Sustainable Infrastructure and Materials

• Overview of Dr. McCarthy’s Research • Course Offerings • Research Example

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25th Street Viaduct, Philadelphia Photo Courtesy of T. Dahlburg, DVRPC

Dr. McCarthy’s Transportation Research

• Transportation project delivery

• Construction quality assurance

• Pavement design (highway and airfield)

• Pavement construction and rehabilitation

• Railroad infrastructure and drainage

• Impacts of energy-development activities on infrastructure

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National and Regional, both Funded and Collaborative

List of Research Sponsors Since 2010

• Federal Highway Administration - - 4 projects • PennDOT: Coatings & Treatments for Beam Ends in 2011

• Rhode Island DOT • National Cooperative Highway Research Program

(NCHRP) - - 9 projects • US DOT / Federal Aviation Administration • Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP)

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Transportation Project Delivery • Federal regulations and policies • Contract administration for transportation

infrastructure construction projects • Context sensitive solutions for highways • Safety

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Construction quality assurance • Laboratory testing and construction sampling of paving materials

• Performance-Related Specifications

National (NCHRP) and state DOT projects • Rhode Island - Maine - New Jersey - Delaware • NCHRP Synthesis 46-03 (2015)

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Design JMF Mix Quality

As-Built Mix

Quality

Evaluation By PRS

Comparison

Evaluation By PRS

Pavement Design • Roadway Pavement Design

• AASHTO Pavement ME Design • Update to the MEPDG Manual of Practice • NHI Module on MEPDG

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• Airfield Pavement Design • FAA software - FAARFIELD • Rigid pavement - AirPave software

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Pavement Construction & Maintenance

• Research related to highway and airfield pavements including: – Construction methods and materials – Maintenance and rehabilitation – Performance and managing assets

January 2013

Sept. 2014

Railway Engineering SIM Research

• Recycled HDPE pipe under railroad mainline (NCHRP 04-39 funded project)

• Use of SASW for identification of railroad subsection properties (SEPTA Regional Commuter Rail unfunded project)

• Passenger Rail Project Delivery and Operations through Multi-State Organizations (serving on panel: National Cooperative Rail Research Program project 07-02)

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Railway Infrastructure

• Research related to: – Infrastructure – Construction – Drainage

• National (NURail) • Regional

– Amtrak and CSX – SEPTA

Use of Recycled HDPE pipe under railroads • 2-year study • Instrumented field pipe • Laboratory fatigue testing • FEA of pipe

Research with Spectral Analysis Surface Wave (SASW)

• Identification of shallow layers under regional railroad

SIM Instructors in Graduate Program

• Dr. Leslie McCarthy, Asst. Professor • Dr. Seri Park, Asst. Professor • Dr. John McFadden (FHWA), Adjunct Professor • Mr. Brett Fusco (DVRPC), Adjunct Professor • Mr. Zeyn Uzman, Adjunct Professor

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SIM Graduate Course Offerings

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Research Example

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The Impacts of Energy Development on U.S. Roads and Bridges

Funded through: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) SYNTHESIS Project 45-10 2014

NCHRP Synthesis 45-10 Objectives 1. Document impacts of the energy sector on infrastructure

2. Identify state-of-the-practice strategies used by transpo. agencies to minimize & mitigate those impacts

3. Help transportation managers understand & communicate energy development impacts on roads and bridges

• Choose engineering strategies for managing the impacts • Focus area of FHWA Every Day Counts Round II Initiatives

Courtesy: Texas DOT

Project Approach

1. Review current practices by all states re: maintenance and planning in areas affected by energy development

2. Survey all state DOTs & identify 5 states for further study

3. Interview DOT staff, local agencies, and industry for input in the 5 example states

4. Conduct detailed phone interviews to obtain specific details

Background on Issues with Impacts

o Texas, North Dakota, Arkansas Issues with rural road safety & road damage o Pennsylvania Maintenance agreements between PennDOT & energy developers

Data Collection Focus

• Areas of the country where road infrastructure damage from energy development is an issue

• Engineering methods used by agencies

• Tools being used by agencies to assess costs and pay for damage

• Safety implications of increased vehicle volumes related to energy development

States Selected for Detailed Study

• Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas were selected

Impact level by Road Facility Type

Methods for Quantifying Damage

Methods Reported to Assess Costs

State Practices for Assessing Infrastructure Costs

Iowa Permit cost quantification

Minnesota Web-based road wear cost calculator

Montana Continuous monitoring of population and traffic growth

Texas Ad-hoc method (http://www.roadsfortexasenergy.com). In March 2012, a task force, comprised of representatives from state agencies, local governments and the energy industry, was formed to find ways to address the impact on the state's infrastructure of increased energy development activities

Utah Asset management and maintenance system

Level of Cost Sharing between DOTs and Energy Companies

Defining Challenges

Tools to Address Challenges

State Tools Reported To Address Challenges

Colorado Local agencies are developing fees to address issues with infrastructure damage.

Missouri An approach where the permit fee applied is commensurate with the number of permits issued in order to address funding issues.

Nebraska The cost is being extracted from the corresponding annual budget, as the amount is not significant.

North Dakota The state legislature has provided general fund money from the oil extraction fund to the DOT and local jurisdictions for road and bridge improvements.

Pennsylvania The energy development sector is responsible for the excess maintenance costs, inspection fees, and roadway condition survey costs.

Texas A unique relationship between the current/future energy sectors and railroad commission has been developed. Development of standard lease agreement with an associated fee. Temporary use of water lines (for transporting liquids) in state ROW to reduce roadway truck volumes.

PennDOT Process for Maintaining Roads

Conclusions • Strong correlation: Increase in damage and

congestion on roads and bridges near energy development activities

• Engineering approaches include: – Increased lane widths & adding paved shoulders – Increasing pavement thickness – Stabilization of unpaved roadway surface layers – Jumper bridges

Future Research

• Lack of quantitative information being collected • Lack of information on safety and crash statistics,

especially low volume roads • No accurate pavement life predictor nor

estimating damage • Investigation into detour routing • Quantify the extent of damage on more high-type

roadways – Current studies focus on secondary roads in primarily

rural locations