PUBLIC ROADS

Also in this issue: 

Collaboration Fosters Stronger Hydraulic Engineering

Developing Robots, Magnets to Detect Bridge Corrosion

California City Taps Value Capture to Advance Technology

Wyoming has been addressing conflicts between 

wildlife and vehicles on highways for decades. 

Wildlife Crossing

www.fhwa.dot.gov Autumn 2020
Autumn 2020 | Vol. 84, No. 3

Wyoming has been addressing 

conflicts between wildlife and 

vehicles on highways for decades. 

PAGE 9

FEATURES

5 Collaboration and Visualization in Hydraulic Engineering

by Eric R. Brown, Laura Girard, and Kornel Kerenyi

Using visual tools and techniques enhances training and fosters 

understanding and cooperation among team members working in 

water environments.

9 Improving Safety for Travelers and Wildlife

by Bob Bonds, Scott Gamo, and Thomas Hart

Wyoming has been addressing collisions between animals and vehicles 

on highways for decades. Here’s what they have learned.

14 Savvy City Financing Supports Future Infrastructure

by Thay Bishop and Courtney Chiaparas

Using value capture techniques enabled Santa Monica, CA, to build 

out a fiber optic network without taking on debt, positioning the city 

to better meet the demands of new mobility modes and emerging 

transportation technologies. 

20 Detecting Bridge Corrosion with a Robotic Magnetic-based

NDE System

by Hoda Azari and Sadegh Shams

FHWA is researching a promising nondestructive evaluation 

method to uncover corrosion in the Nation’s prestressed concrete 

bridge girders. 

24 Moving FoRRRwD: Focus on Reducing Rural

Roadway Departures

by Cathy Satterfield and Richard B. Albin

FHWA is partnering with State and local agencies to save lives on 

rural roads.

PAGE 20 

Source: FHWA.

DEPARTMENTS

Guest Editorial ..................................................1

Hot Topic ..........................................................2

Along the Road ..............................................30

Training Update .............................................34

Internet Watch ..............................................36

Communication Product Updates ..............38

COVERS and ABOVE—Bison, Wyoming’s State mammal, and 

other wildlife such as deer, bear, and elk, often come into 

contact with vehicles on both rural and urban roadways. 

Wyoming Department of Transportation has been addressing 

the issue for many years, and continues to find news ways 

to reduce collisions and strengthen safety measures. See 

“Improving Safety for Travelers and Wildlife” on page 9 of this 

issue of Public Roads. 

Bison: © Terryfic3D / iStock.com. 

Car interior: © metamorworks / iStock.com.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 1

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Highway Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Elaine L. Chao, Secretary

Federal Highway Administration

Nicole R. Nason, Administrator

Office of Research, Development, and Technology

Kelly Regal, Associate Administrator 

Shana Baker, Director, Office of Corporate Research, 

Technology, and Innovation Management

Maria Romstedt, Editor-in-Chief

Lisa A. Shuler, Distribution Manager

Editorial Board: 

T. Everett, T. Hess, H. Kalla, M. Knopp, A. Lucero, 

G. Shepherd, C. Walker 

Editorial Contractor:

Arch Street Communications (ASC), 

Publication Management 

N. Madonick, A. Jacobi, A. Martinez, K. Vangani, 

C. Ibarra

Editorial Subcontractor:

ICF, Editorial 

C. Boris, J. Sullivan

Design Contractor:

Schatz Strategy Group, Layout and Design 

R. Nemec, K. Salter, C. Williams

Public Roads (ISSN 0033-3735; USPS 516-690) is published 

quarterly by the Office of Research, Development, and 

Technology, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), 6300 

Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101-2296. The business and 

editorial office of Public Roads is located at the McLean address 

above. Phone: 202–493–3375. Fax: 202–493–3475. Email: 

lisa.a.shuler@dot.gov. Periodicals postage paid at McLean, VA, 

and additional mailing offices (if applicable).

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The Secretary of Transportation has determined that the 

publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of 

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All articles are advisory or informational in nature and should not 

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Articles written by private individuals contain the personal views 

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Contents of this publication may be reprinted, provided credit is 

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For more information, representatives of the news media should 

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This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the 

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of the information contained in this document. This document 

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approval, or endorsement of any one product or entity. 

-

GUEST EDITORIAL

Creative Solutions to 

Today’s Challenges

By any measure, 2020 tested our Nation. As if the global health crisis 

associated with the coronavirus wasn’t 

bad enough, the Nation also suffered 

from hurricanes in the South, wildfires 

throughout the West, and a derecho that 

devastated much of Iowa.

The unprecedented challenges we 

all faced this year forced everyone to 

manage circumstances we’ve never had to 

contemplate before, such as having most 

of our workforce teleworking. Despite the 

majority of Federal Highway Administration employees teleworking, agency staff 

across the Nation continued working hard to support our State, local, Tribal, and 

other Federal partners to deliver the Federal-aid highway program.

First, with each State adapting different approaches in response to the emergency 

to protect communities and employees, there was an immediate need to support 

public awareness. FHWA’s division offices closely coordinated with State and local 

highway agencies regarding their authority to use changeable message signs for messages concerning COVID-19 during the Presidentially declared national emergency. 

Next, the national health emergency brought with it increased demand for 

delivery of critical medical supplies and other essential goods necessary for commu

nities to respond to the pandemic. In response to the increased demand on freight, 

FHWA worked with Congress to ensure that States had the authority to issue 

permits for overweight vehicles and loads. 

-

Similarly, we worked with the American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials and State transportation partners around the country to 

keep the National Network open in order to facilitate the safe, efficient, and seamless transport of critical supplies across the Nation.

Then, we found new ways to serve the freight community, such as by empow

ering States to temporarily allow food trucks to sell meals to truck drivers in rest 

areas near the highway. Despite the fact that commercial activity at rest areas has 

long been prohibited, we coordinated closely with States on this creative solution to 

use enforcement discretion to be sure America’s truckers had access to food services 

while they were on the job working to deliver critical relief supplies to our com

munities. Unique challenges require unique solutions. Due to closed restaurants 

nationwide, our actions helped keep truck drivers safe, and kept the deliveries of 

thousands of products—including ventilators, medicines, medical testing equip

ment, and masks—arriving on schedule. 

-

-

-

FHWA also worked with States to permit the temporary use of sidewalks and 

parking areas in highway rights-of-way for additional restaurant seating or other 

retail space. Outside the box thinking helped countless small businesses and supported the Nation’s economic recovery.

Finding new ways to solve new problems was a priority for us throughout the 

year. The spirit of cooperation for which FHWA is known made this easier, which 

makes this issue of Public Roads seem so relevant. We have been pioneering creative 

new solutions to a host of problems for years, and this issue shines a light on some 

of the most interesting.

As I’ve said many times, transportation is a team sport. Perhaps now more than 

ever, our continued coordination and collaboration will be critical to our success in 

delivering our transportation programs and keeping America moving.

Nicole R. Nason 

Administrator 

Federal Highway Administration
2 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

HOT TOPIC

The AAS degree program in highway maintenance management can help prepare transportation professionals for advancement in their organizations. 

© Virginia Department of Transportation.

Celebrating the Anniversary of the Highway Maintenance Management 

AAS Degree Program

by GAY DUGAN and SABRINA SYLVESTER

Approximately 1 year ago, the first-ever degree program in the Nation for highway maintenance management opened for 

enrollment. Highway maintenance is essential to ensure the safety 

of U.S. roads, bridges, and highways, and therefore developing the 

Nation’s highway maintenance workforce is critical. Understanding 

this need, the National Highway Institute (NHI), the Colorado 

Department of Transportation, Front Range Community College 

(FRCC), the Colorado Local Technical Assistance Program 

(LTAP), the Colorado chapter of the American Public Works 

Association, county agencies, and municipal public works 

departments all collaborated to make a degree program a reality. 

The associate of applied science (AAS) degree in highway main

tenance management at FRCC is a 2-year program that prepares 

highway maintenance professionals for advancement in managerial 

positions within their respective organizations. The curriculum is 

offered online, making it more accessible for students employed by 

State and local agencies across the country to pursue professional 

development in this field. 

-

The program benefits highway maintenance employees looking 

for advancement in government agencies at the Federal, State, 

and local levels, as well as private sector organizations. Learners 

develop leadership skills including budgeting, project management, 

employee supervision, communications, and team building. The 

curriculum enables students to hone technical skills in mainte

nance and operations including highway safety, bridge mainte

nance, traffic operations, environmental protection, and emergency 

and incidental management. 

-

-

Select NHI trainings in the asset management, construction 

and maintenance, and pavement and materials program areas are 

incorporated into the curriculum. These include one of NHI’s pre

mier training courses, the NHI-134063 Maintenance Leadership 

Academy. In addition, FRCC’s prior learning assessment process 

enables students to receive college credit for their current industry 

experience, skillset, training, and certifications in their current jobs 

in highway maintenance. 

-

According to Susan Baillargeon, FRCC’s highway maintenance 

management program director, “the biggest appeal is to receive 

college credit for the knowledge they’ve been learning on the job.” 

Students can transcribe their training with industry providers, 

including NHI and LTAP, to receive credit toward their degree.

The partnership between FRCC and industry organizations 

serves as a model for other States to create their own highway 

maintenance training program. There are already efforts within the 

educational community to work with States to establish accred

ited apprentice programs and foster interest in establishing similar 

programs in high schools, community colleges, and universities 

in other parts of the country. These efforts build on each other to 

support the workforce needs of the transportation industry and 

help increase diversity. 

-

Also in its introductory year, the program was the recipient of 

the 2019 League of Excellence Award for the State of Colorado 

from the League for Innovation in the Community College, the 

only community college in the State to receive this award. 

FRCC launched this award-winning AAS degree program in 

the fall of 2019, and about 35 students have completed the program thus far. “I’d love to see another 22 to 30 students this fall,” 

says Baillargeon.

NHI continues to collaborate with industry professionals and 

organizations to ensure that its constituents receive quality highway 

transportation training that supports a performance-based culture 

and strategic, measurable approaches to manage resources to 

improve the conditions and safety of the Nation’s roads, highways, 

and bridges—one course at a time, one program at a time. 

To learn more about FRCC’s highway maintenance manage

ment AAS degree program, visit 

-

http://bit.ly/PRHotTop_Aut2020. To 

learn more about NHI trainings, visit www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov.

GAY DUGAN is a training program manager at NHI. 

SABRINA SYLVESTER is a contractor at NHI.
CARMA testing at TFHRC. 

Source: FHWA. CARMA

SM

and

FHWA’s CARMA Program 

TIM

supports many transportation 

systems management 

and operations use cases, 

including TIM scenarios.

The CARMA Program is spearheading research on 

cooperation driving automation (CDA) concepts 

poised to transform transportation system 

performance. Traffic incident management (TIM) is a 

planned and coordinated multidisciplinary process to 

detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so traffic 

flow can be restored as safely and quickly as possible. 

CARMA researchers are identifying TIM scenarios that provide new strategies 

and improvements for first responder use cases that interact with automated 

driving systems. One example is the Move Over law, which states vehicles 

should move out of the lane adjacent to stationary emergency vehicles with 

flashing lights. The CARMA-equipped passenger vehicle safely enters the 

opposite lane to provide sufficient space to create a safety buffer for the first 

responder, ensuring that the officer is not hit by the moving passenger vehicle. 

FHWA will conduct validation testing for selected TIM 

use case scenarios in early 2021. For more information, 

visit https://highways.dot.gov/research

/research-programs/operations/CARMA or contact 

Taylor Lochrane at Taylor.Lochrane@dot.gov.
Putting the Brakes on 

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

© AlexLMX / iStock.com

Human trafficking affects more 

of us than you may think.

Nearly 25 million people are victims of human trafficking globally. The Nation’s roadways, 

airways, and waterways are being used to facilitate the trafficking of human beings.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to working 

with Federal and transportation partners to detect, deter, and disrupt 

human trafficking across all modes of transportation.

The Department’s Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking published a final 

report in July 2019. In addition, USDOT launched the Transportation Leaders 

Against Human Trafficking initiative. On January 28, 2020, Transportation 

Secretary Elaine L. Chao hosted a “100 Pledges in 100 Days” event and called 

for transportation leaders to sign a pledge against human trafficking.

Learn more about these and other efforts by the Department and the 

transportation industry in the Winter 2021 issue of Public Roads.

For more information, contact Jihan.Noizet@dot.gov or 

Shari.Schaftlein@dot.gov, or visit www.transportation.gov/TLAHT for strategies, 

training resources, public awareness materials, and more.
COLLABORATION 

and VISUALIZATION in 

HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING

Using visual tools and techniques 

enhances training and fosters 

understanding and cooperation 

among team members working 

in water environments.

To ensure the most successful outcomes, hydraulic engineers 

often need to collaborate with planners, environmental 

specialists, scientists, and other engineering disciplines. 

This eroding river bank shows what can happen when bridge 

and highway designs do not fully account for the natural 

movements of waterways and their sediment loads. 

Source: FHWA.

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 5

by ERIC R. BROWN, LAURA GIRARD, and KORNEL KERENYI

Hydraulic engineers work toward safe, economical, and environmentally 

sensitive transportation solutions wherever 

precipitation, runoff, streamflow, and ocean 

waters interact with roads, bridges, and cul

verts. One specific aspect of hydraulic engi

neering involves the design of infrastructure 

in river and stream environments. 

-

-

The Federal Highway Administration 

promotes the use of sound river science 

and engineering principles in the design 

of river and stream crossings and other 

infrastructure encroachments on waterways. 

Collaboration with planners, environmental 

specialists, scientists, and other engineering 

disciplines enables hydraulic engineers to 

consider appropriate ranges of flow depths, 

velocities, durations, and other parameters 

for successful design outcomes. 

A holistic design of transportation 

infrastructure in and around waterways 

requires careful consideration of river and 

stream processes. An interdisciplinary team 

approach to project planning, design, and 

operation that considers these natural pro

cesses may result in a successful project. 

-

Structures such as bridges and culverts 

that do not account for the natural move

ments of waterways, the sediment and wood 

material they carry, and the aquatic and 

terrestrial organisms that call them home 

may fail to meet multiple design objec

tives. Factoring in river processes during 

transportation project development may 

prevent a river from eroding its riverbanks 

due to human-induced causes, claiming 

adjacent land in the floodplain, and jeop

ardizing transportation infrastructure and 

other assets. 

