New reports available on ICT's website

The following reports from recently completed Illinois Department of Transportation-sponsored projects are available on ICT’s website.

R27-079: Designing, Producing, and Constructing Fine-Graded Hot-Mix Asphalt on Illinois Roadways. This research project was designed to assist IDOT in the modification of existing asphalt mixture specifications to allow the use of fine-graded HMA as an alternative to coarse-graded HMA in Illinois for binder and level binder asphalt pavement layers.

R27-095: Field Evaluation of Smart Sensor Vehicle Detectors at Railroad Grade Crossings, Volume 4: Performance in Adverse Weather Conditions. The performance of a microwave radar system for vehicle detection at a railroad grade crossing was evaluated in four adverse weather conditions: rain (light and torrential), snow (light and heavy), dense fog, and wind. Analysis of the adverse weather data showed that system performance was affected by certain weather events, and the effect of such events varied significantly.

R27-119: Real-Time Information Dissemination Requirements for Illinois per New Federal Rule.  The objectives of this research were to provide recommendations to IDOT for enhancing its real-time information dissemination strategies to meet new federal requirements. The research findings provide guidance to IDOT officials to help them select traveler information systems that satisfy these new requirements.

R27-138: Options and Recommendations for a Web Database of Material and Construction Inspection. The purpose of this project was to evaluate commercial software that might be able to meet the ongoing needs of IDOT for materials management and construction project management.

R27-143: Tree Establishment in Response to Hydrology at IDOT Wetland Mitigation Sites. The objective of this project was to assess tree establishment at IDOT wetland mitigation sites (as required under the federal Clean Water Act) and evaluate the feasibility of performance standards for planted tree survival.  Tree mortality was found to be clearly related to site exposure to flood disturbance beyond site monitoring periods. Depth and duration of inundation were more important than flood frequency in determining tree survival. Natural colonization greatly exceeded planting in terms of both stem density and basal area. The researchers recommended that realistically attainable mitigation performance standards be developed on a site‐specific basis, considering the likely hydrologic regime of the site.

R27-147: Development of Chloride Reduction Training. The purpose of this project was to create a training program that could be used for IDOT personnel who operated snow plows and spread road salt during winter storms. The training message was built around the three main goals of winter maintenance: safety, mobility, and environmental protection.

R27-SP27: Investigation of Relationships Between AIMS Shape Properties and VST Friction Values. The objective of this project was to conduct a thorough analysis of the second-generation Aggregate Imaging System (AIMS-II) and Micro-Deval (MD) shape properties and variable speed test (VST) friction data.  A strong relationship was found between VST friction values and AIMS AMD-105 angularity and a combined angularity and texture of AIMS measurements also for AMD-105.  The strong correlation between AIMS AMD-105 texture and the surface texture of VST friction samples indicated that MD is a viable option for replacing VST as a polishing mechanism and that current VST procedure might not be long enough to achieve terminal texture.