PennDOT Focus On Innovations

Basic Tool Aids with Training Accessibility and Tracking

Employees in a conference room listening to a presentation and viewing information on the screen at the front of the room

Ongoing training is important and vital to the success of PennDOT employees. Training helps employees learn new skills and become more motivated and confident with their jobs.

With employees spread across five counties at 34 stockpiles in PennDOT Engineering District 10, it can be a challenge to reach staff and ensure they have access to necessary trainings. It can also be time consuming to coordinate and record trainings. With employees working multiple shifts at various stockpiles, it can be even more challenging.

Jefferson County Maintenance Manager Aaron Emhoff simplified the process to get employees access to trainings by developing an online database of mandatory trainings and also streamlined the sign-in and recording processes for the trainings. Each training now has an electronic sign-in sheet pre-loaded with employee names and numbers and other essential pieces of information.

For example, training completed during periods where milder winter weather permits work other than snow removal, also known as Dark Hours Training, used to be on a flash drive with a paper sign-in sheet.

Workers with white hard hats and yellow safety vests standing in line during a training

"The flash drives were delivered to the stockpiles and the sign-in sheets were signed and returned to the county office," Emhoff said. "They would often get lost in the shuffle between the stockpile and the office. The foreman then had to get the signatures all over again before returning it to the office. This made the process cumbersome and cost us time."

Foreman time is now better spent as they can go to the stockpile, open the database, and review a training with their crew. When the training is complete, the foreman enters the date on the sign-in sheet and verifies the employee's attendance. County office employees also have direct access to the paperwork to record the trainings.

"This has been a big time-saver for me," said Foreman Brandon Stoneberg. "With multiple stockpiles to travel between and 24-hour shifts through winter, this has really cut down on the back-and-forth trips between stockpiles and the county office. I'm still able to get all of our trainings completed but a lot more efficiently."

"We're planning to do this in our other four counties," said Assistant District Executive for Maintenance Matt Burkett. "The digital trainings and sign-in sheets have increased our productivity and been a time saver for the staff."

Category: Maintenance

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Everyday Office Tool Helps Keep Trainees on Track

PennDOT Engineering District 2, based in Clearfield, Pa., has at least two Civil Engineer Trainees (CETs) working through their year-long rotation at any given time. There are currently five trainees rotating through the various units within the district. It is up to the phase supervisor in each unit to arrange for trainees to have meaningful work during their rotation. Coordinating all those schedules can be difficult without a good way to view them.

An image of a civil engineer trainee with yellow hard hat and yellow safety vest and black sunglasses at a construction site with a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other hand with a large piece of equipment and other workers in the background

Eric Murnyack, then portfolio manager and now assistant district executive for design, started looking at ways to make it easier for everyone to view the schedules. Trainee schedules were contained in a Microsoft Word document, which was emailed to supervisors at the beginning of each trainee program. That document was saved to a SharePoint calendar. Keeping it updated was a time-consuming process that meant retyping dates and rearranging the order of the document. Another issue was that the document wasn't accessible in areas with limited or no internet access.

Murnyack considered leveraging Microsoft Outlook calendars, but these were difficult to view when looking at several people on the same day. He ultimately settled on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

"A spreadsheet is a less cumbersome way of tracking trainees," said Murnyack. "Their schedules are often subject to change, and using Excel makes those changes easier. Instead of having to manually reenter dates into a Word document, Excel has automated features that can do much of the work for you."

The district has used the spreadsheet during the rotation of the most recently hired trainees. Most of them will complete their rotation in May 2024. While overcoming hurdles, including new supervisors not initially having access to the Excel file, Murnyack is confident he can continue to refine the document and that it will remain a beneficial tool for the district moving forward.

Employees in a conference room are listening to a presentation and are viewing information displayed on a Smart board

The intrinsic value of Murnyack's investment in developing staff is immeasurable. Not only did he create this tool to track civil engineer trainee schedules, but he has taken on the additional responsibility of helping to train and mentor CETs in the district. He mentors newer staff and develops training to help grow their knowledge. Over the past two years, he's developed training schedules that provide a quality overview of the district yet still emphasize areas where executive staff anticipate openings.

Aside from developing tools to keep CETs on track, when serving as the district portfolio manager, Murnyack also developed multiple tracking mechanisms to fiscally monitor projects, enable the district to anticipate issues with projects and initiate corrective action to stay with the planned let dates.

These tools provided district staff with the status of lettings and budget at a glance, which ultimately lead to reduced costs by encouraging more timely delivery. For example, in 2022, the district reduced the number of construction work orders and realized savings of nearly $900,000.

Category: Design

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Innovative Traffic Control Technology Used for Bridge Improvement Project

An image of a large orange piece of equipment being operated by two drivers in hard hats and yellow safety vests positioned on either end moving jersey barriers from one place on the roadway to another

Designers of the Route 220 Bridge Improvement Project in Lycoming County, PennDOT Engineering District 3, turned to an innovative traffic control technology called the Movable Median Barrier System (MMBS) to mitigate impacts to traffic and reduce overall construction time.

Understanding that Route 220 is a major connector between the cities of Williamsport and Lock Haven, carrying approximately 20,000 vehicles a day, the MMBS was identified as a potential solution to maintain traffic during peak travel times.

This innovative technology includes 16 concrete sections with a metal section on either side for expansion. These are "pinned" together with approximately 12-inch pins. This allows a mile of barrier to be moved in approximately 10-15 minutes by a machine operated simultaneously by two drivers.

For the Route 220 project, the barrier system separating traffic was moved twice daily to ensure two lanes of travel northbound for the morning commute and two lanes southbound for the afternoon commute. The opposing direction of traffic was restricted to one lane.

In addition to facilitating traffic flow in and out of the City of Williamsport through the project area, use of the MMBS has reduced the time needed to complete the project by more than one construction season and removed six traffic phases.

While the MMBS has been a perfect solution for the Route 220 Bridge Improvement Project, it may not be a right fit for every project. Designers must weigh the substantial cost the MMBS adds to the project versus the benefits. In this instance, the MMBS has reduced the time needed to complete the project, resulting in a cost savings.

Safety was also taken into consideration on this project, as the MMBS barriers are shorter than standard 52-inch barriers. To address this concern, temporary lighting was installed throughout the length of the project to minimize headlight glare from opposing motorists.

Designers and construction staff should also be aware that the delineators typically placed on the top of the barrier were unable to be utilized as the MMBS machine would tear them during the lane shift.

The logistics of the product should also factor into the decision to use the MMBS. Materials and equipment for this project required the contractor to travel to Connecticut and California to pick them up and transport them back to Pennsylvania. Additionally, the manufacturer did not provide training on the use of the MMBS. Those looking to use this product in the future must consider and include contract language that requires the MMBS supplier to provide training.

District 3 design and construction staff agreed that the MMBS was the best fit for this particular project and would use it again under the right circumstances.

"Maintaining two lanes into and out of the City of Williamsport during peak travel times is vital to avoid major traffic delays in the area," said District Traffic Engineer Zach Whitenight. "The movable median barrier was an ideal solution that allowed construction to continue while minimizing the impact to the traveling public. We would support using this product on future projects if the conditions are warranted."

The Route 220 Bridge Improvement Project will ultimately replace two structures carrying Route 220 over the Fourth Street off ramp, as well as rehabilitate two structures over Antlers Lane, and two structures over the Lycoming Valley Railroad in Woodward Township, Lycoming County. The project includes $13.4 million in federal funding made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The contractor completed the replacement and rehabilitation of the northbound structures during the 2023 construction season, and the southbound structures are scheduled to be completed during the 2024 construction season.

Category: Safety & Traffic Operations

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Debris Removal Tool Enhances Tunnel Safety for Workers, Motorists

A sideview image of a PennDOT pick-up truck with a large black metal LaneBlade with red trim mounted to the front.

