Modern traffic control devices to improve safety at rural intersections (open access)

Modern traffic control devices to improve safety at rural intersections

"The goal of this project was to obtain a better understanding of modern TCD capabilities. Researchers conducted the following tasks literature review, crash data examination, TxDOT district survey, laboratory survey, field study, and development of principles for selecting TCDs."
Date: September 2011
Creator: Fitzpatrick, Kay; Chrysler, Susan T.; Sunkari, Srivivasa R.; Cooper, Joel; Park, Byung-Jung & Higgins, Laura
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Implementation report on PASSER V-07 training workshops (open access)

Implementation report on PASSER V-07 training workshops

"The objective of this project was to conduct one pilot workshop and five regular workshops to teach the effective use of the enhanced PASSER V-07 arterial signal timing optimization software."
Date: August 2009
Creator: Chu, Chi-Leung & Chaudhary, Nadeem A.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
School Traffic Workshop: Dealing With Texas-Sized Problems Around Schools (open access)

School Traffic Workshop: Dealing With Texas-Sized Problems Around Schools

"This report summarized the series of "Traffic around Schools"" workshops conducted throughout the state of Texas to familiarize TxDOT employees and partner agencies with two key products from previous research projects (0-4286 and 0-5470) and other tools and guidance that are available for dealing with problems around schools."
Date: October 2011
Creator: Brewer, Marcus A.; Fitzpatrick, Kay & Cooner, Scott A.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Development of a MASH TL-2 guardrail-to-bridge rail transition compatible with 31-inch guardrail (open access)

Development of a MASH TL-2 guardrail-to-bridge rail transition compatible with 31-inch guardrail

Report discussing the development of a transition roadway rail that is suitable on lower-speed roadways and that is suitable for implementation.
Date: December 2011
Creator: Bligh, Roger P.; Arrington, Dusty R. & Menges, Wanda L.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Development of a MASH TL-3 median barrier gate (open access)

Development of a MASH TL-3 median barrier gate

Report regarding a median barrier gate designed to both offer protection to motorists and easier cross-median access for emergency and maintenance vehicles.
Date: February 2011
Creator: Bligh, Roger P.; Arrington, Dusty R.; Sheikh, Nauman Mansoor; Silvestri, Chiara & Menges, Wanda L.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Landside freight access to airports : findings and case studies (open access)

Landside freight access to airports : findings and case studies

Report identifying the issues, and infrastructure needs concerning access to airports in Texas for both travel and freight shipping purposes and proposing solutions to the identified problems.
Date: August 2010
Creator: Frawley, William E.; Borowiec, Jefferey D.; Protopapa, Annie A.; Morgan, Curtis Alan & Warner, Jeffery E.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
MASH test 3-37 of the TxDOT 31-inch w-beam downstream anchor terminal (open access)

MASH test 3-37 of the TxDOT 31-inch w-beam downstream anchor terminal

Report discussing the findings of a study exploring issues related to roadside safety devices. It includes background information, system details, test requirements and evaluation criteria, crash test procedures, crash test results, and conclusions.
Date: October 2011
Creator: Bligh, Roger P.; Menges, Wanda L. & Arrington, Dusty R.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-11 of the Texas Department of Transportation Portable Concrete Traffic Barriers with sign support assembly (open access)

Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-11 of the Texas Department of Transportation Portable Concrete Traffic Barriers with sign support assembly

This report presents the details of the design developed for mounting the traffic control sign support on top a portable concrete traffic barrier (PCTB), description of the full scale crash test performed on the design, and an assessment and evaluation of the performance of the PCTB with the sign support mounted on top according to specifications of "Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware" (MASH). The PCTB mounted sign support assembly anchored to the top of the TxDOT Type 2 PCTB tested for this project performed acceptably for MASH test 3-11.
Date: January 2011
Creator: Williams, William F. & Menges, Wanda L.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-10 on 31-inch W-beam guardrail with standard offset blocks (open access)

Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-10 on 31-inch W-beam guardrail with standard offset blocks

"The test reported herein corresponds to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) test 3-10. This is primarily a severity test that assesses risk of injury to the vehicle occupants."
Date: November 2010
Creator: Abu-Odeh, Akram Y.; Menges, Wanda L. & Bligh, Roger P.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Highway safety design workshops (open access)

