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Public Roads

Simplifying Project Delivery Decisions With GeoTech Tools

Problematic soil and rock conditions often negatively affect the construction costs, schedules, and long-term structure performance of transportation infrastructure projects. Geoconstruction techniques can help to address those issues with materials and methods to stabilize foundations, retaining walls, and other earthworks. These technologies also have significant potential to achieve some of the objectives of the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2), including rapid renewal of transportation facilities, minimal disruption of traffic, and production of long-lived facilities.

Bridge Inspection Course Goes to College

The Nation’s bridge infrastructure relies heavily on the work of bridge safety inspectors to ensure quality, safety, and overall performance for public use. Therefore, safety inspectors are federally mandated to undergo comprehensive training to lead bridge inspection teams and become successful program managers. The National Highway Institute (NHI) developed Safety Inspection of In-Service Bridges (130055) and updated it in 2012 based on the latest edition of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual (FHWA NHI 12-049). The course provides the most current information on the safety inspection of in-service bridges.

Communication Product Updates

Below are brief descriptions of communications products recently developed by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. All of the reports are or will soon be available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, limited copies of the communications products are available from FHWA’s Research and Technology (R&T) Product Distribution Center (PDC).

A New Approach to Improving Travel Times

A suite of tools developed under SHRP2 is helping transportation agencies institutionalize systems management and operations with the goal of reducing congestion and increasing safety and reliability.

The ABCs of Designing RCUTs

An FHWA study reveals the safety benefits of restricted crossing U-turn intersections and proposes a model for estimating their potential for reducing crashes.

A Crowning Achievement

The Oregon DOT and its partners used innovative solutions to protect and restore a historic viaduct.