With three different, fully-staffed tunnels - Fort Pitt, Liberty, and Squirrel Hill - PennDOT Engineering District 11, based in the Pittsburgh region, has been piloting another innovative tool to enhance safety for district tunnel staff.

The LaneBlade is a truck-mounted tool that attaches to the front of a three-quarter ton or heavier truck and replaces the front bumper. It acts as a push bumper, moving disabled vehicles from travel lanes. Additionally, the LaneBlade deploys down to the road surface with wings that arrange out in order to remove large road debris, such as bumpers, tires, wood, dead animals, etc., without requiring an employee to exit a vehicle in live traffic. The truck with this equipment can then push the debris down the road to a safe location along the shoulder for the employee to pick up the debris.

Following a demonstration of the tool involving District 11, PennDOT's Fleet Management Division (FMD), and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), the district maintenance team worked with FMD staff to get the specifications together and the contract in place to allow the district to purchase and install it on one truck.

An image of the front of a PennDOT truck with a large black metal LaneBlade with red trim mounted to the front.

The LaneBlade is attached to one of the tow trucks stationed at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, which averages 100,000 vehicles a day. Operators utilize this piece of equipment almost daily whenever staff responds to incidents and conduct their patrols. While PTC already uses the LaneBlade, District 11 is the first to utilize this tool across PennDOT, and it has been extremely well-received by operators. The LaneBlade does not work with larger wrecker trucks; however, District 11 has found it useful and is considering outfitting smaller trucks at the Fort Pitt and Liberty tunnels.

"The LaneBlade has not only helped improve the safety of our crews, but also the feeling of being safe when our crews respond to incidents on the interstate," said Tunnel Manager Paul Manyisha, P.E.

With the three tunnels staffed 24/7, 365 days a year, the LaneBlade is another important tool that's been added to the safety toolbox. Use of this tool provides operators with a sense of security, allowing them to remain in their truck while clearing debris from the roadway and avoiding the potential dangers posed by traveling motorists.

Category: Maintenance

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Innovative Tools Provide Insight on Airport Economic Impact

In today's global economy, air transportation provides vital links that enable businesses to function efficiently and improve the quality of life for residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Airports and aviation help to both support and stimulate economic activity throughout the state.

An aerial image of an airport runway with green fields, houses, and larger buildings visible in the surrounding area

Aviation benefits Pennsylvania in many ways. Air transportation is essential for business attraction and retention. Airports play a key role in economic development for many communities and are the gateway to the nation's air transportation system and the world's economy.

A 2022 Pennsylvania Aviation Economic Impact Study (AEIS) revealed a decline in money generated from the sale of jet fuel, which is used to fund Aviation Development Program (ADP) grants to eligible public use airports in Pennsylvania. This resulted in fewer grants for Pennsylvania airports.

To communicate the economic impact of Pennsylvania's airports, PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation developed several documents in easy-to-understand terms and graphics. These documents include a fact sheet, executive summary, technical report and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS, or drones) case studies. In addition to these documents, the bureau developed fact sheets for 67 of the state's public-use airports. The airports are able to use the fact sheets to communicate their economic impact to legislators and community members, among others.

As part of this communications toolkit, PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation will be publishing an online economic impact calculator and GIS StoryMap. The calculator will show the statewide economic impact of an airport and assist airports in demonstrating the quantitative benefits of investments in airport facilities. It will use three kinds of variables: airport administration, tenant activity and visitor spending. With the calculator, users will be able to create hypothetical scenarios by changing the variables, which can then be shown side by side with the current economic impact for that airport. The calculator is anticipated to be released in May 2024.

An image of an airport terminal with a large bank of windows and a sign in the grassy area in front of the windows that says HIA for Harrisburg International Airport

A webinar will be held to showcase how to navigate the tool and provide a sense of comfort for the end user. Attendees will learn step by step how to effectively utilize its features through a comprehensive tutorial session. The webinar will be recorded so those who are not able to attend or who wish to have a refresher are able to access it at any time.

The GIS PA AEIS StoryMap transforms the written study into a dynamic, scrollable format that seamlessly integrates geospatial data. This provides the public a way to visually consume multiple layers of the economic impact data at one time to help spur deeper insight and comprehension. The platform will be designed with the capability to incorporate future study information. The multiple layers will include legislative districts and county lines. Release of the GIS PA AEIS StoryMap is anticipated to occur in fall 2024.

Category: Multimodal

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PennDOT Crew Used Innovative Methods to Survey Moshannon Creek

Surveyors will go anywhere to perfectly map out a project. However, surveying certain areas, such as creeks, can be a dangerous job. Unstable ground and steep terrain can often cause surveyors to trip and fall.

A digital aerial image of Moshannon Creek detailing flow of the creek and the surrounding area

To overcome these challenges, the survey unit in PennDOT Engineering District 2 utilized innovative methods to survey Moshannon Creek in Phillipsburg last July. The surveyors were able to use a water, sky and land approach to produce a three-dimensional (3D) model of the project area.

"Moshannon Creek is like quicksand," said District 2 Chief of Surveys Rory Stenerson. "You cannot stand in it and survey the conventional way."

Surveying the bottom of a creek typically involves walking into the water wearing hip boots or chest waders. To avoid the silt in Moshannon Creek, the survey unit borrowed a shallow bottom rowboat, also known as a Jon boat, from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. By using the boat, the crew safely surveyed the depths and bottom of the creek.

The survey crew also used a new method for a sky approach to surveying. Previously, pilots were hired to fly an airplane over the project area and take photographs. Stenerson explained that using a plane works best when the project area is larger and requires more surveying.

For the Moshannon Creek project, the crew used a drone to take aerial photographs. According to Stenerson, using a drone was much more efficient because the project area was less than one mile long. The drone's aerial photographs were stitched together to create the 3D model.

An aerial image of Moshannon Creek highlighting the surveyed area

For the land approach, the crew collected topographic information using conventional survey methods, terrestrial scanning, which uses lasers to scan and digitally recreate a landscape and supplementing online data from state sources such as Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA).

Ed Natoli, a survey technician supervisor who surveyed Moshannon Creek, said that every survey project comes with its own unique set of challenges.

"Using modern alternative survey methods, such as the ones used on Moshannon Creek, enables us to overcome challenges without compromising our standards for accuracy, efficiency and safety," said Natoli.

The innovative methods used on this project were beneficial. It included cost savings by using existing employees to conduct the surveys and borrowing equipment to collect data. Use of a boat and drone only required a few hours of work. Conventional survey methods would have taken the crew an entire day to complete.

Natoli stated he is eager to see how much more the survey unit can benefit from these alternative surveying methods as their proficiency increases.

Category: Design

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A General Guide to Tactical Urbanism / Demonstration Projects

With the challenges of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, local communities and businesses attempted to create pop-up destinations for dining and recreation. Using public areas, including parking lots and local roads, allowed for creative use of space outside of normal activities, but there were no official PennDOT guidelines or examples on how to successfully operate these.

A collage of five images showing streets with cares on them transformed into alternative use locations for walking, biking, and other recreational activities

Chris Metka, manager for the Municipal Research and Outreach Section in PennDOT's Bureau of Planning and Research, reviewed guidance documents utilized by other state DOTs for setting up demonstration projects that showcase safe ways to set up these alternative uses and desired something similar for Pennsylvania municipalities. The research project proposed the development of a Pennsylvania-specific municipal guidance document to provide information to local communities on how to temporarily change traditional transportation avenues to allow interactions in novel ways.

This document will serve as a comprehensive and straightforward resource for municipalities and communities to learn about demonstration projects that can quickly address urban challenges and would assist in the planning, funding and implementation of demonstration projects across Pennsylvania. It will highlight real world case studies and present situations where projects were conceived and implemented with innovative solutions. Work on this municipal guidance document for setting up demonstration projects in Pennsylvania is underway and will require the review of an internal technical advisory council to ensure conformance to existing PennDOT standards and publications.

