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Project Highlights (continued)
University of Wyoming Launches Transportation Safety Evaluation
The University of Wyoming recently secured funding for a new study entitled: "A Comprehensive Transportation Safety Evaluation Program in the State of Wyoming." The main objective of the research is to develop and evaluate transportation safety techniques that can help Wyoming agencies reduce crashes and fatalities on rural roads. The MPC is providing half of the funding while matching funds were obtained from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT).
The new federal transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, requires state department of transportation agencies to address safety on local and rural roads. It is important for state, county, and city officials to cooperate in producing a comprehensive safety plan to improve safety statewide. The new legislation provides an opportunity to implement a more cohesive and comprehensive approach to local road safety in Wyoming. The University of Wyoming supports road safety efforts through its existing activities which include: training classes, newsletter publication, information dissemination, and technical assistance. The University of Wyoming can provide additional services to help WYDOT, as well as Wyoming counties and cities, in identifying low-cost safety improvements on high-risk rural roads statewide.
In this project, safety techniques and methodologies will be developed to identify and then rank high-risk locations on all rural roadways in Wyoming. What makes this project unique is the high percentage of gravel roads at the local level in Wyoming. The evaluation procedure developed will be based on roadway classification as well as surface type (paved versus unpaved).
As part of this study, a Local Road Safety Advisory Group has been established. The group includes representatives from: WYDOT, Wyoming LTAP, Wyoming Association of County Engineers and Road Superintendents, Wyoming Association of Municipalities, and FHWA. The group met in February and approved the general outline for this study.
Three counties will be included in the first phase of this study. All other counties will be invited to participate in future safety evaluations. A transportation safety engineer, Jim McGrath, has been hired to help in performing the study. McGrath will communicate with all of the project partners across the state while he performs the tasks associated with this project. The findings of the study will be presented at regional and national meetings and conferences.
A TLN Videoconferencing Facility at SDSU
The first project to be completed by the MPC program at South Dakota State University (SDSU) was the establishment of a Transportation Learning Network (TLN) videoconferencing site. The facility, which boasts two 50-inch plasma monitors, was completed in December 2006. The videoconferencing facility is already being used to conduct meetings with other TLN partners and to receive graduate course instruction from other MPC universities.
CSU Research Evaluates Tire Rubber for Road and Bridge Construction
Researchers at Colorado State University will study the beneficial use of waste tire rubber in low-volume road and bridge construction.
As part of the effort, researchers are evaluating the mechanical properties of expansive soil-rubber (ESR) mixtures required for the mechanistic design of low-volume road embankments. Experiments are being carried out at the recently renovated Geotechnical Graduate Research Laboratory at CSU.
Information generated during this stage of the project will be used to design a typical low-volume road embankment cross-section using a computer model and provide guidelines for the construction of a pilot road section in the field.
The research is being directed by assistant professor Antonio Carraro. He has been on the faculty of CSU's Department of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University since 2004. He specializes in experimental methods and behavior of geomaterials, geotechnical earthquake engineering, foundation engineering, and beneficial use of waste materials.
Gabriel Iltis, a Ph.D. student in the CSU Geotechnical Engineering Program, is a research assistant working with Carraro on the project. Jesus Higuera Seda is also a research assistant on the project. He is an undergraduate student in the CSU Geotechnical Engineering Program.
A paper based on part of the research, "Beneficial Use of Waste Tire Rubber for Swelling Potential Mitigation in Expansive Soils," was presented at the American Society of Civil Engineering Geo-Denver Conference in February and will be printed in the conference proceedings. Authors are undergraduate students J.H. Seda, J.C. Lee, and professor Antonio Carraro.
Research assistants Gabriel Iltis (left) and Jesus Higuera Seda (right) working on the preparation of specimens of expansive soil-rubber (ESR) mixtures for swell-consolidation testing.
