Annual Report of the Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2010

The Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; and second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled ―Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2009‖ is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively.

Iowa Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan, September 2006

In Iowa, hundreds of people die and thousands more are injured on our public roadways each year despite decades of efforts to end this su�ffering. Past safety e�efforts have resulted in Iowans bene�fiting from one of the best state roadway systems in the nation. Due to multi-agency e�efforts, Iowa has achieved 90 percent compliance with the state’s mandatory front seat belt use law, earned the nation’s second-lowest percent of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes and made safety gains in system-wide roadway design and operational improvements. Despite these ongoing e�efforts, the state’s annual average of 445 deaths and thousands of life-changing injuries is a tragic toll and an unacceptable public health epidemic in our state. To save more lives on our roadways, Iowans must be challenged to think �differently about lifesaving measures addressing young drivers, safety belts, and motorcycle helmet use and accept innovative designs such as roundabouts. Iowa must apply evidence-based strategies and create a safety culture that motivates all citizens to travel more responsibly. They must demand a lower level of tolerance for Iowa’s roadway deaths and injuries. The Iowa Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP) engages diverse safety stakeholders and charts the course for this state, bringing to bear sound science and the power of shared community values to change the culture and achieve a standard of safer travel for our citizens. How many roadway deaths and injuries are too many? Iowa’s highway safety stakeholders believe that, “One death is one too many” and e�effective culture-changing policy and program strategies must be implemented to help reduce this death toll from an annual average of 445 to 400 by the year 2015.

Highway Program Summary, 2012 to 2016

The Iowa Transportation Commission (Commission) and the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) develop Iowa’s Five Year Highway Program to inform Iowans of planned investments in our state’s primary highway system. This brochure summarizes the 2012-2016 Iowa Highway Program (Program) and provides information about long-term highway programming issues, through the year 2020. The Program is typically updated and approved each year in June.

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2007

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2007

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2008

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2008

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2009

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2009

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2010

Audit report on Highway Safety Projects administered by The Integer Group Midwest for the year ended September 30, 2010

Iowa Highway Research Board TR-423: 1949–1999, 1999

The year 1949 saw the Iowa General Assembly’s establishment of the Iowa Secondary Road Research Fund, which led to the creation of a supervisory board within what was then the Iowa State Highway Commission to oversee the expenditure of that fund. The purpose of the fund and the board was to research road construction topics likely to be beneficial to the working of Iowa’s secondary, or local, road system. The supervisory board—called the Iowa Highway Research Board (the “Board”)—was organized by the highway commission in December 1949 and first met in May 1950. The creation of the fund and of the Iowa Highway Research Board marked the first organized effort in the United States to investigate local road construction problems and placed Iowa in the forefront of this field of engineering research. That Iowa should be a leader in such an effort is not surprising, given the early and sustained emphasis of the Iowa State Highway Commission on both research and the dissemination of information to county authorities. Now, 50 years later, a retrospective is in order. To that end, the Iowa Highway Research Board commissioned the preparation of a commemorative history. This work is the result of that project. Throughout its existence, the Board has funded nearly 450 projects, several of national significance. Many new construction and maintenance techniques have been developed, some of which have evolved into standard practices in highway construction. Innovative new materials and equipment have been tested. Still other projects have considered a wide variety of subjects related to the efficient operation of the highway system. Highway safety, conservation, and law have all come under research scrutiny. While it will not be possible, given the short space available, to consider all the projects financed by the Iowa Highway Research Board, it is well worthwhile to examine the Board’s principal projects and its resulting contributions to the field of highway research.

Highway Safety News, 2010, Vol. 1, no. 1

An Informational Newsletter for Iowa Peace Officers produced by Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Highway Safety News, 2009, Vol. 3, no. 2

An Informational Newsletter for Iowa Peace Officers produced by Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Annual Report of Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2011, December 2011

The Highway Division of the Iowa DOT engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; and second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled ―Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2011‖ is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively. It is a report of the status of research and development projects in progress on June 30, 2011. It is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2011. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available from the Research and Technology Bureau, Highway Division, Iowa Department of Transportation. All approved reports are also online for viewing at: www.iowadot.gov/operationsresearch/reports.aspx.