Photos courtesy of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy

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Behavioral Safety Project

An image of a Venn diagram of the average number of crashes resulting from aggressive driving, speeding, distracted driving, and impaired driving

Safe travel and transportation are vital to the residents of Pennsylvania, and much of the public is personally responsible for the operation of their vehicles. In an attempt to identify and increase the rates of safe driver behaviors in Pennsylvania, a research project was initiated to identify problem behaviors and determine appropriate safety countermeasures.

The findings from this report, including any recommendations, are available to be communicated to stakeholders and the public in a variety of ways to ensure the understanding of the benefits of these safe behaviors.

The Behavioral Safety Unit in the Highway Safety Section in PennDOT's Bureau of Operations plans to deliver a presentation to various stakeholders such as PennDOT leadership, legislators and consumer safety groups to promote the research findings in April 2024. Outreach is being pursued through advertising campaigns that focus on speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, and pedestrian and motorcycle safety.

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Data Management, Mining and Inference for Bridge Monitoring

An image of three charts showing how temperature affects strain on the bridge â€“ the top chart shows the raw and 15-minute moving average of the temperature data; the center chart shows the raw and 15-minute moving average of the strain data; and the bottom chart shows the live load strain

Bridges are a major and vital component of Pennsylvania's infrastructure. With more than 25,000 state-owned bridges, Pennsylvania has the third-largest number of bridges in the U.S. These assets can deteriorate over time due to constant wear and extreme weather events. Inspection and maintenance of bridges are vital to keeping bridges safe and in operating condition.

The use of cost-effective structural health monitoring (SHM) strategies for bridges is on the rise in many countries worldwide. Using a non-invasive network of sensors embedded or bonded to the structure, SHM allows bridges to be monitored 24/7 to flag, locate and quantify damage as it happens. The sensors measure physical characteristics like strain, acceleration, temperature, etc., while dedicated hardware/software elaborates the set of time series streamed from the sensors to determine the health of the component being monitored and the response of the structure to given loads.

The research project investigated advanced data management, analysis, mining and inference approaches for bridge structural health monitoring (SHM), safety evaluation, reliability and resilience assessment of 10 instrumented bridges in Pennsylvania that were part of a pilot bridge instrumentation program. The project consisted of the analysis of the data streamed by the wireless sensors and the comparison of some specific readings to the numerical predictions obtained with the implementation of finite element models.

An image showing a finite element model of the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh

The study showed that the use of emerging technologies in sensing, communication and computation can be integrated into bridge management to improve maintenance planning and reduce uncertainty, risk and costs. While it is too premature to consider SHM as a replacement of bridge inspection, the study demonstrated that there are cost-effective values on the use of sensor systems in support of bridge management and maintenance.

The report recommended potential revisions to PennDOT publications that would provide additional guidance based on the outcomes of the study. Bridge Engineer Patricia Kiehl P.E., who works in PennDOT's Bridge Quality Assurance Division said that the Bridge Inspection Section in PennDOT's Bureau of Maintenance is in the process of reviewing the proposed revisions and incorporating them into the Bridge Safety Inspection Manual (Publication 238) in the next revision.

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Resiliency of Prestressed Concrete Beams Exposed to Fire

An aerial image of collapsed sections of two different bridges following a fire event

Materials are commonly stored under prestressed concrete girder bridges in Pennsylvania. In 2017, a fire compromised a bridge in Atlanta, Ga. and required costly repairs. This resulted in the proposal of a study to evaluate the resiliency of current prestressed bridge designs against fire events.

The study provided guidance on structural impact of vehicular fire events on prestressed bridges and included a table used to determine what action is needed if a fire would occur on a similar bridge based on key variables. The study showed that the storage of materials and the presence of vehicular traffic underneath bridges pose the most significant fire hazards to bridge infrastructure. The report recommends a new policy on storage allowances under bridges to help prevent unsafe fire events. The outcomes found in the report also suggest design and planning modifications to enhance resiliency of new prestressed girder bridges.

Timothy Carre, P.E., assistant chief bridge engineer in PennDOT's Bureau of Bridges, said that based on the report findings, plans to update Publication 15M - Design Manual, Part 4 have begun. The revisions are awaiting completion of additional research, which will dictate the next steps of implementation.

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Construction Wind Loading for Steel Girders - Resiliency and Reliability

An image of a drawing showing horizontal or lateral stability bracing design criteria provided in the PennDOT Bridge Standard for steel girder bridges before deck completion

Recent data suggested there is an increase of occurrences in wind events and greater forces of winds affecting bridges within Pennsylvania. PennDOT needed to confirm current design and construction specifications were sufficient for this wind loading during steel bridge construction.

In addition, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently adopted the 3-second gust wind in wind pressure calculation and research was considered necessary to confirm that the PennDOT specifications, standards and design guidelines are consistent with AASHTO specifications.

After completion of the research, the report suggested that PennDOT standards are in line with the updated AASHTO specifications, and Publication 15M - Design Manual, Part 4 Bridge Design Standards are updated to match this standard. Guozhou Li, assistant chief bridge engineer in PennDOT's Bureau of Bridges, participated as the technical advisor for this project and ensured the new AASHTO standards match existing PennDOT policies and that PennDOT's specifications exceed these requirements.

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PennDOT Enhances 511PA to Add Key Bridge Information

An image showing the 511PA app on a mobile device with language to let users know what is available on the app and to encourage users to download it

With 40,000 roadway miles to maintain across Pennsylvania, PennDOT is continuously working to enhance how the public is informed of potential hazards and roadway issues, which is critical to fostering safety.

511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. Users can also see plow truck statuses and travel alerts along a specific route using the "Check My Route" tool.

Thanks to the foresight and innovative thinking of PennDOT employees, 511PA was recently enhanced to provide motorists with important information about bridges across the state. Employees suggested that bridge height and weight limits be added to the bridge filter on the website. When Richard Runyen, director of PennDOT's Bureau of Bridges, heard of this idea, he was eager to get it implemented.

When it comes to providing information to motorists, "the more information the better," Runyen said. "Adding this information to 511PA will specifically help drivers with larger vehicles, such as RVs," Runyen added.

Displaying bridge height and weight limits on 511PA was not as simple as it may seem. According to Runyen, a bridge's height and weight limit may change due to inspection findings or construction efforts. For this reason, the Bureau of Bridges chose to identify any bridge with a low clearance to include on 511PA. This includes any bridge with a clearance of less than 13 feet and six inches.

Providing bridge weight limits was more difficult. This is because a bridge's posted weight limit changes more often. The team worked with the information technology team to create a data pipeline and ensure the most up-to-date information was accurately displayed on the site. The success of these additions led the Bureau of Bridges to add information on bridge closures as well.

"Real-time roadway information provides our travelers an opportunity to choose alternate routes and eases their stress level by eliminating surprises along their drive," said Tiffany Brown, PennDOT's Tourism Services manager. "The real-time information 511PA provides helps motorists to travel smarter and safer."

Runyen thinks the next step for 511PA enhancements would be to explore methods of communicating with truckers. According to Runyen, truck drivers would benefit from additional bridge information that an average driver may not need or find useful.

"Each truck is unique, so communication would need to go both ways to be able to identify problem areas," Runyen said.

Category: Safety & Traffic Operations

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Innovative Maps Help Maintain and Protect Stormwater Control Measures

An image of a landscaping plan with color-coded areas showing area that can and cannot be mowed

PennDOT uses a variety of Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) to help prevent flooding, decrease downstream erosion, and reduce pollution to surface and groundwater. SCMs, such as retention ponds, sand filters, pervious pavement, and constructed wetlands, are used to manage pollutants and keep water clean and safe.

SCMs need to be regularly and properly maintained over the long term to preserve their functionality and extend service life. Different types of SCMs require specific maintenance and mowing care.

