trb renews commitment to worldwide involvement · trb renews commitment to worldwide involvement t...

Winter 2005 • Number 9

NCHRP Project 20-36 • Highway Research and Technology—International Information Sharing

Winter 2005, Number 9

TRB Renews Commitment to Worldwide Involvement

The Transportation Research Board’sCommittee on International Activitiesis poised to build on TRB’s growingcommitment to enhancing information

exchange and fostering cooperation through-out the international transportation communi-ty.

More than 1,000 delegates from some 60foreign countries are expected to attend the2005 TRB Annual Meeting. They will partici-pate in over 250 sessions, attend 350 commit-tee meetings, and deliver many of the 2,500presentations on the program.

Because international participation in TRBactivities grew steadily over the last decade,the TRB Executive Committee established atask force on International Activities in June2002. Dr. Michael Meyer from Georgia Instituteof Technology was appointed as the chair.

Two years later, the task force released itsfinal recommendations to the ExecutiveCommittee. The committee, in turn, formallyestablished the International ActivitiesCommittee with the mission to:

• Encourage more international participationat the TRB Annual Meeting.

• Facilitate international participation in TRBactivities.

• Increase TRB involvement in international

activities.• Strengthen the international transportation

resource community.Meyer has been appointed chair of the

International Activities Committee.Concurrently, he will also serve as the firstInternational Secretary to the TRB ExecutiveCommittee.

“This is a great personal honor and is a logi-cal extension to TRB’s growing internationalinvolvement,” said Meyer. “And I believe thisgrowth is due in large part to the successfulinternational technology scan program manyof us have been privileged to participate inover the last few years.”

The Joint FHWA/AASHTO InternationalTechnology Scanning Program, sponsored byFHWA, AASHTO and TRB/NCHRP, is now 12years old. Sixty-five scans have been com-pleted, with nearly 700 U.S. transportation

Inside:

Roadway Human Factors 3

Transportation Performance Measures 6

Implementing Scan Findings Intelligently 8

International Conference 11

Continued on page 2

The Chairman’s Luncheon at the 2003 TRB AnnualMeeting drew many international participants.

2 • T r a n S c a n

Number 9 • Winter 2005

Welcome, International Guestscontinued from page 1

officials having visited their counter-parts in 30 countries. Meyer has beenon several scans as a reporter andwitnessed firsthand the benefits ininternational cooperation within thetransportation community.

International Participation inthe Annual MeetingInternational attendance at the TRB2004 Annual Meeting included morethan 900 delegates from 62 countries.The delegates were very visible in thesessions and delivered over 560 pre-sentations.

One session highlight included theroundtable discussions on interna-tional transportation security. Othersessions included traffic safety in Asiaand Africa, and international progresson greenhouse gas production.Several focused directly on scan find-ings - intelligent compaction of soilsin Europe and international experi-ences in performance-based mainte-nance contracting.

“We like the connection betweenthe scan program and the TRBAnnual Meeting. TRB provides anexcellent vehicle for conducting spe-cial sessions that focus specifically onscan findings,” noted Martine Micozzi,NCHRP Senior Program Officer. “Wefoster relationships and move closerto common understanding of newtechnologies and policies in many dif-ferent areas.”

International Participation inTechnical ActivitiesCurrently, nearly 60 percent of the200 TRB Technical Activities Divisioncommittees have at least one interna-tional member. In total, about 300seats are filled with internationalmembers.

A number of these committeesalready have a specific internationalfocus. They include the committees

on International Trade andTransportation and Transportation forDeveloping Countries, and the sub-committees on International RailTransit and International Aspects ofTransportation Energy.

In addition, eighteen universitiesoutside the U.S. have designated TRBrepresentatives. A number of interna-tional experts, many from these uni-versities, have worked with TRB asloaned staff, most recently fromSwitzerland, Canada, and SouthAfrica.

TRB’s Worldwide InvolvementIn the last two years, TRB has spon-sored more than 20 conferences out-side the United States. They includedthe 2nd International Conference onBridge Maintenance, Safety, andManagement in Kyoto, Japan; and theInternational Conference on Ecology& Transportation in Lake Placid, NY.

In 2003, TRB donated completesets of CDs of the TransportationResearch Record (TRR) publicationseries to the World Bank to distributeto developing areas, including Russia,Turkey, Benin, Nepal, and the EastAsia and Pacific region.

Strengthening InternationalTransportation ResourcesTRB disseminates its materials andinformation to a wide internationalaudience. The TRB e-newsletter is e-mailed weekly to more than 15,000subscribers, including 1,500 readersin 72 countries outside the UnitedStates.

Each e-newsletter includes a sec-tion on international research news.During 2004, over 130 items with linksto further information were included inthe international section.