-

-

-

In circumstances such as these, river 

flows can also carry and deposit eroded soil 

from the riverbanks, which could wash over 

and cover in-stream fish habitats, silt in 

other bridges and culverts, or pollute lakes 

and reservoirs. The altered river channel and 

flow may then expose and erode downstream bridge foundations and approach 

roadways. When these effects occur, juris

dictions may have to undertake substantial 

and costly maintenance actions to stabilize 

the river section and protect the adjacent 

transportation and agricultural assets.

-

Unfortunately, transportation agencies 

frequently face situations like these. A team 
An eroding river bank can cause damage downstream to bridges and road crossings. 

Source: FHWA.

6 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

of interdisciplinary and interagency profes

sionals with knowledge of and experience 

in river science and engineering can help 

address these types of planning, design, and 

maintenance challenges. 

-

Historical Obstacles to Learning 

And Collaboration

Many transportation agencies do not have 

the expertise, tools, and confidence to 

incorporate and apply river engineering and 

river science concepts to their transportation 

projects. To an extent, historical methods 

and tools used to train students and pro

fessionals account for the lack of a properly 

trained workforce. 

-

FHWA hydraulic engineers have 

received significant feedback from State and 

local transportation professionals on how 

technology and training relating to river 

processes are deployed. Common criticisms 

of traditional training methods include:

• Training and tools are too technical 

and “in the weeds” for transporta

tion professionals who do not have 

extensive experience and education in 

hydraulic engineering.

-

• Techniques and methods seem overwhelming and intimidating.

• River and stream assessments require 

a large amount of data collection and 

field observations, but agencies lack 

a practical and established way to 

organize and use the data for project 

development and design.

• Concepts and methods are not always 

intuitive, visual, and understandable. 

In the past, engineers, scientists, 

and many educators have not routinely 

emphasized the importance of delivering 

river science and engineering training in an 

accessible, understandable, and practical 

form suited to a wide-ranging audience. 

A well-traveled story within the fields of 

hydraulic engineering and river science 

involves Albert Einstein and his son Hans. 

When Hans told his father he wished to 

study sediment transport and similar topics 

in rivers, Einstein is said to have expressed 

amazement that his son would want to 

pursue such a complex endeavor! Hans went 

on to become a pioneer in the fields of river 

science and sediment transport. 

FHWA, like many other agencies and 

institutions, has historically trained pro

fessionals in river engineering and science 

in a manner that mirrored Einstein’s reply 

to his son. Technical resource documents 

and training catered to a niche audience of 

hydraulic engineers and were laden with 

complex equations, charts, methods, and 

explanations. For most others who would 

benefit from at least some of this background knowledge, such as planners, envi

ronmental scientists, designers, engineers, 

and construction and maintenance staff, 

this material was often thought to be too 

complex and unattainable to learn. 

-

-

 Because hydraulic engineers and 

designers collaborate with numerous project 

stakeholders, successful and expressive 

communication, a common vocabulary, and 

a base-level of knowledge are key to project 

success. Hydraulic engineers, designers, and 

other project partners routinely experience 

misunderstandings and frustration when 

relating concepts and design information in 

ways that do not incorporate visual context 

and descriptions. Although river science 

and hydraulic engineering can be techni

cally challenging fields, key concepts can be 

easily visualized and demonstrated regardless 

of the background and experience of the 

people studying and working in these areas. 

-

Vermont Focuses on 

Hands-on Training

River processes, science, and engineering 

may become intuitive and relatable when 

practitioners are able to successfully visualize 

concepts and processes. This insight has led 

to the success of the Vermont Rivers and 

Roads Training Program, a collaboration 

between the Vermont Agencies of Transpor

tation and Natural Resources. 

-

Staci Pomeroy is a river resource scientist 

with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Watershed Manage

ment Division. As a co-developer of and a 

lead instructor for the program, she recog

nizes the value of hands-on-training and 

stream visits to teach seemingly complex 

concepts to transportation professionals 

who have little formal knowledge of river 

processes. 

-

-

“There is a saying ‘Tell me and I’ll 

forget, but show me and I’ll remember,’” 

says Pomeroy. “This has been a common 

theme heard from folks attending the 

Vermont Rivers and Roads Tier 2 Training 

Program. Now after 8 years of hosting the 

training, the comments from almost 600 

attendees have indicated the importance of 

hands-on training. The success of the Rivers 

and Roads training has been to recognize 

that learning happens in different ways 

for different people and that providing a 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 7

mix of classroom, stream 

table, and field exercises 

garners the best chance of 

someone not only hearing 

the information but 

remembering it.”

Rivers and Roads 

Connection Program

FHWA is following 

Vermont’s lead by devel

oping the Rivers and 

Roads (R&R) Connection 

Program to develop and 

deploy visually engaging, 

intuitive training and 

techniques to a broad 

spectrum of transportation and resource 

agency professionals that work on projects 

within river and stream environments. R&R 

Connection will exemplify how transpor

tation projects in river environments can 

successfully meet multiple design objectives 

including public safety, preservation and 

enhancement of natural ecosystem func

tions, and resilience. The program will 

emphasize the importance of clear commu

nication and collaboration among all project 

partners and stakeholders. 

-

-

-

-

With this program, FHWA aims to 

increase interest and excitement in natu

ral sciences and engineering by changing 

the paradigm of training and technology 

deployment. The new style is intended to 

be fun, engaging, understandable, practical, 

and empowering.

-

Rivers and Roads Program

Attendee comments from Vermont’s 

program indicate the success of 

hands-on and visual learning methods.

“ I enjoyed the excellent mix of class, 

river flow tables, and field visits. ”

“ The hands-on portion of the 

class really solidified what was 

learned in the classroom. ” 

“ The mixed-training format has 

provided a better understanding of 

river mechanics relative to in-stream 

work on construction projects. ”

“ The afternoon field trips really 

brought home the message from 

morning class and stream table 

presentations, and now I have a better 

understanding of what to do after 

the next flood hits Vermont. ”

Chao Huang, a contractor with FHWA’s 

J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research 

Laboratory at the Turner-Fairbank 

Highway Research Center, stands beside 

a stream table demonstration at the 

Transportation Research Board Annual 

Meeting in January 2020. 

Source: FHWA.

A consultant discusses field scoping 

practices for bridge projects in 

FHWA’s series of videos. 

Source: FHWA.

Visualization Tools for Hydraulics

Visualization and hands-on demonstration 

tools can make complex science and engi

neering concepts much more accessible. 

-

Taking a cue directly from the Vermont 

program, FHWA’s R&R Connection 

Program incorporates a stream table. A 

stream table with a portable flume, plastic 

sand media, and flowing water can demon

strate how rivers and roads interact in both 

beneficial and counterproductive ways. 

For example, FHWA staff use the stream 

table to present the importance of proper 

structure location and selection. Improper 

structure location and selection can exacer

bate erosion at structure foundations, trigger 

river instability, jeopardize motorists, and 

destroy natural ecosystem features and func

tions. FHWA intends to make live stream 

table demonstrations and exercises a core 

component of an in-development stream 

dynamics workshop.

-

-

-

FHWA recently completed a second 

visually engaging and practical tool: a series 

of field scoping videos. The videos are 

intended to introduce good practices and 

procedures of project scoping (such as visual 

field assessment, data collection, and data 

interpretation) necessary for the hydraulic 

design and maintenance of transportation 

infrastructure. The videos are publicly 

available on the FHWA YouTubeTM channel 

(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5_

sm9g9d4T1YwhKoJZGu3OxhcqqHCLCy) and 

target an audience of civil engineers, roadway designers, project managers, and other 

professionals involved with transportation 

project planning, development, and design. 

The specific field scoping video topics cover 

bridges, river and stream channels, highway drainage (culverts, ditches, medians, 

pavements, and storm drains), drainage 

maintenance projects, and pre-field visit 

data collection. 

Theodore Bender, a stormwater hydrau

lic engineer for the city of Fort Collins, 

CO, served on the oversight panel for the 

video project. “In my experience, collabora

tion has been an essential part of hydraulic 

engineering and river science,” Bender says. 

“From the first site visit to the last peer 

review, input from the various interdisci

plinary stakeholders creates a robust project 

that will serve the public for many years 

to come.”

-

-

-

Successfully visualizing flow patterns in 

rivers and streams can also be accomplished 

using advanced technology, especially 

because physical site visits with experts are 

not always practical. Virtual reality site 

visits and river assessments will be another 

component of an FHWA-developed stream 

dynamics workshop. 

FHWA hydraulic engineers have used 

virtual reality technology to demonstrate 

how water depths, velocities, and riverbed 

elevations vary in river channels and around 

bridge piers and other foundation types. 

In modeling images, cool colors (blues and 

greens) are often used to denote deeper or 

slower moving water and lower channel 

elevations, and warmer colors (yellows 

and reds) may denote shallower and faster 

moving water and higher riverbed and 
8 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

Virtual reality technology, like the headset used here, can 

demonstrate how flow may erode a riverbed when moving 

through a bridge crossing a river. The insert in the lower 

left shows the heat map display, indicating less erosion 

and higher riverbed elevations (open/filled circles) along 

the edges and more erosion and lower riverbed elevations 

(open/filled diamonds) in the center of the river. 

Source: FHWA.

Less erosion and higher 

riverbed elevation

More erosion and lower 

riverbed elevation

floodplain elevations. FHWA will adapt 

this technology to perform virtual site visits. 

The images appearing in the virtual reality 

display will enable users to see real physical 

settings including river and stream channels, 

infrastructure, and their interactions. 

FHWA hydraulic engineers have used 

an initiative in Every Day Counts round 

5 (EDC-5), Collaborative Hydraulics: 

Advancing to the Next Generation of 

Engineering (CHANGE), to illustrate how 

hydraulic modeling software generates 

visually rich and descriptive results. These 

modeling results help project design teams 

convey to stakeholders where the water is 

flowing and how deep and fast it is moving. 

Hydraulic models are used to predict flood 

limits and flow velocities through bridge 

openings. Water surface elevations can 

determine the elevations of bridge decks, 

and flow velocities through the bridges 

can help determine the necessary depths 

of foundations. 

Computer models can analyze and com

municate complex flow patterns in an easily 

understood manner in which flow arrows 

show direction throughout the modeled 

river channel and colors convey faster or 

slower velocities. The visually descriptive 

model results enhance communication and 

reduce misunderstandings and miscommu

nications between project team members. 

-

-

“I believe [transportation agencies] are 

welcoming the quality graphical output 

from 2D models to enhance collabora

tion and engage stakeholders,” says Scott 

Hogan, the CHANGE technical lead and a 

senior hydraulic engineer with the FHWA 

Resource Center. 

-

Visualization and Collaboration 

For Success

Flow visualization tools such as stream 

tables, videos, virtual reality river and stream 

visits, and hydraulic modeling software are 

just some of the resources FHWA hydraulic 

engineers can use to create engaging, fun, 

and effective learning experiences. FHWA 

initiatives and State-sponsored efforts 

such as the Vermont Rivers and Roads 

Program that visualize water and infrastructure interactions have the potential 

to profoundly impact current and future 

generations of transportation professionals, 

project stakeholders, and educators and 

students with interest in natural sciences 

and engineering. Visual and engaging tech

niques can empower decisionmakers and 

practitioners with knowledge and skills to 

effectively preserve or enhance our river and 

road corridors.

-

ERIC R. BROWN, Ph.D., is a senior hydraulic engi

neer with FHWA’s Office of Bridges and Structures, 

where he supports hydraulic engineering program 

areas. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from 

Pennsylvania State University. 

-

LAURA GIRARD, PE, MSCE, is a hydraulic engineer 

with FHWA’s Resource Center, where she provides 

technical support on hydraulic design and mod

eling. She holds an M.S. in civil engineering from 

Colorado State University. 

-

KORNEL KERENYI, Ph.D., is a hydraulic research 

engineer in FHWA’s Office of Infrastructure 

Research and Development. He holds a Ph.D. 

in fluid mechanics from Vienna University of 

Technology (TU Wien) in Austria.

For more information, see www.fhwa

.dot.gov/engineering/hydraulics or contact 

Eric R. Brown at 202–366–4598 or 

eric.r.brown@dot.gov.

Hydraulic models, such as those deployed in 

the EDC-5 CHANGE initiative, show water depth, 

direction, and speed of flow. 

Source: FHWA.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 9

Improving Safety for 

Travelers and Wildlife

Wyoming has been addressing 

collisions between animals and 

vehicles on highways for decades. 

Here’s what they have learned.

In Wyoming, vehicle/wildlife conflicts are common on 

highways. WYDOT and its partners are working to mitigate the 

issue and improve safety for travelers as well as animals. 

© Mark Gocke.

by BOB BONDS, SCOTT GAMO, and THOMAS HART

Roadways inevitably bring conflict 

between wildlife and vehicles, especially 

on rural highways, leading to carcasses 

in or beside travel lanes, injured animals, 

damaged vehicles, and injured people. Wyoming is no exception. As in other States, 

Wyoming roadways commonly overlap, 

intersect, or travel along common wildlife 

habitats and migratory corridors. 

One of the ways to help keep migration 

corridors intact while improving safety for 

travelers and wildlife is to provide highway 

crossing structures in select locations. In 

Wyoming alone, studies have shown an 

approximate 80-percent reduction in wildlife/vehicle collisions where such structures 

have been installed. While obviously bene

fitting wildlife, these structures ultimately 

serve transportation agencies by address

ing their highest priority—traveler safety. 

Although such additions to roadway design 

can be expensive, they provide worthwhile 

benefits to wildlife and the traveling public, 

such as reducing crashes, injuries, property 

damage, emergency response, and carcass 

removal and disposal. 

-

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Understanding Wildlife/

Vehicle Conflict

To improve safety and prevent collisions, 

transportation agencies must first have data 

on where the wildlife is, how animals are 

moving, and where conflicts occur. With 

the advent of GPS technologies incorpo

rated into radio telemetry collars, wildlife 

researchers could begin to identify migra

tion corridors for mule deer and pronghorn—two of the most common species 

in Wyoming’s wildlife/vehicle conflicts—

and identify these routes in Wyoming. 

