Utility accommodation policy of the Iowa State Highway Commission, 1970

This policy covers initial placement, adjustment, relocation and replacement of utility facilities in, on, above or below all highway right of way over which the Iowa State Highway Commission exercises control of access. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to insure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway.

Utility accommodation policy of the Iowa State Highway Commission, 1973

This policy covers initial placement, adjustment, relocation and replacement of utility facilities in, on, above or below all highway right of way over which the Iowa State Highway Commission exercises control of access. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to insure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (1973 revision to 1970 policy.)

Policy for Accommodating Utilities on State Highway Rights-of-Way, 1985

This policy covers initial placement, adjustment, relocation and replacement of utility facilities in, on, above or below all highway right of way over which the Iowa Department of Transportation exercises control of access. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to insure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (1985 revision to 1973 policy.)

Policy of the Iowa Department of Transportation Highway Division For Accommodating Utilities on Primary Road System, 1990

This policy covers initial placement, adjustment, relocation and replacement of utility facilities in, on, above or below all highway right of way over which the Iowa Department of Transportation exercises control of access. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to insure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (1990 revision to 1985 policy.)

Policy for Accommodating and Adjustment of Utilities on the Primary Road System, 2012

This chapter covers initial placement, adjustment, and maintenance of utility facilities in, on, above or below the right-of-way of primary highways, including attachments to primary highway structures. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed to ensure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (2012 revision to 2005 policy.)

Policy of the Iowa Department of Transportation Highway Division For Accommodating Utilities on the Primary Road System, 1992

This chapter covers initial placement, adjustment, improvement, relocation, replacement and maintenance of utility facilities in, on, above or below the right-of-way over of primary highways, including attachments to primary highway structures. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to ensure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (1992 revision to 1990 policy.)

Policy for Accommodating and Adjustment of Utilities on the Primary Road System, 2005

This chapter covers initial placement, adjustment, and maintenance of utility facilities in, on, above or below the right-of-way of primary highways, including attachments to primary highway structures. It embodies the basic specifications and standards needed, to ensure the safety of the highway user and the integrity of the highway. (2005 revision to 1992 policy.)

Development of Preliminary Load and Resistance Factor Design of Drilled Shafts in Iowa, RB03-012, 2014

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) mandated utilizing the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) approach for all new bridges initiated in the United States after October 1, 2007. To achieve part of this goal, a database for Drilled Shaft Foundation Testing (DSHAFT) was developed and reported on by Garder, Ng, Sritharan, and Roling in 2012. DSHAFT is aimed at assimilating high-quality drilled shaft test data from Iowa and the surrounding regions. DSHAFT is currently housed on a project website (http://srg.cce.iastate.edu/dshaft) and contains data for 41 drilled shaft tests. The objective of this research was to utilize the DSHAFT database and develop a regional LRFD procedure for drilled shafts in Iowa with preliminary resistance factors using a probability-based reliability theory. This was done by examining current design and construction practices used by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) as well as recommendations given in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and the FHWA drilled shaft guidelines. Various analytical methods were used to estimate side resistance and end bearing of drilled shafts in clay, sand, intermediate geomaterial (IGM), and rock. Since most of the load test results obtained from O-cell do not pass the 1-in. top displacement criterion used by the Iowa DOT and the 5% of shaft diameter for top displacement criterion recommended by AASHTO, three improved procedures are proposed to generate and extend equivalent top load-displacement curves that enable the quantification of measured resistances corresponding to the displacement criteria. Using the estimated and measured resistances, regional resistance factors were calibrated following the AASHTO LRFD framework and adjusted to resolve any anomalies observed among the factors. To illustrate the potential and successful use of drilled shafts in Iowa, the design procedures of drilled shaft foundations were demonstrated and the advantages of drilled shafts over driven piles were addressed in two case studies.

