New ICT-IDOT reports

7/24/2022 McCall Macomber

Illinois Center for Transportation is pleased to announce the publication of reports from the following Illinois Department of Transportation-sponsored projects, in order of publication.

R27-SP51-HS: Effectiveness and External Noise of Transverse Rumble Strip Designs
Ghassan Chehab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Issam Rayyan, Illinois Department of Transportation

Center line, shoulder and transverse (shown above) rumble strips are patches within a roadway that warn drivers when to slow down or when they are leaving their lane. Rumble strips are a proven safety countermeasure to reduce crashes and alert drivers of changing roadway conditions.
Center line, shoulder and transverse (shown above) rumble strips are patches within a roadway that warn drivers when to slow down or when they are leaving their lane. Rumble strips are a proven safety countermeasure to reduce crashes and alert drivers of changing roadway conditions.

Placing rumble strips or grooves in pavement reduces crashes and alerts drivers of changing roadway conditions or if their car is drifting off the road. The project’s goal was to seek the optimal design of transverse rumble strips in order to reduce noise while maintaining safe roadways.

The results of this project provided IDOT with candidate modifications to the current design of rumble strips that can be adopted for construction and possibly expand their use in more suburban environments.

R27-SP50: Review of Methodologies to Assess Bridge Safety During and After Floods
Joe Tom and Marcelo Garcia, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Timothy Armbrecht, Illinois Department of Transportation
Dan Brydl, Federal Highway Administration

Washout of a bridge in Morgan County, IL during a flood, left, and after the flood receded, right. The National Bridge Inspection Standards were created to implement a bridge safety inspection program for all bridges on public roads. One crucial aspect of the standards is the requirement to monitor bridges during and after flood events to ensure they are still safe for the public.
Washout of a bridge in Morgan County, IL during a flood, left, and after the flood receded, right. The National Bridge Inspection Standards were created to implement a bridge safety inspection program for all bridges on public roads. One crucial aspect of the standards is the requirement to monitor bridges during and after flood events to ensure they are still safe for the public.

During and after heavy rainfall, floodwater can erode streambed materials at and near bridge foundations, jeopardizing the structure’s stability. The aim of this project was to identify potential technologies and techniques that could be utilized in Illinois during and immediately after flood events.

The researchers recommended methods for inspecting bridges for scour. The recommended methods may be used by bridge inspectors and owners as additional inspection tools to determine if bridges should be closed during flooding and when they can be safely reopened to traffic after flooding. An effective scour monitoring and inspection program will allow proper and timely decision-making for potential bridge closures, helping to ensure all bridges open to the public are safe.

R27-227: Moisture Content and In-Place Density of Cold Recycle Treatments
Imad Al-Qadi, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
John Senger, Illinois Department of Transportation

The research team uses an asphalt lightweight deflectometer, a soils/granular lightweight deflectometer and ground-penetrating radar attached to a vehicle to measure pavement density. Ground-penetrating radar, a technique similar to the radar system used to detect airplanes, sends electromagnetic waves into pavement to detect different materials, including water.
The research team uses an asphalt lightweight deflectometer and a soils/granular lightweight deflectometer to measure the structural capacity for recycled pavements as well as ground-penetrating radar to predict its density and moisture content in Farmington, Ill. on June 17, 2020. The researchers include, from left, Javier García Mainieri, Uthman Mohamed Ali, Qingqing Cao, Greg Renshaw and Imad Al-Qadi. “Our field measurements and the COVID-19 pandemic started around the same time,” Al-Qadi said. “I’m proud of how our team adapted to be able to conduct the field measurements successfully while observing COVID-19 safety precautions.”

Cold recycling of asphalt pavement is a cost effective and environmentally friendly way to rehabilitate roadways. Cold recycling is a method in which existing pavement is ground, combined with engineered emulsified asphalt or foamed asphalt and repaved onto the road. One of the drawbacks of this technique, however, is that moisture used in the mix needs to be dried before placing a new layer of asphalt or opening the road to traffic, or pavement failure may occur.

This project’s goal was to develop a test method using ground-penetrating radar to measure the moisture content of cold-recycled material to determine when to open the road to traffic. Effectively developing this technique will help eliminate problem areas that have trapped moisture, which will save IDOT time and money in emergency repairs.

R27-215: Analyzing the Impacts of a Successful Diffusion of Shared E-Scooters and Other Micromobility Devices and Efficient Management Strategies for Successful Operations in Illinois
Kouros Mohammadian, University of Illinois Chicago
Charles Abraham, Illinois Department of Transportation

Micromobility devices such as traditional or electric bicycles, scooters, and mopeds are emerging technologies.  Micromobility devices have the potential to reduce energy consumption, vehicle emissions, and traffic congestion as well as supplement public transportation when used as a means for traveling to and from public transit stops and/or stations.
Micromobility devices such as traditional or electric bicycles, scooters, and mopeds are emerging technologies.  Micromobility devices have the potential to reduce energy consumption, vehicle emissions, and traffic congestion as well as supplement public transportation when used as a means for traveling to and from public transit stops and/or stations.

This project’s researchers investigated the use of shared electric scooters in two pilot programs in Chicago. They provided insights and recommendations for policymakers who are implementing e-scooters and other micromobility devices in various environments.

Successfully implementing e-scooters and other micromobility devices can reduce energy consumption, vehicle emissions, and traffic congestion as well as supplement public transportation, potentially bolstering public transit ridership and reducing private automobile use.