In addition, the Wyoming Department 

of Transportation (WYDOT) has long 

been collecting carcass location data along 

highways. Combining these long-term 

data with new telemetry data has greatly 

improved identification of hot spots and 

helped focus priorities to mitigate wildlife/

vehicle conflicts.

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-

Wyoming is home to some of the longest 

intact mule deer and pronghorn migration 

corridors in North America. 

“The vast majority of deer, elk, and 

pronghorn are migratory, so it’s important 

we maintain functional migration corridors 

that allow them to move between distant 

winter and summer ranges,” says Hall 

Sawyer, a research biologist and project 

manager with Western EcoSystems Technol

ogy, Inc. 

-

In February 2020, Wyoming Governor 

Mark Gordon recognized the importance of 

these migration corridors when he signed an 

Executive Order outlining their protection 

and management. 

While many collision areas correlate with 

migration corridors, other hot spots are 

due to more localized animal populations, 

vehicle densities, and speeds. Conflicts arise 

in nonmigration areas such as seasonal or 

year-round wildlife habitats. 

Typically, wildlife/vehicle collisions 

result in a low percentage of fatal and injury 

crashes. However, conflicts with large game 

animals comprise 15 percent of overall 

crashes in Wyoming, and of these, 80 to 

85 percent involve mule deer. Fortunately, 

very few collisions have resulted in human 
10 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

fatalities, although the same cannot be said for wildlife. Regardless, 

wildlife/vehicle collisions result in tens of millions of dollars in 

vehicle repairs, as well as roadway maintenance costs to dispose of 

carcasses. In addition, it is becoming more difficult to dispose of 

carcasses as fewer and fewer municipal landfills are accepting them, 

forcing WYDOT to find alternative sources such as paying for 

private contracts.

Wildlife/vehicle conflicts—and collisions—in Wyoming occur across all highways statewide. 

© Mark Gocke.

2013-2017

Crash 

Severity

Total 

Crashes

Wildlife 

Caused

Wildlife Crashes 

Percentage 

of Total

Fatal Injuries 540 6* 1.1%

Injury Crashes 13,387 282 2.1%

Property 

Damage Only 

Crashes

54,882 12,275 22.4%

*5 of the 6 fatal injuries were individuals riding motorcycles.

Early Methods to Mitigate Conflicts

WYDOT’s initial attempt at reducing wildlife/vehicle conflict in 

the State began in the 1980s with the installation of wildlife barrier 

fencing at the right-of-way boundaries on select highways. This was 

a cooperative effort between WYDOT and the Wyoming Game and 

Fish Department (WGFD) as the two agencies worked to identify 

the best locations to implement the new fencing. Wyoming now 

has more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) of wildlife barrier fence on 

I–80, 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) on I–25, and 35 miles (56 kilome

ters) on several other highways.

-

In the early 1990s, WYDOT and WGFD initiated a focus on 

facilitating mule deer migration across Wyoming roadways based on 

information from research studies on U.S. 30 west of Kemmerer, 

WY. This section of road experienced hundreds of deer/vehicle con

flicts annually. In 2001, WYDOT mitigated the issue by installing 

a reinforced-concrete box culvert at Nugget Canyon with associated 

wildlife barrier fence to facilitate animal movement toward the 

culvert. WYDOT monitored the 11-foot-high by 20-foot-wide 

(3.4-meter by 6-meter) culvert structure to determine effective

ness after installation. The agency constructed numerous facias, or 

temporary openings of various sizes, to determine the minimum size 

that mule deer preferred. Researchers found the 10-foot by 20-foot 

(3-meter by 6-meter) configuration to be the optimum dimensions. 

WYDOT subsequently installed six more underpasses and associ

ated barrier fencing along U.S. 30. This successful wildlife crossing 

effort has reduced wildlife vehicle collisions by 81 percent. 

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-

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The Nugget Canyon box culvert provides a safe crossing point on U.S. 30 

for wildlife. Wildlife fencing helps channel the animals into the culvert and 

away from the open highway. 

© Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 11

Moran Junction to Dubois Road

In the mid-2000s, WYDOT convened 

the first wildlife working group to support 

the Moran Junction to Dubois highway 

reconstruction (U.S. 287/26) project. The 

wildlife working group included representa

tives from Federal Highway Administration, 

WYDOT, WGFD, the U.S. Forest Service, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a local 

wildlife advocate. The group was tasked 

with developing a process to review poten

tial crossing locations and structure types. 

The group evaluated structures to fit natural 

topography and drainages, and identified 

crossing locations based on research projects 

and local knowledge. 

-

-

The Moran Junction to Dubois corridor 

is a high-elevation project along the south

ern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and is 

located in core spring, summer, and fall hab

itats, rather than along a migration corridor. 

The road, within Bridger-Teton and Sho

shone National Forests, receives more than 

300 inches (760 centimeters) of snow each 

winter and therefore cannot support a fence 

of any kind—the snow load would destroy 

it in one season. To address wildlife/vehicle 

conflicts in this environment, the working 

group recommended extending two bridges, 

creating an under-passage on each side, 

as well as adding a new bridge, four new 

large box culverts, and a large arch culvert. 

Less than 10 percent of the project’s $120 

million cost went toward these wildlife miti

gation strategies. The structures have proven 

to be effective for facilitating safe crossings 

by mule deer, elk, moose, and grizzly bear, 

as well as numerous small mammals. 

-

-

-

-

“An extra selling point was the structures 

could also be used by snowmobiles in the 

winter without wildlife conflict, as most 

species migrate to lower elevations or hiber

nate,” says Mark Hinschberger, a retired 

wildlife biologist formerly working in the 

Shoshone National Forest. 

-

The collision mitigation structures built to improve safety for the Moran Junction to Dubois Road project have proven 

effective for deer, moose, and even bears. 

© Carol Theis, Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Highway 789 Underpasses

North of the town of Baggs, WY, State 

Highway 789 bisects crucial winter range 

and migration corridors for mule deer. Oil 

and gas production in the area contributed 

to a drastic increase in deer/vehicle crashes. 

With funding help from WGFD, Wyoming’s Bureau of Land Management, the 

local conservation district, and other nongovernment organizations, WYDOT con

structed two 10-foot by 20-foot (3-meter 

by 6-meter) box culvert underpasses and 

approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) of 

barrier fence in 2009 and 2012 to mitigate 

deer/vehicle crashes. As in Nugget Canyon, 

the underpasses have been very effective at 

safely moving mule deer under the highway. 

WYDOT and its partners documented 

more than 16,000 mule deer crossings 

during the first 2 years after construction 

of the first underpass and more than 1,200 

crossings during the first 7 months after 

construction of the second underpass. Other 

species such as elk, bobcat, and coyote have 

benefitted from the underpasses as well. 

-

Trappers Point

The Trappers Point project is perhaps 

Wyoming’s most famous. Pronghorn and 

mule deer migrate through this area and, 

according to wildlife researchers, have done 

so for thousands of years. This important 

and long-length migration corridor, known 

as the Path of the Pronghorn, was even doc

umented by National Geographic. 

-

The wildlife migration corridor intersects 

U.S. 191 near Pinedale, WY. In addition, 

there are small private acreages and other 

developments that, combined with the 

highway and topography, create a bottleneck 

for wildlife to navigate, increasing the risk of 

vehicle conflict. WYDOT, with support of 

other agencies, installed two overpasses and 

six underpasses, along with a barrier fence 

Pronghorn tend to travel across open, high-visibility areas, like the roads along the Trappers Point corridor. 

© Mark Gocke.
12 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

to guide animals to the structure to help 

mitigate this crossing issue. Pronghorn tend 

to prefer open areas with greater visibility, 

so they tend to prefer overpasses. However, 

recent data show that the animals can habit

uate to underpasses that provide appropriate 

openness. Mule deer are less selective of 

structure type. Monitoring has since shown 

that the project has resulted in an 80- to 

90-percent reduction in collisions while 

maintaining this critical migration corridor. 

-

Pronghorn antelope travel a 170-mile (270-kilometer) migration corridor that runs from 

Grand Teton National Park to the Pinedale/Green River Valley area. Shown here is one 

of the two concrete arch wildlife overpasses at Trappers Point. An 8-foot (2.4-meter) 

wildlife barrier fence is needed to funnel animals to the crossings. 

© Mark Gocke.

Buried Bridge at Togwotee Pass provides safe passage for elk and deer to move back 

and forth under the highway, minimizing potentially dangerous conflicts between wildlife 

and vehicles. 

© Mark Gocke.

Togwotee Pass and 

Hoback Junction

Built in 2010, the buried bridge on Togwo

tee Pass cost approximately $2 million. The 

roadway is on a curve and has a 6 percent 

grade, and with an elevation of 9,500 feet 

(2,900 meters), can experience ice accumu

lation most months of the year. To minimize 

differential icing between the roadway and 

the overpass, WYDOT designed 3.5 feet 

(1.1 meters) of soil between the structure 

and surfacing. Travelers don’t even realize 

they have traversed a bridge. The structure 

enables elk and deer to move back and forth 

under the highway along the reestablished 

drainage. 

-

-

Like Moran Junction, the Hoback Junc

tion to Jackson project also used a wildlife 

working group to develop a prioritized list 

of crossing locations and structures. The 

group recommended lengthening three 

bridges, building two new bridges, and 

building a new box culvert along with the 

associated wildlife barrier fence. The project 

consists of a north and south phase. The 

north phase is complete, with two new 

lengthened structures and one new bridge. 

The new and longer Flat Creek Bridge has 

remote camera data showing use by deer, 

moose, and elk—and even a family of 

mountain lions. 

-

Looking to the Future

Transportation and wildlife agencies, 

along with Wyoming’s Bureau of Land 

Management, the U.S. Forest Service, 

nongovernmental organizations, and 

Wyoming landowners, continue to work 

together on wildlife/roadway related 

issues in the State. In 2017, WYDOT and 

WGFD, along with their Federal, State, and 

local partners, created the Wyoming Wild

life and Roadways Initiative (

-

www.dot.state 

.wy.us/wildlife-initiative) to improve public 

safety on the State’s highways, reduce loss 

of lives and property, and reduce wildlife 

mortality. 

The initiative established a collaborative 

group to prioritize a list of about 240 loca

tions for potential wildlife/roadway projects 

across the State. The group determined the 

top 10 projects for WYDOT and WGFD 

to focus on for the foreseeable future. The 

list includes the Dry Piney project that has 

been awarded a BUILD grant. The highway 

bisects deer and pronghorn migration. The 

agencies are exploring efforts for funding 

opportunities by nongovernment organi

zations and other partners in this statewide effort.

-

-

BOB BONDS is the environment and design pro

gram engineer with FHWA’s Wyoming Division. He 

holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University 

of Wyoming.

-

SCOTT GAMO is the environmental services 

manager at WYDOT. He holds a B.S. in biology 

from Black Hills State University, an M.S. in wildlife 

biology, and a Ph.D. in rangeland ecology from the 

University of Wyoming.

THOMAS HART is a wildlife biologist in WYDOT’s En

vironmental Services Section. He graduated from 

the University of Wyoming with a B.S. in wildlife and 

fisheries biology and management. 

-

For more information, contact Bob Bonds 

at bob.bonds@dot.gov.

By reducing conflicts between wildlife and vehicles, like this moose facing 

down a driver on a winter road, Wyoming is making its highways safer for 

all users—human and animal alike. 

© Mark Gocke.
© suriyasilsaksom / iStock.com.

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may also submit content for Public Roads but are encouraged to collaborate with FHWA and 

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Check out our Writing for Public Roads: How-to Guide to learn about the many ways you can 

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To access the guide and learn more about article types, submission 

deadlines, and requirements, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/

publicroads/author.cfm.

Questions? Contact us at PublicRoads@dot.gov.
14 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

Savvy 

City 

Financing 

Supports 

Future

Infrastructure

Using value capture techniques enabled Santa Monica, CA, to build out a fiber 

optic network without taking on debt, positioning the city to better meet the 

demands of new mobility modes and emerging transportation technologies. 

Santa Monica’s CityNet fiber optic network has enabled the city to 

better respond to transportation challenges and opportunities. 

by THAY BISHOP and COURTNEY CHIAPARAS © Lux Blue / Shutterstock.com. 

The city of Santa Monica, an affluent community in western Los Angeles 

County, CA, has a land area of about 8.4 

square miles (21.8 square kilometers) and 

a population of more than 90,000, but its 

workday and weekend populations swell 

considerably. Workplaces and beaches 

draw 300,000 on weekdays and more than 

500,000 on weekends, according to one 

estimate. The resulting traffic is so bad 

that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan 

Transportation Authority recently consid

ered implementing congestion pricing for 

the city. 

-

In the next decade, Santa Monica will 

need to integrate new technologies, such 

as drones and connected vehicles, into its 

transportation system. The city, like other 

localities around the country, will need to 

access new sources of revenue and enough 

communications bandwidth to enable the 

new technologies. Santa Monica’s innovative 

approaches to using the public right-of-way 

(ROW) offer a strong example of how to 

achieve both objectives at once. 

Telecom Hits the Streets

Local traffic congestion in Santa Monica 

became a subject of particular interest in 

the late 1990s, when the need for infrastructure improvements in the public ROW 

threatened to disrupt traffic and access to 

local businesses. The Telecommunications 

Act of 1996 deregulated the broadcasting 

and telecommunications markets. Across 

the country, policy changes were leading to 

more permit requests to build new networks 

in the public ROW. Telecommunications 

construction was likely to add to congestion 

and shorten the lifespan of streets, partic

ularly because firms wanting to hide their 

investment plans from competitors were 

often reluctant to engage in joint trenching. 

-

At the same time, Santa Monica was 

facing a growing need for fast, reliable, and 

affordable broadband services to meet its 

internal communications needs. In 1998, 

Santa Monica published a telecommu

nications plan recommending that the 

city install its own fiber optic network to 

connect with key public facilities, such as 

the local community college, K–12 school 

district, and city buildings. The plan also 

included recommendations for managing 

the public ROW and leveraging public 

works projects to efficiently install tele

communications infrastructure. Rather 

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WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 15

than leasing expensive lines from the cable 

company, Santa Monica could invest those 

funds in building its own network in phases 

across the city. Using this approach, Santa 

Monica was able to build an extensive fiber 

optic network without incurring debt. 

