The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Talking TIM webinar series provides best practices, new technological innovations, and successful implementations. The webinar series provides a forum where TIM champions with any level of experience can exchange information about current practices, programs, and technologies. Each month, the FHWA TIM Program Team seeks to feature content that highlights successful programs, identifies best practices, and showcases technology that advances the profession.
January 2021: The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Role in TIM, Digital Alert Pilots in St Louis and Kansas City, and FHWA Every Day Counts Round Six (EDC-6) NextGen TIM Overview
February 2021: Innovative Tools for Responder and Road Worker Safety
March 2021: AASHTO's Role in TIM, Nebraska Tow Temporary Traffic Control Program, Fire Truck Attenuators for Temporary Traffic Control, Massachusetts Legislation for Driver and Responder Safety
April 2021: Wisconsin's Traffic Incident Management Enhancement (TIME) Program, City of Seattle TIM and Response Team Program, and North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) TIM Innovations
May 2021: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Role in TIM, Incident Detours Involving Railroad Crossings, Washington State's TIM Program and Virtual Coordination, and Responder Vehicle to Traffic Management Center Video Sharing
June 2021: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Traffic Incident Management
July 2021: Lubbock Fire and Rescue Helmet Innovation, RESQUE-1 Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Assistance, Geographically-Tagged Information from Travelers
August 2021: CDOT TIM for Localities, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement TIM Training Requirement, Schertz Fire and Rescue TIM Training Institutionalization, Institutionalizing TIM training for EMS Professionals in Georgia
September 2021: Rural Roadway Strategies for Incident Management
October 2021: Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator Testing and Implementation in Colorado, Autonomous and Driverless Pilots for Large Trucks in Arizona, Rural-Focused Towing Programs in Florida
November 2021: National Kickoff: Crash Responder Safety Week 2021
December 2021: In-Cab Incident Alerts for Commercial Vehicles
January 2022: Illinois TIM Program Overview and Training Video Use, Law Enforcement and First Responder Interactions Plans for Automated Driving Systems (ADS), Total Solar Eclipse Planning for 2023 and 2024
February 2022: Public Safety Announcements across Nine States for Motorist and Traffic Incident Responder Safety, TIM Video Sharing Use Cases: Findings from the Recent EDC-6 Next Generation TIM Workshop, TRACS and MACH: Software to Simplify Electronic Crash Reporting and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)
March 2022: Outreach for Responder Safety through Collaborations with the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the Towing and Recovery Association of America, North Carolina Tethered Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program, and Advanced Responder Warning through Safety Vests Fueled by Video Analytics
April 2022: Smart Lighting Strategies for Responder Vehicles, Incident Response After Action Reviews Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Imagery, Incident Response After Action Reviews Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Imagery
May 2022: Data Use and Visualization, Promoting Roadway Safety Through Move Over Law and Responder Struck-By Awareness, The New Jersey TIM Program
June 2022: Ohio DOT Quick Clear Demonstration, Electric Vehicle Battery Fires and the TIM Timeline, Montana's TIM Program
July 2022: The National Unified Goal: What Is It and How Do We Make It Relevant?, Planning and Responding to Special Events in Minnesota, Iowa DOT TIM Program Overview and Strategies for Quicker Incident Detection
August 2022: Overview of the Florida Heartland TIM Committee and Florida's Expanded Deployment of Cameras on Road Ranger Vehicles, What's New for the 2022 TIM Capability Maturity Self-Assessment, The TIM National Unified Goal: Relevancy of the TIM NUG Strategies
September 2022: Move Over and Responder Safety Technologies, Houston Traffic Incident Management and Training
National Unified Goals Review and Feedback.
January 2023: Mitigating Work Zone Traffic Incidents Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Every Day Counts Round 7 (EDC-7) Innovation, Next Generation TIM: Technology for Lifesaving Response, Traffic Incident Management National Unified Goal (NUG) Review and Feedback, Part 3
February 2023: Findings from Move Over Compliance and Responder Safety Technology Research, After Action Review of a Multi-Vehicle Fire, EDC-7 Summit Debrief: TIM Technologies for Saving Lives.
March 2023: Light-emitting diode (LED) Temporary Traffic Control Devices for Digital Motorist Alerts, Moveable Barriers and Debris Removal Systems, National Secondary Crash Research.
April 2023: Responder to Vehicle (R2V) Alerts in the District of Columbia, The Role of Medical Examiners in TIM, New Audience Listening Session
On July 10th, the NJDOT Bureau of Research hosted a Lunchtime Tech Talk! webinar, “Advanced Reinforced Concrete Materials for Transportation Infrastructure.” Welcoming remarks were given by Mansi Shah, Manager of the Bureau of Research, who turned over the session to its moderator, Omid Sarmad, a member of the NJDOT Technology Transfer Project Team. The presentation was conducted jointly by the Co-Directors of New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Materials and Structures Laboratory (MATSLAB), Dr. Matthew Bandelt, and Dr. Matthew Adams.
Researchers described the durability issues for concrete including corrosion, shrinkage, salt scaling, and freeze-thaw cycles.
