As we continuously explore opportunities to improve the work we do each day in support of
Pennsylvania's transportation system, we consistently depend on the
innovation and
creativity of
employees and teams all across the department. That innovative mindset, and PennDOT's
long-standing commitment to continuous
process improvement, is being relied upon even more
heavily during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the pandemic's impact, our commitment to delivering safe and effective
services across
Pennsylvania has never wavered. It is said, "where there is a will, there is a way," and I
have
seen that proven again and again from each organization across the department.
The collective will and dedication demonstrated by PennDOT teams over the last
several years has
resulted in the implementation of many innovations I am proud to highlight. These
innovations
were thoughtfully and systematically designed to improve employee and traveler safety,
enhance
each customer's experience with the department, simplify processes to save time and money,
and
provide service of the highest quality.
Innovation
at PennDOT stems from many sources, from employee-driven
innovations
councils and
committees, our IdeaLink employee suggestion system and WorkSmart smart practice sharing
tool,
the State
Transportation Innovation Council (STIC), and every day suggestions and
solutions
discovered by PennDOT employees at all levels across the state. Some of the latest
innovations to be implemented include:
Adopt A
Highway Supply Pick-Up Boxes, constructed and strategically
placed so
Adopt A Highway crews can safely retrieve supplies at curbside locations;
Automated
Flagger Assist Devices, allowing flagging to be conducted by a
single
crew
member,
from a safer location, at one-tenth the cost per day when compared to contracted
flagging
services;
Raising Paint
Truck Exhaust Stacks to prevent the compressor from overheating,
which
has
nearly eliminated equipment down time due to overheated compressors; and,
Certified Concrete Finishers
Course, a STIC innovation that requires
60% of
concrete
finishers certified on PennDOT projects, which will help eliminate mistakes with
concrete
finishing and reduce the amount of rework due to concrete scaling.
As a testament to the Department's commitment to employee engagement and
innovation, PennDOT
hosted its first-ever virtual "Innovating Innovation" event in April. Presentations by
PennDOT
teams highlighted three types of innovation councils, committees or competitions designed to
prompt and promote innovation across the Department and beyond. As a result, several new
employee-driven innovation opportunities were established this year, and I was honored to
present the District 12 Safety, Quality and Innovation Council with the first annual George
W.
McAuley, Jr., P.E. Innovation Award during our annual Innovation Awards
ceremony in
December.
Reflecting on its 50 years of embracing and pursuing the latest in
transportation
innovation,
PennDOT hosted a Virtual
Innovation Days event in early November that drew nearly 850 local,
state and federal transportation representatives from across the state. Session topics
focused
on making roadways and bridges last, technology and project delivery, enhanced design and
construction approaches, multimodal transportation planning, and tools to reduce traffic
congestion and enhance safety.
With a successful 2021 to reflect on, I now look forward to building on these
innovative
successes, and implementing new ways of doing business, that will have direct, positive
benefits
for PennDOT's employees, customers and partners.
We have much to be proud of regarding the ongoing success of the State Transportation
Innovation
Council (STIC). The STIC continues to be a vital and collaborative entity that remains
focused
on advancing proven innovations to improve transportation for the people of Pennsylvania.
Despite a challenging year filled with continued funding issues and
uncertainty as to what
the
future holds, 2021 saw the introduction of four new innovations for development through the
STIC
and a previously referred innovation was reintroduced to the STIC, bringing the total number
of
innovations currently in development to 11. Two innovations moved to the Advancement Phase
of
the STIC
Innovation Development Process, and three innovations
moved
to full deployment.
The Pennsylvania STIC would not be where it is today without the continued
hard work and
dedication of its Technical
Advisory Groups (TAGs) - Construction and Materials, Design,
Maintenance, and Safety and Traffic Operations. Comprised of a diverse cross-section of
individuals from PennDOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), industry, academia, and
other state and federal agencies, the TAGs are where the "rubber meets the road" when it
comes
to introducing, developing and deploying innovations.
We look forward to celebrating the Pennsylvania STIC's 10th Anniversary in
2022 and
reflecting on
how this network of transportation professionals has worked so diligently to promote and
foster
a culture of innovation throughout the transportation industry.
For all those involved in the STIC's resilience and success over the past 10
years, we
commend
your efforts and encourage you to continue leading the way through innovation.
With Gratitude,
Yassmin Gramian, P.E.
PennDOT Secretary
Alicia Nolan
FHWA Division Administrator
STIC Innovations
Every Day Counts Innovations in Hydraulic Monitoring and Drones
With its mission to manage roughly 25,000 bridges on its road network, PennDOT has
embraced the FHWA Every
Day Counts (EDC) Round 4 and 5
innovation known as Collaborative Hydraulics: Advancing to the Next Generation of
Engineering or CHANGE.
And, a second EDC-5 innovation, Unmanned
Aerial Systems
(UAS), or
drones, is likewise having a positive and transformative impact on PennDOT
operations.
Nicholas A. Vivian, P.E., Hydrology and Hydraulic Unit manager, says the CHANGE
efforts so far have been successful. CHANGE involves switching from one-dimensional
(1D) to two-dimensional (2D) representations of stream flows around bridge
structures during project planning.
Two-dimensional modeling enables more accurate designs of bridge openings, span
arrangements, roadway profiles, scour countermeasures and bank protection. It
provides better tools for communicating interactions between waterways, the
transportation network and the environment, allows for a more streamlined project
development approach, and improves the ability to design safer, more cost-effective
and resilient structures over waterways.
"One-dimensional modeling requires designers to make assumptions about stream flow
characteristics to evaluate potential flooding impacts," Vivian said.
"Using 2D
modeling, designers can produce specific projected stream flows around bridge
structures and evaluate the potential impacts on surrounding areas. Thousands of
elements are shown representing floodplain geometry, and computations are
performed
at each element."
Noting that it was comparable to artwork, Vivian added that 2D modeling eliminates
the assumptions and performs a finite calculation. "The difference is that 1D
modeling is represented by a stick figure; whereas, 2D modeling is represented by
a
full detailed picture," he said.
He said the best use of 2D modeling are on projects with wide floodplains, multiple
embankment openings, skewed roadway crossings and large tidal streams.
Among the benefits, he said, are detailed maps and graphics that can be presented to
review agencies, meaning a streamlined process.
Four PennDOT engineering districts have selected bridges that used the new 2D
hydraulic modeling.
District 1 - The bridge carrying State Route 4007 over a tributary of Little
Brokenstraw Creek in Bear Lake Borough, Warren County. The environmental permit has
been approved. The district used 2D modeling to analyze and enhance the current
hydraulic conditions of the proposed bridge.
District 2 - State Route 1011 over the Genesee River in Bingham Township,
Potter County. The district held a kick-off meeting in March 2021 and commenced
design.
The model was submitted for review this summer.
District 3 - State Route 14 over Towanda, Tannery and Springbrook creeks in
Canton, Bradford County. Because of the complexity, a consultant was hired, and a
model submission was done in fall 2021.
District 11 - State Route 65 over Bennett Run in North Sewickley Township,
Beaver County. The permit was submitted in fall 2021 to the Department of
Environmental Protection.
Regarding the UAS
innovation, Mark Kopko, PennDOT's director of the Office of
Transformational Technology, said at a UAS Workshop in July 2021 that Gov. Tom Wolf
has
set an overall goal of "positioning Pennsylvania as a place to safely test and
deploy UAS technology," adding that the
Governor "wants Pennsylvania to be
in the
forefront of UAS."
Anthony McCloskey, PennDOT's director of Aviation and co-chair of the Commonwealth
UAS Task Force, shared that task force membership has prioritized initiatives born
out of the Safety, Economic Development, and Urban Air Mobility subcommittees. The
Task Force will add the subcommittees' work into their multi-year strategic plan,
identifying strategies for integrating UAS technology safely into Pennsylvania's
transportation system.
PennDOT currently has 21 licensed UAS pilots and 16 UAS units, and is working on a
pilot training program.
PennDOT Advances Several FHWA EDC-6 Innovations
In its ongoing pursuit of the FHWA Every
Day
Counts
Round 6 (EDC-6) innovations, PennDOT advanced the Targeted Overlay
Pavement Solutions
(TOPS), e-Ticketing, Digital As-Builts, and Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC)
for
Bridge Preservation and Repair innovations during 2021.
PennDOT is looking to pilot and review the use of Highly Modified Asphalt and Bonded
Concrete on Asphalt as part of the TOPS
innovation, according to Lydia Peddicord,
P.E., chief, Pavement Design and Analysis Unit in PennDOT's Bureau of Design and
Delivery and one of the project champions for TOPS.
The plan is to add these techniques to the pavement innovations PennDOT has already
adopted: High-Performance Thin Overlay, Stone Matrix Asphalt, Asphalt Rubber
Gap-Graded, Ultra-Thin Bonded Wearing Course and Unbonded Concrete on Concrete.
Peddicord said several districts are interested in participating in asphalt and
concrete pilot applications, and her goal is to update PennDOT's specifications, so
the improvements can go into widespread use.
