Quality Quick Takes

Winter, 2006
Snapshots of quality-related highway developments

FHWA Highways for LIFE Program Launches
As a result of SAFETEA-LU, FHWA’s Highways for LIFE Program is now funded, and its new website introduces the program’s goals and innovations that advance long lasting highways using technologies and practices to achieve fast construction of efficient, safe pavements and bridges.  The site compiles information on techniques and processes being used successfully across the Nation with the goal of accelerating the technology transfer process and enabling practitioners and managers to “leap, not creep” in adapting innovations.  Late-breaking additions to the website include ten detailed case histories and fast fact sheets on notable projects from Alaska, New Hampshire, Georgia, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, Connecticut, Colorado, Virginia and Minnesota.  Click here to visit the site at.
FHWA’s Highways for LIFE Program identifies and shares high-payoff innovations and technologies and encourages States to use them. 

"ACTT III: Transition to Tomorrow" Now Available
By the end of FY 2005, 56% of the States had either engaged in an Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) workshop or had one scheduled within the next 12 months, with an additional 10 host agencies considering workshops in FY 2006.  ACTT workshops bring national transportation experts to the planning table to share ideas and brainstorm ways to accelerate construction for a given project, reduce project costs, and minimize impacts to the community.  This report displays the skill sets utilized at 10 workshops from November 2004 to October 2005, and presents recurring recommendations in an effort to spark the technology transfer process.  For more information and for reports detailing the recommendations of completed ACTT workshops, click here.
ACTT has been incorporated into the project development process of multiple States in search of innovative ways to cut construction time and related congestion.

NRMCA Advances Performance Specifications for Concrete
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) is spearheading a paradigm shift through its P2P Initiative: Prescriptive to Performance Specifications for Concrete.  NRMCA’s Winter 2006 Concrete InFocus magazine contains two progressive articles advocating the use of performance-based specifications.  The first, “Specifying Concrete for Durability: Performance-Based Criteria Offer Best Solutions,” is written by Karthik Obla, Colin Lobo, and Lionel Lemay and advises engineers and architects on ways to improve concrete quality through improved specifications, choosing performance criteria in place of prescriptive criteria for concrete subject to harsh environs, and identifying and understanding the tests and criteria that could be used to satisfy project performance requirements.  The second article, “P2P: Bringing Concrete into the 21st Century,”is written by Ready Mixed Concrete Foundation Research Director, Jennifer LeFevre, with contributions from Obla, Lobo and Lemay, and discusses the Foundation’s work on four studies demonstrating the advantages of performance based specifications over prescriptive.  Click here for more information on the P2P initiative.  The two articles can be accessed in the Winter 2006 issue of Concrete InFocus by clicking here.
Understanding performance-based concrete specifications, performance criteria, and tests that satisfy project performance criteria can boost highway quality.

Innovative MoDOT Web Site Saves Freight Companies Time and Money
The Missouri Department of Transportation has instituted a new Internet-based permit system that is available around the clock for trucking companies, allowing quicker response to permit requests, and saving time and money for freight companies.  According to Jan Skouby, MoDOT Carrier Services Director, “We’re excited to help improve our customers’ bottom line.  And even though the system is brand new, we’ve got several improvements planned for the beginning of 2006.  It’s all about using every available tool to help businesses prosper.”  Access information about this program here.
Quality improvements to freight services and transportation anchor more efficient movement of goods.

SAFETEA-LU: Distilled, Charted and Indexed
A handy capture of the details of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) is available at the FHWA website. The resource includes the legislation’s full text and related Congressional report; a 20-page summary of content prepared by the FHWA Office of Legislation and Intergovernmental Affairs; fact sheets on programs/provisions; and tables showing authorizations, apportionments, allocations, and obligation limitations.  Click here to visit the site.  With more than 6,000 high priority projects contained in SAFETEA-LU, FHWA is developing guidance on the funding, Federal share, and eligibility it will use in administering the projects. 
SAFETEA-LU continues to compel the highway community’s attention as the financial framework for transportation investments and improvements over the next five years.

For more information:
Bob Templeton, Executive Director
National Partnership for Highway Quality
12009 W. Highway 290, Suite 4
Austin, Texas 78737
512-301-9899
btemplenphq@aol.com
www.NPHQ.org

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