident management alternatives, 3) application of the 'framework' to make recommendations for improvement in tacoma's system, and 4) evaluation of the effectiveness of the 'framework.' the findings of this report show that the guide 'framework for developing incident management systems' has some weaknesses, but overall it should be considerably helpful in developing and improving incident management systems. incident evaluation, incident management, incident systems, incident duration, accident analysis, traffic impacts trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 336.1 | Sediment Basin Design Criterial | Yonge | TRAC/WSU | 1993 | sediment basin design criterial yonge, d.r., cole, w.h. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) designs, operates, and maintains stormwater detention basins. these basins are used to control storm water runoff from highways, thereby controlling flows in down gradient areas. historically, storm water basin design has been based solely on hydraulic considerations. recent initiatives by the washington state department of ecology have indicated that storm water quality has become a high priority. consequently, future design must consider water quality as well as flood control. to have control of the variables associated with removal efficiencies (flow rate, contaminant type, contaminant concentrations, particle size distribution, and basin configuration) a scale model of a typical detention basin was constructed. experiments to determine removal efficiencies for suspended solids with diameters <75 micrometers were conducted and the results were compared with the type 1 sedimentation theory for an ideal basin. preliminary investigations into the removal efficiencies for pb, zn, cd, and cu were performed at one flow rate and optimized piping configuration. the removal of suspended solids range from 65-80%. type 1 sedimentation theory for an ideal basin yielded good predictions of sediment removal. this implies that type 1 sedimentation theory could be used to estimate sediment removal in full scale systems under similar conditions. care should be taken when predictions are required at high-surface overflow rates or highway runoff that contains a significant fraction of small particles. the removal of metals ranges from 28-40% indicating that removal of smaller particles is necessary to achieve better removal efficiencies for metals. stormwater, sediment removal, contaminaint removal, highway runoff trac/wsu 1993 |
| WA-RD 281.1 | HOV Lane Enforcement Evaluation | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1993 | hov lane enforcement evaluation ulberg, c., jacobson, e. l. this study evaluated various high occupancy vehicle (hov) lane enforcement techniques on a recently constructed section of hov lanes along i-405 in the seattle, washington, area. the research included a related public opinion survey concerning hov lanes. the enforcement techniques that were evaluated included intensive (or continuous saturation) enforcement, once a week saturation enforcement, and once a week stationary enforcement. this study concluded that each type of enforcement effort helped in lowering the number of hov lane violations; however, it was not possible to determine which method was most effective. violations decreased considerably during the first weeks of enforcement, regardless of the type of enforcement. the public opinion survey indicated that, in general, the public supports the concept of hov lanes. eighty-six percent of the respondents felt that hov lanes are a good ides. at the same time, 55 percent indicated that existing hov lanes were not being used enough. almost 60 percent of the respondents believed hov lane violators were seldom caught by enforcement agencies. a higher percentage of the respondents (71 percent) believed that hov violations increased when the washington state patrol was not visible along the hov lane. the research team recommends intensive enforcement only for the first three months (or less) of the operation of a new hov facility. after that point, the level of effort should revert to routine enforcement. this study also makes recommendations concerning the design of hov lanes as it is relates to enforcement issues. specifically, enforcement areas alongside hov lanes must be designed in cooperation with the appropriate enforcement agency. two types of enforcement areas along freeways are suggested. traffic surveillance and control, hov, high occupancy vehicle, enforcement, public opinion, hov enforcement, hov lane design trac/uw 1993 |
| Evaluation of the Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration: Survey Results & Qualitative Research | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1993 | evaluation of the puget sound telecommuting demonstration: survey results & qualitative research ulberg, c., gordon, a., spain, d., fortenbery, e., whitaker, b., fireman, s. this study was conducted for the washington state energy office. the puget sound telecommuting demonstration project, which ran from mid 1990 to mid 1992, included 25 public and private organizations and began with nearly 300 telecommuters. the demonstration involved one of the most extensive evaluations yet undertaken to understand many aspects of telecommuting, including transportation and energy impacts, organizational impacts, and effects on people's personal lives. this report covers several elements of that evaluation. the puget sound telecommuting demonstration project provided unique information about the experience of telecommuting. it covered a wide variety of organizations, both public and private, large and small, and differing in their degrees of bureaucratization and enthusiasm about introducing telecommuting to their employees. the researchers collected data not only from telecommuters but form supervisors, co-workers, and a comparison group of other organization employees. ethnographic data were collected in a variety of settings, and small groups of participants were interviewee periodically to gain additional insights into their experiences. detailed observations were collected at the state-sponsored telework center, and special studies were conducted regarding productivity assessment, and focusing on people who stopped telecommuting during the year. this comprehensiveness allowed insights into the impacts of telecommuting on organization and work group functioning that could not be determined from a study of telecommuters alone. this information allowed the investigation of policies to mitigate some of the negative impacts of telecommuting and to begin to understand how widespread telecommuting may become. telecommuting, demonstration, work from home, public, private, productivity, survey, data analysis, trac/uw 1993 | |
| IU 93.7 | Corridor Preservation: Issues and Opportunities | Sommers | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | corridor preservation: issues and opportunities sommers, v., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report summarizes the research findings of a study for the washington state transportation commission's long and short term goals sub committee. this report consists of two parts. part 1 begins with a discussion of the concept of transportation corridors and site preservation. three principal constraints on corridor preservation are then discussed: 1) environmental law compliance; 2) issues of constitutionality associated with the regulation of private land ownership; and 3) funding limitations. part 1 concludes with a description of the federal government's role in corridor preservation techniques available to the public sector. part 2 consists of a catalog of corridor preservation techniques. these are divided into six categories: land acquisition, limited rights acquisition, regulatory methods, access controls, local police powers, and coordination techniques involving the private sector. each technique, as well as its legal requirements, advantages, and disadvantages, is discussed. part 2 consists of a catalog of corridor preservation techniques. these are divided into six categories: land acquisition, limited rights acquisition, regulatory methods, access controls, local police powers, and coordination techniques involving the private sector. each technique, as well as its legal requirements, advantages, and disadvantages, is discussed. transportation corridor, site preservation, land acquisition, limited rights, regulations, access control innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| IU 93.1 | Transportation Research Guide | Seferian | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | transportation research guide seferian, m., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. the purpose of this guide is to aid students and professionals in locating transportation-related research materials in the libraries of the university of washington, king county metro, the puget sound regional council, and the washington state department of transportation. periodicals, references, databases and guides to literature are covered. research, transportation, sources, reference, library innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 309.1/NTIS No. PB93-208064 | Western States Transparent Borders Project: Description of Current Practices WASHINGTON | Scheibe | TRAC/UW | 1993 | western states transparent borders project: description of current practices washington scheibe,r. r., koehne,j., hallenbeck,m. e. as part of a national effort to achieve a more efficient transportation system, the "transparent borders" concept is aimed at developing technologies and systems that provide a less expensive and more efficient operating environment for commercial vehicle operations (cvo), and ultimately, one which will allow unimpeded passage of trucks across state boundaries. this report summarizes the first part of the transparent borders project, a seven-state study to identify the institutional barriers to implementation of various intelligent vehicle highway system (ivhs) technologies for cvo. it describes the current practices within state and federal agencies and organizations that effect cvo in washington. particular emphasis is placed on the primary cvo functions in washington, including driver and vehicle licensing, operating authority, permitting, tax collection, weight and size regulation, and safety regulation. transportation management, commercial vehicle, cvo, intelligent vehicle highway system, ivhs, transparent borders, transport borders, trucking trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 267.2 | Ferry Landing Design II: Vessel Characteristics and How they Influence Ferry Landing Design | Scarpelli | TRAC/UW | 1993 | ferry landing design ii: vessel characteristics and how they influence ferry landing design scarpelli, a., jahren, c.t. information is provided that will help ferry landing designers understand how vessel characteristics affect berthing maneuvers. such information will assist in the development of improved ferry landing designs and operating policies. the study includes a literature review, mathematical modeling, a review of physical model tests, and sea trials. full-scale measurements were also collected with global positioning (gps) equipment. the results show that physical model tests, sea trials, and full-scale measurements provide useful information on vessel stopping and turning characteristics. efforts to mathematically model vessel deceleration produced limited success. recommendations are given for further full-scale tests to assist in defining vessel maneuverability in a variety of berthing situations. vessels, port design, ferry, ferry landing design, ferry terminal design, fender design, berthing, global positioning systems, sea trials, physical modeling, mathematical modeling trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 334.1 | Road Rater Study | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1993 | road rater study rutherford,m. this study provides recommendations for using the road rater model 400b and the pedmod (pavement evaluation and design model) program for pavement evaluation and design. in order to address seasonal variation in pavement response for pavement evaluation and design, 36 test sections were established in 8 counties in washington state. road rater deflation data was collected monthly on the test sections for a period of one year. the pavement evaluation and design capabilities in the pedmod program utilize resiliant material properties obtained from wesdef, a backcalculation analysis program developed at the u.s. army corps of engineers waterways experiment station , which is contained within the pedmod program. results obtained from the wesdef using the road rater deflection data collected on the test sections indicate that it is difficult to obtain meaningful resilient material properties for pavement layer materials. results of the analysis of deflection data for seasonal variability indicate that some general trends in variation in maximum deflection and subgrade resilient modulus occurred during the 12-month testing period, however the test sections should be maintained for a longer period of time to develop specific seasonal correction factors. recommendations are provided for calibrating the road rater and performing systemwide design level and deflection testing as well as recommendations for the use of pedmod. in addition, recommendations are provided for alternative techniques for pavement evaluation using parameters obtained directly from road rater deflection basins. accident rates trac/uw 1993 |
| IU 93.2 | Transportation Demand Management: Case Studies of Medium-Sized Employers | Badgett | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1993 | transportation demand management: case studies of medium-sized employers badgett, s., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report summarizes the research findings of a study by the innovations unit of the washington state transportation commission on the topic of transportation demand management (tdm). the study was authorized by the policy development subcommittee of the commission on march 1991. because previous tdm research has emphasized larger organizations (400 employers or more) this report focuses on transportation demand management programs implemented by medium-sized employers. a two-part research process was employed, beginning with data collection phase, in which selected employers were contacted by telephone and asked about their tdm programs. the employers were usually recommended by the regional council, or by the air quality/transportation management district. the phone survey was followed by an analysis phase in which the information collected was organized by regions and then analyzed, both individually and in aggregate. this report consists of an introduction, a series of employer case studies organized by region, and a concluding analysis. introductory remarks discuss the document's purpose, tdm strategy definitions, the significance of tdm, and relevant legislation. transportation demand management, tdm, employers, case studies, strategies innovations unit/trac 1993 |
| WA-RD 302.1 | Final Report (Experimental May 1984-November 1992) | Roper | WSDOT | 1993 | final report (experimental may 1984-november 1992) roper,t. h., henley,e. h. jr chem-trete silane sealer was applied to the prestressed girders ande precast piles of the newly constructed naselle river bridge 101/24 in washington state in 1984. the purpose of the experiment was to gain experience with the use of the product and to measure its effectiveness over time in preventing the intrusion of chlorides into prestressed concrete girders and precast concrete piles in marine environments.recent rapid chloride permeability tests and chloride testing indicate that this sealer has had little or no effect on reducing the intrusion into chlorides into the concrete. sealer, seal coat waterproofing, concrete sealer wsdot 1993 |
| WA-RD 306.1 | Fatigue Cracking in Modular Expansion Joints | Roeder | TRAC/UW | 1993 | fatigue cracking in modular expansion joints roeder,c. w. modular expansion joints are commonly used on bridges with potential movements larger than approximately 5 inches. single support bar modular systems with 48 inches of movement capability were used for the third lake washington floating bridge. within 18 months after the bridge was opened to traffic, cracks were noted in the centerbeams of these large, modular systems. extensive cracking has been noted since that date. this research program was a study into the causes of the observed cracking. the work was divided into two tasks. the first task was a literature review and evaluation of existing methods for fatigue design of modular joint systems. the second tasks consisted of a wide range of finite element analyses of the particular joint, and correlation of the computed results in existing design models and observed behavior. the results show that the cracking has been caused by fatigue due to the related wheel loading. however, existing design methods do not appear to be reliable indicators of the fatigue behavior because the behavior is influenced by the stiffness and dynamic response of the individual joint system. the variable span lengths complicated the evaluation process. the work shows that there is no reliable information for the wheel load spectrum for us traffic on joints of this type. however, extension of past behavior of this joint indicates that centerbeams of the large joint will require replacement within several years. bridge and construction, cracking, expansion joints, fatigue, modular expansion joints, steel trac/uw 1993 |
| WA-RD 289.1 | An Emergency Response Plan for Bridge Management | Reed | TRAC/UW | 1993 | an emergency response plan for bridge management reed, d., wang, j. the major objective of this project was to develop a post-earthquake emergency response plan to wsdot bridge management. three types of seismic events was considered in the development of the plan. inspection forms were developed for the three-stage inspection process. for events other than minor earthquakes under favorable weather and lighting conditions, existing resources appear to be inadequate. recommendations for improving the readiness of the wsdot bridge management are provided. traffic surveillance and control, earthquake, emergency response planning, bridge trac/uw 1993 |
| Vessel Characteristics | Scarpelli | TRAC/UW | 1992 | vessel characteristics scarpelli, a., jahren, c.t. the influence of vessel characteristics on ferry landing approaches are investigated in this report. hypothetical incident scenarios are described, and mathematical models to test the influence of the vessel characteristics on ferry landings are proposed. possible methods for testing the mathematical models are suggested. ferry, ferry landing, berthing, global positioning systems, port design, marine design, vessel characteristics, full-scale measurements trac/uw 1992 | |
| WA-RD 257.1 | Performance of a 41-Foot-High Geotextile Wall | Allen | TRAC/UW | 1992 | performance of a 41-foot-high geotextile wall allen, t.m., christopher, b., holtz, r.d. in order to provide for a preload fill in an area of limited right-of-way, the washington state department of transportation designed and supervised the construction of a geotextile reinforced retaining wall 12.6m (41.3 ft) high. because the wall supported a surcharge fi11 more than5 m (16 ft.) in height and was significantly higher than any previouslyconstructed wall of i t s type, an extensive program of instrumentationof the geotextile reinforcement and measurement o f the wall movementswas instituted. the paper describes the wall design and construction,1)purpose and objectives of the instrumentation program, instrumentation . .selection and installation, and results of the monitoring. the measureddeflections and reinforcement strain were low, and overall wall performance was excellent. construction, design, geotextile, geotextiles, monitoring, objectives, performance, program, reinforcement, retaining wall, surcharge, transportation, walls, washington, washington state trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 272.1 | Contech A-2000 PVC Sewer Pipe SR-2 Sunnyslope Vicinity | Anderson | WSDOT | 1992 | contech a-2000 pvc sewer pipe sr-2 sunnyslope vicinity anderson, k. w. the construction and leakage testing of a field installation of contech a-2000 corrugated pvc sewer pipe is documented in this report. construction, contech, drainage, pipes, plastic, pvc wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 259.1 | 1991 Tour of Modified Binder Pavements | Anderson | WSDOT | 1992 | 1991 tour of modified binder pavements anderson,k. w. a pavement tour of modified asphalt binder pavements was conducted in april and may of 1991 by staff from the construction and materials sections of the washington state department of transportation. each section visited is described and the tour participants' comments regarding performance are summarized. accident rates wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 268.1 | Rubber-Asphalt Pavements in the State of Washington | Anderson | TRAC/UW | 1992 | rubber-asphalt pavements in the state of washington anderson,k. w., jackson,n. c. this report overviews the experience of the washington state department of transportation with asphalt pavements constructed with recycle scrap tire rubber. it documents the performance histories and construction costs for 21 projects constructed over a period of 15 years using both the wet and dry processes of adding the rubber to the asphalt mix. accident rates trac/uw 1992 |
| IU 92.4 | Transportation Demand Management: Concept Overview | Badgett | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1992 | transportation demand management: concept overview badgett, s., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. transportation demand management (tdm) encompasses any strategy aimed at reducing roadway demand, as measured by a reduction in the number of single occupancy vehicles (sovs), a reduction in vehicle miles traveled (vmt), an increase in average vehicle occupancy (avo), or an increase in alternate mode usage (amu). the tdm strategies discussed in this document include parking charges, parking taxes, fuel pricing, congestion pricing, preferential carpool parking, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, flextime, and strategies that promote high occupancy vehicles (hovs), or alternate modes such as walking and bicycling. transportation demand management, tdm, benefits, fuel pricing, high occupancy vehicle , ridesharing, telecommuting innovations unit/trac 1992 |
| WA-RD 262.2 | Analysis of Particulate Matter Dispersion Near Urban Roadways: A Summary | Balogh | TRAC/UW | 1992 | analysis of particulate matter dispersion near urban roadways: a summary balogh,m., mannering,f. l. particulate matter and its dispersion near urban roadways has become an issue of increasing concern because of the possible health risks to human associated with the inhalation of small particulates. despite the potential health risk, little is known about the concentration of particulates near urban roadways or the particulates emission rates of various vehicles. this research focused on particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometer (microns), typically denoted pm2.5, because of the high potential health risks of such small particles. data were collected along roadways on the university of washington campus. the results of the data collection and subsequent statistical analyses revealed, as expected, that urban buses are far more of a threat to pedestrian traffic. more interestingly, our findings suggest that procedure ap-42 for calculating particulate matter near urban roadways is grossly inaccurate, producing values that are one to two orders of magnitude higher than actually observed pm2.5 values. environmental, particulate matter, air pollution, vehicle emissions, urban pollution trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 262.1 | Analysis of Particulate Matter Dispersion Near Urban Roadways | Balogh | TRAC/UW | 1992 | analysis of particulate matter dispersion near urban roadways balogh, m., mannering, f.l. particulate matter and its dispersion near urban roadways has become an issue of increasing concern because of the possible health risks to human associated with the inhalation of small particulates. despite the potential health risk, little is known about the concentration of particulates near urban roadways or the particulates emission rates of various vehicles. this research focused on particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometer (microns), typically denoted pm2.5, because of the high potential health risks of such small particles. data were collected along roadways on the university of washington campus. the results of the data collection and subsequent statistical analyses revealed, as expected, that urban buses are far more of a threat to pedestrian traffic. more interestingly, our findings suggest that procedure ap-42 for calculating particulate matter near urban roadways is grossly inaccurate, producing values that are one to two orders of magnitude higher than actually observed pm2.5 values. environmental, particulate matter, air pollution, vehicle emissions, urban pollution trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 213.1 | Predictive Algorithm Improvements for a Real-Time Ramp Control System | Berg | TRAC/UW | 1992 | predictive algorithm improvements for a real-time ramp control system berg, d.b., nihan, n.l. the purpose of this project was to determine the feasibility and evaluate the usefulness of a predictive ramp-metering algorithm that anticipates bottlenecks (a bottleneck being a reduction in the traffic capacity of the freeway) one to two minutes before their occurrence. the predictive algorithm was tested on-line in the washington state department of transportation's ramp-metering central computer. the predictive algorithms accuracy in predicting bottlenecks on-line was very good, with a correct prediction rate of almost 80 percent. the measured increase in volume and decrease in occupancy during a portion of the morning peak period showed that the predictive algorithm reduced the number and/or severity of bottlenecks on the freeway test section. traffic surveillance and control, ramp metering, ramp controls, predictive algorithm, traffic bottlenecks trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 265.1 | Preliminary Investigation of the Seismic Vulnerability of the Alaskan Way Viaduct | Brown | TRAC/UW | 1992 | preliminary investigation of the seismic vulnerability of the alaskan way viaduct brown, c., eberhard, m.o., kramer, s.l., roeder, c.w., stanton, j.f. the university of washington (uw) team reviewed the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) report titled 'earthquake analyses of the alaskan way viaduct' and performed an independent assessment of two typical sections of the structure. additional analyses were performed to investigate the influence of some factors that were not considered in the wsdot report. the input motion and geotechnical characteristics assumed in the wsdot report were consistent with the information available to the wsdot and the uw. however, the paucity of information available regarding the seismological risk and the subsoil conditions precluded the possibility of reliability estimating the input motion, foundations stiffness, foundation capacities, and potential for liquefaction. inspection of the structural plans suggested that timber-concrete spliced piles in the section of the structure built by wsdot might be particularly vulnerable. the elastic dynamic models generated by wsdot and those constructed for this study were found to give comparable natural periods in the first three modes. those in the higher modes differed because of the disparate ways in which the structures were modeled. however, the higher modes provided only a small portion of the total response, so the differences in calculated response were small. for the wsdot designed part of the structure, g-ratings and dynamic code ratios were established by assuming that the reinforcement would reach its yield strength. the present study found the structure to be generally weaker than did the wsdot study. some of the ratings showed a consistent relationship with those given by the wsdot study, while others showed considerable scatter. regardless of the resolution of the discrepancies, both analyses indicated that the demands on structural members would be likely to greatly exceed their capacities. the main shortcomings in the structure appeared to be inadequate confinement steel and development lengths that were too short. because no distress was observed after the 1965 seattle earthquake, these calculations are undoubtedly conservative. however, the response of those brittle details cannot be predicted reliably without further investigation. the university of washington team is proposing further study to verify seismic safety of the structure. bridge, reinforced concrete, earthquake, foundation trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 308.1 | Development of Maintenance-Free Safety Appurtenances | Carney III | WSDOT | 1992 | development of maintenance-free safety appurtenances carney iii, j.f. this final report demonstrates the feasibility of employing high molecular weight/high density polyethylene cylinders as the energy dissipating medium in highway safety appurtenances. it is shown that this polymer can dissipate large amounts of kinetic energy, undergo large deformations and strains without fracturing, and essentially restore itself to its original size, shape, and energy dissipation potential when the forcing function is removed.this research involves a quasi-static and impact loading experimentalinvestigation to determine the energy dissipation characteristics of hmw hdpetubes as functions of temperature, radius to wall thickness ratio, strain,strain-rate, deformation, and repeated and cyclic loading. the results ofthis experimental program are analyzed to develop analytic energy dissipationexpressions which are then employed in the design of truck mountedattenuators (tma), finally, an expert system computer program, cads, ismodified to use hmw hdpe tubes in the generalized design of crash cushions.the potential financial, legal, and safety payoffs for highway operationsassociated with developing highway safety devices which are essentiallymaintenance free are significant. maintenance costs associated with therepair of impacted safety devices would be greatly reduced or eliminated.tort liability exposure related to damaged or collapsed hardware would besignificantly decreased. finally, the safety of the motoring public and themaintenance personnel involved in maintaining and repairing damaged hardwarewould be enhanced. computer, computer program, cost, costs, cyclic loading, density, design, development, energy, experimental, expert system, exposure, highway, highway safety, impact, impact attenuation devices, its, maintenance, maintenance free, polyethylene, polymer, program, public, research, reusable, safety, self-restoration, strains, temperature, truck wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 266.1 | Multi-Level Roadway Noise Abatement | Chalupnik | TRAC/UW | 1992 | multi-level roadway noise abatement chalupnik, j.d. noise from multi-level roadways poses a serious problem in the congested urban settings where such roadways are used to conserve precious urban real estate. this report addresses this problem and proposes a workable solution, which calls for adding acoustical absorption to the underside of the upper deck(s). additional benefits can be had if roadside noise barriers are used in conjunction with the absorptive treatment. the approach is cost effective for crowded urban areas where large numbers of people are exposed to the noise pollution created by this type of design. traffic noise, multi-level, community noise, sound absorbtion, reflections, barriers trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 276.1 | The Effect of Roadway Wear on Tire Noise | Chalupnik | TRAC/UW | 1992 | the effect of roadway wear on tire noise chalupnik, j.d., anderson, d. this is the final report of a study of the way in which tire/road noise changes as the pavement ages and wears. measurements of the levels of noise generated at the tire/road-surface interface were made on sections of a variety of asphaltic and concrete compositions ranging in age from newly laid to 29 years. data from these measurements are presented in graphical form showing levels and trends of levels with time. while measurements made in this study do not portray the noise levels at the roadside, they do rank order the source noise levels of the various surfaces devoid of the noise absorption characteristics of the surface. an interpretation of the data is provided to assist highway planners, designers, or environmental engineers. as an add-on to the main study, a comparison of the noise from studded tires and non-studded tires of the same tread design was made for a variety of roadway surface types. traffic noise, noise, tire noise, tire, road noise, noise measurements, trailers, roadway aging, roadway wear, studded tires trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 256.1 | Crack Sealing Effectiveness | Erickson | WSDOT | 1992 | crack sealing effectiveness erickson, d.e. a short, one year performance evaluation was made of four crack sealing products. the products: (1) crf manufactured by the golden bear division of witco chemical corporation; (2) flex-a-fill manufactured by deery oil; (3) roadsaver 221 manufactured by crafco incorporated; and (4) a sand slurry mixture designed by the washington state department of transportation.the two rubber-asphalt products, flex-a-fill and roadsaver 221, performed better that the other two products, which used an emulsified cement as a base. base, crack sealing, effectiveness, emulsified asphalt, evaluation, mixture, performance, performance evaluation, rubber-asphalt, transportation, washington, washington state wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 254.1 | Performance Monitoring A Framework for Further Research | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1992 | performance monitoring a framework for further research hallenbeck, m.e. performance monitoring is defined as the periodic measurement of progress toward explicit short and long run objectives, and the reporting of the results to decision makers to improve program performance. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) should use performance monitoring to monitor conditions and trends in transportation on specific facilities and within specific geographic regions and the state as a whole. this report presents a logical framework for wsdot to use in investigating the development of performance measures. it briefly describes the current status of wsdot's development of performance monitoring systems. it investigates wsdot needs, the uses wsdot has for performance monitoring data, the types of data that can or should be collected and reported for these purposes, and the interactions required between wsdot and other transportation providers and governmental agencies. finally, the report outlines ongoing wsdot research and data collection efforts and recommends directions for further research and analysis. performance monitoring, data collection trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 273.1 | Use of Automatic Vehicle Identification Techniques for Measuring Traffic Performance and Performing Incident Detection | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1992 | use of automatic vehicle identification techniques for measuring traffic performance and performing incident detection hallenbeck, m.e., boyle, t., ring, j. traffic performance information is an integral part of traffic control and motorist information systems. good traffic performance information is also needed to optimize system control functions, detect congestion and incidents, and inform travelers to help them plan their trips. yet, good traffic performance information is rarely available for these functions. one of several new technologies being investigated to improve the collection of traffic performance information is automatic vehicle identification (avi). the primary objectives of this project were to determine the possible benefits of using avi systems for monitoring the performance of traffic and detecting incidents. a secondary objective was to determine whether the truck fleet tagged as part of the heavy vehicle electronic license plate (help) project, or even the entire truck population, would provide an unbiased measure of traffic performance. the findings presented in this report show that avi based systems can produce superior traffic performance data for use both real-time control systems and more general transportation planning and engineering analyses. furthermore, the mathematical algorithms needed to operate the avi system are straightforward and easily programmed. continuing improvements in transponder, computing, and communications technologies provide the opportunity to reliably collect the information necessary to operate the planned intelligent vehicle-highway systems of the future. given the current state of the technology and expected improvements, the impediments to using avi technology in this manner are not technical, but fiscal and political. traffic surveillance and control, avi, congestion monitoring, incident detection trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 241.1 | Ferry Watch Scheduling Prototype and Recommended Future Work | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1992 | ferry watch scheduling prototype and recommended future work hallenbeck, m.e., chang, j. this report documents the initial exploration of alternatives for a commuter system that assists in the development of watch schedules for the washington state ferry system (wsf). a 'watch schedule' is defined as a two-week set of work shifts to be followed by a group of wsf employees from a specific union. the report describes the programming alternatives considered, the program flow selected for prototype developments, and the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the creation of that prototype. continued development of the watch scheduling system is not recommended at this time. marine, ferry systems operations, crew scheduling, labor scheduling trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 282.1 | Evaluation of the TRAF Family of Models-Testing of the CORFLO Models | Jacobson | TRAC/UW | 1992 | evaluation of the traf family of models-testing of the corflo models jacobson, e.l. this final report describes the key findings of a washington state department of transportation (wsdot) and federal highway administration (fhwa) project. the research was undertaken during the 1988-1989 time period using mainframe computer versions of the programs. using corridor flow (corflo), the investigators modeled the traffic impacts on local and regional roadways that would be caused by the reconstruction of 1-405 through the city of renton, washington, which is in the seattle metropolitan area. using freeway simulation (fresim), the investigators also modeled 1-405 on the northeast side of renton, where the high occupancy vehicle (hov) lane, when completed, will transition from the inside to the outside of the freeway (across general purpose traffic).traffic volume data, traffic signal parameters, and roadway geometric data were obtained and used as needed in each of the computer traffic modeling programs.the corflo model could not be adequately calibrated to represent existing traffic flow. the researchers could not determine whether the difficulties in calibrating the model were related to weaknesses in the model itself or to weaknesses in the input data. use of the corflo mainframe computer program for construction traffic simulation by wsdot is not recommended at this time. the program requires extensive, detailed data, which is usually unavailable and too costly to acquire given the resources normally available for this type of project. modifying the corflo program to run on personal computers is suggested, and was released by mctrans in september 1992.while the fresim model appeared to be able to handle the proposed hov lane crossover, this could not be verified because the fresim output was so complex that it was unreadable. a graphic display of the fresim output as a supplement to the existing tabular output is recommended. computer traffic simulation model, traf, corflo, fresim, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 224.2 | A Framework for Developing Incident Management Systems: A Summary | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1992 | a framework for developing incident management systems: a summary hallenbeck, m.e., koehne, j. a variety of techniques have been developed to manage incidents efficiently. however, very little guidance exists for agencies to initiate such efforts. this study, which produced two reports (framework for developing incident management systems and development of incident management systems, the seattle case study), serves to provide this guidance by discussing the process of developing and implementing an incident management system. generally, the process consists of several steps: defining the problem, setting goals and objectives, developing alternatives, evaluating and selecting from those alternatives, implementing, re-evaluating after a specified time, and refining the system. the alternatives that were developed in this document fall under five basic categories, depending on how they benefit incident management efforts. these categories include incident detection, response, site management, clearance, and motorist information. specific information, including technique description, relative costs and benefits, operational requirements, and funding variations is given for each incident management technique included in these categories. more generally, concerns such as jurisdiction issues, geographical constraints, available resources, operational procedures, training requirements, and administrative coordination are discussed in detail to aid in mitigating difficulties early in the incident management system development process. bridge and construction, incident management, incident response, site management, incident clearance, motorist information trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 240.2/TNW 91-04 | Real-Time Motorist Information For Reducing Urban Freeway Congestion: Commuter Behavior, Data Conversion and Display, and Transportation Policy | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1992 | real-time motorist information for reducing urban freeway congestion: commuter behavior, data conversion and display, and transportation policy haselkorn,m., barfield,w., spyridakis,j., conquest,l., dailey,d. j., crosby,p., goble,b., garner,m. this report documents results of a project to design and develop a real-time, advanced traveler information system (now called traffic reporter) for the puget sound area. in previous work, we had identified four types of commuters: (1) pre-trip changers, (2) route changers, (3) route & time changers, and (4) non-changers. each type of commuter showed distinct preferences and needs for design and delivery of traveler information. in this project, we confirmed that the commuter types identified earlier, as well as their preferences for design and delivery of traveler information, were consistent across geographical areas in the puget sound area. based on knowledge of commuter behavior and information needs, we designed and began implementing traffic reporter, a pc-based, graphical, interactive, advanced traveler information system. the traffic reporter prototype receives traffic data from freeway detectors and coverts those data into information that can be explored both for general freeway conditions and specific trip information. information is designed for use by commuters, traffic reporters, and traffic engineers. we conducted usability tests on the traffic reporter prototype to ensure its effectiveness and ease of use. overall, these tests showed that the prototype is easy to use and will be accepted by commuters. future development of traffic reporter will be guided by the result of these tests. furthermore, we will continue usability testing on future versions of traffic reporter. transportation management, ivhs, advanced traveler information systems, commuter behavior, real-time traveler information, traveler information trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 275.1 | Overweight Container Study | Hayuth | TRAC/UW | 1992 | overweight container study hayuth, y. this summary report describes a study that defines the overweight container problem within washington state and the national level. the study reviews various approaches to the problem as well as potential solutions. intermodal containers can meet internationally agreed-upon weight limitations (international standards organization (iso)) and industry specifications for ships, cranes, railcars, or barges; however, when they are placed on a truck, they may violate the federal weight limits. export containers pose a more serious problem than do import containers. about 24 percent of export containers moving through washington's seaports, and 12 percent of import containers exceed maximum weight limits. the study concludes that resolution of this problem would require a uniform federal policy at the national level. the availability of accurate container weight information throughout any given journey is critical. such information can be used by ports or the electronic interchange system to identify violators. most overweight containers can meet legal requirements with the use of special chassis. encouragement of the use of such equipment should be a policy priority. special corridors that are not subject to weighing requirements in the vicinity of ports should eliminate some of the problem, particularly for rail containers. any enforcement measures should, however, consider the impact on the efficiency of the transport system, the competitiveness of the state's seaports, and the impact on the trade. overweight containers, import, export data, container weight information system, container weight compliance trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 284.1 | Incident Management Using Total Stations | Jacobson | TRAC/UW | 1992 | incident management using total stations jacobson,l. n., legg,b., o'brien,a. this paper describes a novel approach to improving incident clearance when accidents require detailed investigation. this approach involves the use of computerized surveying equipment, called electronic total stations, for accident investigation. the use, advantages, and disadvantages of electronic total station survey equipment for expediting the investigation at serious traffic accidents are discussed. a comparison of three accident scenes where the coordinate method of accident investigation and total stations were used to measure the same incident showed that investigators can take over 70 percent more measurements per hour by using total stations. furthermore, investigation with the total stations required only 46 percent of the time required with the coordinate method. a comparison of urban freeway accidents covering a one year period before total station were used to a year of total station use showed an average time savings of slightly over 51 minutes in incident scene clearance time. accident drawings were aslo more accurate and could be prepared in less time. accident rates trac/uw 1992 |
| Wingwall Field Testing | Jahren | TRAC/UW | 1992 | wingwall field testing jahren, c.t., jones, r. as part of a project to develop design criteria for ferry landings, the researchers conducted a pull test on the south wingwall at the edmonds ferry terminal to determine the force versus deflection relationship for a timber fendering system. the design of field test set-up is described and the results are examined. an energy versus deflection relationship was developed, which may be used to estimate the energy of landing maneuvers, if the deflection of the fendering system is known. ferry landing, design, wingwall trac/uw 1992 | |
| IU 92.2 | Land Use-Transportation Linkage: Background Research Findings | Kestle | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1992 | land use-transportation linkage: background research findings kestle, j.f., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report summarizes the results of a comprehensive literature review and study of state-of-the-art land use-transportation linkage practices in this state and. elsewhere, and it includes a descriptive inventory of the present state of institutional linkages in washington state. the study identifies and analyzes individual linkage concepts, and it describes the potential benefits of specific approaches that exploit the land use-transportation connection to improve mobility, enhance this state's environment, and promote enlightened land use. land use, transportation, policies, goals innovations unit/trac 1992 |
| IU 92.1 | Land Use-Transportation Linkage | Kestle | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1992 | land use-transportation linkage kestle, j.f., rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this white paper summarizes information on existing and potential practices and policies associated with major land use-transportation linkage issues. the linkage between land use and transportation is not only a complex one, but is also a two-way street, with land use affecting transportation and vice versa. this white paper will focus on the potential benefits that transportation supportive land uses can have on personal mobility and overall transportation effectiveness, beginning with a comprehensive literature review and study of state-of-the-art land use-transportation linkage practices in the state and elsewhere. this paper then identifies and analyzes individual linkage concepts, and describes the potential benefits of specific approaches that exploit the land use-transportation connection to improve mobility, promote enlightened land use, and enhance the overall quality of life. land use, transportation, policies, goals innovations unit/trac 1992 |
| WA-RD 239.1 | Long-Term Performance Evaluation of Wood Fibre Fills | Kilian | WSDOT | 1992 | long-term performance evaluation of wood fibre fills kilian, a.p., ferry, c.d. this paper presents the results of a research project to determine the long-term performance of wood fibre embankments, that were constructed by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) beginning in 1972. at the time of their construction, concern existed that wood fibre fills would only provide a 15 to 20 year service life.performance of existing wood fibre fills was evaluated based on thequality of the wood fibre material, quality of the effluent, and condition ofthe pavement. a visual classification system rating the wood fibre from freshto completely decomposed was developed and used in order to establish acriteria from which all wood fibre mater.ia1 could be -rated.. visual examinationin conjunction with laboratory tests were used as determining aspects for theeffluent quality. the wsdot pavement management system was used to evaluate relative pavement performance. site descriptions are presented giving specificcharacteristics and properties of the fills inventoried, an analysis of t h i sinformation was done to determine the effectiveness of the fills.over half the wood fibre samples were found to be nearly fresh or freshand none w e found to be completely decomposed. in all but one case, thepavement quality over the wood fibre fills surpassed the comparative highwaysegment rating indicating the wood fill's performance exceeded thatof the surrounding area. generally, the surface water in the vicinity of thewood fibre was found to be clean and pure indicating no adverse impact ofeffluent. given the above findings, embankments constructed of wood fibre werefound to perform well over ahnost a 20. year period. service life in excess of50 years can be expected - of wood fibre fills. analysis, condition, construction, developed, effectiveness, embankments, evaluation, impact, leachate, management, management system, pavement, pavement management, pavement performance, pavements, performance, performance evaluation, project, quality, research, tests, transportation, washington, washington state, wood fibre, wsdot wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 269.1 | Evaluation of Tieback Performance | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1992 | evaluation of tieback performance kramer, s.l. the economy and effectiveness of tiebacks for support of temporary excavations has led to their increased use for support of permanent excavations. to better understand the characteristics and performance of tiebacks, a field observation program was undertaken. various characteristics of over 900 tiebacks exhumed from an excavation along i-90 in mercer island, washington were observed in the field. the geometric spacing of the tiebacks appeared to be quite uniform. centering of the anchor tendon in the augured hole was generally good, although some instances of significantly off-center anchor tendons that could be examined in the field. evidence of grease leakage at the end of the trumpets was observed as a number of tieback locations. while physical disturbance of the tiebacks during excavation was undoubtedly responsible for much of the observed leakage, leakage was also observed at a number of tiebacks that appeared to be undisturbed. on the basis of the observations made in the field, no specific changes on the current wsdot design method and specifications for tiebacks appear to be necessary. tiebacks, retaining walls, ground anchors, corrosion, corrosion protection trac/uw 1992 |
| TRB 920368 | A Public/Private Partnership in Transportation Demand Management | Legg | Transportation Research Board | 1992 | a public/private partnership in transportation demand management legg,b. transportation providers have employed several strategies to encourage ride sharing. this paper describes a new approach to promoting ride sharing among commuters. the approach involves convincing employer ceo's to provide employees ride share incentives. in seattle, the commuter challenge program has challenged employers to 'take the challenge,' become 'pacesetters,' and develop rideshare programs for their employees. in addition, this program has provided a forum in which transportation providers and employers have been able to discuss transportation issues. the program comprises representatives from transportation providers who work side by side with the economic development council of king county (the edc). the edc represents over 800 businesses in king county. since the beginning of the program in 1989, 98 major employers, representing over 270,000 employees in the seattle area, have become pacesetters. four forums have been held to discuss transportation issues with employers. transportation planning, trb, transportation management transportation research board 1992 |
| WA-RD 170.2 | An Overview of Recent WSDOT Pavement Design Research and Implementation Efforts | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1992 | an overview of recent wsdot pavement design research and implementation efforts mahoney, j.p., jackson, n.c., pierce, l.m., anderson, k.w. this report overviews the current status of s of wsdot pavement design procedures, analyses, and 'manuals' that have culminated with the study entitled 'acp overlay design implementation. pavement management, pavement design trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 255.1 | Seismic Retrofitting of Rectangular Bridge Column for Shear | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1992 | seismic retrofitting of rectangular bridge column for shear mclean, d.i., bernards, l.l. this study investigated retrofitting measures applied to 2/5 scale shear deficient columns representative of rectangular bridge columns in the puget sound area of washington state. the retrofit methods studied included external hoops applied over the height of the column and full-height rectangular steel jacketing. test specimens consisted of a single column connected at the base to a rectangular footing. the specimens were subjected to increasing levels of cycled inelastic displacements under constant axial load. the performance of the specimens was evaluated in terms of load capacity and ductility. tests on the as-built column resulted in a brittle shear failure at the calculated yield displacement, i.e., at a displacement ductility level of u = 1. both retrofit methods improved the behavior of the deficient column. with the external hoop retrofit, performance of the retrofitted columns was only moderately improved over that of the as-built column. brittle fracture of the retrofit hoops limited the load carrying capability and ductility enhancement, and displaced ductility level of u = 2 and 4 were achieved. with rectangular steel jacket retrofit, performance was significantly improved over that of the as-built column. the jacket retrofit resulted in a ductile column response with good load carrying capability through u=8. when this retrofit was applied over the full height of the column, the steel jacket increased the column shear strength enough that flexural failure resulted. although buckling of the steel jacket and longitudinal reinforcement occurred near the maximum moment section, sufficient confinement to the hinging region was provided by the buckled steel jacket to maintain load-carrying capability. structures, seismic, bridge columns, seismic retrofitting, reinforced concrete, shear failures trac/wsu 1992 |
| WA-RD 288.1/NTIS No. PB94-106531 | Forecasting Freeway and Ramp Data for Improved Real-Time Control and Data Analysis Volume I-Summary Report | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1992 | forecasting freeway and ramp data for improved real-time control and data analysis volume i-summary report nihan,n. l. the current project addressed two major weak points of the existing wsdot ramp control system. one weak point in the system is the fact that it reacts to the problem (congestion), rather than preventing the problem. the other weak point in the system is its reliance on detector data that may be in error. both of these problems can be minimized by developing methods to accurately predict short-term traffic data. by predicting the onset of congestion early enough, the ramp metering system can act to prevent or delay occurrence of the problem. also, if a detector has failed or is malfunctioning, the data from the detector can be estimated from short-term predictions based on neighboring detectors. at the beginning of the current project, the researchers had hoped that the same model would provide a basis for both forecasting congestion (for predictive ramp control) and replacing erroneous data (predicting actual values). however, the best method for filling in missing detector data turned out to be multivariate time series analysis. several pattern recognition and time series models were tested for further development. in both cases, the simpler models turned out to be the best choices, and in both cases, further model testing and development were recommended. the research on both model types continues in follow-up studies that are expected to lead to incorporation of these models in the new tsmc computer system. ramp controls, freeway management, traffic flow forecasts, forecast models, ramp metering trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 288.4 | Short-term Forecasts of Freeway Traffic Volumes and Lane Occupancies Phase 1-Volume IV | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1992 | short-term forecasts of freeway traffic volumes and lane occupancies phase 1-volume iv nihan, n.l., zhu, j. the current project addressed two major weak points of the existing wsdot ramp control system. one weak point in the system is the fact that it reacts to the problem (congestion), rather than preventing the problem. the other weak point in the system is its reliance on detector data that may be in error. both of these problems can be minimized by developing methods to accurately predict short-term traffic data. by predicting the onset of congestion early enough, the ramp metering system can act to prevent or delay occurrence of the problem. also, if a detector has failed or is malfunctioning, the data from the detector can be estimated from short-term predictions based on neighboring detectors. at the beginning of the current project, the researchers had hoped that the same model would provide a basis for both forecasting congestion (for predictive ramp control) and replacing erroneous data (predicting actual values). however, the best method for filling in missing detector data turned out to be multivariate time series analysis. several pattern recognition and time series models were tested for further development. in both cases, the simpler models turned out to be the best choices, and in both cases, further model testing and development were recommended. the research on both model types continues in follow-up studies that are expected to lead to incorporation of these models in the new tsmc computer system. bridge and construction, turner proposal, concrete bridge, fatigue, overload, replacement costs, remaining life, route assessment, maximum moments, maintenance, design loads, continuity, traffic surveillance and control, ramp controls, freeway management, traffic flow forecasts, forecast models, ramp metering trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 285.2 | A GIS Prototype Application for Monitoring Washington state Transportation Planning Studies | Nyerges | TRAC/UW | 1992 | a gis prototype application for monitoring washington state transportation planning studies nyerges,t. l. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) assists regional and local jurisdictions with planning studies. a geographic information system (gis) application has been developed to provide easy access to the location, type, and cost of regional transportation planning studies state-wide across all jurisdictions. the prototype application will provide information to regional transportation planners so that more effective intra- and inter-jurisdictional decisions can be made regarding new studies. a series of statements representative of the kinds of information that would benefit planners was developed as the basis for the database design. multi-scales of representation were used. the existing wsdot gis environment was employed as the development environment. geographical, geographic information system, gis, transportation planning studies, meta-information trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 285.1 | Using Geographic Information Systems for Regional Transportation Planning in A Growth Management Context | Nyerges | TRAC, UW | 1992 | using geographic information systems for regional transportation planning in a growth management context nyerges,t. l., orrell iii,j. d. growth management in washington state provides a new context for regional transportation planning. a major part of this planning involves investigation of the latest information processing techniques and interjurisdictional coordination specifically with regard to transportation and land use linkages. geographic information system (gis) applications for transportation can assist transportation planners with data analysis concerned with these linkages. this project has identified information needs in the context of a regional transportation planning process, particularly the needs of regional transportation planning organizations (rtpos). urban and rural contexts are considered. information processing tasks are elucidated and the software functions which address these tasks are presented. data sources are identified for urban and rural traffic forecast modeling. institutional and technical barriers inhibiting access to data for the regional transportation planning process are discussed. geographical, geographic information system, gis, regional transportation planning, growth management, tiger, line, census, transportation planning package, information needs trac, uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 258.2 | Automated Vehicle Delay Estimation and Motorist Information at the U.S./Canadian Border | Paselk | TRAC/UW | 1992 | automated vehicle delay estimation and motorist information at the u.s./canadian border paselk,t., mannering,f. l. congestions related delays at the us/canadian border crossing between washington state and british columbia have underscored the need for some sort of intervention. one obvious congestion-mitigation measure is to estimate delay and relay this information to motorists so they may select among alternative, less-congested border crossing sites or delay their trip. this study defines an automated motorist information system that provides border delay estimate to motorists. the report begins by providing a detailed description of the study area, characteristics of international travel, border crossing congestion-mitigation alternatives, and a physical assessment of the four border crossings being considered; the two crossings at blaine, wa., and the crossings at lynden, wa., and sumas, wa. on the basis of a study of travel on northbound i-5 at blaine, and the resultant statistical analysis, a model capable of predicting delay based primarily on queue length was developed. this model can be used as an integral part of a motorist information that will include 1) detectors to estimate queue length; 2) software to predict delay using the statistical model; and 3) methods of disseminating delay information to the public, including highway advisory radio (har) and variable message signs (vms). the report concludes by discussing the implementation of this system and estimating costs. transportation planning, vehicle delay, border crossings, international travel, customs delay trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 258.1 | Automated Vehicle Delay Estimation and Motorist Information at The U.S./Canadian BorderReport | Paselk | TRAC/UW | 1992 | automated vehicle delay estimation and motorist information at the u.s./canadian borderreport paselk,t., mannering,f. l. congestion related delays at the us/canadian border crossing between washington state and british columbia have underscored the need for some sort of intervention. one obvious congestion-mitigation measure is to estimate delay and relay this information to motorists so they may select among alternative, less-congested border crossing sites or delay their trip. this study defines an automated motorist information system that provides border delay estimate to motorists. the report begins by providing a detailed description of the study area, characteristics of international travel, border crossing congestion-mitigation alternatives, and a physical assessment of the four border crossings being considered; the two crossings at blaine, wa., and the crossings at lynden, wa., and sumas, wa. on the basis of a study of travel on northbound i-5 at blaine, and the resultant statistical analysis, a model capable of predicting delay based primarily on queue length was developed. this model can be used as an integral part of a motorist information that will include 1) detectors to estimate queue length; 2) software to predict delay using the statistical model; and 3) methods of disseminating delay information to the public, including highway advisory radio (har) and variable message signs (vms). the report concludes by discussing the implementation of this system and estimating costs. transportation planning, vehicle delay, border crossings, international travel, customs delay trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 261.3 | A Summary of Guidelines for Coordinated Urban Design, Transportation and Land Use Planning, with an Emphasis on Encouraging Alternatives to Driving Alone | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1992 | a summary of guidelines for coordinated urban design, transportation and land use planning, with an emphasis on encouraging alternatives to driving alone pivo, g., moudon, a.v., loewenherz, f. this report summarizes urban development guidelines that various jurisdictions, professional consultants, and experts have prepared to address the interactive relationship among transportation planning, land use planning, and urban design. the guidelines have been compiled from the literature surveyed in this project. the aim of these guidelines is to aid in the design of cities and transportation systems that will reduce the necessity of driving alone. for an introduction to the relationships among transportation, land use, and urban design, the reader is referred to 'land use-transportation linkage' (kestle, rutherford, and ishimaru, 1992). geographical land use, urban form, travel behavior, urban planning, transportation planning trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 261.1 | A Strategic Plan for Researching Urban Form Impacts on Travel Behavior | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1992 | a strategic plan for researching urban form impacts on travel behavior pivo, g., moudon, a.v., hess, p., perkins, k., frank, l.d. the search for alternatives to driving alone leads transportation specialists to ask questions about how urban form influences travel behavior and how urban forms that promote other modes of travel, fewer trips, and shorter trips can be implemented. coordinated research projects are needed to answer these questions. both physical and process elements of urban form are relevant to this investigation. although researchers have attained general knowledge in this subject area, the relationships are not well enough understood to develop effective public policies that implement urban forms to reduce dependence on driving alone. research needs to be conducted in these general areas: 1) physical relationships between urban forms and travel behavior, 2) public policies that can implement new urban forms, and 3) market factors that promote and inhibit the development of new urban forms. within each of these areas, specific projects, which are identified in this report, should be conducted. public and private sources at the regional, state, and national level should fund these projects. geographical, land use, urban form, travel behavior, urban planning, transportation planning trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 236.1 | Analysis of Employer-Based High Occupancy (HOV) Polices in the Interstate 5 Corridor Between Seattle and Everett | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1992 | analysis of employer-based high occupancy (hov) polices in the interstate 5 corridor between seattle and everett ulberg,c., herman,w. g. transportation demand management (tdm) has received increasing attention in recent years as an important component in approaches to improving the transportation system. another approach to transportation system improvement is the use of high occupancy vehicle (hov) facilities. mode choice forecasts provide the basis for planning, project evaluation, and obtaining public support for tdm measures and improvements to the hov system. despite the importance of accurate mode forecasts, current mode choice methodology is insufficiently responsive to factors that influence shifts to ridesharing modes, particularly tdm policy factors that are important in encouraging commuters to shift form single occupant vehicles (sovs). the objective of this study is to identify these mode choice factors and use them to improve the ability to analyze hov policies for the north i-5 corridor. two major sets of data were analyzed in this study, both collected by metro in cooperation with community transit. in one study, some 9,324 employees of 23 cooperating businesses were surveyed in north king and urban snohomish counties. in another, a 1989 telephone survey questioned a random sample of 3,586 residents in the study area. several analytical approaches were used on this study, including multinomial logit modeling, factor analysis ad cluster analysis. many of the findings from this study are important to understanding the nature of mode choice. some of the results are important for policy recommendations. some of the results indicate a different emphasis for employer-based tdm measures in a largely suburban area than in a major cbd such as seattle or bellevue. study findings indicate the importance of (1) completing the hov lane system, (2) providing workplace incentives for ridesharing, (3) taking the existence to two-worker households into account, (4) providing alternative ways for employees to run errands, (5) encouraging mixed use through flexible zoning laws, (6) providing non-motorized vehicle alternatives for short commutes, and (7) targeting mode shift incentives and promotions to those most likely to change modes. traffic surveillance and control, mode choice, multinomial logit, cluster analysis, factor analysis, transportation demand management, hov lanes, employer policies trac/uw 1992 |
