Author Archive: Admin

Purchase and Evaluate the Use of Tablets for Construction and Work Zone Inspection

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In FY2017, the NJ STIC recommended that a STIC Incentive Funding grant be used for the purchase and the piloting of the use of the tablets for construction and work zone inspections.

Once acquired, the use of tablets were found to expedite as-built review reporting. For example, comments between team members were easier to share and compile and As-Built review reports, checklists and other supporting documents were no longer printed prior to the review. The reports and checklists could be completed electronically at the field office during the review as the information was collected.  A list of findings could be created during the review and shared electronically with the resident engineer (RE) and the review team.  Guides and manuals could also be shared with the RE on the tablets during the As-Built review to answer any questions.

Several benefits were evident from the use of the tablets in construction and work zone inspections:

  • Improved communications within a team in sharing or demonstrating a design idea such as sketches, field changes, request for information, etc.
  • Improved efficiency in keeping field records, particularly through the use of the camera’s function for capturing field videos and pictures.
  • More productive meetings as participants had the ability to quickly reference contract documents, plans or emails (Ex. progress construction meetings with contractor, Project Manager/Designer, and utilities.)

Some other lessons were noted in piloting the use of the tablets:

  • It is important to keep the battery fully charged; the battery life was found to last up to two hours with extensive use.
  • For practical use on site, the use of a stylus pen makes it much easier to use.
  • The tablet keyboard will be easier to use if a mouse device is available.
  • It is essential to have and maintain the remote internet access connection to enjoy the benefits of the field use of tablets.

Advancing Use of Mobile Devices in Administration and Oversight of Local Public Agencies Program

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By adopting a paperless process for delivering construction administration documents, practitioners can save time and resources while improving the process of managing construction documents. New Jersey’s State Innovative Council recommended that a STIC Incentive Funding Grant be awarded to NJDOT to advance the use of mobile devices in the administration and oversight of its Local Aid Program.  The NJDOT received a STIC Incentive Funding Grant of $21,464 in FY2015.

The STIC grant funded the acquisition of tablets for use in two areas: application ratings and construction inspection.  The primary benefits of the transition to tablets were expected to come from improved staff efficiency through a reduction in the preparation time prior to field visits and an elimination of the need to manually transfer data collected on paper in the field.

NJDOT’S Division of Local Aid was able to use the funding to acquire 14 tablets and Mi-fi “hotspot” cards to ensure field network connectivity.  NJDOT’s IT department was engaged to coordinate the procurement process to the purchase the tablets for Local Aid staff and install cellular connection, VPN Access, security software, licensing. Electronic Field Inspection reports were designed, developed and tested in accordance with the Division’s Policy and Procedure for Construction Inspection.  District training was delivered for the use of tablets for construction inspections of federal projects. The tablets were distributed to the 4 Local Aid districts and are in use.

Making Work Zones Smarter: Data-Driven Decision Making

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In honor of Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, the NJDOT Bureau of Research hosted a Lunchtime Tech Talk, “Making Work Zones Smarter: Data-Driven Decision Making” on April 11th.  Dr. Thomas M. Brennan from The College of New Jersey discussed his research using probe vehicle data – that is, anonymous vehicle speed data — to inform the development of work zone mobility performance measures and “Smart Work Zone” congestion management strategies.

Dr. Brennan described how probe vehicle data can be applied to work zone planning.

An important goal of Dr. Brennan’s research has been the development of mobility performance measures that align with the transportation agency’s goals to improve reliability and speeds and diminish delays, queuing, and user costs.   In his talk, Dr. Brennan demonstrated how probe vehicle data collected from a public agency or commercial vendor can be converted from its raw form into mobility performance measures and compelling visualizations for decision-makers to use in formulating appropriate work zone policies and procedures.

He outlined a case study design framework and the steps needed for analyzing work zone effects on mobility performance measures. He described the types of information needed to conduct a work zone mobility audit, including traffic flow and work zone activity data. Using anonymous vehicle speed data, information about traffic slowdowns within the designated area can be gathered.   With enough data points stored over time – and with the appropriate performance measures and visualizations – it is possible to evaluate whether a work zone is increasing congestion as a result of the roadway system, as a result of the type of construction being undertaken, or some combination of both.