To ensure crews know what areas need to be mowed around different types of basins, Morgan Whited, a senior civil engineer supervisor in PennDOT Engineering District 2, created "No Mow" maps. The No Mow Maps show SCMs in Centre County that should be mowed up to two times per year, areas that are not to be mowed at all, and areas to be mowed only if the site distance becomes a concern. The maps also detail rock-lined forebays, or buffers for excessive stormwater, that must be weeded once a year as well as access roads and gates that need to be maintained.

The maps were piloted in Centre County due to the vast number of SCMs in that area. Currently, there are more than 170 SCMs in the county, and that number is expected to grow. Due to the number of SCMs and the specific care each requires, Whited thought it would be helpful for crews to have easy access to the maps. Physical copies of the No Mow Maps hang in maintenance locations, and the mowing crews have an electronic copy when working in the field.

An image of a stormwater runoff area with a large rocky area in the middle to help with drainage

"It is vitally important to maintain SCMs," said Whited. "Controlling stormwater helps to not wash out streams or creeks and does not allow trash to migrate into the environment."

The "No Mow" maps have proven to be very useful for the mowing crews. In place of a yearly update, the maps are given to the foremen at the beginning of each season. The maps are also beneficial for new employees and rotating crews needing quick access to the information.

"These maps have been extremely helpful," said Jeff Cantolina, Centre County assistant highway maintenance manager. "Our foreman carries them with him, so it is easy for us to see what [SCM] we need to mow and when it is time to move on."

Whited shared that the "No Mow" maps can be implemented as part of future projects that have a multitude of areas that require different mowing schedules or "no mow" areas, as well as any other maintenance needs that deviate from the normal routine.

Category: Maintenance

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The State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) facilitates the rapid implementation of proven, well-researched and documented state, regional, national and international transportation innovations that are new to Pennsylvania. The STIC also supports and promotes the implementation of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) innovations.

Innovative Intersection and Interchange Design Reduces Crashes, Travel Times

An image of a horse and buggy under a bridge navigating its way through a work zone with orange cones and orange and white work zone barricades as the Diverging Diamond Interchange at the 322/222 interchange was being completed

When PennDOT Engineering District 8 considered safety improvements at the Route 322/Route 222 Interchange near Ephrata in Lancaster County, the solution lay 200 miles or so west to Interstate 70 and Route 19 in Washington County. That is where Pennsylvania's first (and at the time, only) Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) opened to traffic in PennDOT Engineering District 12.

The 322/222 interchange was congested and experienced a high number of serious crashes. Designers needed a solution that improved operations and safety while fitting within the footprint of the existing facility. They also needed to provide non-motorized access on Route 322 because the local Amish community traveled through the interchange with horse and buggies.

"The diverging diamond interchange was the best fit by having minimal right of way needs and addressing the project purpose and need, which was to improve safety," PennDOT Senior Project Manager David Fratangeli said.

An Every Day Counts Round 2 (EDC-2) innovation that Pennsylvania championed, DDIs differ from standard diamond interchanges in that traffic on the minor route (in this case, Route 322) crosses over to the left side of the road at signalized intersections prior to the major route (Route 222). Route 322 then crosses back to the right side of the road at the far side signalized intersections.

This configuration improves safety by eliminating left turn and through movement conflicts and improves operations by providing dedicated turn lanes and decreasing backlogs onto the Route 222 mainline. A reduction in traffic signal cycles allows more green light time for traffic moving through the interchange. Already unique in Pennsylvania, this interchange also includes shared lanes for bicycles and horse and buggies.

Outreach played a major role in preparing the public for the new configuration. A project website was launched, a brochure was created, and an instructional video was used to familiarize people with the design. Meetings were held with local officials, Amish elders, and the public.

An aerial image of the newly constructed Diverging Diamond Interchange at 322/222, showing how crossroad traffic in both directions is transitioned or crossed over to the left side at a signal-controlled point and then transitioned back to the right side at a second signal-controlled point after passing through the interchange

Due to experience gained from the District 12 project, a weekend detour, rather than flagging or other types of traffic control, was implemented during the transition to the new configuration to reduce motorist confusion. Work was limited following the switch to allow drivers to become familiar with the new configuration without encountering traffic restrictions and construction signs.

In the short time since it opened to traffic in 2021, there has been a 50% reduction in crashes, and a 10% reduction in travel times at the interchange.

"Although only one year of crash data is available since the interchange opened to traffic, we're cautiously optimistic the number and severity of crashes will trend downward," said District 8 Traffic Engineer Christopher Flad.

Whitman, Requardt, and Associates, LLP (WRA) was the design consultant for the $10.7 million project. WRA guided the consultant design team consisting of Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., Wallace Montgomery & Associates, LLP, Skelly & Loy, Inc., Susquehanna Civil, Inc. and Surveying and Mapping, LLC. The contractor was J.D. Eckman, Inc.

The project received the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) 2023 National Project of the Year Award in the Under $20 Million category, as well as District 8's Linda Atkinson Golden Hammer Award for projects over $5 million.

District 8's second DDI, which opened to traffic in June 2021 at Interstate 83 and Route 851 in York County, has also seen significant improvements to operations and safety.

Watch the video below simulating traffic movement through a Diverging Diamond Interchange.

Category: Design

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Maximizing Technology to Support Transit Agency Oversight

Public transportation is a major and vital part of how people get where they need to go. PennDOT invests more than $1.6 billion annually into public transportation â€“ ranking fourth in the nation in direct support for public transportation.

An image of a screenshot from one of the applications that was developed showing transit agency data

To aid Pennsylvania's 52 transit agencies and PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation (BPT) employees, Ian Detamore, a program manager in BPT, leveraged his Microsoft Power BI expertise to develop several applications to extract and analyze data and provide it in a user-friendly format.

Detamore, along with his colleague Vi Jean Yeo, a transportation planning specialist in BPT, used their data analysis and Microsoft Power BI skills to turn bits of information into a usable visual format that is both encompassing and interactive. The result pooled public transportation funding data from many sources into one package. Employees now have a whole new set of powerful tools at their fingertips.

Since BPT provides operating and capital funding as well as technical assistance to transit agencies across Pennsylvania, Detamore created an Admin Portal to centralize key transit agency data. This allows BPT staff to quickly find information they need about each agency.

BPT staff uses dotGrants for receiving and reviewing transit agency financial and statistical information. To help with this task, a dotGrants Comparison Tool was created to allow program managers responsible for transit agency oversight to easily compare information from one period to another. According to Detamore, this is a key component of the review process, which has historically required a laborious process of pulling information out of dotGrants and into spreadsheets.

An image of a white and red mass transit bus parked outside a large sports stadium

The dotGrants Comparison Tool also compares information in dotGrants to information in the Ecolane data warehouse. Transit agencies use Ecolane, a web-based transit scheduling software, to manage their shared-ride service schedules and funding sources. The tool Detamore developed allows for a direct comparison of agency-reported information in dotGrants to the data in Ecolane.

Detamore also developed a Ticket Analysis Tool to audit technology vendors' conformance to Service Level Agreements using raw ticket data. This has been used primarily for reviewing Ecolane support tickets submitted by the transit agencies.

Since BPT employees began using this tool to review the responses to these tickets independently, agencies have reported that Ecolane has improved its response times and is closing support tickets in a timelier manner. This tool can also be used for any vendor that can provide tickets in a compatible format, and BPT plans to require this format in future technology project procurements.

More recently, Detamore created an application using Microsoft Power BI to identify potential data issues in Ecolane that may be impacting the accuracy of agency-reported information. As the scheduling software, Ecolane serves as the ultimate source for statistics such as trips, miles and hours for shared-ride service.

An image of five men in suits standing inside a public transit bus shaking hands and talking with one another

Agencies that receive shared-ride funding are responsible for reporting this statistical information on a recurring basis throughout each fiscal year. This reported information helps guide BPT staff in its decision making. It also helps with program design and future funding considerations to have this historical data available to program managers.