| I-5 North High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane 2+ Occupancy Requirement Demonstration Evaluation | Ulberg | TRAC/UW & TTI | 1992 | i-5 north high-occupancy vehicle lane 2+ occupancy requirement demonstration evaluation ulberg, c., farnsworth, g., etchart, g., turnbull, k. f., henk, r. h., schrank, d. l. on july 29, 1991, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) initiated a six-month demonstration project lowering the minimum vehicle occupancy requirement on the i-5 north hov lanes from three or more persons per vehicle (3+) to two or more persons per vehicle (2+). the demonstration was undertaken to determine the impacts of reducing the occupancy requirement from 3+ to 2+ on the operation of the hov lanes and the freeway general-purpose lanes. an evaluation program, conducted by the university of washington and the texas transportation institute under contract to wsdot, was undertaken to examine these impacts. the results of the evaluation are contained in this report. hov, i-5, high occupancy vehicle, occupancy requirements, operations trac/uw & tti 1992 | |
| HOV Lane Evaluation and Monitoring | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1992 | hov lane evaluation and monitoring ulberg, c., farnsworth, g. in this initial study, the researchers concentrated their year-long (1991-1992) data collection and evaluation efforts on both the i-5 north 2+ demonstration and the i-5 south interim project. the data were collected by field observations, wsdot detector systems, and traveler opinion surveys. the washington state patrol, wsdot, king county metro, pierce transit, community transit, and the texas transportation institute all provided relevant information and assistance. high occupancy vehicle, hov, monitoring, average vehicle occupancy, congestion, enforcement trac/uw 1992 | |
| WA-RD 251.1 | Local Option Commercial Parking Tax Analysis | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1992 | local option commercial parking tax analysis ulberg, c., etchart, g., whitaker, b. increasing traffic is a major problem in the puget sound region of washington state. in march 1990, the washington state legislature passed senate bill 6358, enabling local jurisdictions to impose a commercial parking tax. this paper analyses senate bill 6358. during the course of the evaluation, several alternative tax structures were developed and redesigned to work within the bill's legal requirements. the alternatives were evaluated on the basis of public opinion, revenue generation, and administrative efficiency. policy, parking, parking tax, commercial parking trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 238.1 | Operational Analysis of the I-405 HOV System | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1992 | operational analysis of the i-405 hov system ulberg, c., erickson, k. this report documents an operational analysis of 1-405 hov facilities. the primary objectives of this analysis were (1) to provide information that could assist in the development of a coordinated plan for the 1-405 high-occupancy vehicle (hov) lane system to ensure that the existing and planned hov facilities worked together and that transitions between facilities occurred smoothly, and (2) to survey the 1-405 commuters as a means of understanding their perceptions of hov lane operations and constraints on the ability of single-occupant vehicle (sov) commuters to rideshare.the analysis included an overview of hov lane operations in the united states, a public opinion survey of commuters who primarily lived and worked east of lake washington, results of focus groups with workers who lived in east king county, transportation modeling centering on the 1-5 corridor, traffic analysis of hov lane options, a cost-effectiveness analysis, and the results of a symposium that presented and discussed the results of the project. hov lanes, mode choice, public opinion, ramp metering, weaving analysis, transportation modeling, survey methodology trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 252.1 | Use of Recycled Materials in Highway Construction | Swearigen | WSDOT | 1992 | use of recycled materials in highway construction swearigen, d.l., jackson, n.c. the major objectives of this study were to examine: (1) the types of recycled materials that are appropriate and feasible as alternative paving materials such as glass and tires; and (2) the types of recycled materials, such as mixed-plastics and compost, that can be utilized in all types of transportation applications other than pavements. seven key products are investigated: tires; glass; asphalt concrete fly ash; compost; mixed plastics; and sign stock. performance and cost data for pavements is documented for both in-state and nationwide applications. the national experience 'with the use of waste glass as an additive to asphalt concrete and its use in unbound base material is so highlighted. programs for experimental use of recycled material are outlined. recommendations for staffing and program changes to deal with recycling are also discussed. additive, alternative, applications, asphalt, asphalt concrete, base, base materials, concrete, construction, cost, data, experimental, fly ash, glasphalt, highway, highway construction, its, materials, objectives, pavement, pavements, performance, program, recycled acp, recycling, rubber-asphalt, tire, tires, transportation wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 252.2 | Use of Recycled Materials in Highway Construction - Appendix G: Specifications for Recycled Materials | Swearigen | WSDOT | 1992 | use of recycled materials in highway construction - appendix g: specifications for recycled materials swearigen, d.l., jackson, n.c. the major objectives of this study were to examine: (1) the types of recycled materials that are appropriate and feasible as alternative paving materials such as glass and tires; and (2) the types of recycled materials, such as mixed-plastics and compost, that can be utilized in all types of transportation applications other than pavements. seven key products are investigated: tires; glass; asphalt concrete fly ash; compost; mixed plastics; and sign stock. performance and cost data for pavements is documented for both in-state and nationwide applications. the national experience 'with the use of waste glass as an additive to asphalt concrete and its use in unbound base material is so highlighted. programs for experimental use of recycled material are outlined. recommendations for staffing and program changes to deal with recycling are also discussed. additive, alternative, applications, asphalt, asphalt concrete, base, base materials, concrete, construction, cost, data, experimental, fly ash, glasphalt, highway, highway construction, its, materials, objectives, pavement, pavements, performance, program, recycled acp, recycling, rubber-asphalt, tire, tires, transportation wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 287.1 | Turner Truck Impact on Bridges | Sorensen | TRAC/WSU | 1992 | turner truck impact on bridges sorensen, h. values of various impacts associated with the concrete bridges in the state of washington as related to the operation of trucks with configurations as proposed by francis c. turner have been determined. these cost estimates are presented in matrix form and are based on permutations involving four basic turner prototype trucks, a range of values for the bridge design life and a range of values for bridge live load overload. the various cost estimates were compiled for a population of 2024 concrete bridges and were based on the assumption that each bridge in the population had a controlling maximum length simple span which was used in a failure criterion. the largest value of the cost estimate for the replacement of all deficient bridges in the population is $2.643 billion which resulted from the calculations involving the most severe turner prototype truck loading (11ad), a 75 year design life, and a 0% live load overload. several courses of action are postulated, and recommendations for further studies are given. turner proposal, concrete bridge, fatigue, overload, replacement costs, remaining life, route assessment, maximum moments, maintenance, design loads, continuity trac/wsu 1992 |
| WA-RD 283.1 | Visual Perception of the Roadway and Roadside Elements by the Observer in Motion | Schauman | TRAC/UW | 1992 | visual perception of the roadway and roadside elements by the observer in motion schauman, s., heerwagen, j., moudon, a.v., witherspoon, b., james, s. this study surveyed the fields of environmental design, highway research, and environmental psychology and found no body of research, much less any measurements, on the relationships between the driver and the landscape beyond the paved area of the road. the finding is remarkable, given the fact that landscapes are often in the focal vision and always in peripheral vision of drivers. the complete lack of information is also remarkable because of the growing national public support for scenic by-ways and the increasing community demands for landscape design along the roadsides. importantly, this study finding is disconcerting, given the possibility that the driver's perception of roadside landscapes likely relates to safety. the study recommends a research strategy: 1) identify landscape variables, 2) determine the correlation between the landscape and safety, and 3) develop a knowledge base. pilot studies should be conducted on areas (1) and (2), and the resulting knowledge base (3) should be tested in design applications. if the design applications merit continued study, then research should be conducted to produce a full knowledge base so that future landscape design can be better informed and therefore more cost effective. environmental, environmental design, driver perception, nonpaved elements, landscape architecture trac/uw 1992 |
| WA-RD 248.1/NTIS No. PB92-145812 | Bridge No. 513/32, SR 5 Overcrossing NE 145th StreetHigh Early Strength Latex Modified Concrete Overlay | Roper | WSDOT | 1992 | bridge no. 513/32, sr 5 overcrossing ne 145th streethigh early strength latex modified concrete overlay roper,t. h., henley,e. h. jr latex modified concrete overlays normally requires 48 hours of cure time before traffic can bee restored to the structure. it is desirable to minimize the disruption to traffic. high early strength latex modified concrete, as demonstrated by this project, can reduce the cure time. a 1-1/2 inch overlay of high early strength latex modified concrete on sr5 overcrossing ne 145th street bridge no. 513/32, in october 1989. the existing concrete box girder bridge has a deck area of 14,442 sq. ft. the overlay concrete contained type iii cement; the latex was supplied by dow chemical usa. the use of high early strength latex modified concrete can reduce traffic closure time by approximately 24 hours compared to a normal latex modified concrete. the actual bridge closure time will be dependent on the timing of other project activities related to expansion joint repairs or modifications, striping, and off-structure work. bridge and construction, bridge deck overlay, concrete additives, bridge deck repairs, latex modified concrete, construction wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 279.1 | Durex Corrosion Inhibitor: Niawiakum River Bridge 101/42 and Palix River Bridge 101/40 Replacement | Roper | WSDOT | 1992 | durex corrosion inhibitor: niawiakum river bridge 101/42 and palix river bridge 101/40 replacement roper,t. h., henley,e. h. jr the niawiakum river bridge 101/42 and the palix river bridge 101/40 are located on sign route 101, within the tidal zone of willapa bay. these bridges are subject to continuous salting from the pacific ocean water and mist. the bridges will be used as a test site to determine the effectiveness of the concrete admixture durex corrosion inhibitor (dci) in preventing the corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete. dci is a patented product containing calcium nitrite; manufactured and supplied by w. r. grace & co., inc. dci, used in sufficient quantities as a concrete admixture, purportedly strengthens the passivating film around the reinforcing steel, thereby preventing corrosion. the effectiveness of dci in preventing corrosion will be determined by comparison with control sections located in members of each bridge. the control members were constructed without the dci admixture. all reinforcement in the control and experimental members is uncoated, and has the same minimum cover requirements as in the dci-treated members. the purpose of this experimental project is to assess the long-term effectiveness of dci as a corrosion inhibitor. concrete additives, corrosion inhibitors, calcium nitrite, rebar corrosion protection wsdot 1992 |
| WA-RD 202.1 | Urban Interstate Portland Cement Concrete Rehabilitation Alternatives for Washington State | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1991 | urban interstate portland cement concrete rehabilitation alternatives for washington state mahoney, j.p., lary,j . a., pierce, l.m., jackson, n.c., barenberg, e.j. two urban interstate portland cement concrete (pcc) pavements (sr 5 in seattle and sr 90 in spokane) were studied on order to (1) determine the mechanisms causing their deterioration, (2) estimate when the pavement condition would become unacceptable and the best time for rehabilitation, and (3) determine suitable rehabilitation alternatives. the rehabilitation alternatives were examined on a life-cycle cost basis. the research done in this study was a combination of efforts at the university of washington through the washington state transportation center (trac), university of illinois, and the washington state department of transportation. pavement pcc, portland cement concrete, pavement, rehabilitation trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 225.2 | WSDOT Incident Response Guide: Field Reference | Tanemura | TRAC/UW | 1991 | wsdot incident response guide: field reference tanemura, l., mannering, f.l., o'brien, a., marrah, m., legg, b. wsdot district 1's incident response team comprises two incident response engineers who are based at the traffic systems management center (tsmc) and a group of maintenance technicians from the various maintenance area offices. this incident response field guide is specifically designed for the greater seattle area in district 1 and is intended to provide an effective resource for you, the incident respondent. this incident response field guide outlines the appropriate steps to take in the event of an incident and all of he appropriate contacts in the area. the procedural guidelines section comprises a list of acronyms, communication charts, day and nighttime procedures, and roadway closure reports. the general information section includes items such as district and maintenance maps, training programs, and vehicle and equipment requirements. emergency contacts are also of great importance for efficient incident response; therefore, the guide also contains a list of all possible responding agencies' phone numbers. incident response, incident management, guidelines, reference, procedures, training trac/uw 1991 |
| IU | High Speed Ground Transportation | Rutherford | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1991 | high speed ground transportation rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this briefing paper focuses on high-speed rail (hsr) systems that employ steel-wheel-on-steel-rail or magnetic levitation technology. topics include technology and safety developments, financing issues, environmental issues, public/private partnerships, market analysis, and project status reports. high-speed rail, hsr, magnetic levitation, steel-wheel-on-steel-rail, maglev innovations unit/trac 1991 |
| WA-RD 217.1 | Bridge Seismic Retrofit Planning Program | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1991 | bridge seismic retrofit planning program babaei, k., hawkins, n.m. this report documents a study that determined the effectiveness and cost of both previously used and proposed bridge superstructure seismic retrofit methods, including longitudinal joint restraining, transverse bearing restraining, bearing seat extension, replacement of vulnerable bearings with conventional bearings, and replacement with base isolation bearings. in addition, a procedure was developed for systematically prioritizing the state's bridges for seismic retrofitting on the basis of their importance as lifelines and their vulnerability to collapse. bridge and construction, bridge, earthquake, retrofitting, superstructure, prioritizing, costs trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 216.1 | Development of Standard Specifications for Bending/Straightening Concrete Reinforcing Steel | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1991 | development of standard specifications for bending/straightening concrete reinforcing steel babaei, k., hawkins, n.m. this report describes the results of laboratory experiments in which concrete reinforcing steel of various sizes was 'cold' and 'hot' bent under different conditions and was subsequently straightened. the bent/straightened steel was inspected for cracking and tested in tension for strength and ductility. the laboratory data were analyzed to determine the conditions that may cause reinforcing bars to crack during bending/straightening operations, or that may render the engineering properties of bars unsuitable for reinforcing the concrete. the results of those analyses were used to propose standard specifications for bending/straightening reinforced bars, for wsdot's considerations. concrete, reinforcing steel, bending, strength, ductility, cracking trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 247.1 | Comprehensive System-Level Noise Reduction Strategies - Summary | Bowlby | WSDOT | 1991 | comprehensive system-level noise reduction strategies - summary bowlby, w., o'grady, t., patton, c.r., herman, l.a. a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art in traffic noise abatement was conducted. key literature was reviewed, and surveys conducted with state dot noise analysts, and local environment noise control programs, and vehicle manufacturers. areas of interest included abatement strategies, effective vehicle noise control, land use compatibility programs, and programmatic and administrative issues.findings included:1. the demand for noise abatement is increasing;2. state dots need better sources of funds for retrofit ("type 11") noise barrier programs;3. state and local noise control programs have suffered greatly since the end of the usepa noise program in 1982;4. truck manufacturers in the u.s. and europe are successfully meeting the newly manufactured vehicle noise standards in their respective areas.current washington initiatives were also examined. wsdot has included noise abatement as a priority area in its 1991 transportation policy plan and the legislature developed a growth management act and growth strategies act that calls for comprehensive land use plan development by cities and counties.recommendations to wsdot included the need for expanded staff, a dedicated source of funds for a phased retrofit abatement program and active involvement in implementation of the two growth acts. traffic noise, noise abatement, vehicle noise, noise barriers wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 247.2 | Comprehensive System-Level Noise Reduction Strategies | Bowlby | WSDOT | 1991 | comprehensive system-level noise reduction strategies bowlby, w., o'grady, t., patton, r.c., herman, l.a. a comprehensive view of the state-of-the-art in traffic noise abatement was conducted. key literature was reviewed, and surveys conducted with the state dot noise analysts, and local environment noise control programs, and vehicle manufacturers. areas of interest included abatement strategies , effective vehicle noise control, land use compatibility programs, and programmatic and administrative issues accident rates wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 242.2 | 1991 State Fee and Fine Regulations for Overweight Vehicles: A National Survey | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | 1991 state fee and fine regulations for overweight vehicles: a national survey casavant, k.l. deterioration of highways is associated with overloading vehicles. a system of fines and fees has been legislated to control or provide economic incentives to reduce overloading. this study evaluates the effectiveness and equity of the existing motor vehicle permit and penalty structure in washington state and reviews the fee/fine/permit legislation in the balance of the nation.a comparison of fee/fine schedules over time was made and it was concluded that the "real" fine (fine adjusted for inflation) is considerably lower than it was in the past. details of the national sample are found in this volume of the report. economic incentive, equity, fee, fine, overweight, permits, road damage, trucking, trucks trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 242.1 | A Preliminary Evaluation of the Equity of the Truck Fee and Fine System in Washington | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | a preliminary evaluation of the equity of the truck fee and fine system in washington casavant, k.l. deterioration of highways is associated with overloading vehicles. a system of fines and fees has been legislated to control or provide economic incentives to reduce overloading. this study evaluates the effectiveness and equity of the existing motor vehicle permit and penalty structure in washington state and reveiws the fee/fine/permit legislation in the balance of the nation.a comparison of fee/fine schedules over time was made and it was concluded that the "real" fine (fine adjusted for inflation) is considerably lower at present than it was in the past. details of the national sample are found in the second volume of this report. economic incentive, equity, fees, fines, overweight, permits, road damage, trucking, truck trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 228.1 | Seismic Durability of Retrofitted R.C. Columns | Coffman | TRAC/UW | 1991 | seismic durability of retrofitted r.c. columns coffman,h. l., marsh,m. l., brown,c. the seismic performances of three retrofitted and one control, half scale, circular, reinforced concrete columns were studied. the columns were 10ft. high and 18 in. diameter cantilevers. the longitudinal flexural steel was spliced to the foundation dowels just above the fixed base. a concentric axial load of 20 fc ag was continually applied during testing. the free ends of the cantilevers were translated to produce a maximum displacement of four times than necessary to produce yield in the longitudinal reinforcing steel. this loading was repeated with both positive and negative displacements in a quasi-static manner until the lateral forces required to produce these displacements approached zero. the measure of seismic durability used was the number of such cycles that a column sustained before losing structural integrity. the arrangement was intended to model that of bridge columns constructed during the 1960's. three columns were retrofitted with prestressed, externally located circular hoops at intervals along the lower 4 ft. the spacing and size of these ties varied from column to column. the control column sustained less than two cycles before losing structural integrity; the retrofitted columns sustained a minimum of twelve cycles. bridge and construction, reinforced concrete, bridge, columns, earthquake resistance, retrofitting, repair, splices, hoops, confined concrete, ductility, infrastructure, plastic hinges, inelastic deformations trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 249.1 | Localized Scour at Bridge Piers on Graded Particle Streambeds | Copp | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | localized scour at bridge piers on graded particle streambeds copp, h. this document reports on results of research to develop a method for estimating depth of local scour at bridge piers that would provide an improved estimate from current methodology, i.e., one (or more) based on sand bed streams.field measurements of local scour at/near bridge piers were made at six sites in washington state. these were to verify a method of estimating scour developed by earlier research at the university of auckland (uak). stream flow rates witnessed at the sites were insufficient to compare actual scour with that estimated by the uak method. that method currently is used for design of bridges in new zealand.the uak methodology was used with field data to identify what scour might be expected under streamflows up to once-in-one-hundred-year discharges. the results of computations are given but they should be used with caution because of the assumed nature of streamflow variables. bridge pier scour, scour, hydraulics, river flow trac/wsu 1991 |
| TNW91-02 | Travel Time Estimation Using Cross Correlation Techniques | Dailey | TransNow/TRAC | 1991 | travel time estimation using cross correlation techniques dailey, d.j., haselkorn, m., nihan, n.l. this project demonstrates the viability of using cross-correlation techniques with inductance loop data to measure the propagation time of traffic. the propagation time between loops separated by 0.5 miles is measured using time averaged activation counts ("volume") from inductance loops. the resulting time delay is used to estimate the mean speed. this independent speed estimate is used to improve the volume/occupancy ratio estimate of speed. a functional form relating speed to the volume/occupancy ratio is developed and evaluated using real traffic data. this result can be used to improve the total travel time estimates for commuters in the i-5 corridor in seattle, washington. travel time, cross-correlation, inductance loop, volume, occupancy transnow/trac 1991 |
| WA-RD 230.1 | Compaction Control of Granular Soils | Fragaszy | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | compaction control of granular soils fragaszy, r.j., sneider, c.a. this report looks at the effect of gravel size particles on the maximum dry density of granular soils. the procedures which the washington state department of transportation use for determination of maximum dry density sometimes produce density standards which cannot be obtained in the field. eight soil samples were tested to determine the influence of angularity of rock particles on the density. the samples were selected to provide a variation of rounded to angular particles. the method (wtm 606) wsdot uses to determine maximum density curve was found to overpredict the maximum dry density test results as compared to one point maximum density tests (modified proctor). it is recommended that modifications be made to the current wsdot method (wtm 606) and that gravel size correction method, described in the report, be added to wsdot procedures for soils with gravel contents above 50 percent. geotechnical, compaction, density, granualar soils, humphries' method trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 232.1 | Traffic Impacts During the Goodwill Games | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1991 | traffic impacts during the goodwill games hallenbeck, m.e. this study analyzes the impacts of the goodwill games on traffic congestion in the seattle-tacoma metropolitan corridor. the study concentrates on the combined impacts of increased traffic volumes resulting from goodwill games events, and the traffic mitigation measures designed to relieve the congestion resulting from those events. the study emphasis is on traffic congestion near the largest venues, husky stadium, cheney stadium, the tacoma dome, and the seattle center. the study considers traffic volume, traffic speed, incident response, and transit ridership data from a number of sources. the basic conclusion of the report are that in most cases the increased traffic expected for the goodwill games and the savings from measures implemented to mitigate those volume increases balanced each other. the result was that traffic conditions remained fairly normal throughout the games. in some instances, traffic improved (for example, on many days peak period traffic speeds increased on sr-520), and in other instances, particularly when incidents occurred during peak travel periods, traffic conditions were worse than normal. however, average traffic conditions changed little during the games. traffic surveillance and control, congestion, events, incident response trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 231.1 | Prediction of Precipitation in Western Washington State | Hayes | WSDOT | 1991 | prediction of precipitation in western washington state hayes, p. s. this research adapted an orthographic precipitation model developed during previous wsdot project (report no. wa-rd 91.1) to run efficiently on an operational basis on a 386 personal computer, and made numerous model improvements. the precipitation model is being used operationally at the northwest avalanche center in seattle. although the model is a two-dimensional and employs simple precipitation parameterizations, it reproduced observed precipitation for two case studies remarkably well. the model should provide forecasters with useful guidance, especially during flow patterns that exhibit relatively two-dimensional characteristics. precipitation, modeling wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 218.1 | Analysis of WSDOT Construction Cost Overruns | Hinze | TRAC/UW | 1991 | analysis of wsdot construction cost overruns hinze,j., selstead,g. like any other agency that funds construction projects, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) would like to minimize cost overruns on each construction contract that is administered. a study was undertaken to investigate and identify those factors that significantly impact construction cost overruns on wsdot projects. cost overruns were measured by the cost overrun rate, which is the percentage of difference between the low bid amount on wsdot projects and the actual incurred cost on these projects. a total of 433 unit price, competitively bid contracts completed during fiscal years 1985 to 1989 were reviewed. the review involved a statistical analysis of each project, including design, bidding, and construction cost overruns included project size, project type, level of competition (measured by the number of bids and the range of those bids), geographic district, pre-contract engineering, and the frequency with which a contractor awarded wsdot contracts. the study concluded that construction cost overruns are associated with projects that are more complex or have a large number of bidders. projects with a high degree of complexity include large projects, new construction projects, bridge projects, and safety improvement projects. bridge and construction, construction costs, highway construction, claims, overruns, costs estimates, bids, contracts, construction management, dispute resolution, project administration trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 270.2 | Development of an Unstable Slope Management System: Appendix A | Ho | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | development of an unstable slope management system: appendix a ho,c. l., norton,s. s. this report presents a prototype of an unstable slope management system (usms) and corresponding user's guide. the usms is a computer program that prioritizes unstable slopes. the system is composed of two parts: a database and priority programs. the database was developed using dbase iii plus, ashton-tate. the priority programs were developed using the expert shell system clips, a nasa developed language. the resulting usms, at this point, is not an expert system; it is a management system. the usms was developed with the aid of conversations with washington state department of transportation personnel. in addition, a questionnaire was sent to wsdot personnel concerned with unstable slope maintenance. from the conversations and responses to the questionnaire, the factors concerned with site importance were identified. also, a method to determine the total importance was proposed. the usms identifies factors that determine the importance of a failure site. these factors pertain to the cause of instability, cost of repair, use of road, and safety to motorists. data pertaining to these factors is collected for each failure site and stored in the database. priority ratings are assigned by the priority rating programs to the data for each site. the priority ratings are multiplied by a weight. the sum of the products represents the total priority. the total priority is a number from 0 to 100, 100 indicates the highest importance. the total priority represents the importance of the failure site based on the factors identified in the usms. the total priority of a failure site is independent of all other failure sites. accident rates trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 270.1/NTIS No. PB92-203785 | Development of an Unstable Slope Management System | Ho | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | development of an unstable slope management system ho,c., norton,s. s. this report presents a prototype of an unstable slope management system (usms) and corresponding user's guide. the usms is a computer program that prioritizes unstable slopes. the system is composed of two parts: a database, and priority programs. the database was developed using dbase iii plus, ashton-tate. the priority programs were developed using the expert shell system clips, a nasa developed language. the resulting usms, at this point, is not an expert system; it is a management system. the usms was developed by the aid of conversations with washington state department of transportation (wsdot) personnel. in addition, a questionnaire was sent to wsdot personnel concerned with unstable slope maintenance. from the conversations and responses to the questionnaire, the factors concerned with site importance were identified. also, a method to determine the total importance was proposed. the usms identifies factors that determine the importance of a failure site. these factors pertain to the cause of instability, cost of repair, use of road, and safety to motorist. data pertaining to these factors is collected for each failure site and stored in the database. priority ratings are assigned to the priority rating programs to the data for each site. the priority ratings are multiplied by a weight. the sum of the products represents the total priority. the total priority represents the importance of the failure site based on the factors identified in the usms. the total priority of a failure site is independent of all other failure sites. landslides, slopes, management system trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 280.1 | Performance of Geotextile Separators-Phase I | Holtz | TRAC/UW | 1991 | performance of geotextile separators-phase i holtz, r.d., page, m.w. this research involved field investigations and laboratory testing to evaluate the properties and overall performance of geotextiles from eight different locations in eastern and central washington. both nonwoven and woven geotextiles were exhumed from the roadways at the eight locations, and samples of the geotextile were brought to the laboratory for index strength and permitivity testing. samples of the base course and subgrade soils were analyzed for grain-size distribution. the results of the investigations and testing indicated that all of the geotextiles performed the separation function adequately, although three of them were not installed directly against the subgrade soil as intended. damage to the geotextiles varied considerably with the type of material and the installation conditions; however, this damage was not shown to have affected the performance of the separator. geotechnical, geotextile, separators, permeability tests, construction damage, pavement section, field investigations, drainage, subgrade trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 223.1 | Freeway Incident Management for Medium-Sized Urban Areas (Phase II) | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | freeway incident management for medium-sized urban areas (phase ii) khisty, c.j., wong, m. as a continuing effort of the washington state department of transportation in freeway incident management, the purpose of this project was threefold: (1) to collect data/information for implementing and coordinating freeway incident management strategies; (2) to prepare an incident response manual with all available data; and (3) to format the available data for possible use in a suitable expert system. the area covered by this study extended along interstate 90 from the four lakes interchange (exit 270) on the west to the idaho state line (exit 299) on the east. an incident response manual (irm) was prepared, focusing on providing a framework for the freeway incident management process to facilitate the coordination of the different agencies that play various roles i the process. the manual also provides information specific to the study area in regard to resources for incident response and detour routes in case of closure of any section of the 30-mile stretch of interstate 90. incident management, incident response, incident response manual trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 224.1 | Framework for Developing Incident Management Systems | Koehne | TRAC/UW | 1991 | framework for developing incident management systems koehne, j., mannering, f.l., hallenbeck, m.e. a variety of techniques have been developed to manage incidents efficiently. however, very little guidance exists for agencies wishing to initiate such efforts. this document serves to provide this guidance by discussing the process of developing and implementing an incident management system. generally, the process consists of seven steps: defining the problem, setting goals and objectives, developing alternatives evaluating and selecting from those alternatives, implementing, re-evaluating after a specified time, and refining the system. the alternatives which were developed in this document fall under five categories depending on how they benefit incident management efforts. these categories include incident detection, response, site management, clearance, and motorist information. specific information, including technique description, relative costs and benefits, operational requirements, and funding variations is given for each incident management technique included in these categories. more generally, concerns such as jurisdictional issues, geographical constraints, available resources, operational procedures, training requirements, and administrative coordination are discussed in detail to aid in mitigating difficulties early in the incident management system development process. incident management, incident detection, incident response, site management, incident clearance, motorist information trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 215.1 | Behavior of Piles in Full-Scale, Field Lateral Loading Tests | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1991 | behavior of piles in full-scale, field lateral loading tests kramer, s.l. this report documents the results of a full-scale, field lateral load testing program conducted at two sites in washington state. the sites were chosen to represent soil conditions wsdot geotechnical engineers commonly encounter and for which little information on the response of laterally loaded piles was available. one site consisted of a deep deposit of soft silt in which 18-inch diameter piles were being installed for replacement of an existing bridge. the other site consisted of a moderately deep deposit of peat that was suspected of causing foundation movements in an adjacent bridge structure. full-scale, field lateral load tests were performed on two instrumented piles at each site. a high degree of consistency was observed between the results of these two tests at both sites. the test results indicate that, for the loading conditions imposed during the tests, the response of the soil to lateral pile movement can be described by the integrated clay criterion previously developed by researchers at the university of houston. integrated clay criterion parameters for the soils at each site are developed from interpretation of the test results. bridge and construction, piles, foundation, lateral loads, p-y curves, silts trac/uw 1991 |
| Soil Improvement and Foundation Remediation with Emphasis on Seismic Hazards | Kramer | NSF | 1991 | soil improvement and foundation remediation with emphasis on seismic hazards kramer, s. l., holtz, r. d. on august 19-21, 1991, a workshop sponsored by the national science foundation on soil improvement and foundation remediation with emphasis on seismic hazards was held at the university of washington in seattle. the objective of the workshop was to provide a forum for the exchange of information and experience among experts with a wide variety of viewpoints and perspectives on soil improvement and foundation remediation, as well as geotechnical earthquake engineering. invited participants included consulting geotechnical and structural engineers, specialty contractors, engineers representing al levels of government, and academic researchers. this report presents a compilation of their discussions. soils, foundations, remediation, seismic hazards, geotechnical nsf 1991 | |
| WA-RD 227.1 | Bridge Approach Slab Effectiveness | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1991 | bridge approach slab effectiveness kramer, s.l., sajer, p. settlement of roadway pavement surfaces in the vicinity of highway bridge abutments often lead to abrupt grade differences at the abutments. these grade differences subject traveling vehicles to a 'bump' which leads to driver discomfort and potentially unsafe driving conditions, causes vehicle wear and damages sensitive cargo, subjects the bridge structure to repeated impact loads, and requires costly and repeated maintenance work that usually impedes the flow of traffic. to eliminate the bump at the end of the bridge, wsdot and other agencies often install an approach slab with one end supported by the bridge and the other on the soil at some distance form the end of the bridge. approach slabs are often, but not always, effective in improving vehicle ride characteristics at bridge approaches subject to settlement. a review of previous research indicated numerous potential causes of bridge approach distress, indicating that bridge approach settlement is largely a sit-specific problem. a field investigation of nine distress bridge approach confirmed this observation. recommendations for bridge approach design are presented. the objectives of the research described in this report were to evaluate the effectiveness of bridge approach slabs, to identify site conditions for which approach slabs should and should not be used , and to present recommendations for the use of approach slabs. bridge and construction, bridge foundation, embankment settlement, approach slabs trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 246.1 | Constructibility Improvements of Highway Projects in Washington | Lee | TRAC/WSU | 1991 | constructibility improvements of highway projects in washington lee,h., clover,p. the ever increasing amount of construction problems and unnecessary redesigning work during the construction phase of highway projects with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has prompted studies into improving constructibility. this report presents the development of a model constructibility review procedure and the highway constructibility improvement system (hcis), and demonstrates the use of system by a design engineer. the information in hcis is mainly extracted from critical search of thousands of change orders from five recent years of wsdot highway construction projects. by the use of hcis, engineers at the design office can have access to a bank of knowledge from past construction experiences and be alerted to the construction aspects of their designs. this allows the design engineers to be aware of what had gone wrong in the past, and avoid repeating similar errors in preparing future design plans and specifications. this will improve constructibility of designs at an early stage of a project. the user does not have to refer to other sources for reference while using the system. it is concluded that in order to avoid similar highway constructibility problems, a pre-construction and post-construction review of the project, such as reviewing price change orders, is very useful and important. the model constructibility review process is a way to standardize the different procedures currently being used by each district. by adopting the standard procedure, the occurrence of commonly shared problems can be reduced to a minimum to achieve a consistency of construction quality in washington. bridge and construction, constructability, highway design, hypertext, change order trac/wsu 1991 |
| WA-RD 237.1 | San Juan Ferries Reservation Program Feasibility Study | MacIssac | TRAC/UW | 1991 | san juan ferries reservation program feasibility study macissac, j.w., hallenbeck, m.e., shindler, r.l., browne, c. there is a growing need to manage traffic growth impacts on the wsf san juan island service routes. vessel and terminal capacities have nearly reached their maximum capacities. unless terminal expansions occur to add multiple docking slips at several terminals, vessel service capacity cannot be expanded to keep pace with the growth in traffic demand. the 'san juan county transportation policy plan' adopted in 1989 does not recommend physical expansion alternatives for meeting traffic growth. instead it recommends non-physical alternatives, including establishment of a reservation system 'that will enable residents to obtain assured ferry space'. a reservation system would be a means of controlling traffic demand to fit available services capacity. this report presents a proposal for use of a reservation system to manage ferry traffic access to the san juan islands and to offer island residents priority access to available capacity within the limitations of current state law. this proposal was not accepted by the island residents when presented during the spring of 1991. marine, marine transportation, ferry service, reservation system, traffic demand management trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 226.2 | An Evaluation of Granular Overlays in Washington State - Summary | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1991 | an evaluation of granular overlays in washington state - summary mahoney, j.p., o'neil, d.j., jackson, n.c. granular overlays have been used by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) for about 30 years. since the mid-1980's and along with the full implementation of the wsdot pavement management system (wspms), wsdot has been interested in examining the performance of granular overlays. it is felt by wsdot that the performance of this rehabilitation treatment is better than one might reasonably expect. further, past practice in washington state occasionally required that the preexisting surfacing (often several bituminous surface treatment (bst) layers) be scarified prior to placement of the crushed rock layer. this summary report will overview the study and conclusions. granular overlay, pavement, performance trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 226.1 | An Evaluation of Granular Overlays in Washington State | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1991 | an evaluation of granular overlays in washington state mahoney, j .p., o'neil, d.j., jackson, n.c. granular overlays have been used by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) for about 30 years. since the mid-1980's and along with the full implementation of the wsdot pavement management system (wspms), wsdot has been interested in examining the performance of granular overlays. it is felt by wsdot that the performance of this rehabilitation treatment is better than one might reasonably expect. further, past practice in washington state occasionally required that the preexisting surfacing (often several bituminous surface treatment (bst) layers) be scarified prior to placement of the crushed rock layer. as will be shown in this report, this practice is not supported by this research. this study examined granular overlays by using three different techniques. first, previous research on the behavior of confined crushed rock layers was studied. through these studies, information was sought concerning the stiffness that have been found in crushed rock layers, what can be done to improve the crushed rock layer, and the problems that have been encountered in working with confined crushed rock layers. next, the usable life of the granular overlay was compared with that of other types of pavement resurfacing, including asphalt concrete (ac) overlays and bst. finally, the granular overlays were tested to determine their properties and to measure the effect of different designs on their performance. (report revised 6/92) granular overlay, pavement, performance trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 221.1 | Incident Management Systems Framework-Impacts of Service Patrols | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1991 | incident management systems framework-impacts of service patrols mannering, f.l., hallenbeck, m.e. this report documents the impacts of two service patrol demonstrations performed in the puget sound metropolitan area during the 1990 goodwill games. service patrols were provided thanks to the cooperation of the washington state department of transportation, the washington state patrol, the federal highway administration, the washington truck operator association, and the professional tow truck operators of pierce county. as a result of these patrols, substantial decreases in incident duration were measured within the study area during the demonstration. a major portion of this reduction came from the average decrease of over 5 minutes in the response time required to reach an incident that resulted from the use of service patrols. in addition, the service patrols speeded the removal of disabled vehicles from the freeway creating less disruption to the traffic flow on that facility and improved safety through a decrease in the length of time a hazardous condition was allowed to exist on the roadway. incident response, service patrols, motorist assistance trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 221.2 | Development of Incident Management Systems: The Seattle Case Study | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1991 | development of incident management systems: the seattle case study mannering, f.l., koehne, j. with an increased awareness of the congestion-related impacts resulting from the occurrence of incidents, urban areas across the nation are looking to improve the management of these incidents. seattle officials were quick to recognize the importance of efficient incident management programs and sought to improve their existing system. this document examines the incident management techniques initially considered for implementation in the seattle area, the incident management techniques that were actually implemented, the thought processes behind the development of these programs and the overall success of the systems approach as it was applied to the development of the incident management system in the seattle metropolitan area. incident management, seattle, systems approach, alternate route planning, media ties, har, vms, accident investigation sites, equipment storage sites, interagency communication, incident management teams, personnel training programs, total station surveying equipment, traffic management teams trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 250.1 | A Method To Identitfy, Inventory, And Map Wetlands Using Aerial Photography And Geographic Information Systems | Ossinger | WSDOT | 1991 | a method to identitfy, inventory, and map wetlands using aerial photography and geographic information systems ossinger,m. c., schafer,j. a., cihon,r. f. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has a need to inventory wetlands along highway rights of way. aerial photo interpretation was determined to provide a reasonable compromise between accuracy and cost, so several forms of aerial photography were tested. two test areas were photographed with both true color and color infrared film in three scales: 1:24,000 (1"=2000'), 1:12,000 (1"=1000'), and 1:6,000 (1"=500'). photo interpreters classified wetlands and delineated their boundaries, and these interpretations were compared with data from field delineations performed by a wetland biologist. a method using aerial videography was also analyzed.based on test results and other factors, the preferred inventory method will use color infrared film at 1:12,000 scale. wsdot devised techniques to plot wetland boundaries on existing base maps and is developing an oracle database that will be linked with the map files. when this is completed, it will be possible to print maps that depict wetland boundaries and classifications. a variety of modeling tasks and data analyses will also be possible.the inventory will cost approximately $658,000 for 7,030 miles of wsdot right-of-way. the end product should improve early project planning,eliminate problems resulting from late discovery of wetlands within project boundaries, and reduce biologist field time. aerial photography, wetlands, wetland inventory, gis wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 235.1 | Monitoring the Performance of the Washington State Transportation Policy Plan | Pivo | TRAC/UW | 1991 | monitoring the performance of the washington state transportation policy plan pivo, g., frank, l.d. the purpose of this study is to develop a performance monitoring system for tracking the implementation of the washington state transportation policy plan. performance monitoring is the periodic measurement of progress towards goals and objectives. a performance monitoring system uses information and action to provide a dynamic view of a program's progress. background on the use of the performance monitoring was obtained from a literature review and a survey of other state agencies. the development of indicators to track progress towards the goals in the plan was based upon interviews with key individuals involved in the creation of the goal of statements. the report identifies data sources for indicators for which existing data are available and makes recommendations for filling gaps. major findings: *performance monitoring can be useful for tracking progress towards goals. *other states have little experience monitoring transportation policy * where possible, conventional indicators are recommended to track progress towards goals. in other cases less conventional indicators are required to accurately track progress towards goals. *existing data can be utilized, thus avoiding the need for primary data collection. this was possible for about half of the indicators. for the remaining indicators, gaps in data can be filled with local government data and primary collection data. policy, performance monitoring, transportation policy, indicators, data sources, program trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 278.1 | Linking Land Use and Transportation; Design Strategies to Serve HOV's and Pedestrians | Untermann | TRAC/UW | 1991 | linking land use and transportation; design strategies to serve hov's and pedestrians untermann, r.k. this study investigated the opportunities for converting the lands surrounding a major suburban arterial so that they would no longer force residents to depend solely on the automobile but would support other modes of transportation. the study explored the integration of hov lanes into the suburban arterial to better serve public transportation, pedestrian mobility, and bicycle circulation. these land use and transportation improvements could allow many suburban residents safe, easy, and pollution-free access to work, shopping, school, library and play. the improvements could convert suburban streets presently served only by cars into neighborhoods similar to the 'streetcar communities' of yesteryear, catering to pedestrian and bicyclists. the changes could save energy, reduce pollution, and rebuild a spirit of community. geographical, land use, design, hov and planning trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 263.1 | Evaluation of Transportation Demand Management Programs at Residential Developments | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1991 | evaluation of transportation demand management programs at residential developments ulberg,c., wolf,c. over the last decade, local jurisdictions and transportation agencies have increasingly used transportation demand management (tdm) programs to manage the traffic impacts of new office/industrial and retail developments. more recently, however, king county and the cities of kirkland, redmond, and seattle, washington, have introduced tdm programs for residential developments or "origin" sites. the objectives of the evaluation discussed in this paper were (1) to document the implementation of home-end tdm strategies and (2) to evaluate their effectiveness in mitigating the number of vehicle trips generated by residential development. since few projects had been built and occupied by the time the evaluation concluded, quantitative evaluation was limited, and the success or failure of residential tdm programs could not be determined. however, it was possible to gain an understanding of the nature and reasons for the implementation problems encountered through qualitative means. these included interviews with jurisdictional staff, developers and managers and a focus group among residents. the analysis pointed out problems related to (1) the decision process leading to the imposition of mitigation requirements, (2) institutional memory of requirements, (3) monitoring, (4) enforcement of compliance , and (5) the adequacy of mitigation measures. the paper concludes with recommendations to mitigate these implementation problems. transportation management, transportation demand management, trip reduction, transportation management program trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 225.1 | WSDOT Incident Response Guide: Office Reference | Tanemura | TRAC/UW | 1991 | wsdot incident response guide: office reference tanemura, l., mannering, f.l., o'brien, a., marrah, m. this guide is a resource document for use by departments of transportation, state patrol offices, and other agencies that respond to incidents. it will serve as a resource and training document. it describes response steps and techniques appropriate under specific situations and lists the procedures for requesting additional equipment and staff, as well as resources and contacts. the guide was produced for use in the puget sound area, but can be adapted to other urban and rural areas if the resource information is changed to be appropriate for those locations. the guide is one of two produced under this project. while this is intended to be an office reference/training guide for incident response personnel, the second document is a field guide for use by those personnel while they are on duty. incident management, incident response, training, reference guide, highway accidents trac/uw 1991 |
| IU | Potential Transportation Technologies, Strategies, and Policies: Priority Issues | Rutherford | Innovations Unit/TRAC | 1991 | potential transportation technologies, strategies, and policies: priority issues rutherford, g.s., ishimaru, j.m. this report documents the research activities of the innovations unit in fiscal year 1991. it includes descriptions of study issues that the innovations unit and washington state transportation commission determined to be high-priority research interests. tt describes the proposed budget and work plan for the innovations unit in the next biennium, including objectives, methodology, and implementation of fy 1992-1993 research activities. transportation, policy, planning innovations unit/trac 1991 |
| WA-RD 211.2 | Development of Private Services at Park-and-Ride Lots in Central Puget Sound | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1991 | development of private services at park-and-ride lots in central puget sound rutherford,g. s., frank,l., tull,a. over 50 park-and-ride lots in the puget sound region were studied for their potential for private development at the sites to improve ridership, revenue, and lot security. a literature search and institutional analysis showed that the concept of private development at park-and-ride lots, although untested, shows promise. detailed market and site analysis were performed for three existing and two proposed sites. sample site designs were created for each site. the study concluded that private development of park-and-ride lots is both desirable and feasible, and that new lots are better candidates for development. park-and-ride, private development, joint development, transit service, transit, retail development trac/uw 1991 |
| WA-RD 234.1 | Thin Overlay: SR 5 OC Bridge 900/12W; SR 5 OC Bridge 900/13W | Roper | WSDOT | 1991 | thin overlay: sr 5 oc bridge 900/12w; sr 5 oc bridge 900/13w roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr the washington state department of transportation is conducting experimental field evaluations of selected polymer concrete thin (1/4 inch) overlays. the polymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry firms and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. approximately 24 bridges will be involved in the experiment; eight of these are included in federal participating construction projects as experimental features. two polymer concrete thin overlays, dural flexolith and sika pronto 19, were applied to the decks of the sr50c bridge 900/12w and the sr50c bridge 900/13w, respectively, under contract no. 3189, sr5 weigh station to corson ramp resurfacing. both bridges are concrete box girder bridges located on sr 900 just south of seattle, washington. thin overlay, polymer concrete, bridge deck repairs wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 243.1 | Thin Overlay, South 154th Street Overcrossing 5/523E Experimental Feature | Roper | WSDOT | 1991 | thin overlay, south 154th street overcrossing 5/523e experimental feature roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr the washington state department of transportation is conducting experimental field evaluations of selected polymer concrete thin (1/4 inch) overlays. the polymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry firms and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. approximately 24 bridges will be involved in the experiment; eight of these are included in federal participating construction projects as experimental features.a polymer concrete thin overlay, the conkryl broadcast system (methlmethacrylate), was applied to the deck of the south 154th street overcrossing, bridge no. 5/523, under contract no. 3354, sr 405 tukwila to south renton hov lanes. this bridge is a prestressed girder bridge located on the mainline i-5 at the intersection with i-405 in seattle, washington. bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck repairs, bridge decks, bridges, concrete, construction, contracts, deck, evaluation, experimental, hov, hov lanes, lanes, overlay, overlays, polymer, polymer concrete, prestressed, project, seattle, thin overlay, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 244.1 | Thin Overlay Custer Way Underscoring 5/316 | Roper | WSDOT | 1991 | thin overlay custer way underscoring 5/316 roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr a polymer concrete thin overlay, ep/flex iii(epoxy) was applied to the deck of the custer way undercrossing, bridge no. 5/316, under contract no. 3361, sr 5 trosper road interchange to capitol lake interchange. this bridge crosses mainline i-5 in tumwater, washington. this report describes the construction and provides data on the post construction evaluation of the completed overlay. bridge and construction, thin overlay, polymer concrete, bridge deck repairs, construction wsdot 1991 |
| WA-RD 245.1 | Bridge No. 5/725 Alger Road UndercrossingBridge No. 5/803 Samish Inn UndercrossingBridge No. 5/807 South Bellingham UndercrossingMicrosilica Modified Concrete Overlay | Roper | WSDOT | 1991 | bridge no. 5/725 alger road undercrossingbridge no. 5/803 samish inn undercrossingbridge no. 5/807 south bellingham undercrossingmicrosilica modified concrete overlay roper,t. h., henley,e. h. jr this project overlayed three existing bridges on sr 5 in skagit and whatcom counties with microsilica modified concrete. the bridges involved were 5/725 alger road undercrossing; 5/803 samish inn undercrossing; and 5/807 south bellingham undercrossing.the minimum overlay thickness was 1-1/2 inches. superplasticizer was added to the mix. the concrete was mixed in a conventional batch plant, with the technical representative from the microsilica supplier providing assistance. the microsilica modified concrete overlay was finished and cured as prescribed by wsdot's specification for lmc overlays.the finished decks exhibited an abnormal number of shrinkage cracks, which had to be sealed. problems with excessive slump are believed to be the cause of this cracking. bridge deck overlay, concrete additives, bridge deck repairs, microsilica concrete, silica fume, construction wsdot 1991 |
| TRR 1287 | Adaptive Forecasting of Freeway Traffic Congestion | Davis | TRB | 1990 | adaptive forecasting of freeway traffic congestion davis, g.a., nihan, n.l., hamed, m.h., jacobson, l.n. problems of forecasting freeway traffic variables a few minutes in advance, particularly lane occupancy and the difference between in flowing and outflowing traffic for a short section of freeway, are explored. methods based on linear time series analysis were found to do reasonably well at forecasting mean values but not so well for those extremes corresponding to the onset of congestion. techniques based on statistical pattern recognition principles were found to be promising. the most promising of the pattern recognition algorithms was put into use on a section of i-5 and is being field tested. congestion, forecasting, pattern recognition trb 1990 |
| WA-RD 130.2 | PlusRide Asphalt Pavement (I/90) | Allison | WSDOT | 1990 | plusride asphalt pavement (i/90) allison, r.e. the performance of an experimental installation of plusride acp as a bridge deck overlay is summarized in this report. visual inspections, friction tests, noise readings, and rut depth measurements were taken on both the plusride and a rubberized acp control section. no evidence of better frictional properties, noise reduction or increased service life could be attributed to the plusride in comparison with the rubberized acp control section. asphalt, asphalt pavement, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, control, deck, experimental, friction, inspection, noise, noise reduction, overlay, pavement, performance, plusride, resistance, rubberized, tests wsdot 1990 |
| WA-RD 212.1 | Weather Forecasting Strategies for City and County Road Maintenance Operations | Boselly III | WSDOT | 1990 | weather forecasting strategies for city and county road maintenance operations boselly iii, s.e. weather, roadway, maintenance wsdot 1990 |
| WA-RD 214.1 | Pavement Rehabilitation Research | Broten | WSDOT | 1990 | pavement rehabilitation research broten, m., lary, j. a., sharma, j. pavements wsdot 1990 |
