The following new research studies reported by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Research and Development are sponsored in whole or in part with federal highway funds. For further details on a particular study, please contact Bob Bryant, editor of Public Roads, (202) 493-3468.

NCP Category A -- Highway Safety

A.3: Highway Safety Information Management

Title: Research on Evaluation of Emerging Technologies for Accident Data Collection

Objectives: These are four cooperative agreements to collect crash data using advanced technologies and then to evaluate the data collected under field tests to determine the costs and benefits associated with such applications.

Contractor #1:Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation Expected Completion Date: January 1996 Estimated Cost: $100,000

Contractor #2: Washington State Patrol Expected Completion Date: January 1996 Estimated Cost: $115,000

Contractor #3: New Jersey Dept. of Law and Public Safety Expected Completion Date:January 1996 Estimated Cost: $45,500

Contractor #4: Iowa DOT Expected Completion Date: January 1996Estimated Cost: $146,940

NCP Category C -- Pavements

C.1: Evaluation of Rigid Pavements

Title: Early and Long-Term Effects of Curling and Warping on Jointed Concrete Pavement '94

Objectives: To determine stress and strain development through the life of jointed concrete pavement; to determine the effects of temperature, moisture, and critical combinations with loading; to determine the effects of current construction practices on pavement condition; and to develop recommendations for revisions to design and construction guidelines for jointed concrete pavements.

Contractor: University of Washington

Expected Completion Date: December 1996

Estimated Cost: $820,806

C.6: Long-Term Pavement Performance Evaluation

Title: Model Development for Prediction of Distress and Roughness in PCC Pavements

Objectives: For each portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement type jointed portland concrete pavement, jointed reinforced concrete pavement, and continuously reinforced concrete pavement using the latest time sequence, long-term pavement performance (LTPP) data tables to: develop statistical models to predict faulting, cracking, spalling, punchouts, and international roughness index (IRI), using advanced modern regression techniques; evaluate and calibrate existing state-of-the-art mechanistic and mechanistic-empirical models for predicting the primary distress manifestations (cracking, faulting, spalling, and punchouts); develop new models to predict IRI as a function of the calibrated cracking, faulting, spalling, and punchout models; and develop a set of guidelines for improving these models as more LTPP data becomes available. The guidelines will also have examples of some of the potential problems that arise in the modeling effort and pitfalls to avoid in defining variables for respective mechanistic and statistical models.

Contractor: Transtec Inc.

Expected Completion Date: July 1996

Estimated Cost: $333,000