In 2010, the city designed and launched 

a 10-gigabit fiber network, Santa Monica 

CityNet, to deliver its own broadband for 

city operations and local businesses. Today, 

CityNet offers up to 100 gigabits of dedi

cated broadband capacity through a fiber 

optic network serving the city’s major hos

pitals, medical clinics, community college, 

police and fire stations, libraries, and nearly 

all the tech and entertainment businesses 

in the city. The city also offers free Wi-Fi 

in city buildings, in the public ROW, and 

at other locations across the city. It recently 

began offering commercial broadband ser

vices to residents as well.

-

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-

Leasing fiber to other service providers 

and providing services to local businesses 

has resulted in millions of dollars in reve

nue, which CityNet invests back into the 

network through equipment replacement, 

staffing, innovation, and special initiatives. 

That practice, along with the incremental 

expansion of the network over the years, 

holds important lessons for agencies large 

and small looking to capture value from 

their own infrastructure investments. 

-

Capturing Value from 

the Public ROW

Beginning in 2002, as Santa Monica 

agencies opened the streets for a variety of 

projects, the city was able to install conduit 

and fiber underground. Laying the infrastructure in coordination with other capital 

projects that involved trenching—including 

street-widening construction, streetlight 

wiring upgrades, and replacement of irriga

tion mains—enabled a gradual extension of 

the network over the years. It also reduced 

the costs of installation by up to 90 percent 

and helped Santa Monica avoid redundant 

digging, which increased the lifespan of its 

streets and reduced traffic disruption. 

-

When deploying the cable, Santa 

Monica placed extra fiber so that it could 

oblige higher demand and curb the costs 

of having to lay more cable later. Higher 

demand surely came. Google and other large 

Wi-Fi supports a range of services, including 

traffic cameras and synchronized traffic 

signals, at intersections across the city. 

© Metamorworks / Getty Images.
businesses began leasing the city’s dark fiber—unused optical fiber 

that is available for use in communication—which offers very fast, 

direct, low latency connections. Businesses that needed the dark 

fiber paid to connect it directly to their buildings, thus extending 

the network at no cost to the city. 

Beginning in 2002, as Santa Monica agencies opened the streets 

for a variety of projects, the city was able to install conduit and fiber 

underground. Laying the infrastructure in coordination with other 

capital projects enabled a gradual extension of the network over the 

years and reduced the costs of installation by up to 90 percent. 

© KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images.

16 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

Leasing the fiber installed in the public ROW is an important 

technique of value capture, which can harness a portion of the rev

enue from the lease to pay for city initiatives. ROW use agreements 

involve the sale or lease of development above, below, or adjacent to 

transportation ROWs or real properties. By tapping into ongoing 

revenue sources, value capture can raise funds for projects or provide 

a stream of funds on a long-term basis.

-

Value capture is useful in urban, suburban, and rural settings, 

and there are tools and techniques agencies can use in each of those 

settings, but it is particularly useful for local governments.

“Federal resources aren’t necessarily growing enough to keep up 

with the needs across the country for highways and bridges,” says 

Stefan Natzke, the team leader for National Systems and Economic 

Development in the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of 

Planning, Environment, and Realty. “There is a scarcity of resources 

and increasing demand. On top of that, about three-quarters of 

public roads aren’t eligible for any Federal funding. The diminishing 

or constrained resources are really hitting local governments partic

ularly hard. They are looking for ways to find sustainable, long-term 

funding that can support transportation projects.” 

-

Value capture also has the potential to boost local economies. 

“If a project is well-designed and well-executed,” Natzke says, 

“it can support positive economic development outcomes in a 

region. So, these are self-reinforcing, where good transportation 

can lead to economic development, which can lead to demand for 

better transportation.” 

CityNet Notable Milestones

2006: Begins leasing dark fiber to Google

2010 to Present:

• Launches Santa Monica CityNet 

10-gigabit fiber optic network 

• Offers up to 100 gigabit broadband services

• Provides broadband to roughly 

95 percent of tech and entertainment 

firms with Santa Monica offices

• Includes new focus on shaping, informing, 

and piloting the city’s “smart city” strategy

2015: Launches Digital Inclusion Pilot, providing 

gigabit broadband service to affordable housing 

communities 

2018: Begins piloting smart city initiatives

In Santa Monica, CityNet has had a significant impact on the 

local economy, attracting tech and entertainment companies to 

the city and helping businesses lower their costs for high-capacity 

connections and retain and generate jobs in the community. For 

example, UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica connected to the 

network and then hired 180 software developers to implement 
a telemedicine initiative. The historic 

oceanfront Fairmont Hotel offers 2 gigabytes-per-second broadband to guests and 

markets itself for technology conventions 

and media production. Real estate com

panies emphasize the value of broadband 

in marketing and pricing their properties. 

As the city connects its network to more 

businesses, a cycle has emerged where the 

costs of new connections decline, leading 

more businesses to request connections, and 

further reducing the cost of connections. 

WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 17

In Santa Monica, CityNet has had 

a significant impact on the local 

economy, attracting tech and 

entertainment companies to the city 

and helping businesses lower their 

costs for high-capacity connections 

and retain and generate jobs in 

the community. 

© Anouchka / Getty Images.

-

Capturing Value from 

Joint Development

Public-private partnerships are a feature of 

joint development, another value capture 

technique that describes a public agency or a 

group of agencies that partner with a private 

developer to improve the use of land near, 

above, below, or adjacent to infrastructure. 

In Santa Monica, joint development facil

itated the deployment of fiber broadband 

infrastructure when the city coordinated 

with the private sector to fund the expan

sion of its network and engaged with private 

service providers to help offer broadband 

services to customers. 

-

-

Broadband service and the telecommuni

cation infrastructure that facilitates highspeed connectivity are essential for modern 

transportation systems. This is evident in 

Santa Monica, where free Wi-Fi in 32 hot 

zones is available not only at major tourist 

destinations but also along key commercial 

and transit corridors. The Wi-Fi contributes 

to a range of city services, including public 

safety video cameras, pay-on-foot parking 

stations, real-time parking information on 

signs and smartphones, traffic cameras, 

synchronized traffic signals, and a trans

portation management center. CityNet also 

provides wireless backhaul services to ensure 

5G wireless coverage for the entire city, and 

is gearing up to offer services using its milli

meter wave wireless network as well. 

-

-

-

The network now supports advanced 

applications, like parking meters that accept 

credit cards and smart traffic routing, that 

lead to a higher quality of life for residents 

and visitors and a better environment for 

businesses. At the same time, not having to 

borrow funds has reduced the city’s telecom

munications expenses while increasing the 

availability of high-speed services for the city 

and area businesses. 

-

But the work does not end there. The 

city commits itself to continuous innovation 

to keep up with the many new mobility 

options coming to market. Communities 

are demanding accommodations for all 

mobility modes, such as walking, biking, 

automobiles, and transit. Ridesharing 

services are well underway. Widespread use 

of connected and autonomous vehicles (AV) 

will soon become reality. 

“People want to get around fast,” says 

Gary Carter, the community broadband 

manager at CityNet. “[A major ridesharing 

company] started here. [A major electronic 

scooter-sharing company] launched here 

and—after a roller coaster ride of emergency 

policy analysis, enforcement, lawsuits, and 

negotiations—e-scooters are gradually evolv

ing into a manageable mobility option. We 

recently demonstrated a geofencing solution 

that would automatically slow scooters 

down on our sidewalks.” 

-

Value Capture 

Techniques

Value capture techniques 

take several forms. The most 

common mechanisms in the 

United States are:

• Air rights

• Impact fees

• Joint development

• Land value tax

• Negotiated exactions

• Sales tax districts

• Special assessments

• Tax increment finance

• Transportation utility fees
© Pgiam / Getty Images. © Peeterv / Getty Images.

Broadband service and the telecommunication infrastructure contribute to a range of city services, including real-time parking information on signs and smartphones and synchronized 

traffic signals.

18 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

Other startups in the city are developing 

autonomous helicopters and mapping the 

graphic information system coordinates for 

airspace for similar technologies.

“When we consider the rapid rate at 

which companies have introduced new 

mobility solutions into the ROW in the 

past decade,” Carter said in a recent webinar 

hosted by FHWA, “it’s obvious to us that 

we need a new [intelligent transportation 

system (ITS)] that can interface with and 

adapt to them all. It’s a huge, expensive 

undertaking that will require a lot of talent.” 

ITS technologies use wireless communi

cation to manage traffic flow and improve 

safety, facilitating medical emergency and 

fire response. Some States are using drones 

for facility management and maintenance, 

such as crawl drones in bridge inspection 

programs. This increases work productivity 

and reduces the size and cost of work teams. 

-

“The go-to response as these technologies 

emerge is to stall and to regulate, but that 

only buys you so much time,” Carter says. 

“What it will require is cities partnering 

with tech companies to create something 

that is the 3.0 of what we have now.” 

CityNet pilots and experiments with new 

technologies that it believes will benefit the 

public and position the city to best respond 

to anticipated challenges and technological 

advancement, rather than reacting after the 

fact. All CityNet revenue goes into its Com

munity Broadband Enterprise Fund, which 

helps support the expansion and mainte

nance of the network. Consolidating and 

focusing all the revenue on CityNet enables 

the city to keep experimenting. 

-

-

“In the ROW, there’s tension between the 

innovators and the adoption cycle and the 

regulatory agencies,” Carter says. “CityNet 

can help bridge that gap. For instance, we 

can help convey the need for 5G wireless 

service in small cells throughout the city, 

show how it will benefit the public, and 

make sure it rolls out the right way. And 

while a lot of people are hesitant about 

autonomous vehicles, our position is that it’s 

better to assess the risks proactively than to 

react to them later. 

“A lot of cities and municipalities are 

looking at ways to leverage their assets 

to generate or capture more value,” says 

Carter. “Sometimes that value is financial, 

and sometimes it’s the ability to inno

vate further. Here in Santa Monica, we’re 

seeing both. The value we’ve captured 

from CityNet allows us to incubate civic 

tech opportunities.”

-

The Benefits 

CityNet Labs is the incubator working to 

assess and test emerging technologies, many 

of which would impact the way the public 

uses the ROW. Its AV pilot involves staff 

and subject matter experts researching ways 

to manage AVs as a mobility option and is 

introducing this to residents to assess the 

potential traffic impacts. 

Carter explains, “We envision that, 

in the near future, there will be control 

mechanisms to interface with autonomous 

vehicles, and we’re seeking opportunities to 

leverage our network and partnerships to 

prepare for that future.” 

Such an interface requires a robust wireless network. “I wouldn’t be talking about 

an AV pilot right now if we didn’t already 

have the network in place,” Carter says.

CityNet Labs is also pursuing a number 

of “smart city” initiatives. Smart cities use 

electronic sensors to capture real-time data 

to analyze and understand dynamic traffic 

patterns and trends and to aid in traffic 

management—a must as more mobility 

options hit the streets. 

The city commits itself to continuous innovation to keep 

up with the many new mobility options coming to market, 

such as electronic scooters. 

© Garrett Aitken / Getty Images.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 19

“Transportation is the primary focus of 

our smart city initiative,” Carter says. “At 

our Smart City Working Group meetings, 

people often ask who will pay the ongoing 

operational costs needed to manage these 

options and the public ROW, particu

larly when roads, bridges, and tunnels are 

underfunded.” 

-

Value capture techniques can certainly 

help, as Santa Monica has seen with the 

success of its city-owned network. CityNet 

earns roughly $2.5 million in revenue annu

ally, funding both the expansion and main

tenance of its network as well as projects like 

its AV and smart city initiatives. 

-

-

It also funds community engagement 

initiatives, such as its Digital Inclusion Pilot, 

which has expanded CityNet broadband 

to 10 affordable housing properties to help 

low-income residents have better access to 

wireless services. A Community Develop

ment Block Grant from the U.S. Depart

ment of Housing and Urban Development 

is helping to fund a $1.85 million ROW 

construction project to connect an addi

tional 29 buildings, and the city is using its 

revenue from a scooter-sharing company to 

build out additional connections. The new 

expansion will offer more than 500 fami

lies in low-income housing free broadband 

delivered to their community rooms and the 

opportunity to purchase affordable service 

delivered to their units. They may also 

participate in no-cost technology workshops 

offered onsite.

-

-

-

-

“For Santa Monica, value capture in 

the ROW is central to our efforts to adopt 

innovation-driven policy updates that are 

key to our local transportation strategy,” says 

Carter. “It has not only generated revenue, 

but also it has directly had a social impact in 

terms of our affordable housing and social 

mobility efforts, as well as our economic 

development.” 

Organizations interested in ROW value 

capture projects should be careful to follow 

relevant Federal and State legislation and 

guidelines. Profits from the non-highway 

use of any right of way purchased with Fed

eral funds since the 1980s (according to 23 

USC 156) or improved with Federal funds 

(according to 2 CFR 200, effective through 

individual project agreements) need to go to 

projects eligible under Title 23 of the U.S. 

Code. In California, agencies should review 

the California Department of Transporta

tion’s ROW manual (

-

-

https://dot.ca.gov 

/programs/right-of-way/right-of-way-manual), 

which describes how the non-highway use 

of any ROW is handled by the State. Other 

States may have similar documents.

Every Day Counts

The FHWA Center for Accelerating Inno

vation (CAI) manages Every Day Counts 

(

-

www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts), 

a State-based model that identifies and 

rapidly deploys proven yet underutilized 

innovations to shorten the project delivery 

process, enhance roadway safety, reduce 

traffic congestion, and integrate automation. 

For round 5, FHWA selected value capture 

as one of 10 innovations. CAI provides 

tools, resources, and technical assistance 

on value capture and other options to help 

the transportation community implement 

alternative financial strategies to deliver 

infrastructure. 

FHWA’s Natzke recently shared key 

lessons to help local governmental agencies, 

as well as transportation organizations, 

incorporate value capture into their projects. 

“Start thinking about using value capture 

at the earliest stages of project planning. It’s 

never too early,” he says. “When you start 

thinking about potential funding sources for 

a project, it’s probably a good time to start 

thinking about value capture and exploring 

what value capture options might fit in with 

your funding and financing plan.” 