For many years, TRB has beeninvolved in sharing bibliographic databetween the Transportation ResearchInformation System (TRIS) databaseand the newly-formed “Organisationfor Economic Cooperation and

Development/European Conference ofMinisters of Transport (OECD/ECMT)Joint Transport Research Centre.”OECD serves as the Secretariat forthe International TransportationResearch Documentation (ITRD) serv-ice, publishing transportation researchin four languages.

Between 15 and 20 percent of theusers of TRIS Online come from out-side the United States. The Researchin Progress (RIP) database has about7,750 records of ongoing or recentlycompleted research, accessed bymore than 1,000 international usersmonthly.

Future PlansIn speaking of next steps, ChairMeyer noted, “We have a full agendaof future efforts under consideration.We will recommend initiatives in justabout every aspect of TRB opera-tions.”

One initiative the committee is con-sidering is surveying countries toidentify their top transportation needsand sharing those needs with theinternational community. In addition,possible seminars and symposiumsinvolving young transportationresearchers from around the world arebeing considered.

Another initiative includes exploringan international shared-knowledgenetwork on transportation research,working with the World Bank and oth-ers to create a bridging network totransmit information to developingcountries.

“We will also attempt to identifyinternational ‘champions’ and leaderswith an interest in specific TRB objec-tives,” said Meyer. “We want to moreeffectively use the TRB e-newsletterto solicit international cooperationand participation in TRB activities.We think this may lead to even moresessions at the annual meeting andgreater involvement in committeework.”

“The growth in international activi-

ties in TRB will continue,” noted MarkNorman, director of the TechnicalActivities Division at TRB. “The trans-portation world really has few borders, ideas flow rather freely, andTRB is an excellent vehicle for peerexchange and for fostering coopera-tion.”

For more information on TRB’s inter-national activities, please contactMark Norman at [email protected]

T r a n S c a n • 3


Continued on page 4

Abbreviation Key:

AASHTO American Associationof State Highway andTransportation Officials

DOT Department ofTransportation

ECMT European Conferenceof Ministers ofTransport

FHWA Federal Highway Administration

IRF International RoadFederation

NCHRP National CooperativeHighway ResearchProgram

OECD Organisation forEconomic Cooperationand Development

PIARC World Road Association

TRB TransportationResearch Board

TRR TransportationResearch Record

Acritical factor in improvinghighway safety is determininghow drivers will react to road-way designs. “Evaluating the

human factors issues associated withthe operation and design of roadwaysis one of the key research needs wehave identified over the past fewyears,” says Michael Trentacoste,director of FHWA’s Office of SafetyResearch and Development and co-chair of an international scanning teamthat studied that topic.

In June 2004, Trentacoste and eighttransportation industry colleagues trav-eled to Denmark, Finland, France, TheNetherlands, Norway, and Sweden toinvestigate how these countries incor-porate human factors and behavioralsafety issues into highway research,design, and operations.

The findings of this mission providevaluable information to the UnitedStates in helping to achieve a goal setby FHWA and AASHTO to reducehighway fatalities from 1.5 per 100 mil-lion vehicle-miles traveled to 1.0 by

2008.“We have an epidemic in highway

fatalities,” says Kevin Keith, scan Co-chair and Chief Engineer of theMissouri DOT. “The situation can beimproved greatly, but we have to makeit a priority.”

Encouraging Good BehaviorThe scanning team’s goal was to learnhow leading European countries plan,develop, and conduct human factorsresearch on roadway design, and howdesign and traffic engineers put theresults into practice.

The team observed a number of bestpractices, but focused on several itbelieves could enhance the safety andmobility of highway operations in theUnited States, including self-organizingroads, speed management, the use ofdriving simulators in roadway design,and top-down leadership on safetyissues.

One concept that particularlyimpressed the team was the self-

Roadway Human Factors andBehavioral Safety:Designing Roads with Drivers in Mind

This 2+1 roadway in Sweden features an alternating passing lane with a cable barrier toencourage drivers to pass safely.



organizing road, which incorporatesgeometric features that encourage driv-ers to automatically select the appropri-ate speed and driving behavior withoutdepending on road signs.

In Finland and Sweden, the teamviewed “2+1” roadways, designed asthree-lane roads with an alternatingpassing lane. The design includes acable guardrail to assure that driverspass only when the passing lane is ontheir side.

The team observed drivers on astretch of 2+1 roadway in Sweden, not-ing that drivers approaching the end ofa passing lane did not speed up toovertake slower vehicles because theyknew another passing opportunitywould come up shortly.

“With this design, drivers have anexpectation that they will be able topass slower-mover vehicles when it’stheir turn, so they don’t have to pass ina less advantageous way,” saysTrentacoste.

In addition to enhancing safety, the2+1 roadway design provides a lesscostly alternative to obtaining right-of-way for and constructing a four-lanedesign.

