UHPC for Bridge Preservation and Repair

Posted on August 6, 2022January 27, 2023

What is UHPC for Bridge Preservation and Repair?

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a new material for bridge construction that has become popular for field-cast connections between prefabricated bridge elements. Bridge preservation and repair (P&R) is an emerging and promising application for UHPC. UHPC-based repair solutions are robust, and offer superior strength, durability, and improved life-cycle cost over traditional methods. State and local agencies can deploy UHPC for bridge preservation and repair to maintain or improve bridge conditions.

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) offers enhanced durability and improved life-cycle cost performance for bridge preservation and repair.

Keeping bridges in a state of good repair is essential to keeping the transportation system operating efficiently. Agencies at all levels can deploy UHPC for bridge preservation and repair to maintain or improve bridge conditions cost effectively.

Stronger Repairs, Extended Service Life

Because of its strength and durability, UHPC can be an optimum solution for some repairs. UHPC can be used in situations that normally use conventional concrete or repair mortars, and in some cases those that use structural steel. Some UHPC mixes gain strength rapidly, so bridges could be opened to traffic 24 hours after completing the necessary repairs. Additionally, UHPC repairs are long lasting and resilient, requiring less maintenance and fewer follow-up repairs than conventional methods. In some cases, they can outlive and outperform their conventional counterparts—UHPC repairs could be the strongest and most durable part of the bridge.

Benefits

Versatility. UHPC can generally be used anywhere other types of concrete would be used, and due to its strength and durability, it can be the optimum material for many applications.

Durability. UHPC-based repairs are long-lasting and require less maintenance and fewer follow-up repairs.

Cost Savings. UHPC repairs can outlive and outperform their conventional counterparts, resulting in life-cycle cost savings. UHPC bridge deck overlays and link slabs can extend the service life of bridges well beyond that of traditional preservation and repair strategies.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

UHPC for Bridge Preservation and Repair in NJ

Stage of Innovation:
ASSESSMENT
(December 2022)

Using UHPC. NJDOT completed construction of two bridge preservation projects in 2020. From its assessment of information on performance and usability from these pilot projects, which include four bridges using UHPC overlay, the agency considers further implementation promising. UHPC is excellent for preservation and is being considered for additional deployments. UHPC has been shown to increase service life but is currently more expensive than other methods. More widespread use/experience may reduce cost. The first UHPC link slab application is in the construction phase. Additional UHPC Link-Slab applications are currently in the Final Design Phase.

Communicating UHPC Information on Bridge Preservation & Repair. The State participated in workshops, webinars, and peer exchanges related to UHPC for Bridge P&R, including:

NJDOT Hosted FHWA Workshop UHPC EDC-6 P&R
International Bridge Conference Poster Session
NYSDOT UHPC Link-slab Peer Exchange 2022
ABC December 2022 presentation and paper
NJ STIC Meeting, 4th Quarter 2022

What’s Next?

The Future of UHPC for Bridge Preservation & Repair (P&R). The agency anticipates incorporating UHPC for bridge preservation and repair in its new design manual, using data collected from the current pilots and will further investigate performance and examine life cycle costs. NJDOT will use these indicators to determine future usage and applicability with additional research through the Bridge Research Program.

Industry experience in UHPC applications is not keeping up with agency goals. UHPC is not yet standardized for operational use which leads to a lack of consistency in the applied product, a lack of UHPC repair materials and methods, and significantly higher initial cost. Material and labor for UHPC are currently more expensive than traditional bridge preservation techniques. UHPC is used for repair projects that were not pre-planned; contractors may not have the experience or comfort with using the material. The material can be difficult to work with, and contractors need training.

However, the extension in bridge life span may result in a good return on investment. The programming/funding authority may need to address the issue of allowing UHPC higher costs into a project budget.

Further research and a possible pooled fund project would be beneficial to increase knowledge.

UHPC for Bridge Preservation and Repair: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) Applications in New Jersey – An Update

UHPC for Bridge Preservation and Repair is a model innovation that was featured in FHWA’s Every Day Counts Program (EDC-6). UHPC is recognized as an ...

Presentation: Design, Construction, and Evaluation of UHPC Bridge Deck Overlays for NJDOT

NJDOT recently installed UHPC Bridge Deck overlays on four bridges. NJDOT engineers explained the rationale for UHPC and highlighted key lessons in bridge selection, existing ...

UHPC Bridge Preservation and Repair – NJ Efforts Highlighted

The FHWA's EDC Newsletter of April 28th highlighted a project to test UHPC bridge preservation materials, in partnership with Rutgers University Below is a reprint ...

Stronger, More Resilient Bridges: Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) Applications in New Jersey

How the emerging innovation of Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) is being implemented in New Jersey. ...

Ultra-High Performance Concrete for Bridge Preservation and Repair: NJDOT Example Featured

The FHWA's EDC News Weekly Newsletter featured how NJDOT has applied UHPC for bridge preservation and repair. ...

EDC-4 Final Report Highlights Innovations

The EDC-4 Final Report highlights the results of round four of the Every Day Counts program to rapidly deploy proven innovations to enhance the transportation ...

Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions (TOPS)

Posted on August 6, 2022January 27, 2023

What is Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions (TOPS)?