Dr. Brennan described the research he has performed in work zones in both Indiana and New Jersey, including an example of road closures of Route 80 in New Jersey. He found that, by gathering speed data alone, one could make an informed observation on when road work was being done and the effects on the surrounding road system. The data measured the impacts of work zones before, during, and after a project’s completion, showing the total “life-cycle” effect of a work zone.

Dr. Brennan noted several types of decisions that state agencies must make to implement a data-driven approach to work zone management.   For example, state agencies will need to select the types of work zones to apply the information, determine appropriate performance measures, define appropriate criteria for “congestion” thresholds, establish the right level of geographic detail and frequency for monitoring and measuring performance, and identify strategies to manage poorly performing work zones.  High-level agency strategies must also be put in place for efficiently archiving the various data that is collected, defining appropriate agency-wide performance measures and standards, and whether to incentivize contractors based on mobility performance measures, among other considerations.

Visualization of performance thresholds for speed, delays travel times.

During the course of the talk, Dr. Brennan highlighted various ways in which probe vehicle data can be used to characterize the reliability, resiliency and congestion at the regional and granular level to inform work zone planning. He hopes to use traffic flow data and work zone activity data to develop a comprehensive guide on how best to predict future congestion. Such data would combine the type of work zone (e.g., lane closures, patching, ramp closures, etc.) with archived data showing how previous similar events had affected the road system. This information could be used to provide agencies with alternative designs for future work zones, and provide drivers with alternative routes, thereby improving the safety and capacity of a work zone for workers and travelers alike.

Resources

Brennan, T. (2019).  Making Work Zones Smarter: Data Driven Decision Making (Presentation)

Brennan, T. M., Venigalla, M. M., Hyde, A., & LaRegina, A. (2018). Performance Measures for Characterizing Regional Congestion using Aggregated Multi-Year Probe Vehicle Data. Transportation Research Record, 2672(42), 170–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118797190

Remias, S., T. Brennan, C. Day, H. Summers, E. Cox, D. Horton, and D. Bullock (2013). 2012 Indiana Mobility Report: Full Version.  https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/imr/4/

 

 

Local Peer Safety Exchange – 3rd Event

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FHWA and NJDOT held a series of three Local Safety Peer Exchanges for municipal and county representatives to discuss local initiatives that demonstrate best practice in addressing traffic safety. The third of these peer exchanges was held on March 26, 2019. Topics discussed included NJ safety performance targets, use of Safety Voyager, substantive vs. nominal approaches to design, systemic vs. hot spot approaches to safety, and discussion of FHWA safety countermeasures, among others.

Make Your Mark

Safety Voyager

Project Screening

Data-Driven Safety Analysis

Pavement Friction Surface Treatments

A Municipal Perspective

Proven Safety Countermeasures

Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Asphalt Pavement Preservation at Construction and Use Stages Using Life Cycle Assessment

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Employing pavement preservation techniques can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to savings for both transportation agencies and drivers, according to a recently published study in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. The researchers determined that extending the life of pavement through preventive maintenance  can reduce greenhouse gases by 2 percent; save transportation agencies between 10 to 30 percent in spending; and reduce cost for drivers between 2 to 5 percent on fuel consumption, tire wear, vehicle repair, and maintenance because of smoother surfaces (Bates 2019). This research can assist transportation agencies like NJDOT and local public agencies consider the right maintenance strategies when determining environmental effects in future projects.

This research is notable, in part, because pavement preservation has been a hot topic among many state highway agencies.  The Federal Highway Administration’s Every Day Counts (EDC) program brought greater attention to the benefits of pavement preservation by making it one of its national initiatives in the fourth round of the EDC program. Through EDC-4, many states made commitments to increase their use of pavement preservation treatments and give a fuller commitment to its integration in their maintenance programs (FHWA 2018a).

