Construction

ACTT Workshop: Oregon
Paving The Way

[Archived] Executive Summary

Why ACTT?

• ACTT provides a fresh outlook by bringing national experts to your planning table.
• ACTT introduces innovations that have been tested elsewhere.
• ACTT saves time: according to FHWA's ACTT II report, published in March 2005, "most agencies have found ways to slice construction time by 30 percent or more."
• ACTT saves money: ACTT suggestions enabled New Jersey to reduce its budget for the Route 46 bridge project from $10 million to $7.2 million.
• ACTT works for you and your customer!

How do I ACTT?

• Select a corridor: ACTT is most helpful when applied during the project development phase.
• Make a workshop proposal to ACTT team members, and submit a copy of your proposal to the FHWA Division Office. Include details on the project corridor, timeline and goals.
• Hold a pre-workshop meeting with the ACTT management team.
• Select a meeting site, and coordinate workshop details with the FHWA Division Office.
• Host the workshop.
• Draft a report for submittal to FHWA.
• Incorporate ACTT into project operations.

Executive Summary

In the May 2003 issue of FOCUS, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published "Pavement Preservation: A Call to Action," saying:

Recent surveys of road conditions show that 32 percent of major U.S. roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Driving on roads in need of repair, meanwhile, costs U.S. motorists $49 billion a year in vehicle repair and operating expenses.

Given the above, it is not surprising that State departments of transportation (DOTs) are focusing more and more on pavement preservation, which FHWA defines as "a network level, long-term strategy that enhances pavement performance by using a variety of cost-effective surface treatments that extend pavement life." (See "A Helping Hand in Preserving Our Pavement Investment," FOCUS, June 2005.)

In an effort to address concerns over an aging infrastructure in downtown Portland, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) hosted an Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) workshop in April 2005. The focus of the workshop was Portland's Interstate 405 (I-405) pavement preservation project, which includes work on Portland's infamous Interstate 5 (I-5)/I-405 loop. The loop is vital to the area because it serves as the heart of the region's transportation system. As such, it has been designated a Corridor of Statewide Significance.

The I-5/I-405 project was considered a prime ACTT candidate for several reasons, including the urgent need to replace deteriorating pavement, the complexities of the project, the estimated construction timeframe and the overall impact to the region. With the above in mind, ODOT identified eight skill set teams for the Portland workshop:

• Construction.
• Innovative Contracting.
• Traffic/ITS/Safety.
• Public Relations.
• Structures/Geotechnical.
• Right-of-Way/Utilities/Rail.
• Environmental/Context-Sensitive Design.
• Pavements/Materials.

Each skill set team's goal was to focus on how the ACTT process applied to their area of expertise, while the group as a whole searched for methods and measures to help ODOT achieve its project goals.

A great deal of the skill set discussions focused on the condition of the pavement and the corridor structures as well as on the wide variance in the engineers' estimates regarding replacement costs (estimates ranged from $35 to $45 million). Another key issue is ODOT's need to decide between the rehabilitation and reconstruction options.

The recommendations that emerged from the workshop helped Oregon identify several issues (outlined in chapter four) that merit further investigation. This report summarizes attendee discussion and highlights the innovative practices and technologies that may prove useful in the undertaking of the I-5/I-405 project.