Solutions for integrating innovative overlay procedures into practices that can improve performance, lessen traffic impacts, and reduce the cost of pavement ownership.

Approximately half of all infrastructure dollars are invested in pavements, and more than half of that investment is in overlays. By enhancing overlay performance, state and local highway agencies can maximize this investment and help ensure safer, longer-lasting roadways for the traveling public.

Improved Pavements that Last Longer

Many of the pavements in the nation's highway system have reached or are approaching the end of their design life. These roadways still carry daily traffic that often far exceeds their initial design criteria. Overlays are now available for both asphalt and concrete pavements that enable agencies to provide long-life performance under a wide range of traffic, environmental, and existing pavement conditions.

Concrete overlays now benefit from performance-engineered mixtures, including thinner-bonded and unbonded overlays with fiber reinforcement, interlayer materials, and new design procedures that improve durability and performance. Asphalt overlay mixtures have also advanced significantly with the use of stone-matrix asphalt (SMA), polymer-modified asphalt (PMA), and other materials and agents that reduce rutting, increase cracking resistance, and extend pavement life.

Benefits

Safety. Thousands of miles of rural and urban pavements need structural enhancement and improved surface characteristics, such as smoothness, friction, and noise. Targeted overlay pavement solutions can improve the condition of highways significantly in a relatively short time.

Cost Savings. Timely and well-designed overlay applications are consistently cost-effective because less subsurface work is required. In urban areas, impacts to utilities and pedestrian facilities are minimized.

Performance. Targeting overlay solutions to high-maintenance areas such as intersections, bus lanes, ramps, and curved alignments can pay immediate dividends in terms of reduced maintenance needs, fewer work zones, and improved safety.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

TOPS in NJ

Stage of Innovation:
DEMONSTRATION
(December 2022)

New Jersey has been a leader in Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions (TOPS). The following activities occurred in under previous EDC rounds:

High-Performance Thin Overlay (HPTO). NJDOT incorporated HPTO into its standard specifications and has used it for the preservation of good pavement and as the surface course on some composite pavement overlays. HPTO is also used by the Structural Design unit for bridge deck overlay.

Crack Attenuating Mixture. NJDOT incorporated this into its standard specifications and has used it for the intermediate course on some composite pavement overlays followed by SMA surface course.

Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA). NJDOT incorporated SMA into standard specifications and has used it for the surface course on high traffic pavement, for the surface course on some composite pavement overlays, and over top of BRIC mix as overlay of composite pavements.

Asphalt Rubber Gap-Graded (ARGG). NJDOT incorporated ARGG into its standard specifications and has used it for the surface and/or intermediate course on some composite pavement overlays.

Open-Graded Friction Course (OGFC). NJDOT incorporated OGFC into its standard specifications and has used it for full depth porous asphalt pavements in outside shoulders, parking lots, pathways, sidewalks and other low traffic pavements.

Ultra-Thin Bonded Wearing Course (UTBWC) / Ultra-Thin Friction Course (UTFC). NJDOT incorporated UTFC into its standard specifications and used it for preservation of good pavement and for the surface course on some resurfacing pavement overlays.

What’s Next?

The Rt.42 Pavement Preservation project, using Ultra-HPTO / Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA), is in construction. The Department plans to monitor closely and analyze the pros and cons of utilizing this type of asphalt mixture on NJ concrete pavements.

NJDOT Pavement Management unit procured new skid testing equipment in 2022. Skid testing was done for 9 projects by NJDOT Pavement Management unit on High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST)sections. Skid testing by the NJDOT Pavement Management unit on high friction surface treatment sections and alternative enhanced friction overlay (EFO) sections will continue using the new equipment. There are plans to test, analyze, and monitor skid test results to advise the department on future development and use of enhanced friction overlay treatments. The Department is also working with an academic partner to perform companion testing of these friction test sections with a Dynamic Friction Tester (DFT) unit.

Ultra High Performance Thin Overlay is included in one project (UPC 213090). Specification is finalized and the item number has been created.

Compilation and analysis of all data on the different Enhanced Friction overlay surfaces, will lead to better information for NJDOT staff and others on the recommended use and practices with EFOs. Skid test equipment function and calibration are critical to collecting and analyzing the data. Other test methods will be explored.

Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions (TOPS): NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Targeted Overlay Payment Solutions (TOPS): NJDOT Example Featured

The FHWA's EDC News Weekly Newsletter featured NJDOT's use of HPTO as a cost-effective pavement preservation tool. ...

Lunchtime Tech Talk! WEBINAR: NJDOT’s Pavement Support Program—Goals, Deliverables and the Future

Dr. Thomas Bennert, who leads the Pavement Support Program (PSP), discussed how the group's research supports NJDOT's efforts to improve pavements across the state. ...

Pavement Preservation Treatments at NJDOT

This video features the work that the NJDOT Pavement and Drainage Management and Technology Unit is doing to advance Pavement Preservation treatments on state roads to increase ...

Paving the Way to Better Roads at Lower Costs

Pavement preservation is just one example among many of how NJDOT is committed to keeping New Jersey’s roadways in a state of good repair and ...

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

A recent study found that pavement preservation techniques can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to savings for both transportation agencies and drivers. ...