Electronic Construction Collaboration System – Final Phase, SPR RB02-008, 2014

This phase of the research project involved two major efforts: (1) Complete the implementation of AEC-Sync (formerly known as Attolist) on the Iowa Falls Arch Bridge project and (2) develop a web-based project management system (WPMS) for projects under $10 million. For the first major effort, AEC-Sync was provided for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) in a software as a service agreement, allowing the Iowa DOT to rapidly implement the solution with modest effort. During the 2010 fiscal year, the research team was able to help with the implementation process for the solution. The research team also collected feedback from the Broadway Viaduct project team members before the start of the project and implementation of the solution. For the 2011 fiscal year, the research team collected the post-project surveys from the Broadway Viaduct project members and compared them to the pre-project survey results. The result of the AEC-Sync implementation in the Broadway Viaduct project was a positive one. The project members were satisfied with the performance of AEC-Sync and how it facilitated document management and transparency. In addition, the research team distributed, collected, and analyzed the pre-project surveys for the Iowa Falls Arch Bridge project. During the 2012 fiscal year, the research team analyzed the post-project surveys for the Iowa Falls Arch Bridge project AEC-Sync implementation and found a positive outcome when compared to the pre-project surveys. The second major effort for this project involved the identification and implementation of a WPMS solution for smaller bridge and highway projects. During the 2011 fiscal year, Microsoft SharePoint was selected to be implemented on these smaller highway projects. In this year, workflows for the shop/working drawings for the smaller highway projects specified in Section 1105 of the Iowa DOT Specifications were developed. These workflows will serve as the guide for the development of the SharePoint pages. In order to implement the Microsoft SharePoint pages, the effort of an integrated team proved to be vital because it brought together the expertise required from researchers, programmers, and webpage developers to develop the SharePoint pages.

Pilot Construction Project for Granular Shoulder Stabilization, TR-634, 2013

Granular shoulders need to be maintained on a regular basis because edge ruts and potholes develop, posing a safety hazard to motorists. The successful mitigation of edge-rut issues for granular shoulders would increase safety and reduce the number of procedures currently required to maintain granular shoulders in Iowa. In addition, better performance of granular shoulders reduces the urgency to pave granular shoulders. Delaying or permanently avoiding paving shoulders where possible allows more flexibility in making investments in the road network. To stabilize shoulders and reduce the number of maintenance cycles necessary per season, one possible stabilizing agent—acidulated soybean oil soapstock—was investigated in this research. A pilot testing project was conducted for selected problematic shoulders in northern and northeastern Iowa. Soapstock was applied on granular shoulders and monitored during application and pre- and post-application. Application techniques were documented and the percentage of application success was calculated for each treated shoulder section. As a result of this research, it was concluded that soybean oil soapstock can be an effective stabilizer for granular shoulders under certain conditions. The researchers also developed draft specifications that could possibly be used to engage a contractor to perform the work using a maintenance-type construction contract. The documented application techniques from this project could be used as guidance for those who want to apply soapstock for stabilizing granular shoulders but might not be familiar with this technique.

Development of Non-Petroleum Based Binders for Use in Flexible Pavements, TR-594, 2010

Most bituminous adhesives or binders that are used for pavement materials are derived primarily from fossil fuels. With petroleum oil reserves becoming depleted and the drive to establish a bio-based economy, there is a push to produce binders from alternative sources, particularly from biorenewable resources. However, until now, no research has studied the applicability of utilizing bio-oils as a bitumen replacement (100% replacement) in the pavement industry. The main objective of this research was to test various properties of bio-oils in order to determine the applicability of using bio-oils as binders in the pavement industry. The overall conclusions about the applicability of using bio-oils as bio-binders in the pavement industry can be summarized as follows: 1. Bio-oils cannot be used as bio-binders/pavement materials without any heat pre-treatment/upgrading procedure. 2. Current testing standards and specifications, especially Superpave procedures, should be modified to comply with the properties of bio-binders. 3. The temperature range of the viscous behavior for bio-oils may be lower than that of bitumen binders by about 30°–40° C. 4. The rheological properties of the unmodified bio-binders vary in comparison to bitumen binders, but the rheological properties of these modified bio-binders change significantly upon adding polymer modifiers. 5. The high-temperature performance grade for the developed bio-binders may not vary significantly from that of the bitumen binders, but the low-temperature performance grade may vary significantly

