Search

This report documents the state of the practice of state highway agencies related to their incorporation of life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and risk-based analysis into their asset management plans for pavements and bridges on the National Highway System. The objective of this project was to develop an inventory of quantitative asset-level, project-level, or corridor-level processes and models for predicting life-cycle costs associated with the preservation and replacement of highway assets. The report includes a literature review, a survey of highway agencies, and case studies that document specific highway agency experiences with LCCA.

Increasingly, departments of transportation (DOTs) are being subjected to higher maintenance costs because of extreme weather events. Maintenance managers are not imagining things; the amount of rainfall during intense precipitation has increased 20% over the past century. A survey of DOTs shows that maintenance demands in response to flooding and snowfall have increased precipitously in many states. This study began with a discussion at the 2011 AASHTO maintenance meeting and proceeded with an inquiry to all 50 states to scan the growth in extreme weather events and the impacts that DOTs have experienced. The impacts of the increase in wind, dust storms, snow and ice, flooding, and other events are discussed in this paper, with some attention devoted to the impacts of rising sea levels and erosion. The case studies reported here of extreme weather events offer a place to start to assess the potential costs of climate change, at least in the initial years, and to plan for adaptation. Recommendations by DOT maintenance and operation managers on how to respond to extreme weather events are also summarized in this paper.

Transportation agencies nationwide are under pressure to help address a wider range of transportation issues than ever before in the United States. Many of them extend beyond traditional state department of transportation (DOT) activities and span of control. There is an interconnection between transportation and land use that the public and local decision makers do not often see. Yet the public frequently holds DOTs responsible for solving transportation problems resulting from local and regional land use decisions and preferred development patterns. The objective of this research is to identify and explore successful innovations in integrating transportation and land use planning for transportation corridors, with a focus on practices that could be transferred to other locations. A case study approach was used to identify projects that integrated, rather than merely linked, land use and transportation planning and decision making. This paper summarizes six case studies: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Illinois; Envision Utah and the Mountain View Environmental Impact Statement, Utah; Gateway Route 1, Maine; NJFIT: Future in Transportation, New Jersey; UnJAM 2025 and Places29, Virginia; and MetroVision and Blueprint Denver, Colorado. The paper also analyzes practices and lessons learned, highlighting common themes among the case studies.

Context-sensitive solutions, value engineering or value analysis, and asset management systems are all strategic processes or systems with common objectives, even if they have different emphases. All place a high value on customer satisfaction, stakeholder values, and the delivery or maintenance of safe facilities. All stress the efficient and effective use of resources and the alignment of investments to produce the best outcomes or the most quality for the money. All are open to a broad interpretation of the word “best,” but they are challenged by the measurement of performance in areas that are more difficult to quantify. They share an emphasis on transparency, multidisciplinary teams and perspectives, and analytical, evidence-based decision making. They use processes that examine multiple alternatives to finding consensus on ultimate decisions. Especially when they are used together or in tandem, these tools and systems can be used as part of strategic and systematic approaches that have a significant potential for the delivery of transportation assets with greater sustainability and public funding and support for transportation, the community, and the natural environment. This paper examines the principles, similarities, and opportunities for reinforcement of these approaches.

This paper examines how the environmental management system (EMS) at departments of transportation (DOTs) has evolved and provides examples of recent developments and practices that other DOTs can consider and use as a source in an evolving EMS. A number of practical insights can be gained by examining EMS experiences at several DOTs. Generally, the EMSs that have delivered benefits have had successful mechanisms for monitoring effectiveness, incorporating lessons learned, and managing continual improvement. They have relied tactically on what exists already, are geared toward the organization's mission, and seek to support success in nonenvironmental areas. They build on vigorous environmental programs, have procedures that can be integrated as much as possible into current routine practices, and strive to demystify environmental compliance for both DOT and contractor personnel. DOTs in the vanguard have focused on increased compliance assurance and cost-effectiveness, adoption and development of best management practices and sustainability practices, enhanced land and resource use planning and management, accelerating and streamlining the project delivery processes, and improved intergovernmental relationships and stakeholder confidence. Challenges commonly include coping with the demands of intensive up-front effort with limited staff time, realistically quantifying resource requirements, and establishing straightforward metrics for monitoring. Effective management has been enhanced in some cases by using information technology tools, which facilitate the flow of environmental information; tracking metrics; tracking project schedules, budgets, and personnel; communicating corporate knowledge; analyzing impacts; and using geo-references for planning stage decision making.