On The Spot Damage Detection Methodology for Highway Bridges, July 2010

Vibration-based damage identification (VBDI) techniques have been developed in part to address the problems associated with an aging civil infrastructure. To assess the potential of VBDI as it applies to highway bridges in Iowa, three applications of VBDI techniques were considered in this study: numerical simulation, laboratory structures, and field structures. VBDI techniques were found to be highly capable of locating and quantifying damage in numerical simulations. These same techniques were found to be accurate in locating various types of damage in a laboratory setting with actual structures. Although there is the potential for these techniques to quantify damage in a laboratory setting, the ability of the methods to quantify low-level damage in the laboratory is not robust. When applying these techniques to an actual bridge, it was found that some traditional applications of VBDI methods are capable of describing the global behavior of the structure but are most likely not suited for the identification of typical damage scenarios found in civil infrastructure. Measurement noise, boundary conditions, complications due to substructures and multiple material types, and transducer sensitivity make it very difficult for present VBDI techniques to identify, much less quantify, highly localized damage (such as small cracks and minor changes in thickness). However, while investigating VBDI techniques in the field, it was found that if the frequency-domain response of the structure can be generated from operating traffic load, the structural response can be animated and used to develop a holistic view of the bridge’s response to various automobile loadings. By animating the response of a field bridge, concrete cracking (in the abutment and deck) was correlated with structural motion and problem frequencies (i.e., those that cause significant torsion or tension-compression at beam ends) were identified. Furthermore, a frequency-domain study of operational traffic was used to identify both common and extreme frequencies for a given structure and loading. Common traffic frequencies can be compared to problem frequencies so that cost-effective, preventative solutions (either structural or usage-based) can be developed for a wide range of IDOT bridges. Further work should (1) perfect the process of collecting high-quality operational frequency response data; (2) expand and simplify the process of correlating frequency response animations with damage; and (3) develop efficient, economical, preemptive solutions to common damage types.

Small business and disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) in receiving nonfederal highway funding

Pursuant to H.F. 2460, passed during the 2010 session of the 83rd Iowa General Assembly, please find attached the recommendations regarding methods to track and assess the participation of small businesses and disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) in receiving nonfederal highway funding.

Iowa County Engineer's Annual Highway Report Requirements, January 2011

1. Iowa Code Section 309.22 requires the County Engineer to submit an Annual Report to the Iowa DOT by September 15 of each year. 2. Iowa DOT Administrative Rule 761, Chapter 173.3 requires the Iowa DOT to distribute a detailed set of instructions to the counties for the preparation of the report. The instructions constitute the standard requirements and forms to be followed. 3. Iowa DOT Administrative Rule 761,Chapter 178 establishes requirements for the reporting by cities and counties of project cost information to the Iowa DOT 4. Iowa DOT policy states that the report shall cover the fiscal year from July 1st of the past calendar year to June 30th of the current calendar year.

Interstate Highway Map Indicating Vertical Clearance, May 15, 2011

The State of Iowa [STATE] and the Iowa Department of Transportation [IDOT] hereby is claim any warranty of any kind, express or implied, in reference to the information contained herein. The STATE and the IDOT neither assume nor authorize any person to assume for the STATE or the IDOT any liability in connection with the information contained herein, and there are no oral agreements or warranties regarding the information contained herein. Each and every person is hereby notified that the vertical clearances specified herein are subject to change due to resurfacing, surface buckling, weather conditions, or any other event. It is the responsibility of each and every vehicle operator to ascertain whether sufficient ACTUAL vertical clearance exists to move his vehicle or motor vehicle between the roadway and the underpasses and bridges listed herein. The May 15 date on this map reflects the end of the update schedule for the previous calendar year. Any vertical clearance restrictions which could or may change AFTER this date will not be reflected on this map. For the latest information on vertical clearance restrictions call the Office of Motor Carrier Services in Ankeny, (515) 237-3264 or visit http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/omcs.