| WA-RD 187.2 | Improving Motorist Information Systems: Towards a User-Based Motorist Information System for the Puget Sound Area | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1990 | improving motorist information systems: towards a user-based motorist information system for the puget sound area haselkorn, m., barfield, w., conquest, l. this report documents new knowledge of puget sound freeway commuter behavior and information needs, relevant to the design and development of a motorist information system for the seattle area. methodological innovations resulted in a larger, more relevant sample; more complex and varied data; and a finer grain of analysis than previous efforts to survey motorist behavior. findings are relevant not only to driver information systems in particular, but also to transportation management in general. commuters were found not to be a single, homogeneous audience for motorist information, but rather to consist of four subgroups, which we labeled: (1) route changers, (2) non-changers, (3) route and time changers, and (4) pre-trip changers. commuters were more receptive to motorist information delivered at home than to information delivered on the freeway. most commuters were inflexible about changing transportation mode, but pre-trip changers were somewhat flexible and more likely to change mode than to change route while on the freeway. the most flexible driving decision was the departure time of route and time changers and pre-trip changers, yet the least flexible driving decision was the departure time of route changers and non-changers. commuters were fairly flexible to on-road route changes, but less flexible than to changing pre-trip routes based on traffic information received prior to departure. commercial radio was the preferred medium for on-road traffic information, while har and vms were either not used or not generally perceived as helpful. whatever the delivery medium, commuters questioned the credibility of motorist information. the report describes how the identification, analysis, and targeting of susceptible driver groups can improve the design of motorist information systems. recommendations are also presented to improve commuter response to and use of har and vms. traffic surveillance and control, motorist information, advanced driver information systems, human factors, har, vms, transportation management trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 200.1 | Improving the Cost Effectiveness of Highway Construction Site Erosion and Pollution Control | Horner | TRAC/UW | 1990 | improving the cost effectiveness of highway construction site erosion and pollution control horner, r.r., guedry, j., kortenhof, m. a comprehensive two-phase effort was conducted to improve the cost-effectiveness of erosion and pollution control at highway construction sites. this report covers both phases of the research. the initial work included laboratory model-scale testing of sedimentation pond designs and field monitoring of ponds to establish their effectiveness in pollutant removal. the laboratory models demonstrated that the following design features in concert maximize actual water residence time to promote sedimentation: (1) length/width ratio of 5:1; (2) series arrangement of two chambers rather than a single pond of equivalent size and shape; and (3) using a perforated riser outlet. to verify these results in a full-scale application, a sedimentation pond was designed according to the laboratory findings, constructed in a highway right -of-way, and monitored for pollution control performance. another sedimentation pond without these design features was tested for comparison. a second pond based on the laboratory results was tested later. monitoring consisted of flow measurement and water runoff composite sampling at pond inlets and outlets. samples were analyzed for solids, metals, phosphorus, and organic content. costs were also established for these ponds. results demonstrated that the ponds designed according to the laboratory findings were both efficient in pollutant removals and less costly (per unit area served) than the pond to which they were compared. the later phase of the work concentrated most on testing the ability of silt fencing to contain erosion from such slopes. runoff samples were collected at the bottoms of the slopes and analyzed as in the pond studies, and costs were again established. overall, wood fiber mulch accompanied by grass seeding was the most cost-effective slope covering. this report is issued in conjunction with an erosion and pollution control manual, which is designed to implement the findings in highway construction practice. environmental, highway construction, erosion control, pollution control, sedimentation ponds, sope coverings, silt barriers, environmental impact trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 205.2 | HOV Compliance Monitoring and the Evaluation of the HERO Hotline Program: Technical Report | Kinchen | TRAC/UW | 1990 | hov compliance monitoring and the evaluation of the hero hotline program: technical report kinchen, r.k., hallenbeck, m.e., rutherford, g.s., jacobson, l.n., o'brien, a. this report discusses the development of recommended and alternative systems for monitoring the use of hov lanes and compliance with hov occupancy regulations in the seattle metropolitan area. the report includes a state-of-the art review of techniques for monitoring hov lane use and the results of tests of the most promising of these techniques. in addition, the report presents a review of the existing hero (hov violation reporting hotline) program, including the results of a 500 person telephone survey on the public's awareness of and attitude toward hero program and hov facilities in general. finally, the report describes software written to ease the storage of hero data and improve the reporting of hero statistics. traffic surveillance and control, hov, hov lanes, hov compliance, hov violations, traffic data trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 205.1 | HOV Compliance Monitoring and the Evaluation of the HERO Hotline Program: Summary Report | Kinchen | TRAC/UW | 1990 | hov compliance monitoring and the evaluation of the hero hotline program: summary report kinchen, r.k., jacobson, l.n., rutherford, g.s., hallenbeck, m.e., o'brien, a. this report discusses the development of recommended and alternative systems for monitoring the use of hov lanes and compliance with hov occupancy regulations in the seattle metropolitan area. the report includes a state-of-the art review of techniques for monitoring hov lane use and the results of tests of the most promising of these techniques. in addition, the report presents a review of the existing hero (hov violation reporting hotline) program, including the results of a 500 person telephone survey on the public's awareness of and attitude toward hero program and hov facilities in general. finally, the report describes software written to ease the storage of hero data and improve the reporting of hero statistics. traffic surveillance and control, hov, hov lanes, hov compliance, hov violations, traffic data trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 204.3 | Generation and Assessment of Incident Management Strategies -Volume II: Analysis of Freeway Incidents in the Seattle Area | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1990 | generation and assessment of incident management strategies -volume ii: analysis of freeway incidents in the seattle area mannering, f.l., janssen, l., sebranke, b., jones, b. this four-volume technical report describes a study of freeway incidents and incident management strategies in the seattle area. the study statistically analyzed the frequency and duration of freeway incidents on sections of i-5 and sr 520 in seattle. in addition, a traffic simulation model was operationalized to assess the traffic related impacts of incidents. the findings show that seattle-area incident management currently responds well to inclement weather and special events (e.g., major sporting games) but has problems with severe accidents. the ongoing operationalization of accident investigation sites and incident equipment storage sites can be expected to improve severe accident management, but response personnel training and the addition of more dedicated tow truck service are also needed. finally, the study shows that, from a traffic impact perspective, the section of i-5 in downtown seattle is in need of the most incident management attention. incident management, incident evaluation, incident frequency, incident duration, traffic impacts, accident analysis, traffic surveillance and control trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 204.2 | Generation and Assessment of Incident Management Strategies -Volume I: Management, Surveillance, Control, and Evaluation of Freeway Incidents: A Review of Existing Literature | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1990 | generation and assessment of incident management strategies -volume i: management, surveillance, control, and evaluation of freeway incidents: a review of existing literature mannering, f.l., jones, b. this four-volume technical report describes a study of freeway incidents and incident management strategies in the seattle area. the study statistically analyzed the frequency and duration of freeway incidents on sections of i-5 and sr 520 in seattle. in addition, a traffic simulation model was operationalized to assess the traffic related impacts of incidents. the findings show that seattle-area incident management currently responds well to inclement weather and special events (e.g., major sporting games) but has problems with severe accidents. the ongoing operationalization of accident investigation sites and incident equipment storage sites can be expected to improve severe accident management, but response personnel training and the addition of more dedicated tow truck service are also needed. finally, the study shows that, from a traffic impact perspective, the section of i-5 in downtown seattle is in need of the most incident management attention. incident management, incident evaluation, incident frequency, incident duration, traffic impacts, accident analysis, traffic surveillance and control trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 204.5 | Generation and Assessment of Incident Management Strategies-Volume IV: Seattle-Area Incident Management: Assessment and Recommendations | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1990 | generation and assessment of incident management strategies-volume iv: seattle-area incident management: assessment and recommendations mannering, f.l., jones, b., garrison, d., sebranke, b., janssen, l. this four-volume technical report describes a study of freeway incidents and incident management strategies in the seattle area. the study statistically analyzed the frequency and duration of freeway incidents on sections of 1-5 and sr 520 in seattle. in addition, a traffic simulation model was operationalized to assess the traffic related impacts of incidents. the findings show that seattle-area incident management currently responds well to inclement weather and special events (e.g., major sporting games) but has problems with severe accidents. the ongoing operationalization of accident investigation sites and incident equipment storage sites can be expected to improve severe accident management, but response personnel training and the addition of more dedicated tow truck service are also needed. finally, the study shows that, from a traffic impact perspective, the section of 1-5 in downtown seattle is in need of the most incident management attention. incident evaluation, incident management, incident frequency, incident duration, traffic impacts, accident analysis trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 204.4 | Generation and Assessment of Incident Management Strategies, Volume III | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1990 | generation and assessment of incident management strategies, volume iii mannering, f.l., jones, b., garrison,d ., sebranke, b., janssen, l. this four-volume technical report describes a study of freeway incidents and incident management strategies in the seattle area. the study statistically analyzed the frequency and duration of freeway incidents on sections of 1-5 and sr 520 in seattle. in addition, a traffic simulation model was operationalized to assess the traffic related impacts of incidents. the findings show that seattle-area incident management currently responds well to inclement weather and special events (e.g., major sporting games) but has problems with severe accidents. the ongoing operationalization of accident invesfigation sites and incident equipment storage sites can be expected to improve severe accident management, but response personnel training and the addition of more dedicated tow truck service are also needed. finally, the study shows that, from a traffic impact perspective, the section of 1-5 in downtown seattle is in need of the most incident management attention. incident evaluation, incident management, incident frequency, incident duration, traffic impacts, accident analysis trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 204.1 | Generation and Assessment of Incident Management Strategies - Summary Report | Mannering | TRAC/UW | 1990 | generation and assessment of incident management strategies - summary report mannering, f. l., jones, b., garrison, d., sebranke, b., janssen, l. this four-volume technical report describes a study of freeway incidents and incident management strategies in the seattle area. the study statistically analyzed the frequency and duration of freeway incidents on sections of i-5 and sr 520 in seattle. in addition, a traffic simulation model was operationalized to assess the traffic related impacts of incidents. the findings show that seattle-area incident management currently responds well to inclement weather and special events (e.g., major sporting games) but has problems with severe accidents. the ongoing operationalization of accident investigation sites and incident equipment storage sites can be expected to improve severe accident management, but response personnel training and the addition of more dedicated tow truck service are also needed. finally, the study shows that, from a traffic impact perspective, the section of i-5 in downtown seattle is in need of the most incident management attention. incident management, incident evaluation, incident frequency, incident duration, traffic impacts, accident analysis, traffic surveillance and control trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 209.1 | State Level Transportation Applications Using TIGER | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 1990 | state level transportation applications using tiger mccormack, e.d., blain, l.w. the tiger/line files are geographic databases developed by the census bureau as part of the 1990 census to produce local maps for census takers. the tiger (topographically integrated geographic encoding and referencing) files contain the geographic information for every road, railroad, stream, and political boundary in the united states. this research explored state level transportation planning applications of the tiger/line files by building a link-node highway microcomputer modeling network form the tiger data. the use of tiger resulted in a network with links and nodes that were actually located by latitude and longitude and included link lengths. a tiger-derived network potentially could serve as a powerful basis for incorporating census and, to a lesser extent, non-census based data into a transportation model. the disadvantages of using tiger to create a model network were found to be roadway detail unnecessary on a state level, a time consuming downloading process, lack of appropriate tiger manipulation software, and the need for network sorting, editing, and preparation. in spite of these drawbacks, tiger offers considerable promise as a transportation planning tool, especially for smaller state level studies needing a detailed network. tiger, line files, networks, state level transportation model trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 220.1 | Moment-Reducing Plastic Hinge Details for the Bases of Bridge Columns | McLean | TRAC/WSU | 1990 | moment-reducing plastic hinge details for the bases of bridge columns mclean, d.i., lim, k.y. bridge foundations in seismic regions are usually designed to withstand the plastic hinge moments that develop at the bases of the columns. various hinge details have been proposed to reduce or even eliminate the moments transferred to the foundations, and thereby reduce the sizes and costs of the foundations. this study experimentally investigated the behavior of column specimens incorporating different moment-reducing hinge details. tests were performed on reinforced concrete column specimens subjected to increasing inelastic lateral displacement under constant axial load. the study investigated effects on hinge performance of several parameters, including vertical discontinuity in the hinge detail, level of axial load, low-cycle fatigue characteristics, column aspect ratio, and different amounts of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement. the test results of this investigation showed that hinge details can be incorporated into columns to significantly reduce the moment capacity at the base of the columns. however, the moments are not negligible, as is sometimes assumed for design with the moment-reducing hinge details. providing vertical discontinuity in the hinge resulted in reduced distress in the longitudinal reinforcement and improved the performance of the hinge. preliminary design recommendations were proposed for the comprehensive design of moment-reducing hinge details at the base of the bridge columns. bridge and construction, seismic loading, reinforced concrete, plastic hinges, foundation trac/wsu 1990 |
| WA-RD 210.1 | HOV Improvements on Signalized Arterials: State-of-the-Art Review | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1990 | hov improvements on signalized arterials: state-of-the-art review nihan,n. l., davis,j. e. the primary objectives for this study were (1) to investigate state-of-the-art techniques for providing hov incentives on arterial routes, and (2) to generate ideas for hov improvements applicable to urban corridors. this study was part of a research project entitled hov improvements on signalized arterials, currently under way at the university of washington, which addresses the problem of hov improvements on arterials in the seattle area. the primary goal of making hov improvements has been to increase the efficiency of transportation systems. secondary objectives have been to reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, increase modal shift, save time travel, and reduce congestion. reviews of existing facilities have synthesized operational results into useful generalizations. hov facility issues include safety, enforcement, planning/design guidelines, classification schemes, and performance measures. arterial hov improvements have had mixed success, though lack of good before-and-after studies is significant. hov facilities have been studied with a variety of computer models. in systems analysis, hov lanes may be better justified as people movers when they are compared with other fixed-transit alternatives than when they are compared with automobile traffic in adjacent, non-restricted lanes. traffic surveillance and control, arterial hov, hov, high occupancy vehicle trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 208.1 | Detector Data Validity | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1990 | detector data validity nihan, n.l., jacobson, l.n., bender, j., davis, g. the purpose of the research were to develop a data error detection algorithm and to recommend an improved database that will flag the errors detected by the new algorithm for the wsdot's electronic surveillance system located at the traffic systems management center in seattle. the algorithm compares 20-second volumes and 20-second volume/occupancy ratios with threshold values to determine the reliability of detector data. the algorithm will operate on the central computer system for the electronics surveillance data. tests of the algorithm proved it to be very successful at detecting data errors caused by short pulses (hanging off) from detectors, chattering detectors, and intermittent malfunctions of detectors. the algorithm did not detect errors caused by long pulses (hanging on) from detectors. the false alarm rate was very low (12 false alarms out of 3.510 observations).the research team surveyed existing and potential users of data collected by the electronic surveillance system. on the basis of the user responses, the research team developed a technique to flag erroneous data in the existing system, recommended flagging procedures for the new computer system being designed, and recommended a database configuration that will meet the needs of wsdot and outside users. electronic surveillance, freeway 0perations, inductive loop detection, traffic data collection trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 188.1 | Evaluation of the Bellevue UTCS 1.5 Signal Control System | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1990 | evaluation of the bellevue utcs 1.5 signal control system rutherford, g.s., schroeder, m., jacobson, l.n., hallenbeck, m e. this report documents the washington state department of transportation's examination of the potential application of adaptive signal control and integrated traffic control systems in the seattle metropolitan area. the research project had two sets of objectives, one for advanced, or adaptive, signal control systems and one for control system integration. the primary objectives for the advanced signal control portion of the project were to (1) investigate adaptive signal control systems, such as scoot, scat, and opac, (2) evaluate the utcs 1.5 generation signal system, (3) determine applicability of, and interest in, advances signal systems on the puget sound region, and (4) provide coordination with local agencies on research efforts on arterial traffic management. the primary objectives of the control system integration portion of the project were to (1) determine regional needs and interest in integrating control systems, and (2) provide coordination with local agencies on research efforts in integrated control systems. the researchers reviewed previous work in adaptive signal control and evaluate the bellevue utcs 1.5 signal system to determine the applicability of adaptive control in the seattle area. then they developed a framework for investigating integrated control system needs and met with jurisdictions throughout the seattle metropolitan area to discuss adaptive signal control and control system integration. finally, they formulated conclusions and recommendations to help achieve improved coordination and integration of neighboring control systems. the utcs 1.5 signal system has improved traffic flow on bellevue's arterial network (volumes increased 17 percent with no significant changes in travel time), and the new system is easier to operate than the old utcs 1.0 system. of the adaptive control strategies investigated, utcs 1.5 and opac show the most promise for implementation in the seattle metropolitan area. wsdot should investigate the possibility of opac demonstration or test sites in the seattle area. local jurisdictions are interested in improved coordination and some degree of system integration. the wsdot should keep local jurisdictions involved in and informed of the upcoming freeway and arterial control system integration project. the corridor traffic management teams that will be established should take up and help direct the area's advances in control system integration. traffic surveillance and control, adaptive signal control, freeway and arterial integration, traffic signals, transportation management trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 188.2 | Arterial Control and Integration | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1990 | arterial control and integration rutherford, g.s., schroeder, m., jacobson, l. n., hallenbeck, m.e. this report documents the washington state department of transportation's examination of the potential application of adaptive signal control and integrated traffic control systems in the seattle metropolitan area. the research project had two sets of objectives, one for advanced, or adaptive, signal control systems and one for control system integration. the primary objectives for the advanced signal control portion of the project were to (1) investigate adaptive signal control systems, such as scoot, scat, and opac, (2) evaluate the utcs 1.5 generation signal system, (3) determine applicability of, and interest in, advances signal systems on the puget sound region, and (4) provide coordination with local agencies on research efforts on arterial traffic management. the primary objectives of the control system integration portion of the project were to (1) determine regional needs and interest in integrating control systems, and (2) provide coordination with local agencies on research efforts in integrated control systems. the researchers reviewed previous work in adaptive signal control and evaluate the bellevue utcs 1.5 signal system to determine the applicability of adaptive control in the seattle area. then they developed a framework for investigating integrated control system needs and met with jurisdictions throughout the seattle metropolitan area to discuss adaptive signal control and control system integration. finally, they formulated conclusions and recommendations to help achieve improved coordination and integration of neighboring control systems. the utcs 1.5 signal system has improved traffic flow on bellevue's arterial network (volumes increased 17 percent with no significant changes in travel time), and the new system is easier to operate than the old utcs 1.0 system. of the adaptive control strategies investigated, utcs 1.5 and opac show the most promise for implementation in the seattle metropolitan area. wsdot should investigate the possibility of opac demonstration or test sites in the seattle area. local jurisdictions are interested in improved coordination and some degree of system integration. the wsdot should keep local jurisdictions involved in and informed of the upcoming freeway and arterial control system integration project. the corridor traffic management teams that will be established should take up and help direct the area's advances in control system integration. traffic surveillance and control, adaptive signal control, freeway and arterial integration, traffic signals trac/uw 1990 |
| WA-RD 149.1 | Pacific Avenue O'Xing Evazote 50 Expansion Joint Seal / Bridge #5/332 | Roper | WSDOT | 1990 | pacific avenue o'xing evazote 50 expansion joint seal / bridge #5/332 roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr bridge expansion joints pose a special problem in the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) bridge deck management system. these devices are subject to repeated heavy dynamic loading, and premature failure has occurred in many cases. it is wsdot policy, as part of the bridge deck management system, to make expansion joints watertight in order to reduce the potential of substructure corrosion induced by roadway deicing salts and other contaminants.expansion joint seals play an important role in keeping expansion joints watertight. a relatively new material, evazote 50, looks promising in its performance characteristics as an expansion joint seal. it is able to accommodate considerable joint movement, its durability and corrosion resistant properties are excellent, and it is resistant to absorption of oils and greases. the purpose of this experimental project is to gain knowledge about the material's effectiveness over time and to gain knowledge about field installation techniques. it was very beneficial to have the manufacturer's representative on the job during installation. this was required by special provision and is a practice that should be continued on future projects.in-place performance will determine acceptance of evazote 50 for general use. absorption, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck rehabilitation, corrosion, deck, durability, effectiveness, expansion joints, experimental, in-place, its, joints, management, management system, performance, policy, roadway, salt, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1990 |
| WA-RD 170.1 | Mechanistic-Based Overlay Design Procedure For Washington State Flexible Pavements | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1989 | mechanistic-based overlay design procedure for washington state flexible pavements mahoney, j.p., lee, s.w., jackson, n.c., newcomb, d.e. the report study was used to develop an overlay design procedure for washington state's flexible pavements based on mechanistic pavement analysis. this design procedure incorporates nondestructive testing (ndt) to estimate layer resilient moduli, seasonal moduli adjustments and failure criteria of asphalt concrete fatigue cracking and subgrade rutting. all necessary computations can be done with two primary microcomputer oriented software packages: evercalc to estimate layer moduli from ndt data and everpave or estimate the needed overlay thicknesses. pavement management, pavement, overlay, mechanistic, resilient modulus, failure criteria, seasonal variation trac/uw 1989 |
| Evaluation of the TRAF Family of Models: Working Paper | Rickman | TRAC/UW | 1989 | evaluation of the traf family of models: working paper rickman, t., rutherford, g.s., hallenbeck, m.e., jacobson, l.n. this paper discusses the application of the corflo model by the washington state department of transportation for examining traffic congestion related to urban freeway reconstruction efforts. the model is being used to estimate congestion levels expected as a result of capacity restraints imposed by construction activities and to examine the impacts of alternative traffic mitigation plans on those expected congestion levels. this report documents the department's calibration effort, the initial tests of the model's capabilities, the conclusions and recommendations that resulted from those tests, and a plan for the continuation of the research effort under this contract. traf , simulation model, corflo model, evaluation, congestion trac/uw 1989 | |
| Ferry Fuel Consumption Improvement Study | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 1989 | ferry fuel consumption improvement study mccormack, e., sekar, r.r. on a yearly basis, washington's state ferries use more than 13 million gallons of fuel. therefore, even a small percentage reduction in fuel usage can result in significant savings. the washington state energy office (wseo) and washington state ferries (wsf) supported research to examine both technological and operational means to improve fuel consumption on ferries. the researchers first defined a typical duty cycle by observing a super class ferry. the main propulsion engine data were supplied by the engine manufacturer. electromotive division (emd). the four super class ferries' emd engines were built around 1967. -this study examined three options for repowering the ferry with the latest model emd engines, as well as three options involving other technologies. annual energy savings were estimated to be 100,000 to 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel per ferry.. this would be 8 percent to 25 percent of current fuel usage. only relative cost estimates could be obtained from the manufacturers for the various options examined. all of these options were estimated to have a payback period of one to two years. in addition, the researchers examined the use of waste heat recovery as a means to heat a vessel's domestic water supply. ferry vessel, diesel engine, fuel, operating costs, energy savings trac/uw 1989 | |
| WA-RD 185.1 | Rubber Asphalt Binder Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer - Experimental Feature WA 78-06 & 07 | Allison | WSDOT | 1989 | rubber asphalt binder stress absorbing membrane interlayer - experimental feature wa 78-06 & 07 allison, r.e. experimental installation of rubber-asphalt binder stress absorbing membrane interlayers were evaluated for their ability to delay or prevent reflective alligator cracking. the final results are inconclusive in that after 10 years of service life neither the control sections paved without an interlayer or the remainder of the projects paved with the interlayer have shown any reflective alligator cracking. it is suspected that the thickness of the overlay in combination with the sound structure of the underlying pavement has masked any of the benefits of the interlayer. alligator cracking, asphalt, benefit, benefits, control, cracking, experimental, membrane, overlay, pavement, reflection cracking, rubber, rubber-asphalt, sami, stresses wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 175.1 | Fabric Reinforcement to Prevent Reflection Cracking | Allison | WSDOT | 1989 | fabric reinforcement to prevent reflection cracking allison, r.e. the two fabric reinforcement products, petromat and mirafi 140, placed between a 0.35 ft. overlay of asphalt concrete and an existing pcc pavement have successfully prevented the occurrence of transverse reflective cracking for the 11 year period since completion of the overlay. asphalt, asphalt concrete, concrete, cracking, fabric reinforcement, mirafi 140, overlay, pavement, pcc, petromat, reflective cracking, reinforcement wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 181.1 | Development of Durable Anchorage Systems for Bridge Expansion Joints | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1989 | development of durable anchorage systems for bridge expansion joints babaei, k., hawkins, n.m. many anchorage systems of bridge expansion joints in the medium movement range have failed within a relatively short period of time after their installation. the embedded anchor devices have become loose under traffic impact and have caused deterioration of the adjacent concrete deck. after the performance of various domestic and foreign designs were assessed, factors affecting the anchorage system performance and failure were identified. accordingly, improvements in the anchorage system components, which are built in conjunction with the anchor devices, were recommended to reduce the intensity of traffic impact loads transmitted to the anchor devices. subsequently, an analytical procedure was developed to quantify the intensity of the dynamic traffic loads transmitted to anchor devices and to design anchor devices to resist those loads. bridge and construction, bridge, expansion joints, anchorage, concrete trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 201.1 | Evaluation of the Performance of Cold-Mix Recycled Asphalt Concrete Pavement in Washington | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1989 | evaluation of the performance of cold-mix recycled asphalt concrete pavement in washington babaei, k., walter, j. p. often upgrading an aged asphalt concrete pavement involves overlaying a cracked pavement with new asphalt concrete. however, usually the substrate cracks reflect through the new overlay under repeated service loading. full depth cold-mix recycles asphalt is an alternative that eliminates the potential for reflective cracking. generally, the performance of cold-mix recycled asphalt concrete pavements in the united states supports its use as base course in flexible pavements. the conditions of three washington experimental 'cold-mix' pavements after about 6 years of service varied from fair to good, depending on the level of truck traffic. the wheel track rutting of those pavements was not significantly different from rutting that might be expected from conventional flexible pavements under the same conditions. although the potential for fatigue cracking exists, as it does in conventional flexible pavements, full depth recycling of asphalt concrete eliminates the cause of reflective cracking. pavement, asphalt, cold-mix recycling, asphalt concrete, reflective cracking trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 174.1 | Weather Forecasting Strategies for Highway Snow-and-Ice Control | Boselly III | WSDOT | 1989 | weather forecasting strategies for highway snow-and-ice control boselly iii, s. e. this report describes a survey of weather impacts on current washington state department of transportation (wsdot) snow-and-ice control maintenance operations and how weather information is currently used within the wsdot. the report further describes the capabilities of the meteorological community to provide meteorological and pavement condition data and the forecasting of future conditions. finally, the report describes pilot programs which are recommended to investigate the ability of the washington state dot to reduce costs and improve resource allocation through the use of weather information in the snow-and-ice control decision process. highway maintenance, weather impacts, meteorology, snow-and-ice control wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 194.1 | Clear Zones for Local Agencies | Carr | WSDOT | 1989 | clear zones for local agencies carr, d.h., curtin, j.j., dorvel, p.e. the reported study was used to investigate clear zone practices, policies and standards that are employed both within washington state and throughout the united state. emphasis was placed on those standards or guidelines that apply to local city and county roadways which are predominately low volume and low speed facilities.the review of nationwide clear zone practices pointed to a need for a set of clear zone guidelines or standards that apply specifically to low volume, low speed facilities. the research also pointed to the need for guidelines or standards that could be easily applied by city or county agencies with limited staff and limited budgets.one of the findings of the research is a step by step format for agencies to use in establishing a program to address existing clear zone deficiencies. agencies, clear zone, control zone, counties, facilities, policy, program, recovery area, research, review, roadway, speed, volume, washington, washington state wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 206.1 | Procedure for Predicting and Estimating the Impact of Rail Line Abandonments on Washington Roads | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1989 | procedure for predicting and estimating the impact of rail line abandonments on washington roads casavant,k. l., lenzi,j. c. this summary report describes four case studies of rail line abandonment in washington. these case studies were used to test a conceptual approach to predicting the location and magnitude of road damage caused by rail line abandonment. the procedure developed in the study worked well, especially as modified in the report to include district personnel in the analysis of potential road impacts. proactive use of this procedure is dependent on continual monitoring of potential rail line abandonment candidates. similar procedures should be developed to predict impacts on energy, environment, safety, and economic development. road damage, rail line abandonment, prediction, impacts trac/wsu 1989 |
| WA-RD 203.2 | Prediction of Snow Avalanches in Maritime Climates | Conway | TRAC/UW | 1989 | prediction of snow avalanches in maritime climates conway,h., raymond,c. f. the study examined avalanche release mechanisms in maritime snow climate to improve hazard assessment and prediction at snoqualmie pass. hazard level and potential release times depend on weather conditions and snow stratigraphy in the starting zones of avalanche paths. most avalanches release less than one hour after the onset of rain and before liquid water or a thermal wave has penetrated more than few centimeters into the snow. prediction of the timing of these immediate avalanches requires observations systems that give advance notice of the onset of rain. new instrumentation installed at nearby mountain sites with a telemetry link to snoqualmie pass, improved predictive capability. in some conditions avalanches can be delayed and the hazard can remain high for at least a day. prediction of the timing of delayed avalanches is more difficult and requires information about the mechanical response of the snow pack to the penetration of liquid water and heat. a new method based on observation of strain-rate in the snow was developed to quantify the effects of changes of temperature and precipitation on the snow structure. this technique may prove useful for predicting avalanche release but requires additional research before it can be used operationally. maritime climate, avalanche, wet snow, snow structure, liquid water trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 184.1 | Inlaid Traffic Lane Lines: I-90, Edgewick Road to Hyak | Deer | WSDOT | 1989 | inlaid traffic lane lines: i-90, edgewick road to hyak deer, r., mansfield, c. three types of stripping materials installed in recessed grooves are evaluated for reflectivity and durability. initial performance evaluations have two of the materials showing very little wear and providing good daytime delination but marginal nighttime delineation. the other material is showing considerable damage in the form of cracking and spalling and is providing good nighttime delineation but only marginal daytime due to the loss of material. cracking, damage, delineation, durability, evaluation, grooves, lane lines, line, materials, performance, performance evaluation, reflectivity, stripping, traffic wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 207.1 | Boulder Creek Flood Potential | Gowan | WSDOT | 1989 | boulder creek flood potential gowan, m.e. this report documents research on the causes, magnitude and frequency of landsliding and debris flooding in the bould creek drainage basin, and the actions the washington state department of transportation can take to mitigate the impacts of these geologic hazards on state road 542. the research approach was divided into two phases: 1) compilation of precipitation, temperature and streamflow data analyses for eight historic debris floods in boulder creek; and 2) investigation of the progression of erosion and sedimentation since mid-century. a terrain evaluation procedure was employed to evaluate the present level of hillslope and channel instability and to determine future landslide hazard. debris-flood generation is highly dependent on rain-on-snowmelt conditions during moderate- to high-frequency storms. since the 1940's, an eighteen-fold increase in area of landsliding along a 2.5 mile stretch of the main channel has produced much of the debris for these floods. this dramatic increase in landsliding is a highly-interdependent function of the local geology, hydrology and timber-harvest activities. the probability of a new landslide forming in the next 2 years is 74%, and increases to 97% for the next 5 years. the high risk of future landsliding, combined with profuse sediment storage in the main channel, assures the continued frequency of debris flooding in the vicinity of the boulder creek bridge for at least the next 20 years. the capacity of the boulder creek bridge is no match for the present-day sediment discharge of boulder creek. strategies for short-term and long-term hazard assessment, as well as hazard-avoidance planning have been designed. preliminary steps for the development of a flood warning system are provided through a determination of the severity of weather conditions and a comparison with the historic flood events. weighted landslide hazard rankings have been applied to separate reaches of the main channel of boulder creek. several mitigative options ranging from methods of protection to avoidance of the area are outlined; evaluation of the feasibility of a new bridge and/or highway alignment is recommended. participation in the management of the drainage basin resources is encouraged. visual communication is a highly effective way to increase awareness of the drainage basin conditions. two documents auxiliary to this technical report have been prepared for this purpose: the atlas of lower stream reaches and photographic folio of the boulder creek drainage basin. landslides, debris floods, geologic hazards, erosion, sedimentation, slope stability, hazard-avoidance planning, mitigation wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 182.1 | WSDOT Weigh-in-Motion Needs and Potential Data Collection Plans | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1989 | wsdot weigh-in-motion needs and potential data collection plans hallenbeck,m. e. this report outlines the washington state department of transportation's truck weight data needs and the potential plans that might be used to meet those needs. it summarizes the requirements of help, shrp, the traffic monitoring guide, and special state needs, and recommends alternative plans for purchasing and deploying weigh-in-motion equipment within the state. weigh-in-motion, wim, transport, weight, traffic data collection, weight monitoring, shrp data collection, program trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 195.1 | Guide for Wetland Mitigation Project Monitoring | Horner | TRAC/UW | 1989 | guide for wetland mitigation project monitoring horner, r.r., raedeke, k.j. this document was prepared to guide the monitoring of wetland mitigation projects developed by the washington state department of transportation. monitoring is necessary to assess the development of wetland characteristics and functions and to determine whether the objectives of the mitigation project are met or, if not, how they might be met with remedial action. the guide is organized in two parts. part 1 identifies two types of monitoring that might be pursued: (1) assessing the achievement of functional objectives, and (2) diagnostic procedures. the first type is intended to evaluate a project's success, while the second type represents activities that might be carried out in planning a project or analyzing problems that occur in a completed project. part 1 directs the user of the guide to a set of tasks in part 2 tailored to the specific functional objectives being evaluated or problems being diagnosed. these monitoring tasks are arranged in five groups: (1) mapping and hydrologic tasks, (2) water quality tasks, (3) soil and sediment tasks, (4) primary producer monitoring tasks, and (5) consumer monitoring tasks. each task description provides background material and lists all equipment, supplies, and procedural steps to obtain and interpret data. environmental, created wetlands, mitigation, monitoring, wetland functions, highway construction trac/uw 1989 |
| Freeway and Arterial Management Effort (FAME) in Washington State | Jacobson | TRAC/UW | 1989 | freeway and arterial management effort (fame) in washington state jacobson, l. n. traffic congestion and personal mobility preservation are the most challenging issues facing transportation professionals. in the state of washington, particularly in the greater seattle area, congestion is a major concern. to address the mobility problems facing the urban areas in the state of washington, the state initiated a new transportation research and implementation program in october of 1987. the program is called fame--freeway and arterial management effort. the fame program is aimed at developing and implementing strategies to address urban congestion and improve mobility. this report discusses the nine emphasis areas of the fame program: freeway management, arterial management, freeway and arterial control system integration, incident management, construction traffic management, hov treatments, motorist information systems, advanced technology, and demand management. freeway management, arterial management, traffic surveillance and control, transportation planning trac/uw 1989 | |
| Highway Concrete Manual | Janssen | TRAC/UW | 1989 | highway concrete manual janssen, d.j. properties of portland cement concrete (pcc) mixes, including workability, strength, durability, and abrasion resistance, are discussed, along with the specific mix factors that affect each property. the mix design process is then discussed, and the effect of each ingredient on pcc properties is explained. chemical and mineral admixtures are included. recommendations for special considerations such as long transit times, high early strengths, and qualification of aggregate by nonstandard methods are presented. abrasion, admixtures, aggregate, durability, manual, pcc, resistance, strength trac/uw 1989 | |
| WA-RD 176.1 | PCC Mix Design | Janssen | TRAC/UW | 1989 | pcc mix design janssen, d. properties of portland cement concrete (pcc) mixes, including workability, strength, durability, and abrasion resistance, are discussed and the effect of each ingredient on pcc properties is explained. chemical and mineral admixtures are included. the adequacy and limitations of the wsdot mix design procedure are addressed. recommendations for special considerations such as long transit times, high early strengths, and qualification of aggregates by non-standard methods are presented. pavement pcc, strength, durability, abrasion, resistance, admixtures, aggregate trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 197.1 | Freeway Incident Management in the Spokane Area | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1989 | freeway incident management in the spokane area khisty, c.j., anderson, r.q., granberg, r.l. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has embarked on a freeway and arterial management effort (fame). this effort includes the collection of data, assessment of incident-related impacts, and the generation of incident management strategies across the state. this report focuses its attention on the effectiveness of existing incident management strategies applicable to the spokane i-90 urban section, from the four lakes interchange (exit 270) on the west to the idaho state line on the east, covering a length of 30 miles. with direction and assistance from technical advisory committee data and information were gathered and analyzed to include roadway and accident characteristics of this urban section of i-90 and existing incident detection, response, servicing, and coordination practiced by several agencies serving the area. from this analysis, sections of i-90 that had a high potential for incidents were identified. as a result of this research, several useful products were developed, such that it would be necessary to carry this research forward to enhance the existing incident management methods practiced in the spokane area. five specific actions are recommended (i) structure the database and, if necessary, identify and complete any missing data needed, (ii) prepare an incident management manual capable of being updated on a regular basis, (iii) form an incident management team, (iv) format the data/information for use in a knowledge-based expert system (kbes) and (v) adopt kbes for spokane. incident management, accidents, detection, freeway, incident, management, mitigation trac/wsu 1989 |
| WA-RD 159.1 | The Feasibility of Using Local Access Cable TV as a Driver Information Tool | Kirkemo | TRAC/UW | 1989 | the feasibility of using local access cable tv as a driver information tool kirkemo, g., nihan, n.l., mannering, f.l. traffic surveillance and control, driver information service, cable tv, transportation systems management, behavior modeling, traffic advisories trac/uw 1989 |
| Private Development of Park-and-Ride Lots-Institutional Analysis | Liegel | TRAC/UW | 1989 | private development of park-and-ride lots-institutional analysis liegel, k. j., tull, a. the purpose of this study was to determine how the private sector can assist in the provision of park-and-ride services. these services may include retail services to riders, such as dry cleaning, convenience goods, take-out food, and daycare centers. also included in the study was the consideration of office development at the park-and-rides. both of these types of development would be beneficial to riders and would generate revenue to the transit agencies that would be used to purchase additional park-and-ride space. potential restrictions on private development may arise from the following legal sources: statutory authority; common lay prohibitions; federal or state funding source statues, regulations and guidelines; and individual ark-and-ride contracts with funding agencies. this analysis was based on a review and evaluation of the statutory authority of the local transit agencies, the statues and regulations of the fhwa, umta, and wsdot; the common law prohibitions against proprietary activities by governmental agencies; and selected individual king county metro park-and-ride contracts. park-and-ride, private development, retail, funding trac/uw 1989 | |
| WA-RD 198.1 | Carbon Black Additive in Asphalt, SR 290, Spokane Vicinity | Livingston | WSDOT | 1989 | carbon black additive in asphalt, sr 290, spokane vicinity livingston, j. this report describes the construction of an experimental section of asphalt concrete pavement overlay which contained the additive carbon black. a long term evaluation of the overlay seeks to determine if there is a significant difference in performance between it and an adjacent control section of pavement which contains no additive.preliminary laboratory results indicate that the viscosity/temperature curve for the carbon black asphalt binder has been altered in a way that the temperature susceptibility of the pavement is decreased. additive, asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, carbon black, concrete, construction, control, evaluation, experimental, overlay, pavement, performance, susceptibility, temperature, terperature susceptibility wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 169.1 | The Evaluation of the Expert System for Pavement Evaluation and Rehabilitation (EXPEAR) in Washington State | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1989 | the evaluation of the expert system for pavement evaluation and rehabilitation (expear) in washington state mahoney, j.p., simmons, h.a., pierce, l.m., jackson, n.c. the expert system for pavement evaluation and rehabilitation (expear) is an advisory system to assist the practicing engineer in evaluating a specific pavement section and selecting pavement rehabilitation alternatives. the objectives of this study were both to evaluate expear by using washington state project data to determine the reasonableness of the program's output in comparison to wsdot's current procedures, and to identify any existing program 'bugs' and/or desirable program enhancements. to evaluate expear program output, pavement design and condition data were entered from four test sections in washington. after the pavement data were input, the expear output results were reviewed subjectively for reasonableness and compared to the state's current procedures for determining appropriate rehabilitation. although expear offers several positive attributes, this study found problems with its output. for example, the transverse cracking model predicted cracking that was more severe than wsdot has observed. often expear predicted distress trends that were not reasonable. also, a test of the risk of the different rehabilitation options appeared to be missing from the program. the researchers concluded that the high level of effort in creating expear is commendable and that a system of this type can be a useful tool not only for pavement design but also as a scoping and planning tool for pavement rehabilitation. however, wsdot will probably not use expear in its present form because the performance predictions of both existing pavements and rehabilitation strategies were generally inconsistent with what has been observed in washington. pavement management, expert system, pavement, rehabilitation, portland cement concrete trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 186.1 | Application of Fiber Reinforced Plastic Rods as Prestressing Tendons in Concrete Structures | Mattock | TRAC/UW | 1989 | application of fiber reinforced plastic rods as prestressing tendons in concrete structures mattock, a., babaei, k. this study is concerned with the possibility of utilizing fiber reinforced plastic rods as prestressing tendons, in place of traditional steel tendons, in elements of prestressed concrete bridges exposed to corrosive environments. a survey was made of available information on the behavior characteristics of fiber reinforced plastic tension elements, and in particular those of glass fiber reinforced (gfr) ) tension elements. also, an analytical study was made of the flexural behavior of concrete elements prestressed by gfr tendons. based on the analytical study and on the survey of available information, an assessment is made of the impact on the design of prestressed concrete members if gfr tendons are used. some preliminary design recommendations are made, together with proposals for research needed before gfr prestressing tendons should be used in practice. four gfr tendons with con-tech systems anchorages were tested, the primary variable being the embedded length of the gfr rods in the anchorages. all the tendons failed by the rods pulling out of the anchorages. for embedded lengths of 385 mm(15.2 in.) or greater, the failure loads were about 90 percent of the advertised tendon strength of 220 ksi, or about 100 percent of the guaranteed tensile strength of 197 ksi (60 kn/rod). prestressed concrete, tendons, glass fiber, reinforced tendons, corrosion, anchorage trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 173.1 | Rest Area Usage Design Criteria Update | Melton | WSDOT | 1989 | rest area usage design criteria update melton, w., tran, a., leverson, j. a data survey was conducted at eight rest area sites in washington to reevaluate the rest area design guidelines for the number of parking stalls, the water/sewage volume, and the number and ratio of women's to men's restroom stalls. the criteria for the number of parking stalls and water/sewage volume are affected by the increased highway traffic volume and a lower average vehicle occupancy. a fifty/fifty ratio of women's to men's stalls was the standard, but the results of the data analysis show that a sixty/forty ratio is more appropriate. a simulation program, written in lightspeed pascal, is available to assist in determining the respective number of stalls based on vehicle arrival rate. rest area, restroom design, design criteria, restroom stall ratio, parking guidelines, simulation program wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 180.1 | Automated Collision Diagram Production | Nyerges | TRAC/UW | 1989 | automated collision diagram production nyerges, t.l. collison diagrams are graphic representation of intersections, ramps, or roadway that provide detailed information about accidents at a specific location. the main purpose of collision diagrams is to serve as depictions of accident patterns, and they are used to evalute specific sites for possible causes of accidents. currently, the washington state department of transportatoin manually construct these diagrams. however, this study found collision diagrams could be produced with automated technology without changing the data structure of wsdot's accident data files. this study examined literature and existing software that other transportation agencies or vendors use to construct collision diagrams. this examination determined that computer generated diagrams created with that software lack graphic detail of individual intersections, are limited to a specific data structure, and are limited to two or three generic intersection depictions. several alternative means to construct enhanced diagrams were examined, including artificial intelligence (ai) techniques, to find a way to offer a more robust assortment of graphics. a prototype system for producing automated collison diagrams was developed. this washington automated collision diagramming system (wacds) has the following advatages over previous systems: (1) wacds intergrates the technologies of computer-aided drafting (cad) and database management to provide improved graphic detail and ease of utility. (2) wacds uses wsdot's current accident file data structures. (3) wacds is modular and can be modified, expanded, or shared without major software revision. the report discusses a strategy for fully implementing wacds at wsdot, in addition to a schedule for implementation. collision, diagrams, computer-aided drafting (cad), computer-assisted mapping trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 179.1 | New Transportation Revenue Sources for Washington State | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1989 | new transportation revenue sources for washington state ulberg, c., sangwan, s. washington state's biggest capital investment is at risk. its system of roadways, bridges, and railroad crossings is aging and deteriorating rapidly. traffic exceeds capacity on many stretches of local and state roads. wide-scale widening and rebuilding of bridges are needed throughout the state, and many railroad crossings need improvement. a recent federal highway administration (fhwa) study rated the seattle area traffic congestion the sixth worst in the nation. the road jurisdiction committee, which was appointed by the legislature to estimate roadway needs, has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the roadway needs of state, county, and city governments from 1987 to 2000. total statewide needs are projected to fall between $38.3 billion and $33.6 billion (current dollars) for the period 1987 through 2000, inclusive. however, only $13.7 billion in revenues is projected to be available to meet those needs. the purpose of this study is to examine potential sources of revenue in light of the considerable shortfall projected through the year 2000. the report covers existing revenue sources and some new sources of revenue currently under consideration, but concentrates on two: road use pricing and parking taxes. transportation planning, funding, road use pricing, parking taxes trac/uw 1989 |
| FerryScheduler User's and Reference Manual | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1989 | ferryscheduler user's and reference manual ulberg, c., hallenbeck, m.e., deardorf, r., cheng, k.t., fellows, r. ferryscheduler is a computerized scheduling assistant. it is designed to speed the scheduling process by automating the mathematics required to calculate each vessel's scheduled position. the project does not "automatically" produce schedules but rather performs the tedious computations required to determine each vessel's time table. because the calculations can be computed so quickly, the user has more time to create and investigate alternative schedules and service options. ferry vessel, scheduling, simulation, terminals, computer program trac/uw 1989 | |
| WA-RD 189.1 | Psychological Aspects of Mode Choice | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1989 | psychological aspects of mode choice ulberg, c. the primary objective of this report is to introduce psychological factors into the understanding and modeling of the mode choice process. substantial evidence shows that traditional models of mode choice, which emphasize time and costs and a rational decision-making process, are inadequate representations of how people make transportation choices. still, they are the primary methods practitioners use for transportation planning. the challenge is to develop models that can adequately represent qualitative factors and that also can be used for policy analysis and forecasting. three approaches to modeling mode choice were identified in this study: (1) rational, economic models-traditional models that employ measurements of actual time and cost and assume people are utility maximizers; (2) models employing attitudinal and perceptual variables - the application of psychology theories and psychometric techniques to quantify factors that are basically qualitative; and (3) activity-based travel analysis - these start with the assumption that transportation choices are merely a means to engage in activities and take into account spatial, household, and other constraints. each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. a successful method for modeling and understanding mode choice will borrow from each of these approaches. the report discussed several important issues in extending our understanding of the mode choice process. those discussions can be condensed into five main themes: (1) perceptions of time and cost are more important than actual time and cost; (2) qualitative variables are important, but they are interrelated and affect perceptions of time and cost; (3) demographic variables are relatively unimportant except as they relate to mode accessibility; (4) values, beliefs and psychological needs enter into the mode choice process; and (5) the formation and breaking of habit is the key to understanding the cognitive processes involved in transportation choices. transportation planning, mode choice, psychological, transportation models trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 193.1 | Ferry Pricing Strategies Analysis | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1989 | ferry pricing strategies analysis ulberg, c. this report describes the results of research response to various fare pricing strategies. this research builds on the analysis of fare elasticity conducted by the washington state transportation center (trac) under contract with the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). the basic objective of this study was to provide information from which to predict changes to revenues with changes in the fare structure. specific recommendations for an efficient and equitable fare structure require knowledge about more than the fare elasticities. the fare structure needs to reflect policies concerning the provision of mobility to island residents, achievement of a desirable ratio of revenue to operating costs, an optimal vehicle and walk-on passenger mix, and the like. however, fare elasticities can be used to explore the implications of different policies designed to address these issues. on the basis of the fare elasticity research, these observations can be made: (1) care should be taken when the fares in categories with elasticities less than -1 are increased. the probable result will be a net loss in revenue. (2) the loss in commuter ridership on cross-sound and vashon routes will probably be greater than any increase in fares. a reduction in fare may actually increase ridership enough to offset the loss. a properly priced monthly pass may be a very good way to attract more of these riders. (3) riders on the vashon and cross-sound routes have a very strong tendency to shift from vehicles to walking onto the ferries when fare increases. the fare structure can be used as a way to control the mix of vehicles and walk-on passengers. (4) for all three categories of oversized vehicles included in this study, ridership was elastic with respect to fares. increasing those fares apparently causes people not to make those trips or to divert them around the sound. this finding lends support to the idea of providing an off-peak discount for those vehicles. to achieve a higher degree of certainty in these findings and to make quantitative estimates of revenue impacts of fare changes, a different approach is required than the one used in this study. data needs to be collected on a disaggregate basis. the report outlines how this research should be carried out. marine, pricing, fare elasticity, ridership, data collection, ferry trac/uw 1989 |
| WA-RD 233.1 | Design Response Spectra for Washington State Bridges | Tsiatas | TRAC/WSU | 1989 | design response spectra for washington state bridges tsiatas, g., fragaszy, r.j., ho, c., kornher, k. this report presents site-dependent design response spectra which account for the effects of the soils and earthquakes that occur in washington state. a base spectrum and soil amplification spectra are developed that are correlated with a mapped severity coefficient. the base spectrum is selected with consideration given to the special characteristics of the subduction zone earthquakes likely to occur in this area. the computer program shake is used to develop the soil amplification spectra. soil profiles from 123 boring logs from actual bridge sites in washington are used in this research. the results are intended to replace corresponding sections of currently used aashto guidelines. response spectrum, seismic design, earthquake trac/wsu 1989 |
| State-of-the-Art Review of Adaptive Arterial Control Systems | Schroeder | TRAC/UW | 1989 | state-of-the-art review of adaptive arterial control systems schroeder, m. this paper explores four state-of-the-art urban traffic control systems and examines how easily they could be installed in u.s. cities. system-specific features, such as controllers and computers, are also compared. findings related to operation and test results are included for each system. traffic control, demand-responsive control, timing plans, signal control, signal timing trac/uw 1989 | |
| WA-RD 148.1 | Thin Overlay- Yakima River Bridge - Experimental Feature | Roper | WSDOT | 1989 | thin overlay- yakima river bridge - experimental feature roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr the washington state department of transportation will be conducting experimental field testing of several selected polymer concrete thin (1/4 inch) overlays over a ten-year period. the polymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry firms and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. approximately 21 bridges will be involved in the experiment; eight of these are included in federal participating projects as experimental features.washington state department of transportation will be conducting experimental field testing of several selected polymer concrete thin (1/4inch) overlays over a ten-year period. the polymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction 21 bridges will be involved in the experiment; eight of these are included in federal participating projects as features. the polymer concrete thin overlays were applied to the decks of the river bridge and the yakima river bridge under contract no. 3 sr 90 and sr 82, interchange to terrace heights. both bridges are steel truss bridges located on sr 82 just outside yakima, washington. both the epoxy overlay and the methacrylate overlays were versatile products apply under difficult traffic control conditions. starting and stopping the various pours to accommodate opening and closing of lanes for traffic proved satisfactory. to the extent possible, work was performed at night when traffic was light. all three lanes were then opened to traffic in the early morning to accommodate peak traffic conditions. bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck repairs, bridge decks, bridges, concrete, condition, construction, contracts, control, deck, epoxy, experimental, lanes, light, overlay, overlays, polymer, polymer concrete, steel, steel truss bridge, thin overlay, traffic, traffic control, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1989 |