All of these tools have resulted in several efficiencies for transit agencies as well as BPT staff, including streamlined processes, greater accuracy and improved response times. "Now it takes one program manager only about 10 minutes to get data ready for everyone to use," said Detamore." "Before implementing these tools, it took about two hours."

The sky seems to be the limit for future applications leveraging the power of Microsoft Power BI. Once additional adjustments are made and data becomes easier to access through software, Detamore believes the program will continue to decrease the time project managers spend accessing the information they need.

"In the future, we want to make the data sets available to other transportation agencies and possibly the public," said Detamore. "While larger transit agencies have the expertise to do their own performance analysis, smaller agencies do not always. Making public transportation funding information available to all transit agencies will give smaller agencies similar capabilities as the larger ones."

Category: Multimodal

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Improved Foreman Summit Focuses on Leadership and Safety

An image of a temporary roadwork sign that reads One Lade Road Ahead

Following its inaugural year in 2018 and a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the District 12 Foreman Safety Summit made its successful return in 2023, featuring an updated and interactive format.

A popular training and networking opportunity among foremen, the rebooted summit focused on leadership, interactive training, and operational safety. Held at the Fayette County Fairgrounds, more than 80 foremen attended the summit, representing Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties, along with employees from PennDOT Districts 10 and 11, which are also located in the western part of the state.

The summit featured a wide range of essential and informative materials, discussions, and demonstrations. A variety of public safety videos that were developed in collaboration with district personnel were shared with those in attendance, including ones highlighting work zone safety.

Corey Howell, roadway programs manager in District 12's Operations and Performance Division, conducted outdoor, interactive training on PATA 302 Work Zone Traffic Control, and representatives from Black Diamond Equipment Rental gave a trench box and mower demonstration.

District Maintenance Manager Ryan Medvitz provided training and demonstrated the use of a lock level for pipe installations. Greene County Maintenance Manager Dale Baird displayed a Stop the Bleed Kit and Grab and Go Universal Spill Kit and provided a contents list for every crew cab.

An image of employees sitting around tables in a conference room during a training

A productive discussion session allowed for feedback from attendees. First-level supervisors were given the opportunity to be heard and share issues they experience on a daily basis. Attendee feedback about the summit was overwhelmingly positive, a testament to the summit being worthwhile and beneficial to managers striving to perform their jobs successfully.

Due to the summit's success, six District 12 employees were honored with a PennDOT Innovation Award for their efforts to resurrect and reimagine this vital training program to highlight best practices, create lasting efficiencies, and improve operation safety in the workplace. These employees included: Dale Baird, Greene County maintenance manager; Jeff Edmonds, Westmoreland County transportation equipment operator; Ryan Medvitz, district maintenance manager; Brandon Ross, Washington County foreman; Matt Walker, Westmoreland County assistant maintenance manager; and Tom Younkin, Fayette County assistant maintenance manager.

"I commend this group for having both the insight to recognize what practices from before COVID are still valuable and the initiative to see this through," former Acting District 12 Executive Jeremy Hughes said during the awards ceremony.

Category: Maintenance

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The State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) facilitates the rapid implementation of proven, well-researched and documented state, regional, national and international transportation innovations that are new to Pennsylvania. The STIC also supports and promotes the implementation of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) innovations.

PennDOT Advancing Innovations Aimed at Improving Traffic Safety, Mobility

A image of a screenshot from system used to show incidents, locations, and other data points

PennDOT continues to advance efforts to improve traffic safety and mobility throughout the state through two innovations: Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations and Next Generation Traffic Incident Management (TIM): Integrating Technology, Data and Training. Both are Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts Round 6 (EDC-6) innovations that Pennsylvania continues to champion.

Previously, PennDOT produced software that relied on crowd-sourced incident data from Waze and INRIX, two transportation mobile applications that provide traffic speed and incident data. This software allowed Traffic Management Centers (TMCs) to get more detailed information on traffic congestion length and to better understand what is occurring on roadways.

This heightened situational awareness, allowed TMC personnel to quickly post messages for queue protection and get information out to the public-facing 511PA traveler information system. PennDOT also utilized this data to create a first in the nation data-driven congestion pie chart, designed to help key stakeholders better understand the causes of congestion in their regions and plan for and design solutions to address these issues.

PennDOT expanded its partnership with Waze in 2023 to improve the quality of data being provided. A resource email account was established, which can be used to contact Waze's Pennsylvania map editing team. Key information that can be provided to this account includes the start/end dates for projects, planned lane shifts or turning restrictions, complicated traffic control plans and detours and emergency closures. Communication with the map editors can be submitted through the PennDOT Statewide TMC, or the appropriate PennDOT Regional TMC. The first uses of this partnership occurred in the response to the Interstate 95 bridge collapse last June.

An image of a screenshot with a map of Pennsylvania that uses different colors to show interstate incident clearance times by county

"Our objective is to use the data we have available in order to provide actionable information to those who make decisions that improve mobility and safety on our roads - from planning and design, down to operations," said Ryan McNary, chief of the Traffic Operations and TSMO Performance Section. "Crowd-sourced data expands our ability to do this in areas that we would be unable to do so with traditional data sources."

The Next Generation Traffic Incident Management (TIM) innovation incorporates training, data and technology to help PennDOT, law enforcement officials and local agencies reduce secondary crashes and improve incident clearance times. PennDOT continues its work with the objective of putting reliable data behind the incident timeline to help traffic management personnel and first responders better understand and respond to incidents - this includes from the time the incident occurs until traffic returns to normal.

PennDOT also continues to expand on its partnership with Maryland for the video sharing software known as MView. The software allows public agencies and other traffic management and safety personnel around the state to view PennDOT's camera feeds in a video wall format, via an interface that is accessible over the internet. The system allows approved partners to view cameras at no cost to them, and at a minimal cost to PennDOT when compared to other solutions. PennDOT is continuing outreach to expand use of the software and currently has almost 900 users across nearly 80 different partners.

Additionally, several states surrounding Pennsylvania share their cameras, allowing users to view bordering traffic concerns. In Maryland, more than 200 public agencies share their cameras with one another to build a more comprehensive network while sharing resources. PennDOT is beginning work on an initiative with MView to engage larger municipalities, major cities and other partners to bring their cameras into the system. The intent is to enhance situational awareness capabilities for all participating partners.

An infographic shows the percentage of crashes that occur leading up to a work zone from a half mile to five miles before the start of the work zone

"MView is a powerful tool that allows us to get PennDOT cameras into the hands of our TIM partners who need them much more easily than before," McNary said. "Our goal is to continue to expand its use via outreach and make it a more useful tool by bringing in other partners with cameras to share."

PennDOT selected the Next Generation TIM: Technology for Saving Lives innovation as part of EDC Round 7 (EDC-7) in 2023. The focus of this innovation is the promotion of emerging technologies, such as emergency vehicle lighting and queue warning solutions, to help advance safety and operations to mitigate incident impacts.

As part of this innovation, PennDOT is looking at additional tools for safe debris removal, such as the Road Rake, in addition to the Lane Blade, which is currently being used by the PennDOT District 11 Tunnel Maintenance organization. The advancement of this innovation is led by Ben Devore, P.E., county maintenance manager in Allegheny County, PennDOT District 11. Devore is also coordinating with Pittsburgh Emergency Management Services and PennDOT's Bureau of Operations on this innovation.

In addition to Next Generation TIM, PennDOT also selected the EDC-7 Nighttime Visibility for Safety innovation in further pursuit of improved traffic safety and mobility. Co-championed by Kathryn Fink, assistant district traffic engineer in PennDOT Engineering District 11 and Nathan Reis, district highway safety engineer in PennDOT Engineering District 8, this innovation focuses on enhancing visibility along corridors, intersections and pedestrian crossings to help reduce fatalities during the night.

Category: Safety & Traffic Operations

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Mobile App Makes Roadway Data Submissions Easier Than Ever

An image of a photo collage of various screenshots from a mobile application

A new mobile application is simplifying how PennDOT is collecting data for the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), a national level highway information system that includes data on the extent, condition, performance, use and operating characteristics of the nation's highways to support its functions and responsibilities.

