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FHWA (Louisiana Division) Procedures for Selecting Emergency

Relief Funds in The New Orleans District

Hurricane KatrinaAugust 29, 2005

ByPhil Arena – FHWA

May, 2009

FHWA Emergency Relief Manual

August 2004

“The FHWA Division Administrator must evaluate a damage survey summary report , and make a finding that a disaster is eligible within the intent of the law and applicable regulations, before ER funds can be made available.”

Eligibility of Damage Repair Work

Normally eligible work must be within the ROW limits of the damaged federal-aid highway facility.

The ER program provides for repair and restoration of highway facilities to pre-disaster conditions.

Betterments are not generally eligible for ER funding unless justified.

Cont’d In general, repair of roadway surfaces due to traffic

damages, even if damage is aggravated by saturated subgrade conditions, or by inundation of the roadway, is not eligible for ER funds.

Overlays of roadways that, even though submerged during the flooding, have suffered no significant damage as a direct result of the flooding, are not eligible.

All repair work falls under two major categories, namely emergency repairs and permanent repairs.

Cont’dThere are three exceptions. ER funds may participate in repair of surface damage to:

Any public roads-caused by vehicles making repairs to federal-aid highways.

Any public roads-caused by traffic using the officially designated detour around a damaged federal-aid highway.

Any federal-aid highways- caused by vehicles responding to a disaster.

Initial ER Selection Procedures by FHWA

DOTD PMS sent a spreadsheet of control sections as potential ER projects to the FHWA Division office. Each exhibited a higher than normal deterioration for one year for both roughness (IRI) and rutting.

LDOTD Pavement Management Trigger Values

Flexible Triggers: Interstate

Thin Overlay

Medium Overlay

Roughness Index >84<90 <85

LDOTD Pavement Management Trigger Values

Flexible Triggers: NHS

Thin Overlay

Medium Overlay

Roughness Index >69<80 <70

LDOTD Pavement Management Trigger Values

Thin Overlay

Medium Overlay In-Pl. Stab & Ovl.

Roughness Index N/A >59<80 <60

Flexible Triggers: Non-NHS

Compare Triggers in 2005 & 2007

Control Section

2005Roughness or

Rut

2007 Roughness or

Rut

429-02 x Thin Medium450-43 Medium Medium

018-01 x Medium In-pl-Stab & Overlay

412-03 x --- Medium/Rut

Total Control Sections Analyzed – 146

Approximate Miles Analyzed – 937

No. of Miles Greater than Normal Deterioration – 78

No. of Miles with Triggers Greater in 2007 (After Katrina) than in 2005 (Before Katrina) - 24

The End