As the case in Santa Monica demon

strates, value capture can help fund the 

infrastructure needed to support tomorrow’s 

transportation system.

-

THAY BISHOP, CPA, CTP, is a senior advisor in the 

FHWA Office of Innovative Program Delivery. She 

has a B.S. in industrial management from the 

Georgia Institute of Technology.

COURTNEY CHIAPARAS is a senior copywriter at 

a global marketing company. She has a B.A. in 

government and international politics and an M.A. 

in English from George Mason University.

For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot 

.gov/ipd/value_capture or contact Thay Bishop

at 404–562–3695 or thay.bishop@dot.gov.

CityNet is pursuing a number of smart city initiatives to capture real-time data to analyze 

and understand dynamic traffic patterns and trends and to aid in traffic management. 

© Metamorworks / Getty Images.
20 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

DETECTING BRIDGE CORROSION with a 

ROBOTIC MAGNETIC-BASED NDE SYSTEM

FHWA is researching a promising nondestructive evaluation method to 

uncover corrosion in the Nation’s prestressed concrete bridge girders. 

In 2005, a catastrophic failure of a prestressed concrete girder caused a bridge to collapse onto I–70 in Pennsylvania. 

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques such as magnetic flux leakage detection can help prevent events like this. 

by © Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. HODA AZARI and SADEGH SHAMS

Concrete deterioration and steel corrosion are major concerns to bridge owners and 

engineers. The corrosion of steel reinforce

ment in concrete construction impairs 

the durability and longevity of prestressed 

concrete girders. Although steel reinforcing 

compensates for the weakness in tensile 

strength of the concrete, it is the leading 

cause of concrete deterioration. 

-

Prestressed concrete is less permeable and 

has a higher alkalinity than normal concrete. 

However, steel reinforcement can be cor

roded in the case of poorly detailed or con

structed systems, or when the environment 

is more severe than expected. The corrosion 

of the steel strands decreases the ultimate 

strength and ductility of strand and leads to 

fracture, and may cause premature failure of 

concrete structures. Concrete cracks form 

over prestressed steel strands, permitting 

water and de-icing chemicals to penetrate to 

the steel and accelerate corrosion and create 

delamination and spalling. 

-

-

There are more than 617,000 bridges 

in the United States, most of which are 

constructed of steel, conventional reinforced 

concrete, or prestressed concrete. 

In 2002, the Federal Highway Adminis

tration, in partnership with NACE Interna

tional released a benchmark study, Corrosion 

Costs and Preventive Strategies in the United 

States (FHWA-RD-01-156), on costs 

associated with metallic corrosion in a wide 

range of industries. The report estimated 

the annual direct costs for replacement and 

maintenance of bridges in poor condition 

to be $8.3 billion, but the indirect costs 

of corrosion incurred by users and owners 

increase exponentially. The report estimated 

the indirect costs to the user, such as traffic 

delays and lost productivity, to be as high 

as 10 times that of direct corrosion costs. In 

2013, NACE International estimated the 

annual direct cost of corrosion for highway 

bridges to be $13.6 billion. 

-

-

Catastrophic collapses have led to a 

reevaluation of the condition of many 

bridge structures, which results in bridges 

being posted for weight restrictions. 

For instance, on December 27, 2005, 

the SR1014 Lake View Drive Bridge in 

Washington, PA, collapsed onto Interstate 

70 when one of the prestressed concrete 

girders failed from dead load. The forensic 

evaluation of the bridge revealed heavy 

spalling and corrosion of the strands on 

the bottom flange of the failed box beam 

member. Therefore, detecting corrosion in 

bridges is critical to effective maintenance 

and repair. 

“As such, some NDE data are becoming 

essential for more effective and economi

cal management of bridges, and concrete 

bridge decks in particular,” says Dr. Joey 

Hartmann, director of FHWA’s Office of 

Bridges and Structures. “To make more 

informed decisions addressing safety, 

reliability, and maintenance of bridge 

structures, owners have increasingly turned 

to NDE over the past 15 years to support 

bridge inspections.”

-

Magnetic-Based NDE Implementation 

and Technology Plan

Corrosion is a progressive process, and, if 

left unrepaired, leads to steel section loss 

or fracture resulting in lowered member 

capacity. Timely inspections of bridge 

structures—coupled with appropriate inter

ventions and mitigation strategies—signifi

cantly reduce the dollar impact of corrosion 

-

-
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 21

by documenting the corrosion and allowing for rehabilitation of the 

structures to increase the life of these valuable assets. By develop

ing new and improved evaluation techniques and testing devices, 

bridge engineers can more accurately determine inspection intervals, 

prioritize the most effective strategies for corrosion prevention and 

mitigation, and, ultimately, increase the service life of the Nation’s 

bridges. 

-

Since the late 1990s, FHWA has conducted several projects 

on the NDE of steel corrosion embedded in 

concrete bridges. The magnetic-based methods 

have been investigated through various projects 

seeking more efficient and cost-effective corro

sion inspections of prestressed concrete girders. 

Studies have demonstrated that magnetic flux 

leakage (MFL) systems are an effective NDE 

means used in the transportation and energy 

industries to detect corrosion such as loss of 

general uniform thickness, stress corrosion 

cracking, and concentrated pitting. 

-

MFL inspection relies on the fact that the 

gradient of magnetic scalar potential in a mag

netized metallic object rises in approaching any 

loss or added material. The amplitude of the 

MFL is generally proportional to the magne

tization level: the gradient can be significant 

when the ferromagnetic materials are locally 

magnetized to full or near saturation. For the purposes of examining 

prestressed concrete girders, the magnetizer travels the length of the 

prestressing strands to detect any flux leakage caused by section loss 

or gain. In other words, the MFL system, in the same manner with 

leakage from section loss at corrosion, identifies lateral reinforce

ments (stirrups) from added section at strand-stirrup interfaces. 

-

-

-

The magnetic sources can be either permanent or electromagnets. 

However, permanent magnets have more versatile applications in 

the field because of their simpler hardware requirements and speedy 

operation. Sensors are located between two permanent magnet 

blocks and can pass near the defects to measure the resulting flux 

leakage field. Sensors can be mounted axially and normally with 

respect to the direction of the magnetic field, producing a voltage output that changes proportionally with the magnetic field. 

As concrete is essentially a nonmagnetic material with a relative 

magnetic permeability of unity, it has negligible influence on the 

magnetic measurements. 

FHWA’s NDE Laboratory developed a more effective and field 

worthy magnetic-based NDE system in 2019 for the detection of 

steel corrosion in AASHTO-type prestressed concrete girders. The 

new MFL system is designed by taking computational and analytical 

measurements using the finite element multiphysics method to size 

and lay out magnets and determine rare-earth metal strength, select 

the magnetic field detection sensor, and predict test outputs under 

corrosion sizes and different concrete steel placements. Sixty-four 

such sensors are laid out on eight printed circuit boards in 32 pairs 

along a straight line with a 0.25-inch (0.64-centimeter) spacing. 

Each pair of sensors represents one channel of data for the normal 

magnetic field and one channel for the axial field. 

-

The magnetic flux leakage device includes 64 sensors placed on its circuit board. 

Source: FHWA.

Virginia’s MFL Research

Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete bridges is a major con

cern for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). 

This is particularly the case for prestressed concrete because 
22 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

of the sensitivity of corrosion-induced 

cross-section losses on the strands under 

large tensile stresses. 

“VDOT had found severely corroded 

prestressed strands in some bridge beams 

during inspections,” says Soundar Balaku

maran, the associate director at the Virginia 

Transportation Research Council (VTRC), 

which is part of VDOT. “This motivated 

VDOT and VTRC to explore technologies 

that are sensitive to cross-section losses in 

steel strands before the corrosion propagates 

to an advanced stage.” 

-

The research conducted at VTRC 

showed MFL as the technology with the 

most potential. VDOT built a rough prototype MFL device for laboratory testing and 

found it to be successful in identifying small 

cross-section losses in steel strands. Since a 

commercial device with this technology is 

not available at this time, VDOT has been 

looking to collaborate on the development 

of a production-level practical device for 

bridge inspection. 

“FHWA’s extensive testing reaffirmed 

the effectiveness of MFL technology for 

VDOT,” says Balakumaran.

The Robotic MFL 

In the latest version developed by FHWA’s 

NDE Laboratory, the MFL system is 

integrated into a robotic rover that travels 

the girder length using eight articulating 

arms engaged with the bottom flange on an 

AASHTO-type prestressed concrete girder. 

The robotic rover crawls along the length 

of the girders’ bottom flange while an X-Y 

positioning carriage supports an NDE 

device. The rover is capable of navigating 

diaphragms such that four arm pairs move 

around obstructions sequentially. The new 

rover follows a modular scheme that allows 

different evaluation devices (payloads), other 

than the MFL, to be used for testing and 

evaluation of the AASHTO-type prestressed 

concrete girders.

The newly designed MFL system consists 

of two permanent magnets to magnetize 

embedded strands and multiple sensors to 

detect normal and axial MFL. The magnet 

and sensor assembly moves linearly along 

the length of the girder. The direction of 

the applied magnetic field is aligned with 

the longitudinal strands embedded in 

the concrete girder. When the assembly 

reaches either the interface with stirrups or 

a corroded section of the bottom layer of 

strands, the magnetic field will be distorted. 

The primary components of the robotic 

rover subsystem include a rigid structural 

frame, articulating arms with drive mech

anism, proximity sensors, NDE device 

carriage, two encoder wheels, control 

modules, a power source, and data commu

nication devices. Communication between 

the main computer on the device and the 

-

-

During testing, FHWA researchers installed the robotic rover on an AASHTO-type IV concrete girder at FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. 

Source: FHWA.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 23

different onboard microprocessors and 

the data acquisition system occurs via two 

independent wireless gateways, one that is 

dedicated to the robotic rover and one to 

the MFL detection subsystem. 

FHWA researchers validated the 

robotized MFL system in the laboratory 

on a mockup girder specimen. The team 

investigated the effectiveness of the MFL 

method under several impacting param

eters using finite element multiphysics 

simulations. They found that MFL signals 

can be influenced by the distance between 

the magnetizer/sensor array and the object 

of interest. However, operators should be 

aware that signals from nearby secondary 

ferromagnetic objects such as stirrups, tie 

wires, and steel chairs may interfere with 

MFL signals.

-

Researchers verified the real-world 

performance of the system by examin

ing AASHTO-type prestressed concrete 

girders salvaged from an in-service bridge 

in Maryland. The girders were in service 

for almost 50 years before being salvaged 

from the bridge to be used for full-scale 

research at the Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center. 

-

The research team at FHWA’s NDE 

Laboratory installed the robotic rover on the 

girder and established wireless communica

tions with the integrated MFL system and 

ground controller. The developed software 

on the ground computer successfully controlled and monitored the scanning process. 

Using real-time data visualizations and 

further processing of recorded data revealed 

that the MFL system was able to disclose the 

location and extent of corrosion of prestress

ing strands and mapping stirrups. 

-

-

The MFL system comprises two permanent magnets, sensor arrays, data acquisition and communication, and a 

power source. 

Source: FHWA.

Research Findings

The research done in FHWA’s NDE Labora

tory in collaboration with the University of 

Wisconsin–Milwaukee has led to the devel

opment of a state-of-the-art magnetic-based 

corrosion detection system for use in pre

stressed concrete bridge girders. The system 

has benefitted from incorporating the latest 

technology, design, fabrication, and software 

engineering techniques. FHWA designed 

the MFL detection system using finite 

element multiphysics simulations to arrive 

at the optimum performance. The unique 

electronic circuits implemented in the 

data detection system enable the system to 

achieve extremely large dynamic range and 

excellent resolution, providing detection of 

corrosion-related cross section losses at less 

than 2 percent. 

-

-

-

The robotic rover provides structural 

support and a platform for the payload so 

that it can be moved along the length of 

a test girder for magnetic scanning. The 

rover is a sophisticated computer-controlled 

robotic device designed and fabricated to 

navigate obstacles as it moves, making the 

system a more effective and field-worthy 

NDE tool. System software provides data 

visualization and analysis, including 3-D 

imaging of the measured magnetic field in 

two different orientations. 

“FHWA’s team subjected the MFL 

system to extensive laboratory testing and 

evaluation after its fabrication,” says Dr. 

Jean Nehme, the team leader for FHWA’s 

Long-Term Infrastructure Performance 

Team. “The testing and evaluation led to 

optimizing the system performance by 

enhancement of the components and the 

entire system.”

HODA AZARI is the manager of the NDE Research 

Program and NDE Laboratory at FHWA’s TurnerFairbank Highway Research Center. She holds 

a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of 

Texas at El Paso.

SADEGH SHAMS is a contracted research engi

neer working in the NDE Laboratory at FHWA’s 

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. He 

holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University 

of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

-

The MFL software provides data visualization and analysis. 

Source: FHWA.
MOVING 

FoRRRwD:

Focus on 

Reducing 

Rural 

Roadway 

Departures

FHWA is partnering with State and local 

agencies to save lives on rural roads.

About one-third of the Nation’s annual traffic 

deaths are rural roadway departures. 

Source: FHWA.

24 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

by CATHY SATTERFIELD and RICHARD B. ALBIN

Each year in the United States, nearly 12,000 people die in roadway departure 

crashes on rural roads. That is more than 30 

people today, and every day. 

It is easy to overlook how serious a 

problem this is because those deadly crashes 

happen in scattered locations across vast 

rural roadway networks. Rural roadway 

departure crashes (also called lane depar

tures) do not cause massive traffic jams. 

There are no multicar pileups that make 

the news. They happen one here, one there, 

like a dripping faucet. Combined, however, 

those far-flung crashes account for roughly 

30 percent of the Nation’s annual roadway 

deaths. It is truly a national problem. 

-

Is there a way to save the people behind 

those numbers? Can agencies, with increas

ingly limited resources, hope to reduce rural 

roadway departures on their systems? The 

answer to both questions is yes, but it is a 

formidable challenge. 

-

The Federal Highway Administration 

is working with State departments of 

transportation, Local Technical Assistance 

Program (LTAP) centers, local agencies, 

and Tribal and Federal land management 

agencies across the country to combat this 

issue under the Every Day Counts initiative 

called Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway 

Departures (FoRRRwD).