Transportation infrastructure systems must resist conditioning from the natural environment and physical demands from service loading to meet the needs of users across the state. Deterioration leads to costly and timely durability and maintenance challenges. This presentation provided a background on the state-of-the-art of advanced reinforced concrete materials that are being investigated to improve reinforced concrete transportation infrastructure. The duo, both Associate Professors at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, spoke about the team’s research conducted to assess the mechanical properties and long-term durability of these systems.
Dr. Bandelt opened the presentation with an overview of the MATSLAB where the work was conducted, and the motivation which led to the project. The demand for the research was initiated by the various durability issues that exist in concrete, in particular corrosion, shrinkage, salt scaling, and freeze-thaw cycles. These issues are exacerbated in New Jersey due to the climate and the large-scale adoption of concrete throughout the state. A variety of different concretes were evaluated in the project, such as Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC), Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) and a Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete (HyFRC), each having its own unique mechanical properties.
Researchers described a multi-physics time-dependent modeling framework that considers the structural response, materials ingress and electrochemical reactions.
The experimental testing program involved mechanical testing, corrosion testing, testing in freezing environments, and shrinkage testing. Corrosion testing of ductile and normal concrete systems used a chloride ponding test method with exposure to an aggressive environment for over one year. Various steel reinforcing bars were studied, and systems were tested in uncracked and pre-cracked conditions. Freeze-thaw and salt-scaling experimental activities were conducted, using mixes that were commonly used by NJDOT. Drying shrinkage behavior of the ductile and normal concrete systems was also investigated. Dr. Bandelt and Adams developed a numerical modeling approach to simulate the corrosion behavior of ductile concrete systems to understand the long-term performance. The results of the durability testing showed that UHPC had the best performance across the board, and that ductile concrete systems had improved durability.
The professors then described their life-cycle cost modeling methodology, which was completed to assess the costs of a representative bridge-deck made with normal reinforced concrete. There are primarily two ways to evaluate service life; experimental evaluation which describes the physical testing of materials is accurate and intuitive, while numerical evaluation is more cost efficient, time efficient, and more easily extrapolated to various scenarios. There are gaps however in numerical modeling, mainly the lack of inclusion of cracks, corrosion behavior, and boundary conditions. The team sought to develop a framework to simulate the long-term durability of a select group of materials under the combined effects of mechanical loading and environmental conditioning.
The research showed that their framework was effective in service life evaluation, and that most importantly, UHPC bridge deck experienced slower deterioration under the same traffic load and environmental conditions. The reinforced UHPC beams and reinforced UHPC bridge decks exhibited excellent resistance to chloride penetration and corrosion propagation according to the modeling results. The structural deteriorations of the reinforced UHPC systems were also significantly slower compared to that of reinforced normal strength concrete systems. The study also showed that chloride induced corrosion performance is affected by the initial damage pattern, which depends on the structure and loading conditions. This means that it becomes important to consider the structural configuration, traffic loading conditions, and climate characteristics to assess the long-term durability of an advanced reinforced concrete system.
Afterwards, Dr. Bandelt and Adams both participated in a Q&A with the audience.
Q. UHPC seems to be advancing in the bridge industry. What are the biggest challenges looking forward on the rehabilitation of bridge decks?
A. Yes, it’s advancing quite rapidly. The FHWA has a website where you can see all the projects where UHPC was deployed, and if you plot the number of projects over time, you’ll see nearly an exponential growth. Part of that is due to the fact that there is a lot of research going on, and a lot new standards coming out. Organizations like AASHTO and ACI have released a lot of design guidance that has helped spur adaptation.
Still, the biggest challenge is getting new people used to using these design methods. As we move past some of that, I think we’ll see adoption continue to increase. UHPC may not be the right solution for every project, but there are many beneficial uses for which it will be the most appropriate tool to achieve long lasting sustainability.
Q. Regarding the resilience of concrete: Are advanced reinforced concretes better able to handle the freeze/thaw cycles that could be outcomes of climate change? If so, do you have any modeling projection to show how it fairs in comparison to regular concrete?
A. We haven’t done any specific modeling in comparison to traditional concrete in relation to climate change, but in general these systems are more resilient. They simply perform better; as you saw in our research, after 300 cycles we saw virtually no damage from freeze/thaw cycles in the system. When you see that level of performance in these accelerated tests which are quite aggressive, you can extrapolate that these advanced reinforced concretes will simply perform better.
Q. Why did the HyFRC showed much higher free shrinkage than HPC? Is the HyFRC mix design different from HPC other than fibers?
A. The mix design of the HyFRC is a bit different. One thing in particular is that even though it has those blended fibers, it has a significantly higher water to cement ratio. So because it has more water, it is a bit more prone to drying shrinkage. With UHPC that turns out to be less of a concern because it’s much stronger and is not as susceptible.
Q. Could your modeling adjust relative humidity to a more wet and hot climate in the future?
A. Yes, absolutely. The case study we looked up was in New Jersey, but we can modify that to be in any setting so you can see where it would be geographically advantageous to use certain systems.
Q. Can you explain more about the deterioration we saw in slide 66?
Video Recording of Lunchtime Tech Talk!, Advanced Reinforced Concrete Materials for Transportation.