NJDOT has significantly increased its use of preventive maintenance treatments on roadways in good or fair condition in recent years. Applying preventive maintenance treatments early has proven to be cost-effective by slowing the rate of deterioration and allowing NJDOT to reduce the backlog of deficient pavements.  The lead author  for this research, Hao Wang, previously worked as the co-investigator on a NJDOT-funded research study, Appropriate Implementation of Pavement Preservation Treatments, completed in 2015. That study looked at the pavement preservation techniques that NJDOT could use on its high volume state-maintained roads (Wang & Vitillo 2015).

Pavement preservation consists of surface refreshment to alleviate functional indicators of deterioration, such as friction, minor cracking, or oxidation. The three pavement preservation treatments considered in this recently published research were thin asphalt overlay (placing up to 2 inches of asphalt on roads), chip seal (spraying asphalt emulsion on pavement and laying aggregate), and crack seal (filling cracks with rubberized asphalt or polymer-modified asphalt with some filler).

While previous studies have looked at the environmental impact of preservation treatments at the construction stage, few have considered how the change in pavement smoothness affects vehicle fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions. The purpose of this study was therefore to systematically look at both the construction and use stage to determine the environmental impacts of several pavement preservation treatments throughout the whole life-cycle.

In order to quantify the environmental impact, the researchers used life-cycle assessment (LCA), focusing specifically on CO2 emission for global warming potential (GWP). To determine the emissions during construction stage, the group looked at the raw material, manufacturing, transport, and placement.

Illustration of different stages in pavement LCA with system boundary (Wang et  al. 2019)

Researchers measured pavement condition using the International Roughness Index (IRI), which states are required to report to the FHWA as it provides a standardized and objective measurement methodology. IRI models for pre- and post-treatment were then created with data obtained from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTTP) program Specific Pavement Studies (SPS-3). The LTTP program was established in 1986, and has been maintained by the FHWA since 1991, with the purpose of collecting and storing pavement performance data in a centralized database (FHWA 2019). SPS-3: Preventive Maintenance Effectiveness of Flexible Pavements specifically compares the effectiveness and mechanisms of selected maintenance treatments to preserve and extend pavement service life, safety, and ride quality (FHWA 2018).

The pavement’s pre- and post-treatment effects on vehicle fuel consumption and air quality were then analyzed using data from the Highway Development and Management Tool (HDM-4) and the Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES). HDM-4 is a software package that is used worldwide for analysis, planning, management, and appraisal of road maintenance, improvements, and investment decisions. MOVES is the EPA’s emission modeling system for mobile sources, which is used at all project levels to estimate for criteria air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and air toxics.

The results for the CO2 emissions at the construction stage showed significant differences in energy consumption for the three pavement preservation treatments, mostly due to the varying raw materials and manufacturing processes. Thin asphalt overlay had the highest energy consumption, followed by chip seal, and then crack seal, which requires a comparatively small amount of material over the entire process. Additionally, thin asphalt overlay tends to have a higher cost compared to the other two. At the use stage though, thin overlay showed the highest reduction of CO2 emissions, based on the post-treatment IRI values, and crack seal the lowest reduction.

A machine compacts asphalt over existing pavement at a construction site at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City (Wang 2019).

Despite their environmental impacts, the various preservation treatments still had an overall benefit when quantified using a life-cycle assessment approach, according to the researchers. Additionally, they found that the timing of preservation treatment could have a large effect on the subsequent emissions at the use stage. Specifically, for thin overlay and chip seal, the optimal time to achieve maximum life-cycle environmental benefit becomes earlier as traffic volume or initial IRI value increases. Despite the variance in effectiveness over the life-cycle, all three treatments reduced emissions overall.

In explaining the rationale for the research, the study’s authors  note that transportation sector is second to electricity in generating greenhouse gas emissions among all U.S. end-use sectors at 27 percent. Additionally, fuel consumption of vehicles accounted for 83 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector in 2015. In December 2018, Governor Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey would be rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a group of neighboring states that have set policy goals and initiatives in order to achieve a 100-percent clean-energy portfolio by 2050 (Murphy 2018). Improving the performance of existing highways is well-aligned with this initiative.

By filling the gap in research focused on  the entire life-cycle environmental impacts of pavement preservation treatments, the research offers important information for life-cycle assessment in future roadway projects. As transportation agencies look at how to manage their current assets, reduce costs, and avoid and minimize environmental impacts, pavement preservation offers a multitude of benefits to help achieve these goals.

