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Focus

Federal Highway Administration / Publications / Focus / April 2009

Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-09-012
Date: April 2009

Articles in this Issue

Swimming with the Fishes: Recycled Concrete Finds New Life Supporting Maryland's Marine Habitat

Fish and other aquatic life in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay have vibrant new marine habitats to call home, thanks to concrete recycled from the former Woodrow Wilson Bridge that was used to create five major fish reefs in the bay and the Potomac River. "This is the most gratifying project I have ever worked on," says Michael Baker, Environmental Manager for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project. "Not only did we keep this material out of a landfill, but the reefs are doing phenomenally well and are already providing habitat for multiple fish species."

Improving Bridge Safety and Reliability with LRFR

It started with LRFD, but now get ready to meet LRFR. The nationwide implementation of the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Specification for bridges has resulted in greater reliability of bridges, more efficient designs, and a more uniform factor of safety. Now the Load and Resistance Factor Rating (LRFR) system is building on these advances to improve the safety of bridges through the use of state-of-the-art rating methodology for bridge loads.

FHWA Introduces Quality Assurance Specification Course

A new online course available from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Highway Institute (NHI) provides participants with an introduction to statistical analysis and the development of statistically valid quality assurance (QA) specifications for highway construction projects. By using statistically valid QA specifications, agencies can obtain a more uniform product, better link project payment to the product received, and reward contractors for quality. The free 8-hour course, SpecRisk Quality Assurance Specification Development and Validation (Course No. FHWA-NHI-134070), also introduces SpecRisk, a new software program available from FHWA that enables users to successfully develop statistically valid specifications. Participants will have the opportunity to download SpecRisk for future use.

Achieving Better Pavement Design with WIM Technologies: FHWA Workshop Offers Step-by-Step Guide

From site selection to data collection and validation, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) comprehensive Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) and Traffic Workshop demonstrates the complete process of using WIM technologies to obtain quality traffic data, with the ultimate goal of using the data as inputs to the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (M-E PDG) software. WIM equipment can be used to collect data on such factors as vehicle and axle weights, axle spacing, speed, and vehicle class. "It is critical to have reliable WIM data that is accurate when designing new pavements," says David Jones of FHWA.

Highway Technology Calendar

Updated: 06/27/2017
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