PennDOT's Bureau of Planning and Research (BPR), responsible for the federally mandated annual submittal of HPMS data, recently developed and deployed a mobile application for use by Metropolitan Planning Organizations, PennDOT engineering districts and BPR HPMS staff. The app allows users to electronically collect and review annual HPMS samples using a laptop or mobile device. An HPMS sample is a stratified random sample of physical roadway sections. The data reviewed through these samples, relates to physical characteristics and operating conditions on the roadway sections.

"This application allows the data collection process to move on from the old pen and paper method," Joseph Piper Jr., transportation planning manager in BPR, said. "It not only allows for more accurate data but also provides substantial time savings for staff."

The mobile app provides a more streamlined and automated data collection process, where users are able to update data item values and submit the changes to the PennDOT HPMS Coordinators while in the field as well as add detailed notes, display locations and take photos of features and inconsistencies within the HPMS sample.

Ultimately, this results in cost savings as less time is spent on the road and out of the office verifying samples. Additional time savings occur when the data is reviewed. Prior to HPMS Mobile, data updates were manually entered into the Roadway Management System (RMS). HPMS Mobile now allows for a push button update to RMS.

According to Piper, the application works almost flawlessly. "There were a few hurdles at the beginning with getting the data validations to function properly with a few of the data elements," he said. "Once those were addressed the application worked well for all users."

Moving forward, the team plans to have a review with users from the planning partners and PennDOT engineering districts to see what enhancements can be made for the 2024 collection season and to ensure use of the mobile application continues to be successful.

Category: Planning & Research

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The State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) facilitates the rapid implementation of proven, well-researched and documented state, regional, national and international transportation innovations that are new to Pennsylvania. The STIC also supports and promotes the implementation of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) innovations.

Collaborative Hydraulics: Bridging the Gap to Support Design Decisions

A collage of three images, one of an actual bridge over a creek, one a digital image showing the stream velocity of a creek and the third a split photo with the actual bridge with water flowing under it on the left and a digital image of the bridge on the right showing the velocity of the river running under it

Since 2017, when it was initially selected as a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts Round 4 (EDC-4) innovation, PennDOT has continued to champion and advance Collaborative Hydraulics: Advancing to the Next Generation of Engineering (CHANGE) through a number of bridge projects around the state.

Extreme weather events place added pressure on designers to incorporate better resiliency into infrastructure. Historically, engineers have relied on one-dimensional (1D) modeling to understand the complex relationship between waterways and built infrastructure. The 1D model requires designers to make assumptions about stream flow characteristics to evaluate potential flooding impacts. Experience across the nation has shown this can lead to costly and destructive design errors.

Two-dimensional (2D) models help to provide engineers with data to support design decisions. Designers can create many possible stream flows around bridge structures and assess the potential impact on nearby areas. The 2D models provide more detailed and accurate results than 1D models. The 2D model also includes visual data, which can better communicate possible impacts and eliminate many of the assumptions necessary with 1D models.

"Given the increased accuracy of design and dramatically reduced reliance on assumptions, 2D modeling has the potential to save PennDOT money in the long run," said Nicholas Vivian, Hydrology & Hydraulic Unit manager in PennDOT's Bureau of Design and Delivery.

An image of a cranes being used to place beams on a bridge being constructed over a waterway

The 2D models are only as good as the data used to create them. So, in 2019, PennDOT hosted a training conducted by FHWA and the software developer to give engineers a better understanding of the software's use and functions.

Trainings were developed and implemented by FWHA. While it was voluntary, training has been provided to more than 200 employees from PennDOT, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Trainings are rigorous and take one week with testing and certification.

"Project managers and engineers must effectively define and communicate project survey needs to the survey unit early in the project design," said Vivian.

Around the state, a number of PennDOT districts have used 2D modeling to support design decisions and have found it to be very effective.

A digital image of the stream velocity of a creek

In PennDOT Engineering District 1, a bridge carrying State Route 4007 over a tributary of Little Brokenstraw Creek in Bear Lake Borough, Warren County, needed 2D models to evaluate and enhance the current hydraulic conditions of the proposed bridge. The project was selected due to a preexisting cross-pipe approximately 30 feet from the original structure and a nearby home located just near the culvert outlet. After modeling, it was determined that a larger cross-pipe was necessary to mitigate flow velocities. The bridge's construction was completed in September 2022.

"It gives you a lot of great data that 1D modeling isn't able to convey," said Senior Civil Engineer Supervisor for District 1 Matthew Antrilli. "It took a little time to get acclimated, but it was a great tool to use. I can see this becoming normal practice down the road."

A permit for construction and 2D model were approved by DEP in August 2022 for a bridge project in PennDOT Engineering District 2. Construction was completed in July 2023. The project was chosen for 2D modeling because it was close to nearby buildings, ponds and other waterways. The 2D model provided more information and greater detail of areas around the bridge.

"All hydraulic modeling involves some level of interpretation and assumptions," said Senior Civil Engineer for District 2 Anthony Puccio. "While the 2D modeling can minimize the interpretation, it can expand on assumptions."

In PennDOT Engineering District 3, PennDOT hired a consultant to draft the 2D model for a project on State Route 14 over Towanda, Tannery and Springbrook creeks in Canton, Bradford County. The project is currently in design and is expected to be let in February of 2025.

A culvert replacement project was chosen for the 2D modeling pilot in PennDOT Engineering District 11 based on the potential overtopping behavior and project schedule. PennDOT completed review of the model for State Route 65 over Bennett Run in North Sewickley Township, Beaver County, and the project was let in December 2022.

"The 2D modeling produces much more detailed and comprehensive results compared to traditional 1D methods," said District 1 Project Manager Dominic Altieri. "The results also allow project managers and engineers to determine acute impacts flow may have within the floodplain."

Category: Design

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Online Forms Submission Reduces Costs, Customer Wait Times

An image of a person sitting in front of a laptop with PennDOT's Online Services webpage on the screen and the web address dmv.pa.gov listed above the laptop.

PennDOT, in coordination with the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA), continues its focus on providing innovative and inclusive services to meet the needs of its customers.

As a result of this commitment, there are now more than 40 driver licensing and motor vehicle forms that can be completed, signed and submitted online, with more planned to be added in the future. When submitted online, the forms are delivered directly to the correct area for processing. This eco-friendly delivery method reduces customer wait times and cuts down on mailing expenses for both customers and PennDOT.

"Anything we can do to make our services more convenient for our customers is a win," said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. "PennDOT is committed to modernizing our operations, shortening wait times, and giving customers new ways to complete services from the comfort of their homes - without having to visit a driver's license center."

Some of the forms now available for electronic submission are the self-certification form for commercial driving, statements of non-operation and non-ownership of vehicles forms, several medical forms, county of residence verification form, several school bus driver forms, and more.

A screenshot from the top of the Forms, Publications and Maps page on PennDOT's Driver and Vehicle Services website

While many forms are available to complete entirely online, customers who prefer to use printable copies of the forms are still able to view and print them online as normal. All forms are available on PennDOT's Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) website under the "Forms and Publications" tab. Forms that are available for online completion are marked with "Electronic Submission" after the form name.

Many other common services and resources, like driver's license and vehicle registration renewals, address changes, and much more, are also available online through the DVS website. Online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no additional fees for using online services. The use of online services continues to grow as customers save time and effort at no additional cost.

Category: Driver & Vehicle Services

"Training Thunderstorms" Test Employees' Preparedness

Unexpected record rainfall was recorded on the evening of Sept. 9, 2023, in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming counties in PennDOT Engineering District 4, causing major flooding never seen before in some of the hardest-hit areas. Water rushed down the mountain, wiping out roads and flooding vehicles, houses, and bridges.