Strategic Workforce Development

Posted on August 5, 2022May 3, 2023

What is Strategic Workforce Development (EDC-6)?

The demand for highway construction, maintenance, and operations workers is growing while industry is experiencing a revolution of emerging technologies that will require new skills. To attract and retain workers in the contractors' workforce, new resources are available to help compete with other industries and demonstrate the value of a career in transportation.

An Industry and Public Workforce Collaboration

Government agencies, trade organizations, private agencies, and communities nationwide need new, collaborative approaches to meeting this challenge. The nation depends on the highway system, and the highway system depends on qualified workers.

Additionally, increasing the contractors' construction workforce can help communities thrive while solving one of today's most persistent national transportation problems. It also offers an opportunity to recruit minorities and women to jobs that can change their lives, and the lives of their families, for the better.

Benefits
Effective Solutions. Advancing the lessons learned through the highway construction workforce pilot offers the transformational ideas and support needed to fill the gaps in the workforce.

Proven Training. Training programs, practices, and tools from across the country are available to help plan workforce development activities.

Flexibility. Free materials are available to support workforce marketing efforts. Posters, flyers, mailer cards, and social media graphics can be customized with local contact information.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

NJ Advances Strategic Workforce Development

Stage of Innovation:
ASSESSMENT
(December 2022)

New Jersey is utilizing diverse strategies to develop the state's transportation workforce:

Apprenticeship Program. Has an operations apprenticeship program that is currently in the implementation stage. NJDOT has a one-year training program that includes testing as trainees move through the system.

Professional Programs. NJDOT has expanded outreach to draw attention to its professional series positions by partnering with high schools, vocational-technical schools, colleges and universities, community organizations, and the Department of Labor; working with under-represented communities of interest; expanding its social media presence; and building its pipeline and knowledge base that allows growth into the journeyman title.

What's Next?

In September 2021, NJDOT participated in an FHWA pilot, Let’s Go! Workshop. In this 2-day workshop, NJDOT participants developed a Mission Statement – “To create career opportunities for a diverse workforce in terms of disciplines, demographics, and career levels in order to meet the demands of the transportation skills of tomorrow". The workshop participants defined a set of priority actions, including: Industry Association Outreach; Goal, Measures, Timeline, Buy-In; Regular Meetings and Follow-up Actions; and College/University Outreach.

Since then, NJDOT has continued to seek partnerships with national and local organizations to support hiring efforts and to acquire best practice information. The NJDOT Civil Rights programs has sought to perform outreach in underserved communities and pursue a NJDOT leadership training effort. NJDOT is also exploring potential development of a training program for construction inspection/maintenance.

During this period, interviews were conducted with HR staff about early stages of institutionalizing an apprenticeship program. Engagement activities were held to facilitate connections with Industry Association and Higher Education Institutions (e.g., Union, Workforce Development Boards and County College).

The Strategic Workforce Development Working Group convened to formulate a Department-Wide Mentorship Program; identify Emerging Skillset needs with Partners; and continue Industry Association and College/University Outreach activities. Research into best practices for identifying emerging skillsets and incorporating these considerations into mentoring programs could assist the advancement of this initiative.

Strategic Workforce Development: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Strategic Workforce Development: Preparing Justice-Impacted Individuals for Transportation, Engineering and Construction Careers

October 31, 2023

We interviewed Todd Pisani, the Training Director of Rutgers Employment Success Programs. Todd has been working for the past ten years on strategic workforce development ...

Strategic Workforce Development: A Follow-Up Conversation with Hudson County Community College and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825

August 8, 2023

We spoke with Lori Margolin, the Associate Vice President for Continuing Education and Workforce Development at Hudson County Community College (HCCC) and Greg LaLevee, Business ...

Strategic Workforce Development Online Recordings & Presentations

August 3, 2023

Strategic Workforce Development is one of FHWA’s seven initiatives promoted through the sixth round of the Every Day Counts (EDC) program. Key emphasis is on ...

Exploring Strategic Workforce Development: <strong>NJDOT’s Youth Corps Urban Gateway Enhancement Program</strong>

Exploring Strategic Workforce Development: NJDOT’s Youth Corps Urban Gateway Enhancement Program

January 4, 2023

We interviewed Chrystal Section, Supervisor of the Non-Discrimination Programs Unit in the NJDOT’s Division of Civil Rights and Affirmative Action, about the department's efforts to ...

Exploring Strategic Workforce Development – Model Programs, Partnerships and Lessons from Oregon

June 13, 2022

We spoke with representatives from Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI) to explore their roles and partnership in ...

Exploring Strategic Workforce Development: An Interview with NJDOT’s Human Resources

April 28, 2022

We spoke with Kelly Hutchinson, Director, Human Resources at NJDOT about ongoing and planned workforce development initiatives at NJDOT. ...

Digital As-Builts

Posted on August 5, 2022January 27, 2023

Highway construction projects produce massive amounts of valuable data. Historically, information such as materials tickets and as-built plans were communicated via paper. Today’s transportation agencies are improving on these paper processes by integrating them into electronic and digital workflows. While electronic ticketing (e-Ticketing) improves the tracking, exchange, and archiving of materials tickets, digital as-builts, and other digital information such as 3D design models and other metadata, can enhance the value of contract documents and the future usability of the as-built plans for operations, maintenance, and asset management. Both can increase project safety and quality through efficient data gathering and sharing.