Highway safety design workshops

Report on a series of workshops provided by the Texas Department of Transportation on the topic, "Incorporating Safety into the Highway Design Process." The report focuses on workshop content, attendance, and participation evaluation.
Date: November 2010
Creator: Bonneson, James A. & Pratt, Michael P.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Research and recommendations for a statewide sign retroreflectivity maintenance program (open access)

Research and recommendations for a statewide sign retroreflectivity maintenance program

"This report evaluated Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) current sign retroreflectivity maintenance practices, assessed their effectiveness, and recommended statewide sign retroreflectivity maintenance practices that could be easily and effectively implemented to ensure that TxDOT would be in compliance with the new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) language related to minimum sign retroreflectivity."
Date: April 2012
Creator: Carlson, Paul J.; Higgins, Laura L. & Re, Jonathan M.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Full-depth reclamation : new test procedures and recommended updates to specifications (open access)

Full-depth reclamation : new test procedures and recommended updates to specifications

Rehabilitating an old pavement by pulverizing and stabilizing the existing pavement is a process referred to as Full Depth Reclamation (FDR). The stabilized layer becomes either the base or sub-base of the new pavement structure. This process has been used widely for over 20 years in Texas to strengthen and widen structurally inadequate pavement sections. This project developed guidelines on successful FDR practices, developed training materials, and identified areas where improvements to current practices are required. To improve the FDR process, this report includes the following enhancements: (1) As current laboratory testing to select the optimal type and amount of stabilizer takes too long and requires too much material, continue to run parallel testing with the small sample test protocols proposed in this report; (2) Use the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) during construction to validate that the design assumptions are being met; (3) Implement the proposed bond test to select the optimum prime material and amount needed to effectively bond the base to the surfacing materials; (4) Modify the specifications to avoid working in freezing conditions; and (5) Consider implementing the other modifications to specifications proposed in this report.
Date: July 2012
Creator: Scullion, Thomas; Sebesta, Stephen; Estakhri, Cindy K.; Harris, Pat; Shon, Chang-Seon; Harvey, Omar et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Development of the Texas Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (T.R.E.N.D.S.) model :  FY 2010 activities (open access)

Development of the Texas Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (T.R.E.N.D.S.) model : FY 2010 activities

Report that recaps the continued development of the Texas Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System model.
Date: July 2011
Creator: Ellis, David; Glover, Brianne; Norboge, Nicolas & Zhi, Yuan
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Characterization of Exhaust Emissions From Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Area (open access)

Characterization of Exhaust Emissions From Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Area

"For this study, a total of 30 heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) were selected from City of Houston (COH) fleet based on opacity testing for HEs and random selection for non-HEs. With the selected 30 vehicles, driving and idling emission testing were performed to characterize their emissions with respect to vehicle classes, types (HE or non-HE), and model years."
Date: October 2011
Creator: Johnson, Jeremy D.; Lee, Doh-Won; Farzaneh, Reza; Zietsman, Josias & Yu, Lei
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Overlay Tester : A Sensitivity Study to Improve Repeatability and Minimize Variability in the Test Results (open access)

The Overlay Tester : A Sensitivity Study to Improve Repeatability and Minimize Variability in the Test Results

"This report presents a comprehensive sensitivity evaluation of the critical steps of the Overlay Tester (OT) test procedure in an attempt to optimize the OT repeatability and minimize variability in the test results."
Date: February 2012
Creator: Walubita, Lubinda F.; Faruk, Abu N.; Das, Gautam; Tanvir, Hossain A.; Zhang, Jun & Scullion, Tom
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-11 on the Texas T101 bridge rail (open access)

Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware test 3-11 on the Texas T101 bridge rail

Report on a study examining the impact performance of T101 bridge rails with pickup trucks. The study determined the T101 bridge rail did not meet Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware evaluation criteria for test 3-11 and the vehicle overturned after losing contact with the barrier.
Date: March 2011
Creator: Bligh, Roger P. & Menges, Wanda L.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Effects of bending and heat on the ductility and fracture toughness of flange plate (open access)

Effects of bending and heat on the ductility and fracture toughness of flange plate

"This report documents the findings of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)sponsored research project that investigated the possible causes of the cracking and developed recommendations to prevent the occurrence of such cracking."
Date: May 2012
Creator: Keating, Peter B. & Christian, Lee C.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Safety and economic impacts of converting two-way frontage roads to one-way : methodology and findings (open access)

Safety and economic impacts of converting two-way frontage roads to one-way : methodology and findings

