All posts by trac

Safe Main Street Highways: Analyses of Collisions Involving Pedestrians and Bicyclists in Washington State

What could make main street highways safer for alternative modes such as walking and bicycling? Main street highways (MSHs) are stretches of state highways that also act as main streets for local populations. This study looked at where pedestrian and bicyclist collisions most often occur on MSHs and developed models for estimating socio-economic and environmental predictors of collision locations so that WSDOT and local agencies can improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety measures.

Open Sidewalks: Standardizing and Maintaining Sidewalk Connectivity Data for Accessible Trip Planning

The OpenSidewalks Project is an open data, open source effort developed with a three-goal mission: (1) to automate data aggregation and updates of data sets related to the built environment, (2) to use those data to provide map overlays and automated pedestrian routing that will help pedestrians find the best routes suitable to their movement abilities, and (3) to develop analytic tools that will use the data for regional accessibility assessment and planning. This project will expand the OpenSidewalks and AccessMap.io tool sets to develop an automated means for identifying and predicting the connectivity of pedestrian path segments and will use crowdsourcing to verify the model. The project will also further develop technology, methods, and tools for community engagement and training to support the widespread crowdsourcing of sidewalk data that can be integrated into OpenStreetmap. The resulting data will support and enhance the safety and planning activities of pedestrian network users, including their first- and last-mile connections to transit.

Principal Investigator: Anat Caspi, Computer Science and Engineering, UW
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Evan Olsen
WSDOT Project Manager: Jon Peterson
Scheduled Completion: March 2020

NCHRP 08-98: Guide for Identifying, Classifying, Evaluating, and Mitigating Truck Freight Bottlenecks

The demand for truck transportation increases alongside growth in population and economic activity. As both truck and passenger traffic outstrip roadway capacity, the result is congestion, which the freight community experiences as truck bottlenecks. This NCHRP project produced a Guidebook that provides state-of-the-practice information to transportation professionals on practices and measures for identifying, classifying, evaluating, and mitigating truck freight bottlenecks. The intent is to help decision-makers in developing cost-effective solutions to address different types of truck freight bottlenecks.

Traffic Monitoring Practices Guide for Canadian Provinces and Municipalities

The Traffic Monitoring Practices Guide for Canadian Provinces and Municipalities provides the first national-level guidance on the planning, design, and implementation of traffic monitoring programs for Canadian provinces and municipalities. The Guide will assist agencies with upgrading their traffic monitoring programs and may ultimately culminate in more consistent, nationally relevant guidance for monitoring traffic.

Portland Cement Concrete Material Characterization for Pavement ME Design Implementation in Idaho

This project began development of a database of portland cement concrete material inputs specific to Idaho in preparation for Idaho’s implementation of the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design software for designing rigid pavements. The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD is transitioning from pavement design procedures based on the AASHTO 1993 Design Guide to AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (Pavement ME). Pavement ME requires the definition of more than 100 design input parameters. On the basis of this project’s laboratory test results, the report recommends proper values for all PCC Pavement ME material inputs.

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Best Practices of Using Shotcrete for Wall Fascia and Slope Stabilization, Phase I Study

Shotcrete, concrete applied pneumatically at high velocity, has become attractive because of its potential for saving cost and construction time when used to replace cast-in-place (CIP) concrete for retaining walls and slope stabilization. However, it also has potential drawbacks that raise concerns about its durability. This project was a first-phase effort in determining the best practices for using shotcrete for wall fascia built with soil nails and soldier piles. With the increasing desire of highway agencies to use shotcrete to save time and money, such information will be helpful to them in achieving the best structural quality and durability.

Snow Removal Performance Metrics

This project sought to identify effective performance metrics for snow and ice maintenance operations. The project team gathered information from published literature and surveyed the winter road maintenance operations community. They analyzed the information with a focus on performance measures for snow/ice maintenance operations, their temporal evolution and effectiveness, costs of gathering and analyzing the performance data, and methods of communicating the level of success inside the organization and beyond.

Preliminary Study to Develop Standard Acceptance Tests for Pervious Concrete

The growing popularity of pervious concrete pavement applications, desired for their role in stormwater management and runoff control, has increased the need for development of quality control and quality-evaluation test procedures that are suited specifically for pervious concrete rather than for traditional concrete. This brief study took preliminary steps toward developing appropriate quality control and quality-evaluation test procedures by identifying suitable specimen sizes for testing, proper methods of casting and compacting specimens at the job site, the compatibility of fresh and hardened physical properties, and proper curing methods for compressive strength testing.

Numerical Evaluation of Forces on Piled Bridge Foundations in Laterally Spreading Soil

For seismically active areas, designers must consider how bridge foundations will respond to ground liquefaction, particularly lateral spreading of the soil. Current design procedures generally rely on simplified analytical methods based on a two-dimensional description of the site geometry. However, numerous bridges affected by lateral spreading during past earthquakes have displayed three-dimensional soil deformation that cannot be captured in a two-dimensional analysis, and an analysis that assumes 2-D conditions may be overly conservative, leading to unnecessarily expensive design solutions. The objectives of this research were to identify and quantify the mechanisms that may result in potential reductions in the bridge foundation demands that develop during lateral spreading by considering the 3-D geometry of the bridge site.

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