Accommodating oversize and overweight loads: technical report (open access)

Accommodating oversize and overweight loads: technical report

"In this report the research project resulted in a statewide map recommending primary and alternate Oversize/ overweight (OS/OW)route networks for the most common origins and destinations based on historical Motor Carrier Division data. Keeping strategic routes open for OS/OW loads and minimizing the number of reroutes along the way will reduce the impedance and unknowns in this critical segment of the motor carrier industry."
Date: July 2012
Creator: Middleton, Daniel R.; Li, Yingfeng; Le, Jerry & Koncz, Nicholas
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Development of Texas Transportation Institute's asphalt compaction monitoring system (open access)

Development of Texas Transportation Institute's asphalt compaction monitoring system

"In recent years, the Texas Department of Transportation has made significant progress with the development and implementation of new technologies to measure the uniformity of new hot mix asphalt layer construction. In Project 0-6992, researchers took this check one step further by developing an accurate global positioning system tracking system for compaction rolling so that the compaction effort applied can be monitored for 100 percent of the new surface. This report presents details of the hardware and software developed in this study. The system was field tested on a number of new overlay projects in Texas."
Date: July 2012
Creator: Liu, Wenting; Scullion, Thomas & Kassem, Emad
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
Laboratory and field performance measurements to support the implementation of warm mix asphalt in Texas (open access)

Laboratory and field performance measurements to support the implementation of warm mix asphalt in Texas

An objective of this study was to monitor the performance of more than 10 warm mix asphalt (WMA) projects in the state. Several WMA technologies were included in the study (foaming, Advera, Evotherm, Rediset, Sasobit) and it was determined that performance of the warm mix was comparable to hot mix. In addition, mix from two warm mix projects were subjected to different curing times and temperatures and then evaluated for mixture volumetrics and performance properties. Results from this study lend support to the current procedures the Texas Department of Transportation has adopted.
Date: July 2012
Creator: Estakhri, Cindy K.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Performance comparison of various seal coat grades used in Texas (open access)

Performance comparison of various seal coat grades used in Texas

This report documents research efforts to provide comparative quantitative performance information for various grades of seal coat aggregate available in the Texas Department of Transportation standard specifications. Length of service before replacement and level of noise generated at the tire-pavement interface were the primary focuses of the relative performance evaluations. The additional service life possible from seal coats with larger aggregate and higher asphalt application rates is compared to the additional cost generally associated with these larger aggregate seal coats. The comparative performance information combined with knowledge gathered from numerous department field engineers resulted in the development of guidelines for optimal seal coat grade selection.
Date: July 2012
Creator: Krugler, Paul E.; Wirth, John E.; Estakhri, Cindy K.; Freeman, Thomas J.; Wikander, John P. & Wimsatt, Andrew J.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Alternative Methods of Flexible Base Compaction Acceptance (open access)

Alternative Methods of Flexible Base Compaction Acceptance

"This report summarizes the concerns expressed with the current Texas Department of Transportation(TxDOT) methods, presents approaches some TxDOT districts have taken to overcome problems, and summarizes the current status of other agencies' efforts at mechanistic based acceptance for flexible base. Also this report presents results and findings from a full-scale compaction experiment."
Date: May 2012
Creator: Sebesta, Stephen; Taylor, Ross & Frazier, James
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
Comprehensive evaluation of compaction of asphalt pavements and development of compaction monitoring system (open access)

Comprehensive evaluation of compaction of asphalt pavements and development of compaction monitoring system

"This report aimed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of compaction of asphalt pavements and develop software for monitoring field compaction in real time.The results were used to determine the effects of compaction temperature, compaction method, mixture design, and base type on the compactability of asphalt mixtures.Also in this report researchers developed a system for monitoring and documenting the compaction process of asphalt mixtures called compaction monitoring system (CMS)."
Date: April 2012
Creator: Kassem, Emad Abdel-Rahman, 1979-; Scullion, Tom; Masad, Eyad; Chowdhury, Arif; Liu, Wenting; Estakhri, Cindy K. et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Implementation of the Soil Compactor Analyzer Into Test Method TEX-113-E : Technical Report (open access)

Implementation of the Soil Compactor Analyzer Into Test Method TEX-113-E : Technical Report

This report describes a study showing that the Soil Compactor Analyzer(SCA) enables excellent precision precision of total statistics of test method Tex-113-E.
Date: April 2012
Creator: Sebesta, Stephen & Taylor, Ross
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Performance monitoring pavements with thermal segregation in Texas (open access)

Performance monitoring pavements with thermal segregation in Texas

This report investigated the performance of asphalt surface mixtures that exhibited thermal segregation during construction from 2004 to 2009. The results do not show that thermally segregated locations will fail within three to seven years but they do show that instances of thermal segregation may continue to be anomalous locations in the layer that could lead to failures in the pavement structure.
Date: April 2012
Creator: Sebesta, Stephen & Scullion, Tom
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
Texas M-E flexible pavement design system : literature review and proposed framework (open access)

Texas M-E flexible pavement design system : literature review and proposed framework