What are Digital As-Builts?

Using digital data such as 3D models to build road projects is becoming an industry standard. Sharing the design model and associated digital project data allows agencies and contractors to streamline project delivery and contract administration and to collaborate on challenges “virtually” before they get to the field. The digital information is further leveraged when the model is updated, and other data incorporated, to reflect the project’s as-built condition for future maintenance, asset management, and rehabilitation activities.

Benefits

Safety. Construction using digital information can lead to safer projects and shorter work zone traffic impacts.

Time Savings. Digital information provided to construction enhances planning and can streamline project delivery. Digital as-builts including utility locations and other asset information will improve post-construction decisions and shorten future project delivery.

Quality. Digital as-builts can provide enhanced historical data, enabling State DOTs to better maintain the transportation infrastructure and develop future projects.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

Digital As-Builts in NJ

Stage of Innovation:
DEVELOPMENT
(December 2022)

The NJDOT EDC team added representation from in-house roadway design staff, traffic engineering, geodetic survey and the CADD Unit along with Local Aid, Construction, Project Management Office (PMO), and the consultant industry over time to develop this initiative.

Before digital as-builts could be advanced at NJDOT, the new CADD platform of Open Roads Designer (ORD) and Open Bridge Designer (OBD) must be fully in place and in full use. NJDOT's CADD unit has been working with Bentley on a new workspace for ORD and OBD. Several key steps required completion before the new software could be fully implemented by in-house and consultant designers including development of a new CADD Manual. The EDC team will provide assistance to the CADD unit for this and other activities.

Research. NJDOT has met with the Pennsylvania DOT to learn about their digital as-built program and delivery plan and has contacted the consultant developing FHWA guidelines for 3D As-Builts.

Pilot Development. NJDOT has identified a digital as-built pilot project that will meet various functional and business requirements. The pilot project, Route 138, GSP to Route 35 (MP 0.37 to 3.52), will be designed in-house using OpenRoads Designer (ORD) through mapping submitted in ORD following the new CADD Standards. The mobile LiDAR Survey is in process and preliminary engineering (PE) is slated to be initiated in the fall of 2022. The team has completed the task of connecting pay items to the design elements to ready the project.

What’s Next?

Next steps will be to coordinate with Construction on the specifics of the post construction survey for the digital as-builts. The implementation team is participating in various webinars and workshops to learn more about the national trends and to hear about lessons learned.

The loss of key staff in the CADD Development Unit and the Geodetic Survey Unit, due to retirements and promotions, has disrupted the team's learning curve for the storage of 3-D As-Builts and integration into GIS. With the pilot project not yet initiated and construction not due to start for a couple of years, the team expects to adjust staffing levels, groom new subject matter experts, and/or leverage consulting staff augmentation for support. This staff augmentation will help the team move forward once the OpenRoads Designer and OpenBridge Designer software are up and running.

DIGITAL AS-BUILTS: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

FHWA Digital as Builts (DABS) Webinar Series

The FHWA will present an eight-part webinar series on the EDC-6 Implementation Initiative for Digital As-Builts (DABs). The webinar series is designed to increase overall ...

Innovation Spotlight: How DOTs Are Moving Toward Digital As-Builts

This article reports on a brief Digital As-Builts Literature Scan and provides references to a select bibliography of research reports, strategic plans and other resource ...

Next-Generation TIM: Integrating Technology, Data, and Training

Posted on April 19, 2021September 7, 2023

What is Next-Generation TIM: Integrating Technology, Data, and Training?

New methods for improving Traffic Incident Management (TIM) programs aim to increase traveler and responder safety and improve trip reliability and commerce movement on all roadways.

Over 6 million reportable crashes occur every year in the United States. Each crash places responders and motorists at risk of secondary crashes while having a severe impact on congestion. New tools, data, and training mechanisms can be used to improve safety and reduce clearance times at roadway crashes. New and existing TIM programs, including those for local agencies and off-interstate applications, will benefit from using enhanced TIM practices on all roadways to save lives, time, and money.

A New Generation of TIM

While the FHWA's national TIM responder training program successfully trained almost 500,000 responders to clear incidents collaboratively, safely, and quickly, it was largely focused on agencies that respond on interstates and high-speed roadways. Next-generation (NextGen) TIM increases the focus on local agency TIM programs while integrating new and emerging technology, tools, and training to improve incident detection and reduce safety response and clearance times on all roadways.

Traditionally, transportation agencies capture incidents (crashes, roadway debris, stalled vehicles on mainlines, etc.) where sensor technologies are installed, where safety service patrols are present, or when contacted by public safety/law enforcement agencies. NextGen TIM significantly expands this capacity. It enables agencies to improve TIM strategies by implementing new options such as back-of-queue warning, navigation-app notification of active responders in the vicinity, notification-based incident detection using crowdsourced data, and more.

By using NextGen TIM methods, State and local agencies can increase traveler and responder safety, improve trip reliability and commerce movement, and enable responder communities to focus more resources on other pressing citizen needs.