Peddicord is part of an implementation team that includes Neal Fannin, pavement
materials engineer in PennDOT's Bureau of Construction and Materials (BOCM), and
Kevin Smith, assistant construction engineer in District 3 based in Lycoming County.
According to FHWA, half of all dollars invested nationally in infrastructure go for
pavements, and half of that is needed for overlays to extend pavement life. The TOPS
innovations are aimed at combining different materials to generate longer service
life or lower cost, so revenue-challenged DOTs can reach more of their extensive
road networks. PennDOT is responsible for nearly 40,000 miles of roads, the nation's
fifth largest network.
In advancing another EDC-6 innovation, PennDOT's e-Ticketing System and App was
implemented in July 2021.
"At that time, we received our first e-Ticket for an asphalt truck from a third party
e-Ticketing vendor," said John B. Myler, assistant construction manager in PennDOT's
District 11, based in Pittsburgh. "A second vendor was recently able to submit a
ticket to our system and should be live in a few weeks. We are continuing to work
with other vendors and should have several more in the near future."
Kelly M. Barber, P.E., who is the process lead on the e-Ticketing
EDC-6 innovation
and is chief of the Systems Management Division in PennDOT's BOCM, said that for the
2021 construction season, three pilot projects were held for each of PennDOT's 11
engineering districts.
"Full implementation is targeted for 2024," she said.
She added that e-Ticketing will cover asphalt, aggregate and concrete on the
construction side and asphalt, aggregate, concrete, liquid bitumen and salt for
maintenance.
The traditional construction practice called for the issuance of a paper ticket
detailing information regarding the materials delivered onsite. The details cover
the source and manufacturer of the materials, the design and the quantity. But the
process poses some safety risks, especially when PennDOT and contractor staff have
to climb up on and move around the material delivery trucks next to live traffic.
Myler said PennDOT has received nearly 8,600 asphalt tickets into its system and
expects to be getting tickets for aggregate and concrete soon.
"Throughout the summer, we received feedback from users and suppliers," Myler
added. "We plan to reconvene with the e-Ticketing Steering Committee to discuss
adjustments to the specification and how to better prepare our business partners for
the coming years.
The e-Ticketing app is continuing to receive updates to improve functionality. For
example, users will soon be able to incorporate tickets in an "offline" mode to be
later reconciled with the appropriate e-Ticket.
"For 2022, we will be looking for another set of pilot projects to add on to the
remaining 2021 pilots that continue into the next season," Myler said.
PennDOT's journey on the road to a completely digital future reached another
milestone in summer 2021 with completion of a pilot of Digital
As-Builts involving
guide rail.
Instead of using paper records, contractors delivered more detailed asset information
electronically into PennDOT's asset management databases. The pilots were done in
five of PennDOT's 11 engineering districts, and contractors submitted such details
as the quantity of guide rail, the exact location of all the installed elements and
specifics on any different types that are used.
"With this digital transformation, we will be able to track every asset we have,"
said Allen Melley, P.E., project development engineer and Digital Delivery lead in
PennDOT's Bureau of Design and Delivery.
With the Digital As-Built innovation, Melley said, "we can go through the asset
management system, and find where and when an item was installed and all the
pertinent information we need to address any issues."
Guide rail was picked for the pilot because it is one of PennDOT's priority assets,
and PennDOT had a data repository to manage the information. Over the next four
years, other pilots will involve roadway modeling, construction inspection, bridge
modeling, 3D coordination and design, and drainage modeling.
"We have a goal of 2025," Melley said. "By then, we aim to be able to deliver
projects digitally designed as a 3D model given to the contractors, which will be
the record the contractor will be building off of."
Progress continues on the Ultra
High Performance Concrete (UHPC) for Bridge
Preservation and Repair (P&R) innovation. Tyler Culhane, senior
civil engineer in
PennDOT's Bridge Office; Patricia Baer, unit manager at PennDOT's BOCM; and Jason
Zang, P.E., assistant district executive for construction in PennDOT's District 11,
are serving as the PennDOT champions for this innovation.
UHPC is a steel fiber-reinforced cement-based composite materials that has
exceptionally high mechanical strength and durability properties that far exceed
those of conventional concrete materials.
"We are coordinating with FHWA to do a virtual workshop sometime in February or March
2022 to review construction and design practices for different UHPC repair types,"
Culhane said.
He said research with the University of Pittsburgh continues with regard to UHPC end
beam repairs.
"Additionally, we are working on construction and design specifications for the
Bridge
Deck Link Slabs innovation, but are six to 12 months out with our
consultant/group from any product out of the STIC innovation for specifications,"
Culhane said.
With DOTs and other highway agencies across the nation working to keep bridges in
state of good repair, use of UHPC for Bridge P&R is a new method that offers
enhanced performance and improved life-cycle cost over traditional methods.
Zang said UHPC is ultimately going to be a big factor in speeding up bridge repair
projects, resulting in life-cycle cost savings. This is critically important given
that Pennsylvania is home to roughly 25,000 state-maintained bridges and roughly
6,000 locally managed bridges.
Pennsylvania recently selected two additional EDC-6 innovations to pursue, Next
Generation Traffic Incident Management (TIM): Integrating Technology, Data and
Training and Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations. The Next Generation TIM
innovation aims to increase traveler and responder safety and improve the movement
of goods on all roadways by providing new tools, data and training mechanisms. The
Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations innovation uses data collected whenever and
wherever people travel to optimize roadway use for reduced congestion and increased
safety and reliability.
PennDOT Embraces UAS Technology
From monitoring roadside hazards to charting project
progress across the various transportation modes, PennDOT is advancing the
deployment of
Unmanned
Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, in its pursuit of
improving the
transportation network.
At a three-day virtual UAS Workshop hosted by PennDOT and the FHWA in July 2021, PennDOT
representatives reviewed the agency's
ongoing
and
developing UAS program.
"We started out taking baby steps, and we are now moving more quickly," said Cheryl
Moon-Sirianni, P.E., PennDOT's District 11 Executive in the Pittsburgh region.
With her district's topography of hills and rivers, UAS deployment has become "really
important and very useful," she said. Her district uses its four UAS vehicles for
monitoring stockpile quantities, slide response mitigation, bridge inspections and
construction monitoring.
During the workshop, Mark Kopko, PennDOT's Director of the Office of Transformational
Technology shared that Gov. Tom Wolf has set an overall goal of "positioning
Pennsylvania as a place to safely test and deploy UAS technology," adding that the
Governor wants Pennsylvania to be at the forefront of UAS.
He also shared that he and his team are working on a multi-year strategic plan, based
on
a vision of "safe and strategic integration of UAS technology into the Pennsylvania
transportation system" and a mission of "identifying and recommending potential
strategies to safely foster and cultivate UAS technology in Pennsylvania."
PennDOT currently has 21 licensed UAS pilots and 16 UAS units.
"We are currently working on a training program for department UAS pilots," said J
Brian
Walter, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer Supervisor, who is one of PennDOT's UAS leaders.
"Material covered will include both Federal Aviation Administration Part 107
regulations
and PennDOT's UAS policy."
In June 2021, an initial meeting was held for the Commonwealth's UAS Task Force,
which is
working on a multi-year strategic plan to establish a framework for identifying,
integrating and managing UAS technologies. Three subcommittees have been identified
by
the 30-plus stakeholder group of public and private sector representatives: Safety,
Economic Development and Urban Air Mobility. Each subcommittee is tasked with
developing
a minimum of five initiatives that would support the objective.
"The Task Force report was finalized and reported back to the District Executives,
and we
have been working with the districts to expand the use of UAS in the Department,"
said
Kelly Barber, P.E., Chief of the Systems Management Division of the Bureau of
Construction and also a UAS leader at PennDOT.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike used $50,000 in STIC
Incentive Program funding from FHWA to assist in the purchase of
four
UAS vehicles that
were transferred to the State Police for crash reconstruction work. The Turnpike
also
purchased an additional four UAS units for its purposes.
Among other projects, PennDOT has already used UAS to calculate earthmoving
quantities on
a Route 30 relocation project in Beaver County and record the blast of a teetering
boulder above the Glassport-Elizabeth Road near Elizabeth, Pa., which eliminated the
risk to department personnel and helped monitor the status of the railroad further
below
for possible debris.
PennDOT also created a time
lapse video, which included drone footage, of the Shaler
Street Bridge Replacement project in Pittsburgh. The two-span bridge was constructed
offsite and moved to its final location using self-propelled modular transporters
(SPMTs). The project won the American Council of Engineering Companies of
Pennsylvania
(ACEC/PA) 2021 Structural Systems Diamond Award, the ASHE Pittsburgh Section's
Outstanding Highway Engineering Award, and an ASHE National Project Award.
Safety and Traffic Operations TAG Focuses on Keeping Traffic
Moving
As PennDOT manages the state's road and bridge network, its focus is to keep drivers
safe and moving. To that end, working through the STIC, PennDOT is deploying new
approaches to minimize crashes on
high-speed
curves and keep traffic moving through work zones and signalized intersections.
