FHWA Pooled Fund Projects
When significant or widespread interest is shown in solving
transportation-related problems, research, planning, and technology
transfer activities may be jointly funded by several federal,
state, regional, and local transportation agencies, academic
institutions, foundations, or private firms as a pooled fund
study.
To qualify as a pooled fund study, more than one state transportation
agency, federal agency, other agency such as a municipality
or metropolitan planning organization, college/university
or a private company must find the subject important enough
to commit funds or other resources to conduct the research,
planning, and technology transfer activity. If a subject has
been studied previously, the new study should provide new
information that will complement or advance previous investigations
of the subject matter.
Listed below are the currently active projects, the recently
completed projects and those currently soliciting for partners
related to maintenance. The FHWA Pooled Fund web site can
be found at: http://www.pooledfund.org
Active Projects
TPF-5(092) Clear Roads (Test and Evaluation of Materials,
Equipment and Methods for Winter Highway Maintenance)
Objective: Conduct structured field testing and evaluation
across a range of winter conditions and different highway
maintenance organizational structures to assess the practical
effectiveness, ease of use, optimum application rates, barriers
to use, durability, and so on, of innovative materials, equipment
and methods for improved winter highway maintenance.
Status: Active
TPF-5(045) Performance Guidelines for the Selection of Hot-Pour
Crack Sealants
Objective: This project will result in extended pavement
surface life and thus reduced roadway rehabilitation and maintenance
costs. Guidelines for sealant selection are being proposed
because the durability of crack sealants used on the North
American roadways is often shorter than expected, even though
crack sealing is the most common method of preventative maintenance.
Status: Active.
TPF-5(042) Investigation of the Long-Term Effects of Magnesium
Chloride and Other Concentrated Salt Solutions on Pavement
and Structural Portland Cement Concrete
Objective: To investigate the short and long-term effects
of high concentrations of salts (including magnesium chloride)
1. To determine the long-term effects of concentrated solutions
of magnesium, sodium and calcium chloride as well as CMA or
other alternative liquid deicers on durable portland cement
concrete. 2. To estimate the potential for reduction in performance
and service life for pavements (jointed plain, reinforced
and continuously reinforced) and structures subjected to various
concentrated deicing brines. 3. To identify alternative protective
or deicing/anti-icing strategies which minimize potential
impacts to durable portland cement concrete while providing
acceptable winter maintenance results.
Status: Active.
TPF-5(035) Pacific Northwest Snowfighters
Objective: To establish a consortium dedicated to the creation
and maintenance of specifications for winter maintenance chemicals
and the optimization of their application on the roadway.
Additional information on specifications and research papers
can be found at the following web address: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/fossc/maint/pns
Status: Active.
SPR-3(104) Computer-Based, Self-Operating, Interactive Training
System on Anti-Icing/Road Weather Information Systems (AI/RWIS)
Objective: Anti-icing and road weather information systems
(AI/RWIS) are relatively new tools that improve the efficiency
of winter storm maintenance and, as a result, improve highway
safety. Because these are new concepts, standard training
programs for all levels of AI/RWIS users are not yet available.
This project will coordinate and leverage several individual
training and educational initiatives into one consistent training
program for AI/RWIS. 'Status' Study has been established and
will be initiated when adequate funding commitments have been
received.
Status: Study has been established and will be initiated
when adequate funding commitments have been received.
TPF-5(112) Midwest States Pooled Fund Pavement Preservation
Partnership
Objectives: 1. Provide funds for a multi-day annual workshop
for discussion and exchange of information and knowledge about
each state's pavement preservation program. 2. Provide a means
to define, support and share technology of mutual interest.
3. Establish and maintain MPPP's web site that would display
meeting reports, state guidelines, specifications, and allow
users to post help questions. 4. Provide funds for formal
training presentations during the annual workshop. 5. Provide
funds for management support of MPPP through the National
Center for Pavement Preservation at Michigan State University.
The following benefits are expected to be derived from this
project: 1. More timely solutions for common issues from shared
experiences, technology transfer, and research initiatives
resulting from collaboration. 2. Minimal effort duplication
and wasted resources resulting from an ability to focus on
common objectives. 3. Increased learning from group training
4. Timely discussion and consensus on the value of the material
presented. 5. Identification of common research needs, funding
mechanisms, and priorities for the work studies. 6. Reduction
of the states program costs as a result of adopting common
procedures, materials, and treatment specifications.
Status: Active.
TPF-5(100) Deicer Scaling Resistance of Concrete Pavements,
Bridge Decks and Other Structures Containing Slag Cement
Objectives: 1. Document the field performance of existing
concrete pavements, bridge decks, and other structures made
with slag cement that have been exposed to cyclical freeze-thaw
cycles in the presence of deicing chemicals. 2. Determine
from the field study and construction/design records which
mixtures and construction parameters have produced scale-resistant
concrete containing slag. 3. Determine the effectiveness of
ASTM C672 in predicting the deicer scaling behavior of field
concrete. If discrepancies are noted, an attempt will be made
to explain why the lab tests do not adequately mimic field
performance and alternative procedures will be recommended
to improve the correlation between lab tests and field performance.
Status: Active
TPF-5(054) Development of Maintenance Decision Support
System
Objectives: 1. To assess the need, potential benefit, and
receptivity in participating state transportation departments
for state and regional Maintenance Decision Support Systems.
2. To define functional and user requirements for an operational
Maintenance Decision Support System that can assess current
road and weather conditions, forecast weather that will affect
transportation routes, predict how road conditions will change
in response to candidate maintenance treatments, suggest optimal
maintenance strategies to maintenance personnel, and evaluate
the effectiveness of maintenance treatments that are applied.