Benefits

Increased Safety. NextGen TIM targets advances in safety through engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency services to help keep responders, drivers, and pedestrians safe across freeway, arterial, and multimodal travel.

Improved Travel Times. Training, data, and technology combine to help local and State agencies reduce secondary crashes and clearance times, improving trip reliability and increasing motorists' awareness of active responders along their travel routes.

Improved Operations. Integrating new and emerging technology, tools, and training can improve incident mitigation and safety throughout the whole TIM timeline, from incident detection to clearance on all roadways.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

How NJ Incorporates NextGen Traffic Incident Management (TIM)

Stage of Innovation:
DEVELOPMENT
(December 2022)

Research. NJDOT is coordinating with State Police to determine communications that will be shared with Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) integration. NJDOT is also working to establish radio channels to enable coordinated DOT and law enforcement communications at incident sites.

Training. NJDOT is actively working towards achieving participation by all local agencies in the NJDOT established statewide TIM training course.

Building Support. DVRPC area-generated incident management task forces can serve as models for creation of similar diverse stakeholder task forces in other regions. NJDOT is also looking to build partnerships with media to facilitate TIM communications.

What’s Next?

For the EDC-6 initiative, the NJDOT initially wanted to focus on CAD integration as one of the major activities in support of the TIM strategic plan. As a result of NJ State Police's decision to change their CAD technology, the NJDOT is revising their approach for EDC-6 NextGen TIM.

NJDOT is continuing to coordinate with the NJIT ITS Resource Center to deploy HAAS Alert technology on NJDOT's Safety Service Patrol vehicles. The responder-to-vehicle alert application will deliver incident alerts to the motorists (i.e. phone apps) for their situational awareness when approaching a stopped SSP vehicle assisting stranded motorists to assist in reducing speed and collision.

The NJSP statewide CAD system (Motorola FLEX) is currently being re-evaluated. The NJDOT will continue to maintain the existing working group/team comprising staff from the Mobility Operations, Mobility Planning/Research, and NJIT ITS Resource Center to provide coordination and strategic planning for the CAD integration project.

Next-Generation TIM: Integrating Technology, Data, and Training: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

NJDOT Traffic Incident Management Training Course – Now Available Online as Self-Guided Course

September 7, 2023

NJDOT's Traffic Incident Management training is now available as an online, self-guided course. Bringing first responder training program to online platform should make it ...

Talking TIM Webinar Series (TIM) Webinar Series

July 20, 2023

A series of FHWA-hosted webinars spotlights ongoing NextGen TIM implementations and best practices. ...

Innovation Spotlight: Testing and Deploying ITS Solutions for Safer Mobility and Operations

February 10, 2022

We spoke with Sue Catlett from NJDOT's Transportation Mobility, Planning and Research Group to get an update on Crowdsourcing, Weather Responsive Management and Traffic Incident ...

Developing Next Generation Traffic Incident Management in the Delaware Valley

June 10, 2021

DVRPC's Traffic Incident Monitoring (TIM) platform provides system-wide traffic operators, first responders, and highway planners. ...

Final Report Released for the Connected Vehicles Program Pilot Testing of Technology for Distributing Road Service Safety Messages from Safety Service Patrols

February 12, 2020

NJDOT’s top priority is to improve highway safety. To support this goal, in September 2018, New Jersey began a pilot study of the effectiveness of ...

Connected Vehicles Program Pilot Testing of Technology for Safety Service Patrol Workers Continues

August 6, 2019

The pilot study continues to examine the effectiveness of connected vehicle technology to alert motorists to Safety Service Patrol (SSP) workers at an incident site. ...

New Jersey Pilots Connected Vehicles Program to Protect Safety Service Patrol Staff

July 18, 2018

This study will examine the effectiveness of connected vehicle technology to alert motorists to Safety Service Patrol (SSP) workers at an incident site. ...

e-Ticketing

Posted on April 12, 2021January 27, 2023

Implementing e-Ticketing, and the related practice of using digital as-builts, into project delivery enhances safety, quality, and cost savings by improving the accessibility of project data.

Highway construction projects produce massive amounts of valuable data. Historically, information such as materials tickets and as-built plans were communicated via paper. Today's transportation agencies are improving on these paper processes by integrating them into electronic and digital workflows. Electronic ticketing (e-Ticketing) improves the tracking, exchange, and archiving of materials tickets. Digital information, such as 3D design models and other metadata, can enhance the value of contract documents and the future usability of the as-built plans for operations, maintenance, and asset management. Both can increase project safety and quality through efficient data gathering and sharing.

What is e-Ticketing?

Providing all stakeholders with an electronic means to produce, transmit, and share materials data and track and verify materials deliveries enhances safety, streamlines inspections, and improves contract administration processing. Using electronic ticket (e-Ticket) exchanges enables access via mobile devices and simplifies handling and integration of material data into construction management systems for acceptance, payment, and source documentation.

Benefits

Safety. e-Ticketing enhances data collection while reducing exposure to adjacent vehicular traffic and construction equipment for inspectors and work crews while retrieving paper tickets.

Time Savings. Real-time access, via electronic handling of tickets, reduces processing time for quality assurance and payment, decreasing the inherent delays in paper-based project administration.

