U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
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Focus
Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations |
Publication Number: FHWA-RD-99-105
Date: June/July 1999
Outstanding in the Field: Lead States Pavement Maintenance Demos
New machines and materials, however promising, can be risky for highway agencies. After all, until an agency actually tries it out, there's no knowing how well it will serve the agency's needs or be received by its staff. To give State and local agencies a hands-on look at new pavement maintenance techniques and materials, the Lead States team for innovative pavement maintenance materials is conducting, for the second year, a series of field demonstrations.
In search of FHWA news and information? Visit the FHWA home page at www.fhwa.dot.gov. At the site, you can find updates on everything from TEA-21 implementation to the Y2K compliancy efforts to FHWA's 1999 environmental excellence award winners. Visitors can also find information on FHWA programs and transportation-related legislation and regulations as well as links to other FHWA Web sites.
Strong Grassroots Support for LTPP Program Yields Increase in Data
Staff from the Federal Highway Adminstration (FHWA) took to the road recently to seek resolution to the issue of missing or questionable data from long-term pavement performance (LTPP) test sections. The result: a substantial increase in the amount of data available for study. The data resolution effort has contributed, for example, to a 41 percent increase in weigh-in-motion data and a 34 percent increase in falling weight deflectometer data.
LTPP Program: In Print and on the Web
Three new publications and a revamped Web site make keeping up with the latest findings in the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program easier than ever.
Pavement Smoothness Tips from the King of the Asphalt Oval
As the most successful race car driver in NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) history, Richard Petty is known as the king of the asphalt oval. Now, as star of a new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) videotape, Smoother Pavements: Highways Fit for a King, he's headlining a campaign to achieve smoother asphalt pavements nationwide.
In the future, engineers entering the workforce will be better prepared to tackle asphalt paving design and construction projects, as they will have been taught the Superpave system.
If you are one of the almost 1300 readers who responded to the recent Focus survey, thank you. The survey, the first ever conducted of Focus readers, will help us ensure that your needs for timely, relevant information continue to be met.
On the Road Again: Western Maintenance Tour
You can learn a lot from reports and newsletters, but nothing beats firsthand experience. At least that's the consensus of a group of western State and Federal maintenance engineers who have been taking to the road once a year for the past 3 years to see how different States apply and manage preventive and general maintenance programs.