Relationship of Carbonate Aggregates to Concrete Aging, HR-116, 1967

HR-116 is concerned with the relationship of carbonate aggregate to aging of highway concrete. The ultimate purpose of the research is to provide the Materials Department with better criteria for selection of carbonate aggregates for use in highway concrete. The research stems from the problem in Iowa which relates durability of highway concrete to use of certain aggregates. Service records of certain highways have shown that concrete deterioration is related to the source of coarse carbonate aggregate. Research on this problem in projects HR-15 and HR-86 helped define three broad areas of the problem in more detail: 1. The problem of evaluation of rocks which pass current specifications but have poor service records 2. The basic problem of how rocks contribute to distress in concrete 3. The problem of how concrete ages or weathers.

Mission-Oriented Dust Control and Surface Improvement Processes for Unpaved Roads, HR-194, 1981

Six subject areas prompted the broad field of inquiry of this mission-oriented dust control and surface improvement project for unpaved roads: • DUST--Hundreds of thousands of tons of dust are created annually by vehicles on Iowa's 70,000 miles of unpaved roads and streets. Such dust is often regarded as a nuisance by Iowa's highway engineers. • REGULATIONS--Establishment of "fugitive dust" regulations by the Iowa DEQ in 1971 has created debates, conferences, legal opinions, financial responsibilities, and limited compromises regarding "reasonable precaution" and "ordinary travel," both terms being undefined judgment factors. • THE PUBLIC--Increased awareness by the public that regulations regarding dust do in fact exist creates a discord of telephone calls, petitions, and increasing numbers of legal citations. Both engineers and politicians are frustrated into allowing either the courts or regulatory agencies to resolve what is basically a professional engineering responsibility. • COST--Economics seldom appear as a tenet of regulatory strategies, and in the case of "fugitive dust," four-way struggles often occur between the highway professions, political bodies, regulatory agencies, and the general public as to who is responsible, what can be done, how much it will cost, or why it wasn't done yesterday. • CONFUSION--The engineer lacks authority, and guidelines and specifications to design and construct a low-cost surf acing system are nebulous, i.e., construct something between the present crushed stone/gravel surface and a high-type pavement. • SOLUTION--The engineer must demonstrate that dust control and surface improvement may be engineered at a reasonable cost to the public, so that a higher degree of regulatory responsibility can be vested in engineering solutions.

Development of a Conductometric Test for Frost Resistance of Concrete, HR-272, Phase II, 1986

The purpose of this report is to describe the major research activities during the period of February 1, 1985 - October 30, 1986 for the Iowa Highway Research Board under the research contract entitled "Development of a Conductometric Test for Frost Resistance of Concrete." The objective of this research, as stated in the project proposal, is to develop a test method which can be reasonably rapidly performed in the laboratory and in the field to predict the behavior of concrete subjected to the action of alternate freezing and thawing with a high degree of certainty. In the work plan of the proposal it was stated that the early part of the first year would be devoted to construction of testing equipment and preparation of specimens and the remainder of the year would be devoted to the testing of specimens. It was also stated that the second and third years would be devoted to performance and refinements of tests, data analysis, preparation of suggested specifications, and performance of tests covering variables which need to be studied such as types of aggregates, fly ash replacements and other admixtures. The objective of this report is to describe the progress made during the first 20 months of this project and assess the significance of the results obtained thus far and the expected significance of the results obtainable during the third year of the project.

Metric Plan Reading Course, HR-324, 1997

This Plan Reading Course was developed by the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering of Iowa State University under contract with the Iowa Highway Research Board, Project HR-324. It is intended to be an instructional tool for Iowa DOT, county and municipal employees within the state of Iowa. Under this contract, a previous Plan Reading Course, prepared for the Iowa State Highway Commission in 1965, has been completely revised using a new format, new plans, updated specifications, and new material. This course is a self-taught course consisting of two parts; Highway Plans, and Bridge and Culvert plans. Each part consists of a self-instruction book, a set of plans, a question booklet, and an answer booklet. This is the self-instruction book for the Bridge and Culvert Plans part of the course. The example structures included in this part of the course are a prestressed concrete beam bridge and a reinforced concrete box culvert.