Quality. Project documentation is more consistent and efficient using e-Ticketing platforms. Standardized data enables archiving for future reference, leading to improved design, construction, maintenance, and operations.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

How NJ Incorporates e-Ticketing

Stage of Innovation:
DEVELOPMENT
(December 2022)

New Jersey has taken several steps to advance its use of e-Ticketing and to encourage its partners to adopt its use.

Research. NJDOT has collected and reviewed information, guidance, research, and best practices on the implementation and use of e-Ticketing techniques.

Training. NJDOT has participated in e-Ticketing trainings, peer exchanges, and workshops.

Building Support. NJDOT is working with internal and external partners, stakeholders, and vendors to advance the use of e-Ticketing. The agency has also identified individuals for an implementation team.

What’s Next?

A NJDOT e-Ticketing working group was formed that will work to advance this innovation by pursuing tasks including seeking guidance from other state DOTs on their e-Ticketing related interactions with vendors and procedures and policies. The working group is at the stage in the process where a "Project Intake Process" and "Project Risk and Complexity Assessment Tool" is being developed. The team in place includes a designated individual assigned as the lead following completion of a procurement process.

The working group is coordinating with the DOT for preparation and submission of Logical SAR (System Architecture Review) documents which are required to select an e-ticketing Vendor and the necessary software.

e-Ticketing: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations

Posted on January 1, 2021January 27, 2023

What is Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations?

Crowdsourcing is focused on employing the collective experience of a number of people to manage a process. Crowdsourced data can be obtained whenever and wherever people travel, allowing agencies to capture in real time what happens between sensors, in rural regions, along arterials, and beyond jurisdictional boundaries. Agencies at all levels can use crowdsourced data integrated from multiple streams to optimize roadway use for reduced congestion and increased safety and reliability.

State and local transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) programs strive to optimize the use of existing roadway facilities through traveler information, incident management, road weather management, arterial management, and other strategies targeting the causes of congestion. TSMO programs require real-time, high-quality, and wide-ranging roadway information. However, gaps in geographic coverage, lags in information timeliness, and life-cycle costs for field equipment can limit agencies' ability to operate the system proactively.

Benefits

Public agencies at all levels are increasing both their situational awareness and the quality and quantity of operations data using crowdsourcing, which enables staff to apply proactive strategies cost effectively and make better decisions that lead to safer and more reliable travel while protecting privacy and security of individual user data.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

How NJ Incorporates Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations

Stage of Innovation: INSTITUTIONALIZED
(December 2022)

The NJDOT is institutionalized in its use of vehicle probe data to support traffic incident/operations management and planning for operations. New Jersey has been a leader in using crowdsourcing data to advance operations since 2008. The following activities occurred in under previous EDC rounds:

Acquired Two Probe Data Sets. Crowdsourcing data from INRIX and HERE (via TRANSCOM partnership) is used for real-time performance management and traffic monitoring for roadway management and event after actions.

Incorporated Crowdsourcing Data Sets. TRANSCOM tools such as Data Fusion Engine (DFE) and Selected Priorities Applied to Evaluate Links (SPATEL) aggregate all available data sources for operations, analysis, and performance measures.

Piloted a Connected Vehicle Program. The pilot study funded through a STIC Incentive Grant seeks to protect safety service patrol staff by alerting drivers in real-time of their presence at an incident site through apps such as Waze and Google.

What's Next?

NJDOT formed a collaboration with Drivewyze, an information service provider able to provide connected truck services including a real-time truck alert system to improve safety and reduce commercial vehicle crashes.

The real-time trucking alert system was deployed in January 2022 to improve safety and reduce commercial vehicle crashes. The alert system helps truck drivers to react more quickly before encountering stopped traffic and major slowdowns within the corridor including taking alternate routes to relieve congestion bottlenecks during major incidents. NJDOT will continue to assess the performance of the alert system on how well the truck drivers are receiving advance warning of the traffic incident.

NJDOT, along with its private sector providers, have made presentations and highlighted lessons and benefits of the initiative in webinars and with the NJ STIC.

In November 2022, representatives from NJDOT and FHWA-NJ participated in the EDC-6 Crowdsource Capstone Peer Exchange in North Carolina. States DOT participants included Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. Each State DOT representative shared their crowdsource journey, challenges, best practices, and future plans. Common issues included the need for workforce planning, training on data analysis, data scientists, and help with review of new data sources, big data, forecasting, and trying to make associations, patterns, and trends that have nexus to the operations program.

Click for the Crowdsourcing for Operations Fact Sheet.

CROWDSOURCING FOR ADVANCING OPERATIONS: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

WEBINAR: Traveler Information and Traffic Incident Management: Crowdsourcing Course

Sal Cowan, NJDOT's Senior Director of Mobility served as one of the course instructors for a Travel Information and Incident Management webinar, one in a ...

ITS Training and Resource Hub

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program and its partners offer trainings and resources to support workforce development and technical assistance for ...

Adventures in Crowdsourcing Webinar Series

The Crowdsourcing Innovation Team in collaboration with the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program is offering the crowdsourcing course ...

NJDOT Wins 2022 America’s Transportation Award for Best Use of Technology and Innovation

New Jersey Department of Transportation has been recognized with a 2022 America’s Transportation Award in the category of best use of technology and innovation. ...