A. Basically what we did was look at tensile strains throughout a bridge area. The colors coincide with different levels of tensile strain. We counted up areas that were in different sections, and based on the percent area that we saw that was damaged, and we would use a multiplier to create a rating system.
To view a copy of the presentation, please click here.
NJDOT’s Route 71 Shark River Bridge Preservation and Road Diet project has been selected as a regional winner in the 2023 America’s Transportation Awards Competition. The competition is sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Route 71 Shark River Bridge Preservation and Road Diet project received honors in the Operations Excellence, Small category. This year’s regional winners were chosen from a selection of 19 projects nominated by nine states in the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) region. The NASTO region’s winners will compete for the National Grand Prize, the People’s Choice Award, and $10,000 in cash awards that will be given by the winners to a transportation-related charity or scholarship program of their choosing.
After the Route 71 Drawbridge over Shark River between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea in Monmouth County suffered a mechanical failure in September 2021, engineers devised a cost-effective design and implementation solution that would preserve the drawbridge and keep it in safe operation.
NJDOT implemented a road diet across the bridge, which allowed the Department to address safety issues. Traffic over the bridge was reduced from one northbound lane and two southbound lanes to one lane in each direction.
With the lane configuration reduced to one lane in each direction, NJDOT was able to extend bicycle lanes that previously terminated in Avon-By-The-Sea across the drawbridge into Belmar. Previously, bicyclists needed to dismount and walk their bicycle across the bridge. The extended bicycle lanes were accomplished using an innovative fiber-reinforced-polymer mat on the bascule span. The mat is the first of its kind in New Jersey and provides a safe crossing of a steel-grid deck for bicycles. The extended bicycle lanes provide connectivity between both downtown areas and area heavily utilized by bicycle traffic year-round.
Safety improvements to the Rt 71 over Shark River Drawbridge Included a bicycle safe grid on the draw span which allows bicyclists to cross without the need to dismount.
NJDOT was able to improve traffic flow at the Fifth Avenue intersection with the road diet project. Previously, two southbound lanes crossing the drawbridge on Route 71 were a source of traffic backups with left turning vehicles occupying the left lane, compounded by an abrupt merge south of Fifth Avenue. The merge that previously existed on Route 71 south of Fifth Avenue in downtown Belmar was eliminated with the road diet project. The road diet configuration retained one through lane southbound and installed a dedicated left turn lane at the Fifth Avenue intersection. Signal timings were changed, and a protected left turn phase added to further improve traffic flow. Careful monitoring of traffic throughout the year, and especially during bridge openings, have shown that the road diet lane configuration greatly improved traffic flow.
The Route 71 Drawbridge Project over Shark River, completed in May 2022, delivered several benefits, including improved traffic flow, reductions in traffic congestion, increased safety and an enhanced cycling experience for users navigating a busy shore community tourism area.
Road Diets are a safety-focused alternative to four-lane, undivided roadways that can help reduce vehicle speeds and free space for alternative transportation modes. Road Diets were a recognized model innovation during the 3rd Round of the Every Day Counts Program (EDC-3) Program.
Additional information about the rationale, design and benefits of advancing this innovative bridge safety and road diet project can be found in the video here and in this NJDOT press release.
FHWA recently released its EDC-7 Summit Summary and Baseline Report that can be found here.
EDC-7 Summit Summary and Baseline Report includes information on each states plan to advance the innovations being promoted in Round 7.
The Report highlights the Every Day Counts innovations that FHWA is promoting in the program’s seventh round (EDC-7) and includes the baseline deployment status of the innovations at the beginning of 2023 and the goals for adoption set by each of the states over the two year, 2023-2024 period.
The report also shares highlights from the EDC-7 Virtual Summit held in February 2023, including remarks from transportation leaders given during the summit’s opening sessions on the three focus areas of EDC-7—improving safety for all users, building sustainable infrastructure, and growing an inclusive workforce.
The NJ STIC’s baseline assessment of its deployment status for the innovations being advanced by its Core Innovation Area (CIA) Teams during Round 7 can be found in the FHWA report. Click the “EDC-7” button on our NJ STIC Innovative Initiatives page to learn more about the priority innovations, goals for deployment and planned activities for Round 7.
Every Day Counts (EDC) is the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) program to advance a culture of innovation in the transportation community in partnership with public and private stakeholders. Through this State-based effort, FHWA coordinates rapid deployment of proven strategies and technologies to shorten the project delivery process, enhance roadway safety, reduce traffic congestion, and integrate automation.
This is just a small sampling of research on this topic in 2022 and 2023. Check out these search results discoverable through TRID (including current research projects) and Google Scholar. As shown here, links to recent searches can be saved to collaborate and share with colleagues. The links display the scale and breadth of materials that can be easily discovered.
Check out the TRB Library Snap Search (research guide) tool on social equity and underserved populations to learn more about research projects recently completed, ongoing and upcoming and links to other reports and relevant research panels overseeing research.
NJDOT’s Research Library web page includes a “hot topic” link to the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) topic that can be accessed here: TRID Searches – NJDOT Technology Transfer. Close inspection of the saved TRID search will reveal that a large set of “index terms” (18 items) were used to perform this wide-ranging search; researchers, of course, can narrow their search quickly to a subset of items (e.g., environmental justice, barrier free design, civil rights, etc.)