The FoRRRwD team is promoting 

further use of proven strategies to reduce 

rural roadway departures. Many agencies 

are already implementing these strategies 

and are seeing positive results. The efforts of 

these agencies are getting people home safely 

who may have otherwise died.

“The scale of the rural roadway departure 

problem is sometimes hard to grasp because 

it happens largely in the background,” says 

Matthew Enders, the technical services 

manager for the Washington State DOT. 

“Once you see it, though, it is obvious that 

we have to do something. We are passionate 

about helping agencies solve this problem.”

FoRRRwD is based on four pillars: 

consideration of all public roads, a systemic 

safety approach, proven countermeasures, 

and safety action plans. This article focuses 

on two of the pillars—addressing the 

problem on all public roads and use of a 

systemic approach. A companion article 

in an upcoming issue of Public Roads will 

focus on proven rural roadway departure 

countermeasures and development of safety 

action plans.

Improving Safety 

On All Public Roads 

Rural roadway departure crashes are a 

major problem on all public roads. Fifty 

to 60 percent of fatalities happen on roads 

typically maintained by State DOTs. That 

leaves more than 40 percent of rural roadway departure fatalities scattered across the 

79 percent of the rural road mileage under 

the jurisdiction of the more than 3,000 

ocus n

educing 

ural 

oad ay 

epartures

FHWA is partnering with State and local 

agencies to save lives on rural roads.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 25

counties, 16,000 towns and townships, or 

other jurisdictions across the United States.

Any national strategy to reduce rural 

roadway departure deaths that does not 

address these non-State roads is only 

working on half the problem. This is a 

crucial point for three reasons. First, 

most local agencies have insufficient 

resources for dedicated roadway safety 

staff. That means it is difficult for them 

to learn or apply the latest safety analysis 

techniques or to collect the data necessary 

to support the analysis. Second, many local 

agencies have little or no crash data to use. 

Third, most local agencies lack sufficient 

funding to mount a concerted effort on 

reducing rural roadway departure crashes. 

Some U.S. counties are larger landwise than 

some U.S. States and have tens of thousands 

of lane miles to monitor. Because rural 

roadway departure locations are scattered 

and random, many local agencies may have 

difficulty getting a handle on the problem 

on their own.

Source: FHWA.

Partnerships Create Solutions

The national problem of deaths on rural 

roadways requires going beyond the State 

network of roads. It demands local partnerships to address the problem on all public 

roads. Several State DOTs, metropolitan 

planning organizations (MPOs), and 

regional planning commissions have stepped 

in to help their local counterparts. These 

agencies are making Federal and State funds 

available to local agencies based on the 

proportion of severe crashes happening on 

local systems. They are also making it easier 

for local agencies to apply for funding. And 

because data are key to this process, DOTs, 

MPOs, and regional planning commissions 

are helping local agencies with data acquisi

tion, compilation, and analysis.

-

“Most drivers don’t know if they are on 

a State or local road,” says John Michael 

Walker, P.E., the State traffic and safety 

operations engineer for the Alabama DOT. 

“Those peoples’ lives depend on the safety 

of all public roads, and that means all agen

cies working together.”

-

North Dakota is another State assisting 

local agencies. They asked, “How do you 

to get to zero fatalities if you don’t address 

the local road system?” According to Bryon 

Fuchs, assistant local government engineer 

with the North Dakota DOT, the State 

splits Federal safety funds fifty-fifty with 

local agencies, because that is the proportion 

of fatalities on each system. 

Washington State DOT splits its Federal 

safety funds between the State, counties, 

and cities based on the proportion of fatal 

and serious injuries on each, which results in 
70 percent going to local agencies. Wash

ington’s LTAP Center is one of several that 

have jumped in to assist local agencies with 

data analysis. 

-

The Louisiana Department of Trans

portation and Development (Louisiana 

DOTD) recently collected spatial coordi

nates of all public roads in Louisiana and 

loaded them into the agency’s geographic 

information system (GIS). The effort 

resulted in a complete roadway basemap 

that Louisiana DOTD shares with local 

agencies. 

-

-

The Acadiana Planning Commission 

(APC), an MPO in Louisiana, used the 

Louisiana DOTD GIS to inventory the 

roadways in their own jurisdiction. Together 

with Louisiana DOTD, the APC can now 

analyze safety using GIS data to integrate 

crash, roadway, and traffic volume data. 

The data analysis is invaluable for making 

informed safety investments and will pro

vide justification to pursue funding.

-

“The data collection and the tools 

developed by DOTD and the APC have 

been helpful in identifying locations 

where motorists have lost control of their 

vehicle and run off of the road on Acadia 

Parish’s local roadways,” says Michael 

Schexnider, the road manager for Acadia 

Parish. “Thanks to this data collection, we 

were able to plan and program a systemic 

roadway departure project to address 

curves on 12 roadways to reduce crashes in 

Acadia Parish.” 

The APC also works with Louisiana 

DOTD and local agencies to perform 

network screening and countermeasure 

selection. They help with asset management, 

roadway inventory updates, and a variety 

of other functions that may be beyond the 

resources of their local and parish-level 

partners. 

These are the types of partnerships that 

are critical to address the crashes beyond the 

State system.

A typical rural local road may not have edge lines, shoulders, or signing. 

In some cases, the roads may not be paved. 

Source: FHWA.

26 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

Source: FHWA.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 27

Hot spot analysis does not work well for rural roads, which tend to have widely scattered crash sites, as shown on this map of crashes on Ohio roadways for 2014 to 2018. 

Source: FHWA. © ESRI (for map image).

Three Approaches to Safety

There are three approaches that most 

transportation agencies use to identify 

safety projects: “hot spot” analysis, system

atic analysis, and systemic analysis. Some 

work better than others for certain types of 

crashes, and some work better for certain 

countermeasures. Ideally, they should be 

used together to be most effective.

-

Traditional Hot Spot Analysis 

The hot spot approach uses historic 

crash data to identify sites with the 

most significant crash performance 

measures (such as crash frequency 

and crash rate). Sites with the highest 

numbers are deemed hot spots. Agencies 

identify hot spots, analyze the problem, 

and then install countermeasures to 

mitigate crashes. 

Systematic Approach 

With this approach, agencies install 

a countermeasure—rumble strips or 

SafetyEdgeSM, for instance—over an 

entire portion of their system meeting 

certain criteria, regardless of the number 

of crashes at any one location. 

Systemic Approach 

Systemic analysis (not to be confused 

with systematic) uses roadway 

geometrics, traffic characteristics, and 

maintenance information along with 

crash data to identify risk factors, 

then uses those risk factors to identify 

locations at highest risk of future 

crashes. Low-cost countermeasures are 

installed at targeted, high-risk locations 

across the system, even if there has not 

been a crash. 

The Trouble with Hot Spots

While it is important that States review 

crash data to identify and address locations 

with concentrations of crashes (hot spots), 

this approach is not suited to the nature 

of rural roadway networks. Hot spots by 

definition are clusters of crashes at a single 

location. Hot spots may occur on roadways 

with high traffic volume and in urban areas, 

but are almost nonexistent on rural roads.

While the types of roadway departure 

crashes are fairly predictable (run-off-road 

or head-on collisions in horizontal curves, 

for example), specific crash locations are 

random from year to year, and they rarely 

happen at the same location multiple times. 

Because hot spot analysis depends on group

ings of crashes at specific locations, it does 

not accurately reflect how rural roadway 

departures occur. Even if an agency finds a 

hot spot and mitigates it, doing so will not 

solve the larger problem because most crash 

locations will shift around the network each 

year. In addition, hot spot solutions are 

often expensive, such as rebuilding a curve 

or widening shoulders, which may involve 

purchasing right-of-way. 

-

The other weakness of hot spot analysis 

is that it is reactive. It is based solely on past 

crashes, which leaves agencies waiting for a 

tragedy before anything can be done.

SafetyEdgeSM is a very low-cost countermeasure applied during the paving process. The gentle angle enables cars to 

return to the roadway safely following a departure. 

Source: FHWA.

Is Systematic Feasible?

The systematic approach has advantages 

over hot spot analysis as it can be done 

proactively. For example, an agency can 

set criteria that mandate installation of 

SafetyEdgeSM any time it paves a road without a curb, no matter the location. Adding 

safety treatments during other planned 
28 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

projects like widening shoulders when 

overlaying an existing narrow road can be 

cost-effective. 

However, the systematic approach does 

not apply countermeasures where they are 

most needed. It does enable safety improve

ments to be added, but other priorities often 

determine the order in which projects are 

completed, rather than where the highest 

risks can be reduced. Therefore, safety 

improvement installations across the network are often delayed. It can also be costly. 

Few agencies, especially local ones, have the 

money or staff to install and maintain every 

safety feature on every mile of road, even 

when limiting the use of countermeasures 

based on standard criteria.

-

Another key concern with this approach 

is that systematic criteria can be exclusion

ary. For example, agencies often exclude the 

use of rumble strips on narrow shoulders 

because of bicyclist concerns. However, 

roads with narrow shoulders tend to have 

higher risk of serious roadway departure 

crashes and would be a good location for 

rumble strips. Widening shoulders is benefi

cial to both bicyclists and to reduce roadway 

departures, but can be cost-prohibitive and 

in conflict with environmental goals. As a 

result, it is possible to miss high-risk loca

tions when applying systematic policies. 

-

-

-

It is therefore not effective to use only 

the systematic approach to solve the roadway departure crash problem.

An FHWA engineer measures the angle of the SafetyEdgeSM 

installation during a new paving project on a rural road. 

Source: FHWA.

The presence of a visual trap (where it appears the road goes straight when it actually curves) 

is a qualitative risk factor that an agency might use in its systemic analysis. 

Source: FHWA.

A Systemic Approach Works 

For Health and Roadways

The systemic approach has benefits over 

both the hot spot and the systematic 

approach. It is proactive, targeted, and 

more cost-effective than the other methods. 

It looks not only at where crashes have 

occurred in the past, but the factors at those 

locations that likely contributed to the 

crashes. It then uses those identified risk fac

tors to prioritize potential countermeasures 

and where they should be applied first to do 

the most good. 

-

Systemic analysis sees a roadway system 

like a doctor does the human body. When 

you go for a physical, the doctor starts with 

data specific to you, such as your weight 

and blood pressure, then moves on to your 

medical history. Does anyone in your family 

have a heart condition? Diabetes? What 

about high cholesterol? The doctor then asks 

about personal habits. Are you a smoker? 

How often do you exercise? 

Physicians understand that the human 

body is a system, and studies on large groups 

of people over long periods of time give 

them information on how various factors 

contribute to disease. Therefore, the doctor 

assesses the body system, looking for risk 

factors that may indicate future disease—

enabling a proactive approach. Someone 

with multiple risk factors for heart disease, 

for example, can be prescribed treatment to 

fend off a heart attack. It would be unethical 

to wait until the patient had a heart event to 

recommend action. 

Systemic analysis assesses a roadway 

system like the doctor. It starts with network 

crash data: Where have crashes happened? 

Compiling those data provides context to 

identify commonalities that exist in the 

roadway or traffic features that may have 

contributed to the crashes. If an agency 

does not have data of its own, data from 

similar roads elsewhere in the region, State, 

or nation may help determine appropriate 

risk factors. This is where systemic analysis 

departs from the hot spot approach. Instead 

of only mitigating locations of past crashes, 

the systemic approach also treats other 

locations that have similar features to typical 

crash locations.

Suppose a local agency finds that, out 

of 10 rural curves with injury crashes, 8 of 

those curves had a radius between 500 and 

1,000 feet (150 to 300 meters). Now suppose six of those curves had no edge lines. 

Just like the doctor knows high blood 

pressure and lack of exercise are risk factors 

for heart disease, it would be logical for the 

agency to conclude that other curves with a 

radius between 500 and 1,000 feet (150 to 

300 meters) and no edge lines are at higher 

risk of rural roadway departures, even if 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 29

one has not happened yet. It would also 

be logical to install edge lines and perhaps 

other treatments, such as chevrons, at all 

curves with those same risk factors, across 

the entire system.

The systemic approach lets agencies 

target their investments to the locations at 

highest risk of severe roadway departures. 

It uses past data to assess risk of future 

crashes and prevent them. It lets safety set 

the agenda. 

“It really opened up my eyes, and my 

staff’s eyes, to what our problems are across 

our system,” says Thomas Mattson, the 

director of public works for Humboldt 

County, CA. “Systemic lets you step back 

and say, ‘A problem can occur anywhere on 

my system, what are the probabilities and 

what are my best methods of stopping that 

kind of problem across the entire system?’ ”

That is the breakthrough of systemic 

analysis and why it is one of the pillars of 

the FoRRRwD approach. Agencies can 

identify sites for safety improvement based 

on focus crash types (such as run-off-road), 

facility type (such as two-lane rural roads), 

and risk factors (such as tight curves). 

The Benefits of the 

Systemic Approach

A key benefit to the systemic approach is 

that agencies can use the data they have 

now—even minimal data. This addresses 

the dearth of data for most local agencies. 

By looking at traffic and roadway features, 

a systemic approach enables agencies to 

use information gleaned from studies in 

other similar roadway environments. More 

benefits are likely to be achieved with 

higher-quality data, but not having some 

data does not exclude an agency from being 

able to apply this approach. 

“Everybody has some data. Use what you 

have to start,” Mattson says. “If you have 

to get more data, go for it, but don’t not do 

anything just because you don’t think you 

have enough data.”

An additional benefit to the systemic 

approach is that many of the countermea

sures used to improve high-risk locations 

are low-cost. Agencies also do not have 

to wait for large capital projects to install 

some of the countermeasures. For instance, 

trimming vegetation and installing curve 

warning signs can be performed during 

routine maintenance. 

-

“The systemic approach enables widespread, proactive deployment of low-cost 

countermeasures at the locations most in 

need, based on data,” says Jerry Roche, 

manager of the Data-Driven Safety Analysis 

Program in FHWA’s Office of Safety. “That 

surgical mindset is getting results.”

Rumble strips have been installed for as little as 10 cents 

per linear foot—a low-cost countermeasure that can be 

deployed systemically. 

Source: FHWA. We Can Do This

It is possible to reduce rural roadway depar

ture crashes, but it will take a disciplined, 

national effort from agencies at all levels. 