Although the development and lending communities have become much more aware of transit-oriented development (TOD) in the past 5 years, the lending process remains highly institutionalized and compartmentalized. TOD developers still face significant challenges in obtaining financing and structuring deals. After a brief review of common sources and structures of financing, this paper details obstacles to financing that TOD developers face, starting with the increasingly high risk attached to construction lending and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's recent actions emphasizing increased bank oversight in this area. Complexity, design, and construction challenges, along with mixed-use and related lender concerns, compound the difficulties presented by the relative newness of the mixed-use, TOD product, as compared with the conventional real estate products that are more commonly underwritten and traded on the secondary market. This puts more pressure on TOD developers to present a solid equity position and prove that they have the know-how and wherewithal to carry a risky project through. Strategies to overcome these barriers to TOD financing include the structuring of uses to align with existing product categories, value engineering and the use of alternative building methods and materials, use of advanced information management systems, addition of large or experienced partners, and gain of higher-equity, patient investment. Finally, presenting the local and national market demand for TOD may help increase financiers' understanding of the unique benefits offered by TOD, and of its potential upside. Local governments can help by developing supportive plans and appropriate zoning, building public support, and streamlining the process to create a more predictable environment for developers and lenders.

This report and the accompanying manual summarize the research and resulting guidance developed for achieving surface runoff volume reduction of highway runoff in urban areas. Literature review, synthesis, and focused new analyses were conducted to inform and develop guidance for identifying, evaluating, selecting, and applying volume reduction approaches (VRAs). A stepwise approach was developed and included in the Guidance Manual that guides the user through the evaluation and selection of VRAs. Regulatory and physical considerations were evaluated related to volume reduction in the urban highway environment, and key factors influencing the ability to achieve volume reduction were identified. Recommendations for project-specific site assessment efforts to support volume reduction planning and design were researched and included. Nine primary VRAs were identified that are specifically applicable to the urban highway environment, as well as accompanying site planning and evaluation approaches. A framework for evaluating the applicability, feasibility, and desirability of these VRAs based on site-specific factors was developed. Processes were also developed for prioritizing VRAs and developing conceptual designs. In support of the Guidance Manual, a spreadsheet-based Volume Performance Tool was developed to provide planning level estimates the performance of VRAs, and four white papers on key technical topics were developed. The findings of this research suggest that site-specific conditions are critical in determining the applicability, feasibility, desirability, and effectiveness of VRAs. Additionally, maintaining VRAs is critical for long term effectiveness.

This guidance manual provides practical, research-based evaluation and implementation practices for the reduction of stormwater volumes in urban highway environments. The manual outlines a five-step process for the identification, evaluation, and design of feasible solutions for runoff volume reduction based on site-specific conditions. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM (CRP-CD-162) containing a Volume Performance Tool to assist the user in efficiently estimating the performance of volume reduction approaches and understanding the effects and sensitivity of local climate patterns, design attributes, and site conditions. The manual also includes a set of volume reduction approach fact sheets and a user guide for the Volume Performance Tool. This guidance manual will be useful to DOT managers, project staff and design engineers, permit writers, consultants, and planners.

Some of the most extensive information management and decision support systems at state departments of transportation (DOTs) are used in maintenance for condition tracking, work planning, budget estimation, and quality assurance. DOTs are confronted with the challenge of managing these and emerging environmental information and decision support needs in integrated systems that incorporate transportation and environmental assets and quality and the activities, materials, labor, budget, and tools needed to assess and manage them. Systems integration remains an elusive goal. Although a few states are pursuing integrated asset management systems, recent leaps forward have been frequently limited to integration of management systems within a single functional area, e.g., integration of Pontis for bridge management with Virtis to bridge load rating. In that decentralized context, this paper presents several leading examples or best practices in asset and maintenance quality management in various areas of maintenance where environmental aspects that are difficult to quantify have begun to be incorporated.

Measuring environmental performance presents a new set of challenges for state transportation agencies, many of which have been using measures for years to track transportation-related characteristics of the system. Challenges associated with environmental performance measures and the roles of performance measurement in the environmental area were reviewed, highlighting the key role of stakeholder satisfaction. Some of the attempts to measure environmental performance at state transportation agencies around the country, the different areas of focus, and actual environmental performance measures in use were examined.

Starting in January 2000, FHWA, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and partners at public and private resource organizations came together to design an impact assessment and advance a mitigation and conservation banking process to aid in the recovery of declining species on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. The Shortgrass Prairie Initiative provides programmatic clearance for CDOT activities on the existing road network in the eastern third of Colorado for the next 20 years—through 2022; addresses 3 listed and more than 20 declining species with the greatest likelihood of being listed as threatened or endangered; and covers 90,000 acres of right-of-way in four of CDOT’s six regions. The agencies involved sought to invest resources, which would otherwise be spent on a project-by-project clearance process, in more comprehensive and proactive species conservation that would help alleviate the need for further listings and improve predictability in the project development process. Methodologically, the project focused on impacts to habitats rather than species individuals and estimated potential impacts using best available data, supplemented by expert opinion. The resulting project offers programmatic clearance with 1:1 (that is, 1 acre of impact to 1 acre of conservation/mitigation) habitat conservation, regulatory streamlining, cost savings in several categories, and more effective habitat and species preservation. The uniqueness of this project stems from its primary focus on species currently unlisted as federally threatened or endangered, coverage of major as well as minor projects, and the scale at which conservation is being pursued, including planned preservation of approximately 15,000 to 20,000 acres from 2002 onward.