Managing SpeedTeam members were also impressed byspeed management techniques used inEurope and the public’s acceptance ofthem.

Agencies in France, The Netherlands,and Sweden have found cameras to bean effective speed management tool. InFrance, installation of 100 speed cam-eras contributed to a 20% reduction infatalities.

In The Netherlands, cameras takephotos of vehicles entering and exitingthe roadway and computers calculatethe travel time to determine if themotorist was speeding. The informationis forwarded to a processing center,which mails speed infraction noticesthe next day.

“We know speed cameras can save

Roadway Human Factorscontinued from page 3

In Europe, designers use driving simulators to test road and tunnel designs before they areconstructed.

AROUND THE WORLD

January 9-13, 2005Transportation Research Board84th Annual MeetingWashington, DCwww.trb.org/meeting/

February 8-9, 2005 Road Safety & Traffic Management2005Intercontinental HotelCairo, Egyptwww.trafficegypt.com/en/index.asp

March 22–23, 2005Austrailian Roads Summit 2005Brisbane, Australiahttp://www.acevents.com.au/roads2005/

June 14-18, 200515th International Road Federation(IRF) World Meeting/ExhibitionBangkok, Thailandwww.irf2005.com

March 27–30, 2006XII International Winter RoadCongressTorino–Sestriere (Italia)www.aipcr2006.it

June 29 – July 23rd International Symposium onHighway Geometrics DesignChicago, IllinoisContact Ray Krammes, [email protected]

July 16-19, 2006Third International Conference onBridge Maintenance, Safety, andManagementPorto, Portugal Contact Frank Lisle, [email protected]

September 16-22, 2007PIARC World CongressParis, France http://www.piarc.org

For copies of all international scan reports, visit http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/ and click on publications.

has a zero fatality goal, a National RoadSafety Advisory Group that includesmembers from various governmentagencies that advise the TransportationMinister.

“When top leaders make safety a pri-ority for the country, not just the roadadministration, it has a significantimpact,” says Keith.

The team also saw several examplesof cooperation among diverse groupsinvolved in improving highway safety.They included Finland’s multidiscipli-nary teams of police officers, engi-neers, medical professionals, andresearch psychologists that investigatefatal crashes and recommend safetyimprovements.

There is also significant coordinationamong countries on highway safetyresearch, such as the European Union’sproject on human-centered roadwaydesign research, known as “HUMAN-IST.”

U.S. Plans

The team’s plans for implementing itsfindings from the scanning studyinclude convening a national sympo-sium this spring on speed managementtechniques, including self-organizingroads and the use of speed cameras.

The team is working to identify sever-al states willing to pursue design andimplementation of a 2+1 roadway. TheMissouri DOT is one agency with plansto try it.

“We’re looking for a spot where wecan build one and monitor the reactionof drivers to see if it’s workable,” saysKeith.

The team also plans to make road-way designers aware of the benefits ofusing driving simulators to solve designquestions and find agencies interestedin working together to demonstrate theuse of simulators on design projects.

Another initiative involves sharing theEuropean models of top-down leader-ship commitment to fatality reductionand improved roadway safety with keyU.S. leaders. The team’s plan is to pro-vide federal and state leaders with criti-cal facts and information that will moti-vate a similar leadership commitment inthis country.



Michael F. TrentacosteFHWA, Co-Chair

Kevin KeithMissouri DOT, Co-Chair

Dr. Leanna DepueCentral Missouri State UniversityMissouri Safety Center

Dr. Thomas M. GrandaFHWA

Ernest D. L. HuckabyFHWA

Bruce A. IbarguenMaine DOT

Dr. Barry H. KantowitzUniversity of Michigan TransportationResearch Institute, Report Facilitator

Wesley S. C. LumCalifornia DOT

Terecia W. WilsonSouth Carolina DOT

Roadway Human FactorsScan Team

lives, but we struggle to implementthem here in the United States,” saysKeith. “We saw the concept in action inEurope. When you use automatedenforcement of speed, people driveslower. And when people drive slower,you have fewer fatalities.”

The challenge, Keith adds, is deter-mining how to adapt safety solutionssuch as speed cameras to the UnitedStates environment. “We don’t have theanswers yet,” he says.

The team learned that driving simula-tors are used in Europe to assist inroadway design on the premise that it’scheaper to reject a design element in asimulator than to rebuild a road to fixdesign problems.

“Most driving simulation in the U.S. isoriented toward vehicle aspects ratherthan roadway aspects,” saysTrentacoste. “We saw how roadwaydesigns were improved when thedesigner got into the simulator andactually drove the road.”

A driving simulator was used to testdesigns for Norway’s Laerdal Tunnel,the world’s longest tunnel at 24.5 km.Results of simulator tests on lightingmodels showed that strategies usingblue, yellow, and green lights increaseddriver safety and comfort, whilechanges in lighting every 2 km reduceddriver anxiety.

