October 2009 – Vol. 3, No. 4 Partnering for Roadway Innovation

TERRA E-News is a quarterly electronic newsletter of the Transportation Engineering and Road Research Alliance. TERRA E-News brings you the latest research on pavement, materials, and related transportation engineering challenges, including issues related to cold climates.

Member News

Member Profile: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) joined TERRA in March through a pooled fund established in January to provide more state DOTs the opportunity to become a member of the alliance. Rory Rhinesmith, deputy administrator with the Division of Transportation System Development, and Steven Krebs, chief materials management engineer with the Materials Management Section, represent WisDOT on the TERRA Board.

Formed in 1967 from a merger of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Highway Commission, State Patrol, and Aeronautics commission, WisDOT is responsible for planning, building, and maintaining Wisconsin's 11,800 center-lane miles of highway system. WisDOT also provides financial and planning support for local roads and streets and other transportation services, including water, air, rail, transit, and bike/pedestrian transportation systems.

In 1998, WisDOT collaborated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to establish the Wisconsin Highway Research Program (WHRP) to find better ways to design, build and reconstruct the state's highways. WHRP research projects are selected and overseen by collaborative committees that include WisDOT, academia, industry, consulting engineers, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The UW-Madison Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering administers WHRP.

WisDOT, which has no road research facility of its own, hopes to make the most effective use of its funding through collaboration with other organizations on common research needs. According to Krebs, WisDOT became involved with TERRA to facilitate communication with industry and neighboring states. WisDOT views TERRA as an excellent way to share information, research, and solutions about common problems with other states. For example, WisDOT is participating in TERRA pooled-fund projects at the MnROAD research facility to study low-temperature cracking in asphalt pavements (TPF-5(132)) and recycled unbound pavement materials (TPF-5(129)). Krebs also cited the new Wisconsin practice of using shingles in hot-mix asphalt as another example of WisDOT benefiting from research elsewhere.

One benefit of collaborating on research projects through TERRA is to avoid duplicating efforts. "We thought there'd be a benefit to working on a regional basis on some of these emerging issues or needs that come to the state DOTs," Krebs said.

WisDOT is especially focused on pavement performance, in particular the use of warranties to increase the quality of pavement provided by contractors. The department is also interested in developing best practices to streamline interactions between the public and private sectors and deliver the greatest quality product at the lowest cost to taxpayers.

Looking forward, Krebs hopes TERRA eventually will attract money for the program to fund collaborative research projects of benefit to members. But for WisDOT, the most important benefit of TERRA membership is the opportunity to share in a greater pool of experience and knowledge.

"Hopefully, together we can all make one another better," Krebs concluded. "I'm encouraged just by the number of people that continue to join because that says they're seeing the same value we see."

Member Highlights

Four short video clips showing the innovative use of pervious concrete in Shoreview, Minnesota, are available on YouTube.com. The project, also featured in multiple media reports (see news item in the August issue of TERRA E-News) and posted on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, was undertaken to prevent runoff and eliminate the need for storm sewers. Shoreview Public Works Director Mark Maloney, chair of the TERRA Research and Implementation Committee, posted the clips in July and September. One clip demonstrates the speed with which water infiltrates the pervious pavement as a full water tanker truck (1,000 gallons) is emptied within a span of 20 seconds and almost immediately disappears. The three other videos show the equipment and technique used to saturate and place the curing blanket on the freshly placed and rolled pervious concrete pavement.

The Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota is celebrating its centennial this month. The department holds one of two University of Minnesota seats on the TERRA board. In addition, the University has been a key partner in the development of MnROAD and is home to many of the researchers using the facility. Several University civil engineering faculty and researchers, as well as graduate students under their direction, use MnROAD in their research, which includes significant contributions to TERRA pooled-fund projects in progress.

The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) are collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to create the Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH), a research center established at MIT to address the sustainability and environmental implications of the use of concrete. Concrete is the most widely used building material on the planet, but the production of some of its component materials accounts for up to 5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions annually. CSH, established with the goal of accelerating emerging breakthroughs in concrete science and engineering and transferring that science into practice, will provide $10 million of sponsored research funding during the next five years.

The RMC Research & Education Foundation announced publication of the Third Edition of its popular Ready Mixed Concrete Industry LEED Reference Guide. This revised edition incorporates new LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED 2009 NC) information and provides guidance on how concrete may contribute to gaining LEED points for construction projects seeking certification in the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification system. The LEED Guide was originally published in 2005. The LEED Guide is available for download from the Foundation's Web site.