State of New Jersey employees also have access to research tools, including specialized databases from ProQuest and EBSCO, through the New Jersey State Library. Your State Library card is the key to accessing these resources. Just complete this form to register for a State Library card.
And … did you know that many AASHTO reports and technical manuals are available electronically to NJDOT employees? These reports are available through the NJDOT Research Bureau’s SharePoint site. The State Library’s research guide also lists the availability of print and CD-ROM versions of AASHTO’s “featured/essential” publications.
Please contact the NJDOT research librarian, Eric Schwarz, MLIS, at (609) 963-1898, or email library@dot.nj.gov, for assistance in your transportation research.
The Federal Highway Administration’s National Highway Institute (NHI) is offering several environmental web-based training courses addressing climate change through adaptation and resilience. The courses are aimed primarily towards the needs of transportation personnel who work in engineering, design, and project development/NEPA units in transportation agencies (mainly State DOTs). The courses will also be relevant to those interested in planning, asset management, operations, and maintenance. Expected participants include experienced staff from State DOTs, local governments, Tribal governments, Federal State agencies, and consultants.
The free Web-based Trainings (WBTs) are prerequisites for an in-person Instructor-Led training course.
Understanding Past, Current and Future Climate Change (FHWA-NHI-142081, 2 HOURS, free). This dynamic WBT will provide participants an introduction to: future projections of various climate variables including precipitation, temperature, and sea levels; climate science principles; and, an overview of potential impacts of these changes on transportation facilities.
Systems Level Vulnerability Assessments (FHWA-NHI-142083, 2 HOURS, free). This WBT introduces participants to vulnerability concepts to understand extreme weather impacts on roadway infrastructure. Participants will learn the purpose of systems level vulnerability assessments, the various techniques used to conduct them, and how to use their results.
Adaptation Analysis for Project Decision Making (FHWA-NHI-142084, 2 HOURS, free). This WBT introduces participants to conducting facility-level adaptation assessments for project development processes. Learners will be introduced to risk-based approaches to develop and evaluate adaptation options and select an adaptation strategy.
Addressing Climate Resilience in Highway Project Development and Preliminary Design (FHWA-NHI-141085(A)) course is an Instructor-led Training (ILT) where participants will incorporate resilience concepts into engineering analysis, identify appropriate resilience strategies and recognize potential linkages between adaptive project development and environmental processes. Learners will also be introduced to project-level adaptation assessment methods.
Integrating Sustainability into Infrastructure Design and Decision Making: Core Module (FHWA-NHI-131134A, free) is a basic level training course. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to: 1) Identify the 3 pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) and their importance in infrastructure decision-making; 2) Describe tradeoffs and context sensitivity through specific examples from the domain of transportation; and 3) Given the phases of transportation decision-making, give examples of how sustainability metrics can be incorporated into each phase of the transportation decision-making.
Introduction to NEPA and Transportation Decision-making (FHWA-NHI-142052, free).This WBT describes Federal Highway Administration’s approach to the NEPA transportation decision-making process. That process considers impacts of transportation projects on the human and natural environment while balancing with the public’s need for safe and efficient transportation. This training covers NEPA regulations, policies, and guidance defined by the Council on Environmental Quality and FHWA.
Fundamentals of Environmental Justice (FHWA-NHI-142074, 5 HOURS, free).Fundamentals of Environmental Justice (WBT) explains how environmental justice, or EJ, applies to each stage of transportation decision making. In this course, participants are presented with a variety of strategies and resources for considering EJ throughout the transportation decision-making process.
Bicycle Facility Design (FHWA-NHI-142080, 8 HOURS, free). This course covers principles of bicyclist safety, comfort, and connectivity, selection of bikeway type and associated design considerations, and national planning and design resources. This course helps practitioners deliver high-quality, safe, multimodal projects efficiently and effectively by delivering critical planning and design information.
Air Quality Planning: Clean Air Act Overview (FHWA-NHI-142068, 1.5 HOURS, free). The purpose of this training is to provide participants with an overview of air quality planning, including requirements, processes, interactions with and implications for, transportation planning and project development. This is the first in a series of air quality Web-based trainings (WBTs).
The FHWA will present an eight-part webinar series on the EDC-6 Implementation Initiative for Digital As-Builts (DABs). The all-encompassing webinar series is designed to increase overall understanding of DABs and how to advance their implementation, demonstrate practical benefits, address barriers to DABs implementation, showcase practical solutions, and establish DABs best practices.
Building blocks of DABs
Benefits and opportunities
Processes for implementing and institutionalizing DABs
NJDOT, like other State departments of transportation (DOTs), has become increasingly conscious of infrastructure’s environmental burdens and are seeking more environmentally sustainable materials in construction. Recently, we spoke with Kimberly Sharp, Manager, Structural Design, Geotechnical Engineering and Geology, and Mohab Hussein, Project Engineer, Deputy Chief Technical, Geotechnical Engineering about NJDOT’s adoption of Foamed Glass Aggregate which serves an example of the deployment of an innovative, sustainable material.
