Every year WisDOT Research publishes a report
on the activities,
accomplishments and goals of the Research program. In the 2007 report we
highlight key accomplishments for the year including:
A range of services provided to all divisions, from short-term
library and information services to full research projects: 47
Transportation Synthesis Reports, 49 Wisconsin research projects, and
42 pooled fund research projects.
Creation of a new Policy Research Program that will help DOT
managers in making and reviewing transportation policy decisions.
A new Research and Library Advisory Committee, consisting of
division administrators and directors from the Executive Offices,
which will provide strategic direction and coordination of research
and library issues throughout the department.
Outreach efforts to WisDOT regional offices that raised
awareness of the products and services that Research offers and
identified opportunities for improved communication about research
results.
The opening of the new Library and iCommons Learning Center at Hill
Farms, featuring skilled reference staff, physical and digital
resources, public workstations, and collaborative meeting space.
A new Data Integration Technical Oversight Committee for the
Wisconsin Highway Research Program, which is focused on improving
access to DOT databases of highway and bridge information and
ultimately on integrating these data sources.
The annual report highlights research results that are having an impact
on WisDOT practices, along with program goals for 2008. If you have
questions about the report, contact Nikki Hatch at (608) 267-6977.
Policy Research Program awards nine 2009 projects
WisDOT's Research & Library Advisory Committee has approved funding
for nine new policy research projects for FFY 2009. Policy research
projects support department decision making by assessing the technical
merits of current department policies, evaluating the potential effects of
policy alternatives, and measuring the impacts of specific programs and
projects.
WisDOT managers and staff proposed nearly 50 research ideas during the
solicitation process this spring. More than 30 staff from across the
department then discussed and prioritized the ideas during a half-day
Policy Research Workshop on April 7. Research staff recommended funding
for the highest priority projects across five key research focus areas:
Mobility; Renewal & Sustainability; Safety & Security;
Organizational Best Practices; and Economic Development.
Below are the projects awarded funding for FFY 2009. Funding for the
projects comes from U.S. DOT's State Planning and Research Program, with
anticipated cost sharing on two projects from UW-Madison's National
Center for Freight & Infrastructure Research & Education.
Title
Sponsor/Customer
Operational resilience of the I-90/94 corridor
DTSD, DSP
Performance measures for the long range plan
DTIM
Best practices guidance for workforce transition and
succession planning
All divisions
Best practices for managing outsourced engineering and
IT services
DTSD, DBM
Workforce development summit for Wisconsin
All divisions
Economic value of air cargo in Wisconsin
DTIM
Costs and benefits of equipping OWI offenders with
ignition interlock devices
OGC, DSP, DMV
Internet driver education
DMV
Costs and benefits of non-automatic license
reinstatement
OGC, DMV, DSP
For more information on individual projects, contact Tom Martinelli at
(608) 333-7563.
WHRP awards seven 2009 projects
The Wisconsin Highway Research Program, funded by WisDOT Research and
managed by UW-Madison, addresses department research needs in the areas of
materials and construction. Multi-partnered committees representing
WisDOT, industry, academia and FHWA select projects to fund each year in
four key areas: flexible pavements; rigid pavements; geotechnics; and
structures.
Below are the projects that will get underway for WHRP in October 2008.
Title
WHRP Committee
Mixture evaluation using flow number (Fn) as a
discriminating property and study of materials parameters
influencing Fn Values
Flexible Pavements
Performance evaluation of tack coat materials
Flexible Pavements
Performance evaluation of open-graded base
course with
doweled and non-doweled transverse joints on Wisconsin test sections
Rigid Pavements
Evaluation of constructed cast-in-place piling
Geotechnics
Evaluation of the foundations movement of
transportation structures
Geotechnics
Concrete cracking in new bridge decks and overlays
Structures
Fatigue risks in the connection of sign support
structures, phase II
Structures
In addition, WHRP set aside $60,000 for funding projects designed to
implement the results of completed research projects.
For more information about these and other WHRP projects, contact Peg
Lafky at (608) 266-3663.
Pooled fund projects: 2008 awards and 2009 solicitation
Through the national Transportation Pooled Fund Research Program,
WisDOT partners with other states to fund larger research projects of
common interest. Technical experts from the department serve on oversight
panels to assure that our research objectives are being met. While many
projects extend over more than one year, they must receive staff support
on an annual basis in order to qualify for continued funding.
Last spring, Research funded 18 high-priority pooled fund research
projects recommended by WisDOT staff, and we recently were able to fund
seven more recommended projects listed below.
We're now in the process of making pooled fund project awards for FFY
2009. Working with WisDOT's bureau directors and division administrators,
we'll make decisions by early June, and the funds will become available
for the projects after October 1.
For details on all pooled fund research projects, visit the
Transportation Pooled Fund Web site.