"This report discusses the framework proposed for the Texas Mechanistic-Empirical (TxME) flexible pavement design system, including pavement structure, material properties, traffic, climate, design reliability, and user interfaces."
Date: April 2012
Creator: Hu, Sheng; Zhou, Fujie & Scullion, Tom
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Unknown Foundation Determination for Scour (open access)

Unknown Foundation Determination for Scour

This report describes a project to develop a global approach that would reduce the level of uncertainty associated with unknown foundations.
Date: April 2012
Creator: Briaud, Jean-Louis; Medina-Cetina, Zenon; Hurlebaus, Stefan; Everett, Mark; Tucker, Stacey; Yousefpour, Negin et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Energy Developments and the Transportation Infrastructure in Texas: Impacts and Strategies (open access)

Energy Developments and the Transportation Infrastructure in Texas: Impacts and Strategies

"This report describes the work completed to measure the impact of increased level of energy-related activities on the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) right-of-way and infrastructure, as well as develop recommendations to reduce and manage TxDOT's exposure and risk resulting from those activities."
Date: March 2012
Creator: Quiroga, César A.; Fernando, E. G. & Oh, Jeongho
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
Subbase and Subgrade Performance Investigation and Design Guidelines for Concrete Pavement (open access)

Subbase and Subgrade Performance Investigation and Design Guidelines for Concrete Pavement

Report regarding research into cheaper alternatives for the construction of pavement subbases that maintains adequate pavement performance.
Date: March 2012
Creator: Jung, Youn su; Zollinger, Dan G.; Cho, Byoung Hooi; Won, Mooncheol & Wimsatt, Andrew James, 1964-
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Identification of priority rail projects for Texas: initial methodology/user manual and guidebook (open access)

Identification of priority rail projects for Texas: initial methodology/user manual and guidebook

"This project developed a system of evaluative tools for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to prioritize its investments in rail-related projects on a statewide basis. This work is meant to ensure that the limited available funding for rail projects is applied in the most beneficial and efficient manner and is focused upon addressing TxDOT's strategic goals. From the findings, researches recommend a transparent methodology for evaluating proposed rail projects and establishing an initial process through which rail-related investments can periodically be re-evaluated."
Date: February 2012
Creator: Morgan, Curtis Alan
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
Positive Feedback:  Exploring Current Approaches in Iterative Travel Demand Model Implementation (open access)

Positive Feedback: Exploring Current Approaches in Iterative Travel Demand Model Implementation

This report looked at the current Texas Department of Transportation Travel Demand Model (TxDOT TDM) and found that they do not include any impedance or accessibility measures in the trip generation step and found that the best approach is to feed back the output from the traffic assignment step to the trip distribution step.
Date: January 2012
Creator: Reeder, Phillip; Bhat, Chandra & Hall, Kevin
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
TxDOT uses of real-time commercial traffic data :  opportunity matrix (open access)

TxDOT uses of real-time commercial traffic data : opportunity matrix

Based on a TxDOT survey, a review of other state DOTs, and researcher understanding of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) needs, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) team developed a comprehensive list of opportunities for TxDOT to consider pertaining to future use of private sector (PS) data. Specific opportunities for applying private data were reviewed in light of accuracy of the data, coverage areas, data availability, cost, and control of the data stream.
Date: January 2012
Creator: Middleton, Dan; Brydia, Robert; Kraus, Edgar; Cheu, Kelvin; Rajbhandari, Rajat, 1973-; Songchitruksa, Praprut et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Applying the Systems Engineering Approach to Video Over IP Projects (open access)

Applying the Systems Engineering Approach to Video Over IP Projects

Abstract: In 2009, the Texas Transportation Institute produced for the Texas Department of Transportation a document called Video over IP Design Guidebook. This report summarized an implementation of that project in the form of a workshop. The workshop was developed and presented as a pilot in Austin in 2010 and taught an additional four times in 2011 in Fort Worth, Lubbock, Houston, and San Antonio.
Date: December 2011
Creator: Thomas, Gary B.
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
Effect of climate change on crop production patterns with implications to transport flows and inland waterways (open access)

Effect of climate change on crop production patterns with implications to transport flows and inland waterways

"This report analyzed the demand for transportation capacity and changes in transportation flows on inland waterways due to shifts in crop production patterns induced by climate change."
Date: December 2011
Creator: Vedenov, Dmitry V.; Fuller, Stephen W.; McCarl, Cruce A.; Attavanich, Witsanu & Ahmedov, Zafarbek
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Evaluating the Impact of Overweight Load Routing on Buried Utility Facilities [Report 2] (open access)

Evaluating the Impact of Overweight Load Routing on Buried Utility Facilities [Report 2]

"The objectives of this project were to (a) provide a review of technical design and engineering requirements for utility accommodation in Texas, (b) provide an assessment of potential impact of overweight loads on buried utilities, (c) provide recommendations for a business process for TxDOT overweight routing coordination, (d) provide recommendations for changes to TxDOT manuals, (e) provide an assessment of UAR adequacy to deal with overweight loads on buried utilities, and (f) provide recommendations for changes to the UAR" (abstract, para. 2).
Date: December 2011
Creator: Kraus, Edgar; Oh, Jeong Ho; Fernando, Emmanuel; Li, Yingfeng; Quiroga, Cesar & Koncz, Nicholas
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History