Evaluation of a Bridge Constructed using High Performance Steel, May 2006

Of the approximately 25,000 bridges in Iowa, 28% are classified as structurally deficient, functionally obsolete, or both. Because many Iowa bridges require repair or replacement with a relatively limited funding base, there is a need to develop new bridge materials that may lead to longer life spans and reduced life-cycle costs. In addition, new and effective methods for determining the condition of structures are needed to identify when the useful life has expired or other maintenance is needed. Due to its unique alloy blend, high-performance steel (HPS) has been shown to have improved weldability, weathering capabilities, and fracture toughness than conventional structural steels. Since the development of HPS in the mid-1990s, numerous bridges using HPS girders have been constructed, and many have been economically built. The East 12th Street Bridge, which replaced a deteriorated box girder bridge, is Iowa’s first bridge constructed using HPS girders. The new structure is a two-span bridge that crosses I-235 in Des Moines, Iowa, providing one lane of traffic in each direction. A remote, continuous, fiber-optic based structural health monitoring (SHM) system for the bridge was developed using off-the-shelf technologies. In the system, sensors strategically located on the bridge collect raw strain data and then transfer the data via wireless communication to a gateway system at a nearby secure facility. The data are integrated and converted to text files before being uploaded automatically to a website that provides live strain data and a live video stream. A data storage/processing system at the Bridge Engineering Center in Ames, Iowa, permanently stores and processes the data files. Several processes are performed to check the overall system’s operation, eliminate temperature effects from the complete strain record, compute the global behavior of the bridge, and count strain cycles at the various sensor locations.

2010 Retailers Motor Fuel Gallons Annual Report, April 2011

The Department identified 2,706 potential retail locations at which motor fuel may be sold. Reporting forms were mailed to 1,675 locations identified using Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship motor fuel license information and to 305 locations identified through the Department of Revenue motor fuel tax database. In addition, 726 locations were identified for four large motor fuel retailers that submitted their annual sales data electronically. The Department received either forms or electronic files representing 2,324 (85.9%) of the locations. Replies for 115 of the locations indicated that no retail sales of any type of motor fuel were made during 2010. 2,209 locations reported retail motor fuel sales. This report’s primary focus is on biofuel sales. Of the reporting retail locations, 2,075 (93.9%) reported selling E10 blend motor fuel, 165 (7.5%) reported selling the E85 blend motor fuel, and 239 (10.8%) reported selling various blends of biodiesel.

Community Partnerships Evaluation: The Story so Far..., August 2008

Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC) is an approach that neighborhoods, towns, cities and states can adopt to improve how children are protected from abuse and/or neglect. The State of Iowa recognizes that the child protection agency, working alone, cannot keep children safe from abuse and neglect. It aims to blend the work and expertise of professionals and community members to bolster supports for vulnerable families and children. Community Partnerships is not a “program” – rather, it is a way of working with families to help services and supports to be more inviting, need-based, accessible and relevant. It incorporates prevention strategies as well as those interventions needed to address abuse, once identified.

An Investigation of the Interstate 80 Rutting in Adair County, October 1983

This investigation was initiated to determine the causes of a rutting problem that occurred on Interstate 80 in Adair County. 1-80 from Iowa 25 to the Dallas County line was opened to traffic in November, 1960. The original pavement consisted of 4-1/2" of asphalt cement concrete over 12" of rolled stone base and 12" of granular subbase. A 5-1/2" overlay of asphalt cement concrete was placed in 1964. In 1970-1972, the roadway was resurfaced with 3" of asphalt cement concrete. In 1982, an asphalt cement concrete inlay, designed for a 10-year life, was placed in the eastbound lane. The mix designs for all courses met or exceeded all current criteria being used to formulate job mixes. Field construction reports indicate .that asphalt usage, densities, field voids and filler bitumen determinations were well within specification limits on a very consistent basis. Field laboratory reports indicate that laboratory voids for the base courses were within the prescribed limits for the base course and below the prescribed limits for the surface course. Instructional memorandums do indicate that extreme caution should be exercised when the voids are at or near the lower limits and traffic is not minimal. There is also a provision that provides for field voids controlling when there is a conflict between laboratory voids and field voids. It appears that contract documents do not adequately address the directions that must be taken when this conflict arises since it can readily be shown that laboratory voids must be in the very low or dangerous range if field voids are to be kept below the maximum limit under the current density specifications. A rut depth survey of January, 1983, identified little or no rutting on this section of roadway. Cross sections obtained in October, 1983, identified rutting which ranged from 0 to 0.9" with a general trend of the rutting to increase from a value of approximately 0.3" at MP 88 to a rut depth of 0.7" at MP 98. No areas of significant rutting were identified in the inside lane. Structural evaluation with the Road Rater indicated adequate structural capacity and also indicated that the longitudinal subdrains were functioning properly to provide adequate soil support values. Two pavement sections taken from the driving lane indicated very little distortion in the lower 7" base course. Essentially all of the distortion had occurred in the upper 2" base course and the 1..;1/2" surface course. Analysis of cores taken from this section of Interstate 80 indicated very little densification of either the surface or the upper or lower base courses. The asphalt cement content of both the Type B base courses and the Type A surface course were substantially higher than the intended asphalt cement content. The only explanation for this is that the salvaged material contained a greater percent of asphalt cement than initial extractions indicated. The penetration and viscosity of the blend of new asphalt cement and the asphalt cement recovered from the salvaged material were relatively close to that intended for this project. The 1983 ambient temperatures were extremely high from June 20 through September 10. The rutting is a result of a combination of adverse factors including, (1) high asphalt content, (2) the difference between laboratory and field voids, (3) lack of intermediate sized crushed particles, (4) high ambient temperatures. The high asphalt content in the 2" upper base course produced an asphalt concrete mix that did not exhibit satisfactory resistance to deformation from heavy loading. The majority of the rutting resulted from distortion of the 2" upper base lift. Heater planing is recommended as an interim corrective action. Further recommendation is to design for a 20-year alternative by removing 2-1/2" of material from the driving lane by milling and replacing with 2-1/2" of asphalt concrete with improved stability. This would be .followed by placing 1-1/2" of high quality resurfacing on the entire roadway. Other recommendations include improved density and stability requirements for asphalt concrete on high traffic roadways.