Shown above is a Bergkamp M1, which can be used for slurry seal and microsurfacing. Source: By Eric Pulley – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5176467

Citations:

Bates, Todd. “Keeping Roads in Good Shape Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Rutgers-Led Study Finds.” Rutgers Today. January 14, 2019. https://news.rutgers.edu/keeping-roads-good-shape-reduces-greenhouse-gas-emissions-rutgers-led-study-finds/20190114#.XH2SRYhKiUl.

BTS. “Road Condition.” Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June 2015. https://www.bts.gov/content/road-condition.

FHWA. “Long-Term Pavement Performance.” FHWA. 2019. https://highways.dot.gov/long-term-infrastructure-performance/ltpp/long-term-pavement-performance.

FHWA. “Pavement Preservation (When, Where, and How).” Center for Accelerating Innovation. May 30, 2018a. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts/edc_4/pavement.cfm.

FHWA. “Specific Pavement Studies.” FHWA. March 12, 2018b. https://highways.dot.gov/long-term-pavement-performance/data-collection/specific-pavement-studies.

Murphy, Phil. “Murphy Administration Proposes Rules For State’s Re-Entry Into Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” Office of the Governor. December 17, 2018. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562018/approved/20181217b.shtml.

Vitillo, Nicholas, and Hao Wang. “Appropriate Implementation of Pavement Preservation Treatments.” NJDOT. April 2015. https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-2015-011-I.pdf.

Wang, Hao, Israa Al-Saadi, Pan Lu, and Abbas Jasim. “Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emission of Asphalt Pavement Preservation at Construction and Use Stages Using Life-cycle Assessment.” International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. January 11, 2019. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15568318.2018.1519086?journalCode=ujst20.

2019 NJDOT TRB Roundtable Discussion

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Below you can view 2019 presentations and session notes provided by NJDOT staff who attended the 98th Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board (TRB), which is grouped by their bureau or unit. Click on the image in each section to view the slides. You can also download the entire set of presentations here: 2019 NJDOT TRB Roundtable Slides (9 MB). The TRB AMOnline portal provides access to all available TRB papers, presentation slides, and visual aids.

I. Introduction to TRB

A summary of the Annual TRB Meeting, along with the presenters represented.

II. Statewide Planning

• Performance Management
• Federal TPM Structure
• De-carbonizing Transportation
• Equity in Pedestrian Planning
• Shared Mobility

III. Environmental Resources

Integrating Extreme Weather Resilience Into Transportation Asset Management (Session 1713):

• FHWA Pilot Overview
• New Jersey's Approach
• Case Study Area
• Linking Extreme Weather and Asset Management
• Top Project Findings - Results

IV. Transportation Systems Operations & Support

• Artificial-Intelligence-Aided Automated Detection of Railroad Trespassing
• Task Force on Transit Safety Meeting
• St. Paul, Minnesota – Vehicle x Pedestrian Accident Prevention
• Best Practices and Techniques for Clearing Various Interchange and Intersection Configurations
• Clear Roads Winter Maintenance Pooled Fund
• Impact of Utilizing CEI Consultants on Highway Construction Project Cost and Schedule Performance

V. Transportation Mobility

• Examining the Disruptive Forces Facing DOTs
• Expanding and Enhancing the Capabilities of Traffic Management System
• Today’s Teen, Tomorrow’s Transportation Professional: Adapting and Preparing for the Future of Work
• A National Dialogue on Highway Automation: Advancing the Conversation
• Automated Vehicles (AV) 3.0
• Knowledge Management
• Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies
• Shared Mobility, Ride hailing and Emerging Transportation Trends
• Intelligent Transportation System Project Updates-International
• Visibility of Signs and Roadway Markings: LiDAR-based Assessment of Highway Traffic Sign Visibility
• Speed Limits 2019: Current Perceptions, Technologies, and the Future
• State DOT Innovation Programs: Identifying New Technologies and Practices from the Front Lines
• Connected Vehicles Pilots: Lessons Learned

