October 4, 2013
Innovation Implementation: Geospatial Data Collaboration
In October, the focus is on geospatial data collaboration, an Every Day Counts innovation that makes tools, data and maps available on the Web. It benefits highway agencies by simplifying information sharing among project delivery stakeholders and improving the quality and speed of project decisions.
Web-based technology offers project participants the flexibility to access information and tools anytime and anywhere. It also allows organizations to control access to data and share only the information they wish to provide to partners.
Several state highway agencies are using geospatial data to support project development and environmental streamlining efforts. The Utah Department of Transportation, for example, developed a tool called uPlan that makes tools and data accessible on the Web, allowing internal and external project partners to create maps and share data. The video below shows how uPlan works.
Indiana Opens Final Piece of U.S. 231
The Indiana Department of Transportation finished a five-mile section of U.S. 231 in September. It’s the long-awaited final section of a new alignment for the highway around Purdue University and the city of West Lafayette. It will provide enhanced safety for travelers, easier access to Purdue University and West Lafayette and a new route for freight traffic. The agency used flexibilities in utility accommodation and relocation to move utilities on the project.
Missouri Uses Alternative Technical Concepts
Officials opened the new Hurricane Deck Bridge at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks with a September ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Missouri Department of Transportation used the alternative technical concept delivery method to complete the $32.3 million project. The new, wider bridge was built three feet east of the old one. This offset alignment allowed traffic to remain on the existing structure, with only short-term closures to tie in to the new bridge.
New York Offers Training on Tappan Zee Project
The New York State Thruway Authority and the Tappan Zee Constructors held a material testing and data management training session in Tarrytown, N.Y., on October 2. The session brought together material testing, construction engineering and inspection testing firms to learn about the unique policies and procedures used in the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project’s quality program. This project is the first major design-build project in the state to use continuous evaluation of key construction materials that can affect long-term performance of the structure.
Rhode Island Municipalities Learn About EDC
Participants in Rhode Island’s September exchange on locally administered Federal-Aid projects also learned about Every Day Counts technologies applicable to the state’s municipalities: warm-mix asphalt, intelligent compaction, Safety EdgeSM, high-friction surface treatments, 3-D modeling, traffic incident management responder training and geosynthetic reinforced soil integrated bridge systems. In the coming months, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Local Technical Assistance Program and Federal Highway Administration staff will meet with municipal officials around the state to identify the technical assistance they need to implement the technologies.
Tennessee Considers CM/GC Program
The Tennessee Department of Transportation and FHWA hosted an August peer exchange on the construction manager/general contractor project delivery method. Speakers from the Arizona, Colorado and Utah Departments of Transportation talked about their experience developing and implementing this innovative delivery method with 75 representatives of the Tennessee DOT and consulting and construction industries. They will use what they learned to develop Tennessee’s CM/GC program.