These deadly crashes are a problem on all 

public roads, so they must all be considered. 

Partnerships between States, local agencies, 

LTAP centers, Tribes, and other agencies 

are critical to implement improvements to 

reduce these crashes. Agencies should also 

address their roads systemically, focusing 

on risk instead of crash history alone. 

An upcoming article in Public Roads will 

describe cost-effective roadway departure 

countermeasures and explain the value of 

developing safety action plans.

-

Thirty people will die today from rural 

roadway departure crashes. Let’s save the 

people behind the numbers.

CATHY SATTERFIELD, P.E., is a roadway safety 

engineer in FHWA’s Office of Safety, leading the 

roadway departure and visibility programs. She 

has a B.S. in civil engineering from the University 

of Minnesota.

RICHARD ALBIN, P.E., is a safety engineer with the 

FHWA Resource Center and specializes in reducing 

roadway departure crashes. He has a B.S. in civil 

engineering from the University of Wyoming.

For more information, see https://safety.fhwa 

.dot.gov/forrrwd or contact Cathy Satterfield 

at cathy.satterfield@dot.gov, or Dick Albin at 

dick.albin@dot.gov.
30 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

ALONG THE ROAD

A work crew pours ultra-high performance concrete on a bridge deck.

Source: FHWA. 

Along the Road is the place to look for information about current and upcoming activities, developments, trends, and items of general interest to the 

highway community. This information comes from U.S. Department of Transportation sources unless otherwise indicated. Your suggestions and input 

are welcome. Let’s meet along the road.

Public Information and Information Exchange

FHWA Announces EDC-6 Innovations

On September 23, 2020, Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. 

Nason launched Every Day Counts round 6 (EDC-6; https://www

.youtube.com/channel/UClOFVzt6KnhH1cRm17LxBgA). Seven innovations 

will be promoted in the State-based program to rapidly deploy 

processes and technologies to boost the safety and efficiency of the 

transportation system and keep America moving. 

The EDC-6 innovations feature strategies to increase engage

ment with the people who build and use transportation infrastruc

ture, new applications of products to save money on preserving 

and repairing bridges and roads, and processes to save time on 

project delivery and incident management.

-

-

The Federal Highway Administration’s call for ideas for 

EDC-6 yielded more than 100 suggestions from local, State, and 

Federal agencies; academia; and industry. After consulting with 

the American Association of State Highway and Transportation 

Officials and other stakeholders, FHWA selected seven proven, 

market-ready innovations to promote in 2021 and 2022. They 

are Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations; e-Ticketing and 

Digital As-Builts; Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management: 

Integrating Technology, Data, and Training; Strategic Workforce 

Development; Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions; Ultra-high 

Performance Concrete for Bridge Preservation and Repair; and 

Virtual Public Involvement.

On December 8–10, 2020, FHWA will host a virtual summit 

to provide more details on the benefits of each innovation. 

Registration is free (https://www.labroots.com/ms/virtual-event/fhwa 

-everyday-counts-6-virtual-summit.) The 2-year deployment cycle 

begins in January 2021. EDC-6 deployment teams will provide 

technical assistance and training to help transportation agencies 

implement the innovations State Transportation Innovation 

Councils choose to adopt in their States.

For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation 

/everydaycounts/edc_6.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 31

The innovations for round 6 of Every Day Counts include Ultra-high Performance 

Concrete for Bridge Preservation and Repair. 

Source: FHWA. 

FHWA Expands Alternative Fuel Corridors 

FHWA recently completed the fourth round of designations for 

the Alternative Fuel Corridors program. With the designation of 

these corridors, FHWA continues to establish a national network 

of alternative fueling and charging infrastructure along national 

highway system corridors. 

To date, FHWA’s Alternative Fuel Corridors Program has 

included 100 nominations submitted from State and local officials; 

designations of segments or entire lengths of 119 interstate corri

dors (including Hawaii and Alaska), along with 100 U.S. highways 

and State roads; 49 States plus the District of Columbia designated 

as corridor-ready or corridor-pending for one or more alternative 

fuel types; and an applied research funding opportunity for the 

deployment of alternative vehicle fueling and charging facilities. 

-

In addition, FHWA released a summary report of the five 

regional Alternative Fuel Corridors convenings held in 2018 and 

2019. The report contains information and perspectives from 

across the country on the installation of alternative fuel infrastruc

ture along highway corridors. It is available at 

-

www.fhwa.dot.gov 

/environment/alternative_fuel_corridors/webinars/summary_report. 

For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment 

/alternative_fuel_corridors. 

With the designation of alternative fuel corridors, FHWA is establishing a national network of alternative fueling and charging infrastructure. 

© andrea lehmkuhl / Shutterstock.com. 

Guidebook Assists States in Managing GIS Data

In late 2019, FHWA published the Applications of Enterprise GIS 

for Transportation (AEGIST) Guidebook (FHWA-HEP-20-014). 

The guidebook is the latest in a series of publications designed to 

help FHWA and State departments of transportation migrate to 

the enterprise level for creating, maintaining, and governing data 

related to roadways and their characteristics, elements, and events. 

The publication’s main objective is to document guidance 

on how spatial and linear referenced data should be managed by 

States. Developed by FHWA beginning in 2018 under phase I of 

a pooled fund study, the guidebook’s goals are to facilitate deploy

ment of enterprise data governance, develop a national specifica

tion for roadway data structure, advance State capabilities for safety 

analysis, and provide general instruction on data organization. The 

AEGIST project will help break down traditional management 

silos and answer enterprise questions such as: how autonomous 

vehicles can be accommodated, how agencies can compile and 

use federally required Model Inventory of Roadway Elements 

-

-
32 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

data on highway safety, to 

what extent mobile devices 

with real-time traffic feeds 

are altering traffic patterns, 

whether there is a better way 

to respond to traffic con

gestion than by increasing 

roadway capacity on key 

routes, and how agencies can 

respond to increasing citizen 

data requests. 

-

Phase II of the pooled 

fund study began in 2019 

and spans 5 years until 2024. 

The guidebook is available at www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov 

/AEGIST.aspx.

Source: FHWA. 

Data Story Helps Practitioners Navigate 

Connected Vehicle Datasets

USDOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program 

Office offers the ITS DataHub, which currently hosts connected 

vehicle data from the Tampa and Wyoming Connected Vehicle 

Pilot sites. Data from the New York Connected Vehicle Pilot site 

will be added in the future. Datasets include basic safety messages, 

traveler information messages, and signal phase and timing 

messages, all of which are transmitted via dedicated short-range 

communications. 

To help practitioners more easily understand the data available 

and how to access them, USDOT developed a Connected Vehicle 

Pilot “data story.” This resource is available at https://data 

.transportation.gov/stories/s/Connected-Vehicle-Pilot-Sandbox 

/hr8h-ufhq and provides an overview of each Connected Vehicle 

Pilot, describes the types of data available, and walks users through 

how to access the various datasets. 

ITS DataHub provides a single point of entry to discover 

publicly available USDOT ITS research data. By providing access 

to these data, the Department aims to enable third-party research 

into the effectiveness of emerging ITS technologies, preliminary 

development of third-party applications, and harmonization of 

data across similar collections. 

To access all of the ITS DataHub’s datasets, visit www.its.dot 

.gov/data. 

FHWA Releases Whiteboard Videos 

on Highway Construction

FHWA’s Office of Infrastructure Research and Development 

released a series of three animated whiteboard videos focused on 

specifications for highway construction to help improve quality. 

The videos are available on FHWA’s YouTube channel.

Types and Uses of Construction Specifications (https://youtu.be 

/-FfOUfIbfF4) introduces viewers to various types of specifications, 

including quality assurance specifications, warranty specifica

tions, performance-based specifications, and performance-related 

specifications. Quality Assurance Specifications (

-

https://youtu.be 

/VeicnhCzn2A) covers how quality assurance specifications work and 

highlights key aspects of a well-written quality assurance specifica

tion. Performance Related Specifications (

-

https://youtu.be/Lpu3ye1URrs) 

covers how performance-related specifications work and includes 

steps involved in their development.

FHWA’s animated videos discuss specifications for highway construction. 

Source: FHWA. 

ALONG THE ROAD
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 33

Truck screening technology can save time and resources for drivers and inspection officers as freight enters Arizona. 

© BCFC / Shutterstock.com. 

Technical News

ADOT Truck Screening Aids Freight Flow

To help freight move efficiently while ensuring that commer

cial vehicles can operate safely on State highways, the Arizona 

Department of Transportation (ADOT) has expanded its use of 

technology that screens moving trucks for weight and identify

ing information.

-

-

The system, previously used at select rest areas including 

McGuireville on I–17, Sacaton on I–10, and Canoa Ranch on 

I–19, is now operating at ADOT’s commercial ports of entry along 

I–10, I–40, and SR–95 in Parker, AZ.

The technology includes weigh-in-motion sensors, cameras that 

are designed to read USDOT numbers and license plates, and message signs. An additional feature at the Ehrenberg and San Simon 

ports of entry on I–10 also identifies commercial vehicles with tires 

that could be damaged or in need of repair. The failure of a tire on 

a commercial vehicle can lead to catastrophic collisions and deposit 

tire debris on and along roadways.

As a commercial vehicle approaches the port of entry, highway 

signs direct the driver into the right lane. When the truck is a 

half-mile from the port, the weigh-in-motion sensors and cameras 

capture the vehicle’s weight and identifying information and relay 

it to ADOT officers at the port.

The computer checks the truck’s credentials against national 

and State databases. If the truck is cleared and within weight 

limits, the message boards along the highway direct the driver to 

bypass the port and continue on. If an issue is identified with the 

commercial vehicle, such as expired registration, Federal out-ofservice orders, or required permits not on file, the signs direct the 

driver to pull into the port for further inspection.

In addition to saving ADOT officers and truck drivers time 

and resources, the system tracks and stores the size and weights 

of the commercial vehicles entering Arizona. These data will help 

ADOT’s planning division make more informed decisions about 

the State’s highway system in the future.

Policy and Legislations

USDOT Publishes Final Rule on Tribal 

Transportation Self-Governance

In June 2020, USDOT published a final rule to establish the Tribal 

Transportation Self-Governance Program at USDOT. The new 

program provides a flexible, effective framework for the Federal 

Government to work collaboratively with Tribes to improve trans

portation infrastructure delivery on Tribal lands and reservations.

-

This new rule, which went into effect on October 1, is the 

result of a multiyear negotiated rulemaking process between repre

sentatives of Tribes, USDOT, and the Department of the Interior. 

USDOT’s Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program recog

nizes the unique government-to-government relationship between 

the Tribes and the Federal Government and will improve the way 

USDOT does business with Tribes.

-

-

The program streamlines the Department’s distribution of 

transportation funding to participating Tribes. Participating Tribes 

have greater autonomy in the management and delivery of trans

portation programs, including an enhanced ability to determine 

internal priorities, redesign programs, and reallocate resources to 

more effectively and efficiently meet their needs. The rule also 

streamlines transfers of grant awards that Tribes receive. The rule 

reduces regulatory requirements by harmonizing requirements 

applicable to various grant programs, streamlining the delivery of 

infrastructure. 

-

The full text of the final rule can be viewed on the Federal 

Register at www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-06-01/pdf/2020 

-11618.pdf. 
34 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

TRAINING UPDATE

Subsurface utility engineering can reduce utility conflicts 

and increase safety for highway construction. 

Resolving Conflict in Utility Management © Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.com.

by GAY DUGAN and AMBER CLARK

Unknown utility conflicts on a highway project can result in increased risks to highway contractors, which translate into 

higher bids, increased hazards for highway workers and the public, 

and potential cost increases and delays during the construction 

of a project. The inability to obtain reliable underground utility 

information has long been a troublesome problem for highway 

designers across the United States. 

To address the issue, some States have implemented a process of 

conducting subsurface utility investigations to accurately identify 

the location of these utilities. This engineering practice is known 

as subsurface utility engineering (SUE). The proper and successful 

use of SUE benefits both highway agencies and the impacted util

ities, avoiding unnecessary utility relocations, eliminating conflicts 

with utilities, and enhancing safety. 

-

Accurate utility information is available to highway designers 

early enough in the development of a project to allow them to 

“design around” many potential conflicts. This significantly 

reduces costly relocations normally necessitated by highway 

construction projects and reduces delays to the project caused by 

waiting for utility work to be completed before highway construc

tion can begin. 

-

Using SUE reduces or eliminates utility conflicts because the 

exact location of virtually all utilities can be determined and accu

rately shown on the construction plans. This reduces the number 

of delays caused by redesign when construction cannot follow the 

original design due to utility conflicts, or from cutting, damaging, 

or discovering unidentified utility lines. It also reduces the number 

of contractors’ claims for delays resulting from unexpected encoun

ters with utilities.

-

-

Effective SUE also increases safety. When excavation or grading 

work can be shifted away from existing utilities, damage to a utility 

that might result in personal injury, property damage, and the 

release of product into the environment becomes less likely.
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 35

Achieving Success with NHI

The National Highway Institute (NHI) recently launched two 

new courses in its Construction and Maintenance program area to 

help meet the training needs of Federal Highway Administration 

division officials, highway designers, and project managers. These 

new web-based trainings highlight the importance of using utility 

elements to help agencies achieve success in highway projects.

In spring 2020, NHI released one of its latest web-based 

trainings, Preparing and Communicating Effective Utility Reloca

tion Requirements (FHWA-NHI-134117). This 3.5-hour course 

offers valuable information on the need for agreements and their 

requirements in the utility coordination process. Participants will 

learn to correct inefficiencies that may occur during the process in 

their specified projects.

-

“This class is critical to understanding the requirements that go 

into utility accommodation, relocation, and reimbursement,” says 

Julie Johnston, a utilities program manager at FHWA’s Office for 

Preconstruction, Construction, and Pavements.

Successful completion of this training requires participants to 

have basic plan reading ability and working knowledge of SUE. 

Utility Investigations (course FHWA-NHI-134208) is a 3.5-

hour self-paced training course, launched in May 2020. The course 

provides an overview of methods and practices for conducting 

utility investigations during project delivery. 

“Utilities are one of the leading causes of delays in construction, 

and part of that is running into unknown utilities,” says Johnston. 

“Effective utility investigation is a key part of reducing delays 

in construction.”

