The Shelf
Questions? Contact Arlene Mathison, Minnesota LTAP librarian, 612-624-3646, e-mail.
Reports
Simplified Guide to the Incident Command System for Transportation Professionals (Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-HOP-06-004)
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a systematic method for coordinating emergency responses. It helps agencies aggressively manage traffic disruptions and their consequences and return the transportation system to full capacity quickly. ICS allows emergency responders, state DOTs, and others to work together using common terminology and procedures at incident scenes. The purpose of the guide is to introduce the basics of ICS to state and local transportation professionals who may be called upon to provide expertise or assistance in a traffic incident.
Job Site Evaluation of Corrosion-Resistant Alloys for Use as Reinforcement in Concrete (Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-HRT-06-078)
Economic considerations have historically prevented widespread use of high-performance, corrosion-resistant reinforcements such as stainless steels in bridge construction. However, with the advent of life-cycle cost analysis as a project-planning tool and of a requirement that major bridge structures have a 75- to 100-year design life, the competitiveness of such steels has increased. This project’s objective was to evaluate and provide a historical record of approved state bridge construction projects throughout the United States that used corrosion-resistant reinforcements.
Managing Travel Demand: Applying European Perspectives to U.S. Practice (Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-PL-06-015)
The Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a scanning study of programs and policies that manage travel demand in several European countries. The team learned that travel demand could be affected through a variety of measures, including road pricing, variable message signs, and customized traveler information. This report includes the team’s case studies, key findings, and recommendations for U.S. implementation.
Interim Recommendations for the Use of Lithium to Mitigate or Prevent Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) (Federal Highway Administration FHWA-HRT-06-073)
Progress is being made in efforts to combat alkali-silica reaction in new and existing portland cement concrete structures. There has been renewed interest in recent years in using lithium compounds as either an admixture in new concrete or as a treatment of existing structures. This report provides practitioners with information and guidance to test, specify, and use lithium compounds in new concrete construction and in repair applications.
Briefs
Protocol to Identify Incompatible Combinations of Concrete Materials (FHWA-HRT-06-082)
Incompatibility of concrete materials is defined as an interaction between acceptable materials that results in unexpected or unacceptable performance. This brief summarizes the findings of FHWA’s project on identifying combinations of concrete materials. The project’s aim was to develop a protocol that enables users to assess whether a given combination of materials used to make concrete for pavements is likely to exhibit incompatibility in a given environment.
Guides
Coordinated Freeway and Arterial Operations Handbook (FHWA-HRT-06-095)
Transportation agencies are realizing the importance of managing and operating transportation facilities to make the most of their existing capacity. However, not many agencies are operating freeways adjacent to arterials in a manner that treats these roadways as an interconnected traffic operations corridor, rather than separate entities. This handbook provides guidance and recommendations for transportation professionals to comprehensively coordinate freeway and adjacent arterial street operations as a single corridor.
Deep Patch Road Embankment Repair Application Guide (USDA Forest Service)
Since 1990, engineers in regions 5 and 6 have been using a design method for repairing road fillslopes with recompacted fill and reinforcement, known as the “deep patch” method. This guide describes the background, performance, design, and construction details of the method and details a method for designing deep patches for use by engineers and technicians.
Vehicle Cleaning Technology for Controlling the Spread of Noxious Weeds and Invasive Species (USDA Forest Service)
Many silvicultural and land management activities in national forests involve moving vehicles and equipment at off-road locations. As a result, equipment can pick up, transport, and transplant seeds and spores over great distances. This guide summarizes the concepts for removing seeds from vehicles and equipment to control the spread of noxious weeds, invasive species, and disease.
Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) Pavement Design Guide (Federal Highway Administration)
Developed under National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 1-37A, this guide provides a uniform basis for the design of flexible, rigid, and composite pavements, using M-E approaches that more realistically characterize inservice pavements and improve the reliability of designs.
CD-ROM
Comprehensive Intersection Resource Library Version 3 (Federal Highway Administration, CD-ROM FHWA-SA-06-001)
This CD-ROM is a compilation of resources and educational materials about traditional signalized and unsignalized intersections, roundabouts, highway/rail grade crossings, and non-traditional intersections. In addition, it contains links to additional resources and training, and videos of public service announcements related to traffic safety.
DVD
Forest Roads and the Environment (USDA Forest Service)
This DVD explores how those who work with forest roads can consider the road’s relationship with its environment and therefore more effectively manage road maintenance and environment preservation. Topics include preventive road maintenance that helps avoid costly repairs; smoothing and reshaping roads; constructing and maintaining ditches, culverts, and various surface cross drains; and controlling the spread of invasive plants.
Web sites
Long Term Pavement Performance Program’s Standard Data Release Community of Practice
To assist users of the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program’s Standard Data Release (SDR), the LTPP program has introduced a new Community of Practice Web site. The Community of Practice provides SDR users with a forum to post questions and share experiences in using the LTPP database, which contains millions of records of data collected by the LTPP program. To visit the Community of Practice online, go to knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov (under “Highway Community Exchange,” select “LTPP Standard Data Release”).
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Resources
The mission of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is to identify traffic safety problems, foster research that seeks solutions, and disseminate information and educational materials. Its Web site—www.aaafoundation.org/resources—includes materials released in 2006, such as Evaluating Driver Education Programs, Reducing the Crash Risk for Young Drivers, and Effects of Interventions to Increase Use of Booster Seats in Motor Vehicles for 4-8-Year-Olds.