| WA-RD 164.1 | Burlington Northern RailRoad Overcrossing Bridge Micrsilica Modified Concrete Overlay | Roper | WSDOT | 1989 | burlington northern railroad overcrossing bridge micrsilica modified concrete overlay roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr washington state has approximately 700 bridge decks that may require a latex modified concrete (lmc) overlay in the next 12 to 15 years. the microsilica concrete overlay is seen as a possible alternative to the increasingly expensive latex modified concrete.a microsilica modified concrete overlay was placed on bridge 5/718w in skagit county.the bridge is a concrete box girder structure with 8,100 square feet of deck area. the adt on this bridge is 9,150 vehicles per day.the minimum overlay thickness was 1% inches. superplasticizer was added to the mix. the concrete was mixed in a conventional batch plant with the technical representative from the microsilica supplier providing assistance. the microsilica modified concreteoverlay was finished and cured as prescribed by wsdotts specification for lmc overlays.the microsilica was supplied as a slurry. force 10,000, produced by w. r. grace and company, cambridge, massachusetts, was the source of the microsilica.the long-term performance evaluation of the microsilica-modified concrete will be based on a direct comparison with the lmc overlay to be constructed on bridge 5/71se. both bridges are of similar construction, have the same deck area and adt, and have existing decks with similar levels of chloride contamination. both overlays were constructed under the same contract. alternative, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, bridge deck repairs, bridge decks, bridges, chloride, concrete, concrete additives, construction, contamination, deck, evaluation, latex modified concrete, microsilica concrete, overlay, overlays, performance, performance evaluation, silica fume, specification, washington, washington state wsdot 1989 |
| A User-Based Approach to Providing Motorist Information for the Puget Sound Area | Haselkorn | TRAC/UW | 1988 | a user-based approach to providing motorist information for the puget sound area haselkorn, m., barfield, w., spyridakis, j. this state-of-the-art review focuses on how to transmit behavior-modifying traffic information to motorists in a manner that best meets the complex needs of the driving population. the first portion of this review is devoted to an examination of surveys that have been administered to determine drivers' responses to traffic information and other influences on route selection. methodologies as well as results of these surveys are discussed. the review also examines the various media that are currently being used, or have the potential to be used, to provide effective traffic information to motorists both pre-trip and en route. motorist information, decision-making, survey, media trac/uw 1988 | |
| WA-RD 162.1 | Regional Computer-Assisted Cartography Conference | WSDOT | 1988 | regional computer-assisted cartography conference in the fall of 1987, the office of planning of the federal highway administration sponsored two regional computer-assisted cartography conferences in olympia, washington, and harrisburg, pennsylvania. the washington state department of transportation hosted these "first time" events. their purpose was to bring and to learn about new technologies, techniques, and programs in the transportation cartographic field. this conference summary contains a wide variety of information. cartography wsdot 1988 | |
| WA-RD 151.1 | Gabion Wall Soil Interaction Study | Anderson | WSDOT | 1988 | gabion wall soil interaction study anderson, k.w. this report documents the limited results of a study which monitored the movement of a comparatively large (45 feet in height) gabion wall. the data collected indicated that about 4.5 inches of movement occurred at the top of the wall in the form of an outward tilt away from the backfill. design procedures used to construct the wall for a period now exceeding 12 years. data, design, gabion, inclinometer, pressure cell, soil wsdot 1988 |
| WA-RD 150.1 | Closed-Circuit Television System for Incident Identification and Verification: I-5, Seattle Freeway System | Anderson | WSDOT | 1988 | closed-circuit television system for incident identification and verification: i-5, seattle freeway system anderson, k.w. this report documents the operational success of a closed system television system for incident identification and verification on the interstate 5 freeway system through the city of seattle. the cctv system has proven to be a valuable tool in identifying the nature of incidents and in providing information that will aid in the dispatching of the correct service vehicles and in the warning of motorist of impending delays. closed circuit, freeway, incident, incident verification, newvicon tube, seattle, surveillance, televison wsdot 1988 |
| WA-RD 152.1 | Development of a Bridge Deck Management System for Washington State Department of Transportation | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1988 | development of a bridge deck management system for washington state department of transportation babaei, k. this report documents development of a systematic bridge deck management system ofr the washington state department of transportation. this system determines present and future bridge deck condition, estimates required reconstruction and its associated costs, and priortizes and selects reconstruction while considering either budget constraints or condition level constraints. bridge deck, management, concrete, deterioration, rehabilitation, protection trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 168.3 | Bending/Straightening and Grouting Concrete Reinforcing Steel: Review of Washington State Department of Transportation's Specifications and Proposed Modifications | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1988 | bending/straightening and grouting concrete reinforcing steel: review of washington state department of transportation's specifications and proposed modifications babaei, k., hawkins, n.m. this report consists of two volumes. the first volume reviews the wsdot's specification guidelines for field bending/straightening concrete reinforcing bars, and proposes modifications to those guidelines based on current knowledge. the second volume reviews the wsdot's specification guidelines for resin grouting epoxy-coated concrete reinforcing bars, and suggests modifications to the guidelines for grouting based on the available information. the recommendations for bending/straightening reinforcing bars involves bar diameter, bend diameter, heating temperature (hot-bending), and use of non-strain aging steel. the recommendations for resin grouting reinforcing bars involves embedment length, hole diameter, and type of resin. pavement management, concrete, reinforcing bar, bending, embrittlement, cracking, grouting, embedment length trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 168.1 | Bending/Straightening and Grouting Concrete Reinforcing Steel: Review of WSDOT'S Specification and Proposed Modifications | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1988 | bending/straightening and grouting concrete reinforcing steel: review of wsdot's specification and proposed modifications babaei, k., hawkins, n.m. this report consists of two volumes. the first volume reviews the wsdot's specification guidelines for field bending/straightening concrete reinforcing bars, and proposes modifications to those guidelines based on current knowledge. the second volume reviews the wsdot's specification guidelines for resin grouting epoxy-coated concrete reinforcing bars, and suggests modifications to the guidelines for grouting based on the available information. the recommendations for bending/straightening reinforcing bars involves bar diameter, bend diameter, heating temperature(hot-bending), and use of non-strain aging steel. the recommendations for resin grouting reinforcing bars involves embedment length, hole diameter, and type of resin. concrete, reinforcing bar, bending, embrittlement, cracking, grouting, embedment length trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 161.2 | A Personnel Scheduling Management System for Washington State Department of Transportation Construction Field Offices: An Investigation of Current Practices, Needs and Design Specifications | Blau | TRAC/UW | 1988 | a personnel scheduling management system for washington state department of transportation construction field offices: an investigation of current practices, needs and design specifications blau, m.e. this report describes the current status of personnel scheduling management in washington state department of transportation's construction field offices, assesses the current status, and outlines a conceptual personnel scheduling management system that may improve the existing situation. the report develops a model of personnel scheduling that becomes the basis for comparing current field office practices. instead of a unified personnel scheduling management system for all offices, four general levels of scheduling, labeled informal, 'to do' list, bar chart and network, were found. these are described in the report in detail. the assessment confirmed the existence of several constraints on personnel scheduling at the construction field office level. these constraints limit the field office project engineer in managing personnel schedules by restricting the schedule balancing options normally available in project management. this is particularly true with respect to the project dimension of the scheduling model. most of the constraints come from outside the field office. a unified personnel scheduling management system concept is outlined, based on patterns of scheduling already in existence at the field offices. despite the constraints, this system concept is expected to provide most project engineers with ways to improve their current personnel scheduling practices. three design approaches, a manual approach, a spreadsheet approach and a network approach, are suggested. personnel scheduling, personnel management, construction personnel scheduling, project management, scheduling systems trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 178.1 | Scour at Bridge Piers | Copp | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | scour at bridge piers copp, h. field measurements of riverbed scour at bridge piers were pursued during this research.this would provide additional information to determine applicability of an empirical estimating procedure for estimating such scour. two field sites on the okanagon river, and one on the yakima river were established; these were added to five sites already in existence. because direct measurement of scour depth during the highest stream flows cannot be made with accuracy, an indirect method of determining scour occurrences was established. in general, clear water scour occurs during high flows, some scour hole refill would occur during flow recession. otherwise, no refill could exist. field measurement of clear water scour quality was planned to define the possibility of scour hole refill. snowpacks in the state of washington during the winter of 1987-88 were unusually low. thus, flowrates from snowmelt were insufficiently high to create riverbed scour. consequently, conclusive evidence about scour at bridge piers didn't materialize. bridge and construction, hydraulics, rivers, riverbed scour, bridge pier scour trac/wsu 1988 |
| WA-RD 113.1 | Alternative Deicing (CMA Research) | Ernst | WSDOT | 1988 | alternative deicing (cma research) ernst, d.d. as part of the pooled fund research project, the washington state department of transportation was selected to field-test approximately 100 tons of calcium magnesium acetate (cma) to evaluate its potential as a deicing chemical with direct comparison to salt (sodium chloride) and urea. evaluation included all aspects of storage, handling, use, and performance. cma was applied whenever necessary at each test site, using the same application rates as presently used for salt. typical equipment consisted of front dump trucks with the spinner ahead of the rear axle, and rear discharge hopper trucks. all equipment was used without modification.the use of cma at the beginning of a storm reduced the amount of bonding of snow to the roadway surface. this effect of keeping the roadway surface bare for longer periods of time reduced the cost of snow fighting. this was accomplished with chemical application rate of 125 ibs. per lane mile.the addition of sand to cma reduced the problems of dust, caking and uneven distribution. the sand provided moisture and weight to the application resulting in a smoother, more even distribution. cma spread above was excessively dusty creating problems in the spreading and distribution. cma is slower to react on compact snow and ice than salt or urea. this delay in reaction time was not considered a handicap in the overall snow fighting procedure.the conclusion was that cma shows promise as a deicing-melting chemical. the problems of dust, light-weight and brittleness need further work and may be significantly alleviated by development of a hydrated compound. alternative, axle, chloride, cost, deicing (cma research), development, evaluation, field test, its, lightweight, performance, research, roadway, salt, snow, transportation, truck, trucks, washington, washington state, weight wsdot 1988 |
| WA-RD 139.1 | Job Satisfaction Survey | Fiedler | TRAC/UW | 1988 | job satisfaction survey fiedler, f.e., murphy, s.e. a job-satisfaction and morale survey was administered to all journey-level engineering technicians and transportation engineers of the washington state department of transportation (wsdot). no fewer than 745 of the 837 employees (89%) who received the questionnaires, responded. this unusually high response rate testifies to the salience of the issues covered by this survey, and this conclusion is further supported by the care with which the overwhelming majority of the questionnaires were completed.comments about various job-related concerns were obtained in interviews with 15 supervisors, engineers, and engineering technicians in four wsdot districts and incorporated in a 21-item questionnaire. the questionnaire also asked employees why they might consider leaving wsdot, and how much longer they planned to stay with wsdot. employees were classified on the basis of their tenure, age, district, job classification, ethic identification, work assignment, and college major.the questionnaire led to the identification of six areas of satisfaction factors. these are general satisfaction, satisfaction with supervisor, satisfaction with personnel practices, satisfaction with work environment, satisfaction with equity of work conditions, and involvement with the department. condition, environment, equity, interviews, job satisfaction, policy, sex, survey, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 163.1 | Estimating Pile Capacity | Fragaszy | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | estimating pile capacity fragaszy, r.j., higgins, j.d., argo, j.d. a comparative study of ten pile driving formulas is described. the formulas are the danish, enr, eytelwein, gates, hiley, janbu, navy-mckay, pcubc, and weisbach. the ultimate load for each of sixty-three load tests was determined using the q-d over 30 method to determine ultimate capacity.the predicted pile capacity was by the measured capacity to obtain normalized values. analysis for coefficient of variation were performed on the logarithm of the normal capacities to determine which formula provided the most consistent prediction of pile capacity. the gates formula proved to be the best and the widely used one of the worst with a coefficient of variation approximately 2-3 times higher than that for the gates formula. analysis, factor of safety, pile capacity, pile driving formulas, pile formulas, pile-driving, piles, prediction, tests, ultimate capacity trac/wsu 1988 |
| Summary Report of the Traffic Data Collection and Weigh-in-Motion Expert Task Groups | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1988 | summary report of the traffic data collection and weigh-in-motion expert task groups hallenbeck, m. e. this report documents the conclusions of the traffic data collection and wim expert task groups (etgs). it summarizes the data collection plan for the shrp ltpp project, lists the primary actions required by the shrp executive committee, describes the reasoning behind he selection of the preferred alternative, gives advice on the selection of equipment, provides insight into the intent behind the various recommendations, describes the major points made during the meetings of the two etgs, and provides general guidance to shrp on the collection, submittal, and manipulation of traffic data for the ltpp project. long-term pavement performance, ltpp, weigh-in-motion, traffic data, data collection trac/uw 1988 | |
| Freeway Management Working Paper: Current Development of Traffic Models | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1988 | freeway management working paper: current development of traffic models hallenbeck, m.e., lin, c. this paper provides an overview of traffic models that are available for use by wsdot. it is intended to provide a general review of modeling capabilities that exist today, and present a future vision of what these capabilities will be in the near future. the information collected for this paper was used to select models to be tested for improving the departments ability to manage traffic during construction projects as well as during normal operation. material presented in this document is based primarily on an extensive literature search, supplemented by the review of the documentation for a limited number of models, and the experience of project staff. many of the models reviewed are still undergoing modification and refinement and many of these changes are not addressed in the literature. thus, the reader should be aware that some models discussed within have capabilities not mentioned. traffic, management, modeling, construction, trac/uw 1988 | |
| WA-RD 156.2 | Traffic and Safety Analysis Procedures: Final Report | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1988 | traffic and safety analysis procedures: final report hallenbeck, m.e., rutherford, g.s., mccormack, e.d. this report summarizes a review of the procedures used by the washington state department of transportation for manipulating, storing, and analyzing traffic and accident data. the study summarized in this report compared existing wsdot procedures with those of other states and in the transportation literature. recommendations were then made for refining the wsdot procedures that will be included in the department's new data storage and analysis system known as trips (transportation information and planning support). incident management, accident analysis, database systems, traffic accident data trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 145.2 | Design Guide for Cut Slopes in Loess of Southeastern Washington | Higgins | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | design guide for cut slopes in loess of southeastern washington higgins, j.d., fragaszy, r.j. loess, cut slope, design trac/wsu 1988 |
| WA-RD 172.1 | Seismic Zonation for Highway Bridge Design | Higgins | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | seismic zonation for highway bridge design higgins,j. d., fragaszy,r. j., beard,l. d. this report includes a state-of-the-art review of seismicity, attenuation characteristics, and seismic zonation in washington and the pacific northwest. based on this information, a map of velocity-related acceleration coefficients for washington was developed. the map is in a format suitable for use in the aashto highway bridge design procedure. also, it is based on more detailed seismic and geologic data than the present aashto map and was developed specifically for washington rather than the entire united states. therefore, the map is suggested as a potential replacement for the present aashto map for seismic bridge design in washington. seismic zonation trac/wsu 1988 |
| WA-RD 160.1 | An Evaluation of Flagging Techniques and Devices on Two-Lane Highway Construction Zones | Hinze | TRAC/UW | 1988 | an evaluation of flagging techniques and devices on two-lane highway construction zones hinze,j ., ifie, a.o. various methods of controlling traffic through construction zones are examined. the accident statistics concerning construction flagging are summarized, indicating the need for improvements in construction flagging techniques. a research methodology is presented for implementing and evaluating several flagging techniques. construction, construction flagging, evaluation, flagging techniques, highway, highway construction, methodology, research, statistics, traffic, traffic control trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 177.1 | Extending Applications of Value Engineering within WSDOT | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | extending applications of value engineering within wsdot khisty, c.j., gripne, d., schwab, t. within the last few years, the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has been active in the field of value engineering as applied to activities in state departments of transportation. there has been extensive effort in implementing a value engineering studies program involving training of personnel and actual value engineering studies on selected design projects within the project development office of the highway division of the wsdot. however, within the other offices of the wsdot, there has been little or no value engineering applications on any specific items, projects or operations under their control. this research study has investigated the feasibility of applying value engineering to these other offices. it includes specific work items, projects and operations to be considered as possible areas where value engineering can be applied. research development, value engineering, maintenance, design process trac/wsu 1988 |
| WA-RD 153.1 | Development of P-Y Curves for Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in Western Washington | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1988 | development of p-y curves for analysis of laterally loaded piles in western washington kramer, s.l. a comprehensive review of literature pertaining to p-y curves analysis of laterally loaded piles was conducted. methods of analysis of laterally loaded piles were reviewed with particular emphasis on the applicability of p-y curves analysis. various existing procedures for development of p-y curves, and the data on which they are based, were also reviewed. case histories of well-documented, full-scale, field lateral load tests were identified and the soil conditions in which they were performed were summarized. the applicability of existing p-y curves criteria to western washington soil conditions was evaluated. analysis of the group behavior and full-scale, field lateral load test procedures were reviewed. piles, lateral loads, p-y -curves trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 143.2 | Regression Analysis for WSDOT Material Applications | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1988 | regression analysis for wsdot material applications mahoney, j.p. this document represents the course notes used in training wsdot personnel on regression modeling techniques. this work was done in conjunction with the development of pavement performance equations by wsdot personnel which were based on data in the wsdot pavement management system. this study was funded by the federal highway administration. regression, statistics, materials, pavement, models trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 143.1 | Pavement Performance Equations | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1988 | pavement performance equations mahoney, j.p., kay, r.k., jackson, n c. the wsdot pms database was used to develop regression equations for three pavement surface types: bituminous surface treatments, asphalt concrete and portland cement concrete. the primary regression equations developed were to predict pavement condition rating(pcr) which is a measure of the pavement surface distress (ranges from 100 (no distress) to below 0 (extensive distress)). overall, the equations fit the data rather well given the expected variation of pavement performance information. the relative effects of age (time since construction or reconstruction) were illustrated for the three surface types. pavement pcc, pavement, performance, statistics, regression, equations trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 159.1 | Driver Information Services: The Feasibility of Using Local Access Cable TV | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1988 | driver information services: the feasibility of using local access cable tv nihan, n.l., kirkemo, g. the feasibility of using local access cable tv as a driver information tool is explored. a literature review and a series of interviews were conducted and are described in the report. a survey of commuters in the seattle metropolitan area was also conducted and is described. analysis included developing a probabilistic model and using a computer-based model developed by the federal highway administration. an implementation plan and evaluation strategies are provided. conclusions include recommendations for further research. driver information service, cable tv, transportation systems management, behavior modeling, traffic advisories trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 157.1 | Auto Occupancy Monitoring | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1988 | auto occupancy monitoring ulberg, c., mccormack, e. d. there are only limited opportunities to add significantly to the transportation infrastructure in the puget sound region in the next 15 to 20 years. for this reason, there is a growing interest in improving the efficiency of the existing system. one way to do this is to increase the average vehicle occupancy (avo) on freeways and arterials. programs to accomplish this must be capable of evaluation. therefore, accurate and up-to-date information on avo is required. this research project investigated various methods to measure avo in order to determine the feasibility and costs of a continuous, ongoing data collection program. since it was determined that there are no promising approaches using automatic methods employing new technology, the study focused on the use of human observers. the degree of accuracy was studied using three observers counting the occupancy of the same vehicle at the same time. the results showed the observers can be highly accurate (correct 97 percent of the time) and that environmental conditions such as weather, light, traffic density, and traffic speed do not have exceptionally strong effects on accuracy (within reason). furthermore, observers can easily count up to a half hour at a time without fatigue affecting their performance. taking the results of this and previous research into account, it was determined that it is possible to provide quarterly counts of avo at 26 sites that are accurate to within about 1.5 percent for about $50,000 per year. this is about the cost of one data analyst, when benefits and overhead are taken into account. bridge and construction, piles, lateral loads, p-y curves, traffic surveillance and control, auto occupancy, traffic data, portable computer trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 121.2 | An Evaluation of the Cost Effectiveness of HOV Lanes | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1988 | an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of hov lanes ulberg, c. the cost effectiveness of high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes was anlayzed by comparing the costs and benefits of existing hov lanes with the hypothetical alternatives of doing nothing or adding a lane for general traffic. three specific sites in the seattle area were studied. a life-cycle costing approach was used.the main result of the study was that (for the three locations studied) the construction of hov lanes was the most cost-effective alternative. the "marginal net present value" of each of the projects was positive (on the order of $50 to $600 per commuter per year, depending on the specific comparison). the "marginal benefit/cost ratio" was greater than six for all cases.using extreme values for the elements of the model had little impact on the outcome of the study. using extreme values for any factor, one at a time, did not come close to reversing any of the findings. reversing the general finding of the study required extreme values for vitually all of the factors. it is extremely unlikely that all the elements of the model were distorted in a direction to cause this outcome. these findings showed that the three projects under consideration are very cost effective and should remain in place as hov lanes. in fact, the investment of additional funds to improve the operation of these lanes could clearly be justifield economically.the methodology developed for this study was incorporated into an easy-to-use computer program that assesses the cost-effectiveness of the construction of hov lanes in other locations. in order to save the costs of extensive data collection the sensitivity analysis approach developed in this study proved to be a valuable tool in the analysis of sites for hov lanes. instead of collecting extensive data to precisely quantify the cost-effectiveness of potential hov lanes, this method can be used to determine which factors can significantly affect the outcome. hov lanes, cost effectiveness, economic analysis, carpooling, life-cycle costing, costs analysis trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 154.1 | Highway Research Design Guide | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1988 | highway research design guide ulberg, c. this manual is intended for use by state departments of transportation to design and carry out highway research. the examples in the manual cover a wide range of typical research projects, from testing pavement overlays to evaluation of transportation system management experiments. the manual is divided into two parts. the first with issues in research design. eight potential pitfalls in research are identified and ways to deal with them are discussed. the second section contains a discussion of simple statistical methods likely to be encountered in highway research. research design, statistics trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 158.1 | Shaking Table Tests on Piles | Stanton | TRAC/UW | 1988 | shaking table tests on piles stanton, j. f., banerjee, s., izzat, h. this research was undertaken to explore the interaction behavior of soil-pile systems subjected to static and dynamic lateral loads. the principal objective of the study was to access the applicability and accuracy of one of the prominent methods of analysis by comparing the predicted responses with the measured responses. presented in this report are a brief survey of the related literature on the existing analysis techniques and previous experimental studies, the details of the experimental work performed under the current study, and the appraisal of the performance of a finite element program adopted for making theoretical predictions of the experimental responses.in the present study, both static and dynamic experiments were conducted to obtain experimental data against which the analytical predictions could be verified. the experiments included laboratory simulation of the response of piles subjected to static and dynamic lateral loads applied at the pile-head and of piles embedded in a soil deposit subjected to bedrock motions. finite element analyses of the model systems were carried out using reasonable estimates of the system parameters. no attempts were made to establish the model parameters through rigorous identification procedures. it is shown that the agreement between the predicted and measured responses can be excellent even of the properties and parameters of the soil-pile system are only roughly estimated. piles, shaking table, lateral loads, seismic behavior, earthquake, earthquake simulator, dynamic load test, bridge and construction trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 166.1 | Bridge Standards - Local Governments | Sorensen | TRAC/WSU | 1988 | bridge standards - local governments sorensen, h. in this study a survey was conducted to ascertain the needs of employees of local governmental agencies with regard to the conduct of the design of bridges. recommendations, relative to the development of standard plans which can be used by county engineers, are put forth. these recommendations are based on the needs of the local agencies, information regarding existing manufacturing capabilities, information concerning existing standard plans relative to bridges and information on an existing computer software program (bradd-2) which is available from the aashto. the information on which the recommendations were made was obtained by telephone conversations, written questionnaires and/or personal visits with/form/to 75 local agencies (46 cities and 39 counties) in the state of washington and by personal visits to 4 precasitng plants and 1 fabricating plant. agencies, bridge, bridge design, bridge standards, bridges, computer, concrete, counties, design, development, fabricators, local government, precast, prestressed, program, software, standard plans, suppliers, survey, washington trac/wsu 1988 |
| WA-RD 165.1 | Asphalt Extraction Study | Schultz | WSDOT | 1988 | asphalt extraction study schultz, r. l. this study compares the results of four asphalt extraction methods; the quick (wsdot 711), the vacuum (aashto t-164 method e-11), the centrifuge (aashto t-164 method a), and the reflux (aashto t-164 method d).the methods are compared on the basis of the amounts of trichloroethane used, the exposure to trichloroethane while testing, the time needed to do the testing, and the accuracy of the asphalt content and aggregate gradation determinations (with the reflux method serving as the standard of comparison). it was concluded that the quick method was the best alternative to the method, based primarily on the speed of the test and its close agreement with the method on asphalt content and percent passing the sieve. all methods provided exposure to trichloroethane vapor below the recommended allowable levels. aggregate, alternative, asphalt, asphalt content, exposure, extraction, gradation, its, speed, trichoroethane, wsdot wsdot 1988 |
| WA-RD 156.1 | Traffic and Safety Procedure: Project Report on the Safety and Accident Procedures | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1988 | traffic and safety procedure: project report on the safety and accident procedures rutherford, g.s., hallenbeck, m.e., mccormack, e.d. this report evaluates the existing procedures used by the washington state department of transportation for collecting, storing and analyzing accident information. the report reviews published literature on accident analysis systems, reviews the proposed system design for accident analyses within the trips computer system, and makes recommendation as to how wsdot should alter their existing and planning systems to provide more appropriate accident analysis capabilities to the department. incident management, accident analysis, database systems, traffic accident data trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 112.3 | Ferry Systems Data, Scheduling and Billing Final Report on Automated Vehicle Toll Collection | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1988 | ferry systems data, scheduling and billing final report on automated vehicle toll collection rutherford, g.s., hallenbeck, m.e. this report examines the feasibility of implementing an automated vehicle toll collection system for the washington state ferry system. the study concluded that such a system would pay for itself in four to five years. impelementation of such a system is not recommended at this time, but it should be considered after similar projects, ongoing in other states, demonstrate that the avi technology has achieved the accuracy and reliability requirements of a toll collection system. marine, avi, automated toll collection, automated vehicle identification, miscellaneous library trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 171.1 | Freeway and Arterial Management Effort (FAME) Research Plan | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1988 | freeway and arterial management effort (fame) research plan rutherford, g. s., hallenbeck, m. e. fame will be performed as nine separate but related tasks. these tasks will be pursued parallel to each other and will integrate together as they are completed. the basic tasks to be performed are as follows: *improve motorist information system. *develop incident management systems. *implement traffic management systems for construction projects. *design and implement real-time freeway management systems. *design and implement real-time arterial management systems. *integrate the arterial and freeway management systems. *analyze the potential effects of new technologies for relieving congestion. *develop improved treatment for hovs. *improve methods for managing traffic demand of new developments. the above tasks will be conducted in a manner that produces a series of tools and products that can be incrementally implemented to improve the flow of traffic in the state's urban areas. arterial management, freeway management, traffic surveillance and control, transportation planning trac/uw 1988 |
| WA-RD 087.2.2 | Cathodic Protection for Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks | Roper | WSDOT | 1988 | cathodic protection for reinforced concrete bridge decks roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr under fhwa demonstration project no. 34, "cathodic protection for reinforced concrete bridge decks," a non-slotted cathodic protection system was installed on the deck oft h yakima river bridge 24/5, near yakima, washington, in the summer of 1985. the project involves repairing the deck, then fastening raychem premanufactured anodes to the deck to impress current to the top mat rebar. impressing current through the concrete to the top mat steel prevents further corrosion of the steel. a latex -modified concrete overlay was placed over the deck anode. some of the embedded monitoring devices have failed, but this is not considered a problem, since the system is voltage controlled and not potential controlled. cathodic protection, bridge decks wsdot 1988 |
| WA-RD 147.1 | PlusRide And BoniFibers Evaluation SR 530 Stanwood Vicinity | Anderson | WSDOT | 1987 | plusride and bonifibers evaluation sr 530 stanwood vicinity anderson, j.l. asphalt mixes modified with the addition of reclaimed rubber granules (plusride) and polyester fibers (bonifibers) were used in a 0.12-ft overlay of a badly distressed section of ac pavement. the distress consisted of transverse and longitudinal cracking which was reflecting through from the underlying old pcc pavement and severe alligator cracking which was an age related fatigue problem. a section of standard class b dense graded acp was also put down to serve as a control section for judging performance.the three sections are to be monitored over a period of three years to determine the effectiveness of the asphalt additive products in preventing the reflection of the distresses noted in the underlying pavementfrom showing through in the overlay. the first year inspection revealed that the plusride section was showing some longitudinal cracking over the old pcc lane edge. the bonifibers section was also showing the same longitudinal distress over the lane edge of the underlying pcc plus a small amount of transverse cracking. additive, alligator cracking, asphalt, asphalt pavement mixtures, bonifibers, control, cracking, distress, effectiveness, evaluation, fatigue, inspection, overlay, pavement, pcc, performance, plusride, polyester, polyester fibers, reflective crack prevention, rubber wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 131.1 | Asphalt-Rubber Open-Graded Friction Course | Anderson | WSDOT | 1987 | asphalt-rubber open-graded friction course anderson, k.w. this report describes the construction of experimental asphalt-rubber open-qraded friction course overlays on i-5 in vancouver, washington. a 1200 foot section of open-graded pavement was included as a control section. evaluations will be conducted over a period of three years to measure the performance of the rubber and polymer sections against the control section of conventional open-graded pavement.initial observations and tests show no significant differences between the control and the asphalt-rubber and polymer sections. asphalt, asphalt pavement, asphalt-rubber, construction, control, evaluation, experimental, friction, friction course, open-graded, overlay, overlays, pavement, performance, plusride, polymer, rubber, tests, washington wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 110.1 | Joint Sealant Materials | Anderson | WSDOT | 1987 | joint sealant materials anderson, k.w. three joint sealant materials were installed in a special test section of a portland cement concrete pavement rehabilitation project located on i-90 near hyak, washington. the three materials (1) dow corning 888 silicon; (2) crafco roadsaver 231; and (3) crafco roadsaver 221 will be monitored for a period of three years to determine their service life and cost-effectiveness.initial inspections indicate very good performance for all three materials although problems with one area of the silicon sealant test section required a modification of the standard installation procedures to produce a satisfactory final product. concrete, inspection, joints, materials, pavement, performance, portland cement concrete, rehabilitation, washington wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 107.1 | Flexolith Overlay - Post Construction Report | Anderson | WSDOT | 1987 | flexolith overlay - post construction report anderson, k.w. this report describes the installation and post-construction evaluation of a thin, lightweight epoxy concrete bridge deck overlay. this subject "flexolith" epoxy concrete system was installed by dural international corporation on a bridge located on i-82 near ellensburg, washington.the application of the overlay was unique in both the use of a special machine which mixed the epoxy components with the aggregates and the use of a vibratory screed to distribute and level the epoxy concrete to the desired depth. a small segment of the overlay, however, was placed using the more common broom and seed method of installation.post-construction testing showed that the overlay has adequate bond strength, extremely high friction resistance and is performing adequately as a waterproof membrane. the only deficiencies noted were a nonuniform surface texture and profile. a recommendation was made to not allow the use of the vibratory screed method until improvements are made to insure that the final product will have a surface texture and profile equivalent to overlays placed with the broom and seed method. aggregate, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, bridge decks, concrete, concrete bridge, construction, epoxy, evaluation, lightweight, membrane, overlay, overlays, profile, resistance, strength, washington wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 137.1 | Evaluation of Concrete Overlays for Bridge Applications | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1987 | evaluation of concrete overlays for bridge applications babaei, k. this report documents performance of 12 concrete bridge decks that were rehabilitated and/or protected with latex-modified concrete and low-slump dense concrete overlays in order to prevent future de-icing salt penetration and reinforcing steel corrosion. regardless of concrete deterioration caused by rebar corrosion, the overlaid bridge decks will require maintenance in the form of resurfacing in the future. this maintenance may be due to traffic action and a severe environment causing surface distress such as scaling, rutting, and a lack of skid resistance, or stripping of the overlays from the decks. there are indications that the continued corrosion of reinforcing steel in the salt contaminated underlying decks is less extensive in the absence of overlay surface cracking. bridge and construction, bridge deck, reinforcing steel, corrosion, salt, deterioration, latex-modified concrete, low-slump dense concrete trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 100.1 | Pricing Policy for the Washington State Ferry Systems | Berney | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | pricing policy for the washington state ferry systems berney, r.e., wallace, n.e. this study considers how prices are first set in the private sector using simple, micro-economic models. second, it considers how prices should be set in the public sector using the theoretical framework of user charges in public finances. third, we look at how prices are established in the transportation literature, with the highway transportation literature being considered the more relevant. then how prices are determined in washington's transportation system, in general, and the ferry system in specific were analyzed. empirical evidence on washington's ferry system fares and subsidies were studied as was evidence on the price elasticity of demand for various transportation services. finally, the impacts of changing the price level for ferry services was considered as were a number of recommendations for pricing policy changes. marine, pricing, fare elasticity, ridership, data collection, ferry trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 102.1 | Changeable Message Sign | Blodgett | WSDOT | 1987 | changeable message sign blodgett, f. j. a changeable message sign to inform, warn and direct traffic was installed in vancouver, washington prior to the initiation of major reconstruction on the interstate 5 corridor. despite some operational problems, the sign proved to be of considerable value in informing motorists of the changing roadway configurations necessitated by the construction operations. the use of similar signs in other locations was recommended. changeable message sign, construction, reconstruction, roadway, traffic, washington wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 120.1 | The Washington State Transportation -Oriented Input-Output Study for 1982 | Bourque | TRAC/UW | 1987 | the washington state transportation -oriented input-output study for 1982 bourque,p. j. this report provides estimates of the value of outputs, inputs, and markets served by elements of the transportation services industries in washington state. this study is an extension of the washington state input-output study for 1982 by the inclusion of a detailed examination (by mode of transportation) of purchase-sales relationships.a gross flows matrix (62 x 64) direct requirements table (59 x 59) and output multiplier matrix with households endogenous are included. impact multipliers (value added, earnings, jobs) for the transport sectors are included. the study estimates of the economic importance of the transportation industry in washington. the model facilitates the evaluation of the impact of autonomous changes in the demand for transportation services upon the of the regional economy, and the estimation of the impacts of changes in the rest-of-the-economy upon the demand for transportation services in washington state. demand, evaluation, flow, households, impact, impacts, input-output, model, transport, transport economics, transportation, transportation service, value-added, washington, washington state trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 126.1 | Changes in Intermodal Transportation in Washington and Impacts on Road Infrastructure | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | changes in intermodal transportation in washington and impacts on road infrastructure casavant, k.l., newkirk, j., lenzi, j.c. this study evaluated the changes occurring in intermodal (piggyback) transportation and the impacts of these changes on the infrastructure system. past and present structures of the intermodal system were documented both nationally and in the state of washington. an on-site review of the remaining "hub" centers was conducted. it was found the impact of these changes is mixed. traffic is up in some areas and down in the others. ninety-two percent of the traffic is in western washington but most of the infrastructural damage is at eastern or central washington locations. continued monitoring will be useful. piggyback, highway impacts, intermodal trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 135.1 | A Preliminary Review of Impacts on Washington County Roads of Grain Transportation Changes | Casavant | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | a preliminary review of impacts on washington county roads of grain transportation changes casavant, k.l., sanders, b., lenzi, j.c. this preliminary study identified the impact on county roads of changes in the grain transportation system. county engineers were surveyed in a 10 county study area in eastern washington to identify the location, cause and magnitude of these impacts. it was found that railline abandonment and traffic to multiple car loading facilities were principal causes. total needs were estimated by the county engineers to be about $1.5 billion, abot $219 million per county for the seven responding counties. specific impacts caused by grain transportation changes could range up to 60-70% of that value, based on preliminary analysis in two of the counties. these preliminary estimates lacked hard data; the forthcoming rjc study should give a more specific estimate of that impact. as private decisions continue to impact public infrastructure, new funding processes may be needed. county road impacts, grain transportation, rail line abandonment, multiple car loading, facilities trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 129.1 | Acoustic Characteristics of Roadway Characteristics | Chalupnik | TRAC/UW | 1987 | acoustic characteristics of roadway characteristics chalupnik, j.d., anderson, d. this project studies the ways is which tire noise changes as the pavement on which they run ages and wears. initial measurements of the levels and spectral distribution of noise generated at the tire-road surface interface have been made on a number of road surfaces of a variety of asphaltic and concrete compositions. in all, noise characteristics from thirty-one road-way sections are under biannual study. all of these sections were freshly completed within six months of the initiation of the study. data from the first four biannual sessions are presented in graphical form. environmental, tire noise, tire, road noise, roadway noise, roadway aging trac/uw 1987 |
| WSC2-PMS Users Manual | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1987 | wsc2-pms users manual christensen, d.r., ratnayake, s.c.b this is the users manual for the software that has derived through the joint development of a pavement management system (pms) for use by the cities and counties of the state of washington. this system makes full use of existing analysis software and experience provided by the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) through its ongoing pavement management procedures. the system is currently being implemented and is expected to be used by most cities and counties within washington state. the joint efforts of the cities and counties in the development, implementation, and training associated with the final pms was very successful. this should help to develop an improved environment for the overall management of pavements within the state. the system was implemented on ibm-pc type hardware and is structured to provide a complete, stand-alone management system for pavements, as well as for general inventory, traffic and other pavement related data. pavement management system, pms, microcomputer trac/uw 1987 | |
| WA-RD 118.1 | Riverbed Scour at Bridge Piers | Copp | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | riverbed scour at bridge piers copp, h., johnson, j.p. scour, riverbed scour, bridge pier scour, erosion trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 138.1 | Seismic Response of Tieback Retaining Walls, Phase I | Fragaszy | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | seismic response of tieback retaining walls, phase i fragaszy, r.j., denby, g., higgins, j.d., ali, n, the current design practice used by wsdot for the design of permanent tieback walls is to assume that the static design of a tieback wall retaining clayey soils provides an adequate reserve of strength to prevent failure during seismic loading. this design procedure is based largely on the assumption that the soil and the wall move together ground shaking and that significant loads are not produced. for tieback walls retaining sandy soils, it is assumed that dynamic loads are produced. mononobe-okabe dynamic soil pressures are added to the design pressure to account for the dynamic load. the validity of these assumptions and the resultant design practices is evaluated in this study. a pilot numerical study was conducted on a forty foot high wall with three levels of tiebacks using the program flush. it was found that the wall and the soil tend to move in-phase and only negligible dynamic tie forces are generated. however, the soil above and below the excavation level tends to move out-of-phase, leading to significant dynamic pressures and bending moments in the wall and near the excavation level. it appears that in least some cases, tieback walls with an adequate static safety factor may suffer significant damage or fail during seismic loading and that the use of mononobe-okabe dynamic pressures may be conservative. account, bending, damage, design, earthquake, forces, loads, pressure, program, retaining wall, retaining walls, safety, sandy soils, seismic, seismic loading, seismic response, soil, soil pressure, strength, tieback walls, tiebacks, walls, wsdot trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 106.1 | Traffic Barrier Systems Service Level I (SL-1) Bridge Rail | Gripne | WSDOT | 1987 | traffic barrier systems service level i (sl-1) bridge rail gripne, d. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) designed and installed service level 1 (sl-1) bridge rails on three treated timber bridges in the state. to date there have been no accidents or maintenance problems reported at any of the modified bridges. accidents, bridge, bridge rail modification, bridges, maintenance, rail for timber bridge, systems, traffic, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 112.2 | Ferry Systems Data, Scheduling and Billing, Scheduling Systems Analysis | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1987 | ferry systems data, scheduling and billing, scheduling systems analysis hallenbeck, m.e. this report describes the feasibility, costs and benefits of automating the vessel and crew scheduling functions of the marine division of the washington state department of transportation. the project examined the needs of the marine division, reviewed its current procedures, and compared available commercial and public domain software packages. some existing packages intended for use by the transit and airline industries offer promise, but all the packages examined require considerable modification to meet the needs of the marine division. analysis, automated toll collection, automated vehicle identification, avi, benefit, benefits, billing, cost, costs, crew scheduling, data, ferry, ferry system, its, marine, public, scheduling, scheduling systems, software, systems, transit, transportation, vessel, washington, washington state trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 112.1 | Ferry Systems Data, Scheduling and Billing | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1987 | ferry systems data, scheduling and billing hallenbeck, m.e. this report contains findings and recommendations form work performed in task 1 of the project, ferry system data, scheduling and billing. it describes the data required by the washington state ferry system management and staff for the operation and management of the system. it describes the collection, manipulation, storage and retrieval of those data, and it provides a list of recommended changes that should take place within those procedures to improve the entire data collection and manipulation process. avi, automated toll collection, automated vehicle identification, marine, data collection, ferry system, information systems trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 092.1 | Truck Weight Using the FHWA Bridge Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) System | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1987 | truck weight using the fhwa bridge weigh-in-motion (wim) system hallenbeck, m. e., hooks, j. this report documents the testing and research performed by the washington state transportation center (trac) using the federal highway administration's (fhwa) bridge weigh-in-motion (wim) system. the purpose of this project was to allow washington state department of transportation personnel to gain experience using a bridge wim system and to determine the accuracy of such a system on bridges common in the state of washington. the system was tested on four concrete bridges (one arched slab, one box girder, and two pre-tensioned concrete girders) with moderate to heavy traffic volumes. the system gave reasonable axle and gross vehicle weights under ideal conditions, but showed major limitations under high volumes. over the life of the project, mean gross vehicle weight errors for individual trucks ranged between 11 and 18 percent with tandem and single axle weights having high mean errors. errors for mean population gross vehicle weight estimates averaged 2 percent. weigh-in-motion , wim, bridge, truck, weight, scales trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 141.1 | Testing of the French Piezo-Electric Cable Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Truck Scale | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1987 | testing of the french piezo-electric cable weigh-in-motion (wim) truck scale hallenbeck, m. e., hawkins, n. m., chang, j. this report documents the testing of a piezo-electric cable weigh-in-motion (wim) truck scale. the equipment tested was developed by the french national laboratory, laboratorie central des ponts et chausees. tests were made on the accuracy of the system's static weight estimates, its estimates of vehicle speed, and its classification of vehicles. speed and vehicle classification estimates were quite good. weight estimates did not meet the proposed help system specifications. the standard deviation of the difference between wim and static gross vehicle weights was approximately 20 percent. tests were also performed to examine the effects of tire pressure, speed and lane position on the voltage output of the cable. of these variables, tire pressure was determined to most highly effect cable voltage output. reduction of tire pressures from 105 psi to 75 psi had a statistically significant effect on cable voltage output. wim, weight, weigh-in-motion, truck scales, piezo-electric trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 104.1 | Effectiveness of Darex Corrosion Inhibitor- Final Concrete Deterioration | Henley | WSDOT | 1987 | effectiveness of darex corrosion inhibitor- final concrete deterioration henley, e.h. jr darex corrosion inhibitor (dci) was specified for use in the dogfish bay bridge on sr 308 in kitsap county. the bridge is a 90-foot long structure located within a tidal zone. the superstructure is an 18-inch deep prestressed concrete slab. darex corrosion inhibitor (dci) was specified for use in the dogfish bay bridge on sr 308 in county. the bridge is a 90-foot long structure located within a tidal zone. the superstructure is an 18-inch deep prestressed concrete slab. the end piers and two intermediate piers each consist of six 16%-inch prestressed concrete piles. dci was added to all concrete used in the slab and piles except for four control piles (one in each pier). the supplier, grace construction products, claims that the calcium nitrite contained in dci will, when used as an additive in the recommended dosage, strengthen the passivating film around the reinforcing steel "making it more resistant to chloride penetration," thereby protecting the steel against corrosion. (the process is explained in detail in appendix a. ) however, only half of the recommended amount of dci was added to the test sections. at this dosage, dci appears to be no more effective than standard portland cement concrete in preventing corrosion of the reinforcing steel. additive, bridge, bridges substructure, calcium nitrite, chloride, claims, concrete, construction, control, corrosion, counties, darex corrosion inhibitor, dci: calcium nitrite, deterioration, effectiveness, piers, piles, portland cement concrete, prestressed, prestressed concrete, reinforcing steel, steel, superstructure wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 145.1 | Engineering Design in Loess Soils of Southeastern Washington | Higgins | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | engineering design in loess soils of southeastern washington higgins, j.d. part i of this report focuses on the comparison of strength parameters of the loess soils.of southeastern washington obtained by laboratory triaxial shear testing and in situ testing using the iowa borehole shear test (ibst). also, the disturbance of samples due to sampling technique is addressed. loess samples tested with the ibst generally produce a lower cohesion but higher friction angle than if the same soils were tested by a ucu triaxial test. also, the ibst produces a higher cohesion and a lower friction angle than a cu test. the failure envelopes tend to merge at higher normal stresses.part ii of this report suggests drainage schemes to protect cut slopes in loess from rapid deterioration by erosion. this part of the report is a continuation of work completed under an earlier contract (wa-rd-69.1). specific drainage schemes to divert surface water around or over cut slopes in loess are discussed.