AccuWeather called the storms "Training Thunderstorms," which occur when storms sit over an area and dump large amounts of rain in a short period of time. The intensity was unexpected and unfortunately devastated some areas. Sadly, there were two fatalities as a result of the flooding in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County.

PennDOT crews were immediately deployed and began scoping and cleaning up throughout the three counties affected. Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll joined Assistant District Executive for Maintenance in District 4 Jonathan Eboli, P.E., and crews overnight on Saturday into Sunday, visiting each site and lending a helping hand where necessary.

The following morning, the Incident Command Center (ICC) was engaged, scoping teams were dispatched, and contractors were coordinated to perform work across the three counties. An integral part of operations during and after a storm, the ICC allows for real-time updates and coordination of work being performed, whether team members are stationed in the district office, teleworking or out in the field.

An image of a damaged and now impassable bridge with individuals standing off to the right of the bridge looking at the damage

Before

An image of a construction crew wearing hard hats and yellow safety vests building new temporary bridge with three large pipes

In Progress

An image of three pipes under the newly constructed temporary bridge.

After

"I am thankful for the dedication of all PennDOT employees and our contractors," said Eboli. "This rain event inundated our drainage systems and caused significant damage to many roadways and bridges. Our crews remained committed to repairing the damage quickly and opening roads with safety as the priority."

While it's often difficult to be fully prepared to handle these types of incidents, District 4 was ready to meet the challenges of this unprecedented event by having trained scoping teams at the ready. This allowed for the initial inspection of the damage to be accurately completed so that repairs could be quickly addressed by department forces and contractors. Additionally, the district worked with PennDOT's Operations and Performance Group to utilize the GeoSnap app during post-flood scopings. This app collects data through photos and allows for quick referencing when returning to the office.

Over the next two weeks, District 4 crews worked diligently to open roads ahead of schedule, document damage, and begin pursuing funding for the unexpected monumental expenses associated with the storm.

As an example of District 4's coordination and preparedness, the construction and maintenance crews worked with Minichi Construction to demolish and rebuild a temporary bridge in only eight days after the bridge on Route 4036 (Falls Road) in Newton Township, Lackawanna County, collapsed during the storm with a vehicle carrying four passengers who were severely injured.

"This event truly showed the destructive power that floodwaters can have on an area after a heavy rain event," said PennDOT District 4 Executive Richard N. Roman. "This was devastating to many people and families and will take a long time to recover. I am proud of the work and response from our district and county staff."

Category: Maintenance

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Improved System Brings Efficiency to Tracking Design Submissions

Screenshot of the Submission Summary Report of the Project Submission Tracking System showing project title, location, county, review and approval dates and cycle times

Every PennDOT construction project - from the standard roadway to complicated bridges and roundabouts - starts with a design. In fact, PennDOT District 9, serving Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties, manages hundreds of active design projects with dozens of deliverables, such as site plans, engineering reports and design drawings, which all need to be carefully reviewed.

The process of moving projects from the design phase to the construction phase generates thousands of submissions along the way. Missed deadlines can create havoc with the project design schedule, potentially delaying construction from starting. The tracking of these submissions was handled individually by the submitter and reviewer, without a standardized tracking system.

District 9's Portfolio Manager Jim Pruss, P.E., and Bridge Manager Scott Roberts, P.E., set out to find a better way to manage this information. The team researched new programming and coding options but found that two common platforms - Microsoft Outlook and Excel - provided everything they needed at very little cost to make improvements.

Their work resulted in a management tool that is so user-friendly, effective and accessible - providing reports on key metrics in real-time - that Pruss and Roberts received a 2023 PennDOT Innovation Award for their efforts.

"The submission tracking system is a critical innovation that has upgraded our project delivery process," Pruss said. "By transforming cumbersome workflows into something streamlined and data-driven, we've unlocked improvements in efficiency, transparency and control. This translates into shorter project timelines and reduced stress for our teams."

The new system provides a uniform method of creating a design submission, while controlling the review process for all project managers. A new follow-up component allows Pruss and Roberts, as well as others, to monitor the status of different tasks and better manage workloads across units.

Roberts added that a major benefit is the ability for design submissions to funnel into a queue that is accessible by the entire team, which was not possible with the previous set up.

"For example, we had a primary reviewer take an unexpected and extended medical leave," Roberts recalled. "That absence led to a list of outstanding submissions that needed to be built manually by soliciting project managers. Now, this information is readily available for staff to immediately start completing reviews."

An aerial image of State Route 219 in Somerset County, along the Maryland border, that shows in different colors highlighting various roadway sections

Pruss points out that across an entire year, what individually feels like modest cost and time savings of this process, really adds up.

"Considering the 2,100 submission cycles in 2023, even a potential 3-minute saving per cycle translates to 105 hours of collective time-saved across the project team," he said. "Additionally, the new system simplifies how we report and log entries. Eliminating the manual workload undoubtedly contributes to greater productivity and reduced administrative burden for project personnel."

By directly addressing shortcomings of the previous process, Pruss and Roberts have created a program that saves time, money and effort for PennDOT employees, ultimately providing a safer experience for the traveling public.

Category: Design

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Enhanced Visitor Sign-In System Leads to Time Savings, Increased Privacy

An individual wearing a brown plaid shirt and blue jeans uses a mobile device to scan a QR code on a poster hanging outside a receptionist's window while a receptionist sitting at a desk behind the window writes with a pen in a notebook

Visitors to the PennDOT Engineering District 1, based in Oil City, Pa., are treated to a streamlined customer service experience thanks to a new and more efficient visitor sign-in system.

What has traditionally been a pen-and-paper system to track all visitors in the building was automated by the district's Information and Data Management (IDM) Unit to increase efficiency and eliminate concerns of personal information being easily accessible by others.

Management Analyst Josh Austin, Safety Press Officer Saxon Daugherty, IDM Manager Vince Mazzocchi and Community Relations Coordinator Jill Harry worked together to modernize the system with commonly-used Microsoft programs, including Forms, SharePoint, Power Automate, Publisher and Outlook.

When a visitor now enters the building, they are greeted by a "Welcome" sign that instructs them to scan a QR code with their smartphone. The QR code directs them to a digital form where they enter information about their visit, including their name, organization, email address and purpose of the visit.

Upon submission, the visitor's information is stored, and they instantly receive a confirmation email. Once the visitor is ready to sign out, they simply select a link inside the initial confirmation email, which ends their visitor status and returns another confirmation to their email address on file.

Four individuals stand in a line smiling with one of the individuals holding an award that looks like a blue, yellow, and white Pennsylvania license plate with the words 'Thank You' on it

A front desk clerk remains available during business hours to assist with the process or to sign in visitors manually in the event they don't have a smartphone.

The benefits of the revised system were immediately evident with time savings for the front desk clerk and visitors, in addition to increased privacy for visitors as they enter their information on their mobile device.

"This idea came to fruition quickly thanks to the teamwork of the IDM Unit," Mazzocchi said. "We have received a lot of positive feedback from employees and customers alike. We've already been in contact with other PennDOT districts around the state who have shown interest in implementing a similar system in their own facilities."

A future enhancement is currently being considered to automatically notify visitors' hosts of their arrival via Microsoft Teams.

Category: Other

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PennDOT Innovations Challenge Winners Participate in Continued Learning Opportunity

Elijah Mumau and Robert John, the team from Lenape Technical School, standing at the front of a room presenting to the PennDOT Secretary and a panel of judges with a screen behind them showing their PowerPoint presentation

Each year, high school students across Pennsylvania are invited to participate in PennDOT's Innovations Challenge. This statewide competition challenges students to use their problem-solving, creative and strategic-thinking abilities to solve real-world transportation obstacles.

During the 2022-2023 school year, students were asked to create a solution for the shortage of commercial truck parking along major interstate corridors in Pennsylvania. The winning team from Lenape Technical School in Ford City, Armstrong County, designed an affordable, eco-friendly and innovative rest area called "Eco-Stops." The winning team consisted of students Elijah Mumau and Robert John, advised by their teacher Jason Zimmerman. Included in their presentation was a proposal to offset costs and minimize the environmental impacts of the Eco-Stops through use of recycled asphalt pavement and concrete printed facilities powered by solar energy.