Top-Down LeadershipThe countries the team visited havemade improving roadway safety andreducing fatalities a goal at the highestlevels of government. In France, forexample, road safety was a campaignissue in the national elections, andPresident Jacques Chirac designated ita national priority.

The Swedish Parliament passed a“Vision Zero” act specifying that thecountry’s long-term traffic safety goal isto achieve zero traffic fatalities, by pro-viding clear direction to researchersand agencies responsible for highwaydesign and operation.

The Netherlands adopted a sustain-able safety vision to reduce highwayfatalities that has resulted in new road-way design principles. In Finland, which

Growth OpportunityMeanwhile, Keith encourages othertransportation professionals to considervolunteering in future scanning studies.

“I had never considered going on ascan,” says Keith. “When I was asked,my first reaction was that I didn’t havetime.” But talking to others who hadparticipated in scans convinced him togo. He’s glad he did because of theopportunities for growth and informa-tion exchange it provided.

“It’s well worth the effort,” he says. “Iencourage anyone to take advantage ofthis opportunity.”

For more information on the humanfactors scan, contact Keith at (573)751–3692 or [email protected], or Trentacoste at (202) 493–3260 or [email protected]. Z



Measuring SafetyPerformanceIn all, the team noted 23 observationson performance measurement that itbelieves are of interest to the U.S.transportation community. Whatimpressed the team most was the useof performance measures to influencegovernmental policy and budget deter-minations in the roadway safety area.

“All of us agreed that the most signif-icant observation we made was onroad safety performance measure-ment,” says Yew.

The team learned that highway agen-cies in the countries it visited use aprogression of steps to develop safetyprograms. Steps include conductingresearch to determine what’s causingproblems, benchmarking with otherjurisdictions, setting targets for

improvement, identifying strategies toachieve the targets, monitoring theeffects of the strategies, and feedingthe results into future planning efforts.

In the Australian state of Victoria, forexample, use of this comprehensiveprocess to develop and monitor safetyactions has resulted in a dramatic dropin annual roadway fatalities from morethan 1,000 in the early 1970s to lessthan 400 today.

“When you look at the data, you cansee that every time they intercept withsome kind of strategy, such as a seat-belt law or speed enforcement, they geta significant drop in fatalities,” Yewsays.

Over the years, Australian transporta-tion officials have used a variety ofenforcement, engineering, and educa-tion strategies to reduce fatalities, andcoordinated with other organizations,such as law enforcement, on joint safe-ty targets.

“The reason this topic was particular-ly important to me was that we were inthe process of developing our firststatewide comprehensive highwaysafety plan in Minnesota,” saysHalvorson. “I came back more

In 2004, a trans-continental visityielded a world of information onhow other countries use perform-ance measurement to get the most

out of their available transportationfunding. Connie Yew, co-chair of theU.S. scan team and highway engineerin the FHWA’s Office of CorporateManagement commented, “Our mainfocus was to learn about the use oftransportation system performancemeasures to improve investment deci-sion making.” A trend toward greaterpublic accountability has led many U.S.highway agencies to adopt perform-ance measures—indicators that provideofficials with a sense of whether theirdecisions are improving transportationsystem performance.

“There’s a keen interest in manystates, Minnesota included, in theapplication of performance measures indecisonmaking,” says RandyHalvorson, scan team member andDirector of the Minnesota DOT’sProgram Management Division. “WhenI got the call to be a member of thescan team, I jumped at the chance.”

As a result of its journey to Canada,Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, theteam discovered that the impetus forother countries to adopt performancemeasures was similar to that in theUnited States. “In every country we vis-ited, the main reason for doing per-formance management is to havegreater accountability and visibility tothe public,” says Yew.

The team found, though, that thecountries use performance measures inthe process of making planning andinvestment decisions to a greaterextent than is typical in the UnitedStates.

Transportation PerformanceMeasures: Improving Investment Decisions

Transportation officials in Victoria, Australia, monitor the effectiveness of roadway safetystrategies in reducing fatalities.Credit: VicRoads

Victoria’s Road Toll 1970-2003

ous about safety, you need to mixbehavioral and infrastructure strategieslike they do in Australia.”

Common FrameworkAnother key observation the teammade was the importance of a com-mon framework for performance meas-urement. In the countries the team vis-ited, performance measurement effortsare related to a broader set of goalsdefined by a legislative body or publicvisioning process.

These goals lead to identification oftransportation system-specific perform-ance measures that often are tied totarget values to be achieved in thefuture. Strategies and investmentactions are chosen on their effective-ness in achieving desired performanceoutcomes, as well as on political con-siderations.

“A performance measure by itself isworthless unless it is connected on thefront end to strategic outcomes and onthe back end to investment decisions,”Halvorson says.

