March/April 2002 · Vol. 65 · No. 5

March/April 2002

ARTICLES:

“Stone-Walling” in Arkansas
by Laurin R. Lineman
The Arkansas State Highway and Department of Transportation (AHDT) invited the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to assist in the reconstruction of a portion of Forest Highway 65 between Cass and Oark. One of the goals was to “maintain the unique physical relationship of the sheer bluffs [along the Mulberry River], the natural scenery of the Mulberry Valley, and the scenic experience this provides for viewing from the river and road.” To satisfy this goals, EFLHD designed and constructed an aesthetic, natural stone retaining wall.

Arkansas Combines Best Practices for an Innovative Interstate Rehabilitation Program
by Dan Flowers and Sandra L. Otto
AHDT is rehabilitating 380 miles (612 kilometers) or 60 percent of its interstate highways in five years. The department has put together numerous best practices — in financing, project management, construction, and communications — that together create a compelling model for tackling a project of this scope.

Small Investment, Dramatic Dividends — Saving Lives in “Blood Alley”
by Dave Davis
The Oregon Department of Transportation, three northwest Oregon counties, a community traffic safety committee, and a Native American tribe worked together to improve a dangerous corridor, dubbed “Blood Alley” by local residents, and as a result, traffic fatalities along the corridor have dropped dramatically over the past three years.

National Review of the Highway Safety Improvement Program
by Kenneth Epstein, Gary Corino, and Donald Neumann
Last year, a national review was conducted of the highway improvement programs in six states. The primary purpose of this review was to document the best, unique safety practices of each state.

Weather: A Research Agenda for Surface Transportation Operations
by Gary G. Nelson and Rudy Persaud  
Weather crosscuts almost every goal, use, and operation of highways, and yet, meteorology, from a transportation perspective, is focused mostly on the flight operations. To make weather issues an important part of highway programs, people who manage highway operations must seek new techniques and intelligent transportation systems that complement the amazing system of weather-information collection, analysis, and forecasting that exists in the United States.

Highway Quality Awards
by the National Partnership for Highway Quality
The National Partnership for Highway Quality recognized 26 states for their outstanding highway projects. The award winners were selected on the basis of the following criteria: quality process and results, customer focus, teamwork, innovation and value, and long-term improvement.

FHWA Model Predicts Noise Impacts
by Cynthia Lee and Judith Rochat
The FHWA Traffic Noise Model (TNM) is a new state-of-the-art computerized model used to predict noise levels in the vicinity of highways. TNM uses advanced acoustics and computer technology to improve the accuracy and ease of modeling highway traffic noise, including the design of efficient, cost-effective highway noise barriers.

Synergy in Action: FHWA’s Transportation Pooled-Fund Program
by Brett Joseph
The Transportation Pooled-Fund Program enables various public and private entities to “pool” their resources to jointly fund research aimed at solving a wide variety of transportation-related problems. FHWA’s central role is to administer the program and to act as a broker of the funds obligated to pooled-fund projects.

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