Projects and Initiatives

MnROAD Update: Construction for SHRP 2 project about new composite pavement systems scheduled

MnROAD is currently teaming with Applied Research Associates, the University of California Davis, and the University of Minnesota to build three test sections on its mainline (I-94) next spring 2010. The work is part of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) project to investigate the design and construction of new composite pavement systems. The project proposal was spearheaded by the Pavement Research Institute (PRI) at the University of Minnesota.

MnROAD will build two sections with two-lift, wet-on-wet concrete (PCC/PCC) and one section with bituminous over concrete pavement sections (HMA/PCC). Three concrete mixes will be used during this effort: a recycled concrete mix (using recycled concrete coarse aggregates from existing MnROAD test cells), a low-cost aggregate concrete mix for the lower concrete pavement layer, and a high-quality granite overlay that includes a brushed exposed aggregate surface.

The third test section will include a PG64-34 Superpave asphalt overlay surface placed over a recycled concrete mix.  The work will start after April 2010 and run for an eight-week period.

For more information, contact project engineer Mark Watson, 651-366-5596, or MnROAD operations engineer Ben Worel, 651-366-5522.

Related resources:

• Composite pavement project receives $4 million SHRP 2 award
  (TERRA E-News, October 2007)
• MnROAD research

Fly ash used to stabilize pavement foundation layer in road reconstruction

Road researchers investigating the use of fly ash, a byproduct from the combustion of coal, have developed recommendations for designing the pavement foundation of reconstructed roadways. The purpose of this study was to develop a practical method for designing local roadways using stabilized recycled pavement material (RPM) or stabilized road surface gravel (SRSG) as the pavement foundation layer and Class C fly ash as the stabilizing agent. As a stabilizing agent, fly ash improves the strength and stiffness of the recycled materials.

University of Minnesota researcher Paul Bloom and a team from the University of Wisconsin examined the use of fly ash in the reconstruction of bituminous roads to develop new design procedures for working with this material. The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) funded the research. The report is titled Use of Fly Ash for Reconstruction of Bituminous Roads (Mn/DOT 2009-27).

Recycling pavement materials saves money and time on reconstruction projects, but correct preparation and use of recycled materials is essential to achieving acceptable pavement foundation performance. Recycled base materials often contain asphalt binder, fine particles, and other materials that affect their stability and stiffness. Binders such as fly ash, cement, or other substances can give recycled materials the right properties for use in the pavement foundation layer.

The researchers' goal was to develop a practical method for designing local roadways using recycled pavement materials stabilized with Class C fly ash as a pavement foundation layer. Base course materials were tested in the laboratory, in prototype form, and by monitoring their performance in the field. The project included studying the implications of freeze-thaw cycling and long-term curing.

Because fly ash may contain heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, researchers also conducted environmental tests in the laboratory, modeled possible effects on groundwater, and monitored the field sites for groundwater contamination. Although trace elements were found to leach from recycled materials containing fly ash, the research indicated that dilution and attenuation would normally keep their levels within acceptable limits.

In a separate study, a portion of MnROAD Phase Two Initiative work includes a two-year fly ash stabilization project performed by Bloom Consultants, LLC (no connection to Paul Bloom), and sponsored by the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. Department of Energy. In that study, three MnROAD low-volume road test sections, constructed in 2007, are evaluating the physical and environmental properties of base materials stabilized with high-carbon fly ash in comparison to recycled pavement materials and crushed stone. Testing includes aggregate characterization, construction, field testing, and long-term monitoring of the test cells.

Finally, the Research Services Section at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) is creating a summary expected within a few months about the use of fly ash in Minnesota road foundations as a reference and training tool. In addition, Mn/DOT State Aid For Local Transportation office has developed a screening tool to help provide environmental due diligence when deciding to use waste materials such as fly ash in road bed stabilization or other paving projects.

Related resources:

• Use of Fly Ash for Reconstruction of Bituminous Roads (Mn/DOT 2009-27)
• Field Investigation of Highway Base Material Stabilized with High Carbon Fly Ash (MnROAD Phase Two Research Initiative project)
• Mn/DOT State Aid Fly Ash Tool (STUWMPP)
• Mn/DOT Research Services Section

Developing transportation knowledge networks

Good information is critical for effective planning and decision making by transportation practitioners. Transportation libraries at TERRA member organizations such as the departments of transportation at Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota, work behind the scenes to capture, organize, and deliver information that meets the needs of practitioners in their organizations. They also help to maintain the information infrastructure that supports decision making by transportation professionals and policymakers. The existing information infrastructure is incomplete, however, and needed information is sometimes difficult to find.

