featuring developments in federal highway policies, programs, and research and technology
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featuring developments in federal highway policies, programs, and research and technology |
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Recent Publicationsby Zac Ellis
Below are brief descriptions of the reports recently published by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. All the publications are available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, limited copies of the publication are available from the Research and Technology Report Center. Please Note: Contact NTIS for current pricing at www.ntis.gov or at Telephone: (703) 605-6000. When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS PB number (or publication number) and the publication title. You may also visit the NTIS Web site at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. For customers outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the cost is double the listed price. Address requests to: National Technical Information
Service Requests for items available from the R&T Report Center should be addressed to: Federal Highway Administration For more information on research and technology publications coming 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, or the OneDOT information network at http://dotlibrary.dot.gov/. Performance of CRC Pavements These reports are part of a series of reports prepared in a recent study sponsored by FHWA. The study aimed at updating the state-of-the-art of the design, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of continuously reinforced concrete (CRC) pavements. The scope of work included (1) conducting a literature review and preparing an annotated bibliography on CRC pavements and CRC overlays, (2) conducting a field investigation and laboratory testing related to 23 existing in-service pavement sections, (3) evaluating the effectiveness of various maintenance and rehabilitation strategies for CRC pavements, and (4) preparing a summary report on the current state of the practice for CRC pavements. Contact NTIS for current pricing. A Quarter Century of Geotechnical
Research This report summarizes FHWA's Geotechnical Research Program and highlights some of the more significant findings and contributions. It gives an overview of the results of three geotechnical research programs. These project or program areas are: soil and rock behavior, bridge foundations, and ground improvement techniques. The report also has a comprehensive reference list for the research categories. The publication covers topics in detail; for example, in foundation engineering, the report includes pile foundations, pile groups, drilled shafts, spread footings, and foundation load-testing. Ground-improvement efforts and the behavior of soil and rock are also described. Outputs, including guidelines and implementation items, are given for the various topics covered. Finally, the report presents an outline of future geotechnical research needs. The NTIS number is PB99-147365. Guide to Developing Performance-Related
Specifications for PCC Pavements, This guide details the development of performance-related specifications (PRS) for jointed plain concrete pavements (JPCP). Under this research project, the prototype PRS (developed previously by FHWA) was revised and expanded to make it more practical. Different implementation levels of the PRS were defined (levels 1, 2, and 3), with the simplified PRS (level 1) designed to be implemented immediately. Volume I is designed as a stand-alone document highlighting the practical output of this research. It assists the pavement owner in using the revised PRS for the acceptance of as-constructed pavement lots. All aspects of the revised prototype PRS are discussed, including PRS-related definitions; an introduction to key PRS concepts, guidelines, and recommendations used to assist the agency in making PRS-related decisions; and detailed step-by-step procedures for using the revised PRS. Appendix A in volume I contains the complete stand-alone revised PRS prototype (for both levels 1 and 2). The NTIS number is PB99-142465; the cost is $44 for a paper copy or $23 for the report on microfiche. Guide to Developing Performance-Related
Specifications for PCC Pavements, This volume documents three different methods used to demonstrate the revised PRS. In the first method, researchers conducted shadow field trials at four new construction projects. For the second method, researchers developed level 1 specifications for three typical designs used by a state highway agency (SHA). For the third demonstration method, researchers compared historical pay adjustments (which were actually paid by the SHA) to PRS-based price adjustments predicted for the same pavement lots. Each of these three methods was used to investigate how practical PRS is and how easily it could be implemented. The NTIS number is PB99-142473.. Adhesion Criteria Between