// loess, erosion, shear strength, sampling trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 146.1 | Stress Wave Inspection | Hoyle | TRAC/UW | 1987 | stress wave inspection hoyle, r.j. jr, rutherford, g.s. this report is designed to provide information to guide inspectors of wood highway structures in the use of stress wave inspection technology. it explains the methods and instruments used to measure the velocity of stress waves (sound) in wood. the characteristic behavior of sound waves in wood of various species, moisture content, preservative treatment and infection by wood destroying organisms is described. the important effects of the anatomy of wood and the orientation of grain and annual rings to the wave path are discussed to aid in the interpretation of measurements. characteristics of the instrumentation essential to its calibration are explained and instruction is provided in the appropriate use of these tools. this report has been written to serve as a manual for "on site " stress wave inspection of the kind of wood structures found in highway systems. it is a compendium or experience in the field inspection of many wood buildings and highway bridges. original research conducted to fill in voids in the published studies, is described in the appendices. behavior, bridge, bridges, calibration, grain, highway, insect damage, inspection, its, manual, nondestructive testing, research, sound waves, stress waves, stresses, structures, systems, technology, termite damage, velocity, wood decay trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 155.1 | Design of Continuous Bridges Using Precast, Prestressed Concrete Girders without Endblocks | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | design of continuous bridges using precast, prestressed concrete girders without endblocks itani, r., hiremath, g.s., vasisth, u. this study investigated the feasibility of eliminating endblocks from pretensioned continuos bridge girders. the removal of endblocks is estimated to reduce girder costs by 5 to 10 percent. the girders studied were the washington state department of transportation's "series 14". these girders are characterized by 5 inch thick webs and are prestressed with both harped and straight 1/2 inch diameter grade 270 stands. previous research had recommended the elimination of endblocks for simple span bridges. this study dealt with continuous bridges.the research consisted test and a destructive laboratory test. the field test was used identify bases for the destructive testing. "series14 " girder with endblocks and "series 60" girders without endblocks were instrumented with strain gages and monitored from the time they manufactured to the time thel oads were tested on the bridge. the laboratory test was performed with a balanced cantilever arrangement using two "14" girders without without endblocks. the joint at the support was made continuous by providing deck reinforcement in a manner similar to reinforcing details used by wsdot. concentrated incrementally applied at a distance of 13 ft.10 inches from the continuous support. the modified girders performed effectively under applied loads. therefore, endblocks may be removedfrom continuous series "14" girders with normal diaphragms. the study recommends that one "series 14" continuous girder without endblocks be designed and monitored through the various stages ofconstruction and service in another bridge. base, bridge, bridges, concrete, construction, cost, costs, deck, design, diaphragms, endblocks, field test, girders, loads, prestressed, prestressed concrete, prestressing, pretensioned, reinforcement, research, span, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 124.1 | Bridge Deck Moisture Measurement | Janssen | TRAC/UW | 1987 | bridge deck moisture measurement janssen, d. moisture is a primary contributing factor in the long term durability of bridge decks. moisture is involved in freeze-thaw problems in portland cement concrete and in corrosion of reinforcing steel. chloride ions, another factor contributing to corrosion, are normally transported through the concrete bridge deck to the reinforcing steel by moisture.moisture measurement techniques were examined and one of the methods, peltier-type psychrometers, was used to measure bridge deck moisture. measurements were made at depths of 0.5, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 - 5.5 in. both negative and positive moment regions were instrumented. the degree of saturation at the level of the reinforcing steel was found to be about 90 percent, with little variation over the two month period that measurements were taken. moisture fluctuations could lead to increased migration of chloride ions to the reinforcing steel. measurement of moisture content distributions before and after wetting a bridge deck could be used as an indicator of corrosion protection provided by overlays. pavement management trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 125.1 | Inexpensive Travel Demand Techniques | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | inexpensive travel demand techniques khisty, c.j., rahi, m.y. conventional urban travel demand models, which are data-hungry, costly and mainly meant for large cities and metropolitan areas are not suitable for small urban areas with a population of 50,000 or less. these small urban areas generally lack the staff, expertise and budget to operate the conventional models. this report examines the applicability of simplified travel demand models suitable for small urban areas. the scope of this research is limited to simplified travel demand forecasting techniques that make use of routinely collected traffic ground counts. a total of thirteen methods are examined, of which four are discussed in detail, by applying them in a common setting. their input requirements and usability are examined. contacts with selected mpos, cogs, planning commissions in the state of washington reveal that such methods will be useful in small urban areas considering the staff, expertise, and budget limitation available. currently, these small urban areas use unproven heuristic methods. the use of methods described in this report will considerably help small urban areas to forecast travel demands using traffic ground counts and socioeconomic data. travel demand, modeling trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 119.1 | Low Speed-Concrete Barrier End Treatment | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | low speed-concrete barrier end treatment khisty, c.j., rahi, m.y. low-cost end treatments for concrete barriers and crash cushions/impact attenuators are explored and described for low-speed (40 mph or less) highways. various proprietary and non-proprietary end treatments have been developed and used in recent years, but most of these systems are costly and are designed for an impact speed of up to 60 mph. as part of the process of collecting information on these devices, a number of selected state dots were contacted to obtain their experiences in using crash cushions/impact attenuators on their low-speed highways. while most of the dots contacted have been using these systems at hazardous locations on low-speed highways they felt that there is a need for inexpensive low-speed crash cushions and attenuators which would serve the purpose at such locations. research reports, vendor literature, and contacts with state dots yielded 25 different barrier end treatment systems, and these are described in this report. crash cushions, end treatment, impact attenuators, low-speed safety trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 103.1 | Highway Advisory Radio | Krug | WSDOT | 1987 | highway advisory radio krug, h.o. a highway advisory radio (har) system was installed on i-90, snoqualmie pass to inform motorists of winter driving conditions. despite numerous operational problems with equipment, the service has been well received by the traveling public. the system was found to have an added benefit during the summer months as an information system to alert motorists of delays or other problems caused by construction activities. the har system on snoqualmie pass has been expanded and additional systems have been installed in the seattle area to inform motorists of construction activities. benefit, condition, construction, har, highway, highway advisory radio, public, seattle, systems, winter, winter driving wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 140.1 | Traffic Sign Retroreflectivity Measurement Using Human Observers | Lagergren | TRAC/UW | 1987 | traffic sign retroreflectivity measurement using human observers lagergren, e. this report is an investigation of the current methodology used to evaluate traffic sign retroreflectivity under actual highway conditions. the report consists of three parts: a literature survey, a questionnaire, and the training and analysis of human observers to rate traffic sign retroreflectivity. the literature survey and questionnaire concluded that human subjectivity judgment is almost exclusively used to evaluate traffic sign retroreflectivity. instruments are not used for large inventories because of cost and computer-based sign management systems are in the early stages of development and not used. the questionnaire also revealed that few states have any policy for sign replacement. the main objective of the research was to assess the accuracy of using human observers to evaluate traffic sign retroreflectivity. observers were trained to rate warning and stop sign retroreflectivity in two experiments. after the training the observers evaluated signs on two highway courses. the observer sign ratings and the sign rating calculated using a retroreflectometer were incorporated into a decision model to replace or not replace a sign based on the sign condition and environment. the individual observers made correct decisions on 74 percent of the warning signs and 75 percent of the stop signs. the literature survey and questionnaire concluded that at present there is no method of sign review other than the trained observer that is suitable for large sign inventories.. the experiments have demonstrated that a trained observer is a valuable part of a sign maintenance program. agencies will have to continue to rely on observers' judgments for some time to come. retroreflectivity, traffic surveillance and control trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 134.1 | Double Bottom Truck Accidents on Interstate 90: Project Report | McCormack | TRAC/UW | 1987 | double bottom truck accidents on interstate 90: project report mccormack,e. d. the increasing use of double trailer trucks on the nation's highways has raised concerns about their safety, especially as compared to the more common single-trailer trucks. the purpose of this study was to examine the accident rate of double-trailer, often known as double-bottom, trucks as compared to single-trailer trucks on the snoqualmie pass portion of interstate-90. unfortunately, accurate data concerning truck accidents and truck volumes could not be developed from current data sources. incident management trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 109.1 | TeleCommunications Link Implementation | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1987 | telecommunications link implementation nihan, n.l. the telecom link established between the university of washington and the wsdot traffic systems management center (tsmc) was updated during this project in order to handle the shift made by the tsmc from a 1700 loop surveillance system to a 2200 loop system. special computer programs were also written to provide specialized summary statistics for key stations. the new software allowed statistics for key stations to be collected and summarized during data transfer. the entire transfer retrieval system was streamlined during the telecom project to reduce costs. finally, freeway incident analysis was performed with a data set to demonstrate the use of the new system for tsm research. analysis, computer, computer program, cost, costs, data, data management, data transfer, freeway, freeway surveillance and control, incident, management, program, ramp metering, research, software, statistics, surveillance, systems, telecommunications, telecommunications link, traffic, traffic systems management, transportation systems management, tsm, washington, wsdot trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 099.1 | Impacts of Freeway Surveillance and Control on Eastbound SR 520 | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1987 | impacts of freeway surveillance and control on eastbound sr 520 nihan, n.l. the project entitled "impacts of freeway surveillance and control on eastbound sr 520" analyzed and evaluated the impacts of ramp metering and a new ramp hov lane on eastbound sr 520, which connects seattle and the eastside suburbs. data analyzed included origin-destination surveys, manual vehicle occupancy counts, floating car travel times, queue-length counts, electronic volume and lane occupancy values, and bus travel times. the results showed that the numbers of carpools and vanpools were significantly increased on the ramp with the new hov lane and overall level-of-service was improved for mainline sr 520. a significant number of trips were diverted form the local neighborhood to i-5. queue lengths and travel times to the ramp mergers with the mainline increased significantly for both ramps. this was an expected result and had the desired effect of diverting trips from the neighborhood and increasing hov ridership. freeway surveillance and control, transportation system management, ramp metering, high occupancy vehicle lanes, hov, before-and-after studies trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 115.2 | Evaluation of Delineation Systems for Temporary Traffic Barriers in Work Zones: Executive Summary | Ugwoaba | TRAC/UW | 1987 | evaluation of delineation systems for temporary traffic barriers in work zones: executive summary ugwoaba, g. this study investigated the effectiveness of various barrier-mounted reflectors. barrier delineators come in different shapes and sizes, and their materials and installation labor costs also differ. they can be mounted on the barrier top, the barrier face, or even on the pavement. a delineator's level of effectiveness depends on the type of delineators as well as its placement. the study concluded that drivers need the guidance of delineators most when they are confronted with opposing traffic headlight glare. devices placed on top of the barrier are washed out by headlight glare and therefore are not effective. the best placement of concrete barriers is on the barrier face. a delineator loses more than half of its reflectiveness in a short period because of dirt accumulation. concrete median barriers, traffic barriers, reflector, delineator trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 130.1 | PlusRide Asphalt Pavement (SR 405/S Curves) | Peters | WSDOT | 1987 | plusride asphalt pavement (sr 405/s curves) peters, a.j., schultz, r.l. this is the post construction and one year evaluation report of being used as the wearing course on a bridge deck overlay under very high traffic volumes. a rubberized class d asphalt concrete pavement friction course was used on an adjacent bridge to compare against the plusride. the properties evaluated were friction resistance, noise, fatigue properties and deicing characteristics. the friction and noise properties are the same. the plusride has deeper ruts and large areas in the traveled lane have delaminated. the deicing characteristics have not been confirmed. the rubberized class acp is performing better than the plusride. asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, asphalt pavement, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, bridges, class d, concrete, construction, deck, evaluation, fatigue, friction, friction course, noise, overlay, pavement, plusride, resistance, rubberized, traffic, traffic volumes, volume wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 128.1 | Asphalt-Rubber Binder Stress Absorbing Membrane | Peters | WSDOT | 1987 | asphalt-rubber binder stress absorbing membrane peters, a.j., schultz, r.l. this is the final report of an evaluation of an asphalt-rubber binder stress absorbing membrane interlayer (sami) to control transverse, alligator and longitudinal cracking in the asphalt concrete overlay.a control section consisting of a tack coat of css-1 applied to the existing pavement was used to compare against the asphalt-rubber sami and a paving grade asphalt sami. crack mapping for a period of 9 years disclosed the asphalt-rubber sami to perform slightly better that the paving grade asphalt and much better that the control. asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt overlays, asphalt-rubber, concrete, control, cracking, evaluation, membrane, overlay, pavement, sami, stresses wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 127.1 | Plusride Asphalt Pavement | Peters | WSDOT | 1987 | plusride asphalt pavement peters, a.j., schultz, r.l. this is the final report of plusride being used as the wearing course on a bridge deck overlay.a class d asphalt concrete pavement which is an open graded friction course was used on an adjacent bridge as a control for the plusride. the plusride claims were high friction resistance, reduced noise, increased fatigue properties and deicing characteristics. the plusride cost 50 percent more that the class d and the friction resistance, noise levels and fatigue properties were the same for the plusride and class d. the deicing characteristics could not be confirmed due to the absence of surface icing on highways in the yakima area. asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, asphalt pavement, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, claims, class d, concrete, control, cost, deck, fatigue, friction, highway, highways, noise, overlay, pavement, plusride, resistance wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 136.1 | Asphalt Seal Coats - Factors Affecting and Techniques for Obtaining Consistently Good Seal Coats | Wyckoff | WSDOT | 1987 | asphalt seal coats - factors affecting and techniques for obtaining consistently good seal coats wyckoff, c. this is a manual written for those who direct or physically construct asphalt seal coats. the text is based on field experiences. the manual contains: - the reasons for seal coating - each type of seal coat is discussed as to the purposes of the seal and how it is constructed - particular emphasis is on chip seals and the factors which can affect obtaining consistently good seal coat. some of these factors are the weather, the road surface on which the seal is laid, the type of asphalt used, the handling and storage of the asphalt, the choice of cover rock, how to control the uniform distribution and application of the asphalt and rock, the coordination of the seal coat operation, and the post-seal inspection and possible immediate correction. this manual is concise but detailed in the appropriate areas with the liberal use of graphics. asphalt, chip seal, control, inspection wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 183.1 | A Forecasting Model for Grain Transportation Planning in Washington State | Wallace | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | a forecasting model for grain transportation planning in washington state wallace, n.e., inaba, f.s. this project developed a demand-based forecasting model for rural and highway road transportation planning to assist decision-makers in predicting transportation demand flows of wheat in the pacific northwest. in order to be sensitive to policy changes, the model is based upon the disaggregate, individual shipment decisions of wheat elevators. the research fround that the mode/market selection process significantly affects the usual regression estimates of mode/market demand flows. therefore, estimates of the parameters on the major determinants of transportation demand were obtained by weighted least squares that were corrected for selectivity bias. procedure was developed to aggregate the disaggregate predictions into total regional flows. this procedure retains the policy-sensitivity of the disaggregate model and is computationally practical in applications. finally, the aggregate forecasting model was developed into an interactive computer program which can be used in a variety of policy-relation applications. demand forecasting, grain, transportation trac/wsu 1987 |
| WA-RD 115.1 | Evaluation of Delineation Systems for Temporary Traffic Barriers in Work Zones | Ugwoaba | TRAC/UW | 1987 | evaluation of delineation systems for temporary traffic barriers in work zones ugwoaba, g.u. this study investigated the effectiveness of various barrier-mounted reflectors. barrier delineators come in different shapes and sizes, and their materials and installation labor costs also differ. they can be mounted on the barrier too, the barrier face or even on the pavement. a delineator's level of effectiveness depends on the type of delineator as well as its placement. this study evaluated the effectiveness of seven concrete barriers delineators: astro-optics on the barrier top, reflective on the barrier top, reflective cylinders on the barrier top, hazard panels, raised pavement markers on the barrier face, astro-optics on the barrier face, and davidson markers on the edge line. the study included a literature review, observations of the delineators at the test site, and having motorists drive by the delineators and rate them. the study concluded that drivers need the guidance of delineators most when they are confronted with opposing traffic headlight glare and therefore are not effective. the best placement of concrete barriers is on the barrier face. a delineator loses more than half of its reflectiveness in a short period due to dirt accumulation. the study recommended that the manual on uniform traffic control devices make note of the effect of opposing traffic headlight glare on delineators' effectiveness, that delineators be placed on the top of concrete barriers, that prism-lensed devices are the most effective, and that delineators should be cleaned regularly. bridge and construction, video, concrete median barriers, traffic barriers, reflector, delineator trac/uw 1987 |
| WA-RD 105.1 | Chemical Sealers As Corrosion Inhibitor In Preventing Concrete Deterioration | Toney | WSDOT | 1987 | chemical sealers as corrosion inhibitor in preventing concrete deterioration toney, c.a. this post construction report provides an overview of the selection of a chemical sealer and its use as a method of protecting the girders and piles of the nasell river bridge from the intrusion of chloride ions. the structure treated is located in a marine environment. chem-trete silane sealer was used for this structure and applied as specified by the manufacture. after 1 1/2 years exposure to a salt environment no deteriation of the concrete has been detected. monitoring of the structure will continue under washinton state department of transportation's bridge inspection program. bridge, chloride, concrete, concrete sealer, construction, corrosion, deterioration, environment, exposure, inspection, its, marine, monitoring, piles, program, salt, seal coat waterproofing, sealer, transportation wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 111.1 | National Experimental and Evaluation Program: Washington State's Experience | Toney | WSDOT | 1987 | national experimental and evaluation program: washington state's experience toney, c.a. this document presents a summary of washington state department of transportation's experience with the 28 projects of the national experimental and evaluation program (neep). counties, evaluation, experimental, management, management system, microcomputer, neep, pavement, pavement management, program, transportation, washington, washington state wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 132.1 | Internally Sealed Concrete Using Wax Beads | Toney | WSDOT | 1987 | internally sealed concrete using wax beads toney, c.a. the current design practice used by wsdot for the design of permanent tipback walls is to assume that the static design of a tieback wall retaining clayey soils provides an adequate reserve of strength to prevent failure during seismic loading. this design procedure is based largely on the assumption that the soil and the wall move together during ground shaking and that significant dynamic loads are not produced. for tieback walls retaining sandy soils, it is assumed that dynamic loads are produced. mononobe-okabe dynamic soil pressures are added to the static design pressure to account for the dynamic load. the validity of these assumptions and the resultant design practices is evaluated in this study.a pilot numerical study was conducted on a forty foot high wall with three levels of tiebacks using the program flush. it was found that the wall and the soil tend to move in-phase and only negligible dynamic tie forces are generated. however, the soil above and below the excavation level tends to move out-of-phase, leading to significant dynamic pressures and bending moments in the wall and near the excavation level. it appears that in least some cases, tieback walls with an adequate static safety factor may suffer significant damage or fail during seismic loading and that the use of mononobe-okabe dynamic pressures may be conservative. internally sealed concrete, wax beads, bridge deck reinforcing, steel protection, sealed concrete, concrete sealer wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 133.1 | Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Concrete Pavements | Toney | WSDOT | 1987 | fiber reinforced asphalt concrete pavements toney, c.a. the use of bonifibers fiber reinforced asphalt concrete pavement (acp) at three city of tacoma intersections is reported. product selection, fiber reinforced acp mix design, old pavement removal, construction and evaluations are documented.bonifibers fabric reinforced acp appears to provide a durable roadway at intersections that have a high volume of turning and heavy traffic. continued monitoring of the city of tacoma fiber reinforced acp is recommended until major deterioration occurs. asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, bonifibers, concrete, construction, design, deterioration, evaluation, fiber reinforced acp, fiber reinforced pavement, monitoring, pavement, pavements, polyester fibers, polymar fibers, roadway, traffic, volume wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 144.1 | Maintenance of Aggregate and Earth Roads | Strombom | WSDOT | 1987 | maintenance of aggregate and earth roads strombom, r.d. road maintenance is characterized as the continuing care of the roadway and providing for its intended use until such time as needed improvements are identified and undertaken. within the scope of recurrent and deferred maintenance activites, opportunities are identified to improve cost effectiveness of surfacing and ditch maintenance and reduce future capital improvements.the selection of equipment, materials and procedure is either a commitment to long-term transportation system goals or they create future constraints. the author shows how subgrade and base course damage can be detected and corrected while avoiding actions that add costs or merely hide the problems; use of geotextiles may benefit road conditions but interfere with future maintenance; selection of dust palliatives may either increase or decrease future costs; basic equipment types and limitations affect maintenance prescriptions; good operating practices improve productiona and protect equipment; some historic practices increase the risk of equipment damage; drainage affects road stability and serviceability; to reshape or smooth blade surfacing and clean roadside ditches; an effective maintenance management system helps identify and prioritize needed improvements.planning, scheduling and performing roadside ditch, travelway and shoulder maintenance requires knowledge and expertis to be successfully and economically accomplished. basic maintenance approaches and concepts are suggested and new considerations proposed for aggregate, earth and native surfaced roads. aggregate, base, blading, damage, ditch cleaning drainage, geotextile, goals, grading, maintenance equipment, maintenance management, objectives palliatives (dust), planning, scheduling, stabilization, subgrade wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 123.1 | Bridge - Standard Systems | Sorensen | TRAC/WSU | 1987 | bridge - standard systems sorensen, h., olson, c.d. a survey of standards for bridges, which exist in the u.s., was conducted, pertinent information concerning these standards was placed into a matrix spread sheet format using lotus 1-2-3 and an ibm/pc. this information was reviewed for possible use in developing plans .for standard bridge systems, which could be used by county engineers in washington.information on types of standard bridge systems to be developed was obtained from washington county engineers via a questionnaire. it is recommended that designs for at least one standard bridge system be developed for each of the primary materials readily available in washington, namely: steel, concrete and wood. other details, which should be included in the standards, are given. bridge, bridge standards, bridges, concrete, counties, design, lotus 1-2-3, materials, microcomputer, spread sheet, steel, survey, systems, washington, washington county engineers trac/wsu 1987 |
| TRR 1128-005 | Development of Spring Load Restrictions for Local Roads | Rwebangira | TRB | 1987 | development of spring load restrictions for local roads rwebangira, t., rutherford, m.s., mahoney, j.p., hicks, r. g. the use of load restrictions to reduce or preclude pavement damage during. spring thaw periods is widely used in the u.s. and europe. load restrictions are primarily applied to low volume road networks. in recent years extensive examination of load restriction related issues have been conducted in states, such as alaska, minnesota, and washington. this paper reports on the development of guidelines for use in determining where to apply the load restrictions and their magnitude.a survey of current practice in the u.s. and canada revealed that load restrictions are applied mostly to pavements which have subgrades composed of moisture susceptible silts and clays. it also revealed that the restrictions are mostly applied to aggregate and or asphalt-surfaced pavements. the maximum legal loads are generally reduced about 40 to 50 percent for single axle and 30 to 50 percent for tandem axle during the spring thaw period. the current study recommends that load restrictions be applied whenever a pavement's spring surface deflections are greater than 45 to 50 percent of summer deflections. the amount of load restrictions suggested are a minimum of 20 percent and a maximum of 60 percent. a load reduction range of 40 to 50 percent should accommodate a wide range of pavement conditions. load restrictions, pavements, spring thaw trb 1987 |
| UTPS/SLIM Applications Manual and Case Study | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1987 | utps/slim applications manual and case study rutherford, g.s., mccormack, e.d., hallenbeck, m.e. over the last 25 years, the urban mass transportation administration (umta) has developed a comprehensive series of urban transportation planning computer programs. known as the urban transportation planning system (utps), these programs require extensive and detailed documentation best suited for large, regional planning agencies. utps/slim is a simplified version of the that modeling program. this document presents examples of the application of the utsp/slim for urban transportation planning. utsp, urban transportation planning system, slim, simplified limited instructional manual, software, transportation planning trac/uw 1987 | |
| WA-RD 101.1 | Snake River Bridge Thin Overlay: Experimental Feature | Roper | WSDOT | 1987 | snake river bridge thin overlay: experimental feature roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr the washington state department of transportation will be conducting experimental field testing of several selected ploymer concrete thin overlays over a ten-year period. the ploymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry firms and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. approximately 14 bridges will be involved in the experiment.the study was conducted in cooperation with the u.s. department of transportation, federal highway administration. the washington state department of transportation will be conducting field testing of several selected concrete thin overlays over a ten-year period. the polymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. 14 bridges will be involved in the experiment. the snake river bridge at clarkston, washington, bridge no. 12/915, is the first bridge of the to receive a 1/4 thin overlay. the polymer concrete used is by polycarb. the deck was repaired and overlaid in june of 1986. work on the thin overlay began on june 8 and was completed on june 20. a total of 6,477 s.y. of overlay was involved. traffic was accommodated at all times on the portion of the bridge not being overlaid. construction progressed relatively smoothly per the inspector's report. the material permitted the contractor flexibility in the rate of installation and in starting and stopping the work. width of installation was varied to accommodate temporary traffic lanes. pavement skid tests and bond tests all proved satisfactory. ninety-one percent of the resistivity tests exceeded the minimum required by the specifications. the majority of the test points that did not meet the minimum specified occurred at the beginning of the work, where the contractor attempted to apply the material with spray that apparently did not provide accurate proportionate mix of the epoxy components. subsequent tests and reports delamination, half-cell, chloride content, and rutting values to the original deck survey values. bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck repairs, bridge decks, bridges, chloride, concrete, construction, contracts, epoxy, experimental, half-cell, highway, lanes, overlay, overlays, pavement, polymer, polymer concrete, specification, specifications, survey, tests, thin overlay, traffic, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 114.1 | Grays River Bridge At Roseburg - Thin Overlay | Roper | WSDOT | 1987 | grays river bridge at roseburg - thin overlay roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr the washington state department of transportation will be conducting experimental field testing of several selected polymer concrete thin (1 1/4 inch) overlays over a ten-year period. the ploymer concrete material is manufactured by private industry firms and installed on selected bridge decks under standard wsdot construction contracts. approximately 21 bridges will be involved in the experiment; eight of these are included in federal participating projects as experimental features.the grays river bridge at roseburg, washington, bridge is the second bridge of the federal aid projects to receive a thin concrete overlay. the polymer concrete used was degadur 330, made by degussa company and installed by floor. the deck was overlaid in august of 1986. work on the thin overlay began on august 4, 1986 and was completed on august 5, 1986. a total of 586 s.y. of overlay was placed. there was no traffic on the bridge during the overlay placement. the overlay contractor had a well trained crew and the overlay placement went very smoothly. the experience showed when the different operations of primer, overlay, and sealer were sequenced so that when one layer cured out, the next operation was ready to go. friction tests and electrical resistivity tests were all satisfactory. bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck repairs, bridge decks, bridges, concrete, construction, contracts, experimental, friction, overlay, overlays, polymer, polymer concrete, sealer, tests, thin overlay, traffic, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1987 |
| WA-RD 095.1 | Evaluation of Half-Cell Corrosion Detection Test for Concrete Bridge Decks | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1986 | evaluation of half-cell corrosion detection test for concrete bridge decks babaei, k. this report includes two chapters. the first chapter discusses the corrosion of steel in concrete and provides information on the half-cell corrosion detection technique. in the second chapter, wsdot's use of the test is reviewed, its concerns with the test are discussed, and the reliability of data collected is determined based on the field tests conducted.the findings of this work support the use of the half-cell test on bridge decks for evaluating their overall condition. the use of half-cell data for designating bridge deck area needing repair, however, is not recommended. the criteria presented in astm for evaluating the significance of half-cell potentials can be used for interpretation of data at this time. however, the empirical criteria may be modified in the presence of more data. bridge and construction, half-cell, corrosion, concrete, reinforcing steel, bridge deck, salt, deterioration trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 082.1 | Impact on Washington Highways of Grain Transportation Changes | Borris | TRAC/WSU | 1986 | impact on washington highways of grain transportation changes borris, b., casavant, k.l., newkirk, j., dooley, f. this study evaluated transportation changes affecting the grain industry relative to impact on the road system. present and proposed rail line abandonment, grain sub-terminal construction, and general modal traffic patterns were determined. causal variables were incorporated into a general framework for continual monitoring of the industry. while it does not appear the state highway system is receiving large overall negative impact, "pockets of potential problems" are being caused by grain transportation changes. most identifiable impacts are being felt on county and local roads. the final grain industry structure has not yet evolved. monitoring of the grain industry during this evolution should include on-farm storage, age of elevators, mergers and consolidations and potential railline abandonments. grain industry, rail line abandonment, intermodal goods movement trac/wsu 1986 |
| WA-RD 090.1 | Growth Characteristics Of Hoarfrost With Respect To Avalanche Occurrence | Breyfogle | WSDOT | 1986 | growth characteristics of hoarfrost with respect to avalanche occurrence breyfogle, s.r. hoarfrost formation in a maritime inversion climate has been studied via inferred snow/air interface temperatures, vertical temperature profiles of the interface, and application of dew point hygrometry. two dominant growth situations have been discerned. the first involved highly saturated air near the interface and strong radiational cooling of the snow surface, producing a wide variety of crystal sizes (1-6mm). the second showed strong radiational cooling of the snow surface in an altered environment with secondary introduction of water vapour from the presence of supercooled clouds. the latter often showed accelerated growth, the formation of large dendritic crystals (8-15mm) in short time periods (less than four hours). subsequent snowfalls of increasing water equivalent on surface hoar beds resulted in numerous direct action avalanches. threshold crystal size for bed layer weakness varied widely (0.7-15mm) and was related to old snow surface roughness and new snow precipitation characteristics. avalanche, environment, frost, hoarfrost, profile, roughness, snow, temperature wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 097.1 | Technology Transfer: A Strategy for Innovation Adoption at the Washington State Department of Transportation | Brooks | TRAC/UW | 1986 | technology transfer: a strategy for innovation adoption at the washington state department of transportation brooks, r.l. this study was initiated as part of a department-wide strategic planning effort of the washington state department of transportation to assess whether a coordinated technology transfer program will enhance innovation adoption. interviews with wsdot employees in all divisions and districts provide the basis of an inventory of current technology practices. a literature review describes the process of technology transfer and the issues relating to an individual's ability to adopt innovation. additionally, the structure of the organization and the barriers to innovation adoption are discussed based on information obtained from a literature review. examples of technology transfer programs in other organizations are described to understand how the process is used to adopt innovation. based on employee interviews, and the literature review, specific recommendations and implementation plans are provided in the report. these recommendations are intended to enhance technology transfer in wsdot and thus increase the ability of the organization to adopt innovations into work methods and practices. technology transfer, innovation, strategic planning, transportation trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 074.1 | Preliminary Investigation of Sewage Sludge Utilization in Roadwide Development | Cahn | TRAC/Uw | 1986 | preliminary investigation of sewage sludge utilization in roadwide development cahn, d.c., horner, r.r. problems with existing sludge disposal practices, combined with new information about its nutritive and soil-conditioning qualities, have led to accepted practices of land application of sludge. both the department of transportation, as an agency with large land holdings and landscaping needs, and municipalities in washington state may benefit from land application of sludge on roadsides.the use of sewage sludge on roadsides can potentially improve the growth of erosion control grasses, shrubs and trees while minimizing the costs for subsequent reseeding, replanting, or refertilization. proper site selection and management techniques can potentially minimize public health and environmental impacts from heavy metals, nitrates, pathogens and organic toxicants. steep roadside slopes, where erosion control is most needed, present a challenge to existing sludge application techniques, but one that is not insurmountable.a review of current national and local research, and a cost comparison analysis, have shown that roadside utilization of sludge may be a feasible practice without infringing on the health, safety and welfare of the public. tasks are outlined for a demonstration study to investigate application techniques, vegetation types, public health and environmental impacts, and public acceptance and education. bridge and construction, bridge deck, waterproofing membrane, reinforced concrete, corrosion, salt, deterioration trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 108.1 | Microcomputer Conversion of Washington State Pavement Management System for Cities and Counties | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1986 | microcomputer conversion of washington state pavement management system for cities and counties christensen, d.r. this report documents the joint development of a pavement management system (pms) for use by the cities and counties of the state of washington. this system makes full use of existing analysis software and experience provided by the washington state department of transportation 9wsdot) through its ongoing pavement management procedures. this system is currently being implemented and is expected to be used by most cities and counties within washington state. the joint efforts of the cities and counties in the development, implementation and training associated with the final pms was very successful. this should help to develop an improved environment for the overall management of pavements within the state. the system was implemented on ibm-pc type hardware and is structured so as to provide a complete, stand-along management system for pavements, as well as for general inventory, traffic, and other pavement-related data. the software is still under development, with the final release expected in july of 1987. pavement management, pavement, computer trac/uw 1986 |
| Bridge WIM Users Manual | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1986 | bridge wim users manual hallenbeck, m. e., hooks, j. this manual describes how to set up, operate, and trouble-shoot the bridge wim system currently on loan to the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) from the federal highway administration (fhwa). this document is intended to be used as a reference. the user should have some hands-on training in the set-up and operation of the equipment form a previous user before trying to operate the system by him/herself. weigh-in-motion, wim, bridge, training trac/uw 1986 | |
| WA-RD 088.1 | Evaluation of the Effects of Closing Interstate 5 Lanes and Ramps | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1986 | evaluation of the effects of closing interstate 5 lanes and ramps hallenbeck, m.e., lin, c. this report describes the changes which occurred in traffic volumes, vehicle occupancy rates, and transit ridership as a result of the reconstruction of southbound interstate 5, north of the seattle cbd. available data indicate significant changes in the routes and time of day of travel taken in the morning commute period, but show insignificant changes in the levels of carpooling and transit ridership despite aggressive attempts by local and state agencies to encourage high occupancy vehicle utilization during the reconstruction period. freeway , lane closure, traffic volumes, vehicle occupancy, transit, ridership trac/uw 1986 |
| Improving Fuel Consumption Through Traffic Signal Timing Optimization | Hallenbeck | TRAC/UW | 1986 | improving fuel consumption through traffic signal timing optimization hallenbeck, m.e., rutherford, g.s. this project examined the effectiveness of the transyt-7f computer model in decreasing fuel consumption in washington state by improving the signal timing coordination of closely spaced and related intersections. the report describes the use of the transyt-7f computer model to optimized traffic signals on the fringe of the city of tacoma's central business district (cbd). the new signal timings improved the traffic flow through the 13 intersections involved in the study, and thereby decreased the amount of gasoline used by traffic traversing those intersections. traffic signal, timing, optimization, transyt-7f, fuel consumption trac/uw 1986 | |
| WA-RD 081.1 | Design of Prestressed Concrete Girders Without End Blocks | Itani | TRAC/WSU | 1986 | design of prestressed concrete girders without end blocks itani, r., galbraith, r.l. this report investigates the feasibility of removing end blocks from the washington state series 10 and 14 simply supported prestressed girders. these girders are characterized by their 5' webs and are pretensioned using both harped and straight 1/2' grade 27 strands. a series 14 girder, 48ft. long, is manufactured without end blocks and destructively tested. based on the results of this test, a 100 ft., series 10 girder was manufactured without end blocks and monitored in a bridge under actual service conditions. results from these tests show that the modified ends performed effectively under both prestress transfer and service loads. accordingly, a recommendation is made to remove end blocks from such girders. prestressed, pretensioned, end blocks, stresses trac/wsu 1986 |
| WA-RD 096.1 | State-of-the-Art Assessment of Median Barriers | Khisty | TRAC/WSU | 1986 | state-of-the-art assessment of median barriers khisty, c.j. over the last ten years passenger cars have become smaller, and the percentage of smaller cars has increased dramatically, while trucks have become heavier and longer. median barriers, like most other roadside hardware, were developed and installed before these changes in traffic composition started. there is growing concern, supported by accident studies and preliminary crash tests, that current median barriers may provide to be inadequate and that these factors may lead to higher severity of roadside collision, injuries and fatalities. this report makes recommendations based on an extensive literature review. median barriers, heavy vehicles, self-restoring traffic barrier, safety, accidents, criteria trac/wsu 1986 |
| WA-RD 079.1 | Pavement Management System: Demonstration for Washington Counties | Kramer | TRAC/UW | 1986 | pavement management system: demonstration for washington counties kramer, s.l., sivaneswaran, n., tucker, k., kulkarni, r.b., finn, f.n. the pavement management system developed by the state of washington was modified to meet the needs of the counties in the state of washington within the constraints of available data and resources. the modified system, called the washington county pavement management system (wcpms), was tested for thurston and benton counties. results of this testing show that; (1) the wcpms can be operated using the existing data in the county road log in combination with collected pavement condition survey data; (2) computer resources are available to most counties to access the state computer to execute the various programs in the wcpms; and (3) routine usage of the wcpms for a network of 1000 miles will require a level of effort of about 150 person-days and a computer cost of $1,000. bridge, design, hinge, earthquake, evaluation restrainers, pavement management, pavement management systems, counties trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 093.1 | Concrete Overlays For Bridges | LaFraugh | WSDOT | 1986 | concrete overlays for bridges lafraugh, r.w., zinserling, m.h. an extensive state-of-the-art review of construction methods and results for latex modified concrete (lmc) and low slump, dense concrete (lsdc) overlays is presented in this report. recommendations are made for improvements in construction procedures, inspection, and specifications. an analysis and preventative measures for plastic shrinkage cracks in lmc are presented. other alternate bridge deck protective systems were examined. concrete overlays, construction methods, cracking, latex modified concrete, low slump dense concrete wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 080.2 | Guidelines for Spring Highway Use Restrictions: Summary Report | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1986 | guidelines for spring highway use restrictions: summary report mahoney, j.p., rutherford, g.s., hicks, r.g. this report describes a survey of current practice as well as analysis performed to develop guidelines for agencies which need load restrictions during spring thaw periods. the results show for a range of locations in the us and canada that the average load restriction applied is about 44 percent. the analysis performed in the study tends to confirm that level of load restriction. further, it was found for the assumed conditions that a minimum load restriction(if any load restriction is needed) is about 20 percent. load restrictions greater than 60 percent are generally not warranted for the range of cases studied. an air temperature based criterion (thawing index) was developed which can be used to estimate when to apply and remove load restrictions. pavement management, load restrictions, frost, thaw, tire, axle, spring thaw, thaw weakening, research trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 085.1 | Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Liquid Anti-Strip Additives In Asphalt Cement | Malsch | WSDOT | 1986 | evaluating the effectiveness of liquid anti-strip additives in asphalt cement malsch, d.a. the use of liquid anti-stripping additives (laa) for reducing moisture damage in asphalt concrete pavements was evaluated using pavement cores from pairs of projects with-and-without laa. results were analyzed using the tensile strength ratio (tsr). in addition, a diazo-dye for determining the presence and concentration of laa was attempted to access the value or the test as a field procedure. the chemical additive detection tests proved inclusive, but the tsr analysis gave a positive indication of the need for the use of laa in the wetter environments of the state, for drier environments and for low traffic volumes, use of laa may not be cost effective. the indirect tensile test was judged to be a potentially valuable tool for statewide use in the evaluation of stripping additive needs. additive, analysis, anti-stripping agents, asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete pavement, bituminous concrete, chemical, concrete, cost, cost effective, damage, detection, diazo-dye test, effectiveness, environment, evaluation, indirect tension test, moisture damage, pavement, pavement life, pavements, project, strength, stripping, tests, traffic, traffic volumes, volume wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 098.2 | Hot Mix Recycling Evaluation in Washington: Appendix Project Evaluations | Peters | WSDOT | 1986 | hot mix recycling evaluation in washington: appendix project evaluations peters, a.j., gietz, r.h., walter, j.p. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has completed construction of twenty-four hot-mix recycle projects as of january, 1985. at the begining of this study there were sixteen completed projects that were to be examined. evaluation of the laboratory and pavement performance data shows that wsdot's initial two projects, renslow to ryegrass (1977) and yakima river to west ellensburg interchange (1978), are still performing very we1l. although the other fourteed projects have been constructed only within the last two and a half years, the early data indicates equally promising results. because of the impressive pavement performance exhibited by the recycled pavements, together with hot-mix recycle benefits such as conservation of natural resources, feasibility of construction, and its cost advantage over new acp, hot-mix recycling has become an attractive addition to the wsdot paving program. asphalt concrete, asphalt, recycling, rejuvenating agents wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 098.1 | Hot Mix Recycling Evaluation In Washington State | Peters | WSDOT | 1986 | hot mix recycling evaluation in washington state peters, a.j., gietz, r.h., walter, j.p. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) has completed construction of twenty-four hot-mix recycle projects as of january, 1985. at the begining of this study there were sixteen completed projects that were to be examined. evaluation of the laboratory and pavement performance data shows that wsdot's initial two projects, renslow to ryegrass (1977) and yakima river to west ellensburg interchange (1978), are still performing very we1l. although the other fourteed projects have been constructed only within the last two and a half years, the early data indicates equally promising results. because of the impressive pavement performance exhibited by the recycled pavements, together with hot-mix recycle benefits such as conservation of natural resources, feasibility of construction, and its cost advantage over new acp, hot-mix recycling has become an attractive addition to the wsdot paving program. asphalt, asphalt concrete, benefit, benefits, construction, cost, data, evaluation, its, pavement, pavement performance, pavements, performance, program, project, recycling, rejuvenating agents, study, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 086.1 | Use of Video Data Acquisition for Structural Inspection | Veress | TRAC/UW | 1986 | use of video data acquisition for structural inspection veress, s.a., kim, y., shyue, s. a significant change in the last few years is the increase in resolution and decrease in required illumination level for video image recordings. such developments provided the basis for this research. the results indicated that video recordings are suitable for inspection of portions of structures. particularly those that are hardly accessible, are in deep shadows or are under water. using f=17-160mm zoom optics, the recording distance was 5-150 ft and 3 to 6 ft under water. the resolution of the system was satisfactory. it is possible to form images in nearly complete darkness (nighttime). therefore, structural parts in deep shadows can be inspected. it is recommended that video-recording augment the visual inspections after certain modifications. structures, seismic, structural inspection trac/uw 1986 |
| Ferry Fare Elasticity Study | Ulberg | TRAC/UW | 1986 | ferry fare elasticity study ulberg, c. historical data were used to investigate ridership responses to changes in fare levels for the washington state ferries. ridership data were disaggregated by route group and type of rider. the relationship between ridership and fare levels was controlled for employment levels, gasoline process, inflation, weather and seasonal differences. the relationship between fares and ridership were expressed as elasticities. for some categories of riders, a fare increase can lead to a net loss in revenue because the ridership loss is greater than the increase in fare level. marine, ferry, fares, elasticity, ridership trac/uw 1986 | |
| WA-RD 087.1.1 | Cathodic Protection And Corrosion Monitoring Checkout 1405 SR 522 Woodinville Interchange | Telford | WSDOT | 1986 | cathodic protection and corrosion monitoring checkout 1405 sr 522 woodinville interchange telford, e.r., etco engineering services, inc the cathodic protection on the 522 interchange near woodinville, washington was evaluated for proper operation. three of the five zones on the bridge appeared to be cathodically protected. the current was increased in one of the unprotected zones to provide protection. the zone could not be fixed due to the nonfunctional nature of thermistors, reference electrode and structure cables. a recommendation was made to deactivate the entire system for a period of two weeks to allow for depolarization. following depolarization, native state potential valves should be measured to establish a basis of comparison before activating the system. monitoring on a three month interval for one year should be done to ensure that all problems have been solved. bridge, cathodic protection, corrosion, monitoring, protection, system, washington wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 087.2.1 | Cathodic Protection Checkout SR 24, Yakima River Bridge | Telford | WSDOT | 1986 | cathodic protection checkout sr 24, yakima river bridge telford, e.r., etco engineering services, inc the cathodic protection system on the yakima river bridge on sr-24 near yakima was evaluated for proper operation. three out of six reference electrodes and rebar probes were found to be non-functioning. one temperature sensing thermistor was also found to be non-functional. all three deck zones were found to be receiving the proper cathodic protection current. recommendations were made to continue the monitoring at regular intervals and maintain the present rectifier settings. bridge, cathodic protection, deck, monitoring, probe, protection, system, temperature wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 091.1 | Diagnosis And Prediction Of Precipitation In Regions Of Complex Terrain | Speers | TRAC/UW | 1986 | diagnosis and prediction of precipitation in regions of complex terrain speers, p., mass, c.f. this research has attempted to determine the distribution of precipitation in the complex terrain of washington state. the first part of this report examines the precipitation distribution for various large scale wind directions. it is found that there are meaningful shifts in the precipitation pattern as the large scale wind changes direction and that edge of this behavior can be useful for operational applications. the second section presents a simple numerical model of precipitation in complex terrain. although the results are not perfect by any means, they can usefully indicate the variation precipitation in the mountains of our area. however, such a model requires at least a minicomputer to run it. applications, behavior, complex terrain, diagnosis, model, precipitation, prediction, regions, research, washington, washington state, wind trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 084.1 | Determination of the Capability of a Side Bearing Block Foundation as a Fixed Support to Resist Overturning | Sorensen | TRAC/WSU | 1986 | determination of the capability of a side bearing block foundation as a fixed support to resist overturning sorensen, h., toreh, r. a side bearing block foundation is used to resist overturning moments and lateral forces. theoretical and experimental investigations were made to determine the ultimate moment capacity of a reinforced concrete footing subjected to vertical and horizontal loads and an overturning moment. the theoretical ultimate moment capacity was assumed to occur when the ultimate soil resistance was reached along the side bearing walls. it was found that the resultant friction force at the base of the foundation greatly influenced the foundation to resist an overturning moment. the experimental ultimate moment capacity was determined from a deflection curve obtained from field data. a theoretical ultimate moment capacity was determined with the use of a finite el computer the results each of the three determinations were in acceptable agreement. recommendations for further study are made. base, computer, concrete, data, experimental, finite element, footing, forces, foundation, foundations, friction, loads, overturning, piles, reinforced concrete, resistance, soil, soil mechanics, soil pressure, stability, walls trac/wsu 1986 |
| WA-RD 089.1 | Database Management System | Sannes | TRAC/UW | 1986 | database management system sannes, s., rutherford, g.s. the database management system was created in dbase iii plus. included in this database is all research project historical and administrative information necessary to generate budget, expenditure, and management reports. a menu system was created to enable the user to view and update the database information, update and print all reports, and enter information on new projects. research development, database, management, transportation management trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 094.1 | Cost Effectiveness of Park-and-Ride Lots in the Puget Sound Area | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1986 | cost effectiveness of park-and-ride lots in the puget sound area rutherford, g.s., wellander, c. a cost effectiveness evaluation and a cost-benefit analysis was performed on a park-and-ride system consisting of 26 park-and-ride lots in the seattle metropolitan area. costs and benefits of the system were examined with respect to the user, the community at large, and the public agencies responsible for providing for the community's transportation needs. a user survey was conducted at the 26 lots. using the survey data and other data as input, a model was developed to calculate the total incurred trip costs of both the park-and-ride trip and the corresponding trip not involving the park-and-ride lot. these trip costs were compared in a 'before' and 'after' analysis. in addition, the park-and-ride system was analyzed for its effect on the following transportation system measures of effectiveness: travel time, person miles traveled (pmt), vehicle miles traveled (vmt), traffic volumes, vehicle emissions, accidents, and energy consumption. general results indicated that the park-and-ride system in the seattle area is cost effective. the average park-and-ride trip was estimated to be 11.6 percent less expensive than the corresponding average previous trip by another mode. results also indicate that the lots have had a slightly negative impact on travel time and pmt (i.e., these measures have increased), but vms, traffic volumes, accidents, vehicle emissions, and energy consumption have all been reduced. transportation planning, agency costs, automobile costs, benefit-costs analysis, congestion costs, cost effectiveness, highway costs, park-and-ride lots, transportation systems management, tsm trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 087.1 | Cathodic Protection For Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks - Woodinville Interchange, Post Construction Report | Roper | WSDOT | 1986 | cathodic protection for reinforced concrete bridge decks - woodinville interchange, post construction report roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr under fhwa demonstration project no. 34, "cathodic protection for reinforced concrete bridge decks," a slotted cathodic protection system was installed on the es ramp in the woodinville interchange during the summer of 1985. the slotted cathodic protection system involves sawing by slots longitudinally in the existing deck at one-foot centers. platinum wire or carbon strand wire is placed in the cut slots first and then conductive polymer is filled in the slots. electric power from a rectifier supplies current to the wire and conductive polymer. the current then flows to the top mat reinforcing steel, giving the steel protection from further corrosion. the objective of the demonstration project was to familiarize the washington state dot with this new technology. this objective was fulfilled. some problem areas with the system were identified during the work:1.a more positive method of finding grounding locations from the anode to nicks, ties, etc. needs to be developed. perhaps an instrument can be used to supplement visual inspection. 2.the necessity for having a minimum of 112-inch cover from the bottom of the slot to the top of the needs to be resolved. 3.a better method of installing the conductive polymer needs to be developed. hand spreading of the material from plastic bags results in sloppy work. 4.procurement time for the rectifier needs to be shortened. 5.the project, once it has started, moves along very rapidly, there is very little time for on-the-job training of workers. workmen should have prior experience at this work. in remote areas, sources of electrical power may not be available. it will be necessary for sources of power, such as solar panels or long-lasting batteries to be developed for this system. bridge, bridge deck, bridge decks, cathodic protection, concrete, concrete bridge, construction, corrosion, deck, developed, flow, inspection, plastic, polymer, project, protection, reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete bridge, reinforcing, reinforcing steel, steel, steel protection, supply, system, technology, training, washington, washington state wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 087.2 | Cathodic Protection For Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks - Yakima River Bridge, Post Construction Report | Roper | WSDOT | 1986 | cathodic protection for reinforced concrete bridge decks - yakima river bridge, post construction report roper, t.h., henley, e.h. jr under fhwa demonstration project no. 34, "cathodic protection for reinforced concrete decks," a non-slotted cathodic protection system was installed on the deck of the yakima bridge near yakima, washington, in the summer of 1985. the project involved repairing deck, then fastening raychem pre-manufactured anodes to the deck to impress current to the mat rebar. impressing current through the concrete to the top mat steel prevents corrosion of the steel. a latex modified concrete overlay was placed over the deck anode. the objective of the demonstration project to familiarize the washington state dot with new technology. this objective was fulfilled. some problem areas with the system were identified during the work: 1.a more positive method of finding electrical grounding locations from the anode to nicks, ties, etc., needs to be developed. some ties were exposed during the scarifying operation perhaps an instrument can be used to supplement visual inspection. 2. an effective technique of allowing concrete trucks to drive on the anode without damaging needs to be developed. 3.an effective method needs to be developed to locate breaks in the anode as well as shorts. 4. in remote areas, sources of electrical power may not be available. it will be necessary sources of power, such as solar panels or long-lasting batteries to be developed for this system. 5. since the project, once it has started, moves along very rapidly, there is very little time on-the-job training of workers. workmen should have prior experience at this work. these problems need to be overcome to obtain a better quality product. bridge, bridge deck, bridge decks, cathodic protection, concrete, concrete bridge, construction, corrosion, deck, developed, inspection, latex modified concrete, overlay, project, protection, quality, reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete bridge, steel, system, technology, training, truck, trucks, washington, washington state wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 083.1 | Statewide Highway Data Rationalization Study | Ritchie | TRAC/UW | 1986 | statewide highway data rationalization study ritchie, s.g., hallenbeck, m.e. this study involved an in-depth evaluation of the washington state department of transportation highway data development and analysis activities. it developed statistically-based procedures and recommendations for a streamlined highway data collection program. opportunities to reduce manpower and equipment costs, streamline work activities, improve the quality of data collection and provide accurate and timely data for the various users were identified. given the focus on highway data, the major effort was devoted to the department's traffic counting program. however, many data items and programs were considered, with the following receiving particular attention: traffic volume counting, including estimation of annual average daily traffic at any location throughout the state highway system; associated seasonal, axle and growth factors; vehicle classification; truck weights; and the relationship between the statistical sampling requirements recommended for these items and those associated with the fhwa highway performance monitoring system in the state. analysis, annual, axle, cost, costs, data, data collection, developed, development, equipment, evaluation, highway, monitoring, performance, performance monitoring, program, quality, sampling, seasonal, study, system, traffic, traffic counting, transportation, truck, vehicle classification, volume, washington, washington state, weight, weights trac/uw 1986 |
| WA-RD 192.1 | Estimating Statewide Vehicle Miles of Travel | Ritchie | WSDOT | 1986 | estimating statewide vehicle miles of travel ritchie, s.g. this study is concerned with developing a statistical basis for estimating statewide vehicle-miles of travel (vmt) that is consistent with available wsdot resources, uses of the data collected, and appropriate levels of accuracy. the study was conducted in conjunction with, and as a complement to, a more extensive statewide highway data rationalization study. in this study, the nature of the problem is first established based on an investigation of users and uses of vmt data, and documentation of existing data collection methods. recommendations are made for a statistically based methodology and set of procedures for sample design and development. traffic surveillance and control, vehicle miles of travel, vmt wsdot 1986 |
| WA-RD 075.1 | Effectiveness of Concrete Bridge Decks Asphalt - Membrane Protection | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1985 | effectiveness of concrete bridge decks asphalt - membrane protection babaei, k. this study field tests and evaluates conditions of five bridge decks in washington rehabilitated and waterproofed by wsdot system 'c' membrane and paved with asphalt concrete overlay. the study also reviews and evaluates the wsdot's membrane selection criteria. based on the results obtained, the membrane system was generally effective in preventing chloride intrusion into concrete decks. deterioration in concrete and corrosion in rebar, however, was detected. the deterioration was concentrated around, in the boundary, and within the rehabilitated areas. those test sections which satisfied the wsdot membrane selection criteria for protection of existing bridge decks showed minimum levels of concrete deterioration. included in the study are also recommendations regarding rehabilitating, waterproofing, and testing bridge decks as well as selecting bridge decks for membrane waterproofing. bridge and construction, bridge deck, waterproofing membrane, reinforced concrete, corrosion, salt, deterioration trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 073.1 | Bridge Deck Program Development | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1985 | bridge deck program development babaei, k. this report identified, classifies and addresses wsdot's needs and questions regarding concrete bridge deck deterioration. included is a state-of-the-art assessment regarding any major areas of concern to the statewide bridge deck program. recommendations are made to wsdot regarding future bridge deck research. a proposed work plan in developed for high priority research items as directed by the wsdot. bridge and construction, bridge deck, concrete, deterioration, corrosion, protection, rehabilitation, reconstruction trac/uw 1985 |
| Analysis of Pile Bending in the Seismic Environment of the Puget Sound Region | Banerjee | TRAC/UW | 1985 | analysis of pile bending in the seismic environment of the puget sound region banerjee, s. this analytical study was undertaken to investigate the theoretical performance of concrete piles in the seismic environment of the puget sound region and to evaluate the consistency of these results with those of some previous investigations. the intent of the study was neither to exhaustively cover all possible soil profile variations of this region nor to examine the effects of all likely earthquake events. a limited but realistic assessment of the problem was made in this study by selecting a severe local earthquake loading and two soil profiles representative of the area. while analyses of the type presented here are approximate in nature, they provide the designer with a reasonable estimate of the potential for damage and can be employed economically when questions arise as to the possible suitability of a given pile in a given soil condition. seismic event, earthquake, soil, piles, loading trac/uw 1985 | |
| Transportation Impacts of the 1986 World Exposition | Brooks | TRAC/UW | 1985 | transportation impacts of the 1986 world exposition brooks, r.l. the recommendations and implementation plans in this final report are part of an ongoing assessment of the impacts on washington state transportation that will result from the 1986 world exposition (expo) in vancouver, british columbia. transportation planning, expo 86 , world exposition, border traffic, rest area maintenance, public information trac/uw 1985 | |
| WA-RD 065.3 | Development and Implementation of Overlay Design Procedure; Interim Report No. 2; Asphalt Concrete Stiffness-Temperature Relationship | Bubushait | TRAC/UW | 1985 | development and implementation of overlay design procedure; interim report no. 2; asphalt concrete stiffness-temperature relationship bubushait, a.a., newcomb, d.e., mahoney, j.p. this study consists of two parts. the first part discusses the asphalt concrete stiffness-temperature relationship for class b mix in washington state.two relationships have been suggested. the first one is a composite curve for the stiffness-temperature relationship and the other is a correction factor for the stiffness at any temperature. the second part of the report is a state-of-the-art review for the fatigue mode of distress for asphalt concrete pavement. asphalt concrete modulus, stiffness-temperature relationship, distress, fatigue, temperature correction factor trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 078.2 | Pavement Test Track Instrumentation System - Operations & Maintenance Manual | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1985 | pavement test track instrumentation system - operations & maintenance manual christensen, d.r. several pieces of electronic hardware, obtained through previous test efforts have been assembled for laboratory and field use. the equipment consists of two instrument racks. the first contains five bison inductance type soil strain gage instruments and the associated phase and amplitude controls and solid state switching hardware for switching these controls between measurement test sections. the second rack contains switch hardware for switching the actual iron leads for the individual inductance coils associated with the sixteen section. it also contains the necessary data acquisition and analysis hardware. pavement management, automated pavement survey equipment, pavement surface condition survey trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 078.1 | Pavement Test Track Instrumentation System Documentation | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1985 | pavement test track instrumentation system documentation christensen, d.r. several pieces of electronic hardware, obtained through previous test efforts have been assembled for laboratory and field use. the equipment consists of two instrument racks. the first contains five bison inductance type soil strain gage instruments and the associated phase and amplitude controls and solid state switching hardware for switching these controls between measurement test sections. the second rack contains switch hardware for switching the actual iron leads for the individual inductance coils associated with the sixteen section. it also contains the necessary data acquisition and analysis hardware. pavement management, automated pavement survey equipment, pavement surface condition survey, manual trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 077.2 | Computerized Pavement Condition Survey Unit: Operations & Maintenance Manual | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1985 | computerized pavement condition survey unit: operations & maintenance manual christensen, d.r. a computerized field pavement condition survey unit and an ibm pc/xt computer base office reader and analysis system were developed for use in the pavement management program used by wsdot. the pavement condition recording and computing device is a microprocessor controlled, data acquisition and reduction system which uses a combination of manual inputs and odometer readings to develop pavement condition reports. these reports are printed on the system printer and written to a standard compact magnetic tape cartridge along with the raw data for later inclusion in the washington state department of transportation's pavement management data base. the device, including all of its attendant equipment, is fully portable so that it may be used in any motor vehicle that has an odometer pulse generator (preferably producing approximately 4,000 ttl level counts per mile) and 12 vdc power source. the office system consists of an ibm pc/xt or at micrcomputer with a printer and a 20 megabyte cartridge tape drive. it also has the software needed to read preview, analyze and convert the data for direct entry into wsdot's pavement management system. traffic surveillance and control, pavement management, automated pavement survey equipment, pavement surface condition survey trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 077.1 | Computerized Pavement Condition Survey Unit | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1985 | computerized pavement condition survey unit christensen, d.r. a computerized field pavement condition survey unit and an ibm pc/xt computer base office reader and analysis system were developed for use in the pavement management program used by wsdot. the pavement condition recording and computing device is a microprocessor controlled, data acquisition and reduction system which uses a combination of manual inputs and odometer readings to develop pavement condition reports. these reports are printed on the system printer and written to a standard compact magnetic tape cartridge along with the raw data for later inclusion in the washington state department of transportation's pavement management data base. the device, including all of its attendant equipment, is fully portable so that it may be used in any motor vehicle that has an odometer pulse generator (preferably producing approximately 4,000 ttl level counts per mile) and 12 vdc power source. the office system consists of an ibm pc/xt or at micrcomputer with a printer and a 20 megabyte cartridge tape drive. it also has the software needed to read preview, analyze and convert the data for direct entry into wsdot's pavement management system. traffic surveillance and control, pavement management, automated pavement survey equipment, pavement surface condition survey trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 076.1 | Evaluation of Induction Loop Installations in Flexible Pavements | Christensen | TRAC/UW | 1985 | evaluation of induction loop installations in flexible pavements christensen, d.r., newcomb, d.e. the problems associated with induction loop failures is addressed through the use of a detailed telephone and literature survey. all washington state dot districts, and most of the counties and larger cities are covered along with a random sampling of the major geographic areas of the us. the rates of failures were somewhat similar throughout the state as well as the country. the major problems associated with loop installation failures were closely related to pavement failures and installation deficiencies. the electronics problems centered around periodic adjustment or alignment procedures which are associated with the type of amplifiers used and with the long term integrity of the loop and lead in wire system. this can be improved by using self-aligning amplifiers and by using improved installation techniques. induction loop, pavement trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 068.1 | Development of Guidelines for Construction Control of Pile Driving and Estimation of Pile Capacity (Phase I) | Fragaszy | TRAC/WSU | 1985 | development of guidelines for construction control of pile driving and estimation of pile capacity (phase i) fragaszy,r. j., higgins,j. d., lawton,e. c. a literature review covering the use of dynamic pile driving equations, wave equation methods, pile analyzers, and current practices by state transportation departments is presented. the literature review shows that no one dynamic pile driving formula can be considered superior to all others. however, the hiley, janbu, and gates equations appear to be consistently among the best in published ,omparisons of formula predictions versus pile load test results. the engineering news formula and its modified versions are found, with one exception, to be among.the worst predictors of pile capacity in these studies. when wave equation methods are included in comparisons of predicted to measured capacity, the wave equation prediction is consistently equal to or better than the best formula. pile analyzer results can be excellent; however, the ability of the operations is a crucial factor in its successful use.the majority of the 34 states responding to a survey indicated that they use the engineering news formula in its original or modified form. no other dynamic equation was mentioned. several states indicated a switch in recent years from the engineering news formula to wave equation analyses with a resulting increase in accuracy. only two states make regular use of a pile analyzer, but they are very satisfied with it.recommendations are made for the improvement of current washington state department of transportation procedures for construction control of pile driving and estimation of pile capacity. recommendations for additional research are also included. bearing capacity, pile analyzer, pile driving formulas, piles, soil dynamics, state-of-the-art, wave equation analyses, research trac/wsu 1985 |