If you have questions about the solicitation and selection process or
would like to nominate a project for funding, please contact Kirsten
Seeber at (608) 333-8724.
WisDOT's Library boasts an extensive collection of materials related to
transportation safety, thanks in large part to Martha Florey, who recently
retired from WisDOT after 20 years of service.
Florey was a huge supporter of the Library and was devoted to making
sure that transportation safety and police science research had a home
there. She accumulated and donated local research in Wisconsin and
comparable research from other states in the areas of traffic crash facts,
injury prevention, automotive medicine, community safety programs, traffic
calming and traffic crash database analysis.
Florey also donated to the Library "Traffic Injury
Prevention," a
reputable and very expensive journal, as well as key safety and law
enforcement reference works. Her memberships brought in crucial safety
research proceedings, which she donated to the Library, along with the
National Highway Safety Administration and state crash facts collections.
Many of Florey's donations consisted of unique material not held by any
other library (transportation or otherwise). "I will sure miss her
influence and patronage of the library," says WisDOT Librarian John
Cherney. "She was a true professional who cared deeply about the
department and that key safety information be preserved well into the
future for researchers and citizens alike."
Martha Florey (pictured above), former DOT Program
Officer in the Bureau of Transportation Safety
New Madison area travel resources in the Library
The WisDOT Library recently partnered with the Madison Area
Metropolitan Planning Organization and the WisDOT SE Region to set up a
Madison area biking and rideshare information station in the Library.
The Madison Area MPO provides the following free materials, available
in WisDOT's Library:
Madison Metro Map
Dane County Bicyclist Map
Madison Bicycling Map
Madison Metro Ride Guide
Rideshare and Commuting posters, applications and brochures.
Research shows short posts keep Wisconsin highway slopes in place
WHRP Project 0092-05-09, Investigation of Vertical Members to Resist
Surficial Slope Instabilities
Following a heavy rain or snowmelt, maintenance crews often need to
repair slopes along highways where erosion has scarred embankments. These
surficial slope failures occur when seepage, saturation of soil, and even
traffic loading, works with the geometry of slopes to carve out ravines or
holes in the turf. The end result is often soil sliding onto highways,
clogging drains, even damaging guardrails and utility poles.
To fix the failures crews typically push the soil back into place and
lay sod or other landscaping to stabilize the soil. But effective methods
of stabilization that prevent failures haven't been verified
scientifically; in fact, little research has been done on stabilization
methods.
Through a recently completed project of the Wisconsin Highway Research
Program, Professor Hani Titi and a team of researchers at UW-Milwaukee
identified three promising approaches to slope stabilization and studied
them closely. Research into the methods and an evaluation of a slope in
Waukesha County showed that all three methods - soil nailing, anchor
systems, and short driven posts - protect slopes from failure and are more
cost-effective than conventional repair.
The method shown to provide the most protection at the lowest cost is
placement of wood or plastic posts, particularly when closely spaced.
These vertical members will need to be studied over the long term, but
they will likely become a fixture of Wisconsin highway slopes.
For details, see the WHRP study's project
page or contact Bob
Arndorfer, chair of the Geotechnics Technical Oversight Committee, at
(608) 246-7940.
Surficial slope failure (pictured above) along WIS-164
in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
TSR spotlight: Tracking environmental mitigation projects
To minimize the effects of road construction and development, WisDOT
requires environmental mitigation efforts, such as wetland replacement;
reforestation; and installation of stormwater systems, sound walls and
wildlife crossings. These projects must be properly maintained, and when
necessary rehabilitated or reconstructed.
WisDOT has overseen construction of many of these projects across the
state, and monitoring them over time can be challenging. Managers in the
Bureau of Equity and Environmental Services were interested in developing
a tracking system for environmental mitigation projects.
BEES staff initiated a research
project on this topic through WisDOT's new Policy Research Program. To
gather more information on how other states approach this issue, BEES
staff requested a Transportation
Synthesis Report-a quick-turnaround summary of available information
on a transportation topic, including related research, other states'
practices and national resources.
BEES managers were particularly interested in learning whether other
states use asset management systems for their environmental projects,
especially since the bureau is also interested in tracking costs
associated with designing, building and maintaining mitigation facilities.
"Ultimately we'd like to implement an asset management system for
monitoring the condition of these mitigation projects," said DTSD
Administrator Kevin Chesnik. "This inventory would be used in
WisDOT's long-term facilities maintenance planning."
We located relevant tracking systems in several states, including
specialized databases, forms and lists designed to ensure that department
staff communicate with each other and that commitments stay attached to
projects throughout their life.
In addition, we identified two national projects that outlined multiple
state approaches: an FHWA scan of best practices and an NCHRP project that
developed prototype environmental information management software.
WisDOT Research produces TSRs at the request of staff in all divisions
and regions, with topics ranging from materials and construction issues to
planning, operations, safety, environmental, motor vehicle and business
management concerns. See recently
published TSRs on the Research Web site.
Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
On April 7, 33 representatives from all divisions and the executive
offices participated in WisDOT's first Policy Research Workshop. Organized
by WisDOT Research, the workshop focused on the discussion and
prioritization of policy research project ideas from around the
department.
The Policy Research Program supports department decision making by
evaluating the technical merit of current and proposed policies and the
impact of those policies on the economy, safety, operations and more.
To facilitate the development of projects that address high priority
issues in the department, Research created the following five research
focus areas. We plan to revise these categories for future solicitations,
incorporating the department wide strategic emphasis areas that will be
finalized this summer.
Economic Development (impacts of transportation improvements
on economic development, response to urban sprawl, impacts of
alternative fuels, etc.)
Safety & Security
Organizational Best Practices (workforce development,
management decision making models, performance measures, etc.)
Participants in the event worked in cross-divisional groups that
corresponded to these new focus areas and then had an opportunity to share
results between groups. Staff discussed nearly 50 research ideas and
developed goals and expected outcomes for the 15 highest priority
projects.
The workshop was a fundamental part of the solicitation and selection
process for policy research projects for FFY 2009. The cross-divisional
collaboration on needs identification and project development was
invaluable to Research in funding research projects that will well serve
the department.
For more information about the workshop or the proposed policy research
projects, contact Kim
Linsenmayer at (608) 628-3806.
RLAC reviews policy research and strategic planning
The Research and Library Advisory Committee, made up of division
administrators and directors from the executive offices, meets several
times each year to provide strategic direction and coordination for
department research and library/information issues.
The group met on April 24 to discuss policy research projects for FFY
2009 and review the progress of research and library strategic planning
efforts.
RLAC members approved funding for nine research projects that address
key policy issues across the department. Project topics include workforce
development, managing contractors, performance measures, driver safety
issues and more.
In addition, Nikki Hatch, Chief of Research and Communication Services,
outlined the steps Research plans to take to develop a strategic plan for
department research and library activities. This new plan will support
better coordination of activities across the department and will help
align WisDOT's investment in research and library activities with the
highest priority needs of the department. RLAC members approved the
planned next steps, and the Research group will present the draft
strategic plan at the next meeting in August.
See the full minutes
from this meeting on the Research dotnet site. For more information,
contact Kim
Linsenmayer at (608) 628-3806.
Pahnke exchanges best practices with peers in Louisiana
Research's Ann Pahnke represented WisDOT at a peer exchange held by the
Louisiana Transportation Research Center on May 13-15. She joined research
administrators from Arizona, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and South
Dakota in exchanging best practices about research and library management.
The LTRC peer exchange covered six focus areas: university
relationships, expansion of non-infrastructure research, regional research
cooperation, performance measures, value of research and the LTRC
transportation library. Most of the sessions included video conferencing,
which allowed experts from around the country to provide valuable
contributions to the event.
Pahnke facilitated the session on the LTRC Transportation Library,
which addressed the role of transportation libraries in carrying out
research, improving knowledge management, and connecting people and
information. Pahnke serves as the Technical Advisory Committee chair for
the WisDOT-led Transportation Library Connectivity pooled fund project, a
grassroots library coordination effort funded by 17 state DOTs and two
University Transportation Centers.
Ann Pahnke (pictured above), Program Analyst for
Research & Library Unit
This quarter, WisDOT Research produced four research
briefs, seven Transportation Synthesis Reports and nine literature searches for WisDOT staff.
Research Report and Briefs
Testing Wisconsin Asphalt Mixtures for the AASHTO 2002 Mechanistic
Design Procedure
0092-04-07, March 2008 Final
Report(1.8
MB) Research
brief(214 KB)
Expanded Study on the Effects of Aggregate Coating and Films on
Concrete Performance
0092-04-12, March 2008 Final
report(1.9
MB) Research
brief(340 KB)
Analysis of Concrete Pavement Joints to Predict the Onset of Distress
0092-05-05, March 2008 Final
report(2.9
MB) Research
brief(269 KB)
Perpetual Pavement Instrumentation for the Marquette Interchange
Project – Phase 1
0092-06-01, February 2008 Final
report(2.6
MB) Research
brief(270 KB)
15—Transportation Cooperative Research Program problem
statements due 30—Quarterly progress reports for research projects due
FHWA State Planning & Research annual work plan due
State CEO ballot on National Cooperative Highway Research Program due
July
14 to 17—American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials Research Advisory Committee national meeting in
Seattle, Wash. 29 to30—Clear Roads winter maintenance pooled fund
meeting in Madison, Wisc.
August
1—TRB Annual Meeting abstracts due
8—WHRP Steering Committee meeting 7—Policy Research Workshop, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
14 to 15—Mid-Continent Transportation Research Forum in Madison,
Wisc.
Research and Library Advisory Committee Meeting