VI. Bureau of Statewide Strategies

• Making Asset Management the New Normal: Moving from Implementation to Integration
• Transportation Asset Management Committee
• Emerging Asset Management Tools, Techniques, and Performance Measures
• Operations Resilience: How to Keep Operating When the Sh*t Hits the Fan
• Integrating Extreme Weather Resilience into Transportation Asset Management
• Knowledge Management Task Force
• Visualization in Transportation Committee
• Connected and Automated Vehicles
• Pricing in an Evolving Mobility Ecosystem
• Best Papers from the 2018 Access Management Conference
• Advancing Community Vitality with 21st Century Mobility
• International Programs on Road Vehicle Automation
• Connected Vehicle Pilots: Lessons Learned

VII. Local Aid & Economic Development

• Facilitating Equitable Outcomes: The Intersection Between Public Engagement & Equity in Transportation
• Strategies to Enhance Public Involvement
• Transportation & Public Health

VIII. Civil Rights & Affirmative Action

• Successful DBEs
• Commercial Useful Function
• Safety and Health in Environmental Justice Communities
• Study: Documenting Transportation Inequities
• National Environmental Policy Act Documentation Effects of Current Presidential Executive Orders
• NEPA Updates
• The Equity Equation: Meaningful and Innovative Strategies That Define and Address Unmet Needs in Under-served Communities
• Sub-committee on Environmental Justice

IX. Bureau of Structural Engineering

• Resilience, Safety, and Security of Bridges and Tunnels: US and International Topics
• Latest Innovations in Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC)
• General Structures Committee, Traffic Structures Subcommittee, Steel Bridges Committee, Seismic Design and Performance of Bridges Committee, Accelerated Bridge Construction Committee
• AASHTO COBS / FHWA Structures Collaboration
• Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Addresses “Our Transportation Future"
• FHWA Long-Term Bridge Performance Program (LTBP)
• Advances in Structural Engineering: Bridges and Ancillary Structures
• Advances in Seismic Bridge Analysis and Design

X. Bureau of Research

• The Innovation Culture: Building New Bridges Between Research and Practice
• Asphalt Concrete Cracking: Testing, Modeling, and Field Studies
• U.S. DOTs Safety Data Initiative: Visualizing and Using Data for Safety
• State DOT Innovation Programs: Identifying New Technologies and Practices from the Front Lines
• Visibility of Signs and Roadway Markings
• Exhibits: Provide free training
• Beyond Research: From Innovation to Economic Growth
• No Boundaries Roadway Maintenance Practices
• Standing Committee on Polymer Concretes, Adhesives, and Sealers; Standing Committee on Concrete Bridges; Standing Committee on Corrosion
• Corrosion Protection of Metallic Structures and Marine
• Evaluation of Transportation Structures Using Non-Destructive Testing Methods

XI. NJDOT Research Library

• Workshop: Developing a Roadmap for Ecologically Sustainable Transportation
• Transportation Research Thesaurus (TRT) Subcommittee Meeting
• TRB Information Services Committee Meeting
• Workshop: The Long Engagement: From Writing Data Management Plans to Actually Managing Data
• Workshop: Knowledge Management 101: Strategies for Discovering the Best Fit for Your Organizational Needs
• Poster Session: Current Issues in Ecology and Transportation
• Poster Session: Making Transportation Research Smart, Sustainable, and Equitable Through Libraries, Information, and Data
• Event: Developing Climate Adaptation Strategies That Address Ecological Concerns Associated with Transportation Facilities
• Library and Information Science for Transportation (LIST) Committee Meeting

XII. Division of Multimodal Services

• Eye In The Sky – Use of Unmanned Aerial Technology
• Corridors and Freight Performance Measurements

NJ STIC 2018 Winter Meeting

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The NJ State Transportation Innovation Council recently held its Winter Meeting. The meeting began with FHWA and NJDOT providing a recap of the Every Day Counts Round 5 (EDC-5) Regional Summit.   FHWA's Innovation Coordinator & Performance Manager provided a brief overview of the EDC-5 Initiatives.  New Jersey along with all other states assessed its current efforts and set goals for implementation of the EDC-5 Initiatives for the next two year period, ending in December 2020 with reference to five stages of innovation.