Designed to alert motorists to slow down when approaching and driving through sharp
curves, the innovative warning system uses LED-enhanced, solar-powered or electric
signs and wireless controllers, along with ultra-low power radar, to detect and
flash a series of chevron signs sequentially throughout the curve.
The system was first installed on the ramp from Interstate 86 to Interstate 90 in
Erie County in September 2019. This ramp had a history of single vehicle,
run-off-the-road crashes that resulted in many large trucks striking the guiderail
and traveling down the embankment.
Other installations were done on Interstate 79 in Allegheny County at a spot where a
series of tight curves had seen numerous rollover and run-off-the-road crashes.
The Safety and Traffic Operations TAG and its Innovation Development Team are
monitoring before- and after-crash data at these locations to see how the sequential
signage has impacted the number of crashes and the level of speed observations of
the traveling public.
FREEVAL-PA analysis software was created to analyze work zones' effect on traffic
flow. It guides PennDOT's decision-making process for implementing lane closures,
crossovers or other traffic control methods, and helps to minimize congestion and
delays during construction or maintenance projects. PennDOT and its partners can use
the software for work zone staging changes, work zone delay and user cost analysis,
lane reservation analysis, diversion sensitivity analysis, freeway alternatives
analysis and scenario planning. FREEVAL-PA can also be used to evaluate incident
management and response strategies.
Effective July 1, 2021, FREEVAL-PA is required for limited access facilities
performing construction, maintenance and permit-related work zone activities on
PennDOT highways. PennDOT developed a website
that provides virtual training modules
and guidance documents. Participants can go to the website and take the self-paced
virtual training modules prior to using the tool.
Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) is an innovation that
received
$60,000 in STIC Incentive Program funding and involves the use of data to analyze
and optimize traffic signal performance. Poorly timed traffic signals are the most
significant contributor to traffic congestion on arterial roadways. Analyzing the
operation of traffic signals will help PennDOT and local governments improve the
flow of traffic and reduce congestion to move people and goods more safely and
efficiently.
The 2021 STIC Incentive Program funding will be used
to procure a
vendor software that has the capability to flag anomalies in various performance
measures as a pilot to determine whether having this functionality in software can
minimize staff resources and provide effective improvements to traffic flow. The
pilot will include intersections that are already connected to the PennDOT network
and have controllers and detection capable of collecting ATSPM data.
Partnerships Yield Progress on Concrete and Bridge Innovations
Working with industry and research partners, PennDOT has taken significant strides to
improve concrete finishing work and use innovative materials to protect bridges and
culverts from flood and other water-related damage.
The STIC's Construction
and Materials Technical
Advisory Group (TAG) headed these efforts under the leadership of
TAG Leader Steve Fantechi, assistant district executive for construction in
PennDOT's District 2, based in Clearfield.
Led by Innovation Owner, Jim Casilio, P.E., director of Technical Services for the
Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA), and Harold Hill, assistant
district executive for construction in PennDOT District 4, the Certified
Concrete
Finishers Course was introduced to the STIC as Pennsylvania and
other states
realized that the skill level of concrete finishers can be just as important as the
physical concrete itself when it comes to quality and longevity of the finished
product.
The goal of the certification course, which includes classroom and practical,
hands-on work, is to help improve the durability and extend the service life of
concrete and eliminate mistakes in concrete finishing that can result in costly
repairs or reconstruction. Once completed, the course leads to life-time
certification.
Casilio noted that the instruction does not take "a do this, don't do that" approach.
"We are really trying to delve into what is going on and why so we can offer the
finishers better information so they can deal with stuff on site and make better
decisions," he said. "They will have better skills if they have a better
understanding of what is going on."
As of the end of November 2021, Fantechi said, nearly 800 people have completed the
certification course. He added that 18 courses will be offered in advance of PennDOT
adopting the specification change in April 2022 that includes the course
requirement. Contractors will need to have 60 percent of their crews certified to
meet the new specification, which was granted approval for implementation by the
FHWA earlier this year.
Fantechi added that presentations on the course were conducted at the winter schools
held in each PennDOT district. "That way, all the PennDOT inspectors will know what
the course is all about and the advantages of it," Fantechi said.
Ferguson Township in Centre County has embraced the innovation. In February 2020, the
township under the direction of Ron Seybert, its engineer, hosted a training for its
inspection staff and invited those from surrounding municipalities. In May 2021, the
township hosted two finishers' certification trainings, and now a majority of the
concrete contractors in the township are certified.
"The classes have been extremely well received," Casilio said.
In another effort to deliver smoother pavements and ride conditions, PennDOT's
adoption of the Geosynthetic
Stabilized Bridge Approach (GSBA) aims to reduce
roadway settlement directly adjacent to a bridge abutment, a problem
commonly called
"bridge bump," where drivers feel a "bump" as they enter or exit a bridge.
By
placing roadway backfill with layers of geosynthetic material adjacent to a
bridge
abutment, settlement of the roadway can be significantly reduced.
Dennis Neff, P.E., geotechnical engineer in PennDOT's Bureau of Construction and
Materials said the new standard will be in place early next year and has the
potential to reduce maintenance costs by $3 million a year.
In addition, Timothy A. Carre, P.E., PennDOT's assistant chief bridge engineer in
PennDOT's Bridge Office said that he and his team are trying to address a vexing
problem with extreme weather events washing out culverts and roadways.
The PennDOT Bridge Office partnered with Lehigh University on a research project that
examined many backfill materials and their interaction with extreme weather runoff
in a test environment. The research produced recommendations for modifying the
structural backfill that supports the culvert pipes.
Nikki Krise, bridge design quality assurance engineer in PennDOT's Bridge Office,
noted that, based on the Lehigh recommendations, PennDOT is reviewing a new
requirement for use of the flowable fill material for culverts under interstates and
other roadways.
The new process, to be in place by March 2022, will use a flowable fill material
consisting of concrete and sand that will replace plain aggregates that surround and
support the pipes within the culverts. This innovation will provide a stronger
support that will not wash out with heavy water flows.
Design TAG Tackles Environmental and Bridge Maintenance
Innovations
Steps to enhance environmental protection during highway and bridge projects and
improving bridge deck joints were among the goals of the STIC's Design
Technical
Advisory Group (TAG) during 2021.
The TAG recommended that Environmentally Sensitive Area Signage become a standard
special provision within PennDOT procedures. PennDOT had a good
experience with a
pilot program at the recently completed Interstate 83, Exit 4 reconstruction
project
in PennDOT's District 8, based in Harrisburg.
"The main step after creating a standard special provision will be implementing a
marketing and information sharing strategy to ensure the various designers know
where to find the special provision and when they should consider using this
innovation," said Innovation Owner, Brandon Dean, an environmental supervisor in
PennDOT District 8.
The TAG, under the leadership of Rachel Duda, assistant district executive for Design
in PennDOT's District 12, based in Uniontown, is also working on three new
innovations, including Slotted Median Barriers, which are particularly useful in
flood prone areas; a standard specification for concrete color on PennDOT bridges to
provide a more consistent look across Pennsylvania; and a special provision for an
Environmental Monitor Role for Construction Projects.
The vision for the Environmental Monitor is that the person in this role will be
responsible for inspecting project sites daily for compliance with federal, state
and local environmental regulations, permit conditions, and approved plans and
project-specific requirements.
Duda said the monitor role also will prepare daily inspection reports, as needed
status reports, and coordinate with regulatory agencies and contractors during and
after construction. In addition, this role will oversee and document all
post-construction restoration efforts and monitor restored areas for successful
revegetation.
Cost savings will be among the many benefits as having a dedicated person responsible
for inspection will result in early observation and resolution of potential problems
and avoid the cost of fixing problems once they are out of control.
"Looking ahead, we want to clearly define the expert position of the Standard
Environmental Monitor Role for the development of the special provision," Duda said.
"We will also determine the need for specialized training for this role."
Mark Nicholson, PennDOT District 1 bridge engineer and innovation owner for the
Bridge
Deck Link Slabs innovation, said his district has two projects
planned for
2022 using this technique.
The new process uses a combination of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) and
reinforcing steel to connect bridge decks with a watertight connection, Nicholson
said. Traditional bridge joints often break down and allow de-icing materials to
leak
onto and damage the structural elements below, requiring extensive and
expensive repairs. Bridge Deck Link Slabs eliminate deck joints to reduce that
damage and deterioration and the necessary maintenance. Bridge deck joints have been
one of the leading causes for premature bridge
deterioration. Link slabs are an economic way to eliminate bridges joints. The
project received 2021 STIC
Incentive Program funding, which is being used to support
the development of the design procedures and design tools for using Bridge Deck Link
Slabs in Pennsylvania.
District 1 did a pilot with link slabs on the SR1009 bridge over Lake Wilhelm in
Mercer County. The district plans another link slab bridge on SR 2102 over
Interstate 79 and the SR2104 bridge over Interstate 79 in 2022, Nicholson said.