The team also learned how agenciesuse performance measurement to edu-cate elected decisionmakers and thepublic on transportation issues, aprocess that Halvorson has seen workin Minnesota.



Continued on page 8

When the Minnesota DOT exceededa snow- and ice-removal target knownas “Return to Bare Pavement,” it hadthe performance measurement data toshow the public why it was reducing itssnow- and ice-control budget.

“When you use performance meas-ures, it can change the nature of thepublic discussion and debate,”Halvorson says.

Leadership CommitmentThe team observed that in countrieswhere performance management wasmost successfully institutionalized with-in transportation agency operations,top management was committed to theprocess.

“Top management commitment isessential to getting performance meas-urement past its infancy and keeping itgoing over time,” says Yew.

All of the countries visited use per-formance measures commonly used inthe United States, such as road net-work congestion, safety, mobility, traveltime, and trip reliability. Environmentalmeasures also are common, but thescan team noted that agencies findthem the most challenging to relate totransportation system performance.

One surprising observation for theteam was the lack of measures in other

countries linked to transportation sys-tem security, although transportationofficials in Queensland and New SouthWales said they were consideringincorporating security indicators intoperformance management in the future.

“What we discovered is that securityis basically an American issue,” saysHalvorson. “They have no security-related performance measures in othercountries, so we’re on our own here.”

Lessons for the United StatesThe scanning team lists the followingamong its top lessons learned from thescanning study:

• Safety is viewed as a strategic useof performance measurement that hasresulted in a significant decline in fatali-ties.

• Meaningful performance measure-ment is a product of extensive out-reach, discussion, and collaborationwith partners.

• Performance measurement is mostrelevant when linked to decisionmak-ing, especially resource allocation.

• Before-and-after studies should bepart of performance management. “Inalmost all of the countries we visited,once they implemented a strategy, theywent back and studied its effect todetermine whether they achieved theirgoal,” says Yew.

• Performance management is anevolving area of opportunity, andalthough the U.S. transportation indus-try is advanced in many areas of per-formance measurement, it still hasmuch to learn.

“There’s still an attitude in our coun-try that if we didn’t invent it here, itcan’t be any good,” Halvorson says.“But there’s so much we can learn in alot of different areas from what othercountries are doing. That’s why I findinternational scans so valuable.”

Scan BenefitsThe team developed recommendationson activities to enable the U.S. trans-portation community to benefit fromwhat it learned during the scan. The countries the scanning team visited compared their safety performance measures with

those in other jurisdictions, and researched the reasons for any significant differences.Credit: VicRoads



They include developing and dissem-inating a document on how Australiantransportation and safety agencies useperformance measures to implementroadway safety programs. The goal ofthe report is to help the U.S. trans-portation industry and safety leadershipexplain to the public and elected offi-cials the effectiveness of enforcementtactics on driver behavior.

Other strategies call for initiating adata exchange and warehousing con-sortium for benchmarking performanceamong participating states, conductingresearch on the monetary value ofinvesting in different performancemeasure categories, and developing atraining course on performance meas-urement for transportation profession-als.

For more information on the scan,contact the co-chairs: DouglasMcDonald, (360) 705–7054, [email protected]; and ConnieYew, (202) 366–1078,[email protected]. gov. Z

Transportation Performance Measurescontinued from page 7

Douglas McDonaldWashington State DOT, Co-Chair

Connie P. YewFHWA, Co-Chair

Robert ArnoldFHWA

John R. BaxterFHWA

Randall K. HalvorsonMinnesota DOT

Dr. Anthony R. KaneAASHTO

Hal KassoffParsons Brinckerhoff

Dr. Michael MeyerGeorgia Institute of Technology, Report Facilitator

Ken PhilmusPort Authority of New York and New Jersey

Dr. T. Jeffrey PriceVirginia DOT

Douglas R. RoseMaryland State HighwayAdministration

Dr. C. Michael WaltonUniversity of Texas at Austin

William R. WhiteFHWA

Transportation Performance Measures Scan Team

BRIDGE PREFAB SCAN

TECHNOLOGY HELPS FLDOTBEAT HURRICANE IVAN

From William Nickas, FLDOT:

“Yes, Hurricane Ivan did a real jobon Florida, including a downedsection of I-10. We just used theself-propelled modular trans-porters (SPMT) technology to liftand shift and then to lift andbarge to a crane that lifted a 265ton span over a downed sectionof I-10. As a result of the scan, Iknew how and what was neededto get the job done. Also it wasscan team member Harry Capers'invitation to NJDOT that intro-duced me to the firm that provid-ed the SPMT!!”

For more on the Bridge PrefabScan, see TranScan Number 8,Fall 2004 or visit FHWA’s Web sitewww.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/pre-fab/pbesscan.htm

ImplementingScan FindingsIntelligently

“Europeans have over adecade of experience inintelligent compactionfor soils and asphalt.

