The full suite of US Department of Transportation (USDOT) technical assistance resources can be accessed at Search Technical Assistance Resources | US Department of Transportation.
Innovation of the Month: Ultra-High Performance Concrete
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) overlays enhance the service life of highway structures. UHPC overlays create an armoring layer for a conventional concrete deck, offering very low permeability, good freeze-thaw and abrasion resistance, high strength and stiffness, and a good bond to the substrate concrete. For some bridges, such as those that are heavily-traveled and are showing signs of concrete deck deterioration, UHPC overlays have the potential to have lower life-cycle costs than other overlay options or full deck replacements.
One recent UHPC overlay application was by Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) for four bridges on the heavily traveled George Washington Memorial Parkway near Washington, D.C. This project exemplified how UHPC overlays can be deployed on high volume routes using conventional construction equipment and techniques. A recently released TechNote summarizes the experiences of EFLHD and three other entities with recent UHPC overlay installations. The feedback from these stakeholders is aimed to help other interested entities successfully implement UHPC overlays, enhancing the performance of the bridge inventory, one bridge at a time.
To learn more about UHPC for bridge preservation and repair, please contact David Garber or Justin Ocel in the FHWA Resource Center, or Ben Graybeal in FHWA Office of Research, Development, and Technology.
NextGen Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Offers SMART Ways to Use Emergency Warning Lights
Emergency warning lights ahead are a cue to drivers to slow down, move over, and be cautious. The challenge is that there is no national standard for the color, placement, intensity, or flash pattern of emergency warning lights across police, fire, emergency medical services, transportation, and towing vehicles. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways warns that “the use of too many lights at an incident scene can be distracting and can create confusion for approaching road users, especially at night.”
To make the most effective use of these lighting systems, consider the following “emergency lighting aspects- strategic placement, meaningful messaging, automatic features, reduced pattern and intensity, and a tiered approach. Take a deeper dive into each of these aspects in a new FHWA tech brief. Discover the benefits of each aspect and learn how to incorporate them into your own traffic incident management programs. To learn more about Next Generation TIM technologies and strategies, please contact Joe Tebo, or James Austrich, FHWA Office of Operations.
Texas Uses Value Capture to Fill Funding Gap
The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) has used value capture (VC) techniques to fill funding gaps since 2009, enabling over $1 billion in transportation improvements.
This VC method, “Transportation Reinvestment Zones” (TRZs), is a type of transportation increment financing (TIF) that allows municipalities to collect tax increment revenues from new private development to finance transportation improvements that meet the needs of those developments. CRRMA has used TRZ funds for a range of transportation infrastructure projects, including the Americas Interchange Improvement Project, which serves a significant international trade gateway between the United States and Mexico.
To learn more about CRRMA’s TRZs, check out this case study. For more information about value capture, visit the FHWA webpage or contact Jill Stark, FHWA Center for Innovative Finance Support & Cost Analysis.
Contact USDOT’s Julie Zirlin with comments or questions.