Maintenance TAG Advances Innovations
The STIC's Maintenance
Technical Advisory Group (TAG) under the leadership of Dean A.
Poleti, P.E., maintenance services engineer in PennDOT District 11 in the
Pittsburgh
region, advanced three innovations in 2021 dealing with enhancing public access
to
winter road conditions and managing roadside vegetation and stormwater runoff.
The impacts of winter storms on Pennsylvania's 40,000-mile state road network make a
huge difference for drivers, and the TAG continues to pursue a better way for the public
to see winter conditions in real time.
The TAG is working toward starting pilot programs for new forward-facing cameras that
will give managers and the public actual road conditions during storms.
"It will enhance traveler information on PA511 and put images there so the public can
see on their own what the road looks like," Poleti said. "It also will increase
situational awareness in the districts, the counties, the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency and Incident Command. It will help us make informed decisions on
where to increase the level of service."
Pilot details are still being worked out, but the goal is to start it before the end
of winter. PennDOT will review findings from the pilot and decide on future wider
scale deployment.
PennDOT owns and operates 2,800 Stormwater Control Measure (SCMs), a variety of catch
basins with vegetation to manage pollutants and keep water clean and safe. Each
requires different types and levels of maintenance after initial construction, which
led to the development of the Stormwater Management Training and Field Guidebook.
SCMs help prevent flooding, reduce downstream erosion, and reduce pollution to
surface and ground water. Regular maintenance preserves SCM functionality and
extends the service life. The training and guidebook provide education and
preparation on specific maintenance duties and ensure compliance with permitting
requirements.
Rich Heineman, the innovation owner and section manager in the Bureau of Maintenance
and Operations, said in-person training was conducted in District 8, based in
Harrisburg, in September, and training is now being rolled out to other PennDOT
districts.
Part of the program includes a collaboration site with training videos and lessons
and field guide summaries and text. It also includes specific examples of the right
equipment to use. The guide covers such topics as grass and vegetation control and
sediment removal.
"The goal is to have SCM maintenance performed properly," Heineman said. "The
training provides a one-stop shop for maintenance forces when they have questions.
Using the wrong equipment is worse than no maintenance at all."
PennDOT and several local governments are exploring brusher loader attachments for
their equipment inventories as a way to improve the efficiency and safety of
roadside vegetation management. The Maintenance TAG has been working on this
innovation, including a catalog of innovative vegetation management equipment for
use by PennDOT county managers and their assistants as well as local governments.
During 2021, Fermanagh Township in Juniata County held a demonstration for a brusher
loader attachment it had purchased, and several PennDOT employees participated.
"Our Fleet Management Division employees liked the equipment, and it had a lot of
benefits," Poleti said.
A second demonstration was held at the Interstate 79 interchange in Carnegie Borough,
Allegheny County, with a MowerMax™ piece of equipment.
"It is a stand-alone piece with different attachments for mowing and vertical
vegetation removal, Poleti said. "It is a nice piece of equipment with a lot of
versatility."
Since the attachments usually go on front loaders and not all municipalities have
front loaders, Poleti noted there would be PennDOT
Agility Program opportunities
available to make this work statewide.
"If PennDOT owned the front loader attachment, we could send an operator to a
township for whatever roadside management was needed, and the township could offer
one of their services in exchange," Poleti said. "It definitely has Agility
potential."
As for the equipment catalog, Poleti's team has developed a draft and is now making
modifications and adding equipment photos. The catalog will provide best practices
and equipment availability for sharing opportunities.
STIC Incentive Program Funding Delivering Benefits for
Pennsylvania
The STIC
Incentive Program
continued to pay big dividends in Pennsylvania to advance innovations that make it
easier for PennDOT to deliver a more efficient and safer driving experience for all
who travel the state's extensive road and bridge network.
With an investment of up to $100,000 a year from the FHWA,
the STIC Incentive Program in Pennsylvania has fostered advances in bridge
maintenance, environmental protection, more efficient construction and inspection
activities, and improved traffic flow.
"We have matched the federal dollars with a 20 percent contribution and the combined
investment is helping us to develop these needed innovations more quickly," said
PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian, P.E. "This helps us demonstrate to our customers
that we are committed to efficient and effective operations."
Here is a summary of recent STIC Incentive Program funding recipients in
Pennsylvania:
Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures
Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) is an innovation that involves
the use of data to analyze and optimize traffic signal performance. Poorly timed
traffic signals are the most significant contributor to traffic congestion on
arterial roadways. Analyzing the operation of traffic signals will help PennDOT and
local governments improve the flow of traffic, and reduce congestion to move people
and goods more safely and efficiently.
PennDOT's Highway Safety and Traffic Operations Division received $60,000 in STIC
Incentive Program funding in 2021 to assist with procurement of software that will
facilitate monitoring and identification of both maintenance and operational
concerns with traffic signals, said Steve Gault, P.E., chief of the Transportation
Systems Management and Operations Arterials and Planning Section of the division.
"We are looking now at different software products that may be able to do that
analysis and help us figure out where the anomalies are where we need to focus our
efforts," Gault said.
After reviewing products from four vendors, Gault and his team have picked one and
are working through the issues that will clear the way for procurement.
"The software platforms we are looking at are taking the next step in crunching all
this information and helping us identify where things don't look normal so we can do
a deeper dive to understand what is going on and make changes in a way that will
provide a benefit for users of that intersection," he added.
PennDOT's District 1 in northwestern Pennsylvania has two projects planned for 2022
using Bridge
Deck Link Slabs. The new process uses a combination of Ultra-High
Performance Concrete and reinforcing steel to connect bridge decks
with a watertight
connection.
Bridge deck joints have been one of the leading causes for premature bridge
deterioration. Link slabs are an economic way to eliminate bridges joints. This
effort received $40,000 in STIC Incentive Program funding in 2021, to support the
development of the design procedures and design tools for using Bridge Deck Link
Slabs in Pennsylvania.
Augmented Reality
An important innovation to help PennDOT develop and construct transportation projects
is Augmented Reality (AR), an innovation moving forward thanks, in part, to STIC
Incentive Program funding.
With PennDOT moving toward Digital
Delivery in 2025, AR will assist inspection staff
in the field, allowing them to view 3D models through a HoloLens, and communicate
and troubleshoot with project teams at multiple locations. PennDOT envisions AR
tools to assist with preconstruction activities, construction inspection, structural
material shop inspections, bridge inspections and incident management, as well as
training and certifying bridge inspection staff.
The AR effort, directed by Kelly Barber, P.E., Systems Management Division chief in
PennDOT's Bureau of Construction and Materials (BOCM), received $50,000 in STIC
Incentive Program
funding in 2020.
PennDOT is using Imajion Project XR, which is a platform that utilizes the Microsoft
HoloLens attached to a hard hat, in the Pittsburgh region (District 11) for
construction, design, bridge maintenance and materials testing.
In addition, PennDOT is using AR devices for Virtual Asphalt Acceptance Testing on
100% state paving contracts.
"We were able to witness the technician performing the test at a paving location ...
remotely instead of having to be there physically," she said. "We saw that there was
a benefit in being able to be in multiple locations within a day without having to
drive to asphalt plants to see the test they need to do."
Barber said PennDOT is close to arranging for procurement of AMA XpertEye virtual
inspection glasses. PennDOT's District 11 and the Structural Materials Unit in BOCM
will test the device for various material and bridge inspections, she said.
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Crash Reconstruction
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) received $50,000 in STIC Incentive Program
funding in 2020 to assist in the purchase of four Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
vehicles that were transferred
to the
State Police for crash reconstruction work. The PTC also purchased an additional
four UAS units for its own purposes.
Once the eight drone pilots are trained and certified, the PTC expects to see a 75
percent decrease in crash reconstruction time, meaning fewer lane closures and
improved safety by avoiding additional traffic backups because of closed lanes,
according to William J. Howard, traffic emergency management specialist in the
Turnpike's Engineering and Operations Office.
Stormwater Training and Field Guidebook
As part of its responsibility to ensure road projects do not harm the environment,
PennDOT used $50,000 in STIC Incentive Program funding in 2019 to help develop a
Stormwater
Management Training and Field Guidebook, which covers the various
maintenance
techniques needed to help care for PennDOT's 2,800 Stormwater Control Measures.
Unmanned Aerial Systems Strategic Plan
The Commonwealth UAS Task Force report was finalized last
spring, and PennDOT is working with its districts to expand UAS use, said Barber in
BOCM.
PennDOT's UAS
initiative received
$50,000 in
STIC Incentive Program funding in 2019
and UAS units are
now in four PennDOT districts - District 1 in northwestern Pennsylvania, District 4
in northeastern Pennsylvania, District 6 in southeastern Pennsylvania and District
11 in the Pittsburgh region.
"We are continuing to share the benefits of UAS where it can help improve our
processes and make things safer for our employees, and save time as well," Barber
said.
STIC Innovation Development Process
Scroll over or tap on each of the phases to learn more.