A wide range of treatment controls (commonly known as “best management practices” or BMPs) have been developed to manage stormwater. Treatment BMPs use various processes to mitigate the impacts of pollutants and altered hydrology; for example, by attenuating the flow or reducing the volume of stormwater or by reducing pollutants with physical, biological, or chemical processes. This report provides information on long-term performance and life-cycle costs for highway-related stormwater BMPs. Information was gathered via literature review, survey of departments of transportation (DOTs), and interviews with practitioners. Information for treatment BMPs was derived from DOT studies and the International BMP Database. The International BMP Database contains performance records for treatment BMP evaluations throughout the United States. The research included conducting a large number of computer simulations using the U.S. EPA’s Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) to quantify runoff volume reduction through the BMP. The report is accompanied by a CD-ROM (CRP-CD-153) containing a BMP evaluation tool in a spreadsheet format as a computational aid that provides average annual performance and whole life costs for treatment BMPs. A guide (Planning Tool Handbook) is provided as Appendix F to quickly orient the user to the basic functions of the tool provided on the CD-ROM. The report will be of interest to state DOT highway design and environmental practitioners.

This publication is intended to help transportation and environmental professionals apply ecological principles early in the planning and programming process of highway capacity improvements to inform later environmental reviews and permitting. Ecological principles consider cumulative landscape, water resources, and habitat impacts of planned infrastructure actions, as well as the localized impacts. This guide provides a high-level overview of how to use the Integrated Ecological Framework (IEF), a nine-step process for use in early stages of highway planning, when there are greater opportunities for avoiding or minimizing potential environmental impacts and for planning future mitigation strategies. Success requires some level of agreement among stakeholders about prioritizing resources for preservation or restoration. Such agreements rely on considering long-range environmental planning as a companion to long-range transportation planning so that there is a basis and methodology for prioritization. This guide provides a structured, collaborative way to approach these issues.

This report presents information and an analysis process for identifying strategies for management of stormwater runoff from highway bridges. Departments of transportation and other public agencies responsible for managing stormwater runoff to reduce pollution loads in receiving waters may use this information and process to assist their selection of a cost-effective strategy for a particular bridge. The report will be helpful to designers and managers who must identify and assess the merits of stormwater management practices. Individual chapters address: the state of the practice; assessment procedures; stormwater and other source control practices to consider for all bridges; stormwater treatment controls for bridges; and a best management practices evaluation tool.

This report presents guidance to help transportation agencies recruit and retain qualified professional staff in the Systems Operation and Management (SOM) area. It is based on an analysis of SOM career paths, skill requirements, and training needs to identify successful programs, state-of-the-art initiatives, and best industry practices. This report will be useful for all transportation professionals working in the SOM area and the Human Resources staff who address their personnel requirements.

This guidebook provides straight-forward, implementable practices that transportation Human Resources (HR) managers and hiring professionals can use to improve the recruitment and retention of qualified employees in their organizations. It provides information on workforce challenges, industry strategies, and detailed descriptions of the most noteworthy practices within each of 15 recruitment and retention categories. The guidebook provides valuable information to transportation agencies facing unprecedented challenges in recruiting and retaining a professional workforce to deliver quality products and services in a rapidly-evolving environment.

L’expression corporelle est un facteur important de construction et de structuration de la personnalite. L’expression corporelle a l’ecole, pour les enfants, cela evoque des activites telles que courir, sauter, danser, jouer de son visage et de son corps pour s’exprimer, pour « dire » quelque chose dans un langage autre que celui des mots. De fait, l’expression par le mouvement mobilise activement les fonctions motrices, cognitives et affectives de l’enfant, ainsi que son potentiel creatif. Elle constitue par la meme un facteur important de construction et de structuration de la personnalite. Lieu d’echanges et de communication, l’expression corporelle se situe au carrefour de differentes techniques : danse, expression dramatique, theâtre, relaxation... Les situations presentees dans cet ouvrage par Anne-Marie Venner, professeur d’EPS a l’Ecole normale de Metz, se reclament alternativement de l’un ou de l’autre de ces domaines d’expression, offrant ainsi aux enseignants un tres large eventail de methodes et d’activites exploitables aux differents niveaux de l’ecole maternelle et elementaire. Experimentes avec profit, ces 40 jeux proposent en effet des approches multiples du mouvement, du toucher, du senti, du regard... sollicites et eduques par la mise en scene de scenarios varies dans un cadre spatial et temporel defini par l’enseignant et developpes par les enfants eux-memes. Tour a tour acteurs et spectateurs, ils se voient offrir le precieux pouvoir de communiquer leurs projets et leurs symboliques personnels, dans le langage ludique, expressif et liberateur du corps. Date de premiere edition : 1991.