Utility investigation is presented throughout the training as a 

comprehensive process to identify and document existing utility 

facilities. Participants will learn about the challenges that can 

occur from unknown utility conflicts and how to provide effective 

solutions to address them. This is an ideal course for people with 

basic plan reading ability, working knowledge of transportation 

project delivery methods, and high-level introduction to utility 

coordination. 

There are no required prerequisites for the Utility Investiga

tions course, but NHI strongly encourages learners to complete 

the Introduction to Utility Coordination for Highway Projects 

(FHWA-NHI-134006A) web-based training and Preparing 

and Communicating Effective Utility Relocation Requirements 

(FHWA-NHI-134117) web-based training prior to taking 

this course.

-

GAY DUGAN is an NHI training program manager. 

AMBER CLARK is a contracted marketing analyst for NHI.

How to Attend or Host a Course 

NHI invites professionals interested 

in earning continuing education units 

or professional development hours to 

visit www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx

and browse the complete digital course 

catalog, which encompasses more than 

400 courses spanning 18 program areas. 

To sign up for alerts when a course 

session is scheduled, visit the individual 

course description page and select the 

“Sign Up for Session Alerts” link.

Interested hosts can submit a Host 

Request Form or find more information 

about hosting NHI courses by visiting 

www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx. 

NHI is approved as an Accredited 

Provider by the International Association 

for Continuing Education and Training 

(IACET). As an IACET Accredited Provider, 

NHI offers continuing education units 

for its programs that qualify under the 

American National Standards Institute/

IACET Standard.
36 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

INTERNET WATCH

Source: USDOT.

© Willowpix / iStock.com. 

Combating Human Trafficking

by NICOLE BAMBAS and MAHA ALKHATEEB

Nearly 25 million people globally are coerced or deceived into sexual or labor exploitation situations that they cannot escape. 

The limited transportation-related data available indicate that all 

modes of transportation are used to transport victims. A 2014 

Urban Institute labor trafficking study of 122 survivors found that 

71 percent were trafficked by flight and 52 percent were trafficked 

by car or van. A 2018 Polaris study of 104 survivors found traf

ficking across all modes: taxis (47 percent), airplanes (38 percent), 

public buses (33 percent), subway (19 percent), long distance 

buses (19 percent), long distance rail (11 percent), ridesharing 

(9 percent), and cruise ships (3 percent).

-

To address the intersection of human trafficking and trans

portation, the U.S. Department of Transportation works with 

public and private sector stakeholders to empower transportation 

employees and the traveling public to recognize and report possible 

instances of human trafficking. Counter-trafficking information, 

resources, and tools are available through USDOT’s human traf

ficking website at 

-

-

www.transportation.gov/stophumantrafficking. 

“The transportation sector is uniquely positioned to help fight 

human trafficking, and the Department has launched numerous 

initiatives to help transportation employers train their workers 

on how to detect and prevent it,” says Transportation Secretary 

Elaine L. Chao.

“Public and private stakeholders across all modes of transpor

tation can benefit from USDOT’s numerous website resources to 

increase partnerships, raise awareness among employees and the 

traveling public, apply for funding, and advance their collective 

counter-trafficking efforts,” says David Short, USDOT’s Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

-

Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking

Site visitors begin with a video that highlights the Department’s 

counter-trafficking efforts and calls transportation stakeholders to 

join USDOT’s Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking 

(TLAHT) partnership (www.transportation.gov/TLAHT). 

TLAHT is the Department’s initiative to combat human 

trafficking in the transportation sector by maximizing the indus

try’s collective impact through leadership, training and education, 

policy development, public awareness, and information-sharing 

and analysis. In January 2020, Secretary Chao brought a renewed 

focus to this important initiative, challenging the transportation 

industry to commit to “100 Pledges in 100 Days.” Transportation 

leaders across the country heeded her call, and more than 200 

signatories—double the original goal—committed to joining the 

Department on the frontlines of helping to ensure the safety of the 

traveling public. Links are provided for interested stakeholders to 

join TLAHT’s 500+ partners and take action at 

-

www.transportation 

.gov/TLAHT/TakeAction. 

Supporting Counter-Trafficking 

To support transportation stakeholders in their countertrafficking efforts, USDOT established grants and an award. 

The site links to grants that support counter-trafficking efforts 

through driver’s license standards and programs in addition to 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 37

transit public safety, including human trafficking. Information 

about the Department’s annual $50,000 Combating Human 

Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award is also included. 

The award aims to incentivize individuals and entities to think 

creatively in developing innovative solutions to combat human 

trafficking in the transportation industry. 

The website notes the Department’s counter-trafficking train

ings for transportation employees. USDOT’s 54,000 employees are 

trained every 3 years to recognize and report human trafficking, 

and the Department also developed a suite of trainings for the 

aviation, transit, rail, and motor coach industries in coordina

tion with several partners and stakeholders. To date, 47 aviation 

industry partners have trained more than 100,000 employees 

under the Blue Lightning Initiative, and Amtrak has trained its 

20,000 employees.

-

-

As raising public awareness is a key element in combating 

human trafficking, USDOT’s human trafficking site includes links 

to the Department’s multimodal logos, an indicator flyer, and 

print-ready posters. The Department also co-branded and facil

itated the placement of public awareness campaigns by TLAHT 

partners at transportation hubs and billboards across the United 

States, including airports and Amtrak stations. 

-

A key resource for all transportation stakeholders, the final 

report of the USDOT Advisory Committee on Human Traf

ficking (

-

www.transportation.gov/stophumantrafficking/acht) includes 

counter-trafficking recommendations that all transportation stakeholders can implement and useful tools such as a model strategy 

with associated policies and protocols, a proclamation, training and 

awareness best practices, quick implementation guides by mode, 

and sample materials.

The site also spotlights legislation that has expanded USDOT’s 

authority to combat human trafficking and touches on the 

Department’s international engagement efforts on the issue.

USDOT’s human trafficking site is available at 

www.transportation.gov/stophumantrafficking. Future updates will 

include expanded resources and tools to cover additional modes 

of transportation. 

NICOLE BAMBAS is a senior policy advisor and MAHA ALKHATEEB is a trans

portation research analyst, both in the Office of International Transportation 

and Trade, Office of the Secretary of Transportation, which serves as the 

programmatic lead for USDOT’s human trafficking initiative. 

-

Print-ready awareness posters like these are available to download from USDOT’s human trafficking website, along with other resources and materials. 

Source: USDOT.
38 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

COMMUNICATION PRODUCT UPDATES

Below are brief descriptions of communications products recently developed by the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Research, 

Development, and Technology. All of the reports are or will soon be available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, 

limited copies of the communications products are available from FHWA’s Research and Technology (R&T) Product Distribution Center (PDC).

Compiled by LISA A. SHULER of FHWA’s Office of Corporate Research, Technology, and Innovation Management 

When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS publication number 

(PB number) and the publication title. You also may visit the 

NTIS website at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. Call 

NTIS for current prices. For customers outside the United States, 

Canada, and Mexico, the cost is usually double the listed price. 

Address requests to:

National Technical Information Service 

5301 Shawnee Road 

Alexandria, VA 22312

Telephone: 703–605–6050 

Toll-free number: 1–888–584–8332 

Website: www.ntis.gov 

Email: customerservice@ntis.gov

Requests for items available from the R&T Product Distribution 

Center should be addressed to:

R&T Product Distribution Center 

Szanca Solutions/FHWA PDC 

700 North 3rd Avenue 

Altoona, PA 16601 

Telephone: 814–239–1160 

Fax: 814–239–2156 

Email: report.center@dot.gov

For more information on R&T communications products available 

from FHWA, visit FHWA’s website at www.fhwa.dot.gov, the FHWA 

Research Library at www.highways.dot.gov/resources/research-library 

/federal-highway-administration-research-library (or email fhwalibrary 

@dot.gov), or the National Transportation Library at ntl.bts.gov (or 

email library@dot.gov).

Safety Evaluation of Pedestrian Countdown Signals 

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-19-045

The research documented in this 

report was conducted as part of 

FHWA’s Evaluation of Low-Cost 

Safety Improvements Pooled 

Fund Study. FHWA established 

this pooled fund study in 2005 

to conduct research on the effec

tiveness of the safety improve

ments identified by the National 

Cooperative Highway Research 

Program (NCHRP) Report 500

series as part of the implemen

tation of the American Asso

ciation of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials’ Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The pooled 

fund studies provide a crash modification factor and benefit-cost 

economic analysis for each of the targeted safety strategies identi

fied as priorities by the pooled fund member States. 

-

-

-

-

-

This study evaluated the safety effectiveness of pedestrian 

countdown signals by conducting a before-after empirical Bayes 

analysis on data from 115 treated intersections in Charlotte, 

NC, and 218 treated intersections in Philadelphia, PA. The 

study results showed that after the implementation of pedestrian 

countdown signals, pedestrian crashes decreased by 9 percent, total 

crashes decreased by 8 percent, and rear-end crashes decreased by 

12 percent. All these reductions were statistically significant. The 

economic analysis revealed a benefit-cost ratio of 23, with a low 

of 13 and a high of 32. This report will benefit safety and traffic 

engineers and safety planners by providing greater insight into 

pedestrian safety.

The document is available to download at www.fhwa.dot.gov 

/publications/research/safety/19045/index.cfm.

Potential Uses of Reduced Datasets from the Roadway 

Information Database: A White Paper 

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-009

The second Strategic Highway 

Research Program (SHRP2) 

Roadway Information Database 

(RID) is linked to Naturalistic 

Driving Study data. The level 

of coverage and accuracy of its 

mobile data, combined with 

the inclusion of supplemental 

data from existing sources, make 

the RID a powerful standalone database. Using the RID 

requires basic geographic infor

mation system (GIS) expertise, 

since the roadway data elements 

are conflated to a GIS-based 

network. To make data accessi

ble to novice GIS users, FHWA developed reduced datasets that 

can be used off the shelf with basic programming skills. Making 

data more accessible will increase their use and application, thereby 

increasing opportunities for research to influence policies and 

practices that ultimately reduce the number of traffic fatalities and 

serious injuries on the Nation’s highways. 

-

-

This report describes the potential highway safety research 

questions that can be addressed using reduced datasets. Potential 

research topics span seven topic areas: (1) crash predictions, (2) 

safety performance impacts of horizontal curve features, (3) safety 
WWW.FHWA.DOT.GOV | 39

performance impacts of intersection features, (4) safety perfor

mance impacts of access management, (5) risk factors for systemic 

safety analysis, (6) crash assignments, and (7) driver awareness of 

signalized intersections when entering urban areas. This report will 

be of interest to individuals involved in highway safety, safety train

ing, crash and injury reduction, roadway design and policymaking, 

and traffic operations and management.

-

-

The document is available to download at www.fhwa.dot.gov 

/publications/research/safety/20009.

Analysis of SHRP2 Data to Understand Normal 

and Abnormal Driving Behavior in Work Zones 

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-010

In 2016, FHWA posted a 

Broad Agency Announcement 

to conduct research on poten

tial safety improvements using 

the Naturalistic Driving Study 

(NDS) and RID information 

collected during the research 

phase of SHRP2. Phase 1 

served as a “proof of concept” 

to determine if meaningful 

conclusions or countermeasures 

can be developed using the NDS 

and RID databases. Phase 2 

enabled researchers to conduct 

more indepth analyses, lead

ing to specific highway safety 

improvements. 

-

-

The report describes the methodology and results of one of six 

resulting projects to characterize normal and abnormal driving 

behavior in work zones. In this study, the researchers successfully 

used the NDS and RID databases to quantify the role of traffic 

management, work zone activities, and traffic conditions on driver 

behavior such as speed and merging. The results suggest that 

“nudging” drivers to comply with work zone speed limits and safe 

following distances would be effective at reducing the number of 

safety-critical events. 

This report will be of interest to State and local department 

of transportation professionals who are responsible for managing 

work zones, setting guidelines and policies to implement in work 

zones, and developing applications and communication protocols 

for autonomous vehicles.

The document is available to download at www.fhwa.dot.gov 

/publications/research/safety/20010/index.cfm.

Challenges in Meeting Data Needs for Use of Environmental 

Product Declarations in Pavement Design and Construction: 

State of Practice and Future Scope 

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-022

The work presented in this 

report is part of FHWA’s 

ongoing efforts to support the 

development of datasets that 

will provide convenient access 

to comprehensive, reliable, and 

transparent life-cycle invento

ries for highway construction 

materials. The FHWA Sustainable Pavements Program has 

been working toward applying 

life-cycle assessment (LCA) 

methods for evaluating environmental impacts associated with 

pavement design and construc

tion and has produced a framework that addresses the fundamental goal and scope of conducting 

pavement LCAs. This framework has laid the foundation for the 

development of product category rules for pavement construc

tion materials and the use of environmental product declarations 

(EPDs) in communicating the impacts of cradle-to-gate LCAs. 

While this framework is a step in the right direction, it has exposed 

various challenges associated with producing consistent product 

category rules and using EPDs to reliably communicate environmental impacts of pavement construction materials. 

-

-

-

This report documents these challenges and classifies them 

within technical and organizational contexts. A key challenge iden

tified was that, to improve the reliability and usefulness of EPDs 

as an instrument for assessing the life-cycle environmental impact 

of a product as part of a full pavement LCA, there is a critical 

need to identify and develop reliable, consistent, publicly available 

background datasets for upstream processes, create protocols to 

harmonize product category rules, and ensure the use of these con

sistent background datasets in future EPDs creations. To address 

this need, FHWA has initiated a follow-on research effort that will 

develop a framework to aid consistency of LCA background data 

and provide guidance for PCR harmonization with completion 

expected in late next year. 

-

-

In addition, this report documents the requirements of the 

recently passed California Assembly Bill 262 and the experience 

of the California DOT as it prepares to address the challenges of 

adopting EPDs into practice as an implementing agency and as 

it prepares to pilot requiring EPDs for a wide range of pavement 

materials. This report concludes with suggestions to best address 

identified challenges and facilitate the smooth adoption of EPDs. 

This report is intended for State DOTs’ LCA practitioners, product 

category rule developers, and EPD producers.

The document is available to download at www.fhwa.dot.gov 

/publications/research/infrastructure/pavements/20022.
40 | PUBLIC ROADS | AUTUMN 2020

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