Minimum VMA in HMA Based on Gradation and Volumetric Properties, MLR-95-7, 1996

The use of voids in the mineral aggregate (VMA) criteria for proper mix design of hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures is a time honored and fairly successful tool. Recent developments in the field of asphalt mix design have encouraged the use of mixtures with a coarse aggregate structure to resist the affect of heavy traffic loads. By using the equations presented, which account for both aggregate gradation and the volumetric properties of the materials, the mix designer is able to judge the proper VMA requirement for each unique blend of materials. By applying the new equations, the most economical mix may be selected without great risk of reduced durability. Supporting data from field application is presented to illustrate the use of the equations.

Structural Analysis of Aggregate Blends Using the SHRP Gyratory Compactor, MLR-95-8, 1996

The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) received a Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) gyratory compactor in December 1994. Since then IDOT has been studying the ability of the compactor to analyze fundamental properties of aggregates such as shape, texture, and gradation by studying the volumetrics of the aggregate blends under a standard load using the SHRP gyratory compactor. This method of analyzing the volumetrics of aggregate blends is similar to SHRP's fine aggregate angularity procedure, which analyzes void levels in noncompacted aggregate blends, which in turn can be used to evaluate the texture or shape of aggregates, what SHRP refers to as angularity. Research is showing that by splitting the aggregate blend on the 2.36-mm (#8) sieve and analyzing the volumetrics or angularity of the separated blend, important fundamental properties can be determined. Most important is structure (the degree and location of aggregate interlock). In addition, analysis of the volumes of the coarse and fine portions can predict the voids in the mineral aggregate and the desired asphalt content. By predicting these properties, it can be determined whether the combined aggregate blend, when mixed with asphalt cement, will produce a mix with structural adequacy to carry the designed traffic load.

Production of Asphalt Rubber Concrete by the Dry Process, HR-1062, 1994

Disposal of used tires has been a problem throughout the United States. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) requires the use of recycled rubber in asphalt concrete starting in FY94. A moratorium has delayed this requirement until FY95. The Iowa DOT has researched six projects using crumb rubber modifier in asphalt concrete using the wet process. This process involves using a blender-reactor to blend the asphalt cement and crumb rubber. Using the wet process the asphalt cement has to reach a hotter temperature, than is normally required, for reaction to occur. The wet process is also much more expensive than conventional asphalt. This research deals with using a dry process to incorporate crumb rubber into the asphalt concrete mix. The project was constructed by Western Engineering of Harlan, Iowa, on IA 37 between Earling, Iowa and US 59. It was completed in September 1993. Western Engineering used a double drum mixer to produce the crumb rubber modified asphalt concrete by the dry process. The production and construction went well with minor difficulty and the dry process is a less expensive procedure for producing crumb rubber modified asphalt concrete.

Identification of Laboratory Techniques to Optimize Superpave HMA Surface Friction Characteristics, TR-450, 2010

Wet pavement friction is known to be one of the most important roadway safety parameters. In this research, frictional properties of flexible (asphalt) pavements were investigated. As a part of this study, a laboratory device to polish asphalt specimens was refined and a procedure to evaluate mixture frictional properties was proposed. Following this procedure, 46 different Superpave mixtures, one stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture and one porous friction course (PFC) mixture were tested. In addition, 23 different asphalt and two concrete field sections were also tested for friction and noise. The results of both field and laboratory measurements were used to develop an International Friction Index (IFI)-based protocol for measurement of the frictional characteristics of asphalt pavements for laboratory friction measurements. Based on the results of the study, it appears the content of high friction aggregate should be 20% or more of the total aggregate blend when used with other, polish susceptible coarse aggregates; the frictional properties increased substantially as the friction aggregate content increased above 20%. Both steel slag and quartzite were found to improve the frictional properties of the blend, though steel slag had a lower polishing rate. In general, mixes containing soft limestone demonstrated lower friction values than comparable mixes with hard limestone or dolomite. Larger nominal maximum aggregate size mixes had better overall frictional performance than smaller sized mixes. In addition, mixes with higher fineness moduli generally had higher macrotexture and friction.