Water-Based Inorganic Zinc Coatings and Their Topcoats for Steel This report presents the results of a test program designed to investigate, in the laboratory, possible causes for failure of water-based inorganic zinc (WBIOZ) coatings. Failures observed in the field have consisted of either topcoat delamination or the appearance of "freckle rusting" in the cured WBIOZ primer. This report presents practical results of the study. It demonstrates that environmental conditions may be a contributing cause of the failures but are not the primary cause. Substrate salt contamination and improper mixing of the coating were shown to cause freckle rusting. Acrylic topcoat delamination was related to residual alkaline compounds on the primer surface. Researchers found that the surface pH was reduced by applying a dilute acid solution or by weathering for two weeks in a northeastern marine atmosphere. They concluded that additional ways of reducing the surface pH should be investigated. The NTIS number is PB99-149007; the cost is $27 for a paper copy or $12 for the report on microfiche. Guide to Developing Performance-Related
Specifications for PCC Pavements, This volume contains the supporting documentation for the research study on developing specifications for PCC pavements. Appendix C contains the complete results of the literature search, which was conducted to investigate not only variations typical in PRS-related acceptance quality characteristics (AQC), but also to investigate possible AQC-to-distress indicator relationships. Appendix D includes the research on the typical AQC variability (which includes studies conducted in both the laboratory and the field). Appendix E contains a summary of the laboratory/field studies used to investigate specific AQC-to-distress indicator relationships. Appendix E also contains detailed descriptions of each of the distress-indicator models used in the revised PaveSpec 2.0 PRS demonstration software. Appendix F presents an annotated bibliography of the literature found to be pertinent to this research project. The NTIS number is PB99-142481; the cost is $56 for a paper copy or $23 for the report on microfiche. Rehabilitation of Prestressed
Concrete Bridge Components by Non-Electrical (Conventional) Methods Researchers conducted a technology review, field surveys, and laboratory investigations to examine the corrosion of highway bridge elements made from prestressed concrete (PS/C). They also studied conventional methods used to repair these structures. Before researchers completed the field surveys, they initiated a laboratory program to evaluate the corrosion performance of repair materials for conventional concrete. Test specimens were pre-corroded (researchers applied anodic current while exposing the specimen to chloride solutions). To study conventional concrete repairs, it was necessary to remove concrete from pre-selected areas on each purposely corroded test specimen and replace the chloride-contaminated/deteriorated original concrete with repair materials. Researchers evaluated materials such as conventional portland cement concrete; latex-modified, fiber-reinforced patching mortar; and silica fume concrete containing either organic or inorganic corrosion inhibitors. For those specimens in which concrete was not removed, researchers studied the effects of sealers and coatings that were applied on the concrete surfaces to mitigate ongoing corrosion. Details of the technology review and field surveys are given in an interim report (FHWA-RD-95-041). The NTIS number is PB99-148975; the cost is $36 for a paper copy or $17 for the report on microfiche. Assessment of LTPP Friction
Data Publication
No. FHWA-RD-99-037 This report provides an assessment of the availability, characteristics, and quality of friction data collected as part of the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) study. Also, researchers assessed the availability of related pavement characteristics data. The report also contains recommendations for adjustments and refinemnts to the current procedures for collecting friction and related data. The LTPP database is a source of reasonably good friction data. The data are collected in a systematic manner, collected from a wide range of pavements that were subjected to a wide range of traffic loading and environmental conditions. The friction data will be useful for analyzing why some pavement surfaces retain good friction characteristics over time, while other surfaces show rapid deterioration in friction. The NTIS number is PB99-156161; the cost is $47 for a paper copy or $23 for the report on microfiche. Guide to Developing Performance-Related
Specifications for PCC Pavements, The NTIS number is PB99-142499; the cost is $29.50 for a paper copy or $12 for the report on microfiche. Development and Validation
of Light-Duty Vehicle Modal Emissions and Fuel Consumption Values for Traffic
Models Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a methodology for modal-vehicle emissions and fuel-consumption models. These models (which are presented in tables) are designed for simulations, such as FHWA's TRAF-series of models, and are used to evaluate the impacts of roadway design on emissions and fuel consumption. Other work at ORNL has included testing of additional vehicles, superemitters, and additional validation. The additional validation focuses on certification-type test comparisons on the single-vehicle level. Validation exercises continue to yield positive results. This work is not discussed in the current report, although the data from the current report, as well as from follow-on work, are currently available by contacting ORNL (http://www.ornl.gov). These look-up tables represent a valuable source of data for a variety of efforts and go beyond the original purpose of supporting the TRAF-series of models. The NTIS number is PB99-155137; the cost is $33 for a paper copy or $17 for the report on microfiche.
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