Once our scan team saw it, we knewwe wanted it in the United States. Itwas a matter of making our case withthe DOTs and industry. And this forumis a great start in doing just that,” saidChris Dumas of the FHWA at the recentIntelligent Compaction (IC) StrategicForum.

Dumas co-chaired the Bridge andEmbankment scan that visited severalcountries in Europe in search of waysto improve bridge and soils construc-tion practices. The scan team identifiedintelligent compaction as one of theleading technologies for implementa-tion in the United States.

This led to the IC Strategic Forum atthe National Center for AsphaltTechnology (NCAT) at AuburnUniversity on December 14-15, 2004.More than 40 U.S. engineers, contrac-tors, and roller manufacturers, including11 representatives from state DOTs,met to discuss the emerging technolo-gy for both soils and asphalt. Theforum featured two demonstrations ofthe equipment being used on AlabamaDOT projects.

The United States is really startingfrom scratch in developing a market forIC, Bob Horan, forum coordinator forthe FHWA, told forum attendees. “Weneed to get equipment to the UnitedStates, build demonstration sites, haveroundtable discussions on the technol-ogy, and develop a comprehensiveevaluation plan.”

Defining ICWhat is intelligent compaction? Whilethe definition is still evolving, it’s theroller, not the operator, that collects andprocesses rolling operation data,makes decisions from this data, adjuststhe energy input accordingly, and

“I have done approximately 10 U.S.demonstrations of IC for soils,” he said.“And this forum was by far the bestway to show the equipment’s capabili-ties. It was a great opportunity to meetso many knowledgeable people in the



records the results. The operator’s job? To roll the correct

pattern and look at the screen to see ifcompaction has been obtained.

IC basically adapts a vibratory rollerby automatically controlling the energyof a roller’s drum. Each roller manufac-turer’s system is slightly different, butthey all react to changes in the stiffnessof the soil and the asphalt.

After the IC Strategic Forum’s open-ing remarks, attendees went into thefield to witness real-world applications.The first demonstration was by theAmmann Group's single drum rollerwith ACE (Ammann CompactionExpert) for soils/aggregate base com-paction. The second was Bomag'standem drum roller with AsphaltManager for asphalt compaction.

“I was impressed with the ease ofoperation and the screen the operatoruses to determine the compactioneffort,” said Larry Michael, MarylandState Highway Administration’s hot mixasphalt team leader. “I think it would berelatively easy to implement. I wouldreally like a roller in Maryland for nextsummer’s work.”

After the demonstrations, attendeesheard detailed presentations fromBomag and Ammann, along withDynapac, Sakai, and Caterpillar. All arein the process of introducing someform of IC to American engineers andcontractors.

Technology BenefitsIn addition to recording the rolling oper-ation, the new technology offers con-tractors and DOTs ease in training newoperators, adjusting to new asphaltmixes, and shortening the time neededto compact soils and asphalt.

“There is no doubt that the imple-mentation of intelligent compaction willhelp to improve the overall compactionand construction process,” said ChrisConnolly, Bomag Americas. “Providingdocumentation to contractors as proofthat they have successfully constructedtheir lift of material is invaluable.”

Is the technology difficult to workwith? “Equipment manufacturers areprepared to help the contractor to

implement this technology,” saidConnolly. “The benefits empower thecontractor to reach higher qualitygoals.”

Was the forum a success? Yes, saidRoland Angeregg, Ammann Group,who conducted the soils demonstrationeffort. Continued on page 10

The Amman Compaction Expert (ACE) for intelligent soil compaction.

The roller operator’s console with O.K. zone clearly marked.



field of compaction, especially intelli-gent compaction. We look forward toadvancing this technology and realizingthe many benefits of IC. It is encourag-ing to see the various agencies comingtogether in search of a common goal.”

Future PlansThe future looks positive for bringingEuropean technology to the UnitedStates. And the timing is just right withthe introduction of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide thatfocuses on stiffness requirements forpavement sections.

“We spent a lot of time on Superpavemixes over the last 15 years,” notedJohn D’Angelo of FHWA. “We reallyneed to focus our future efforts onimproving the construction operations.IC is really promising and we look tohelp it evolve.”

To help the effort to introduce andstudy IC technology in the UnitedStates, FHWA and state DOTs mayform an Intelligent CompactionTechnical Working Group (TWG).

The TWG would be made up ofmembers from all aspects of the U.S.highway industry, including equipmentmanufacturers, contractors, materialssuppliers, and state and FHWA person-nel. The TWG concept has been usedsuccessfully in the past to help imple-ment other concepts, includingSuperpave.

Forum attendees agreed to runorganized field evaluations of IC tech-nology next summer, possibly througha pooled fund program.