EDC-5 Innovation Initiatives and NJ’s Baseline and Goals, 2019-2020

EDC-5 InitiativeBaseline: January 2019Goal: December 2020Comments
Advanced Geotechnical Exploration MethodsDemonstrationInstitutionalizedWith proposed activities expect to move it forward to institutionalized
Collaborative Hydraulics: Advancing to the Next Generation of Engineering (CHANGE)DemonstrationDemonstrationEDC-4 carryover
Reducing Rural Roadway DeparturesDevelopmentDemonstrationNew initiative under EDC-5
Project BundlingInstitutionalizedInstitutionalizedPart of NJDOT toolbox
Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP)AssessmentInstitutionalizedEDC-4 carryover
Use of Crowdsourcing to Advance OperationsInstitutionalizedInstitutionalizedPart of NJDOT toolbox
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) AssessmentInstitutionalizedNJDOT has been a national leader with many advancements planned
Value Capture Not implementingNot implementing Not formally advanced by STIC
Virtual Public Involvement Not implementing Not implementingNot formally advanced by STIC. Agencies may be making use of this initiative.
Notes: Not Implementing: State is not currently using the innovation anywhere in the state; Development: State is collecting guidance and best practices and building support with stakeholders and partners and developing an implementation process; Demonstration: The State is piloting and testing the innovation; Assessment: The State is assessing the performance of and process for carrying out the innovation and making adjustments to prepare for full deployment; Institutionalized: The State has adopted the innovation as a standard process or practice and uses it regularly on projects.

Presentations from the three Core Innovation Area (CIA) Teams -- Safety, Infrastructure Preservation, and Mobility and Operations -- highlighted what has already been accomplished (in prior rounds of EDC Rounds 1 through 4) and further described how NJDOT plans to accomplish the goals for EDC-5 Initiatives.

Participants were informed about the availability of innovative funding programs through FHWA's Center for  Accelerating Innovative Programs to advance EDC-5 Initiatives and what New Jersey projects have already been funded through STIC Incentive Funding and the Accelerated Innovation Deployment Grant Programs. The meeting concluded with a roundtable discussion of the topics covered.

NJDOT will host the national STIC meeting on April 11, 2019.
Forthcoming NJ STIC meetings are scheduled for: May 7, August 8, and November 19, 2019.

Presentation slides:

Introduction and FHWA Update

CIA Team Presentation: Safety

CIA Team Presentation: Mobility and Ops

CIA Team Presentation: Infrastructure Preservation

Basic STIC Overview

Roundtable Discussion, Reminders, and Thank Yous

PMGA Divisions Take Lead on Extreme Weather, Climate Risks, and Asset Management

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Introduction

In the summer of 2017, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), through a competitive application process, selected NJDOT as one of six (6) state DOTs to participate in a pilot program focused on extreme weather, climate risks and asset management. Each state is to prepare a case study that demonstrates how extreme weather and climate risks are integrated into asset management. FHWA intends to use the results of this effort to develop guidance materials to assist State DOTs in integrating extreme weather and climate risk into asset management practices, specifically in life cycle planning. Planning, Multimodal and Grant Administration’s (PMGA) Divisions of Environmental Resources and Statewide Planning have combined resources to undertake this endeavor that began in October 2017 and is to be completed by February 2019.

Extreme Weather Considerations Vary by State

The six (6) states selected for the Pilot program are Arizona, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas and New Jersey, giving a diverse geographic perspective. Extreme weather involves different stressors dependent upon location. Whereas riverine flooding associated with heavy precipitation is the “extreme weather” condition that New Jersey and Texas have focused on, Maryland has focused on sea level rise and coastal flooding. Kentucky is focusing on both riverine flooding and other secondary extreme weather hazards from excessive rain such as landslides and sinkholes. Arizona has indicated that they often experience extreme weather in the form of excessive heat, wildfires and dust storms, as well as flash flooding from excessive rain. Finally, Massachusetts, also concerned with riverine flooding, is pursuing the development of a “stream power” tool to assist in assessing extreme weather impacts to their bridges and culverts.