To make foamed glass aggregate, crushed container glass is collected from recycling companies, finely ground into powder and mixed with a foaming agent, and sent through a kiln and softened. Bubbles form within the softened glass. When it cools, the material cracks and forms lightweight, coarse, foam-like aggregate pieces that can be used in various transportation construction projects.
Q. How did you learn of this material?
Foamed glass aggregate in use on the pilot project at Rt. 7 Wittpenn Bridge, Kearny
Aero Aggregates in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, reached out to the Department in 2018 to provide a technical presentation on foamed glass aggregate. An industry presentation is an established step in NJDOT’s process for exploring new technologies. If we are interested in the product, as we were in foamed glass aggregate, we start a pilot project.
Q. When did NJDOT begin using foam glass aggregate?
Our pilot project was the Rt. 7 Wittpenn Bridge in Kearny, NJ in 2019. Use of this material replaced 32,000 cu.yds. of regular fill and saved almost 28 million bottles from the landfill. We used the material for a crossover from one side of the road to the other. We built it and let the contractor use the area for six weeks with heavy equipment traveling over it. We maintained survey equipment at the site and looked for settlement and any lateral spreading and nothing moved.
Q. What have been the most common uses?
For us at NJDOT, the most common uses have been as fill underneath roadways to raise the profile, behind existing abutments where we were putting in a new backwall and new girders and we wanted to lighten the lateral forces on the backwall, as backfill to the approach to a bridge, to resolve sheeting issues on a project, and as backfill behind a temporary wire wall.
Foamed glass aggregate placed behind an abutment on I-80 over Rockaway River, Denville
We have very soft, compressible soils beneath some of our roadways, and in areas of high tide or frequent flooding, therefore we want to raise the elevation of the roadway. Using heavy, natural fill material beneath the pavement box can lead to pavement that ultimately would ride like a roller coaster due to uneven settling. A less costly approach is to over-excavate the existing soil and place with the foamed glass aggregate. At 22 lbs./cu.ft., the aggregate is buoyant, so regular weight soil is placed over it to weigh it down, and then the pavement box is built on top of the soil. Use of the aggregate lessens the amount of settlement and results in a nice smooth roadway.
Q. Who are suppliers of this material?
Aero Aggregates is the supplier that we work with. They recycle glass from Pennsylvania and from a southern New Jersey recycling center. We appreciate that they are using local materials.
Q. What are the environmental benefits of using this material? What is it replacing?
Foamed glass aggregate is saving millions of bottles from landfills. This material is made of 100 percent recycled material. In addition, the material replaces traditional backfill that would be quarried, and so minimizes depletion of natural resources. It also minimizes use of other material such as rebar, concrete and other foundation elements. In addition, it is lightweight, about half the weight of regular lightweight fill material, and so reduces transportation emissions. There are associated cost savings to its use.
Aggregate being applied behind wire wall on Fish House Road, Kearny
Q. Is there an ongoing assessment process for use of this material, or is it an established process?
We had questions in the beginning. The material was so light that we worried about its durability. The manufacturer provided results from testing and we tested the material in the field. Use of foamed glass aggregate is an established process at NJDOT. The material was first used in Germany in the 1980s, and in Norway in the 1990s to prevent rutting of pavements because it has good insulating qualities. It is useful in cold regions.
Q. Are there limits to the transportation construction applications where this material can be used?
Foamed glass aggregate has its own compaction requirements; it is lightly compacted or graded out with lightweight equipment to avoid crushing of the aggregate. As mentioned above, it requires capping to weigh it down. Pavement design engineers want several inches of regular weight soil between the lightweight aggregate and the pavement box.
Q. What is the state of industry knowledge and acceptance of the use of this material?
It is still early in the process of nationwide adoption. New Jersey is one of the first states to implement use of the material on our projects. We have received calls from many state DOTs asking how we began using it, and about our experience of using it in lieu of other lightweight material, so word is getting around. Aero Aggregates used it in Philadelphia around I-95. The industry is working on starting up new plants. Word is spreading through the contracting community. The first contractor that used it with us liked it so much they eliminated all other lightweight types of materials in the contract bid items. Through word of mouth, other design consultants and Contractors have picked up on use of the material.
Q. Do you have current projects where this is being used and do you anticipate continued use of the material in the future?
View video on YouTube or access it from the NJDOT Platform
Yes, and we have some in design, and we will include foamed glass aggregate in the contract for future projects for consideration.
For future projects, we have not used foamed glass aggregate behind structural walls as yet, although we know it has been used in Philadelphia, and we are considering that application.
The Department is also considering applications related to temporary water storage in flood areas. Our current and past projects are using closed cell foamed glass aggregate, but an open cell aggregate is available. Its porosity might be beneficial in flood mitigation and other resiliency projects.
We really like the product and look forward to expanding its use. We are always looking for new technologies and this is one that will continue to be of great benefit.
Q. What do you consider to be the keys to the successful adoption of the material?
Agency willingness has been the key to successful adoption of this innovative material.
The NJDOT Research Library maintains a “Did You Know” page to share basic facts about the research library, transportation research resources, and newly issued publications available through AASHTO and the ASTM COMPASS Portal.