At the request of AASHTO, in 2006 the Transportation Research Board issued a policy study on how to improve information management in transportation, TRB Special Report 284: Transportation Knowledge Networks: A Management Strategy for the 21st Century. The study recommended the development of transportation knowledge networks (TKNs), building on successful models in medicine and agriculture, as well as the Midwest Transportation Knowledge Network (MTKN), a pilot TKN started by the National Transportation Library in 2001.

"A knowledge network is an alliance of organizations and people, supported by technology, sharing information resources and expertise," according to Leni Oman, director of the Office of Research and Library Services at the Washington State Department of Transportation. "The networks strengthen the capacity for sharing and applying knowledge among the member organizations and link information providers to users at any location."

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program project NCHRP 20-75 developed a business plan to build robust knowledge networks for transportation. The business plan details the structure, potential services, and resources needed to build and sustain a national network of TKNs. The project is complete and publication of the final report is pending.

With additional funding, TKNs will expand the number of resources and experts that can be tapped to answer questions, as well as develop a robust technological infrastructure for sharing information. One service envisioned by TKNs is a "one-stop shop" Web portal for transportation information, including legislation, case studies, standards, data sets and map layers, consultant studies, and contact directories. This portal would build upon current information services already provided by TRB, AASHTO, and USDOT, such as TRIS Online and the NTL's Digital Library.

The continuing development of TKNs to improve information sharing in transportation will help practitioners find information they need, when they need it—saving time and money, and getting better results for their organizations.

Related resources:

• "Libraries in a Digital Age: An Essential Resource for Research and Information" (TR News, March-April 2009)
• Transportation Knowledge Networks: A Management Strategy for the 21st Century (TRB Special Report 284)
• National Transportation Library's Networking Initiatives
• Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks (NCHRP 20-75)

Announcements

TERRA-sponsored pavement conference scheduled for Feb. 11

TERRA is sponsoring the 14th Annual Minnesota Pavement Conference, scheduled for February 11, 2010, at the University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Cosponsors include Mn/DOT, the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB), the Minnesota Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), the University of Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering, and several others.

This year's conference will highlight innovative low-volume road construction practices, environmentally sensitive road construction and maintenance techniques, and the issue of heavy traffic and loads. This one-day conference typically looks at current practices that implement new pavement research and technology, and national and local trends and innovations are examined to expand understanding of pavement challenges and solutions.

U.S. Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also has been invited to speak at the conference about infrastructure needs and priorities in new federal transportation funding legislation to succeed SAFETEA-LU, which expired this month.

The conference is intended for researchers, city engineers, county engineers, public works officials, maintenance superintendents, design engineers, consulting engineers, and others interested in pavement issues. A brochure with a registration form and instructions will be available in December. For more information about the 14th Annual Minnesota Pavement Conference, contact the College of Continuing Education, cceconf2@umn.edu, 612-624-4754, or visit the TERRA Events page.

MAPA aphalt events planned

The Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association calendar includes three events:

• MAAPT 56th Annual Asphalt Conference, December 2, 2009, at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
• Flagger Train the Trainer Course, February 12, 2010 (8 a.m. to noon), at the Mn/DOT Arden Hills Training Center
• 54th Annual Asphalt Contractors' Workshop, March 3, 2010, at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

For more information, contact MAPA at info@mnapa.org or 651-636-4666.

ATSSA 40th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo, Feb. 14-18

The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) Annual Convention and Traffic Expo is celebrating its 40th year. This year's convention, "From the Roadway of the Past To the Highway of the Future," will be held in San Antonio, Texas, from February 14-18, 2010. The 2010 convention-for traffic control, engineers, managers, and more-includes roundtable sessions designed to facilitate a peer-to-peer exchange, workshops delivered by industry experts, and nearly 100 hours of training and certification programs. The traffic expo provides an opportunity to preview safety products and services with more than 200 roadway safety suppliers. For more information and to register, visit the event Web page.

CPAM Annual Concrete Paving Workshop, Mar. 18-19

The Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota has scheduled its annual Concrete Paving Workshop for March 18-19, 2010, at Breezy Point, Minnesota.

International conference on sustainable concrete pavements, Sept. 15-17

The International Conference on Sustainable Concrete Pavements: Practices, Challenges, and Directions is scheduled for September 15-17, 2010, in Sacramento, California. The conference, organized as a part of technology transfer activities under the Advanced Concrete Pavement Technology Products Program that operates within the Federal Highway Administration, will provide an international forum to discuss the sustainable attributes of concrete pavements by presenting existing technologies, emerging research, approaches to measuring energy and environmental impact, user considerations, and international practices and experience. The forum will present improved and innovative processes for achieving sustainable concrete pavements throughout the pavement's life cycle. For more information and to register, visit the conference Web page.