DOT representatives from NorthCarolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, andLouisiana would like to cooperate onprojects that build full embankmentsand pavement sections. NCAT is devel-oping a work plan for the FHWA thatwill assess the use of IC on thin hot mixoverlays which uses over 70% of thehot mix production in the country.

Equipment AvailabilityThe major hurdle is equipment avail-ability. All of the manufacturers pledgemore equipment availability in summer2005 for DOT and contractor evalua-tions.

“From Caterpillar’s viewpoint, it’sreally a chicken and egg issue,” notedPaul Corcoran. “We develop the prod-ucts, but will the customer buy it? Andthe customer says they will buy it—ifyou make it. This meeting clearly willhelp us in our decision to bring equip-ment to market.”

Another trip to Europe is in the worksas well. The International TechnologyScanning Program sponsored byFHWA, AASHTO, and TRB/NCHRP haspartially funded a return trip to obtainmore detailed information from govern-ment agencies and to visit the rollermanufacturers’ testing facilities.

“You know there are no limits to whatwe can learn from around the world,”said Jay Winford, a Louisiana road andbridge contractor. “This is really theway to identify and move technology. Ihave never been on a scan, but I canreally see the benefits. How can I signup?”

For more information on the forum

and copies of the presentations, contact Bob Horan of Salut, Inc., at [email protected]. Z

Bomag Asphalt Manager for hot mix intelligent compaction.

Implementing Scan Findings Intelligentlycontinued from page 9

SCAN BENEFIT SNAPSHOT

Soil Nailing

Soil nailing involves strengthen-ing an excavated slope byinstalling closely spaced steelbars in the slope as construc-tion proceeds from the topdown. This process creates asoil mass stable enough toretain the ground behind itsafely and keep it from collaps-ing. It allows construction ofsteeper walls in smaller areas,saving right-of-way procure-ment and construction costs aswell as time. More than 500soil nail walls have been com-pleted in the United States withan estimated $100 million sav-ings in construction costsalone.



engineering disciplines.This relationship is reflected by the

safety performance functions calibratedfor various classes of roads. A safetyperformance function should provide arealistic estimate of expected accidentfrequency per unit of traffic exposureover a unit of time for various types oftransportation facilities.

Development of such estimates is acritical component in the explicit con-sideration of safety in highway planningand design. Indeed, if expectations arenot clearly defined or well understood,then the question becomes: how is itpossible to identify a deviation from thenorm and then do something about it?

Kononov and Allery introduced theconcept of level of service of safety(LOSS) in the framework of safety per-formance function and addressed theissue of problem diagnostics. LOSSreflects how the roadway segment isperforming in regard to its expectedaccident frequency at a specific level oftraffic volume. The nature of the prob-lem, if it is present, is determinedthrough diagnostic examination usingdirect diagnostics and pattern recogni-tion techniques.

Traffic safety of roundabouts is ofgreat interest, as this design configura-tion becomes more and more popularin the United States. Grana and Giuffreidentified possible correlations betweencrash rates and specific design charac-teristics of roundabouts based on theanalysis of 34 roundabouts.

“Participation in this conferenceallowed me to learn about state-of-theart developments in highway design,accident analysis, and traffic engineer-ing from other professionals fromaround the world,” Kononov stated.“Our work at Colorado DOT allows meto apply the latest methodologies inengineering of safety to numerous proj-ects currently in various stages of plan-ning and design.”

Full conference proceedings areavailable at www.siiv2004.unifi.it. Formore information, contact JakeKononov, Colorado DOT, 303-757-9937, [email protected]

Interaction between horizontal andvertical alignments is largely addressedby AASHTO through qualitative guid-ance. However, a paper by Roos andZimmermann offered a methodology toanalyze this interaction quantitatively byfocusing on changes in sight distance,partial road disappearance from view,sight distortion, sight quality, and thesight on changes in curvature.

These parameters, calculated fromperspective image data by means ofsoftware, are represented by thelength-reference diagram. Thismethodology is expected to assistpracticing engineers in the evaluation ofspatial aspects of alignments in thedesign process.

Road SafetySafety on horizontal curves is influ-enced by the approach speeds.Stamataidis and Vest presented signingand striping strategy intended toreduce approach speed. Their resultsindicate that the most promising treat-ments in reducing operating speeds areflashing lights and transverse lines.These treatments typically showedspeed reductions ranging from 5% to10%.

An analysis of the over the 85th per-centile speeds for these treatmentsshowed also significant reductionsranging from 12% to 18%. This indi-cates that there was a greater impactfor the higher operating speeds, whichcould be considered more importantthan the smaller overall reductionsnoted.

Transportation engineers have dealtsuccessfully over the years with thequestion of highway capacity.However, the relationships among traf-fic volume, physical characteristics ofroads, and safety is not well under-stood or known, at least not with thekind of precision customary in other

Note: Under NCHRP Project 20-36,staff members of state DOTs are pro-vided financial support to participate ininternational activities. This report wasdeveloped by Colorado DOT’s JakeKononov.