NJDOT’s Commercial Vehicle Alerts Initiative Featured in National Operations for Excellence Webinar

The National Operations Center for Excellence held a webinar featuring New Jersey and Colorado DOT initiatives to establish private sector partnerships that use crowdsourced data ...

National Operations Center Webinar to Feature NJDOT’s Commercial Vehicle Alerts Initiative

The National Operations Center for Excellence will hold a webinar featuring New Jersey and Colorado DOT initiatives to establish private sector partnerships that use crowdsourced ...

Innovation Spotlight: Testing and Deploying ITS Solutions for Safer Mobility and Operations

We spoke with Sue Catlett from NJDOT's Transportation Mobility, Planning and Research Group to get an update on Crowdsourcing, Weather Responsive Management and Traffic Incident ...

DVRPC’s Sidewalk Inventory and Crowdsourcing Platform

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is seeking to understand the region’s pedestrian infrastructure through the development of an online inventory, map, and platform ...

Final Report Released for the Connected Vehicles Program Pilot Testing of Technology for Distributing Road Service Safety Messages from Safety Service Patrols

NJDOT’s top priority is to improve highway safety. To support this goal, in September 2018, New Jersey began a pilot study of the effectiveness of ...

How SJTPO Refined Their Congestion Management Process with Crowdsourced Data

Through the Everyday Counts (EDC) program, FHWA identifies and deploys established but underutilized innovations through a state-based model, with the goals of streamlining project delivery, ...

Tech Talk! Webinar: Crowdsourcing for Local Operations

The NJDOT Bureau of Research hosted a Tech Talk! Webinar, Crowdsourcing for Local Operations, that illustrated how local agencies are working, often with state partners, ...

Connected Vehicles Program Pilot Testing of Technology for Safety Service Patrol Workers Continues

The pilot study continues to examine the effectiveness of connected vehicle technology to alert motorists to Safety Service Patrol (SSP) workers at an incident site. ...

Making Work Zones Smarter: Data-Driven Decision Making

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” ...

New Jersey Pilots Connected Vehicles Program to Protect Safety Service Patrol Staff

This study will examine the effectiveness of connected vehicle technology to alert motorists to Safety Service Patrol (SSP) workers at an incident site. ...

Virtual Public Involvement (VPI)

Posted on January 1, 2021March 15, 2023

What is Virtual Public Involvement (VPI)?

Innovative virtual public involvement techniques provide State departments of transportation (DOTs), transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and rural transportation planning organizations (RTPOs) with a platform to inform the public and receive feedback. These strategies increase the number and variety of channels available to agencies for remotely disseminating information to the public and create efficiencies in how input is collected and considered, which can potentially accelerate planning and project development processes.

Encouraging Public Engagement

Public involvement is a critical component in the transportation decision-making process, allowing for meaningful consideration and input from interested individuals. As daily users of the transportation system, the public has useful opinions, insights, and observations to share with their State DOT and local agencies on the performance and needs of the transportation system or on specific projects. Early and strong public engagement has the potential to accelerate project delivery by helping identify and address public concerns early in the planning process, thereby reducing delays from previously unknown interests late in the project delivery process.

Nearly all State DOTs and most local agencies use websites to post information about their activities. With the increased use of social media tools and mobile applications, the public can access user-friendly features such as online videos, podcasts, crowdsourced maps, and other interactive forums to receive information and provide input.

Benefits

Efficiency and Low Cost. Virtual tools and platforms can be made accessible to communities efficiently, many at a lower cost than traditional public engagement methods.

Accelerated Project Delivery. Robust public engagement helps identify issues early in the project planning process, which reduces the need to revisit decisions.

Communication and Collaboration. Virtual public involvement can aid in establishing a common vision for transportation and ensure the opinions and needs of the public are understood and considered during transportation planning and project development.

Expanded Engagement. Virtual tools can facilitate inclusion of stakeholders who do not participate in traditional approaches to public involvement. Greater and more diverse engagement can improve project quality.

Learn more about this EDC-6 Innovation.

Virtual Public Involvement in NJ

Stage of Innovation:
INSTITUTIONALIZED
(March 2023)

Collaboration. NJDOT has collaborated with the state's three MPOs to integrate VPI practices in all stages of capital project implementation, from concept development to construction.

Local Agency Advancement. New Jersey's counties and municipalities are using lessons learned from state efforts to increase their engagement with local stakeholders.

Expanding Reach. Transportation partners throughout the state have utilized VPI practices in a wide variety of projects, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work has provided robust demonstration of expanded attendance to VPI online events. However, concerns still exist about documentation of virtual feedback versus that gained through in-person communications, as well as the issue of equity in reaching, and gaining insight, from a wide variety of participants including underserved and disadvantaged populations.

What's Next?

NJDOT and its partners are seeking to increase public engagement of various stakeholder groups. The Department plans to include VPI in its updated Public Involvement Action Plan. The agency understands that input through VPI is as important, and considered equal to, in-person input. VPI can enhance and increase access to many populations, particularly those who are underserved, but the need exists to strike a balance of in-person and virtual engagement.

Virtual Public Involvement (VPI): NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Virtual Public Involvement Peer Exchanges and Video Case Studies

Transportation agencies can increase meaningful public involvement in planning and project development by integrating virtual tools into their overall public involvement approach. FHWA has ...

