Articles in this Issue

Highway Agencies and Industry Get a Helping Hand in Fighting Concrete Deterioration

Alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) is a pervasive problem that occurs in portland cement concrete (PCC), causing cracks, spalling, and other damage in pavements and structures. Repairing and replacing the deteriorated concrete is costly for highway agencies and inconvenient for highway and bridge users. To help State highway agencies, local agencies, contractors, material suppliers, and others better combat this problem, the American Concrete Institute (ACI), through a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has developed a two-day workshop that will cover methods for identifying specific types of deterioration, as well as the latest technology for preventing or reducing deterioration damage.

In Brief

An upcoming International Symposium on Transportation Technology Transfer will bring together transportation professionals from around the world to discuss their advances and experiences in technology transfer practices and techniques. The symposium will be held July 29-August 2, 2001, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Program themes include funding and sustaining technology transfer centers and programs, marketing and promoting the transfer of technology, and sharing information resources.

Lead State Teams Take a Bow

The seven American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Lead States teams "set a model for technology deployment that will be used for years to come," says John Conrad of the Washington State Department of Transportation and chair of the AASHTO Task Force on SHRP Implementation. That model was both celebrated and reflected upon at the fifth and final Lead States Workshop, held in St. Louis in September. The workshop was the culmination of four years of work by the teams, with their term of service now ending and responsibility for the implementation of the SHRP technologies being handed over to various AASHTO subcommittees.

LTPP Program Launches Traffic Data Pooled-Fund Study

To increase and improve the collection of monitored traffic data for five of the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program Specific Pavement Study (SPS) projects, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has initiated a new State pooled-fund study. The study is the result of a 1998 review of the LTPP data, which concluded that the spatial distribution, timeliness, quantity, and quality of the monitored traffic data needed to be improved to ensure the success of the SPS -1, -2, -5, -6, and -8 experiments.

Mix Type Selection Guide: A Handbook for Building Better Pavements

What's the best type of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) to use on a high-volume urban highway with heavy truck traffic? Which mix type will result in optimum performance for a rural road with low traffic levels? State and local highway agencies and contractors looking for guidance on selecting the right HMA mix for a variety of traffic and environmental conditions can now turn to a new handbook, Mix Type Selection Guide.

For NQI "Making a Difference" Award Winners, Quality Pays

Quality doesn't cost – it pays," says Bob Templeton of the National Quality Initiative (NQI). The many State highway agencies and their Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and industry partners who make that statement a reality every day will be honored with NQI's first "Making a Difference" awards this month at a ceremony in Dallas, Texas.

Highway Technology Calendar