| WA-RD 069.1 | Development Of Guidelines For Cuts On Loess Soils | Higgins | TRAC/WSU | 1985 | development of guidelines for cuts on loess soils higgins, j.d., fragaszy, r.j., beard, l.d. the first phase of a three-phase research investigation of cut slope design criteria for southeastern washington loess has been completed. a literature review of engineering properties of loess from other locales and design criteria applied by various state transportation departments were conducted. a1so, a preliminary field investigation was made to collect representative soil samples and record failure mechanisms. past research has revealed that proper drainage control in combination with water content and gradational characteristics, are the primary factors influencing cut slope performance in loessial soils. analysis of 40 soil samples collected during the field study, demonstrate a close similarity between southeastern washington loess and deposits from the central united states. although physical properties are similar, differing climates produce a disparity in failure mechanisms between midwestern and southeastern washington loessial deposits. analysis, control, criteria, cut slope, design, design criteria, development, drainage, erosion, loess, performance, research, review, slope stability, soil, state-of-the-art, study, transportation, washington trac/wsu 1985 |
| WA-RD 072.3 | Suggested Revisions to WSDOT Manuals for Implementing Washington State Highway Runoff Water Quality Research Results | Horner | TRAC/UW | 1985 | suggested revisions to wsdot manuals for implementing washington state highway runoff water quality research results horner, r.r. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot)/university of washington highway runoff water quality research project, conducted from 1977 to 1982, produced a number of results of potential use to wsdot. an effort was required to implement these results in the department's procedures. one phase of implementation completed previously involved preparation of a guide for assessing the impacts of operating highways in aquatic ecosystems and training wsdot personnel in its use. the present phase involved formulating decision criteria in a number of problem areas of concern to wsdot and determining the need for revisions to departmental documents for consistency with the research results and the new criteria. the results of this phase are presented in a two volume implementation manual and this document listing the suggested modifications to the wsdot design manual, highway hydraulic manual, quality standards for highway maintenance, and maintenance manual to reflect the results of the research and criteria development. highway runoff, water quality trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 072.2 | Highway Runoff Water Quality Research Implementation Manual, Volume 2, Basis for Water Quality Criteria | Horner | TRAC/UW | 1985 | highway runoff water quality research implementation manual, volume 2, basis for water quality criteria horner, r.r. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot)/university of washington highway runoff water quality research project, conducted from 1977 to 1982, produced a number of results of potential use to wsdot. an effort was required to implement these results in the department's procedures. one phase of implementation completed previously involved preparation of a guide for assessing the impacts of operating highways on aquatic ecosystems and training wsdot personnel in its use. the present phase involved formulating decision criteria in a number of water quality problem areas of concern to wsdot and determining the need for revisions to department documents for consistency with the research results and the new criteria. the results of this phase are presented in a two volume implementation manual and a separate document listing the suggested modifications to four existing wsdot manuals. volume 1 of the implementation manual state the criteria, which were developed for: 1) identification of waters potentially sensitive to impact by operating highways; 2) the use of vegetated drainage courses to treat highway runoff; 3) the use of retention/detention facilities for highway stormwater drainage; 4) disposal of ditch cleaning spoils; 5) the use of woodwaste fills for highway construction; 6) highway sanding; 7) dilution of highway runoff in a receiving water; 8) highway cleaning; and 9) stream channel modification for highway construction. volume 2 presents the basis of each criterion listed in volume 1, including references to the research results and other literature, the rezoning followed, development of equations, etc. environmental, highway, stormwater, water pollution, criteria, environmental impact, mitigation, washington state, research implementation trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 072.1 | Highway Runoff Water Quality Research Implementation Manual, Volume 1, Water Quality Criteria | Horner | TRAC/UW | 1985 | highway runoff water quality research implementation manual, volume 1, water quality criteria horner, r.r. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot)/university of washington highway runoff water quality research project, conducted from 1977 to 1982, produced a number of results of potential use to wsdot. an effort was required to implement these results in the department's procedures. one phase of implementation completed previously involved preparation of a guide for assessing the impacts of operating highways on aquatic ecosystems and training wsdot personnel in its use. the present phase involved formulating decision criteria in a number of water quality problem areas of concern to wsdot and determining the need for revisions to department documents for consistency with the research results and the new criteria. the results of this phase are presented in a two volume implementation manual and a separate document listing the suggested modifications to four existing wsdot manuals. volume 1 of the implementation manual state the criteria, which were developed for: 1) identification of waters potentially sensitive to impact by operating highways; 2) the use of vegetated drainage courses to treat highway runoff; 3) the use of retention/detention facilities for highway stormwater drainage; 4) disposal of ditch cleaning spoils; 5) the use of woodwaste fills for highway construction; 6) highway sanding; 7) dilution of highway runoff in a receiving water; 8) highway cleaning; and 9) stream channel modification for highway construction. volume 2 presents the basis of each criterion listed in volume 1, including references to the research results and other literature, the rezoning followed, development of equations, etc. environmental, highway, stormwater, water pollution, criteria, environmental impact, mitigation, washington state, research implementation trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 080.1 | Guidelines for Spring Highway Use Restrictions | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1985 | guidelines for spring highway use restrictions rutherford, m.s., mahoney, j.p., hicks, r.g., rwebangira, t., this report describes a survey of current practice as well as analysis performed to develop guidelines for agencies which need load restrictions during spring thaw periods. the results show for a range of locations in the us and canada that the average load restriction applied is about 44 percent. the analysis performed in the study tends to confirm that level of load restriction. further, it was found for the assumed conditions that a minimum load restriction(if any load restriction is needed) is about 20 percent. load restrictions greater than 60 percent are generally not warranted for the range of cases studied. an air temperature based criterion (thawing index) was developed which can be used to estimate when to apply and remove load restrictions. pavement management, load restrictions, frost, thaw, tire, axle, spring thaw, thaw weakening trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 067.2 | Evaluation of Frost Related Effects on Pavements -- Summary Report | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1985 | evaluation of frost related effects on pavements -- summary report mahoney, j.p. this summary report describes the field data and analysis techniques used to evaluate the effects of winter ground freezing on wsdot pavement structures during two thaw periods. six field test sites were selected in wsdot district 2 for deflection testing and in situ instrumentation as well as materials sampling. the results show that a principal mechanism that necessitates load restrictions for some of he wsdot pavement structures is the weakened condition of the base course during thawing periods. presented in the report is a single revised load restriction table and criteria to use in determining the time and location for establishing load restrictions. regulation, tire, axle, load restrictions, frost, thaw, seasonal variation, deflection testing trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 070.1 | Ferry Wake Study | Nece | TRAC/UW | 1985 | ferry wake study nece, r., mccaslin, m., christensen, d.r. wave heights were measured for three classes of vessels operated by the washington state ferries system on puget sound, washington. variation of wave height with distance from the sailing line was determined for each vessel class over a range of speeds. instrumentation and testing procedures used are described. various wave measuring technologies are discussed, and it is concluded that the spar-buoy wave-staffs used were most appropriate for the measurements sought. marine, wave measurement, ship wave (wake), vessel wave (wake) trac/uw 1985 |
| Mobile Button Application (Video) | O'Brien | 1985 | mobile button application (video) o'brien,a. video 1985 | ||
| UTPS/SLIM Simplified Limited Instruction Manual: Program Documentation | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1985 | utps/slim simplified limited instruction manual: program documentation rutherford, g.s., mccormack, e.d., hallenbeck, m.e., harvey, r. over the last 25 years, the urban mass transportation administration (umta) has developed a comprehensive series of urban transportation planning computer programs. known as the urban transportation planning system (utps), these programs require extensive and detailed documentation best suited for large, regional planning agencies. to facilitate urban travel forecasting by smaller agencies and educational institutions, this manual, the urban transportation planning system / simplified limited instruction manual (utsp/slim) was developed. utps/slim simplifies and repackages, without changing the software, the existing utps documentation. the utps/slim user is presented with only the most relevant and necessary program functions. utps, urban transportation planning system, slim, simplified limited instruction manual, software, planning, trac/uw 1985 | |
| WA-RD 066.1 | Feasibility of Light Rail Transit for Spokane | Rutherford | TRAC/UW | 1985 | feasibility of light rail transit for spokane rutherford, g.s. with the recent acquisition of the milwaukee railroad right of way (row) by spokane county, there has been renewed interest in establishment of pas senger rail service in spokane. in response to this interest, the washington state department of transportation funded this study of light rail feasibility in spokane. the study effort was carried out as a cooperative effort among the washington state department of transportation (wsdot), the washington state transportation center (trac) and a steering committee that included representatives of local agencies and members of colt. the steering committee identified the corridors to be analyzed, established the evaluation criteria and participated in the evaluation light rail, transit, planning trac/uw 1985 |
| WA-RD 117.1 | Asphalt Concrete Class D Bridge Deck Overlays | Gietz | WSDOT | 1984 | asphalt concrete class d bridge deck overlays gietz, r.h. this study was conducted to determine the wear characteristics of bridge decks overlayed with class d (open-graded) asphalt concrete. a total of 74 bridges were inspected and rated during the period may to august, 1984.this study was conducted to determine the wear characteristics of bridge decks overlayed with class (open-graded) asphalt concrete. a total of 74 bridges were inspected and rated during the period may to august, 1984. a rating system was developed to allow a numerical comparison between bridges, and also to establish levels of tolerable differences. values for a variety of problem areas were assigned in ascending order according to severity. refer to page 10 for deficiency rating values, to use the system the bridge deck is inspected and values assigned according to visual observations. for example, if a bridge deck had some raveling, severe rutting and a transverse crack at the expansion joint, a rating of 5 (some raveling) 6 (severe rutting) + 2 (traverse expansion joint crack) = 13 would be applied. to further clarify the rating system used on page 4 through under the column headed "class of defects", the following examples are used. 1. on page 4, bridge no. e had a rating of the rating total would be = 10, which is in the column headed "rating". 2. on page 5, bridge no. w had a rating of b-4. the rating total would be b (expansion dam failure) + 4 (some rutting). since there is no numerical value for b the total is 4, which is listed in the column headed "rating". after comparing ratings of all 74 bridges, three of serviceability were established, categories a, and c, which are discussed in detail in the memo of august 13, 1984, on page 2 photo examples rating 0-category a -bridge no. 90/59e-n -page 35 rating 2 -category a -bridge no. -pages 51-52 rating 6 -category -bridge no. -page 13 rating 10 -category b bridge no. e -page 15 rating 21 -category c -bridge no. n -pages 46-47 asphalt, asphalt concrete, bridge, bridge deck, bridge deck overlay, bridge decks, bridges, class d, concrete, deck, overlay, overlays wsdot 1984 |
| WA-RD 062.1 | Feasibility Study of a Pavement Management System for Washington Counties | Kulkarni | WSDOT | 1984 | feasibility study of a pavement management system for washington counties kulkarni, r.b., finn, f.n., lamot, a. the feasibility of adopting the washington state pavement management system(wspms) for use by washington counties was established. the wspms designoffers a great deal of flexibility for adjusting the system to satisfy thecounties needs. some modifications to computer programs will be necessaryand can be accomplished with relatively modest effort. the major adjustmentswill be in those counties input data. the only data that are absolutelyessential are those for determining and evaluating pavement condition andthe most cost effective rehabilitation strategies.the state computer system has an adequate storage capacity to support usageof the wspms by a large number of counties. dial-up capability i s availablefor use of wspms from remote terminals. data processing hardware optionsavailable to counties range from no data processing equipment to stand alonecomputer system,a t r i a l demonstration is recommended, two counties, one large with in-housecomputer f a c i l i t i e s and one small with no or minimal f a c i l i t i e s would bechosen to test the system.significant. benefits are anticipated from the use of wspms. washingtoncounties desiring to improve the process o f pavement management may findadopting and operating the wspms to feasible and desirable. benefit, benefits, computer, computer program, condition, cost, cost effective, counties, data, design, equipment, maintenance, management, management system, operating, pavement, pavement condition, pavement management, pavement repair, program, rehabilitation, study, system, washington, washington state wsdot 1984 |
| WA-RD 042.2 | Response of Washington State Residents to Changing Transit Conditions | Limotti | WSDOT | 1984 | response of washington state residents to changing transit conditions limotti, b., iverson, e., jacobson, r. this study was undertaken to measure and assess current transportation behavior, attitudes, and adjustments people have made or are planning to make to cope with higher costs of transportation and energy shortages. a secondary objective was to develop an effective and inexpensive system to collect a sizeable amount of multimodal data for various types of travel from a statistically reliable sample of modal data for various types of travel from a statistically reliable sample of households in the state of washington. telephone interviews of approximately 15 minutes in length were conducted with 2,500 households in 1980 and 2,000 homes in 1983, with both samples having a 95 percent confidence level. residents of metropolitan, urban and rural areas were included. the households interviewed were selected by a random computer search of telephone numbers. respondents were screened to ensure that an adult member (18 years or older) of the household was interviewed. the questionnaire dealt with the travel habits of the household rather than just the person being interviewed. travel to work, local travel, long distance travel, recreational travel, use of public transit and other modes of travel, as well as vehicle ownership trends were topics covered in the interviews. the household's travel patterns two years prior to the interview, as well as current behavior and future plans were included. the replies to the questions indicated that people were concerned about transportation problems and were willing to provide detailed facts and opinions about their household's transportation behavior. attitudes, behavior, computer, condition, cost, costs, data, data collection, energy, energy shortages, households, interviews, multimodal, planning, public, public transit, recreational travel, ridership, rural, surveys, system, transit, transportation, travel, travel patterns, urban, washington, washington state wsdot 1984 |
| WA-RD 059.2 | Evaluation of Present Legislation and Regulations on Tire Size, Configurations and Load Limits: Executive Summary | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1984 | evaluation of present legislation and regulations on tire size, configurations and load limits: executive summary mahoney, j.p., sharma, j. this report describes the techniques used to evaluate the effects of various axle configurations with dual and single tires on pavement performance and the current state of washington regulation rcw 46.44.042. equivalent wheel load factors were developed for various widths of single tires on both rigid and flexible pavements. single tires with widths of 10 to 18 inches were analyzed, and it was found that by equivalent axle loads the predicted damage to pavements was greater for axles with single tires than those with dual tires. to verify the theoretical analyses, two field experiments were conducted. first, extensometers were placed in the outer wheel path of the pavement ramp at the fife i-5 weigh station. truck induced pavement surface deflections were measured after the vehicles had been weighed on the scale. a comparison of measured and calculated deflections revealed good agreement, thus in part verifying the theoretically based calculations. second, a field site near edmonton, alberta, was also used in the verification process by use of the wsdot falling weight deflectometer. again the theoretical approach was further verified. pavement management, transport, weight, evaluation, regulation, tire trac/uw 1984 |
| WA-RD 063.1 | Telecommunications Link: Traffic Systems Management Center and University of Washington | Nihan | TRAC/UW | 1984 | telecommunications link: traffic systems management center and university of washington nihan, n.l. this report describes a newly established telecommunications link between seattle's traffic system management center (tsmc) and the university of washington's (uw) information retrieval system. volume data in five-minute intervals collected by the tsmc is transferred to the uw computer system. the reports contains a description of this 1 ink and a user's guide for those who wish to access the data. computer, data, freeway surveillance, information retrieval, management, seattle, system, telecommunications, telecommunications link, traffic, traffic systems management, traffic volumes, volume, washington trac/uw 1984 |
| WA-RD 064.1 | Effectiveness Of Wildlife Warning Reflectors | Schafer | WSDOT | 1984 | effectiveness of wildlife warning reflectors schafer, j., carr, w.p., penland, s. tthe effectiveness of swareflex wildlife reflectors in reducing deer-vehicle collision rates was tested on 395 in eastern washington state where high mortality rates of white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) had previously been recorded. reflectors were placed in four test sections and alternately covered and uncovered at regular intervals during the late fall to early spring period from 1981 to 1984. during this period, 52 deer were killed at night in test sections when the reflectors were covered and six deer were killed at night when the reflectors were uncovered. this difference in deer-vehicle collision rates between the covered and uncovered periods is significant indicating that the reflectors were effective on this highway collision, effectiveness, highway, mortality, odocoileus virginanus, reflector, road-kill, swareflex, washington, washington state, white-tailed deer, wildlife wsdot 1984 |
| WA-RD 061.1 | Performance Evaluation of Waterproofing Membrane Protective System for Concrete Bridge Decks | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1983 | performance evaluation of waterproofing membrane protective system for concrete bridge decks babaei, k., terrel, r. this study developed a methodology for field appraisal and evaluated the effectiveness of three selected waterproofing membrane installations presently in service in the state of washington. based on the information obtained, none of the test installations had completely sealed the passage of salt into the concrete decks. "active" and "uncertain" corrosion potentials existed at the rehabilitated portions; however, a decrease in corrosion activity since the time of rehabilitation was noted. concrete deterioration after rehabilitation occurred mainly within the boundaries of he repair work and original concrete, and it was more evident in areas with a shallower rebar depth. bridge and construction, bridge, water proofing, membrane, wsdot trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 106.2 | Traffic Barrier Systems Service Level (SL-1) Bridge Rail | Gripne | WSDOT | 1983 | traffic barrier systems service level (sl-1) bridge rail gripne, d. the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) designed and installed service level 1 (sl-1) bridge rails on three treated timber bridges in the state. to date there have been no accidents or maintenance problems reported at any of the modified bridges. accidents, bridge, bridge rail modification, bridges, maintenance, rail for timber bridge, systems, traffic, transportation, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1983 |
| WA-RD 058.1 | Investigation of Thermal and Live Load Stress in Denny Creek Viaduct | Hawkins | TRAC/UW | 1983 | investigation of thermal and live load stress in denny creek viaduct hawkins, n.m. the span by span, stage constructed, prestressed concrete box girder bridge known as the denny creek viaduct was instrumented during construction with carlson gages. this report describes information on long-term creep and shrinkage strains, and on live load and thermal strains collected using those gages over a two-year period. bridges, box girders, live load stress, thermal stress, creep, shrinkage trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 057.1 | Transit System Performance Evaluation Methodology for Washington State: Final Report | Kelley | TRAC/UW | 1983 | transit system performance evaluation methodology for washington state: final report kelley,w. j., rutherford,g. s. this report examines major issues, concepts and methods of bus transit performance evaluation and suggests procedures and guidelines for internal and external monitoring in washington state. in support of suggested procedures, data analysis on six years of operational and financial characteristics of washington state systems, 1979-80 section 15 data, and collected samples of small community/rural systems from other states was conducted. the major objective of the analysis was to test methodologies for developing and assessing transit "peer groups" relative to size and scale of operations, and prior to comparative within-group evaluation. the methodology entailed employing cluster analysis using up to 10 variables depicting service design and distribution. two key variables were population and line miles. problems were encountered in using section 15 data. due to its use of urban area, as opposed to service area population, clear distinctions of operating environments could not be determined. thus, cluster groupings using section 15 data were inconclusive. cluster groupings using sample data for rural/small community systems (1980) and washington state systems (1980) were satisfactory and following additional verification, a suggested "peer group" classification for washington state was recommended. the seven group types ranged in size from a rural regional (<40,000 population) to metropolitan (>1,000,000 population). values for 8 efficiency and effectiveness indicators were used to assess "peer group" trends in performance in washington over a 5-year period (1976-80). comparative evaluations of individual systems were not made. despite only partial success in determining "peer groups," the study does identify methods and procedures for assisting in external and internal performance evaluation. accident rates trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 057.2 | Transit System Performance Evaluation Methodology for Washington State | Kelly | TRAC/UW | 1983 | transit system performance evaluation methodology for washington state kelly, w.j., rutherford, g.s. this report examines major issues, concepts and methods of bus transit performance evaluation and suggests procedures and guidelines for internal and external monitoring in washington state. in support of suggested procedures, data analysis on six years of operational and financial characteristics of washington state systems, 1979-80 section 15 data, and collected samples of small community/rural systems from other states was conducted. the major objective of the analysis was to test methodologies for developing and assessing transit peer groups" relative to size and scale of operations, and prior to comparative within-group evaluation. the methodology entailed employing cluster analysis using up to 10 variables depicting service design and distribution. two key variables were population and line miles. problems were encountered in using section 15 data. due to its use of urban area, as opposed to service area population, clear distinctions of operating environments could not be determined. thus, cluster groupings using section 15 data were inconclusive. cluster state systems (1980) were satisfactory and following additional verification, a suggested "peer group" classification for washington state was recommended. the seven group types ranged in size from a rural regional (<40,000 population) to metropolitan (<1,000,00 population). values for 8 efficiency and effectiveness indicators were used to assess "peer group" trends in performance in washington over a five-year period (1976-80). comparative evaluations of individual systems were not made. despite only partial success in determining "peer groups", the study does identify methods and procedures for assisting in external and internal performance evaluation. peer group evaluation, analysis, bus, bus transit, cluster analysis, data, data collection, design, effectiveness, efficiency, environment, evaluation, group, indicator, indicators, issues, its, line, methodology, methods, monitoring, operating, performance, performance evaluation, performance measures, performance standards, population, rural, section 15 data, study, system, systems, transit, urban, washington, washington state trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 060.1 | Recreational Vehicle Waste Disposal Stations at Highway Rest Areas | Kiernan | TRAC/UW | 1983 | recreational vehicle waste disposal stations at highway rest areas kiernan, k., brown, c., benjamin, m., ferguson, j.f. a study of recreational vehicle waste disposal at highway rest areas was conducted from rv wastewater is significantly stronger than wastewater in bod, cod, and suspended solids. it also contains preservative compounds, most of which contain formaldehyde or a formaldehyde derivative. with adequate dilution, these wastes should not interfere with waste by mixed cultures of aerobic or anaerobic bacteria or there that waste treatment facilities be affected by improper use of the disposal stations, such as for disposal of hazardous wastes. in addition, improper use may lead to temporary unsanitary conditions around the station. equations to estimate disposal station use and loading factors, and design equations for treatment of wastes are presented. the public perceives the stations to be and cost-effective provided they are paid for by rv owners. rv owners are willing to pay an annual fee which will cover the costs of construction, operation and maintenance of the stations. annual, biological waste treatment, condition, construction, cost, cost effective, costs, design, disposal, equations, facilities, fee, formaldehyde toxcity, hazardous, hazardous wastes, highway, maintenance, public, recreational vehicles, rest area, rest areas, study, suspended solids trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 039.12.1 | Assessment of Pollutant Loadings and Concentration in Highway Stormwater Runoff | Little | UW | 1983 | assessment of pollutant loadings and concentration in highway stormwater runoff little, m.l., horner, r.r., mar, b.w. this report present the final form of the washington state highway runoff pollutant loading model, incorporating data from the five years of study. it also features a probabilistic analysis of concentration and loading data designed to express the chance of exceeding specific values in a given case. other topics include further assessment of the toxicity of highway runoff and its causes and mitigation. analysis, assessment, data, highway, highway runoff, its, mitigation, model, pollutant loading, runoff, stormwater, toxicity, washington, washington state uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 067.1 | Evaluation of Frost Related Effects on Pavements | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1983 | evaluation of frost related effects on pavements mahoney, j.p. this report describes the field data and analysis techniques used to evaluate the effect of winter ground freezing on wsdot pavement structures during two thaw periods. six field test sites were selected in district 2 for deflection testing and in situ instrumentation as well as materials sampling. the results show that a principal mechanism which necessitates load restrictions for some of he wsdot pavement structures is the weakened condition of the base course during thawing periods. presented in the report is a single revised load restriction table and a criterion to use in determining the time that load restrictions should be established. regulation, tire, axle, load restrictions, frost, thaw, seasonal variation, deflection testing trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 059.1 | Evaluation of Present Legislation and Regulations on Tire Sizes, Configurations, and Load Limits | Mahoney | TRAC/UW | 1983 | evaluation of present legislation and regulations on tire sizes, configurations, and load limits mahoney, j.p., sharma, j., hallin, j. this report describes the techniques used to evaluate the effects of various axle configurations with dual and single tires on pavement performance and the current state of washington regulation rcw 46.44.042. equivalent wheel load factors were developed for various widths of single tires on both rigid and flexible pavements. single tires with widths of 10 to 18 inches were analyzed, and it was found that by equivalent axle loads the predicted damage to pavements was greater for axles with single tires than those with dual tires. to verify the theoretical analyses, two field experiments were conducted. first, extensometers were placed in the outer wheel path of the pavement ramp at the fife i-5 weigh station. truck induced pavement surface deflections were measured after the vehicles had been weighed on the scale. a comparison of measured and calculated deflections revealed good agreement, thus in part verifying the theoretically based calculations. second, a field site near edmonton, alberta, was also used in the verification process by use of the wsdot falling weight deflectometer. again the theoretical approach was further verified. regulation, tire, axle, single tires, dual tires, single axle, tandem axle, tire width trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 050.3 | Development And Implementation Of Washington State's Pavement System - Executive Summary | Nelson | WSDOT | 1983 | development and implementation of washington state's pavement system - executive summary nelson, t.l., leclerc, r.v. this report summarizes the pavement management system developed by wsdot staff over a period of five years. included is a description of what the system does in terms of the considerable amount of useful output data produced. a discussion is given on how the system was developed, what the pavement rating procedures involve and cost, what computer requirements are, and what typical data processing costs are. the report concludes with comments on how other agencies can use the washington state pavement management system. agencies, computer, cost, costs, data, developed, development, executive, executive summary, management, management system, pavement, pavement data file, pavement management, pavement performance, system, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1983 |
| WA-RD 065.2 | State-of-the-Art on Pavement Overlay Procedures: Volume II Annotated Bibliography | Newcomb | TRAC/UW | 1983 | state-of-the-art on pavement overlay procedures: volume ii annotated bibliography newcomb, d.e., bubushait, a.a., mahoney, j.p., sharma, j. this report is presented in two volumes. the first volume summarizes the final report sept. 15 - dec. 15, 1983 14. sponsoring agency code state-of-the-art on pavement overlay design and presents a research plan to develop an overlay design procedure for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) . the second volume contains an annotated bibliography of significant pavement overlay 1iterature pub1ished since 1968.the state-of-the-art review presented in volume i addresses pavement evaluation using nondestructive testing and subjective ratings. these are discussed along with the topics of traffic and seasonal variations. pavement overlay design concepts are identified and discussed. a research plan is presented for the development of a pavement overlay design system for wsdot, agencies, design, development, evaluation, nondestructive testing, overlay, pavement, pavement evaluation, performance, research, review, seasonal, seasonal variation, seasonal variations, state-of-the-art, system, traffic, transportation, volume, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 065.1 | State-Of-The-Art On Pavement Overlay Procedures: Volume I, Review Pavement Plan | Newcomb | TRAC/UW | 1983 | state-of-the-art on pavement overlay procedures: volume i, review pavement plan newcomb, d.e., bubushait, a.a., mahoney, j.p., sharma, j. the study is reported in two volumes. the first volume summarizes the state-of-the-art on pavement overlay design and presents a research plan to develop an overlay design procedure for the washington state department of transportation (wsdot) the second volume contains an annotated bibliographyof significant pavement overlay literature published since 1968.the state-of-the-art review presented in volume i addresses pavement evaluation using nondestructive testing and subjective ratings. these are discussed along with the topics of traffic and seasonal variations. pavement overlay design concepts are identified and discussed. a research plan is presented forthe development of a pavement overlay design system for wsdot. design, development, evaluation, nondestructive testing, overlay, pavement, pavement evaluation, performance, research, review, seasonal, seasonal variation, seasonal variations, state-of-the-art, study, system, traffic, transportation, volume, washington, washington state, wsdot trac/uw 1983 |
| WA-RD 055.1 | Deterioration of Concrete Bridge Decks and Review of the WSDOT Bridge Deck Program | Babaei | TRAC/UW | 1982 | deterioration of concrete bridge decks and review of the wsdot bridge deck program babaei, k., terrel, r.l. this report reviews the program developed by wsdot to minimize premature deterioration of concrete bridge decks subject to chloride deicing chemicals. the review includes wsdot's deck rehabilitation strategy, deck protective systems, deck evaluation techniques, and research and special investigations. the report includes a number of recommendations based on information obtained from previous research relative to the wsdot program. among protective systems used or proposed for use, cathodic protection appeared to be the most promising approach, short of removal of all chloride-contaminated concrete, that will stop active corrosion of steel in bridge decks. information evolving form the study also pointed to waterproofing membrane and ac overlay as a relatively inexpensive approach to protect existing bridge decks against corrosion. however, the appears to be a lack of hard data to support the effectiveness of this system. bridge deck, concrete, chloride deicing, steel bridge deck, trac/uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 052.1 | Public Information Dissemination in the State of Washington | Batland | TRAC/UW | 1982 | public information dissemination in the state of washington batland, r.m., garretson, d.e., anderson, g.h., anderson, c.p. methods of disseminating public information by seven washington state agencies and services* are reviewed and evaluated in light of cost effectiveness and public information dissemination purposes and objectives. alternative procedures and technologies are reviewed with a view toward determining if changes can be made that will enhance agency opportunities to meet the public information dissemination purposes and objectives. conclusions point to the need for emphasis changes, effort consolidation, and adoption of automated systems to increase information output and effectiveness without increasing labor intensive operations. in arriving at those conclusions, public and agency needs are examined, objectives are defined relative to those needs, and criteria are established for evaluating alternatives. the report includes descriptions of individual and multiagency benefits, and means to coordinate information processing among the agencies and services. an analysis is presented, indicating areas and types of potential operating cost savings, improved informational usage, potential travel related energy efficiencies and better use of state's resources. the report concludes with a recommendation for a pilot project that could be the prototype for a statewide multiagency electronic information dissemination system. the project would include representative components of the statewide concept. steps leading to its implementation are also identified. *included are: department of transportation, department of commerce and economic development, department of fisheries, department of game, washington state parks and recreation commission, state patrol and emergency services policy, public information, visitor, motorist information, information dissemination, information consolidation, multi-agency, energy efficiency, state resources, recreation, automated systems, electronic systems trac/uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 049.1 | Changes In Recreational Travel In Washington State 918 | Hamstra | WSDOT | 1982 | changes in recreational travel in washington state 918 hamstra, t., motoyoshi, p. the research study identifies the types and amounts of recreational travel in washington state, assess the impact of gasoline supply and price, investigates the attitudes of local and out-of-state travelers regarding travel in the past, present and future. the future includes a gasoline price scenario. the study also addresses the reasons for change in recreational travel behavior and provides recommendations to minimize the adverse effects of gasoline prices on recreational travel. attitudes, behavior, impact, recreational travel, recreational travel modes, research, study, travel, travel behavior, trip distance, trip duration, trip frequency, washington, washington state wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 039.15 | Impacts Of Channel Reconstruction In The Pilchuck River- Interim | Horner | UW | 1982 | impacts of channel reconstruction in the pilchuck river- interim horner, r. r., welch, e.b. a five-year study was performed to compare conditions in the pilchuck river before and after channel reconstruction associated with rerouting highway sr-2. the study focused on sediment particle-size analyses, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. substrates comparable le to control areas developedin all portions of the new channel within one year after construction. the available data on invertebrates and fish gave no indication of deterioration in diversity, quantity or size in the reconstructed channel. the report provides recommendations for further improvements in the design of stream channel changes should there be no alternative to their construction. alternative, benthic macroinvertabrates, accident rates, channel, condition, construction, control, data, design, deterioration, fish, highway, impact, impacts, improvement, interim, reconstruction, rivers, sediments uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 039.14 | Guide for Water Quality Impact Assessment of highway Operations and Maintenance | Horner | UW | 1982 | guide for water quality impact assessment of highway operations and maintenance horner, r., mar, b.w. procedures particulary applicable to washington state have been developed to assist the highway designer in evaluation and minimizing the impacts of highway runoff on receiving waters. the guide provides computation procedures to estimate pollutant concentrations and annual loadings for three levels of analysis which depend on the watershed, the discharge system, and traffic. it further provides means to judge the potential impacts of the runoff on receiving waters. highways, runoff, water pollutants, washington state, environmental assessment, impact analysis uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 054.1 | Impacts of land use, changes on major highway facilities-Alternate approaches | Jacobson | WSDOT | 1982 | impacts of land use, changes on major highway facilities-alternate approaches jacobson, r. in high growth areas, highways frequently become congested as the result of land use changes. local use controls have not prevented the adverse impacts. further, state funds are inadequate to address the critical problems in growth areas. this study investigates six study areas in washington compare land use change impacts and the effectiveness of the various procedures applied to prevent or correct such problems and to fund highway improvements in growth areas. a survey of practice in other states provides information concerning their approaches to the problem. the study concludes that comprehensive land use planning supported by inter-agency cooperation has been ted. local governments have applied a number of innovative techniques for financing local roads and streets. cooperative interagency planning before growth is out of control has benefited both the local jurisdiction and the state. however, state and local jurisdictions lack the authority to apply these techniques to state highways in washington state. the study makes recommendations for increasing interagency cooperation and for legislative remedies. control, effectiveness, facilities, highway, highway financing, highways, impact, impacts, improvement, interagency planning, land use, land use controls, land use planning, land-use, land-use/transportation planning, local government, mitigation, planning, planning coordination, study, survey, washington, washington state wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 051.1 | Transit System Performance - Evaluation Methodology - An Interim Draft Report | Kelly | TRAC/UW | 1982 | transit system performance - evaluation methodology - an interim draft report kelly, w.j., rutherford, g.s. the purpose of the report is to present major concepts of transit performance evaluation and suggest procedures and guidelines for internal and external performance monitoring in washington state. bus transportation, data collection and analysis, evaluation, interim, methodology, monitoring, performance, performance evaluation, performance measures, performance monitoring, system, transit, washington, washington state trac/uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 056.3 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Pavement; Evaluation in the State of Washington: SR 270 Highway Pavement Performance. | Mahoney | UW | 1982 | sulfur extended asphalt pavement; evaluation in the state of washington: sr 270 highway pavement performance. mahoney, j.p., terrel, r.l., cook, j.c. this report summarizes the placement and performance of sulfur extended asphalt (sea) paving mixtures at a highway test site (sr 270) near pullman, washington. the report includes a summary of the mixture and structure designs and construction details. this is followed by a discussion of the data collection and analysis accomplished over a three year evaluation period (1979 - 1982). a major experimental feature of the study was the use of 0/100 (conventional asphalt concrete), 30/70 and 40/60 sea binder ratios (sulfur/asphalt ratios are expressed as weight percents) in the experimental paving mixtures. sulfur, asphalt, pavement, sulfur extended asphalt, pavement performance uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 053.3 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Pavement Evaluation- Executive Summary | Mahoney | UW | 1982 | sulfur extended asphalt pavement evaluation- executive summary mahoney, j.p. this summary report overviews two previously issued study reports. one report assesses the availability and pricing of sulfur with respect to sulfur extended asphalt (sea) paving mixtures. the second study report concerned a laboratory oriented testing program which was principally used to examine the durability and aging characteristics of sea paving mixtures. sulfur, sulfur extended asphalt, pavement, mixture, performance, stiffness, durability, aging, supply, demand uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 053.2 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Laboratory Investigation Mixture Characterization - Final Report | Mahoney | UW | 1982 | sulfur extended asphalt laboratory investigation mixture characterization - final report mahoney, j.p., lary, j.a., balgunaim, f., lee , t.c. this report provides a summary of a laboratory study on sulfur extended asphalt paving mixtures. the following major features were included in the study: 1.design of laboratory-experiment which included the use of mixtures which contained various amounts of sulfur, two viscosity levels of asphalt cement, and two of aggregate (basalt and granite).2. evaluation of mixture design methods (hveem and marshal ). 3. determination of optimum binder contents.4. evaluation of mixture durability and aging characteristics.5. development of revised mixture design criteria. sulfur, asphalt, sulfur extended asphalt, pavement, mixture, performance, stiffness, durability uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 056.2 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Pavement Evaluation in the State of Washington: Test Track Pavement Performance | Mahoney | UW | 1982 | sulfur extended asphalt pavement evaluation in the state of washington: test track pavement performance mahoney, j.p., lincoln, j.a., christensen, d.c., terrell, r.l., cook, j.c., garman, r.l. this report provides an overview of sulfur extended asphalt (sea) paving mixtures at the wsu test track (pullman, wa). a brief description of the mix designs, pavement structural design, test track loading apparatus, and test pavement configurations is followed by a description of selected test track data (accelerations, temperatures and strain measurements). finally, a description of the fatigue relationships developed from the wsu test track data is presented. included are laboratory fatigue results. sulfur, asphalt, pavement, sulfur extended asphalt, test track, pavement performance, fatigue uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 053.1 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Availability Of Sulfur, Interim Report | Mahoney | UW | 1982 | sulfur extended asphalt availability of sulfur, interim report mahoney, j.p., loose, m k., lary, j.a. this report assesses the availability and pricing of sulfur with respect to sulfur extended asphalt paving mixtures. the assessment includes a review of past and current trends as well as sulfur estimates up to the year 2000 for the united states and specifically the state of washington. asphalt, assessment, availability, demand, extended asphalt, interim, mixture, pavement, pricing, review, sulfur, sulfur asphalt, supply, washington uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 039.16 | Summary Of Runoff Water Quality Study 1977-82 | Mar | TRAC/UW | 1982 | summary of runoff water quality study 1977-82 mar, b.w., horner, r.r., spyridakis, d.e., welch, e.b. a highway storm water runoff pollutant loading. model has been developed based on results from con3posire sampling of approximately 600 storms at nine locations in the state of washington over five years. the model expresses total suspended solids (tss) loading in proportion to the product of highway segment length, average runoff coefficient, and vehicles traveling during storm periods. it was dem-onstrated that loadings of contaminants such as chemical oxygen demand, nutrients and trace metals could be estimated from tss loadings using ratios derived from the data, the model described was developed and validated for assessing total loadings over a time span encompassing a number of storms (monthly or annually). to predict pollutant concentrations and loadings in runoff from a given storm, cumulative distributions were plotted and analyzed to determine the probability of exceeding specific concentration and loading values in a given case. bioassay studies using highway runoff indicated toxicity to aquatic life when elevated metals deposition from high traffic volumes (in excess of 10,000 -20,000 vehicles per day) or high metals concentrations in rainfall caused runoff concentrations to exceed lethal levels. draining highway runoff through grass channels 60 meters in length greatly reduced tss and metals concentrations and the consequent toxic effects. the major product of this research is a guide to assessing and mitigating the impacts of highway runoff to receiving waters. assessment, channel, chemical, concentrations, data, demand, deposition, developed, highway, impact, impacts, loadings, highway runoff, metals, mitigation, model, models, pollutant loading, pollutants, quality, rainfall, research, runoff, sampling, span, stormwater, suspended solids, toxicity, traffic, traffic volumes, volume, washington, washington state, water quality trac/uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 050.2 | Development And Implementation Of Washington State's Pavement System - Summary 906 | Nelson | WSDOT | 1982 | development and implementation of washington state's pavement system - summary 906 nelson, t.l., leclerc, r.v. this report describes the pavement system developed by staff over a period of five years. both project-level and network-level pavement are represented within the four broad areas of data processing which combine to constitute the foundation of the system. the design of a pavement data file is laid out together with the process of assembling it. also shown are the methods used to analyze and convert the file data pavement condition ratings to pavement performance curves for each project. the performance curves are then used, together with appropriate cost data, to determine the most cost-effective type and of fix. the network-level program then the needed work for each year of a rehabilitation program. means are provided for adjusting the program to fit budget constraints or acceptable levels of average pavement condition it is concluded that the system, operating on biennial pavement condition ratings, provides a good solid framework for orderly analysis to estimate the economic benefits of the type, timing, and sequence of rehabilitation activities apply to a pavement. analysis, benefit, benefits, condition, cost, cost effective, data, design, developed, development, foundation, framework, management, management system, methods, operating, pavement, pavement condition, pavement data file, pavement management, pavement performance, performance, program, project, rehabilitation, system, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 050.1 | Development And Implementation Of Washington State's Pavement System 905 | Nelson | WSDOT | 1982 | development and implementation of washington state's pavement system 905 nelson, t.l., leclerc, r.v. this report describes the pavement management system developed by wsdot staff over a period of five years. both project-level and network-level pavement management are represented within the four broad areas of data processing which combine to constitute the foundation of the system.the design of a pavement data file is laid out together with the process of assembling it. also shown are the methods used to analyze and convert the file data from pavement condition ratings to pavement performance curves for each project. the performance curves are then used, together with appropriate cost data, to determine the most cost-effective type and time to fix. the network-level program then summarized the need work for each year of a rehabilitation program. mean are provided for adjusting the program to fit budget constraints or minimum acceptable levels of average pavement condition.it is concluded that the system, operating on biennial pavement condition ratings, provides a good solid framework for orderly analysis to estimate the economic benefits of the type, timing, and sequence of rehabilitation activities applied to a pavement. analysis, benefit, benefits, condition, cost, data, design, developed, development, foundation, framework, management, management system, methods, operating, pavement, pavement condition, pavement data file, pavement management, pavement performance, performance, program, project, rehabilitation, system, washington, washington state, wsdot wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 043.1 | Allocation Of Transportation Resources: Development Of An Evaluation Method 904 | Nielsen | WSDOT | 1982 | allocation of transportation resources: development of an evaluation method 904 nielsen, r.s., shea, d.j., yandon, k.e. the objective of this report is to develop an effective transportation resource allocation technique that is flexible and can be applied to various areas. allocation procedures were developed and tested for apportioning resources to transportation services in relation to community transportation objectives. procedures were developed and applied that measured the effectiveness of candidate transportation service proposals in terms of a transportation resource allocation index (trai). the extent to which a transportation proposal achieves the community objectives is defined as its effectiveness. the transportation index was computed on the basis of the projects scorings for eight selected determinants, multiplied by the weighing assigned to each determinant in accordance with their relative effectiveness.the trai for eight transportation service proposals including transit, were computed as a pilot study and as a working test of the techniques in the tri-cities area of richland, kennewick, and pasco, wa. there appears to be no complication in implementing this technique for allocations in any local urban area providing the concepts are correctly evaluated and applied. allocation of resources, developed, development, effectiveness, evaluation, index, its, objective and goals, project, transit, transportation, transportation resource/allocation, transportation service, urban wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 039.11 | Transport Depostion And Control Of Heavy Metals In Highway Runoff, Interim | Portele | UW | 1982 | transport depostion and control of heavy metals in highway runoff, interim portele, g., mar, b.w., horner, r.r., welch, e. the impacts of storm water runoff from washington state freeways on aquatic ecosystems were investigated through a series of bioassays utilizing algae, zooplankton and fish.algae and zooplankton were adversely affected by the soluble fraction of the runoff, while suspended solids caused high mortalities of rainbowtrout fry . in addition,. bod 5 values similar to those reported in the storm water literature were measured; however, there were indications that results were influenced by toxicity to microbial populations. algae, biochemical oxygen, biomass, control, demand, fish, freeway, heavy metals, highway, highway runoff, impact, impacts, interim, metals, population, runoff, stormwater, suspended solids, toxicity, transport, washington, washington state, water pollutants, washington state monitoring, zooplankton uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 039.12 | Highway Runoff In Washington State: Model Validation And Statistical Analysis | Tai Wik | UW | 1982 | highway runoff in washington state: model validation and statistical analysis tai wik, d.c., mar, b.w., horner, r.r. statewide sampling of highway runoff continued through 1980-81, and the resulting data has been aggregated with that from previous years to further investigate pollutant loadings. results have validated the solids loading model previously proposed by asplund (1980) for western washington highways and tentatively extended the model to eastern washington. loading of there pollutants can be predicted from total suspended solids loading using ratios derived from the data. these ratios may be taken as constants at any washington state location for some pollutants or as linear functions of traffic or other contaminants. comparison of runoff from a sulfur-extended asphalt pavement with runoff elsewhere indicates higher sulfate loads in the former case. a limited sampling program along an uncurbed highway section observed higher pollutant concentrations from these sections to curbed areas. sampling of solids adhering to the undercarriage of automobiles produced widely varying results but suggested that vehicles traveling on rural or unpaved roads accumulate significant amounts of solids that can be released on highways. the final year of field sampling will concentrate on improving the loading models, especially for eastern washington application, and continuing the sulfur extended asphalt study with a functional control site experiencing the same conditions. analysis, asphalt, asphalt pavement, concentrations, condition, control, data, extended asphalt, highway, highway runoff, highways, loads, model, models, pavement, pollutant loading, pollutants, program, runoff, rural, sampling, statistical analysis, sulfur, suspended solids, traffic, washington, washington state uw 1982 |
| WA-RD 043.2 | Socio Economic Characteristics For The Allocation Of Transportation Of Transportation Resources 899 | Shea | WSDOT | 1982 | socio economic characteristics for the allocation of transportation of transportation resources 899 shea, d.j., yandon, k.e. the transportation resource allocation index (trai) for eight transportation service proposals was computed as a pilot study and as a working test of the techniques in the tri-cities area of richland, kennewick, and pasco, washington. this report ii contains background data covering the economic characteristics of the area. these data were used for the development of the evaluation technique. area economy, data, development, evaluation, index, socio-economic characteristics, transportation, transportation service, washington wsdot 1982 |
| WA-RD 045.2 | Impacts Of Trucks And Railroad Deregulation On Transportation Operation And Economic Activity In The State Of Washinton - Phase I | WSDOT | 1982 | impacts of trucks and railroad deregulation on transportation operation and economic activity in the state of washinton - phase i the motor carrier act of 1980 and the staggers act of 1980 have partially set aside decades of rigid regulations of interstate freight movement. these actions have the potential to bring forth significant changes to the networks of interstate freight transportation. the object of this research was to ascertain the impacts of deregulation of the washington state transportation system. information was obtained by surveying and interviewing shippers and freight transportation providers throughout the state. anticipated impacts, e.g. accelerated rail abandonment or lost of motor carrier service to small communities were not present. the study reflects a relative increase in truck service and decrease in rail service since deregulation. indications are this may be further amplified in certain regions of the state. the study recommends that potential highway impacts be incorporated into pavement management systems. transportation officials are enjoined to treat issues relative to truck size and weight, highway cost allocation and deregulation as a single issue. also, the local rail service assistance program should be considered for use to offset any adverse impacts resulting from deregulation. during this period of the study, general economic conditions were poor. this resulted in a decrease in freight shipments and would suggest that some impacts of deregulation have been suppressed. condition, cost, deregulation, freight, highway, highway impacts, impact, impacts, management, management system, management systems, motor carrier, networks, pavement, pavement management, pavement management systems, program, rail service, railroads, regulation, research, system, systems, transportation, truck, trucking, trucks, washington, washington state, weight wsdot 1982 | |
| WA-RD 047.1 | Transportation Problems Associated with Uneven Growth Rates 902 | WSDOT | 1982 | transportation problems associated with uneven growth rates 902 the purpose of the study is to determine how distinctive social, economic, land use, governmental and political characteristics in the vancouver-portland area to uneven growth which in turn affects the transportation system. interviews with public and private industrial representatives to identify the reasons underlying uneven growth are discussed. a statistical analysis of population, employment, vehicle registration and traffic across the interstate 5 bridge connecting vancouver and portland is also presented. recommendations are listed which suggest ways to improve the transportation system through modification of elements contributing to uneven growth. analysis, bi-city, bi-state, bridge, economic development, employment, industrial location decision, interviews, land use, land use sewerage, land-use, population, public, statistical analysis, study, system, traffic, traffic volumes, transportation, uneven growth rate wsdot 1982 | |
| WA-RD 048.1 | Small Car Accident Experience in Washington State 901 | WSDOT | 1982 | small car accident experience in washington state 901 this small car accident study investigated accidents in washington state in four passenger car categories: subcompact, compact intermediate, and large. the primary purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects on safety of increases in the number of smaller cars on the highways. traffic accident data for the period 1973-79 were analyzed to determine the accident severity for the different automobile classes, and this analysis showed that the smaller vehicles had a higher proportion of fatal and injury accidents that the other categories.the, accident data for 1980 were used to compare accident experience with regard to injury class of the occupants, roadway surface conditions, roadway character, light conditions, collision type, objects struck, and location of accident. analysis showed that for total accidents per one thousand registered vehicles, the large cars had a higher rate (68) than either the subcompacts (43), compacts (45), or intermediate size vehicles (46). however, the subcompacts and compacts had higher percentages of fatalities and serious injuries to their occupants, and a higher proportion of such accidents occurred on wet, snowy, and icy surfaces. in addition, the smaller passenger vehicles had a higher incidence of overturning and rear-end accidents. the analysis suggests there will be significant increases in fatal and injury accidents in future years as the number of smaller vehicles increases. thus, the report contains recommendations for changes in highway and vehicle design that will modify these adverse trends and reduce injuries and fatalities among drivers and passengers.some of the recommendations can be implemented fairly quickly, but others will take longer. however, until changes are made, the accident severity for small cars will continue at a level above that for larger automobiles. accident severity, accidents, analysis, collision, condition, data, design, highway, highways, light, overturning, roadway, safety, study, traffic, traffic accident data, washington, washington state wsdot 1982 | |
| WA-RD 046.1 | Permanent Lane Markings - Recessed Edge Stripe | Anderson | WSDOT | 1981 | permanent lane markings - recessed edge stripe anderson, k.w. the project goal was to evaluate different methods of cutting recessed skip stripe grooves, and to evaluate various pavement marking materials placed into the recesses. the project objective was to find a marking system for our mountain pass highways that would tolerate snowplowing and sanding operations, studded tires, and chain wear.three methods of pavement grooving and three types of making material were evaluated over a four-year period. the grooving methods were evaluated with regard to production rate, the quality of the finished groove, and cost. the marking materials were checked for ease of installation, cost durability, and visibility.only one method of grooving was found that produced the desired recess shape at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner. all three of the making materials were durable enough to survive for three years, but none produced the desired wet-daytime or wet-night visibility needed for adequate lane delineation. this loss of visibility under wet conditions was due to the lack of retroreflectance from the marking materials. chains, condition, cost, delineation, durability, grooves, grooving, highway, highway delineation, highways, lane lines, materials, methods, night visibility, pavement, project, quality, rainfall, retroreflectance, snowplows, striping, studded tire, studded tires, system, tire, tires, traffic markings wsdot 1981 |