Hot Topic Searches are available on the TRID Searches page
The Research Library maintains a "TRID Searches" page that contains a list of recent publications indexed in the TRID database organized by 37 subject areas. NJDOT’s Library also maintains "Hot Topic" searches that contain the projects and publications issued in the last five years on several topics, including: Transformational Technologies; Planning & Safety; Resilience; Sustainability; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Workforce Recruitment and Retention.
TRID (Transport Research International Documentation) is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource on transportation research information. It combines the records from the Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) database of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) database of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
TRID helps researchers locate solutions to problems, avoid duplication of work, and save resources. It includes records of AASHTO publications, federal and state DOT reports, University Transportation Center (UTC) reports, and commercial journal literature, among other sources. It also satisfies the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements to consult TRB's TRIS databases to identify ongoing or previously completed research on a given topic.
Recent NJ Publications in TRID
If you are looking, you can find publications with New Jersey identifiers and/or prepared by NJ research institutions. A quick scan of TRID uncovered these recently added records in the TRID database displaying recently completed research publications:
Please contact the NJDOT research librarian, Eric Schwarz, MSLIS, at (609) 963-1898, or email at library@dot.nj.gov for assistance on how to expand your search to projects, or retrieve these or other publications.
On April 26, 2023, the NJDOT Bureau of Research hosted a Lunchtime Tech Talk! webinar, “Research Showcase: Lunchtime Edition!”. The event featured three important research studies that NJDOT was not able to include in the NJDOT Research Showcase virtual event held last October. The Showcase serves as an opportunity for the New Jersey transportation community to learn about the broad scope of academic research initiatives underway in New Jersey.
Video Recording: 2023 Research Showcase Lunchtime Edition
The three research studies explored issues at the intersection of transportation and the environment and the advancement of sustainable transportation infrastructure. The presenters, in turn, shared their research on the design and performance evaluation results of harvesting energy through transportation infrastructure; the properties of various materials used in roadway design treatments to effectively quantify and mitigate stormwater impacts of roadway projects; and analytical considerations inherent in estimating road surface temperatures to inform the development of a winter weather road management tool for NJDOT. After each presentation, webinar participants had an opportunity to pose questions of the presenter.
Presentation #1 – New Design and Performance Evaluation of Energy Harvesting from Bridge Vibration by Hao Wang, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT)
Dr. Wang noted that energy harvesting converts waste energy into usable energy that is clean and renewable for various transportation applications. Energy harvesting projects can be large scale (solar or wind energy solutions) or micro-scale (providing power for lighting, self-powered sensor devices, and wireless data transfer).
In this project, the large scale application considered the use of photovoltaic noise barriers (PVNBs) which integrate solar panels with noise barriers to harvest solar energy. His research developed energy estimation models at the project- and state-level for a prototypical design installation of noise barriers.
In his presentation, Dr. Wang focused on the micro-scale application that employed piezoelectric sensors on bridge structures. He noted that piezoelectric energy harvesting can be achieved by compression or vibration. He explained that traffic and winds cause roadway bridges to vibrate. This movement subjects the piezoelectric sensors to mechanical stresses or changes in geometric dimensions which create an electric charge.
Piezoelectric energy harvesting is affected by the material, geometry design of the transducer, and external loading. Instead of embedding sensors in pavements, the researchers sought to attach the sensors to the bridge structure imposing less impact on the host structure and increasing the ease of installation. They developed and evaluated new designs of piezoelectric cantilevers to create a range of resonant frequency to match with bridge vibration modes.
Multiple degree-of-freedom (DOF) cantilever designs were tested in the laboratory, and in full-scale tests. The goal was to customize the design to maximize power outputs resulting from bridge vibrations. Multiple cantilever design options were examined with adjustable masses. Simulation models were developed for estimating energy harvesting performance and to facilitate the optimization of mass combinations through quantitative models.
The researchers used finite element models to simulate the effect, and assessed the model in the laboratory to manage the voltage output of various designs. Bridges have multiple vibration frequencies under different vibration modes, on the bridge structure and the span. A full-scale bridge test was conducted using the Rutgers-CAIT Bridge Evaluation and Accelerated Structural Testing lab (BEAST) to give sample voltage outputs from cantilevers.
Future research will be needed to explore the effect of loading speed that takes into consideration the variable speeds on a bridge something that was not captured in the laboratory testing.
Findings of the research included: multiple degree of freedom (DOF) cantilevers can generate considerable energy when resonant frequencies match vibrational frequencies of the bridge structure; finite element modeling can predict resonant frequencies of multiple-DOF cantilevers as validated by experiments and ensures that numerical models can be used to explain the relationship between resonant frequency and mass combination for optimized design; and the proposed cantilever designs and optimization approach can be used for piezoelectric energy harvesting considering a variety of vibration features from bridges under different external conditions.
Dr. Wang responded to questions following his presentation:
Q. How far below the asphalt are the sensors placed and how often do they need to be replaced? A. For this project, the installation in this phase used a magnetic fixture to attach the cantilever to the girder. The installation procedure was easy for this phase. For a field installation, we will need to consider more thoroughly the mount and durability but did not need to address this during this phase and we do not have real-world data now to share about that.
