March/April 2004
Communication Product Updates
Compiled by Zac Ellis of FHWA's Office of Research and Technology Services
Below are brief descriptions of products recently published online by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. Some of the publications also may be available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, limited copies are available from the Research and Technology (R&T) Product Distribution Center.
When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS publication number (PB number) and the publication title. You also may visit the NTIS Web site at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. Call NTIS for current prices. For customers outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the cost is usually double the listed price. Address requests to:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-605-6000
Toll-free number: 800-553-NTIS (6847)
Address requests for items available from the R&T Product Distribution Center to:
R&T Product Distribution Center, HRTS-03
Federal Highway Administration
9701 Philadelphia Court, Unit Q
Lanham, MD 20706
Telephone: 301-577-0818
Fax: 301-577-1421
For more information on research and technology publications from FHWA, visit the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center's (TFHRC) Web site at www.tfhrc.gov, FHWA's Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov, the National Transportation Library's Web site at http://ntl.bts.gov, or the OneDOT information network at http://dotlibrary.dot.gov.
Office of Research, Development, and Technology
Fiscal Year 2004/2005 Performance Plan
Publication No. FHWA-RD-03-085
The performance plan describes the research that the
FHWA Office of Research, Development, and Technology
(RD&T) will conduct and the products and services it
will provide in fiscal year (FY) 2004/2005. The document
discusses the strategic framework for research,
identifies challenges and commitments, and explains the
organization of the Office of RD&T. In addition, the plan
communicates the benefits of RD&T’s research and
technical services and outlines specific activities planned
for FY 2004/2005.
The plan is based on the RD&T mission of championing
the advancement of highway technological innovation.
It outlines RD&T’s key functions supporting FHWA’s strategic goals and performance objectives, including
highway research and development (R&D), outreach
activities, and implementation of the strategic planning
and budgeting outlined in the FHWA Corporate Master
Plan for Research and Deployment of Technology &
Innovation.
The publication includes charts listing research
projects planned for FY 2004/2005 and target completion
dates. The Office of Infrastructure R&D, which
focuses on improving the performance and reducing the
costs of highway infrastructure, plans to conduct research
on pavement design and analysis, bridge innovations
and safety, and infrastructure stewardship.
The Office of Operations R&D, which concentrates on
mitigating congestion and improving operations safety,
has proposed research in the areas of traffic control and
operations, traffic analysis tools, and human-centered
systems. The Office of Safety R&D, whose mission is to
reduce highway crashes and related fatalities and injuries,
plans research on preventing and mitigating roadway
departures, managing safety, improving intersections,
and protecting pedestrians.
The document is available online at www.tfhrc.gov/about/03085/index.htm.
Long-Term Pavement Performance Information
Management System Pavement Performance
Database User Guide
Publication No. FHWA-RD-03-088
This report provides information to help researchers
understand and use the performance database of the
Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program—a
comprehensive study of pavements to improve design,
rehabilitation, and maintenance practices.
The document contains an introduction to the
structure of the LTPP program, the relational structure of
the LTPP database, a description of the location of
various data elements, and contents of the data table.
The publication offers tips on how to obtain data and
efficient means of manipulating data for specific types of
investigations. It also provides examples of structured
query language (SQL) scripts for accessing and manipulating
LTPP data. Users can apply the SQL scripts to build
and analyze custom data sets.
To access the guide online, visit www.datapave.com/Downloads/IMS_Database_Users_Guide.pdf.
Key Findings from LTPP Analysis 2000–2003
Publication No. FHWA-HRT-04-032
This document highlights key findings from analysis
studies of the LTPP program completed between 2000
and 2003. The LTPP program, established in 1987, is a
20-year study of inservice pavements using a series of
field experiments to monitor more than 2,400 asphalt
and portland cement concrete pavement test sections
across the United States and Canada. The program’s goal
is to determine why some pavements outperform others.
About 50 projects are described in the report, including
research reports and National Cooperative Highway Research Program projects using LTPP data. The publication
includes sections on pavement site conditions,
structural features, material characterization, initial
roughness, and maintenance. It also includes a section on
local calibration of the 2002 Pavement Design Guide
(FHWA-RD-00-129).
The goal of the report is to provide information to
those participating in the LTPP program that will help
them design, build, and maintain cost-effective and longlasting
pavements. The report follows the publication in
2000 of Key Findings from LTPP Analysis 1990–1999
(FHWA-RD-00-085).
The document is available online at www.tfhrc.gov/pavement/ltpp/reports/04032/.
LTPP: Year in Review 2003
Publication No. FHWA-HRT-04-041
This report outlines the 2003
accomplishments of the LTPP
program and previews the year
ahead. In 2003, the LTPP program
continued to emphasize the
importance of collecting reliable
data to help researchers answer
how and why pavements perform
the way they do.
The LTPP program collects
most of the data, although State
agencies provide traffic and
materials data for Specific Pavement Studies (SPS) projects.
LTPP developed a two-phase, pooled fund study in 2000
to address inconsistencies and inadequacies in traffic data
supplied for SPS projects. The project is designed to
improve the quality and quantity of traffic data from the
projects. In August 2003, FHWA awarded the contract for
Phase I, which consists of assessing, evaluating, and
calibrating weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems.
FHWA plans to award the contract for Phase II—
which involves procuring, installing, and maintaining the
LTPP WIM equipment—in early 2004. Phase I traffic
evaluations were completed in a few States in 2003 and
are continuing in 2004.
FHWA achieved its goal of processing the 1999–2001
traffic data for all LTPP test sections nationwide by
December 2003. Improvements made to the LTPP traffic
quality control and analysis software helped the LTPP regions accomplish the goal. As a result, the pavement
community has access to a large quantity of new traffic
data in 2004.
The LTTP program also continued work on an action
plan to address gaps in the materials database for SPS
projects. Participating States worked to complete testing
on their SPS project materials, and they continued their
resilient modulus testing on bound and unbound materials.
New protocols were developed for the bending
beam rheometer, dynamic shear rheometer, dynamic
cone penetrometer, soil suction, and specific gravity for
unbound materials.
The document is available online at www.tfhrc.gov/pavement/ltpp/reports/04041/.
Other Articles in this issue:
Hyperfix 65/70
Coordinating Incident Response
Erosion Control with Recycled Materials
Glenwood Canyon 12 Years Later
A Tale of Two Canyons
Spotlight on the South
The AIRS Approach to Analyzing Intersection Crashes
Resource Center Goes National