Below are brief descriptions of reports recently published by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. All of the publications are available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, limited copies of the publication are available from the Research and Technology (R&T) Report Center.

When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS PB number (or publication number) and the publication title. You may also visit the NTIS Web site at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. Call NTIS for current prices. For customers outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the cost is usually double the listed price. Address requests to:

Requests for items available from the R&T Report Center should be addressed to:

For more information on research and technology publications coming from FHWA, visit the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center's (TFHRC) Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/, FHWA's Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov, the National Transportation Library's Web site at http://ntl.bts.gov or the OneDOT information network at http://dotlibrary.dot.gov/.

Salt-induced reinforcing steel corrosion in concrete bridges has undoubtedly become a considerable economic burden to many state and local transportation agencies. Since the iron in the steel has a natural tendency to revert eventually to its most stable oxide state, this problem will, unfortunately, still be with us, but to a much lesser degree due to the use of various corrosion protection strategies currently used in new construction. The adoption of corrosion protection measures in new construction, such as the use of good design and construction practices, adequate concrete cover depth, low-permeability concrete, corrosion inhibitors, and coated reinforcing steel, is significantly reducing the occurrence of reinforcing steel corrosion in new bridges.

The NTIS number is PB2000-107407.

A major goal of the Long term Pavement Performance (LTPP) study is the development of recommendations for improving the design and construction of new and rehabilitated pavements to provide longer lasting pavements. As part of the condition monitoring of the LTPP test sections, joint and crack faulting data are being collected on a regular basis at each jointed concrete pavement test site.

The LTPP faulting data are collected using the Georgia Faultmeter. Data are collected at joints and cracks along the wheelpath and along the outside pavement edge. As part of the study reported here, the quality of the faulting data was evaluated, and missing and questionable data were identified. The data were then used to develop faulting data indices (average joint faulting for each visit) and related statistical parameters.

The NTIS number is PB2001-101670.

This report describes a procedure for obtaining axle load spectra for LTPP sections. The procedure has been demonstrated and evaluated by applying it to 12 LTPP sections for which different amounts of monitoring traffic data were available. Typically, for the majority of LTPP sections, there are only a few years for which the traffic load data were collected by automated equipment in the mid-1990's. To obtain axle load spectra for all in-service years, traffic loads must be projected ¾ backcasted (for the years before the installation of traffic monitoring equipment) and forecasted (for the years after the automated equipment no longer provides data).

This report also contains a review of the evolution of motor carrier technology (in terms of economical and political changes, regulatory changes in vehicle weights and dimensions, and engineering changes) and its impact on traffic loads, and a proposal to develop and use new summary statistical measures and tools for the management of load spectra.

The study on which this report is based sought to compile data on both accelerated and natural exposure of coating and corrosion test panels and then to relate their deterioration to environmental conditions. The report presents data gathered over a five-year period, incorporating seven different test sites across the United States. Specifically, the report looks at how the local environment affects the performance of eight coating systems and two weathering steels. It is expected that the information found and presented will be a useful resource to bridge maintenance engineers for coating selection decisions.

The NTIS number is PB2000-108513.