Q. Would the vibrations be amplified with the cables? A. The cables on the real bridge – if we attached to the cable the vibrations would be less, which is why we attached them to the girder.
Presentation #2 – Impacts of Vegetation, Porous Hot Mix Asphalt, Gravel and Bare Soil Treatments on Stormwater Runoff from Roadway Projects by Qizhong (George) Guo, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
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Dr. Guo described the effect of increased impervious coverage in urban locations that leads to increased surface water runoff. Transportation agencies are required to assess and mitigate the stormwater runoff impacts of roadway projects. The project explored the effect on runoff of use of gravel, vegetation, porous Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA), and bare soil. Areas where these materials would be used include the roadway right-of-way, medians, and beneath guiderails.
Variables explored in lab testing included subsoil hydraulic conductivity, rainfall intensity and rainfall duration. The researchers used the Curve Number (CN) method for estimating direct runoff from rainstorms. Lab testing involved a column of soil with little lateral flow and limited depth to the level representing the water table. To apply lab findings to field conditions, the regression equation of Curve Number versus the infiltration rate obtained from the laboratory measurements can be applied after replacing the laboratory-measured infiltration rate with the field-measured subsoil hydraulic conductivity or assigned hydrologic soil groups.
This research resulted in Curve Numbers for bare soil and vegetation similar to the established CNs for dirt (including right-of-way) and open space (lawns, fair condition). The estimated CNs for gravel were significantly smaller than the established CNs for gravel (including right-of-way). The research resulted in CNs for porous HMA but no comparison can be made as there is no established CN for this material. The project could help NJDOT in seeking approval of the Curve Numbers for gravel and porous HMA from regulatory agencies. In addition, the study affirmed the use of pervious surfaces and the effectiveness of stormwater runoff reduction to restore natural hydrology.
Following the presentation, Dr. Guo responded to questions asked through the chat feature:
Q. What are preventative measures to avoid porous HMA clogging? A. Sediment source control is needed to prevent dirt and dust from entering the porous HMA. If the area around the pavement is subject to erosion, runoff carries this dirt or sand into the material. If the material becomes clogged, a vacuum is needed to clean it.
Q. Can we disperse runoff in roadway drainage systems as opposed to collection? A. There are several ways to disperse runoff, such as by the use of rain gardens, a horizontal spreader, or use of a stone/gravel strip to spread the runoff.
Some questions were submitted in the Chat and, due to time constraints, were answered by Dr. Guo after the Tech Talk.
Q. We recently had a project meeting during concept development where we suggested porous asphalt for guide rail base. Another team mentioned they would prefer we not use PHMA due to it clogging over time and basically becoming HMA. What research has been done on PHMA effectiveness over time, and what can be done to remedy reduced flow (if it does occur)? A: The clogging of porous hot mix asphalt (PHMA) and other porous pavement varieties is undeniably a significant and pressing issue. Our study for NJDOT did not tackle the problem of clogging, but other researchers have conducted relevant investigations, and more targeted research is anticipated. The most effective method to reduce clogging is by preventing excessive coarse sediment from entering PHMA and other porous pavements. Special care should be taken to maintain the surrounding landscape in order to mitigate soil erosion, and not to apply sand to any of the road surfaces for snow abatement. Alternatively, sediment in the runoff can be captured or filtered using a swale or gravel strip before it enters the PHMA or other porous pavement areas. Implementing a proactive inspection and monitoring system for clogging is also essential.
In cases where PHMA or other porous pavements become clogged, a vacuum street sweeper or regenerative air sweeper can be employed to dislodge and remove the solid materials. However, traditional mechanical sweepers should be avoided, as they may cause the solids to break down or force particulates deeper into the porous spaces, exacerbating the clogging issue in porous pavements.
Q. Did you use the same course stone mix in the NJDOT specs for the course stone non-vegetative surface. I assume you are calling this gravel. A: Yes, the NJDOT construction specifications were adhered to in the design of the laboratory setup for all four land treatment types: gravel, porous hot mix asphalt, vegetation, and bare soil. These specifications can be found in the “Roadway Design Manual (2015)”, “Standard Construction Details (2016)”, and “Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Constructions (2019)”. Comprehensive details are provided in Table 13 in Appendix A of our Final Report for the research project (FHWA-NJ-2023-004).
Q. What compaction did you use for the porous HMA? We usually use only a small portable tamper machine in the field with about 2 passes. A. In our laboratory, a gyratory compactor was employed for the compaction of the porous HMA samples tested. Two relevant sentences in our Final Report for the research project (FHWA-NJ-2023-004) state: “For the porous asphalt land treatment, cylindrical porous Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) gyratory samples with a diameter of 6 in and a depth of 4 in were manufactured at Rutgers CAIT Asphalt Pavement Lab. The mix design utilized to manufacture the HMA met the requirements of the Open-graded Friction Course in the Updated Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction (2007).”
Q: Can this report be used to get acceptance of porous HMA by DEP? A: Yes, although further dialogue with NJDEP, NRCS, and other relevant agencies or organizations may be necessary for the ultimate acceptance.