INITIATION
Innovations that are well-researched, proven and documented are submitted to the
STIC Management Team for consideration. Innovations may be submitted by any
member of the STIC organization, PennDOT employees or other transportation
stakeholders. Qualified innovations are recommended to the respective TAGs for
further evaluation.
INITIAL EVALUATION
TAGs conduct a high-level review of their assigned innovation and offer a
"Go/No Go" recommendation supported by initial feedback, including
benefits, challenges to implementation, funding availability and other initial
considerations. The TAG presents the innovation for additional feedback by STIC
members before the innovation is advanced for Detailed Development.
DETAILED DEVELOPMENT
TAG Leaders assign an Innovation Owner and a Development Team is assembled to
fully develop the innovation for deployment. This includes preparation of the
Innovation Development Summary and Deployment Plan that details all aspects of
the innovation, including the actions necessary for deployment. The Innovation
Development Summary and Deployment Plan is presented to STIC members for
feedback before advancement to the next phase.
ADVANCEMENT
The Innovation Development Summary and Deployment Plan is refined based on STIC
feedback and advanced for deployment by PennDOT's Highway Administration
Deputate or other appropriate deputate. The assigned Innovation Owner will
directly support deployment and report progress to the STIC.
Timeline of an innovation at PennDOT
Inspiration strikes!
An employee or project team recommends improving a process or service or
adopting an innovation at PennDOT. The employee suggests their idea through a
variety of avenues, including an electronic or paper-based employee suggestion
system, employee committees or other employee work groups. Proven innovations
also find their way into PennDOT through the award-winning State Transportation
Innovation Council (STIC).
Could this work?
Ideas move through a research and analysis phase where subject matter experts
explore opportunities and define metrics to track the impact of the idea.
Research may include customer feedback surveys, data analysis, or collaborating
with other transportation partners and stakeholders.
What did we decide?
Following the research and analysis phase, a determination is made.
Let's do it!
When approved, PennDOT leadership and employee teams work to adopt the idea and
make it common practice. Publications, manuals, and policy documents are
updated, training is provided, and other steps are taken to ensure success.
Moving the needle.
In a spirit of continuous process improvement, many innovations are monitored to
measure their effectiveness and make sure the right changes were made at the
right time to ensure success.
Employee recognition.
Employees are regularly recognized for their contribution to innovation at
PennDOT. An annual department-wide ceremony celebrates the "best of the best"
innovations, and PennDOT local offices regularly celebrate innovative employees.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF INNOVATION
Thanks to everyone whose contributions of time, talent and effort continue to yield innovation
successes making Pennsylvania's transportation system safer and more sustainable. For more
information on process improvement at PennDOT, visit the Quality
at PennDOT website or email the Innovations
Resource Account. For more information on the STIC,
visit the STIC
website or email the STIC
Resource
Account.
Lower Moreland High School Team Wins Innovations Challenge
Each year, PennDOT's Innovations Challenge invites teams of high
school students in
ninth through 12th grades to use their problem-solving, creative, and
strategic-thinking abilities to solve real-world transportation challenges.
The 2021 challenge asked students to develop an innovative and implementable
solution that helps address Pennsylvania's transportation revenue shortfall by
identifying potential new funding streams, aside from additional gas taxes, tolls or
mileage-based user fees, to help ensure adequate transportation funding for the
future.
With their idea of installing power generating plates across Pennsylvania's road
network, Lower Moreland High School's, Montgomery County, "Team Road Warriors" won
first place. The team advocated the use of Piezoelectric
plates, which involve two metal plates with various kinds of crystals between them.
Power generated from the devices would be sold to electric producers to generate a
new revenue source for Pennsylvania's transportation system.
In the competition, which drew 30 entries from high schools around the state, second
place was awarded to the Hill School, Montgomery County, "Team the Blues," and
their proposal, "PA Road Rewards," a system of game apps that generates awards and
tracks driving behaviors. Third place was awarded to North Allegheny Cyber
Academy's, Allegheny County, "Team North Allegheny." They proposed higher
registration fees with a rebate based on miles driven each year.
The top three teams divided a $5,500 cash prize donated by the Transportation Policy
and Education Foundation, the educational arm of the Associated Pennsylvania
Constructors; the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania; and the
Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Traffic Safety Services Association.
Category:
Other
ForeFlight and BART Technology Makes Difference
for PennDOT's Flight Operations
With a state as large as Pennsylvania, PennDOT's Flight Operations
plays an
important
role in ensuring state government's top executives can reach each region quickly.
Chief Pilot Keith Doersom takes his job very seriously, and works to ensure that the
most up-to-date technology is deployed to help keep flights safe, maintain proper
records and keep costs to a minimum.
At Doersom's urging, PennDOT deployed the Business Aviation Recordkeeping & Tracking
(BART) scheduling and billing software, along with ForeFlight charting software. The
two also integrate with CAMP, a computerized aircraft maintenance program. The
systems work together to increase safety and save money.
The software assists the pilots in charting courses, filing flight plans, monitoring
weather en route, providing updates on airport conditions and tracking passenger
manifests, schedules and billing.
"It takes a bunch of steps and combines them together
instead of forcing us to do
things multiple times," he said. "Before it took
hours to do record keeping; now
it
takes five minutes."
One important benefit is cost savings, roughly $2,000 a year switching from paper
records to electronic versions and an additional $2,000 to $3,000 a year with the
integration of BART and ForeFlight.
The ForeFlight software can be loaded on iPads making real-time use feasible, such
as offering optional flight paths while travel is underway. It also integrates with
separate billing software, known as BART.
From a safety standpoint, one important ForeFlight feature is calculating fuel
consumption.
"When you're burning 850 pounds of fuel an hour and flying
all day, it is never
off
more than 50 pounds," Doersom said. "It's really accurate."
"There are tremendous benefits in safety, efficiency and
cost savings, and safety
is
first," he added. "It has worked very well for
us."
Category:
Aviation
Automated Flagger Devices Enhance Safety and Efficiency
Safety
is
critical to PennDOT successfully meeting its mission to maintain and
enhance transportation across the state. But in recent years, work zone crashes have
totaled between 1,000 and 2,000 a year with more than a dozen fatalities, including
both drivers and workers, each year.
Managing traffic flow during maintenance operations on narrow roads is always a
challenge, and Curtis L. Peters, assistant highway maintenance
manager in Allegheny County, came up with a way to make the operation safer, more
efficient, and less
costly.
During 2021, automated flaggers were used a second time. The cost to rent an
automated flagger device is just $99 a day, and one flagger can operate it, compared
to an estimated cost of $1,000 a day for a contractor to supply two flaggers. The
county has estimated cost savings of $2,100 per week or about $44,000 for the 2020
season. Automated flaggers are now deployed on about 80 percent of the drainage crew
repair jobs in Allegheny County.
"It started with me driving to work," Peters said. "I noticed that a
utility contractor was using
them and it sparked my interest," Peters said.
He checked with his county manager and equipment manager to see if PennDOT could rent
the devices.
The automated devices are placed at each end of the work zone and can be operated by
one person using a remote controller. The devices have a stop bar like a school bus
or railroad crossing that drops down, as well as red and yellow lights, to control
traffic
movement.
"It reduces the flagger from two to one and allows the
operator of the devices to
stand in the middle of the operation to be more out of harm's way,"
Peters said.
In addition, flaggers are now being supplied with small air horns that they can
deploy in emergency situations to keep everyone safe.
Category:
Safety & Traffic Operations
Saving Money with Aftermarket Crew Cab Modifications
With responsibility for keeping nearly 40,000
miles of roads in good
shape and facing
rising equipment costs, PennDOT's fleet maintenance employees looked for ways to
save resources while getting equipment to ensure efficient work. The effort is
translating into significant cost savings.
"We started looking at the capital equipment budget,"
said Dean A. Poleti, P.E.,
maintenance services engineer in PennDOT's
District 11, based in Allegheny County.
"District 11 does not have a huge pot of money every
year. The equipment budget was
flat, but prices were going up for crew cabs."
Traditionally, PennDOT was buying a heavy-duty pickup truck with dual tires on both
sides of the rear axle. The cost, according to Denny Koozer, chief of PennDOT's
Fleet Operations, was $65,500.
Poleti, whose background was highway construction, noted that contractors use regular
pick-ups with built-in toolboxes.
Poleti checked about that option with William J. Cleaver, District 11 equipment
manager, and
Aaron Raible, now Armstrong County maintenance manager and former equipment
manager in Allegheny County.
"They said, 'Yes,' we could work it out with Fleet
Management," Poleti said.
Under a five-year pilot started in 2019, PennDOT purchased 52 4x4 pick-up trucks
without a service bed. Vendors were engaged to install modifications including
toolboxes, flashing LED amber lights and a service bed. Instead of $65,000, the new
arrangement costs $35,000 for the pick-up truck and $12,000 for the modifications,
for a total of $47,000, according to Koozer.
He said other savings include better fuel consumption by nearly one mile per gallon
and $400 less a year per truck, or roughly $4,000 per truck over 10 years, in
ongoing maintenance costs.