New Jersey’s Approach

Case Study Area (Photo Credit: PMGA)

Originally selecting culverts as the “asset class” to investigate impacts of extreme weather, the New Jersey study has refocused more on identifying the root causes of flooding in specific areas to target cost-effective risk management and mitigation strategies. Using the Departments’ Drainage Management System (DMS) as the primary tool for identifying vulnerable areas subject to road closures due to severe precipitation such as flooding and/or icing, the study team has focused on two locations:

  • Portions of the I-80 corridor, milepost 56.43 – 58.22, ranked # 1 in 2016 DMS.
  • The intersecting Route 23 corridor milepost 4.00 – 7.00, ranked 14th on the 2016 DMS.

Culverts within these limits were identified as well as drainage systems, roadway conditions, topography, flood elevation mapping, and other pertinent data to fully understand the root causes of flooding at these vulnerable areas, and to see how projected climate changes could affect them. Once root causes are identified, then appropriate mitigation strategies can be developed to maintain a state of good repair in extreme weather conditions as best possible.

Communications: Key to Success

The ongoing study has seen early success by engaging internal and external stakeholders; promoting the need and value of cross communication among asset managers, engineers, planners, environmental and maintenance staff. Input from the “owners” of the Drainage Management System, Maintenance Management System, GIS, as well as designers for active projects in the study area from CPM all played key roles in providing critical information, assisting in developing findings for this effort. Maintenance crews have provided real time information related to recent extreme weather events, describing activities needed to further resiliency efforts in the study corridors. Finally, collaboration with NJTPA’s Passaic River Basin Resilience study has resulted in the sharing of critical flooding and climate forecasts to further assist in developing our Pilot Study. Together, the ongoing cross-communication has been the most valuable tool in developing this study, and has laid the groundwork for ongoing discussions on the subject of extreme weather, asset management, and transportation resilience.

Project Overview: Framework (Photo Credit: PMGA)

Early Findings

Addressing extreme weather and asset management cannot be handled in a broad sense as each asset has its own uniqueness in determining its sensitivity to extreme weather. Also, not all assets are vulnerable to projected climate forecasts. To truly address asset management and extreme weather, appropriate tools need to be developed, preferably in GIS format, to fully identify all assets that are vulnerable to extreme weather (excessive precipitation), then determine what mitigation strategies are needed to enable these assets to be resilient and maintain a state of good repair for New Jersey’s vast transportation network. Final recommendations on how to address extreme weather considerations in asset management will be a part of the final study and will serve as a starting point to address resiliency in the Department’s practices.

Contributed by Elkins Green

Featured image (top) is case study area #1: I-80 between M.P. 56.43 and M.P. 58.22. Photo Credit: NJDOT Aeronautics UAS Photo

This article first appeared in the December 2018 SCOOP, the employee newsletter of Planning, Multimodal and Grant Administration, “PMGA Divisions take lead on Extreme Weather, Climate Risks, and Asset Management: Quest for Resiliency.”

 

New Jersey STIC Incentive Project Grant Funding Available

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The FHWA offers technical assistance and funds—up to $100,000 per STIC per year—to support the costs of standardizing innovative practices in a state transportation agency or other public sector STIC stakeholder. NJDOT is the primary recipient of the STIC Incentive Grant. Other public sector STIC stakeholders such as MPOs, local governments or tribal governments are eligible to receive STIC Incentive funding as sub-recipients to the NJDOT.

The NJ STIC’s mission is to identify, evaluate, and where and when possible, rapidly deploy new technologies and process improvements that will accelerate project delivery and improve the quality of NJ’s transportation network. In recent years, STIC Incentive Funding Grants have been used in New Jersey to support innovation initiatives, including a Data Driven Safety Analysis; Implementation of a Connected Vehicles Pilot Program; and the Purchase, Use, and Evaluation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), among others.

The STIC Incentive Funding Project Grant proposal should include the following:

  • Description of the proposed work
  • End product/ result
  • Amount of STIC Incentive funding requested
  • Commitment of other funding
  • Budget justification
  • Project schedule

An initial deadline for submitting STIC Incentive Funding Grant proposals was set for February 1, 2019.  However, grant proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis through the fiscal year provided funding is available. For more information on the STIC Incentive Funding Project Grant, please visit the following page: NJSTIC

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