| WA-RD 039.8 | Views Of Risk And Highway Transportation Of Hazardous Materials-A Case Study In Gasoline, Interim | Eagen | UW | 1981 | views of risk and highway transportation of hazardous materials-a case study in gasoline, interim eagen, p.d. while gasoline represents one-third of all hazardous materials transported in the country by trucks, the risk associated with gas transportation, as viewed by the private sector, is small. public perceptions of risk are much greater due to lack of knowledge of probabilities and consequences of spills. methods to improve knowledge available to the public on gasoline spills and methods to improve estimates of environmental damages from gasoline spills is presented. generalization of methodologies to hazardous materials in general are discussed. damage, environmental, hazardous, highway, highway transportation, gasoline, interim, materials, methodology, methods, public, risk, transportation, truck, trucks uw 1981 |
| WA-RD 056.1 | Sulfur Extended Asphalt Pavement Evaluation Design and Construction | Mahoney | UW | 1981 | sulfur extended asphalt pavement evaluation design and construction mahoney, j.p., christensen, d.r., terrel, r., cook, j.c., gietz, r.h. this report summarizes the placement of sulfur extended asphalt (sea) paving mixtures at two test sites near pullman, washington. one site was on an existing state highway and the other made use of the washington state university test track. the report includes the preliminary mix designs, pavement thickness determination, construction details and initial performance data for the test pavements. a major experimental feature of the study was the use of 0/100 (conventional asphalt concrete), 30/70 and 40/60 sea binder ratios in the experimental paving mixtures. sulfur, asphalt, pavement, sulfur extended asphalt, test track, pavement performance uw 1981 |
| WA-RD 039.13 | Year Four, Runoff Water Quality, August 1980-81 | Mar | UW | 1981 | year four, runoff water quality, august 1980-81 mar, b.w., ferguson, j. , spyridakis, d.e., welch, e., horner, r.r. this report focuses on the results of four research thrusts that resulted in dissertations and condensed research reports during this reporting period. there are now 14 project reports either completed or close to completion, as shown in table 1; this report summarizes the results reported in numbers 10-12. also summarized in table 1 are the reports planned for the remainder of the project. project, quality, research, runoff, water quality uw 1981 |
| WA-RD 039.7 | Year Three Runoff Water Quality August 1979-80 925 | Mar | UW | 1981 | year three runoff water quality august 1979-80 925 mar, b.w., ferguson, j.f., welch, e.b. this report summarizes findings detailed in report nos. 4 and 5 plus the work of zawlocki on trace organics in highway runoff. several hundred compounds tentatively, identified by gc-ms were grouped into nine categories, which were not mutually exclusive. major components of-these 'categories were petroleum products used by vehicles and incompletely combusted hydrocarbons. the concentrations of these trace organics groups were low compared to criteria proposed for protection of aquatic life. concentrations, construction, criteria, group, highway, highway runoff, highways, hydrocarbons, leachate, organics, petroleum, protection, quality, runoff, water pollutants, washington state monitoring, water quality, woodwaste fills uw 1981 |
| WA-RD 041.1 | Biodegradable Containers For Use In Revegetation Of Highway Right Of Way 922 | Rosenthall | WSDOT | 1981 | biodegradable containers for use in revegetation of highway right of way 922 rosenthall, r., wirsing, m.j. experiments were conducted at four locations to determine if plants grown in biodegradable tube containers or standard types of containers would have higher survival rates than bare root grown plant material. season of planting was also evaluated. results indicated that bare foot grown plant material had higher survival rates than container grown material. spring planting was more successful than fall planting. biodegradable containers, highwa, highway, landscape plant establishmen, plant surviva, revegetatio, right-of-way, seaso, season, tubeling wsdot 1981 |
| WA-RD 045.1 | Impacts of Truck and Railroad Deregulation on Transportation Operation and Economic Activity in the State of Washington Phase I | WSDOT | 1981 | impacts of truck and railroad deregulation on transportation operation and economic activity in the state of washington phase i this is an interim report that examines the potential impacts in washington state resulting from the adoption of the motor carrier act of 1980 and the staggers rail act of 1980. adoption of the two have set aside years of rigid regulation of interstate freight movement and granted new latitudes of freedom to shippers and transportation providers. information was obtained by surveying and interviewing shippers and freight transportation providers throughout the state. initial indications are the impacts resulting from deregulation have been slow to emerge due to suppressed economic conditions. the study projects that as economic conditions improve and principles have time to adjust to the new laws, discernable impacts will occur. condition, deregulation, freight, impact, impacts, interim, motor carrier, project, railroads, regulation, transportation, truck, trucking, washington, washington state wsdot 1981 | |
| WA-RD 039.6 | Characterization Of Highway Runoff In Washington 937 | Asplund | UW | 1980 | characterization of highway runoff in washington 937 asplund, r.l., ferguson, j. f., mar, b.w. a total of 241 storm events were sampled at ten sites during the first full year of statewide monitoring of highway runoff. analyses of these data indicates that more than half of the observed solids in this runoff is traced to sanding operations. the total solids loading at each side-was correlated with traffic during the storm. the ratio of other pollutants to solids was linear when there was sufficient traffic-generated pollutants to saturate the available solids. data, highway, highway runoff, models, monitoring, pollutants, runoff, traffic, washington, washington state, water pollutants, washington state monitoring uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 044.1 | Evergreen Point Bridge Maintenance Problems 936 | Brown | UW | 1980 | evergreen point bridge maintenance problems 936 brown, c.b. the 1974-79 study of the maintenance problems of the drawspan mechanism of the evergreen point bridge across lake washington is reported. the approach was to predict the life of elements by miner's hypothesis. for this the strains at critical points and the wind vector were measured over two sessions. these results were correlated with long term wind data to provide the number of cycles in a year at various stress levels. the fatigue capacity of anchor rods was determined by the prot test on six specimens. the resulting s-n curve compared to the field measurements to determine the expected life of the rods from the miner criterion. the methods developed provide usable maintenance procedures for the prevention of fatigue failure of critical structural elements. bridge, data, developed, fatigue, maintenance, methods, reliability, strains, stresses, washington, wind uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 039.4 | Composite Sampling Of Highway Runoff Year Two, Interim Report 935 | Clark | UW | 1980 | composite sampling of highway runoff year two, interim report 935 clark, d.l., mar, b.w. a composite sampling device was developed that can be installed at less than ten percent of the cost of automatic sampling systems currently used in federal highway runoff studics. this dcvi ce was operated for one year, along-side an automatic sampler at the 1-5 side, to demonstrate that the two systems provide statistically identical storm composites. cost, developed, highway, highway runoff, interim, runoff, sampling, system, systems, water pollutants, washington state monitoring uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 037.1 | Impact Of Highway Improvements On Property Values In Washington | Palmquist | WSDOT | 1980 | impact of highway improvements on property values in washington palmquist, r.b. the objective of this research was to examine the effects that construction of a major highway has on the value of surrounding properties, a topic which is of great public concern. information was obtained on actual sales prices, as well as the characteristics of the properties. four residential study areas were used, and as many as 4,785 sales were obtained in each area. the information on building and neighborhood characteristics was used to generate a quality-adjusted price index. this index for the years during which a highway was opened was compared with an index for an area which had been unaffected by highway change. the results show that when the highway significantly increased the accessibility of the residences, property values increased by 12 to 15 percent. unfortunately, the houses closest to the highway had this increase partially offset by a .2 percent to 1.2 percent reduction for each 2k dba increase in the highway noise level. houses with highway noise were not found to take any longer to sell. in a commercial-industrial area, land values were found to increase 16.7 percent when a major highway was opened. interviews were conducted in both residential and commercial areas. construction, highway, impact, improvement, index, interviews, noise, property values, public, real property, land value, property value, noise pollution, highways, freeways, research, washington wsdot 1980 |
| WA-RD 039.9 | A Survey Of Trace Organics In Highway Runoff In Washington, Interim 929 | Zawlocki | UW | 1980 | a survey of trace organics in highway runoff in washington, interim 929 zawlocki, k.r., ferguson, j.f., mar, b.w. trace organics were surveyed using gas chrornotography coupled to mass spectrometry for highway runoff samples from two seattle sites . the characterization of the organics exhibited concentrations of aliphatic, aromatic and complex oxygenated compounds. vehicles, including.exhaust emissions, were concluded to be the source of many of the organics. concentrations, emissions, highway, highway runoff, interim, organics, runoff, seattle, survey, washington, water pollutants, washington state monitoring uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 040.1 | Load Restriction Determination Study 930 | Whalen | WSDOT | 1980 | load restriction determination study 930 whalen, k. the project identified various highway roadways subjected to load restrictions for cataloguing on a district-wide map. an investigation of freeze-thaw events and pavement deflections was conducted in addition to collection of weather data at selected sites. "frost tubes" were evaluated and found to be an effectivetool for measuring frost depths. limited data was collected due to warm winters and short freeze-thaw cycles. it was concluded that load restrictions are not needed until the temperature changes to a warming period. additional research is needed to determine when load restrictions should be removed. data, freeze-thaw, frost, frost tubes, frozen pavement, highway, load restrictions, pavement, pavement deflection, project, research, roadway, temperature, winter wsdot 1980 |
| WA-RD 039.10 | Water Quality Impacts Associated with Leacheates from Highway Woodwaste | Wang | UW | 1980 | water quality impacts associated with leacheates from highway woodwaste wang, t.s., spyridakis, d.e., mar, b.w., horner, r.r. mass balances conducted on soils adjacent to highways indicated low mobility of metals deposited on well-vegetated surfaces. grass drainage channels were shown to effectively capture and retain metals (e.g. a 60 m channel removed 80 percent of the original pb concentration). mud or paved channels, however, demonstrated little or no ability to remove metals from runoff. metal release studies suggested that acid precipitation could release metals bound in the soil, especially where low buffering capacity exists. capture, deposition, drainage, embankment, embankments, heavy metals, highway, highways, impact, impacts, metals, mobility, overland flow, quality, runoff, soil, transport, washington state, water pollutants, water quality uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 039.1 | Water Quality Impacts Associated With Leacheates From Highway Woodwaste Embankments 932 | Vause | UW | 1980 | water quality impacts associated with leacheates from highway woodwaste embankments 932 vause, k.h., ferguson, j.f., mar, b.w. an extensive literature review , laboratory column study and field observations indicated that leaching of soluble pollutants from woodwaste submerged in groundwater will be completed within a few years. longer periods of leaching will be generated by woodfills above groundwater exposed to precipitation or infiltration of runoff. expressions to model the quantity and characteristics quality of leachate from woodwaste fills used for road embankments were developed, and mitigating measures to reduce the impact of leachates are proposed. column studies, developed, embankment, embankments, highway, impact, impacts, infiltration, leachate, model, pollutants, quality, review, runoff, water quality, woodwaste fills uw 1980 |
| WA-RD 039.5 | Criteria And Requirements For Statewide Highway Runoff Monitoring Sites 943 | Aye | UW | 1979 | criteria and requirements for statewide highway runoff monitoring sites 943 aye, r.c. criteria for selecting statewide monitoring sites for highway runoff were established t o provide representative combinations of climate, traffic highway, land use, geographic and topographic characteristics , using thesecriteria , a minimum of six sites - were recommended for use to this research. criteria, highway, highway runoff, land use, land-use, monitoring, research, runoff, traffic, water pollutants, washington state monitoring uw 1979 |
| WA-RD 116.1 | Asphalt Pavement Distress Investigation | Gietz | WSDOT | 1979 | asphalt pavement distress investigation gietz, r.h. two forms of pavement distress were noted on recent asphalt concrete overlay projects. a general loss of wearing surface under traffic action, termed surface ravelling, was observed on three projects starting the first season after construction.two forms of pavement distress were noted on recent asphalt concrete overlay projects. a general loss of wearing surface under traffic action, termed surface ravelling, was observed on three projects starting the first season after construction. a concentrated, local loss of surface material in narrow longitudinal strips, designated as strip ravel ing, was observed on four projects approximately the second season after completion. construction record reviews and field testing and sampling of these projects along with four undistressed projects were made to define the construction methods and equipment used and to obtain samples from areas of good and bad pavement condition. these samples were tested to determine the strength of the compacted mix, and of the aggregate and asphalt constituents. common factors from the projects showing surface ravelling were a thin lift pavement overlay placed late in the paving season with a tendency toward less than optimum asphalt content. the resulting pavement had high air void content and was readily abraded by traffic during ensuing severe winter weather. recurrence of this type of problem can best be prevented by increased emphasis on proper compaction and mix design. remedial work on the present projects should be directed toward a seal coat application. strip ravelled projects were found to have similar pavement properties in ravel and non-ravel led sections and general to be within desirable limits. lower strength in resilient modulus tests and physically observed asphalt stripping in the ravelled sections indicate a localized failure of the asphalt aggregate bond. the failure occurrence in narrow longitudinal strips indicates a cause associated with paving operations--possibly differential compaction or hydrocarbon contamination. preventive measures should ensure uniform compaction and more thorough checking of stripping tendencies. corrective measures will require continued patching and possibly removal and replacement of affected pavement. aggregate, asphalt, asphalt concrete, asphalt pavement, compaction, concrete, condition, construction, construction methods, contamination, design, distress, investigaton, overlay, pavement, resilient modulus, sampling, season, strength, tests, traffic, winter wsdot 1979 |
| WA-RD 039.3 | Highway Runoff Monitoring: The Initial Year, Interim Report | Horner | UW | 1979 | highway runoff monitoring: the initial year, interim report horner, r.r., burges, s.j., ferguson, j.f., mar, b.w., welch, e.b. this report covers the initial 15 months of effort to review the literature, select a prototype site, compare the performance of several automatic sampling devices, and install a prototype sampling site on 1-5 north of seattle . highway, highway runoff, interim, monitoring, performance, review, runoff, sampling, seattle, water pollutants, washington state monitoring uw 1979 |
| WA-RD 036.1 | Pavement Testing and Analysis of Heavy Hauls for SR-12 | Mahoney | UW | 1979 | pavement testing and analysis of heavy hauls for sr-12 mahoney, j.p., tsunetta, j.y., terrel, r.l. the pavement structure of sr 12 between montesano and elma, washington was evaluated for the proposed heavy loads associated with construction of the satsop power plant. information used in evaluating sr-12 resulted from two sources which included field studies conducted by the washington state department of transportation and development of various material strength parameters by the university of washington. these data were used to model the pavement structure as a layered elastic system. by use of this analysis procedure, the stresses, strains, and deflections were estimated for the expected range of loading conditions. the results indicate that the most probable amount of damage (fatigue and rutting) expected for the non-cement treated base structural sections is less that one to two percent of available pavement life for the "expected" loading condition. an increase in either or both the trailer wheel load and pavement temperature will act to produce greater losses in pavement life. it is estimated that the tensile stresses in the cement treated base may exceed the tensile strength of this material. pavement evaluation, materials characterization, layered elastic system, failure criteria, heavy loads uw 1979 |
| WA-RD 035.1 | Use of Volume Data To Reduce Ramp To Ramp Freeway Trip Patterns, A Pilot Study | Nihan | UW | 1979 | use of volume data to reduce ramp to ramp freeway trip patterns, a pilot study nihan, n.l. this report presents the results of a pilot study to determine the utility of developing a particular travel forecasting technique. the technique in question is a gravity-based model which requires ramp volume data as inputs. the model is used to forecast ramp-to-ramp trip tables. the preliminary study indicates that this technique is sufficiently accurate to warrant furthur investigation. data, forecasting, freeway, model, ramp-to-ramp trips, freeway trip tables, trip distribution, traffic volumes, travel patterns, gravity model, travel, volume uw 1979 |
| WA-RD 038.1 | Monitoring By Aerial And Terrestrial Photgrammetry 938 | Veress | UW | 1979 | monitoring by aerial and terrestrial photgrammetry 938 veress, s.a., hatzopoulos, j.n. a photogrammetric monitoring method of structural deformation has been developed during the course of this project. the method is based on a combination of aerial and terrestrial photographs. the theoretical experimentation for formulation of computer programs has been done on mathematical model s. the combination of aerial and terrestrial photographs provides a 30% increased accuracy if compared to terrestrial photographs only. practical experimentation was done on the existing gabion wall, and it was indicated that the achievable accuracy is 1/120,000 o f the photographic distance. the method is flexible if it can be used for monitoring of any type of structure as well as f o r aerial triangulation. computer, computer program, developed, gabion, model, monitoring, photogrammetry monitoring, simultaneous adjustment, statistical analysis and space intersection, resection, program, project uw 1979 |
| WA-RD 033.1 | Ground Plan Wind Shear Interaction On Acoustic Transmission 949 | Foss | UW | 1978 | ground plan wind shear interaction on acoustic transmission 949 foss, r.n. experimental data indicate that the combined effects of wind shear and ground plane attenuation can have a strong influence on sound propagation near the ground even at distances as short as 100 ft, the effectmanifests itself experimentally as a noticeable difference between sound propagation upwind vis-8-vis downwind that becomes more pronounced with either increased distance or increased wind speed. differences of up to 25 dba were found between into-the-wind and with-the-wind propagation fora listening height of 4 ft and a transmission distance of about 300 ft. even a very moderate wind (4 mph) produced a difference of 12 db at 150 ft for the same listening height. a large body of spectral data was also taken under a variety of wind conditions for path lengths of 150 ft and 225 ft. the resulting spectra agreed reasonably well with theoretical predictions for frequencies below 500 hz, where ground and surface waves predominate; an important observation is that these waves were not affected substantially by wind conditions. above approximately 500 hz, the attenuation was frequently more than that predicted theoretically, and it was wind sensitive. the effect of wind was, in many cases, large, and could well mean that much experimentally obtained highway noise data is considerably less useful than previously thought, unless wind shear was taken into account during the measurements. in general, to "hear" the full effect of existing traffic, measurements should be made when the test positions downwind from the traffic. account, attenuation, condition, data, experimental, highway, highway acoustics, ground plane attenuation, wind shear, interaction, noise, prediction, speed, traffic, wind uw 1978 |
| WA-RD 024.5 | Vehicle Noise Radiation - Effective Height And Frequency Measurements 950 | Foss | UW | 1978 | vehicle noise radiation - effective height and frequency measurements 950 foss, r.n. a series of measurements was undertaken in the summer and fall of 1977 to determine the noise radiated by a wide variety of cars and trucks, and the effect of an acoustic wall, or barrier, on suppressing the transmission of that noise. the assumption of the "correct" effective radiating height was found to be the most critical parameter in making the calculations agree with the measured results. the "best height" value varied greatly from vehicle to vehicle, and with speed, load, and throttle setting for a given vehicle. the variability of this parameter made it impossible (solely from these tests) to assess such considerations as whether fresnel's or maekawa's curves should be used to calculate the attenuation produced by the wall.the most noteworthy observation from this study is that newer trucks not only are quieter (to meet noise radiation standards) but have an effective radiating height as low as 2 ft compared to as much as 11 ft for older trucks. 'thus, as the newer types of trucks become predominant in the highway traffic mix, the effectiveness of walls and barriers in shielding the community from noise will increase considerably.this is good news, because wall effectiveness has been marginal at best for pre-1970 trucks because of their radiation heights. attenuation, barrier, barriers, effectiveness, fresenel diffraction, highway, highway acoustics, noise, noise screens, noise supression, speed, tests, traffic, truck, trucks, vehicle noise, walls uw 1978 |
| WA-RD 039.2 | Effects Of Velocity And Nutrient Alternations On Stream Primary Procedures And Associated Organisms 948 | Horner | UW | 1978 | effects of velocity and nutrient alternations on stream primary procedures and associated organisms 948 horner, r.r., welch, e.b. velocity and nutrient studies at 12 sites in western washington streams indicated that 50 cm/sec is the critical average current velocity where the productive base of the food web is impacted. swiftly flowing streams rich in nutrients should not be slowed to this value, and slowly flowing streams should not be altered to have velocities greater than this value. base, velocity, nutrients, streams, washington state, aquatic ecosystem, periphyton, washington uw 1978 |
| WA-RD 019.3 | Alternate Methods of Avalanche Control- Final Report | LaChapplle | UW | 1978 | alternate methods of avalanche control- final report lachapplle, e.r., bell, d.b., johnson, j.b., lindsay, r.w., sackett, e.m. the alternate methods of avalanche control project has been funded by the washington state highway commission since august 1974 in order to develop simple, reliable and repeatable methods of triggering avalanche release which are free from the storage, handling and availability problems of explosives and artillery shells and which can be readily applied to avalanche paths typical to many smaller ones causing hazards for highways.the alternate methods of avalanche control project has been funded by the washington state highway commission since august 1974 in order to develop simple, reliable and repeatable methods of triggering avalanche release which are free from the storage, and availability problems of explosives and artillery and which can readily be applied to avalanche paths typical of the many ones causing frequent hazards for highways. the research involved tests in both washington and colorado to permit evaluation of the control methods in diverse climates and snow conditions, leading to more generally applicable results than could be obtained at a single site. the technical and scientific aspects of the work in colorado were coordinated by the san juan avalanche project of the university of colorado. field work in washington state and the general supervision of the program and the engineering design were carried out by the university of washington geophysics program. the u.s. forest service at utah, also joined in a cooperative test of our methods and equipment. this final report describes the tests and the results of the entire project. avalanche, snow, weather, stress waves, condition, control, design, equipment, evaluation, hazard, highway, highways, program, research, tests, washington, washington state uw 1978 |
| WA-RD 023.4 | Central Avalanche Hazard Forecasting - Summary Of Scientific Investigations | LaChapplle | UW | 1978 | central avalanche hazard forecasting - summary of scientific investigations lachapplle, e.r., furguson, s.a., marriott, r.t., moore, m.b., reanier, f.w., sackett, e.m., taylor, p.l. the central avalanche hazard forecasting project had had two principal aims : the design and establishment of an avalanche data network and central avalanche and mountain weather forecasting facility to serve the highway passes and other hazard areas of the cascade mountains in washington. improvements in the practices of conventional avalanche forecasting and the introduction of new techniques in statistical analysis and pattern recognition. achievement of the first aim has been described in previous reports 23.2 and 23.3. this present report 23.4 gives the results of fundamental research into avalanche forecasting theory and discusses the application of these results is to central avalanche forecasting for the cascade mountains of western washington . analysis, avalanche, avalanche forecasting, snow, weather, data, design, facilities, forecasting, hazard, highway, project, research, washington uw 1978 |
| WA-RD 023.1A | Operating Manual, Methods and Equipment Developed During The Project (Central Avalanche Hazard Forecasting), July 1975-March 1979 | UW | 1978 | operating manual, methods and equipment developed during the project (central avalanche hazard forecasting), july 1975-march 1979 the central avalanche hazard forecasting project has been funded by the washington state highway commission since july 1975 in order to test the feasibility and effectiveness of central avalanche forecasting for the cascade mountain passes and adjacent territory . historically, avalanche forecasting in the cascade mountains has been done locally on an area-by-area basis by highway department personnel and by forest rangers and professional ski patrolmen at individual ski areas. this project explored the possibilities of improving both mountain weather and related avalanche forecasts for use by wsdot during winter operations in the mountain passes and, secondarily, explored the usefulness of anarea-wide forecasting service to other, cooperating agencies. the aim of this work has been to establish the technical and administrative framework for an operational, on-going mountain weather and avalanche forecasting service for western washington under the joint support of interested public agencies. this aim has been achieved in autumn 1978 by the operation of an avalanche forecasting office administered by the us forest service, housed by the national weather service, and supported by wsdt, with additional peripheral support from both the public and private sectors. previous reports published by the project include: interim report, june 1976 (report no. 23.2); final report, june 1977 (report no. 23.3)implementation report, december 1978, which will be published in spring 1979if you would like to obtain copies of any of these reports, contact wsdot public transportation and planning division in olympia (scan 234-61 49) or the avalanche research office on scan 323-7180 or write avalanche research,department of atmospheric sciences ak-40, university of washington, seattle,phil taylor, research engineer, has done an outstanding job of developing much of this equipment and devising methods of operation. he is, unfortunately, no longer with the university. he will be working in autumn 1978 with the us forest service as a consultant in addition to his continuing work with the us geological survey. this operating manual is intended to be an informational document with limited distribution and its format reflects that informality. agencies, avalanche, avalanche forecasting, developed, effectiveness, equipment, forecasting, framework, hazard, highway, interim, its, manual, methods, operating, planning, project, public, research, survey, transportation, washington, washington state, winter uw 1978 | |
| WA-RD 034.1 | Chemical Weed Control In Roadside Vegetation ON Highway Right Of Way 945 | Ryan | WSDOT | 1978 | chemical weed control in roadside vegetation on highway right of way 945 ryan, g.f., rosenthal, r.n., berger, r.l. experiments were conducted at six locations to determine methods for eliminating or controlling existing weeds on highway rights-of-way prior to planting, and preventing weed infestations after planting, without injuring or interfering with normal growth and development of desirable plant material. four experiments were conducted to determine herbicide programs for eliminating weeds in natural stands of (arctostaphylos uva-ursi [l.] sprang) and salal (gaultheria shallon pursh.) on highway rights-way, permitting these plants to form solid of uniform attractive vegetation. chemical, control, development, highway, methods, program, right-of-way, roadside, roadside vegetation, roadside vegitation, weed control wsdot 1978 |
| WA-RD 029.1 | Native Vegetatioin Development 956 | Chaplin | WSDOT | 1977 | native vegetatioin development 956 chaplin, b.l. a five-year study was initiated in 1972 to study propagation procedures, artificial soil mixes and season of planting for two types of tube ling containers. a cost comparison, based on plant survival was also made between plant materials grown in the two types of tube ling containers. cost, development, landscape plant establishment, materials, plant survival, season, soil, tubelings wsdot 1977 |
| WA-RD 032.1 | Sub-Surface Infiltration System for Tree Irrigation 955 | Hietzman | WSDOT | 1977 | sub-surface infiltration system for tree irrigation 955 hietzman, p.g. from april through october 1977, a new sub surface irrigation system design was tested and evaluated in an applied situation. the purpose of this research was to study the practical application of the design and the collection of data for development of design, construction and maintenance guidelines. the study has proved the practical applicability of the "sub surface infiltration system." construction, data, design, development, infiltration, maintenance, research, sub-surface, system, tree irrigation wsdot 1977 |
| WA-RD 023.3 | Central Avalanche Hazard Forecasting - Final Report, Phase II | LaChapplle | UW | 1977 | central avalanche hazard forecasting - final report, phase ii lachapplle, e.r., moore, m.b., reanier, f.w., sackett, e.m. this report reviews the second year of work on the washington state highway commission department of highways project central avalanche hazard forecasting (wsdh agreement y-1700) to test the feasibility and effectiveness of central avalanche forecasting for the cascade mountain passes and adjacent area. the possibilities and techniques for improving both mountain weather and related avalanche forecasts for use by wsdh during winter operation in the mountain passes were further explored, and, secondarily, the usefulness of an area wide forecasting service to other cooperating agencies. this report defines and significant changes from the first year of operation in collection, assimilation or transmission of snow, weather and avalanche data by the forecasting office, and details modifications of the data network itself, especially new instrumentation and telemetry equipment . weather and avalanche forecasting accuracy and reliability are assessed by comparing daily weather and avalanche forecasts with file d data. the conceptual framework and analytical methods used by forecasters to deduce current and probable future avalanche activity from the available data network input and current and extrapolated meteorological data are presented. a general preliminary guide to forecasting methodology for the washington cascades is defined and discussed. agencies, avalanche, avalanche forecasting, snow, weather, data, effectiveness, equipment, forecasting, framework, hazard, highway, highways, methodology, methods, project, reliability, review, washington, washington state, winter uw 1977 |
| WA-RD 031.1 | Photogrammetric Monitoring Of A Gabion Wall 952 | Veress | UW | 1977 | photogrammetric monitoring of a gabion wall 952 veress, s.a., flint, e.e., sun, l.l., jinina, c. a photogrammetric monitoring method of structural deformation has been developed during the course of this project. the gabion wall which is part of the i-90 project has been used as the site for practical tests of the theorectical development. the monitoring consists of photographing the structure from three camera stations with ka-2 f=24" camera. the camera has been modified to a plate camera to provide the maxium accuracy.the methodology consists of the geodetic determination of the camera location and the orientation and photogrammetric determination of targets (natural and artificial) on the structure. during the course of this project more than 100 target locations were determined by three dimensional coordinates. the maximum error was found to be + 3/4 inch; the average, 1/2 inch. this represents a relative accuracy of from 1/58,00 to 1/120,00 of the photographic distance.using the actual construction site for research has permitted immediate implementation. the instrumentation as well as the methodology along with the computer program has been transmitted to the washington state highway department and their photogrammetric branch has been assisted in the implementation. camera, computer, computer program, construction, developed, development, error, gabion, highway, methodology, monitoring, photogrammetry, gabion wall, deflection, camera stations, orientation matrices, space intersection space resection, program, project, research, tests, washington, washington state uw 1977 |
| WA-RD 027.1 | A Study Of Wastewater Handling, Holding and Disposal From Washington State Ferries 953 | Sylvester | UW | 1977 | a study of wastewater handling, holding and disposal from washington state ferries 953 sylvester, r.o., ferguson, j.f., parish, k.b., brown, d.w., leuelid, s. alternatives to control wastewater odors on board washington state ferries and during discharge of the wastewater to sewerage systems were formulated, evaluated and tested.holding tank aeration, using compressed air injection to a recycle line is an effective method. sulfide is microbially oxidized, and anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria are suppressed. engineering and lab studies and a simulation model of the process were used to estimate suitable design parameters and costs. a prototype installation is recommended for optimization of operation. the addition of slug dosages of h202 was also found to be effective in laboratory and on-board vessels. the twice daily dose of about 50 mg/ should be stirred into the holding tank using recycle mixing. peroxide was found to oxidize sulfide, increase dissolved oxygen and suppress sulfate reducing bacteria. bottom suction sludge hoppers must be installed to prevent accumulation of sludge in tank bottom.other alternatives, including chlorine addition, ph increase, iron sulfide precipitation and toxic odor control compounds, were found ineffective and/or uneconomic.other finds are that sulfide is produced primarily from reduction of sulfates from the saltwater flushing water. production is primarily in the slime layer on the bottom and sides of the holding tanks. on-shore force mains are sites of sulfide production during stagnant periods between tank pumpouts. these force mains should tanks was evaluated for hydraulic, organic loading, and salt toxicity effects on existing and planned sewage plants. no significant impacts were found. control, cost, costs, design, disposal, dissolved oxygen, effects, ferries, ferry, impact, impacts, line, marine wastewater holding tanks, odor control, wastewater aeration, hydrogen peroxide, model, precipitation, salt, sewerage, study, system, systems, toxicity, vessel, vessels, washington, washington state uw 1977 |
| WA-RD 012.3 | Acoustic Radar and Its Applicability to Highway Air Pollution Studies | Rossano | UW | 1977 | acoustic radar and its applicability to highway air pollution studies rossano, a.t., badgley, f.i., juhasz, p.c., bang, g., carsey, f. at the request of the washington department of highways two studies have been conducted by a team of specialists at the university of washington air resources program to determine the applicability of the acoustic radar to air quality modeling to mobile sources.at the request of the washington department of highways two studies have been conducted by a team of specialists at the university of washington air resources program to determine the applicability of the acoustic radar to air quality modeling of mobile sources. following an exploratory investigation, a comprehensive study was undertaken in which the atmospheric structure was measured by a modified monostatic acoustic radar and the derived stability conditions were compared with the commonly used pasquill-turner stability classes, which are based on empirical data. this comprehensive study was performed over a three month period in the fall of 1976, when an unusually persistent air stagnation existed in the study area caused by a stationary high pressure system over the entire northwest.the evergreen point floating bridge toll plaza in bellevue, washington was selected for test location.the carbon monoxide (co) concentrations were measured at six strategically located sampling points and then compared with the computer model predictions utilizing atmospheric stability data derived by both the pasquill-turner and the radar echo methods. the results indicated that the acoustic radar method of determining d & e stability classes is a more realistic approach than that of the pasquill-turner method. furthermore, the radar method can also provide continuous remote sensing and recordings of atmospheric parameters. the variation of the inversion height, as measured by the radar echoes has shown a reasonably good correlation with the variation of the measured co concentration. acoustic radar, air pollution, air quality, air quality modeling, bridge, carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide perdictions, computer, concentrations, condition, data, floating bridge, highway, highways, its, model, modeling, prediction, pressure, program, quality, remote sensing, remote sensing atmospheric structur, sampling, stability, transportation pollutio, washington uw 1977 |
| WA-RD 012.2 | The Selection and Calibration of Air Quality Diffusion For Washington State Highway Resources | Badgley | UW | 1976 | the selection and calibration of air quality diffusion for washington state highway resources badgley, f., rossana, t.a., alsid, h.f., lutrick, d. at the request of the washington state department of highways a study was conducted to evaluate three computer models specifically designed to predict carbon monoxide concentration at receptor points along roadways. the models were evaluated on their ability to predict values obtained from a monitoring network established along various roadways in the state of washington. monitoring consisted of 12 ground level co stations, meteorological stations and traffic counters. traffic speeds were sampled for conformity during peak hours. the final selected models, caline and epa's hiway were given calibration factors to be used when calculating receptor concentrations for impact assessments. air pollution, air quality, assessment, calibration, carbon monoxide, computer, computer modelin, concentrations, highway, highways, impact, model, models, monitoring, quality, roadway, speed, traffic, transportation pollution source, washington, washington state uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 044.3 | Evergreen Point Bridge Maintenance Problems - Annual Report | Brown | UW | 1976 | evergreen point bridge maintenance problems - annual report brown, c. this report reflects a year of data gathering together with the completion of analysis programs. these include the initial tape conversion, data rejection and selection, fast fourier transform coefficient computation. complete statistics of measurements are given. analysis, annual, bridge, data, fatigue, maintenance, program, reliability, statistics, wind uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 024.3 | Noise Barrier Screen Measurement - Double Barriers | Foss | UW | 1976 | noise barrier screen measurement - double barriers foss, r.n. this report documents the results of an investigation to determine the attenuative effect of two cascaded walls or barrier screens on the transmission of sound. the study was for point sources and involved the use of tone burst techniques for the experimental determination of the attenuation produced by a wide variety of two-wall configurations. this work was modeled at 5 and 10 khz. the final result was the development of an algorithm for accurately predicting the attenuation of two-wall systems. attenuation, barrier, barriers, development, experimental, fresenel diffraction, highway acoustics, noise, noise screens, noise supression, systems, walls uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 024.4 | Vehicle Noise Radiation, Effective Height and Frequency Measurements | Foss | UW | 1976 | vehicle noise radiation, effective height and frequency measurements foss, r.n. actural vehicle measurements indicate that the best single frequency approximation for "a" weighted noise is 650 hz. for light vehicles, the effective source height is 0.2 m (0.7ft) above the lane surface. for heavy vehicles, the effective source height is 0.8 m (2.6ft) above the lane surface. fresenel diffraction, highway acoustics, light, noise, noise supression, vehicle noise uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 024.2 | Attenuation Of Sound As A Function Barrier Angle | Foss | UW | 1976 | attenuation of sound as a function barrier angle foss, r.n. oblique wall noise barriers were investigated for angular dependence of attenuation. experiments with a model at 5 khz showed less than 1 db difference from normal incidence to 45o incidence. variations may approach 2 db at angles near 70' from normal incidence. thus, the obliqueness of the wall may be neglected for most practical problems. attenuation, barrier, barriers, fresenel diffraction, highway acoustics, model, noise, noise barriers, noise screens uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 025.6 | Guidelines For the Identification And Analysis Of Social Factors In Transportation Planning | Iverson | WSDOT | 1976 | guidelines for the identification and analysis of social factors in transportation planning iverson, e.a. the objective of study was to develop criteria and procedures for the identification and measurement of social in transportation planning and the process by which such analyses are integrated into the decision-making process. the guidelines developed from this address several related but different parts of the total planning and design process. two of the reports prepared as a part of this study are concerned with identifying and measuring social factors and conducting social and economic surveys to obtain necessary data. a third report is concerned with the development and implementation of involvement programs. the is made that an effective planning and design process must provide means by which the values and of residents of affected and users of transportation facilities can be incorporated in technical studies and the decision-making process. two additional reports contain guidelines for the operation of interdisciplinary teams and team scheduling and management. the systematic interdisciplinary approach undertaken in the state of washington provides a means by which technical data, values and opinions, and planning and design concepts and standards can all be evaluated by the team in reaching a solution to a problem. analysis, community involvement, social factors, socio-economic surveys, inter-disciplinary team operation and management, criteria, data, design, design process, developed, development, facilities, impacts, management, planning, program, scheduling, survey, surveys, transportation, transportation planning, washington wsdot 1976 |
| WA-RD 019.2 | Alternate Methods of Avalanche Control - Interim 1975-1976, Phase II | LaChapplle | UW | 1976 | alternate methods of avalanche control - interim 1975-1976, phase ii lachapplle, e.r., johnson, j.b., langdon, j.a., morig, c.r. a collection of reports resulting from the second year's study. reports are entitled:1. air bag system by e.r. lachapelle, c.r. morig and p.l. taylor 2. gas exploder system by e.r. lachapelle, c.r. morig, and p.l. taylor 3. vibrator tests by e.r. lachapelle, c.r. morig and p.l. taylor 4. mechanical resonance of snow by j.b. johnson 5. interface modification field tests by e. r. lachapelle 6. approximate solutions for the interruption of the creep and glide of a snowpack by rigid structures by j.a. langdon avalanche, snow, weather, creep, glide, control, field test, interim, structures, tests uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 023.2 | Central Avalanche Hazard Forecasting - Interim Report, Phase II | LaChapplle | UW | 1976 | central avalanche hazard forecasting - interim report, phase ii lachapplle, e.r., moore, m.b., reanier, f.w. this report summarizes the first year of activity under washington state department of highways project central avalanche hazard forecasting (agreement y-1700) to test the feasibility and effectiveness of central avalanche forecasting for the cascade mountain passes and adjacent territory . this project explores thepossibilities of improving both mountain weather and related avalanche forecasts for use by the wsdh during winter operations in the mountain passes, and, secondarily, explores the usefulness of an area-wide forecasting service to other, cooperating agencies. the eventual aim of this work is to establish thetechnical and administrative framework for an operational, on-going mountain weather and avalanche forecasting service for western washington under the joint support of interested public agencies. agencies, avalanche, avalanche forecasting, snow, weather, effectiveness, forecasting, framework, hazard, highway, highways, interim, project, public, washington, washington state, winter uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 017.2 | Mechanistic Behavior of Pavement Systems | Terrel | UW | 1976 | mechanistic behavior of pavement systems terrel, r.l. as part of their continuing effort to prolong the life of existing pavement systems, highway engineers must continue to improve upon design and rehabilitation methods. in past years, design methods based upon empericism have been employed with considerable success. as loading and materials change or become more complex, the older practices become less useful and a new approach undertaken. throughout the u.s. and elsewhere, there has been emerging new technology often termed " rational " , "systematic", "mechanistic", and other terms used to describe new approaches to pavement analysis and design. mostof these are based on elastic or viscoelastic layered representation of the pavement structure and have the potential to become powerful tools for the highway engineer. in recent years, the university of washington has assisted the washington state highway department on various research projects . one project resulted in a report that has been used to develop guidelines for allowable truck traffic through the concept of pavement damage and/or remaining life . the basis forth is report was the concept that pavement structures can be reasonably well represented by elastic layered systems. analysis of the mechanistic behavior can then be used to predict pavement response and l i f e expectancy. as a result of this study and after discussions with highway department personnel, it was determined that the procedures, techniques, as well as other information used in the above report may be of further interest to them. in other words, the methods as well as results had potential utilization in a wide range of applications . as a result , a seminar program was set up whereby the writer would conduct or lead weekly discussion sessions on key topics. analysis, applications, behavior, damage, design, highway, materials, mechanistic, pavement, pavement damage, program, rehabilitation, remaining life, research, seminar, structures, systems, technology, traffic, truck, washington, washington state uw 1976 |
| WA-RD 025.0 | Social Factors In Transportation Planning | WSDOT | 1976 | social factors in transportation planning this report presents a summary of the research project which resulted in the following guideline reports.25.1 development and implementation of community involvement programs25.2 indentification and measurement of social factors in transportation planning25.3 conducting surveys concerning transportation25.4 operation of interdisciplinary teams25.5 team scheduling and management community involvement, social factors, socio-economic surveys, inter-disciplinary team operation and management, development, executive summary, management, planning, project, research, scheduling, survey, surveys, transportation, transportation planning wsdot 1976 | |
| WA-RD 014.2 | Vegetative Cover for Highway Rights-of-Way | Rosenthal | WSDOT | 1976 | vegetative cover for highway rights-of-way rosenthal, r.n. a six year study of landscape plant establishment on roadsides as affected by a number of environmental conditions was initiated in april, 1970. the relationships between plant survival and soil texture, soil temperature, soil moisture, and exposure were evaluated. the affect of exposure on percent ground coverage of various grass species used in erosion control was also evaluated. condition, control, environmental, erosion, erosion control, exposure, highway, landscape plant establishment, plant survival, roadside, soil, soil moisture, soil temperature, soil type, temperature wsdot 1976 |
| WA-RD 003.5 | Pavement Deflection Measurement Dynamic Phase IV | Brands | WSU | 1975 | pavement deflection measurement dynamic phase iv brands, f., cook, c.j. tests were conducted on various pavements t o investigate the correlation between measurements obtained using the impulse index computer and pavement condition as determined by other means. benkelman beam deflection measurements and impulse index measurements are compared along with washington state pavement rating system results. effect of temperature on the apparent impulse index is evaluated.. benkleman beam, computer, condition, deflection test, impulse index, impulse testing, index, pavement, pavement condition, pavement deflection, pavement evaluation, pavement maintenance, pavements, systems, temperature, tests, washington, washington state wsu 1975 |
| WA-RD 019.1 | Alternative Methods of Avalanche Control - Interim 1974-1975 | Brown | UW | 1975 | alternative methods of avalanche control - interim 1974-1975 brown, c.b., evans, r.j., johnson, b., langdon, a., moore, b., taylor, l. a collection of reports resulting from the first year's study alternate methods of avalanche control. the reports are entitled:1. air bag system by e. r. lachappelle and p.l. taylor2. gas exploder system by e. r. lachappelle and p. l. taylor3. snow behavior behind a continuous avalanche defense structure by j.a. langdon.4. interface modification field tests by e. r. lachappelle5. mechanical resonance of snow by j. b. johnson and r. j. evans6. the 1974-75 winter by m. b. moore alternative, avalanche, avalanche forecasting, snow, weather, creep, glide, behavior, control, field test, interim, tests, winter uw 1975 |
| WA-RD 022.1 | Test Track Evaluation Of Patching Materials - Final Report | Cook | WSDOT | 1975 | test track evaluation of patching materials - final report cook, j.c. evaluation of pavement patching materials was accomplished by simulating potholes in the surface, repairing the holes and subjecting them to traffic loadings. loadings were applied utilizing the pavement test facility, which applies truck simultaneously. measurements of strength resulted in a comparative evaluation. tires was determined. tire and various passenger car tire .types s skidding potential and pavement performance. tread wear and protrusion of studs in the tires was determined. evaluation, facilities, materials, pavement, pavement patching material, polishing, skidding potential, studded tires, garnet impregnated tires, pavement performance, performance, strength, studs, test track, tire, tires, traffic, truck wsdot 1975 |
| WA-RD 020.1 | Investigation Of Bridge Deck Deterioration Caused by Deicing Chemicals | Demich | WSDOT | 1975 | investigation of bridge deck deterioration caused by deicing chemicals demich, g.f. forty-eight bridge decks were investigated for deterioration using visual , mechanical , electrical and chemical techniques. data from the various techniques and the techniques themselves were compared and evaluated, resulting data base for washington's bridges and recommendations for efficient condition determinations. of the thirty-seven bridges for which all four types of inspection could be accomplished, twenty-nine were deteriorating as evidenced by delaminated concrete, and only two had non-deteriorating scores for all four techniques. none of the investigative techniques used in the project have been shown able to predict deck deterioration problems six to eight years in advance, our desired time period for project planning. the mechanical technique, commonly referred to as the "chain drag", is the method recommended for continued use by bridge inspection crews. forty-eight bridge decks were investigated for deterioration using visual, mechanical, electrical and chemical techniques. base, bridge, bridge deck, bridge decks, bridges, chloride ion, delamination, half-cell potential, de-icing salt, galvaic corrosion, concrete cover, bridge deck deterioration, concrete, condition, data, deck, deterioration, inspection, planning, washington wsdot 1975 |
| WA-RD 024.1 | Noise Barrier Screen Measurement - Single Barriers | Foss | UW | 1975 | noise barrier screen measurement - single barriers foss, r.n. this laboratory has undertaken an extensive series of experimental measurements to determine the effect of barrier screens on the transmission of sound from a point source. by exercising great care in the experimental procedures, the data spread was kept within a narrow band about 1 db wide. the results of these experiments indicate that the correct attenuation curve (in decibels vs fresnel number "nh) for apoint source is given by fresnells equations. this is an important determination because computer programs based on the widely used national cooperative research program report 117 use a curve suggested by the work of maekawa that is lower than fresnel's curve. the results of calculations that convert this point source curve to the incoherent line source (and line source segment) case are also given. the measurements were conducted at two frequencies, 5.19 and 10.019 khz, and employed a variety of source-to-wall and wall-to-microphone spacings. they were carried out indoors using pulse techniques to eliminate unwanted bounces and reflections. attenuation, barrier, barriers, computer, computer program, data, equations, experimental, fresenel diffraction, line, noise, noise supression, program, reflections, research uw 1975 |
| WA-RD 025.5 | Guidelines For Teams Scheduling and Management | Jacobson | WSDOT | 1975 | guidelines for teams scheduling and management jacobson, r., parker, r. the purpose of this document is to present an effective method by which the scheduling and coordination of the activities of interdisciplinary teams can be carried out. a number of more traditional techniques of project control have not met the unique requirements of scheduling and managing the activities of an inter-disciplinary team since the basic logic of task ordering is time sequentiality. quite a number of the activities of inter-disciplinary team can be carried on simultaneously or at any time within the project's period. the system developed within this document uses the principal of "nested" descriptions of program activities and then proceeds to develop operational procedures. the role of the individual team members as well a the overall project development is described. control, developed, development, management, program, project, scheduling wsdot 1975 |
| WA-RD 028.1 | Evaluation of Origin-Destination Data for an External Cordon Line Survey | Koontz | WSDOT | 1975 | evaluation of origin-destination data for an external cordon line survey koontz, b., kirkland, c.k. the primary travel characteristic in question is the mirroring of the magnitude and distribution of the inbound trip patterns to the patterns of the outbound trips. the linear regression analysis for the internal-external (ie) trips plotted by direction and zone volume provided a correlation of 0.09885 for all survey stations combined. the association of the regression lines with the expected 45 degree line when plotting inbound versus outbound trips by zone is a second indicator, and showed an average intercept of about +2.6 trips with a slope of 0.989. the standard error of the estimate was calculated to by 37 trips for all stations combined. the average number of trips per zone is 237.5.a similar analysis of the external-external (ee) trips produced a regression correlation of 0.9954 and the regression lines had an average intercept of +1.5 trips with a line slope of 0.996. in addition to studying the distribution of the trips by zone, the o-d data was stratified into four purposes: 1) work 2) personal, business and shopping 3) social recreation, and 4) other. percent trips by purpose and by direction were calculated and for all stations combined there was less that a 2% discrepancy for any single purpose. the best match was work trips (0.4% difference) and the greatest difference was in the social-recreation trips, with a 1.9% difference.a comparison of the distribution of trips by trip length was the final area investigated. for i.e. trips inside the cordon line the inbound direction showed an average trip length of 8,86 minutes with a standard deviation of 3.44 minutes and the outbound direction produced and average trip length of 8.89 minutes with a standard deviation of 3.43 minutes. analysis, cordon, data, error, evaluation, external cordon, line, line survey, origin-destination, recreation, regression, regression analysis, survey, travel, trip length, volume, work trip wsdot 1975 |
| WA-RD 008.8 | Cascade Passes - Avalanche Atlas Part II - Stevens Pass And Tumwater Canyon | LaChapplle | UW | 1975 | cascade passes - avalanche atlas part ii - stevens pass and tumwater canyon lachapplle, e.r., brown, c.b., evans, r.j. part 2 continues the cascade passes avalanche atlas; part 1 was published in august 1974 and covers avalanche hazards on chinook, cayuse, white and snoqualmie passes. the documentation of hazards at stevens pass includes only those avalanche paths which directly or potentially affect the highway, u.s. 2. there are numerous other adjacent avalanche paths--lichtenberg mountain is a good example--which are prominent in the vicinity of the pass but which do not present any real likelihood of reaching the highway under foreseeable avalanche conditions. these latter paths are not delineated on the maps or photos, although many do appear within the mapped areas. there is a long history of avalanche occurrences at stevens pass, stemming both from railroad and highway experience. most of the earlier history is unrecorded. a considerable amount of anecdotal knowl- edge for recent years is available from highway department personnel with long experience in the area. the historical record has drawn heavily on this experience. the primary compilation of data for part 2 of the cascade passes atlas was done by len miller during his tenure as a contract avalanche consultant for the highway department. this compilation has subsequently been amended and extended through the cooperation of the department avalanche crew at stevens pass under the leadership of steve reister. atlas, avalanche, cascade, condition, data, hazard, highway uw 1975 |
| WA-RD 023.1 | Avalanche Hazard Forecasting Feasibility Study, Phase I -Final Report | WSDOT | 1975 | avalanche hazard forecasting feasibility study, phase i -final report this report describes the results of a feasibility study comprising phase i of a central avalanchehazard forecasting program for mountain passes in the state of washington. the report describes existing weather and avalanche data sources, and suggests improvements and additions for improved input to and feedback from a centralized avalanche forecaster's office which will improve avalanche predictions for all passes within the state. wsdh and consultant efforts and results during fy 75 are described, and specific recommendations for phaseii, implementation of avalanche hazard forecasting, are provided. avalanche, avalanche hazard, weather, weather observations, wind, temperature, precipitation, data reporting, avalanche hazard forecasting, communications, data, data sources, forecasting, hazard, prediction, program, washington wsdot 1975 | |
| WA-RD 025.1 | Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Community Involvement Programs HR-527 | WSDOT | 1975 | guidelines for the development and implementation of community involvement programs hr-527 the purpose of this study is to produce guidelines that will provide assistance to those responsible for the planning and implementation of community involvement plans. these guidelines cover the many elements of a multi-faced community involvement approach and give direction for planning and implementation of these guidelines.a considerable amount of recent experience and information on community involvement was compiled and analyzed to afford the capability of tailoring a community involvement plan for an individual plan for an individual and unique community as defined by its characteristics. among the major elements discussed are the general principals which must be followed to achieve successful community involvement; the criteria to determine how extensive an involvement plan should be for a particular community as defined by the characteristics of the community and type of proposed action; the establishment of an implementation schedule; detailed discussion of the methods used to disseminate information and obtain citizen input; a description of the various types of community groups which can be used for cooperative planning; recommendations to improve the effectiveness of public meetings; and the basic strategy used in evaluating the success of a community involvement plan. community involvement, citizen participation, citizen input, dissemination of information, cooperative planning, multi-faceted, scheduling and implementation, criteria, development, effectiveness, group, its, meeting, methods, planning, program, public wsdot 1975 | |
| WA-RD 025.2 | Guidelines For The Identification And Measurement Of Social Factors In Transportation Planning | WSDOT | 1975 | guidelines for the identification and measurement of social factors in transportation planning the purpose of this study is to establish guidelines and procedures for the measurement of the social effects of transportation systems and facilities on both a regional and community or neighborhood level. this coincides with the increased emphasis on human factors in the planning and design of transportation systems and facilities, which has necessitated the development of a systematic approach to gathering social data and developing normative standards. in part of this increased emphasis has been mandated by federal statutes such as the national environmental policy act o f 1969 and the intergovernmental act of 1968.a detailed examination of the seven-fold classification scheme of social factors and an emphasis on the methodologies used to evaluate social impacts is discussed. emphasis is placed on the analytical framework utilizing the major phases of inventing existing social conditions, identifying potential changes and measurement of probable impacts. from this analysis a systematic approach to identifying and measuring social impact in transportation planning is put forth, for use by those assigned this responsibility. analysis, condition, data, design, development, environmental, facilities, framework, human factors, impact, impacts, measurement of social impact, social factors, community identity, community values and desires, community cohesion, disruption, displacement, relocation, minority interest, methodology, planning, policy, systems, transportation, transportation planning wsdot 1975 | |
| WA-RD 025.3 | Guidelines For Conducting Surveys Concerning Transportation | WSDOT | 1975 | guidelines for conducting surveys concerning transportation the purpose of this study is to produce guidelines that provide specific, operational and action oriented assistance to those responsible for planning and transportation surveys as a community involvement tool. a considerable amount of recent transportation survey experience along with the provision of technical information from private urban opinion survey organizations was researched and analyzed for inclusion in these guidelines. by discussing and comparing the relative merits of different survey techniques, the sampling process, questionnaire design, and examples of past surveys, these guidelines cover the theoretical as well as the practical side of the surveying process. the presentation of this information is in such a that it can be used by field staff to insure that this vital element of a community involvement program can be performed in an efficient and effective manner. community involvement, citizen input, survey methodology, limitations of surveys, survey techniques, sampling process, questionnaire design, random cluster sampling, design, planning, program, sampling, survey, surveys, transportation, urban wsdot 1975 | |
| WA-RD 025.4 | Guidelines For The Operation Of Inter-Disciplinary Teams HR-527 | WSDOT | 1975 | guidelines for the operation of inter-disciplinary teams hr-527 in the of washington interdisciplinary teams have been formed for planning projects a major social, economic or environmental impact. the responsibilities of the teams are as follows: conduct in-depth studies; and implement a community involvement program; and (3) develop a departmental recommendation for solutions to transportation problems. the inter-disciplinary teams that have used have had a wide variety disciplines represented, purpose this document is to outline procedures and discuss methods that will assist interdisciplinary team members and project engineers in carrying out their responsibilities. part with the organization and responsibilities of the team and of its members, part 2 sets forth ten steps recommended for teams to follow in carrying out their charge. part 3 discusses some of the practical operating problems, which teams have experienced, and possible solutions. methods to achieve more effective interaction among interdisciplinary team members are discussed. also, suggestions by which technical studies and community values and attitudes can be integrated into the team's final report are included, attitudes, environmental, environmental impact, impact, interdisciplinary team operations, organization and responsibilities, design team studies, study plan development and methodology, team management, its, methods, operating, planning, program, project, transportation, transportation planning, washington wsdot 1975 | |