"There is tremendous cost savings," Raible noted.
"There is flexibility to customize
each unit case by case."
Cleaver noted that not every maintenance unit can use the smaller truck, since some
operations, such as sign placement, require the use of heavier equipment more
suitable
to the bigger truck.
But for those operations not tied to big equipment, the smaller truck has been most
welcome.
"The foremen really like the truck," Poleti said. "We
gave them four-wheel drive,
which they didn't have before, and since it's smaller, it's easier to park in
their
driveways when they start their day from home and go directly to the work sites.
It's not taking up as much room and they like that aspect."
Driver and Vehicle Services Achieves Dealer Agent Milestone
Over the past 25 years, PennDOT's Driver and
Vehicle
Services (DVS) has been an innovation
leader, breaking the old image that DMVs mean lost time and awful customer service.
In one of its recent advances, DVS has transformed its
relationship with vehicle dealers through its Dealer
Agent Services.
The innovation allows dealers to perform online services, such as dealer registration
renewals and full agent contract updates. The move to online services and trainings
translated into reduced travel-associated costs for PennDOT's contracted business
partners and replaced paper processes with electronic versions. There is time
savings for the customer who no longer has to wait for registration cards or updated
credentials to arrive via the mail. They are able to print the documents out after
payment is made.
"They love it," said Angel Layton, section manager for Regulated Client Services in
the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
"[Dealers] are able to go in at their convenience and do their own transactions.
...
It is very convenient. They can print off all their documents in their offices
or
homes and have it readily available. They don't have to wait for them to come in
the
mail. They are very pleased with it."
Among the processes covered by the innovation, said Eric Alsvan, Customer Service
Division chief for
customer services, are ordering dealer license plates for their vehicle inventory,
updating address information, and updating personnel, insurance and bond
information.
Layton said the innovation stemmed from DVS's desire to replace an antiquated
paper-based system with one that dealers and agents could do for themselves. Roughly
5,500 dealers and agents use the system.
The Vehicle Inspection Division deploys 17 Quality Assurance Officers (QAOs) and 35
third-party QAOs to annually audit the 17,000 inspection
stations across Pennsylvania. What was once a paper-based process has now been moved
to laptops so the audits are handled more quickly, said Troy Roadcap, the Vehicle
Inspection Division's Field Operations Section manager.
A new electronic-based process also was established for updating inspection station
information.
Roadcap noted that with high turnover at some of the stations, the QAOs often had to
make multiple trips to stations to update station manager
information.
"This change eliminated travel back and forth," he said. "It eliminated a lot of
expenses and is more customer friendly."
DVS also has shifted from paper identification cards for the station inspectors to
plastic credit card style cards. The inspectors can access applications through an
online training portal and the cards are issued by a contractor, saving the
department an estimated $4,000 annually and close to 400 hours per year.
District Paint Crew Saves Time with Practical Truck Modification
Line painting is a critical safety function and one of the paint crews
in PennDOT's
District 9 office, based in Blair County, came up with a solution to
a problem that
was slowing operations.
The exhaust outlet to the main engine of the new paint trucks does not account for
the height of the compressor's radiator and is in a direct line with it causing the
compressor to prematurely overheat on a regular basis. Although the paint truck has
a diesel engine and a diesel compressor, the paint truck uses compressed air to
drive the pumps and motors to place the paint and reflective beads on the highway.
"While painting, the compressor would often overheat, causing a shutdown of
operations and then resume once the compressor cooled to a safe level," said John
F.
Fraundorfer, P.E., assistant district traffic engineer for operations.
The problem translated into lost painting time, roughly 20 line miles a day or 80
line miles a week.
"With 26 weeks of painting, the delay caused about
2,080 line miles per year,"
Fraundorfer said. That also meant a loss of $15,000 to $20,000 to county maintenance
budgets and fewer line miles painted. Line
painting is a critical part of
maintaining safe nighttime and daytime driving conditions.
Two paint crew members, Terry L. Miller, assistant highway maintenance manager, and
Shawn Lanzendorfer, a former PennDOT employee, were not about to let the issue
fester.
"Me and the other guy were looking at the exhaust
(from the truck) going right into
the top of the compressor, we talked about it, and we said, 'We can raise it
(the
exhaust pipe)'," said Miller, a 14-year veteran with the paint crew who has
since
been promoted to assistant highway maintenance manager for Huntingdon County.
"We raised it eight inches and got it away from the
compressor," Miller said.
According to Fraundorfer, the crew used spare parts and pieced them together, to fix
their primary truck as well as a second truck with the same issue.
"We only have so much time to paint," Fraundorfer
said. "With snow in winter and
leaves in the fall ... and spring rains, there is limited time to paint. ... This
was a
total win-win for the department."
Fraundorfer praised the crew for their willingness to step up when faced with a
problem impacting efficient maintenance operations.
"I am blessed with some talented people who work for
me and are willing to take the
initiative to solve issues for the Department, and I am willing to listen and
hear
their concerns to keep us moving forward," he said.
Miller concluded that, "It's very important for the
staff to tackle these kinds of
issues. Ideas implemented like this, allow the equipment to run more efficiently
giving our end users a safe highway to use year-round."
Sweeper Use in Philadelphia Tackles Tough Litter Issues
Keeping roadways clean is a big part of PennDOT's maintenance mission
and Daniel R.
Graham, Philadelphia maintenance manager in PennDOT's
District 6, took special
interest in the task when he was named to his present position in 2018. His actions
meant big
savings as well.
Previous county management had ordered an innovative sweeper truck that was delivered
after Graham took control. It has a special vacuum attachment that reaches deep into
drains and other tough-to-reach spots.
The city seems to attract litterbugs. Graham recently had to coordinate the removal
of 5,000 used tires someone dumped under one of the interstates in the city. Each
day, his crews are dealing with road dirt, trash, bottles and other debris. Staff
picks up larger debris in front of the sweeper.
"We get so much maintenance activity aimed at
fighting litter and debris on highways
in the city," he said. "We are cleaning up constantly."
Under Graham's leadership, the county now deploys its special sweeper 24 hours a day
over three work shifts, five days a week. The move eliminated the need for his team
to rent five sweepers a day costing roughly $1 million a year.
"Our sweeper has a big hose like an elephant's snout
that connects to different spots
on the truck and you can maneuver it," Graham said.
The special attachment is targeted for drain clearing, which is even more important
as changing weather patterns are producing heavier and more frequent rainfall, and
effectively clearing drains helps minimize flood damage.
"We saved lot of money with swapping out the rental
sweepers and having our own guys
doing the job," Graham said.
PennDOT Innovation Teamwork Solves Vexing Building Damage
Issue
At every level of PennDOT, its dedicated staff are always looking for
ways to solve
problems, and make operations safer and more efficient.
One example is the way the maintenance staff in PennDOT's Lackawanna County
operations addressed a vexing issue. They noted that there was a consistent problem
with materials delivery drivers inadvertently damaging storage buildings. Too often,
raised truck beds were hitting the buildings. One of the county foremen asked Sign
Foreman John White if there was anything he could do.
Working with PennDOT colleague Matt Kime, White fashioned two signs using a vinyl
cutter he had in his office. They warned drivers not to attempt a delivery without
having a spotter to ensure the trucks would not hit the buildings.
"The foreman was actually the one who kicked my butt
to get it going," White
remembered. "Once we put up them up, the first ones actually worked well, and we
started putting them on the rest of the domes."
The innovation journey continued thanks to Dawn Kidder, roadway programs manager, and
John Hitchcock, roadway programs specialist, in PennDOT's
District 4 in northeastern
Pennsylvania.
"We were out doing stockpile checks before winter,"
Kidder said. "We happened to see
the signs at Lackawanna County and thought that was really a good idea.
Everybody
has issues with deliveries hitting our buildings."
Kidder said she and Hitchcock took pictures and shared them with Garrett Westover,
P.E., acting assistant district executive for maintenance.
"He (Westover) loved the idea," Hitchcock said. "We did a little more
research and
found out that White put them on. We got a hold of him
and
implemented it district-wide."
Westover, now a regional manager with PennDOT's Operations and Performance Office,
said damaged buildings could be shut down for long periods while their structural
integrity is checked.
"It could be closed for a couple days to several
months, and we certainly don't want
to close down a stockpile building in winter," he said.
Westover took the issue to the Traffic Unit in Central Office to ensure a sign with
a standard design could be used across PennDOT was in place. As a result, the
new
standard sign is available for use at every stockpile statewide.
Westover said he appreciated Kidder's and Hitchcock's attention to the problem.
"It's a good thing to put into place and tie back to
our local district maintenance
policy," he said. "Ultimately, we are not having more facilities being
hit."
SPMTs were used for the first time on a PennDOT project to place the new Shaler
Street Bridge superstructure in just two days. The existing bridge was a
deteriorating three-span structure on a 14 percent grade crossing State Route 19.