Organized by the Italian Societyof Highway Infrastructure(SIIV), the InternationalConference on New

Methodologies and Modeling Tools forRoads was held in Florence, Italy, inOctober 2004. The intent of the confer-ence was to examine new strategiesand analytical tools for the design andmanagement of transportation facilitieson regional, state, and national levels.

The conference focused on managingroads and traffic, safety restraint sys-tem, pavements, safety analysis, simu-lation tools, tire-pavement interaction,and road safety intervention. Some ofthe findings in the areas of road safety,traffic operations, and highway designmay be relevant to the U.S. designpractice as well as research efforts.

Highway Design StandardsEvaluation of design consistency in theUnited States is generally less institu-tionalized at state DOT levels than inEurope. The Italian Road DesignStandard requires an evaluation ofdesign consistency through the evalua-tion of a design speed profile.

To address the discrepancy betweenthe design speed and operating speed,an operating speed prediction modelfor two-lane rural roads was developedby Crisman et al. The model effectivelyestimates operating speeds on curvesand tangents as a function of the geo-metric characteristics of highway align-ments. The model is used in Europewith good results to evaluate designconsistency of existing and proposedhighways.

International Conference on NewMethodologies and Modeling Toolsfor Roads



TranScan (ISSN 1095-5593), pub-lished periodically by theTransportation Research Board,reports news and information result-ing from National CooperativeHighway Research Program Project20-36, Highway Research andTechnology—International InformationSharing. This publication is also avail-able through the Internet(www.nas.edu/trb). The TransportationResearch Board is a unit of theNational Research Council, a private,nonprofit institution that is the princi-pal operating agency of the NationalAcademy of Sciences and theNational Academy of Engineering.Under a congressional charter grant-ed to the National Academy ofSciences, the National ResearchCouncil provides scientific and tech-nical advice to the government, thepublic, and the scientific and engi-neering communities.

Editor: Ted Ferragut (703) 836-1671e-mail:[email protected]

Staff: Donna FerragutEllen SchweppeRicci Communications

Send comments, questions, andaddress changes to:

Martine MicozziNCHRP Senior ProgramOfficerTransportation ResearchBoard500 Fifth St. NWWashington, DC 20001e-mail: [email protected]

Notice: The opinions expressed inarticles appearing in TranScan do notnecessarily reflect the views of theTransportation Research Board. TheTransportation Research Board andTranScan do not endorse products ormanufacturers. Trade and manufac-turers’ names appear in an articleonly because they are consideredessential to the object of the article.

TranScan

CALL FOR SCAN PROPOSALS—2006-2007 CYCLE — SECOND CALL!!

FHWA and AASHTO are accepting scan topic proposals for the Fiscal Year2006-2007 cycle of the Joint AASHTO/FHWA International TechnologyScanning Program, cosponsored by NCHRP.

How to Submit Ideas

FHWA. Scan topic proposals may be submitted by FHWA program officesand Resource Centers with appropriate endorsements from the variousprogram officers and associate administrators. Cross-cutting scans shouldbe endorsed by all appropriate offices. Contact Hana Maier, FHWA’s Officeof International Programs, at (202) 366–0111 or [email protected] more information.

AASHTO. Scan topic proposals may be submitted by any AASHTO com-mittee or subcommittee dealing with road transportation with appropriateendorsements by the relevant committee or subcommittee chairman.Again, cross-cutting scan should be endorsed by all appropriate offices.Contact Ken Kobersky at (202) 624-5254 or [email protected] for moreinformation.

NCHRP Project Panel 20-36. Other non-AASHTO or FHWA scan topicproposals (such as those from transportation industry associations or aca-demia) may be submitted to NCHRP Project Panel 20-36. Project Panel20-36 will evaluate such proposals and forward promising ones to the rele-vant AASHTO committee for consideration in making scan proposals.Contact Martine Micozzi, NCHRP Senior Program Officer, at (202)334–3972 or [email protected].

Due Date:The deadline for submitting scan proposals is March 15, 2005.

We encourage your comments on the

technologies discussed in thisissue of TranScan. Please

send them to:

Martine MicozziNCHRP Senior

Program OfficerTransportation Research

Board500 Fifth St. NW

Washington, DC 20001

e-mail: [email protected]

SCAN FACTOIDS

Did you know?

• More than 750 public- and private-sector professionals havebeen involved in 65 scans since1991 and have visited nearly 30countries.

• Six federal agencies, 43 DOTsand 35 associations have sent representatives.

• The most visited country isGermany, followed by the UnitedKingdom and The Netherlands.

trb renews commitment to worldwide involvement · trb renews commitment to worldwide involvement t...

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