| WA-RD 018.1 | Acoustical Barrier Noise Characteristics Research Project, HR 535 HR 475 | Klasell | WSDOT | 1974 | acoustical barrier noise characteristics research project, hr 535 hr 475 klasell, j.a., butler, b.w. this study was chiefly aimed at determining if a standard precast concrete median barrier placed on a highway shoulder in a fill section, would be effective in reducing highway traffic noise outside of the roadway prism. secondly, it attacked the question of whether the current computer noise prediction program was giving accurate values.the first phase of the study consisted of collecting noise and traffic measurements in the field, first without and then with a median barrier, at two selected test sites. next, the geometry of the test sites and field traffic data were entered into the computer program and the predicted noise levels obtained.the second phase consisted of comparing these two sets of data to determine the accuracy of the computer program and the amount of sound reduction, if any, due to the median barrier.the results indicated that the highway traffic noise was dominated by truck generated noise. it was therefore concluded that a standard median barrier will not provide a significant amount of sound reduction, outside of the roadway prism, when placed on a highway shoulder in a fill section. the results also indicated that the current computer noise prediction program will calculate noise levels that are usually higher than actually exist. acoustical barrier, barrier attenuation, computer, computer program, concrete, data, ground attenuation, highway, median, median barrier, noise, noise levels, precast, precast concrete, prediction, program, research, roadway, traffic, traffic data, traffic noise, truck, wind, wind noise, barrier, project wsdot 1974 |
| WA-RD 008.7 | Cascade Passes - Avalanche Atlas Part I - Chinook, Cayuse, White And Snoqualmie Passes | LaChapplle | UW | 1974 | cascade passes - avalanche atlas part i - chinook, cayuse, white and snoqualmie passes lachapplle, e.r., brown, c.b., evans, r.j. this present compilation of avalanche paths affecting washington state highways extends in the same format the information published in 1971 as the north cascades highway avalanche atlas. part 11, in preparation, will cover stevens pass and tumwater canyon.the north cascades highway atlas was prepared on the basis of extensive aerial and ground reconnaissance in a hitherto inaccessible wilderness area where no previous record of avalanche occurrence was available. compilation for the cascades passes has proceeded on the same basis, with the added advantage that all of the areas in question have long been traversed by highways for which considerable historical records exist . it is necessary, though, to note that such a record has proven to be less advantageous than might be expected. in the case of the north cascades highway, identification of avalanche paths was based on objective appraisal of terrain and vegetation patterns, leading to an accurate and highly consistent compilation. in the present cascade passes atlas, there are many instances where objective evidence and historical accounts fail to agree. moreover, the nomenclature, rather than being assigned consistently, has developed -- ad hoc over the years and varies with individuals and agencies . these conflicts have been resolved in the final editing of this atlas according to the best available evidence, but in some cases necessarily in an arbitrary fashion. the snoqualmie pass section of this atlas includes reproductions of sketches prepared by the department of highways for use in recording avalanche occurrences. these sketches are included here to illustrate this mode of avalanche recording, since it is a valuable method for systematically accumulating an historical record of avalanche frequency and behavior. account, agencies, atlas, avalanche, behavior, cascade, developed, highway, highways, north, north cascade, washington, washington state uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 008.6 | Methods of Avalanche Control in Washington Mountain Highways | LaChapplle | UW | 1974 | methods of avalanche control in washington mountain highways lachapplle, e.r., brown, c.b., evans, r.j. this summary report synthesizes the work on avalanche control carried out at the university of washington from 1970 through 1974. five problem areas are addressed: 1. identification of avalanche paths. 2. description of historical frequency and size of avalanches. 3 prediction of avalanche. 4. identification of control methods. 5. inclusion of control and prediction schemes in highway design and operation. avalanche, snow, decisions, weather, vegetation, creep, glide, avalanche forecasting, control, design, highway, highway design, methods, prediction, washington uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 008.4 | Avalanche Studies 1972-1973 | LaChapplle | UW | 1974 | avalanche studies 1972-1973 lachapplle, e.r., brown, c.b., evans, r.j., fox, t., smith, l., mcclung, d.l. a collection of reports on several different aspects of avalanche formation. the reports are entitled: 1. some considerations for avalanche defense design for the washington cascades. 2. incorporation of glide and creep measurements into snow slab mechanics. 3. avalanches and synoptic weather situations in the cascades during the winters of 1971-72 and 1972-73. 4. indication of snow avalanche periodicity through interpretation of vegetation patterns in the north cascades, washington. 5. a visit to the swiss federal institute for snow and avalanche research. 6. decision methods avalanche, snow, decisions, weather, vegetation, creep, glide, dendrochronology, avalanches, cascade, design, methods, north, north cascade, research, study, washington, winter uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 008.5 | Avalanche Studies 1973-1974 | Moore | UW | 1974 | avalanche studies 1973-1974 moore, m.b., mcclung, d.l., brown, c., evans, r.j., lachapplle, e.r. a collection of reports about avalanche conditions and avalanche prevention measures on washington mountain highways in general and to the north cascade highway in particular involving various aspects of creep deformation and glide of the snow cover as they affect avalanche defense structure design; reconnaissance of a proposed new highway route through the cascade mountains and a continuing study of the relationship between synoptic winter weather patterns and the formation and distribution of snow avalanches in the cascades.the reports are entitled:1. effect o f glide and creep on rigid obstacles by c.b. brown and r.j. evans.2. creep and the snow-earth interface condition in the seasonal alpinesnow-pack by d. m. mcclung.3. in- situ investigations o f the temperature dependence o f the creep oflow density snow by d.m. mcclung4. naches tunnel avalanche reconnaissance by e. r. lachapelle.5. investigation of synoptic and surface weather situations leadinq toavalanche cycles in the washinqton cascades for the 1973-74 winter by m. b. moore. avalanche, avalanche forecasting, avalanches, cascade, condition, creep, density, design, glide, highway, highways, north, north cascade, seasonal, snow, study, temperature, washington, weather hazards, winter uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 016.1 | Cooperative Photogrammetric Study | Veress | UW | 1974 | cooperative photogrammetric study veress, s.a., aramaki, a.a., hall, j.k., takamoto, t. this research project was to evaluate the different variables in photogrammetric practice, which include targeting, film and development process, camera platform and achievable accuracy.design criteria and standards have been established, which include the manufacturing of camera suspension for helicopter from both a theoretical and practical point of view. the testing of these standards and design criteria includes a large number of data. thus, they have a high statistical probability of being correct. the project has proved that an all-time photography is possible with the proper selection of camera platform, and that the use of very low flight photography will enable the highway department to extend the use of photogrammetric measurement. camera, criteria, data, design, design criteria, development, helicopter, camera suspension, target, shutter, vibration, accuracy, air speed, residual errors, highway, research uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 017.1 | Pavement Response And Equivalencies For Various Truck Axle Tire Configurations 984 | Terrel | UW | 1974 | pavement response and equivalencies for various truck axle tire configurations 984 terrel, r., rimsritong, s. there are indications that many trucks now have front axle loads approaching the maximum allowable for single axles which increases the potential for pavement damage. this report is intended to be a state-of-the-art approach to answer several pertinent questions from a theoretical study based on hypothetical pavements and loads, but based on reasonable material characteristics and pavement behavior from previous research. the results are a series of relationships based on pavement life which can be used to determine any number of "equivalencies." these equivalencies can be used to compare the destructive effects of various sizes of single and dual tires, axle loads , pavement thicknesses , speed and temperatures. the general nature of this report provides a wide range of conditions for comparison.on a relative basis. asphalt pavement, axle, behavior, condition, damage, dual tires, equivalencies, loads, pavement, pavement damage, pavement life, pavements, research, single axle, speed, speed and temperature, state-of-the-art, temperature, tire, tire contact pressure, tires, truck, trucks, wheel load uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 018.2 | Acoustic Barrier Interim Report SR 405, Wilburton Vicinity | Roberts | WSDOT | 1974 | acoustic barrier interim report sr 405, wilburton vicinity roberts, e.i. on july 14, 1970, an access hearing was held for that section of sr 405 which includes the wilburton interchange. this study has shown that there is good correlation between community perception, computer prediction and physical measurement of noise levels and attenuation.community responsesan opinion questionnaire was sent by the highway department in october, 1973 to all the people in the woodrodge community who might be affected by the completed noise barrier. returned questionnaires are shown in appendix a. resulsts show that most people living directly behind the barrier have noticed some improvement in the noise level. since 3 dba change is barely preceptible by most people, this correlates well with measured attenuation, as the respondents indicating "no change" all resided in areas where less that 3 dba attenuation was measured. see map #2.the barrier, however, had little effect on truck noise which was expected since low frequency noises are so difficult to attenuate. low frequency noise waves go over and around most barriers. dr. van ostrand who lives at the south end of the barrier (house number 1513) notices an increase in truck noise which would be similar to a truck coming out of a tunnel. generally those living directly behind the barrier had evenly divided opinions in the categories of "more", "same", or "less" noise from trucks. only one person indicated technical knowledge about noise and made any specific observation. he indicated noticeable overall improvement but with no change in "spike" noises. almost everyone returning a questionnaire agreed that the barrier is aesthetically acceptable. acousitc, attenuation, barrier, barriers, computer, hearing, highway, interim, noise, noise levels, prediction, report sr 405, truck, trucks, wilburton vicinity wsdot 1974 |
| WA-RD 013.1 | Attenuation of Random Deep Water Waves by Porous Walled Breakwater | Richey | UW | 1974 | attenuation of random deep water waves by porous walled breakwater richey, e.p., morden, d.b., hartz, b.j. the porous walled resonating chamber, a type of breakwater, is investigated as a means of reducing reflected waves from structures subjected to random wind generated waves in deep water. extending laboratory monochromatic studies to a full-scale apparatus appended to a floating bridge allows assessment of scale factors and the effects of random waves on the predicted performance of thedevice as a linear damped oscillator . the full-scale device is shown to be frequency selective at a frequency precisely corresponding to the predicted resonance of the system. the forces, measured on the porous wall, are lower than predicted and the device completely eliminates the problem of wave runuponto the bridge roadway. the method of evaluating the energy attenuation by the breakwater incorporates spectral analysis of digitized data recorded at fixed locations equidistant in front of the chamber and at a remote station away from the influence of the breakwater. analysis demonstrates that the time average energy density at a fixed location where incident and reflected waves co-exist is influenced not only by the wave amplitudes, as expected, but also by the product of the amplitudes and a function of the phase angle. the chamber effects a change in the random phase angle during reflection , producing a different effective distance of wave travel to the fixed location and thus negating quantitative analysis of the energy dissipation. analysis, assessment, attenuation, breakwater, bridge, data, density, energy, floating bridge, forces, incident, performance, roadway, structures, travel, wave attenuation, wind uw 1974 |
| WA-RD 010.1 | Adaptation Of Analytical and Semi-Analytical Numerical Photogrammetry Methods Into Numerical Routines In Highways Photogrammetry | Hou | WSDOT | 1973 | adaptation of analytical and semi-analytical numerical photogrammetry methods into numerical routines in highways photogrammetry hou, c.-y. semi-analytical, analytical, and analogical aerotriangulation methods, procedures, instructions, and recommendations are explained in detail.acceptable accuracies, required technical operator skill, operational time requirements, and instructions for adoption of semi-analytical aerotriangulation into the photogrammetric department are shown. computer programs for space resection, linear transformation, and model connection procedures are included. aerotriangulation, computer, computer program, highway, highways, model, program, semi-analytical, analytical, analogical, linear transformation, lens distortion, film distortion, space resection, level method wsdot 1973 |
| WA-RD 009.3A | Effects Of Studded Tires On Traffic Striping Paints Phase II | Krukar | WSU | 1973 | effects of studded tires on traffic striping paints phase ii krukar, m. four different types of pavement marking materials were tested in ring #6; three brands of striping paints and one thermoplastic stripping tape. these striping materials were applied on two sections, the ploymer ranked on the basis of appearance, wear, and whiteness.the thermoplastic striping material consistently outperformed the three paints. the materials wore more rapidly on the polymer cement concrete that on the asphalt concrete and the ranking order for the paints was different for the two sections. the type #3 stud seemed to have worn the paints more rapidly than either #4, #2, gst, us and ust studs and tires in that order respectively. the superiority of the ethermoplastic striping tape was due to its thickness and its construction. last year kennametal, inc. sent the transportation systems section four different types of traffic paint and a thermoplastic striping tape. time did not permit the testing of these materials in ring #5, so these materials were tested in ring # 6. asphalt, asphalt concrete, concrete, construction, effects, its, materials, pavement, phase ii, polymer, striping, striping paints, stripping, studded, studded tire, studded tires, studs, system, systems, tire, tires, traffic, transportation wsu 1973 |
| WA-RD 009.2A | Studded Tire Effects On Pavement Overlays Interim Phase II | Krukar | WSU | 1973 | studded tire effects on pavement overlays interim phase ii krukar, m., cook, j.c. this report presents some data obtained from testing twenty-two different types of overlays on three concentric tracks at the g.a. riedesel pavement testing facility at washington state university. six different passenger winter tires were tested, including unstudded, a garnet dust snow retread, and four different types of studs. the data represents a testing period from november 20, 1972 to february 20, 1973 and a total 300,000 revolutions, that is 900,000 wheel applications on the inside track and 300,000 wheel applications on the outside track.the results reveal that the different polymer, concretes show the least wear, and that rubber additives improved the performance of some of the asphalt concrete overlays. the type #2 stud continually showed less wear than the other types of studs. comparisons with the previous ring reveals that the present ring overlays showed less wear, and that stud protrusions are much less. a comparison and discussion of the results from both rings a t this wheel application range is presented. the results from the present data are also discussed. the results are tentative and may change as the present test continues. applications, asphalt, asphalt concrete, concrete, concrete overlays, data, effects, facilities, interim, overlay, overlays, pavement, pavement overlays, performance, phase ii, polymer, rubber, snow, studded, studded tire, studs, tire, tires, washington, washington state, winter wsu 1973 |
| WA-RD 011.2 | Recreational Trip Characteristics and Travel Patterns - Second Phase of The Washington State Recreational Travel Study | Leonhardt | WSDOT | 1973 | recreational trip characteristics and travel patterns - second phase of the washington state recreational travel study leonhardt, k. the objectives of this research are two-fold: 1) to identify characteristics of recreational trips, and 2) to identify factors influencing the distribution of recreational trips. characteristics of recreational trips have been identified on the basis of data collected from different state agencies in the state of washington. seven recreational trip purposes which are characteristic for the state of washington have been identified in this study: 1) camping trips, 2) hunting trips 3) fishing trips, 4) visiting beaches and clamming, 5) snow skiing, 6) driving for pleasure and sightseeing, and 7) others.the analysis has been performed basically for the spatial and temporal distribution of recreational trips. spatial distribution relates to the location of the recreational opportunities which can clearly be distinct for each of the trip purposes and is further characterized by the trip-length frequency connected with each of these trip purposes. temporal distribution is related primarily to the seasons within which the activity corresponding to the trip purpose can be pursued.a further reason for classifying recreational trips into these seven purposes is the difference in travel behavior that can be observed in connection with trip purposes. for example, hunting, fishing, and snow skiing are trips with a distinct destination, and the trip maker tends to select the shortest route to his destination in order to minimize the travel time. travel to the trip destination is not, therefore, an essential part of the recreation experience. on the other hand, driving for pleasure and sightseeing creates different travel behavior. agencies, analysis, behavior, data, objectives, recreation, recreational travel, research, season, snow, travel, travel behavior, travel patterns, travel time, trip length, washington, washington state wsdot 1973 |
| WA-RD 026.1 | Tire Traction Testing Of Highway, Snow and Studded Tires On Wet/Dry Pavement Surfaces 993 | Toney | WSDOT | 1973 | tire traction testing of highway, snow and studded tires on wet/dry pavement surfaces 993 toney, c.a. this study was conducted to collect data on the operational characteristics of highway, snow, and studded snow tires and other winter traction aids. the objective of the study was to perform various vehicle maneuvers to evaluate the tire characteristics on wet and dry pavement surfaces. tests took place on the washington state patrol driver training course at sanderson field, located west of shelton, washington. the testing was done with the cooperation of the washington state patrol who furnished personnel and equipment to assist in this research effort.this test maneuvers evaluated during the study are as follows:test no. 1 maneuvering (serpentine course)test no. 2 hairpin curvetest no. 3 high speed lane changetest no. 4 locked-wheel stopin addition to the three types described above, other new traction type products and tires were evaluated. these consisted of studded snow tires with "norfin" studs, and garnet impregnated snow tires. studded tires on all four wheels were also evaluated, at the request of the washington state patrol. this combination is used by troopers assigned to mountain highway passes and areas where there is a large buildup of snow and ice during the winter. this report consists of two areas of evaluation. one involves tire combinations (front and rear) and the other is the evaluation of individual tire types. in addition to these two areas, a separate section is devoted to the tire and vehicle characteristics of washington state patrol's vehicle when compared with a department of highway's motor pool vehicle. included also is the test vehicles' description. data, equipment, evaluation, highway, no keywords found in report, pavement, pavement surface, research, snow, speed, studded tire, studded tires, studs, tests, tire, tires, traction, training, washington, washington state, winter wsdot 1973 |
| WA-RD 009.3 | Studded Tire Pavement Wear Reduction And Repair Phase III | Sorensen | WSU | 1973 | studded tire pavement wear reduction and repair phase iii sorensen, h. this report presents results obtained from the analyses of data which were collected during the performance of phase i and phase of this project. the data were at the a. riedesel pavement testing facility which is operated by washington state university and is located in pullman, washington. regression analyses were formed in order to relate various factors to each other. the factors used in the analyses included stud type, stud protrusion, speed, air temperature, pavement temperature, environmental conditions, stud hardness and tread depth. the purpose was to evaluate the relative importance of these factors pavement wear. it was found that the type of overlay, the type of stud and the protrusion length were the most important factors affecting pavement wear under test conditions. the other factors could not be sufficiently isolated to determine their relative importance. average wear rates were calculated for the different types of pavements and by the different stud types. a formula was developed which can be used to calculate pavement life under certain conditions. the results obtained for phase i and phase were compared and the difference in these results is discussed. some of the difference was due to the different between the two phases a comparison with other associated research was madea striping paint study was made and the results are in this report. condition, data, developed, environmental, facilities, overlay, pavement, pavement durability, life & performance, asphalt pavement, portland cement concretes, overlays, surface textures, studded tires, skid resistance, pavement life, pavement temperature, pavements, performance, project, regression, repair, research, speed, striping, striping paints, studded, studded tire, study, temperature, tire, washington, washington state wsu 1973 |
| WA-RD 012.1 | A Critical Review Of Mathematical Diffusion Modeling Techniques For Predicting Air Quality With Relation To Motor Vehicle Transportation 995 | Rossano | UW | 1973 | a critical review of mathematical diffusion modeling techniques for predicting air quality with relation to motor vehicle transportation 995 rossano, a.t., lamb, d.v., badgley, f. federal and state laws require highway departments to prepare statements assessing the impact that proposed highway improvements or construction may have on the environment. an important consideration in the preparation of an impact statement is the anticipated effect the proposed activity will have on air quality since highway transportation is a source of several major air pollutants: particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and photochemical oxidants which are formed in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. comprehensive physical studies to predict the air quality impact at proposed sites are generally prohibitive due to the time required to obtain suitable data, the cost of such studies and the number of impact statements that must be considered by most highway departments.methods have been developed to predict the air quality impact of new highway construction through the use of mathematical atmospheric diffusion models. once they are properly calibrated these models can be used to test alternative locations and designs. basically models use meteorological conditions and emission rates to predict downwind concentrations as illustrated in figure 1.the principal objective of this research project has been to conduct a search of the literature to identify state-of-the-art air quality predictive schemes applicable to motor vehicle transportation. the available models have been analyzed in detail and evaluated in terms of selected characteristics that serve to describe the predictive capabilities of each. limitations in the models have also been noted where appropriate.section 2.0 o f this report describes the methods used in conducting the research. sections 3.0 and 4.0 present the models analyzed and a general discussion of applicability, in both narrative and tabular form. section 5.0 summarizes the study and presents the recommendations for future consideration. air quality, alternative, carbon monoxide, concentrations, condition, construction, cost, data, design, environment, highway, highway construction, highways, hydrocarbons, impact, model, modeling, models, nitrogen, particulate matter, pollutants, quality, research, state-of-the-art, transportation, washington, washington state uw 1973 |
| WA-RD 014.1 | Vegetative Cover For Highway Rights-of-Way - Interim Report | Rosenthal | WSDOT | 1973 | vegetative cover for highway rights-of-way - interim report rosenthal, r.n. a four year study of landscape plant establishment as affected by a number of environmental conditions was initiated in april, 1970. the relationship between plant survival and soil texture, soil temperature and exposure were evaluated. the affect of exposure on percent ground coverage of various grass species used in erosion control was also evaluated. condition, control, environmental, erosion, erosion control, exposure, highway, landscape plant establishment, plant survival, soil, soil temperature, soil type, temperature wsdot 1973 |
| WA-RD 003.4 | Pavement Deflection Measurement Dynamic Phase III WSU Impulse Computer Section II, Vehicle | Brands | WSU | 1972 | pavement deflection measurement dynamic phase iii wsu impulse computer section ii, vehicle brands, f., cook, c.j. implementation of automatic data acquisition using impulse techniques requires the development of a mechanical device to set an instrument package on the pavement, deliver an impulse of energy, and retrieve the instrument package. this is to be accomplished automatically with the vehicle proceeding down the highway.this report describes developments toward an improved system for accomplishing the desired results. the system employs a cleated belt supported by dual wheels in the configuration of a v- belt, which carries the instruments. a pneumatic chamber, which delivers an impulse of energy to the pavement and its supporting linkage, is also described. a bibliography of previous reports on impulse techniques of pavement testing is included. computer, data, development, energy, its, linkage, non-destructive tests, pavement, pavement condition, pavement deflection, pavement evaluation, portable tester wsu 1972 |
| WA-RD 003.3 | Pavement Deflection Measurement Dynamic Phase II Impulse Computer Section I, Suitcase | Brands | WSU | 1972 | pavement deflection measurement dynamic phase ii impulse computer section i, suitcase brands, f., cook, c.j. the development of the impulse index as an indicator of pavement condition has been previously described in a report of the college of engineering research division of washington state university entitled, "pavement deflection measurement-dynamic-a feasibility study, final report," june 1970, by frank w. brands, p.e. and john c. cook, p.e. to implement the convenient acquisition of the impulse index, a self-contained hand-carriable "impulse index computer" was to be designed and built; the unit is especially adapted for demonstration purposes and for determining the impulse index at specific locations. this report describes the impulse index computer which has been built. some illustrative test results are also included. computer, condition, development, impulse index, index, non-destructive tests, pavement, pavement condition, pavement deflection, pavement evaluation, portable tester, research, washington, washington state wsu 1972 |
| WA-RD 005.2 | Tire Noise Properties of Two Resurfacing Materials Used By Highway Bridges For Repair of Wear | Foss | UW | 1972 | tire noise properties of two resurfacing materials used by highway bridges for repair of wear foss, r.n. the purpose of this study was to investigate the acoustic effects of two topping materials used on bridges in the seattle area. one material was applied to the bridge on interstate-5 which crosses the duwamish river. it is an english product called sprag-grip which is supposed to have very good anti-skid properties, as well as the ability to stick to the road in thin layers thus making it suitable for the repair of worn surfaces. the other material is an epoxy -asphalt mixture which was applied to some sections of the evergreen point floating bridge over lake washington, particularly over sections where worn grating was causing excessive noise. hopefully, this substance will be capable of long-term sticking in relatively thin layers. of the two materials, it was found that the epoxy-asphalt topping on the evergreen point floating bridge was by far the quieter, and, at least as newly applied, proved to be very quiet at the road/tire interface. it is likely that this good acoustic performance is due to the smoothness of the surface rather than directly to the fact that the material contains epoxy. the role of the epoxy would be as an adhesive and to resist wear so that its original acoustic performance could be maintained for a considerable length of time. spray-grip, on the other hand, although slightly quieter than the rutted, worn roadway, was not as quiet as the original unworn road surface. experimental procedures the primary contribution of a road surface to the noise 'radiating from a vehicle is in the noise emitted at the road/tire interface; therefore, the major thrust of this effort was directed toward measuring this effect. there also were some measurements of community noise levels before and after the resurfacing of the bridges. the tire noise tests were taken on the right rear wheel of a laboratory station wagon upon which a new tire was mounted (a pennsylvania patrol special, size 8. 55-15). (the tread design and depth of this tire are shown on page 2. ) this tire was mounted on a wheel and used on the vehicle only daring tests. between tests it was stored so that unnecessary wear would not change its acoustic character-teristics. the noise pickup device was a specially baffled microphone located about 7 inches from the road/tire interface by a bracket holding it on the outside of the tire. one of the major problems in making noise measurements of this type is to have a microphone that will pick up only tire noise and be baffled from wind noise. this problem has been solved by a microphone baffling system especially designed by this laboratory. asphalt, bridge, bridges, community noise, design, epoxy, experimental, floating bridge, highway, its, materials, mixture, noise, noise levels, noise measurements, performance, repair, roadway, seattle, system, tests, tire, tire noise, washington, wind, wind noise uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 005.1 | Vehicle Noise Study Final Report | Foss | UW | 1972 | vehicle noise study final report foss, r.n. this study was made to obtain information on the noise levels being emitted by vehicles currently using the highways of the state of washington. the washington state highway commission requested this study for guidance in proposing vehicle noise control legislation. the main controversy in states with existing comprehensive vehicle noise legislation has concerned trucks traveling on roads with posted speeds above 35 mph. the main thrust of our study is therefore concerned with this particular area, although data were also taken on automobiles and on roads posted at less than 35 mph. this study is unique in that the noise level - and the speed of all vehicles were measured. in addition, all trucks over 10,000 lb were weighed. our large body of data has been graphed in numerous ways to illustrate various aspects--including how the noise factor varies with speed, weight, and percentage of full load, etc. some photographs of the trucks together with their noise data a real so included. control, data, highway, highways, noise, noise levels, speed, study, truck, trucks, vehicle noise, washington, washington state, weight uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 001.1 | Aerotriangulation Analysis and Control Point Error Detection | Hou | WSDOT | 1972 | aerotriangulation analysis and control point error detection hou, c.-h. a major problem faced by personnel responsible for manipulating aerotriangulation data through transformation and adjustment programs in an electronic computer is that of isolating and detecting blunders and other erroneous data. this study created an automated data analysis and rejection program to reduce the turn around time from initial entry to certification of the final adjustment. parameters for establishing the smallest detectable errors for rejection were determined by analyses of error sources in ground control surveys, aerial photography, and aerotriangulation theory and operations. some seldom considered theorectical and practical error sources in ground control surveys are discussed and resolved. the data rejection program chart is listed in the appendix. aerial photography, analysis, computer, control, data, detection, error detection, program, standard error, solar altitude, linear transformation, strip adjustment, aerotriangulation, deflection of vertical, refraction in precise leveling, second term, double summation, image motion, film distortion, flight height, survey wsdot 1972 |
| WA-RD 009.2 | Studded Tire Effects Wear Reduction and Repair Phase II - Final Draft | Krukar | WSU | 1972 | studded tire effects wear reduction and repair phase ii - final draft krukar, m., cook, j. c. this report presents results obtained from testing at the a. riedesel pavement testing facility at washington state university during the period of november 20, 1972 to may 1973. the purpose of this project was three-fold: (1 to determine pavement wear caused by studded tires; 2) to evaluate the resistance of different pavement overlays used in the states of washington and idaho to wear caused by studs; and 3) to test pavement materials and overlays to reduce tire stud damage. ring and phase of this project consisted of three concentric tracks on which 16 tires traveled in eight wheel paths. four types of studs in passenger snow two types of passenger tires, and unstudded truck tires, and 22 sections of various types of pavement overlays and surfacings were tested. four different stripes were also tested. the results are based on wear in terms of rate of wear, area removed, maximum and average rut depths using the wsu profilometer and the camera wire shadow box apparatus. skid resistance values were measured using the california skid tester and the english portable skid tester. the results are valid only under wsu testing conditions. the findings indicate that some pavement overlays are resistant to the effect of studded tires than others. all types of studded tires tested caused some pavement wear and this affected skid resistance values. some of the newer types of studs reduced wear of various pavement overlays. the pavements having the most wear resistance had the skid resistance retention characteristics. additives to asphalt skid resistance helped wear resistance characteristics but lowered skid resistance on characteristics. asphalt, california, camera, condition, damage, facilities, materials, overlay, pavement, pavement durability, life & performance, asphalt pavement, portland cement concretes, overlays, surface textures, studded tires, skid resistance, pavements, project, repair, resistance, snow, studded tire, studs, tire, tires, truck, washington, washington state wsu 1972 |
| WA-RD 009.1A | The Effect Of Studded Tires On Different Pavement And Surface Textures | Krukar | WSU | 1972 | the effect of studded tires on different pavement and surface textures krukar, m., cook, j.c. this preliminary report presents data obtained from testing at the l a riedesel pavement testing facility during the period from february 11 t o may 4, 1972. the purpose of this project was four fold: (1) to determine pavement wear caused by studded tires; (2) to evaluate the resistance of different pavement materials and textures used in the states o f washington and idaho to wear caused by tire studs; (3) t o test pavement materials and overlays to reduce tire stud damage; and, (4) to study the effect of studded truck tires on pavements.this preliminary report presents data obtained from testing at the g. a. riedesel pavement testing facility, during the period from february 11 to may 4, 1972. damage, data, facilities, materials, overlay, pavement, pavement durability, life & performance, asphalt pavement, portland cement concretes, overlays, surface textures, studded tires, skid resistance, project, resistance, studded tire, studs, study, tire, tires, truck, washington wsu 1972 |
| WA-RD 009.1 | Studded Tire Pavement Wear Reduction and Repair - The Effect Of Studded Tires On Different Pavements And Surface Textures | Krukar | WSU | 1972 | studded tire pavement wear reduction and repair - the effect of studded tires on different pavements and surface textures krukar, m., cook, j.c. this report presents results obtained from testing at the g. a. riedesel pavement testing facility at washington state university during the period from february 11 to may 4, 1972. the purpose of this project was fourfold: 1) to determine pavement wear caused by studded tires ; 2) to evaluate the resistance of different pavement materials and textures used in the states of washington and idaho to wear caused by tire studs; 3) to test pavement materials and overlays to reduce tire stud damage; and, 4) to study the effect of studded truck tires on pavements. ring #5 consisted of three concentric tracks on which 16 tires travelled in eight wheel paths. three studded types and unstudded passenger tires , three studded and unstudded truck tires, and 46 sections of various types of pavement materials surface overlays and surface textures were tested. the results are based on wear in terms of rate of wear, area removed, maximum and average rut depth using the wsu profilometer, and the camera wire shadow apparatus, and are valid only under wsu testing conditions. the findings indicate that some pavement materials are more resistant to the effect of studded tires than others. all types of studded tires tested caused some pavement wear and this affected the skid resistance values. the new types of studs reduced wear of various pavement materials. studded truck tire wear was less than expected due to equipment problems. camera, condition, damage, equipment, facilities, materials, overlay, pavement, pavement durability, life & performance, asphalt pavement, portland cement concretes, overlays, surface textures, studded tires, pavements, project, repair, resistance, skid resistance, studded tire, studs, study, tire, tires, truck, washington, washington state wsu 1972 |
| WA-RD 008.3 | Methods Of Avalanche Control On Washington State Highways - Second Annual Report | LaChapplle | UW | 1972 | methods of avalanche control on washington state highways - second annual report lachapplle, e. r., brown, c. b., evans, r. j. an interim report of the second year of a three-year study of avalanche hazards along washington mountain highways is presented. applicable snow, avalanche and weather data for 1971-72 are given. also included is a theoretical treatment o f the stress analysis of slab avalanches and a bibliography of snow clearing technology. analysis, annual, avalanche, avalanche control, washington mountain highways, snow and weather data, snow clearing technology, avalanches, control, data, hazard, highway, highways, interim, methods, snow, stresses, study, technology, washington, washington state uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 002.1 | Guidelines For Joint Development on State Highway Transportation Ways | Van Zandt | WSDOT | 1972 | guidelines for joint development on state highway transportation ways van zandt, e.j. the objective of this study was to present criteria and procedures for evaluation of joint development (jd) above, below, or beside s t a t e highways. application of the procedures a re-illustrated over a wide range of joint development situations, both (1) for establishing state or local j d policy, and (2) for making decisions about jd projects in a more timely and comprehensive manner, and in a way that will contribute toward improving the quality or urban life or the enhancement of rural environments. the approach taken in the guidelines is sequential, systematic, and interdisciplinary; that is, it uses a series of successively more detailed and comprehensive planning and evaluation procedures for jd decision-making, relying on a wide range of specified physical, economic, social, and legal criteria. in use, the guidelines envision a three- stage planning and evaluation process:(1) identification of the need or potential for j d projects, (2) comparison of project proposals against policies, criteria and standards designed t o avoid or minimize negative impacts and increase favorable impacts; and (3) refined definition of costs and benefits when warranted. benefit, benefits, cost, costs, criteria, development, enviromental impact, environment, evaluation, highway, highway planning, highways, impact, impacts, joint development, multiple use, planning, policy, quality, rural, urban wsdot 1972 |
| WA-RD 002.1A | Guidelines For Joint Development on State Highway Transportation Ways Research Project - Interstate 5 Cases - Supplement | Van Zandt | WSDOT | 1972 | guidelines for joint development on state highway transportation ways research project - interstate 5 cases - supplement van zandt, e.j. the objective of this study was to present criteria and procedures for evaluation of joint development (jd) above, below, or beside state highways. application of the procedures are illustrated over a wide range of joint development situations, both (1) for establishing state or local jd policy, and (2) for making decisions about jd projects in a more timely and comprehensive manner, and in a way that will contribute toward iwro;ing the quality of urban life or the enhancement of rural environments. the approach taken in the guidelines is sequential, systematic, and interdisciplinary; that is, it uses a series of successively more detailed and comprehensive planning and evaluation procedures for jd decision making relying on a wide range of specified physical, economic, social and legal criteria. in use, the guidelines envision a three-stage planning and evaluation process:(1) identification of the need or potential for jd projects; (2) comparison of project proposals against policies, criteria, and standards designed to avoid or minimize negative impacts and increase favorable impacts; and (3) refined definition of costs and benefits when warranted. this supplement to the guidelines report (described above) presents the results of analyzing seven actual jd proposals, located along interstate 5 in the state of washington, according to the procedures suggested in the guidelines, benefit, benefits, cost, costs, criteria, development, environment, evaluation, highway, highways, impact, impacts, joint development, multiple use, highway planning, enviromental impact, planning, policy, quality, research, rural, transportation, urban, washington wsdot 1972 |
| WA-RD 006.1 | Resilient Behavior Of Asphalt Treated Base Course Materials | Terrel | UW | 1972 | resilient behavior of asphalt treated base course materials terrel, r.l., awad, s. in many parts of the world, the design of flexible pavement is still based on empirical methods which have developed from engineering experience. these empirical methods cannot be extrapolated beyond their limits without full scale trials to prove their applicability. in recent years, however, the increase of traffic, both in volume and axle loads, has led to the failure of many roads previously considered well designed. for this reason, therefore, researchers realized that a closer look at the pavement materials was desirable in order to develop a rational design procedure. due to the complexity of characterizing pavement materials, and the limitations of instrumentation, much of the reported work offered little help in changing design practice. this is, perhaps, due to many simplifying assumptions which had to be introduced in the experimental procedure as well as the interpretation of the test results. recently, however, there has been a sharp advancement in test instrumentation and an outstanding progress in processing the experimental results. this has been reflected through many fine investigations and has increased the demand for more improvements. an asphalt pavement is a complex structure whose function is to provide a suitable surface for a highway, an airport, or other off-highway facility. the load of a vehicle or an aircraft is transmitted through the multilayered system of processed materials which have different mechanical properties. the stress distribution within this system is highly complex and to a large extent is dependent on the relative stiffnesses of the individual layers. asphalt, asphalt pavement, axle, base, behavior, demand, design, developed, experimental, facilities, fine, highway, improvement, loads, materials, methods, pavement, stiffness, stresses, system, traffic, volume uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 007.1 | Character And Significance Of Highway Runoff Waters | Sylvester | UW | 1972 | character and significance of highway runoff waters sylvester, r.o., dewalle, f.b. a study was conducted on the character and significance of highway runoff waters for the washington department of highways and the federal highway administration. this preliminary appraisal of runoff quality consisted of a literature review and critique plus a limited amount of field sampling on sr 520. although a large amount of information is present in the literature concerning urban run off, there is very little strictly related to highways and their rights-of- way. highway runoff is similar t o urban area runoff but may be higher in heavy metals and oil. a significant fraction of the heavy m e t an l s, oil and nutrients are adsorbed to the dust and dirt fractions and then may be removed by sedimentation. runoff from the lake bridges should have a very insignificant effect on lake washington in comparison with the urban run off to the lake. recommendations are made for mitigating runoff effects and for conducting an intensive study of highway run off water quality and its significance. bridge, bridges, environment, heavy metals, highway, highway runoff, highways, its, metals, quality, review, runoff, sampling, sedimentation, study, urban, vehicle emissions, washington, water quality uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 009.4 | Rest Area Wastewater Disposal | Seabloom | UW | 1972 | rest area wastewater disposal seabloom, r.w. a study was conducted of rest area wastewater disposal problems and related factors for the washington state highway commission during the period of june - december 1971. this report on the study is intended to present an evaluation of present rest area wastewater systems together with feasibility analyses of alternative methods of waste handling. it is not intended to be a preliminary engineering design report.data are presented on rest area problems as reported to or observed by the writers on field visitations. this is followed by discussions of criteria and standards presently used in rest area design together with data on water usage for those rest areas where "complete" data were available. laboratory analyses were made on rest area wastewaters and on a certain additive, " bacterial waste disposer", that has been used in some of the rest areas. a discussion is included on possible future trends and uses of rest areas and the need to minimize water usage. chapter xi1 contains the principal thrust of the report in its discussion of possible rest area wastewater disposal methods with an evaluation and some relative cost data. with increasingly stringent requirements for wastewater disposal, it seems apparent that rest area wastewaters must continue to be disposed of on highway property. if not, the department would find itself, in most instances, with the task of operating continuously and effectually some rather complicated treatment systems that require trained operators, operational reports and effluent analyses, and systems that are not usually amenable to the flow characteristics of rest area wastewaters. since much national attention is being given to these problems, it is hoped that new or improved treatment schemes may be developed in the future that will be appropriate for rest areas. an intent of this study has thus been to suggest means of wastewater disposal, presently available that would offer an improvement to the septic tank drain field method of disposal.conclusions and recommendations drawn from the study are as follows:1. there is no question but that septic tank- drain field disposal systems would, because of their simplicity, be the preferred method of disposal if their installation were applicable to most rest areas and if they would, from past experiences here and elsewhere give some assurance of a freedom from operating difficulties over a period of just a few years. additive, alternative, cost, criteria, data, design, developed, disposal, evaluation, flow, highway, improvement, its, methods, operating, rest area, rest areas, study, system, systems, washington, washington state uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 004.1 | Evergreen Point Bridge Toll Booth Ventilation Study 1006 | Rossana | UW | 1972 | evergreen point bridge toll booth ventilation study 1006 rossana, t.a., hall, f.a. at the request of the washington department of highways a comprehensive study was conducted of the exposures of toll collectors to carbon monoxide at the evergreen point bridge spanning lake washington between seattle and bellevue.the first phase of the study consisted of designing, installing and operating an automatic, continuous carbon monoxide monitoring system to establish typical air quality patterns in and around the toll booths.the second phase consisted of developing a prototype toll booth positive ventilation system. air, which is introduced through a vertical diffuser situated at one wall of the booth, travels horizontally across the booth and out the door. parametric studies of sources and rates of ventilation air, diffuser design and other toll booth modifications were conducted in the laboratory. subsequently these modifications were installed and investigated at an operating booth at the toll plaza. concentrations of carbon monoxide in the collectors breathing zone were reduced to acceptable levels. methodologies and results of these systems are described, and design recommendations for the control system are offered. air quality, bridge, carbon monoxide, concentrations, control, design, exposure, highways, methodology, monitoring, operating, quality, seattle, systems, travel, washington uw 1972 |
| WA-RD 003.2 | Pavement Deflection Measurement Dynamic Phase II | Brands | WSU | 1971 | pavement deflection measurement dynamic phase ii brands, f., cook, c.j. the impulse index as a measure of pavement condition was previously described in a report of the research division of washington state university entitled, "pavement deflection measurement - dynamic-a feasibility study, final report, june 1970," by frank w. brands, p. e. and john c. cook, p. e.implementation of automatic data acquisition using impulse testing requires the development of a mechanical device to set an instrument package on the pavement, deliver an impulse of energy, and retrieve the instrument package. this is to be done automatically with the vehicle proceeding down the highway. this report describes a test model built to facilitate the determination of data necessary for design of a prototype vehicle. condition, data, design, development, energy, highway, impulse index, index, model, pavement, pavement deflection, research, washington, washington state wsu 1971 |
| WA-RD 011.1 | Weekend And Recreational Development of a New Concept | Karlfritz | WSDOT | 1971 | weekend and recreational development of a new concept karlfritz, l. the problemthe growth of population in metropolitan areas and the increasing affluence and leisure time of that population is exerting ever-increasing pressure on recreational resources and the transportation facilitiesconnecting the metropolitan areas with the recreation areas. historically, travel for recreational purposes has grown more rapidly than that for other purposes and if forecasted increases in real income andleisure time materialize this trend will continue. there is increasing concern that proper attention has not been given to recreational travel as a factor in transportation planning either at the state or urban area level. recreational travel occurs primarily on weekends and holidays whereas the urban transportation studies, almost without exception, are concerned with weekday travel. recreational travel serves both as a means to an end and as an end in itself. access to a variety of recreational activities is an importanthuman need and is presumed to be an agreed-upon objective of-public policy. in addition travel has an intrinsic recreational value, the extent of which depends on place and circumstances. this study proposes a concept far long-range planning of transportation facilities needed to serve the weekend travel demands of a metropolitan area. the planning concept is proposed as a means of achieving more effective utilization of resources in providing for recreational needs. where data have been used in this study to support conclusions, they have been extracted from surveys conducted by agencies in the state of washington and from selected studies undertaken elsewhere. despite the limited availability of certain data, the method of analysis and the planning process presented in this report are considered to have general applicability. agencies, analysis, availability, data, demand, development, facilities, planning, policy, population, pressure, recreation, recreational travel, survey, surveys, transportation, transportation planning, travel, urban, washington wsdot 1971 |
| WA-RD 015.5 | Pavement Research At WSU Test Track Volume No. 5: Evaluation and Analysis of Results From Experimental Rings No. 1-4 1020 | Krukar | WSU | 1971 | pavement research at wsu test track volume no. 5: evaluation and analysis of results from experimental rings no. 1-4 1020 krukar, m., cook, j.c. the purpose of this study was threefold: (1) develop empirical equivalencies from all four rings, (2) develop a design method for overlays based on field deflections; and (3) evaluate the validity of data obtained from instrumentations in terms of n-layer elastic theory and then develop theoretical equivalencies.this was done. field equivalencies were developed and they indicated that superiority of the treated base materials over the untreated. a design method was developed which could be used for predicting when an overlay was needed and what thickness was needed to withstand certain equivalent wheel loads and deflections.using computer programs for n-layer elastic theory developed by chevron research company, deflection stresses and strains were computed and compared with field data. assumptions about the material behavior and condition were made based on laboratory data obtained from the asphalt institute and field knowledge, and were used to help predict the behavior of pavements. the results were encouraging and indicate that field measurements generally were comparable with elastic layer theory predictions. this will help to develop and modify existing design limits for stresses, strains and deflection for future work.equivalencies based on theoretical deflections, stresses and strains indicate the difficulty of assigning precise values. these values also indicate the superiority of treated materials over the untreated materials. analysis, asphalt, base, base materials, behavior, computer, computer program, condition, data, design, equivalencies, evaluation, experimental, loads, materials, overlay, overlays, pavement, pavements, prediction, program, research, strains, stresses, volume, wheel load wsu 1971 |
| WA-RD 008.2 | North Cascade Highway SR 20 Avalanche Atlas | LaChapplle | UW | 1971 | north cascade highway sr 20 avalanche atlas lachapplle, e.r. this avalanche atlas catalogs details of snow avalanche activity along the north cascades highway, sr-20, between newhalem on the west side of the cascade mountains and mazama on the east side. data contained herein have been collected during summer and winter reconnaissances in 1970 and 1971 under contract between the washington state highway department and the university of washington. compilation of this atlas completes the first phase of a planned three-year study of avalanche problems and control methods on the highways of the state of washington. atlas, avalanche, cascade, control, data, highway, highways, methods, north, north cascade, snow, sr 20, study, washington, washington state, winter uw 1971 |
| WA-RD 008.1 | Avalanches On The North Cascade Highway SR20 1018 | LaChapplle | UW | 1971 | avalanches on the north cascade highway sr20 1018 lachapplle, e.r. this report covers activities for the eighteen months ending september 1971 under a washington state highway department contract for research project no. y1301 with the university of washington. snow and avalanche climate varies widely across the parts of the cascade mountains spanned by sr-20. little information is presently available about temperatures and weather patterns over the passes, but a limited amount of snow depth data are available from snow courses. these snow data are presented and analyed. avalanche, avalanches, data, highway, highway sr 520, north cascade, project, research, snow, temperature, washington, washington state uw 1971 |
| WA-RD 003.1 | Pavement deflection Measurement Dynamic (A Feasibility Study) | Brands | WSU | 1970 | pavement deflection measurement dynamic (a feasibility study) brands, f., cook, c.j. the objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of developing a device or technique to provide rapid measurement of parameters indicative of roadway condition or structural capacity. currently existing equipment is inadequate for making meaningful measurements with speed and convenience. consequently, a new system called "impulse testing" has been proposed and its concepts proved in this study. this system incorporates new techniques of non-destructive testing, and is adaptable to mechanization for automatic operation. the system is based on the deflection of the pavement under impulse loading, and also on the energy propagation characteristics of the pavement. these two parameters are combined to formulate a quantity which is called the impulse index and which has a high degree of correlation with the structural properties of the pavement. condition, energy, equipment, impulse index, index, its, nondestructive testing, pavement, pavement deflection, roadway, speed wsu 1970 |
| WA-RD 015.4 | Pavement Research at the WSU Test Track - Volume No. 4 Experimental Ring No 4: A Study of Untreated, Sand Asphalt, and Asphalt Concrete Bases | Krukar | WSU | 1970 | pavement research at the wsu test track - volume no. 4 experimental ring no 4: a study of untreated, sand asphalt, and asphalt concrete bases krukar, m. three different kinds of base material of varying base thicknesses were tested at the washington state university test track on ring #3 during the fall of 1967 and the spring of 1968. twelve 18-foot test sections consisting of 4.5, 7.0, 9.5 and 12 inches of untreated crushed rock surfacing top course base; 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 and 9.0 inches of emulsion treated crushed surfacing top course base; and 0.0, 2.0, 3.5 and 5.0 inches of special non-fractured screened aggregate asphalt treated base, covered by a uniform 3.0-inch thick class "b" asphalt concrete wearing course were tested during this period. this pavement structure was built on a clay-silt subgrade soil.instrumentation consisted of moisture tensiometers, strain gages, pressure cells, lvdt gages and thermocouples for measuring moisture, strain, stress, dynamic deflections and temperatures. benkleman beam readings were taken.the testing period revealed that the fall failure modes were different from the spring failures. the fall failure patter started from transverse cracks in the thin sections which developed into alligator cracking patterns. these cracks appeared after a period of cold weather and heavy rains followed by a warming period. it seems that thermal and mechanical loads were responsible for the fall failures on the thin sections. the spring failures were very rapid and sudden and were due to environmental factors which led to saturated subgrade, thus resulting in poor bearing capacity. punching shear was the failure mode. the thickest sections survived without cracks but developed severe rutting. examination revealed that these ruts extended into the subgrade and that fatigue cracking was developing on the bottom of the bases.comparison of the results with those obtained from ring# 2, which was similar in base materials and thickness, show that they were similar in many respects. this indicates that the test track is capable of replicating results and is a reliable research instrument.equivalencies were developed for the different materials. on this basis the special aggregate asphalt treated base was superior to the emulsion treated and untreated crushed rock bases in that order. these results were comparable to those obtained from test ring #2.maximum values for static and dynamic deflections, strains and stresses for different times and temperatures were developed. the lateral position of the dual tires with respect to the gage severely affected the strain, stresses and deflection values. temperature also caused variations in the measurements. spring instrument readings for static and dynamic deflections, strain and stress show increased values by as much as 2 to 4 times of those obtained in the fall. spring subgrade conditions probably are responsible for these differences.ring #3 series operational time was twice that of ring #2 and sustained four times the wheel load applications. construction and testing environmental conditions were superior to those for ring #2 and hence contributed to the longer test period. this points out that environmental factors are very important in pavement life. aggregate, alligator cracking, applications, asphalt, asphalt concrete, base, base materials, bearing capacity, benkleman beam, concrete, condition, construction, cracking, dual tires, environmental, experimental, fatigue, fatigue cracking, loads, materials, pavement, pavement life, pressure, pressure cell, rain, research, research at the wsu, strains, stresses, subgrade, temperature, test track, tire, tires, volume, volume no.4, washington, washington state, wheel load wsu 1970 |
| WA-RD 015.3 | Pavement Research at the WSU Test Track, Volume No. 3: Experimental Ring No. 3: Study of Untreated Emulsion Treated and Asphalt Cement Treated Bases | Krukar | WSU | 1969 | pavement research at the wsu test track, volume no. 3: experimental ring no. 3: study of untreated emulsion treated and asphalt cement treated bases krukar, m., cook, j.c. three different kinds of base material of varying base thicknesses were tested at the washington state university test track on ring #3 during the fall of 1967 and the spring of 1968. twelve 18-foot test sections consisting of 4.5, 7.0, 9.5 and 12 inches of untreated crushed rock surfacing top course base; 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 and 9.0 inches of emulsion treated crushed surfacing top course base; and 0.0, 2.0, 3.5 and 5.0 inches of special non-fractured screened aggregate asphalt treated base, covered by a uniform 3.0-inch thick class "b" asphalt concrete wearing course were tested during this period. this pavement structure was built on a clay-silt subgrade soil.instrumentation consisted of moisture tensiometers, strain gages, pressure cells, lvdt gages and thermocouples for measuring moisture, strain, stress, dynamic deflections and temperatures. benkleman beam readings were taken.the testing period revealed that the fall failure modes were different from the spring failures. the fall failure patter started from transverse cracks in the thin sections which developed into alligator cracking patterns. these cracks appeared after a period of cold weather and heavy rains followed by a warming period. it seems that thermal and mechanical loads were responsible for the fall failures on the thin sections. the spring failures were very rapid and sudden and were due to environmental factors which led to saturated subgrade, thus resulting in poor bearing capacity. punching shear was the failure mode. the thickest sections survived without cracks but developed severe rutting. examination revealed that these ruts extended into the subgrade and that fatigue cracking was developing on the bottom of the bases.comparison of the results with those obtained from ring# 2, which was similar in base materials and thickness, show that they were similar in many respects. this indicates that the test track is capable of replicating results and is a reliable research instrument.equivalencies were developed for the different materials. on this basis the special aggregate asphalt treated base was superior to the emulsion treated and untreated crushed rock bases in that order. these results were comparable to those obtained from test ring #2.maximum values for static and dynamic deflections, strains and stresses for different times and temperatures were developed. the lateral position of the dual tires with respect to the gage severely affected the strain, stresses and deflection values. temperature also caused variations in the measurements. spring instrument readings for static and dynamic deflections, strain and stress show increased values by as much as 2 to 4 times of those obtained in the fall. spring subgrade conditions probably are responsible for these differences.ring #3 series operational time was twice that of ring #2 and sustained four times the wheel load applications. construction and testing environmental conditions were superior to those for ring #2 and hence contributed to the longer test period. this points out that environmental factors are very important in pavement life. aggregate, alligator cracking, applications, asphalt, asphalt concrete, base, base materials, bearing capacity, benkleman beam, concrete, condition, construction, cracking, dual tires, environmental, equivalencies, experimental, fatigue, fatigue cracking, loads, materials, pavement, pavement life, pressure, pressure cell, rain, research, research at the wsu, soil, strains, stresses, subgrade, temperature, test track, tire, tires, volume, washington, washington state, wheel load wsu 1969 |
| WA-RD 015.2 | Pavement Research at WSU Track Volume No. 2: Experimental Ring No. 2: A Study of Untreated Emulsion Treated and Asphlatic-Cement Treated Bases | Krukar | WSU | 1968 | pavement research at wsu track volume no. 2: experimental ring no. 2: a study of untreated emulsion treated and asphlatic-cement treated bases krukar, m., cook, j.c. this report describes the results obtained from experimental ring no. 2, the first ring of a three-ring tests series on treated bases at the washington state university test track. this experiment was concerned with studying the effects of controlled wheel load repetitions on untreated, emulsion, and specialaggregate asphalt - treated bases of four varying thicknesses. construction, instrumentation, results , and conclusions are described and drawn. benkelman beam, lvdt, strain gages, pressure cells and moisture tensiometers were used to measure deflections , strains , stresses and moisture. maximum values are tabulated. temperatures were also recorded. testing can be divided into two time periods - fall of 1966 and spring of 1967. values obtained from instruments show that different conditions existed during those testing periods, and that deflections , strains and stresses were two to four times higher in the spring than in the fall. modes of failure were also different . equivalencies between the different base materials were established. other conclusions were drawn. since this is a continuing experiment, it should be emphasized that results and conclusions are subject to change, depending upon data from the remaining experimental rings. asphalt, base, condition, construction, data, experimental, materials, pavement, pressure, research, strains, stresses, temperature, test track, tests, volume, washington, washington state wsu 1968 |
| WA-RD 015.1 | Pavement Research at the WSU Test Track- Volume No. 1: Experimental Ring No. 1: A study of cement treated and asphaltic treated Bases | Riedesel | WSU | 1967 | pavement research at the wsu test track- volume no. 1: experimental ring no. 1: a study of cement treated and asphaltic treated bases riedesel, g.a. using full-scale construction equipment and truck loadings on a circular track of 260 feet circumference, evaluation of various base thicknesses and types has been accomplished in this first of a series of tests. fractured and non-fractured aggregatre, treated and untreated bases, asphaltic and portland cement type bases are used. results of the firest ring indicate type of failure under varied enviornmental conditions with pavement systems subjected to millions of load applications. difficulties in determining comparative equivalencies are discussed. instrumentations used and possibilities for future use in rational design are reported. applications, base, condition, construction, design, equipment, evaluation, experimental, pavement, research, systems, test track, tests, truck, truck loadings, volume wsu 1967 |