Report on research develop information to communicate the safety and economic impacts of converting frontage roads from two-way to one-way. Researchers studied five locations in Texas where frontage roads were converted from two-way operation to one-way operation and developed accident modification factors related to frontage road conversion segments that roadway designers can use to guide frontage road conversion project planning.
Date: January 2011
Creator: Eisele, William L.; Yager, Christine E.; Brewer, Marcus A.; Frawley, William E.; Park, Eun Sug; Lord, Dominique et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Studies to determine the effectiveness of automated flagger assistance devices and school crossing devices (open access)

Studies to determine the effectiveness of automated flagger assistance devices and school crossing devices

"This report describes the methodology and results of analyses performed to determine motorist understanding, as well as the operational and safety effectiveness, of automated flaggers assistance devices (AFADs) relative to the use of flaggers at lane closures on two-lane, two-way roadways."
Date: October 2011
Creator: Finley, Melisa D.; Ullman, Brooke R.; Trout, Nada D. & Park, Eun Sug
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Realtime monitoring of bridge scour using remote monitoring technology (open access)

Realtime monitoring of bridge scour using remote monitoring technology

Report on research performed on the application of instruments including accelerometers and tiltmeters to monitor bridge scour. The instrumentation on the two bridges does not show great hope of application of accelerometers to monitor bridge scour because of a lack of sufficient excitation from traffic. Tiltmeters can provide the integral behavior of the bridge, and therefore are very useful devices for scour monitoring. Guidelines and protocols for scour monitoring based on the US59 over Guadalupe River Bridge and the SH80 over San Antonio River Bridge are provided in the study.
Date: February 2011
Creator: Briaud, Jean-Louis; Hurlebaus, Stefan; Chang, Kuang-An; Yao, Congpu; Sharma, Hrishikesh; Yu, Ok-Youn et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Field and laboratory investigations for Full Depth Reclamation projects (open access)

Field and laboratory investigations for Full Depth Reclamation projects

Full-depth reclamation (FDR) offers a timely, cost-effective solution to restore a pavement's condition. However, FDR represents only one technique in the engineer's toolkit available for addressing deteriorating pavement conditions. The purpose of this project is to provide guidance on determining whether a pavement is a candidate for FDR and, if so, what design, construction, and inspection processes will maximize the performance of the completed reclamation. This report presents initial recommendations for selecting a candidate FDR project and developing design options (including field sampling and lab design protocols). Along with a literature review, these recommendations are illustrated by application on several projects in the Texas Department of Transportation's Austin and Dallas Districts.
Date: March 2011
Creator: Sebesta, Stephen; Scullion, Thomas & Estakhri, Cindy K.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Development of the Transportation Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (TRENDS) Forecasting Model: MPO Sub-Models and Maintenance (open access)

Development of the Transportation Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (TRENDS) Forecasting Model: MPO Sub-Models and Maintenance

"This report summarizes the technical work performed developing and incorporating Metropolitan Planning Organization sub-models into the existing Texas Revenue Estimator and Needs Determination System (TRENDS) model. Additionally, this report explains the maintenance and monthly updates performed on the TRENDS model."
Date: November 2011
Creator: Glover, Brianne; Norboge, Nicolas & Ellis, David
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Evaluation of traffic control devices : year 3 (open access)

Evaluation of traffic control devices : year 3

Report summarizing the research activities that were conducted between September 2010 and August 2011. The five primary activities were evaluating nighttime visibility along rural highways with bright signs, continuing the evaluation of lead-free thermoplastic pavement markings, evaluating contrast pavement marking layouts, continuing the evaluation of accelerated pavement marking test decks, and providing district support for hurricane evacuation routing.
Date: March 2012
Creator: Carlson, Paul J.; Pike, Adam M.; Miles, Jeff D.; Ullman, Brooke R. & Borchardt, Darrel W.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Implementation of Transverse Variable Asphalt Rate seal coat practices in Texas (open access)

Implementation of Transverse Variable Asphalt Rate seal coat practices in Texas

An implementation project was performed to expand use of transversely varied asphalt rate (TVAR) seal coat practices in all districts. The project included nine regional workshops, continued field texture testing of test sites, provided one set of sand patch test equipment to each Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) district, and published 500 copies of the TVAR Field Guide for broad TxDOT distribution.
Date: January 2011
Creator: Krugler, Paul E. & Estakhri, Cindy K.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History