3. To build and evaluate an operational Maintenance Decision
Support System that will meet the defined functional requirements
in the participating state transportation departments. 4.
To improve the ability to forecast road conditions in response
to changing weather and applied maintenance treatments.
Status: Active
TPF-5(036) Transportation Asset Management Research Program
Objectives: To enable participating states to leverage limited
resources in an ongoing program of synthesis, research and
analysis to facilitate implementation of asset management.
The intent is to supplement current national asset management
research efforts of the MRUTC, prevent duplicity of existing
efforts, and provide a means for regional state DOTs to share
resources, technology and ideas in a coordinated environment.
MRUTC Contact is Jason Bittner, (608) 262-7426.
Status: Active
TPF-5(009) Computer-Based, Self-Operating Training System
on Anti-Icing/Road Weather Information Systems (AI/RWIS)
Objectives: Anti-icing and road weather information systems
(AI/RWIS) are relatively new tools that improve the efficiency
of winter storm maintenance and, as a result, improve highway
safety. Because these are new concepts, standard training
programs for all levels of AI/RWIS users are not yet available.
This project will coordinate and leverage several individual
training and educational initiatives into one consistent training
program for AI/RWIS.
Status: Active
SPR-3(091) Development of the Advanced Rotary Plow (ARP)
for Snow Removal Operations
Objectives: Present operations to remove snow around barrier
devices, such as guardrails, have the rotary snowplow in contact
with the barrier device. This causes damage to the plow and
to the infrastructure. There are also safety issues involved
if the driver misses or contacts the end of the barrier device.
This project develops an automated guidance system for rotary
plows along barrier devices to insure that the plow does not
contact the barrier device while removing snow as close as
possible to the barrier device. (updated 7/7/01)
Status: Active
SPR-3(076) Animal Vehicle Crash Mitigation Using Advanced
Technologies
Objectives: Animal-vehicle crashes are a significant problem
on the nation's roadways. They result in injuries or fatalities
for the vehicle occupants, significant damage to vehicles
and usually result in the death of animals. This study will
examine ways to mitigate the damage from animal-vehicle crashes
using traditional measures as well as advanced technologies.
Status: Active
Completed Projects
SPR-3(060) Highway Maintenance Concept Vehicle, Phase 3
Objective: To address re-engineering highway maintenance
vehicles and to include the newest available technologies
to better suit the needs of the operator and highway agencies.
Status: The report is available at the following web site:
Highway
Maintenance Concept Vehicle, Phase 4
SPR-3(055) R&D of the 3rd Phase of an Autonomous Shadow
Vehicle Prototype
Objective: This proposal concerns the safety of drivers of
shadow vehicles that follow, at some prescribed distance,
Caltrans lead maintenance vehicles. A shadow vehicle is used
as a means of providing some protection of Caltrans roadway
workers from other vehicles that are traveling on the adjacent
roadway. Unfortunately, many shadow vehicle drivers have been
critically injured or have lost their lives during freeway
maintenance operations. (updated 7/7/01)
Status: Just finishing completion. Final report is currently
under review. Study worked out well. Developed an autonomous
vehicle that was able to follow closely behind a lead vehicle
at speeds up to 40 MPH. (2/5/02)
SPR-3(042) Aurora Program
Objective: Aurora is an international program collaborative
research, development and deployment in the field of road
and weather information systems (RWIS), serving the interest
and needs of public agencies. The Aurora vision is to deploy
RWIS to integrate state-of -the-art road and weather forecasting
technologies with coordinated, multi-agency weather monitoring
infrastructures. It is hoped this will facilitate advanced
road conditions and weather monitoring and forecasting capabilities
for efficient highway maintenance, and provision of real-time
information to travelers. (updated 7/7/01)
Status: Study is ongoing and will continue for the foreseeable
future. Members contribute funds annually; propose research
projects on RWIS-related projects (Road Weather Information
Systems); manage contracts for the research; and prepare reports/submit
results for publication. One of Aurora's goals is to provide
guidelines for RWIS implementation and usage. Refer to http://www.aurora-program.org/for
project updates. (updated 2/7/02)
PENDING PROJECTS
906 Deer Vehicle Crash Information and Research (DVCIR)
Center Pooled Fund
Objective: 1. Expand on the critical evaluation of past and
current research in the DVC problem area, and become the repository
for safety-focused summaries of this work. Critically evaluate
the validity of past and current DVC-related research. Summarize
and disseminate the relevant study details, implementation
issues, and safety results. 2. Expand on the existing DVCIC
activities as a repository for deer population estimates,
vehicle-travel amounts, reported DVC or animal-vehicle crash
data, and roadside carcass (if available) information from
participating states. Summarize and disseminate data by state
and region and, as appropriate, define relevant trends. 3.
Identify and prioritize gaps in DVC-related research, define
a strategy, and create requests for proposal (RFPs) for projects
to evaluate the DVC questions identified by participating
states. Provide funding for properly designed DVC-related
research. Potential research areas include: Identification
and definition of DVC-related data sources, collection, estimation,
and management techniques; Definition and/or prediction of
the magnitude and locations of DVC problem segments; Evaluation
of existing and potential DVC countermeasure crash reduction
capabilities and their implementation issues; and Investigation
of and options to DVC-related roadway development programming,
planning, design, operations, and maintenance decision-making
approaches and policies.
Status: Soliciting for interested partners.
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