With approximately 28,000 vehicles passing below it daily, a primary goal for
replacing the bridge was to minimize traffic impacts along the State Route 19
corridor, a critical link between I-376 and Pittsburgh's west end. State Route 19 is
also a primary route to and from Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Any
closures had to be coordinated around stadium events.
"The goal was to reduce closure time to Route 19,"
said Shane Szalankiewicz, P.E.,
District 11 bridge engineer. "Route 19 was closed for a weekend for demolition of
the existing superstructure, then a Sunday through Wednesday to move the new
superstructure into place with the SPMTs."
The new two-span superstructure was built in a nearby staging area and moved into
place with the SPMTs once complete, significantly reducing the Shaler Street closure
from approximately six months for conventional construction to just 71 days.
The twin 70-foot-long spans each weighed 260 tons and were moved 500 feet on the
SPMTs. The complex and urban nature of the project site resulted in the bridge
having roughly 13 inches of horizontal clearance to buildings along the move path.
Use of SPMTs resulted in a net user cost savings of approximately $2.2 million from
the reduction in traffic restrictions during construction.
The project won the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania
(ACEC/PA) 2021 Structural Systems Diamond Award, the ASHE Pittsburgh Section's
Outstanding Highway Engineering Award and an ASHE National Project Award.
SPMTs are multi-axle trailers with an adjustable flat bed for transporting heavy
loads. The SPMT system used for the Shaler Street Bridge consisted of two "lines" of
two 6-axle modules, four modules in total. Each axle line had a maximum load
capacity of 44 tons. Each module was fitted with its own control system, allowing
the possibility of 360° and independent axle movement. This enabled them to
rotate
and transport objects in any direction.
Loads can be transported and placed with millimeter precision, making them ideally
suited for congested project sites. The modules can be connected in an endless
number of combinations. Their deck height can be hydraulically adjusted by
approximately 24 inches, enabling vertical lifting or lowering of the load. Due to
their versatility, SPMTs can lift and move virtually every heavy load.
SPMTs are the same width as a standard size shipping container, allowing for
cost-effective mobilization to virtually any location. SPMTs are also equipped with
air-filled tires, which aid in reducing ground bearing pressure and ensures that the
working surface is preserved.
Warren/Forest County Brine Shop Helps Fight Tough Winter Weather
Northwestern Pennsylvania sees the largest accumulation of snow statewide
from repeated winter storms, and PennDOT's Warren/Forest county maintenance
sets the bar high for producing brine, one of the most useful winter
weapons
against the ravages of cold, stormy weather.
Brine, which is essentially concentrated salt water, is used for various
winter
storm
fighting activities to keep Pennsylvania roads safe during winter months.
The Warren
brine shop has been successful for many years, and at its peak,
provided
more than two million gallons of brine to PennDOT operations in McKean,
Crawford,
Erie, Venango, and Forest counties.
Embracing PennDOT's Lean mentality, Warren/Forest built on its performance to
reach
even higher levels.
The first improvement was to create a better storage area for spare pumps and
pumps
stored over the winter. The Maintenance Repairmen, Josh Benjamin and
Frank
Byers, built shelving units to store the pumps to help ensure that if one
pump
fails there is another to take its place. Additionally, a mock brine pumping
area
was
created to test electrical and pumping capabilities for pump rehabilitation
and
troubleshooting in the workshop. Previously, pumps were stored on the shop
floor
and
testing was limited to field diagnostics, which usually resulted in pumps
being
replaced instead of repaired.
"Replacing pumps is a costly venture, and the in-house testing setup
allows the
team
to diagnose pump problems and ensure repairs are successful," said
Adam
Elms,
Warren/Forest county manager.
The second improvement was altering how the brine was produced. That included
relocating the supply gallon meter to more accurate locations, adjusting
valves,
removing unneeded filters, and making brine directly into a mixing tank.
These changes permit brine to be made at a faster rate (more gallons per
hour)
with
no water supply flow rate adjustments needed. Production went from 5,000
gallons
per
hour to 7,500 gallons per hour with no loss of quality or consistency. All
these
changes have improved the facility, increased production, and have made a
more
consistent product.
"Our crews are committed to keeping our services as innovative
as possible, to
better
serve the people who rely on our road system," Elms concluded.
Thinking Outside the Box: Litter Pickup in Allegheny County
Litter along Pennsylvania roads is a vexing problem, and Sandra
O'Neill, PennDOT
roadway
programs technician and Allegheny County Adopt
A
Highway coordinator, wanted to keep
her
volunteers fully stocked with work materials while keeping them safe during the
COVID-19
epidemic.
Thinking out of the box, she
decided
a new storage box outside her maintenance office would be the way to keep supplies
flowing unimpeded to her 260 Adopt A Highway groups and 100 Keep
Pennsylvania
Beautiful partners.
She turned to her Pittsburgh-based, District 11 bridge crew for help and using
leftover lumber from their projects, they (Joe Bassetti, Dave Gill, Steve Stokes and
Chuck Berie) constructed a five-foot cube box. The box allowed O'Neill to store the
needed collection bags, gloves and safety vests so the volunteers could sustain
their important clean-up work with significantly reduced touchpoints and in-person
contact as required by COVID-19 restrictions.
"We were not in our maintenance building, and no one was allowed in, so with the
supplies in the curbside box, they could still participate and get supplies for
their pick-up events," O'Neill said. "It was curb side with no contact, which was a
large issue.
This way, they could still participate in the program." She added, "It turned out
to work very
well, even now."
With the maintenance office still dividing hours between teleworking and in-office,
the box allows pick up at any time convenient for the volunteers.
O'Neill, a 10-year PennDOT veteran who has run the Adopt A Highway program for
PennDOT's Allegheny County maintenance operations since 2017, noted that during the
COVID-related isolation, litter just piled up.
"Trash has just doubled," she said. But thanks to her pick up box idea,
"Groups
are
able to do this and get back out and keep cleaning."
The Adopt A Highway program is vital to PennDOT's ongoing roadside beautification
efforts, and O'Neill's dedication and foresight
is helping keep the mission alive and well during trying times.
Virtual Inspections Speed Utilities and HOP Projects
The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted PennDOT to
embrace an innovative way to keep inspections going for critically needed Highway
Occupancy Permit (HOP) and utilities projects.
Francis J. Hanney, senior manager, Transportation Services Division, in PennDOT's
Engineering District 6, which covers the five-county southeastern Pennsylvania
region including Philadelphia, developed the concept of virtual
inspections for the
department's HOP and utility projects.
"When the pandemic hit in March 2020, there were a number of essential,
life-sustaining utility projects that were unable to proceed," Hanney said.
"We had to
find a way to allow these projects to move forward so that the public could
continue
to have access to water and other utilities without service being
interrupted."
An HOP is a legal agreement that PennDOT issues to those wishing to perform work
within the state highway or gain access to the state highway with a driveway or
local road. PennDOT may require inspection as a condition of an HOP. Typically, this
is performed in person at the site by a certified PennDOT inspector. PennDOT also
inspects work by utilities done within the state right-of-way. However, during the
pandemic, there were restrictions on in-person attendance at work sites, and thus
this type of inspection could not occur.
With the prevalence of camera phones, tablets and other technologies on the job
site, Hanney said, "Why not use this available technology to create a virtual
inspection regime so we could monitor projects working remotely?"
Hanney's staff noted that PECO, an Exelon Company, uses forms listing
activities that its foremen must complete each day. He decided to change the forms
into PennDOT documents, which request information in a standardized format to
provide verification that project inspection requirements were being met.
"During this time, the permittees simply had to submit a request that defined
their
project as an 'essential service' and request permission to commence with
virtual
inspection as the method to meet their HOP required inspection," Hanney
said.
"We wanted photos and some documented specifics as to how they were meeting
PennDOT
standards," Hanney added.
With virtual inspections, PennDOT staff reviews photos, video and documents to ensure
the work meets PennDOT standards even though PennDOT staff is not physically present
at the work site. "The new forms provided all the information needed to ensure we
were getting the quality we wanted," Hanney said.
Hanney noted that the virtual inspections benefit utilities' customers since if the
work does not meet standards, PennDOT has the right to order the work redone.
Another benefit also emerged.
"Something we discovered was that virtual inspections allowed us to expand our
ability to cover more projects with limited resources," Hanney said,
resulting in
faster project completion.
Rick Marker, P.E., district permit engineer in PennDOT's District 12 in southwestern
Pennsylvania, said his district also adopted virtual inspections.
"The virtual
construction inspection approach fit nicely with PennDOT's
electronic permitting system and
the
fact that PennDOT staff was equipped with laptop computers that eased working
remotely", he said.
Hanney was honored for his work on virtual inspections with an award at the 2020
Innovation Awards Ceremony, and PennDOT has now implemented virtual
inspections as a
statewide process.
Big Savings Coming Thanks to Virtual Inspections of Stormwater Projects
As part of its ongoing effort to improve stormwater
management, PennDOT has embraced
a virtual approach to project inspection that will mean big savings.
