Publication Number: FHWA-RD-03-012
Date: November 2002

Articles in this Issue

Pavement Management Systems: A Powerful Tool for Performance Monitoring

How are Superpave pavements performing in your State? Your pavement management system (PMS) can help you find out. A recent Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) study examined how existing pavement management data, combined with materials and construction-related data, could be used to evaluate new design or materials concepts such as Superpave in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, and Washington State. "With data from a PMS, along with data from other systems such as materials and construction, you should be able to paint a pretty good picture of how a pavement is performing," says Project Coordinator Pim Visser of TRDI, Inc. The study's other primary objectives were to determine what data States collect in common, what data could be combined and used for a multi-State data analysis, and what can be done to make data from different States more compatible.

A New Weapon in Fighting ASR in Concrete

Alkali-silica reactivity (ASR), a pervasive durability problem that occurs in portland cement concrete, is responsible for the premature deterioration of various types of concrete structures in the United States and around the world. While lithium compounds have been recognized for more than 50 years as being effective in preventing concrete expansion due to ASR, there has been increased interest in recent years in using them to both treat existing structures and as a preventive measure in new concrete construction.

FHWA Workshop Introduces New Life-cycle Cost Analysis Software

With the introduction of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) new life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) software and an accompanying instructional workshop, highway agencies can now more quickly and easily calculate the life-cycle costs of pavement design alternatives. Developed by FHWA's Office of Asset Management through the intra-agency LCCA Developer's Group, the new software identifies cost differences between design alternatives, accounting for both initial and future agency and user costs. Each of the alternatives compared will provide the same level of service and performance.

TIG Announces Accelerated Deployment of New Technologies

The Technology Implementation Group (TIG), whose mission is to champion the implementation of ready-to-use technologies, products, or processes resulting in economic or qualitative benefits, has selected three new technologies for accelerated deployment this year. These new high payoff, innovative technologies are the air void analyzer (AVA), the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for roads, and the use of global positioning systems (GPS) for surveying.

What is a Continuing Resolution?

At press time, Congress had not completed work on the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 2003. Instead, it has passed a series of Continuing Resolutions (CR) that keep DOT agencies open for business. In the case of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), most operations continue as normal. We have apportioned FY 2003 Federal-aid highway funds to the States and distributed obligation authority for the portion of the year covered by the CRs. This obligation authority allows the States to continue work on current and planned projects.

The ADA and Transportation: Improving Safety and Access on Public Rights-of-Way

For the more than 54 million Americans with disabilities, transportation is a vital link to participating in all aspects of society, including work, commerce, and leisure activities. The U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to carrying out the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and building a transportation system that provides equal access for all persons. As part of this effort, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is working with the Access Board, a Federal agency that focuses on accessible design, to produce guidelines that cover access to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curb ramps, street furnishings, parking, and other components of public rights-of-way.

The LTPP Database and You

Find out more about how the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database can work for you at this year's Transportation Research Board annual meeting. "Mining the Gold in the LTPP Database," scheduled for January 13, 2003, will provide an introduction to the LTPP database and the products that have been developed from it, as well as information on how the database can be used in analysis projects and to educate future engineers. For more information on the session, contact Aramis Lopez at FHWA, 202-493-3145 (fax: 202-493-3161; email: aramis.lopez@fhwa.dot.gov).

Highway Technology Calendar