NJ Transportation Agencies Featured for Their Innovative and Virtual Public Involvement Approaches

FHWA promotes virtual public involvement and other innovative public involvement tools through its Every Day Counts-5 innovations. ...

Engaging Youth in Transportation Planning – NJ MPO Efforts Featured

The FHWA's EDC Newsletter of March 3rd featured the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority's creative efforts to engage youth in the transportation planning process during ...

Innovation Spotlight Interview: Virtual Public Involvement at NJDOT

At NJDOT, the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges and opportunities for the agency’s public engagement efforts. This interview with NJDOT staff discusses how the need ...

Project Bundling

Posted on January 1, 2021August 4, 2023

What is Project Bundling?

The U.S. transportation system is aging, with many States seeing an ever-increasing number of highways and bridges that need more immediate attention. As a result, system performance is reduced, leading to potentially adverse impacts to quality of life, mobility, travel time, freight movements, and emergency response times. Often the most pressing needs are on the local systems, as evidenced by bridges that are being posted for reduced loads.

Project bundling helps address this national issue. By awarding a single contract for several similar preservation, rehabilitation, or replacement projects, agencies can streamline design and construction, reduce costs, and effectively decrease transportation project backlogs.

This proven practice draws upon efficiencies found through project delivery streamlining, as well as benefits from alternative and traditional contracting methods. A bundled contract could cover a single county, district, or State, and it may be tiered to allow a combination of work types (design, preservation, rehabilitation, or complete replacement). Bundling design and construction contracts saves procurement time, leverages design expertise, and builds momentum toward keeping critical assets in a state of good repair.

Learn more about this EDC-5 Innovation.

NJ's Use of Project Bundling

Stage of Innovation:
INSTITUTIONALIZED

New Jersey implemented project bundling prior to the start of EDC-5:

Adopted Project Bundling Across NJDOT. Project bundling has been used in NJ for years as a way to save time in the procurement of designers and contractors, as well as to save money through economies of scale and reduced staff paperwork. It is incorporated into the Department's policies and procedures and most commonly referred to as batch solicitation.

Routinely Uses Project Bundling for the Delivery of Federally-Funded Capital Projects and State-Funded Maintenance Projects. NJDOT assesses projects and programs at the planning phase for their suitability for a project bundling approach for either design, construction, or both. Major programs that use project bundling include:

- Sign Structure Replacement Program
- ADA Compliance Program
- Maintenance Roadway Repair Contracts
- Statewide Guiderail Replacement

When possible, NJDOT looks to use project bundling on smaller projects as well to save time and money.

PROJECT BUNDLING: NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Project Bundling Webinar Series

FHWA provides online webinars on the subject of project bundling to share best practices with interested agencies. ...

Project Bundling

Awarding a single contract for several preservation, rehabilitation, or replacement projects helps agencies reduce costs and achieve program goals. Project bundling offers a comprehensive and accelerated ...

Reducing Rural Roadway Departures

Posted on January 1, 2021August 4, 2023

What is Reducing Rural Roadway Departures?

Reducing fatalities on rural roads remains a major challenge in the United States. Roadway departures on the rural road network account for one-third of traffic fatalities. Systemic application of proven roadway departure countermeasures, such as rumble strips, friction treatments, and clear zones, helps keep vehicles in their travel lanes, reduce the potential for crashes, and reduce the severity of those crashes that do occur.

Data-driven systemic analysis can help agencies prioritize the locations and countermeasures that will be most effective by taking a broad view to evaluate risks across an entire roadway system. It can be used to proactively implement countermeasures where crashes are likely to happen, even for locations where no crashes have been recorded. The benefits include safer roads, quick deployment, and flexibility.

Learn more about this EDC-5 Innovation.

NJ Expands Systemic Application of Proven Safety Countermeasures

Stage of Innovation:
DEVELOPMENT
(January 2021)

With EDC-5, NJ plans to expand their current practices to reduce rural roadway departures:

Utilizes Crash Data for Proactive Systemic Approach. Currently, NJ uses crash data to analyze transportation systems for all public roads and applies a proactive systemic approach including rumble striping, low-cost countermeasure mitigation, high friction surface treatments, and signage improvements, unless a location is on the high crash list. Then NJ provides project-specific mitigation to reduce or eliminate the issue. NJ implements these approaches on rural roads through the Local Safety, High Risk Rural Roads, and Preliminary Engineering and Design Assistance Programs.

What's Next?

Be Proactive and Organize Workshops. The FHWA Resource Center conducted a Train-the-Trainer Workshop at NJDOT Headquarters in June 2019. Training events, hosted by the state's MPOs, were being planned for safety professionals, rural roadway facility owners and maintainers on roadway departures, location identification, systemic approach to safety, and proven safety countermeasures, with the assistance of the FHWA Safety Program Office and the FHWA Resource Center.

The planned in-person workshops were cancelled due to COVID restrictions and CDC/State guidelines. Instead NJDOT and FHWA plan to host virtual training sessions presented by the FHWA Resource Center, tentatively scheduled for March 2021.

Reducing Rural Roadway Departures: NEW & NOTEWORTHY