Daryl St. Clair, special assistant to PennDOT's Deputy Secretary for Highway
Administration who is heading the innovation, said drone technology is being
deployed to facilitate inspection of stormwater restoration projects. The drones
capture photos and video to document that the restoration work is meeting the
federal requirement to control water runoff during storms. The effort is intended to
prevent pollution from working its way into rivers and critical bodies of water such
as the Chesapeake Bay.
The first project was in Manchester Township in York County. The
restoration included nearly 2,000 linear feet of stream restoration and several
acres of new floodplain wetlands.
A second restoration is under construction, another is in design and two more
projects were advertised and bids opened in October 2021.
To meet new environmental standards, PennDOT is committed to roughly $11 million in
restoration projects every five years. Instead of using inspectors on site during
construction, PennDOT's specification requires the contractor to fly drones over
each project so PennDOT officials can have a visual record.
Savings could amount to roughly $60,000 per project, and using drones also helps
minimize personal contact at a time when the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic calls for
such an approach.
"The contractor will plan to fly additional drone videos in 2021 and/or 2022 to
continue to document the ecological success of the completed restoration, to be
utilized as an educational tool to inform stakeholders of how successful stream
restoration management practices develop over time," St. Clair said.
District 5 Saves with Efficient Snow Plow Blade Changes
PennDOT's
District 5 Office, based in Allentown, has switched
to the
innovative practice of changing snow plow blades at stockpiles instead of traveling
to district garages. Blades are the wearing surface of a snow plow, or the cutting
edge that make contact with the road surface.
This innovative practice, which started in Schuylkill County, is translating into
fuel and manpower savings of about $8,700 annually per county, based on three blade
changes for each PennDOT plow truck. The number of blade changes required each year
is dependent on the weather, type of road surface, and other factors.
The innovation saves staff hours by eliminating travel to and from a central location
and minimizes the amount of time the large trucks are on the roads with other
traffic, improving safety, said Thomas W. Rogal, senior maintenance manager for
Schuylkill County.
"The innovation came about as the need arose to be more efficient and timely in
changing plow blades," Rogal said. "Doing so increased safety and made the operation
more cost
effective,"
Minimal upfront costs of about $5,000 were required for the innovation, which was
piloted at two remote stockpiles in Schuylkill County. The equipment includes a
large air compressor, impact gun and a stand for setting up the plow so the blade
can be changed.
With the pilot successfully completed, the practice was expanded to Lehigh, Carbon,
Monroe, and Northampton counties, which are all now using this practice to improve
safety and productivity.
PennDOT's Forest/Warren County Maintenance Fosters Innovation
Saving electricity while keeping winter
operations at the ready for
quick storm
response prompted PennDOT's Warren and Forest counties' maintenance operation to
install Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) receptacles with built-in thermostats to
power engine block heaters in cold weather.
All of PennDOT's maintenance trucks are equipped with engine block heaters that need
to be plugged into electrical outlets so cold weather does not impede quick starting
during storms, said Adam Elms, manager for PennDOT's Warren/Forest counties.
"These trucks are plugged in through the rain and snow, which requires electric
cords to be exposed to winter elements and lots of moisture," Elms said.
"The
harsh environment created the potential for damage to the cords, receptacles and
the block heaters for the trucks."
For added protection and safety, all PennDOT maintenance facilities are equipped with
GFI receptacles, which are fast-acting circuit breakers designed to shut off power
when they detect the electrical current is taking an alternate path that presents a
shock hazard.
"We took it one step further and put on timer/temperature controls, so power is
off when the temperature is above 35 degrees," Elms noted.
This innovative step is expected to generate cost savings from reduced electricity
usage and wear and tear on the trucks, as the block heaters are not continuously
running.
Innovation Lights the Way for Better Snow Plow Operations
PennDOT's snow plow operators face tough conditions when they take to their routes
during the worst that winter throws at us. Often working in the dark on narrow
roads, the operators encounter challenging circumstances.
So it was that Paul Brosious, an equipment operator in Northumberland County in
PennDOT's
District 3, came up with an idea to improve visibility when
maneuvering
trucks backward. He proposed installing a separate light
on the back of plow trucks
on the passenger side to allow operators to better see terrain and obstacles. The
large light is separate from the truck's built-in back up lights.
"When you are out in the middle of nowhere and you are trying to turn around ...
you need to see where you are backing up, especially at midnight or one or two
in the morning," Brosious said.
He said he got the idea when he was given a spare truck from another county, and it
had a light on the back separate from the light on the salt spinner.
"Especially in the wintertime, it's very important to be able for safety reasons
to have a light there to see what you are doing, especially when backing up when
most accidents happen," Brosious said.
PennDOT's Fleet Management Division approved a pilot and spreader backup lights were
installed
on three trucks in Northumberland County and one truck in Tioga County.
"The innovation was well received, and we didn't get any concerns reported,"
said Jimmy Adams, District 3 equipment manager. "We thank him for his idea that
is helping us improve our winter services."
Any county in the PennDOT system can now request to have the lights installed.
PennDOT's Bureau of Public Transportation Enhancing Find My Ride Program
More than 6 million trips a year are taken by Pennsylvania residents who rely on
shared ride services to reach medical appointments and fulfill other critical needs.
To improve the rider experience, PennDOT's Bureau of Public Transportation is
working hard on enhancing its Find My Ride service that makes planning and taking
those trips much easier.
The Find My Ride program consists of three elements: Find My Ride Schedule, Find My
Ride Apply and Find My Ride Education.
Find My Ride Schedule is a "one-click, one-call" resource center developed to make it
easier for riders, especially seniors, persons with disabilities and people on
Medical Assistance to find information about available transportation options and
even schedule shared ride trips using a computer or mobile device.
Find My
Ride
Schedule
allows riders to directly book trips into a one-stop-shop
scheduling software, bypassing the need to call the transit provider and talk with a
customer service representative. There are 34 urban and rural fixed route transit
agencies, many of which also provide community/demand response service, and 18
agencies that provide community/demand response transportation only.
Statewide deployment of Find My Ride Schedule will help ease call volumes for transit
agencies and providers, and should provide easy scheduling for riders. Find My Ride
Schedule has been launched in 11 counties with plans for statewide deployment
beginning in 2022.
Find My Ride Apply is an application that allows people to apply online for
transportation assistance programs such as the Senior
Shared Ride and Medical
Assistance Transportation programs. The application is available
throughout
most of
the state outside of Philadelphia and Allegheny counties; while similar service is
not
available in those two areas, the Bureau of Public Transportation is exploring ways
to offer the service
there toward the end of 2022. Applying for transportation assistance programs will
enable approved applicants to use Find My Ride's trip planning capabilities.
Find My Ride Education is an upcoming webpage, planned for release in early 2022,
that will contain information and videos intended to provide an overview of public
transportation options and assistance programs available across the state.
"The new website will serve as a landing page for someone who needs transportation
assistance but doesn't know anything about the services and programs
available,"
said John Taylor, planning and technology manager in PennDOT's Bureau of Public
Transportation. "Our hope is we can get to the point where we walk a potential rider
through the
programs and then have them go to the eligibility site to apply, after which
they
can use Find My Ride Schedule to plan trips," he added.
Beginning in February 2022, the Bureau will open three separate websites in support
of
each piece of the Find My Ride program: findmyridepa.org for Find My Ride
Schedule;
apply.findmyride.penndot.pa.gov
for Find My Ride Apply; and Find My Ride Education (website coming soon).
"We are committed to leveraging technology to improve critical transit services
and
to ensure everyone who needs to make a trip can do so with as little hassle as
possible," Taylor said.
Category:
Public Transportation
Driver and Vehicle Services Takes the DMV Experience to New Levels
When it comes to breaking the mold and destroying that outdated image of long lines
and terrible service at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), PennDOT's
Driver and
Vehicle Services (DVS) is once again pushing the boundaries.
Over the past year or so, Driver and Vehicle Services has deployed a mobile
ticketing
system that puts queue information right into customer's hands without forcing them
to crowd into a Driver
License Center (DLC).
Building on past queueing systems that informed customers of wait times, DVS now has
a system that works through smart phones via text and online links.
"It will allow me, if I choose, to go to the store, hang out in my car, or do
whatever I like during the wait time and give me an idea of where I am in the
system," said Sarah D. Baker, director of DVS's Bureau of REAL ID, who is
managing the
innovation.
Customers are notified when it is time to come back and reach the counter to complete
their transaction. The system is in place at 55 DLCs statewide as well as the
Riverfront Office Center in Harrisburg.
"The point is to give customers flexibility," Baker said. She added that the
innovation was welcome at a time when social distancing became important in the
fight against the spread of COVID-19.
In addition, by the end of 2021, DVS expected to have a concierge application in
place
for staff that will allow supervisors to better manage the queues. Working with
iPads, staff can check the customer line outside the centers at the start of the day
or other busy times and input data on what transactions are needed. That information
will allow supervisors to redeploy staff as appropriate to better manage the queues.
The customer reaction?
"Most customers are surprised and say, 'This is neat. Thank you,'" Baker said.