Q: NJDOT Materials lab did a study of various ages of porous HMA in the field and found out that it did not clog over an 8 year period. It appeared to be self-cleaning. A: I appreciate the information you provided. The likelihood of porous HMA clogging is closely related to the volume and size of solids, sediment, or particulates entering it. A minimal amount of fine particulates is unlikely to cause serious or rapid clogging issues in porous HMA. To my knowledge, there is no “self-cleaning” mechanism inherent in porous HMA.
Q: What about the contamination in runoff water which will penetrate in subsoil? A: Contaminants in runoff water should not be allowed to infiltrate the subsoil. Highly contaminated runoff must not directly enter land treatments (LTs), green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs), or stormwater control measures (SCMs). Instead, these systems will treat mildly contaminated runoff as it passes through them. Consequently, the runoff water will achieve a relatively high level of purity before it infiltrates the subsoil.
Presentation #3 – Practical Considerations of Geospatial Interpolation of Road Surface Temperature for Winter Weather Road Management by Branislav Dimitrijevic, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Luis Rivera, Analyst Trainee, NJDOT Transportation Mobility, Transportation Operations Systems & Support
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Mr. Rivera provided background on NJDOT’s Weather Savvy Road System that addresses the need for proactive winter road maintenance and the wide variation in road conditions throughout the state. There are only 48 stationary Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) stations across the state in areas that are deemed essential. They provide information on road conditions (wet or dry), and road temperature. The Weather Savvy Road System integrates stationary RWIS and mobile RWIS (MRWIS) to track road conditions in real time, provide data visualization to operators to inform decision-making, and assist in planning road management.
In 2017, NJDOT received a USDOT Accelerated Innovation Deployment grant for implementation of FHWA’s Every Day Counts Round 4 Weather Savvy Roads Integrating Mobile Observations (IMO) innovation. The agency deployed Internet of Things (IoT) and Connected Vehicle technology to improve road weather management. NJDOT installed sensors and dash cameras on 24 fleet vehicles to pick up air temperatures, road temperatures, surface condition, and road grip, and portable PC equipment to analyze and report this information to improve safety for the traveling public and inform decision-making. Road surface temperature is the most indicative measure of road condition.
Dr. Dimitrijevic discussed research undertaken to gather road surface temperatures using Kriging, a geospatial interpolation model. The goal was to discover a way to extrapolate the information collected from the sensors to provide estimated road surface temperatures across the entire road network within NJDOT’s jurisdiction.
The researchers collected data from RWIS/MRWIS and other data available, including land coverage, elevation, etc., that can affect road surface temperatures (RST). They sought to use a Kriging Interpolation and Machine Learning Model to give estimated RSTs over the network to inform planning and evaluation of winter road maintenance efforts. Variability in RST across the analysis region is a big factor. Researchers needed to find a function that fit the variability between the data points, and use that to estimate the parameter value at any particular point.
Dr. Dimitrijevic discussed the differences between three Kriging methods: Ordinary Kriging and Universal Kriging, the simplest and fastest to calculate; regression Kriging which uses additional factors, besides distance, that will affect RST; and Empirical Bayesian Kriging that uses Bayesian inference to calculate parameters, but also calculates the probability of making an error.
All three Kriging methods assume that for any correlation between a given parameter that you are trying to estimate in a given area, there is a relationship between the values of that parameter at different points that depends on the actual location of the points, or distance between points. The method uses the known value of surrounding parameter points, for example, the road surface temperature at these points, and measures the distance between these points of known parameter value to estimate the parameter (RST) at the unknown point. Kriging assumes a statistical relationship involving the distance between RWIS stations.
Researchers conducted case studies using RST interpolation of stationary RWIS data by driving between RWIS locations, and then expanded the RWIS coverage of mobile sensors during a winter storm event. They found the best results came from combining RWIS and mobile RWIS data. They found Regression Kriging to be helpful for including other factors (the most statistically significant being vegetation type, land cover type, distance to water, and elevation). Increasing the mobile RWIS records reduced the error level, and this finding resulted in a recommendation to increase the number of mobile sensors on NJDOT’s fleet.
Kriging was effective in capturing the spatial variation in the dataset. An error of one degree Fahrenheit still needs to be addressed. The researchers continue to look into solutions in ongoing research which will explore additional interpolation methods, integration of short-term past predictions, and a bi-level interpolation using stationary RWIS data at a regional scale and the mobile RWIS data to make adjustments to the local scale.
The model that performed best was implemented in a web-based map tool that gathers data in real time and refreshes the estimated road surface temperature every 10-15 minutes, providing a map and the ability to download data. When complete, this tool will become part of the toolbox for Operations, Maintenance and Mobility division.
Dr. Dimitrijevic answered questions following his presentation:
Q. How is the dew point and frost point measured by the sensor? A. Dew point is not measured; there are statistical models that calculate readings of air temperature, air humidity and pressure to determine dew point or frost point. Dew point and frost point are the same thing. The term used depends on the temperature.
Q. What other interpolation models, besides Kriging, will you be looking at? A. We are looking at a combination of machine learning and geo-statistical modeling. There is also bi-level modeling that uses one method to regress the regional scale estimate, and another to use the localized readings to adjust the estimates for a local roadway. These methods require more computation time, but we are looking for models that can calculate in real time for tactical management purposes.