After winning the Innovations Challenge, PennDOT invited the team to participate in a continued learning opportunity. Beginning in August 2023, PennDOT and consultants from Kimley-Horn held weekly virtual meetings with Mumau, John and Zimmerman to further analyze the feasibility of their solution and develop the innovation. Two additional students from Lenape Technical School, Leia Ziembicki-Lewis and Olyvia Burns, supported and learned with the team.

Each week, the Lenape Technical School team studied different topics that factored into the development of a project, like zoning ordinances, site configuration, stormwater design, sustainable building methods and more. Between weekly meetings, the team used the information learned to expand upon their project.

"This was an amazing learning opportunity for everyone involved," Zimmerman said. "We learned about topics that we would have never thought of. It really was an eye-opener to how many specialties and professions play a part in a massive project like that."

An image of PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll standing in a row along with Lenape Technical School advisor Jason Zimmerman and students Elijah Mumau and Robert John who are receiving their certificates for winning the regional competition and moving on to the statewide judging event

While the Innovations Challenge debuted during the 2017-2018 school year, the 2022-2023 school year was the first year that winning students participated in a continued learning opportunity after the challenge was completed. Doug Tomlinson, chief of PennDOT's Highway Safety and Traffic Operations Division, organized the opportunity for the students.

"I thought this was a great way to get high school students excited about the future of transportation," said Tomlinson. "PennDOT was given an innovative idea, and my hope was that at least part of it could be implemented in Pennsylvania."

After working with PennDOT for 16 weeks, Mumau and John presented their work at Penn State University's Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference (TESC) in December 2023. This annual conference invites transportation professionals to engage in sessions on transportation and safety-related topics.

In addition to presenting at TESC, Mumau and John had their work featured in an expanded truck parking study conducted by the Pennsylvania Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), which aimed to identify solutions to increase truck parking in Pennsylvania.

The 2023-2024 PennDOT Innovations Challenge tasked students to create a solution for redeveloping a stretch of roadway that, when constructed, separated an existing neighborhood, requiring people and businesses to relocate.

More information on the Innovations Challenge is available on PennDOT's website.

Category: Other

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The State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) facilitates the rapid implementation of proven, well-researched and documented state, regional, national and international transportation innovations that are new to Pennsylvania. The STIC also supports and promotes the implementation of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) innovations.

Innovating Winter Maintenance: PennDOT Evaluating Tools for Safer Roads

PennDOT maintains more than 96,000 snow-lane miles statewide, which is enough to circle the globe nearly four times. To tackle this task, PennDOT uses approximately 2,200 department plow trucks, operated by approximately 4,700 on-the-road workers, braving the worst of winter to keep roadways passable and safe.

The front of a PennDOT plow truck from the operator's perspective looking over a snow-covered intersection.

Through the State Transportation Innovation Council's Maintenance Technical Advisory Group (TAG), PennDOT is piloting innovative winter maintenance tools to help make roadways safer for equipment operators and motorists alike. PennDOT Engineering Districts 10 and 11 are currently piloting several innovations including snowplow cameras, lighted plow whips and air foils.

"We started piloting these innovations late in the 2022-2023 winter season, and we didn't get enough of a winter to really test them," said Matt Burkett, assistant district executive for maintenance in District 10 and Maintenance TAG leader. "We are already seeing some promising results from piloting these innovations this winter season."

The Snowplow Cameras and Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) System innovation aims to enhance PennDOT's existing AVL system with the integration of forward-facing plow cameras to give maintenance and traffic operations personnel, and the public, better situational awareness of actual road conditions during winter storms.

Use of the cameras will allow for enhanced traveler information on PA511 that will include images so the public can see on their own what the roads looks like. The cameras will also increase situational awareness for PennDOT districts and counties, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and Incident Command, allowing staff to make informed decisions on where to increase the level of service, place speed or lane restrictions

"When you can't see the roads using the traffic cameras, we use the cameras on the trucks to give us a better view of roadway conditions," said Innovation Owner and Allegheny County Maintenance Manager, Ben DeVore.

Districts 10 and 11 began installing the cameras in 2022. The initial pilot consisted of placing cameras in 40 snowplows, three paint trucks and 27 assistant highway maintenance manager vehicles. The cameras work with the Geotab GPS already installed in the vehicles. The video footage can be viewed through the existing AVL system. In addition to increasing operator awareness during winter events and helping to manage traffic incidents, the cameras can also be used as evidence in claims against PennDOT. Use of the cameras has already helped to resolve accident and line painting disputes.

An image of the back of a PennDOT plow truck all rusted as a result of buildup from winter weather events

Without Air Foil

An image of a yellow PennDOT plow truck with an orange barrier mounted to the top of it, which protects the truck from buildup and keeps it clean

With Air Foil

"We are getting good video footage this winter season, and it's looking very promising based on the information we have gathered at this point," said Burkett. "Due to its success thus far, District 11 decided to expand their pilot and purchased cameras for all of the trucks in their fleet for a total of 208 cameras. They are in the process of installing the cameras on those additional trucks and plan to have all trucks outfitted by this summer. District 10 currently has 34 vehicles equipped with the cameras."

PennDOT is also piloting another Maintenance TAG innovation to clear snow from the rear of the vehicle during winter weather events. District 10 is testing the air foil, which mounts to the back of the truck to redirect air flow. Air is pushed down across the tailgate when wind passes over the device, resulting in buildup being removed as the truck travels. This results in the back of the truck being a lot cleaner, which increases the visibility of the lights and reflective material. Additionally, this decreases the need for an operator to get out of the truck to clean it.

"After we adjusted the angle of the Air Foil on the back of the truck, we are seeing some very good results in terms of how well it's keeping the back of the truck clean," said Burkett. "While we don't think this is something that will go on every truck, we do think there is potential to consider expanding its use to some interstate trucks in some more regions of the state to evaluate continued efficiency gains and try to eliminate more accidents from occurring."

An image of a yellow PennDOT plow truck inside a garage facility with its lights on and fluorescent orange markers affixed to either side of the plow blade

PennDOT's District 10 also tested lighted whips on plows trucks during the 2022-23 winter season and continues piloting it this season. The whips are designed to increase driver awareness as they travel near plows during winter weather events. The whips increase visibility during whiteout conditions to reduce accidents.

"We piloted it on seven to eight trucks in various counties and there was a distracting amount of light coming back on the driver," said Burkett. We are now working with the vendor if we can get some Vehicle Code lighting compliant colors on the plow whips."

Burkett also shared that Innovation Owner and Jefferson County Equipment Manager Byron Selfridge came up with a spinoff of the lighted plow whips. His concept involved installing inexpensive, three-quarter inch round amber lights by mounting them to the top of the plow blades shining straight up. It gives operators the same awareness of the edge of the blade, but there is no distracting lighting effects, and they are less expensive.

"We are leaning toward that spinoff of the innovation," said Burkett. "We still need to do more testing, and we also want to see what the vendor does have in terms of the plow whips."

Category: Maintenance

Read More Maintenance Stories

I-95 Bridge Reconstruction

On the morning of June 11, 2023, a fuel tanker truck carrying an estimated 8,500 gallons of gasoline exited the northbound Cottman Avenue off-ramp from I-95 in the Mayfair neighborhood of Philadelphia at a high rate of speed and failed to negotiate the curve at the portion of the ramp that traverses under I-95. The subsequent crash, explosion and intense fire killed the driver and caused the structure carrying the northbound lanes of I-95 to collapse as well as damaged the steel beams carrying the southbound lanes beyond repair. This resulted in emergency responders closing the highway to traffic approximately 12 minutes after the initial fire was reported. For more information about the collaborative and innovative response to this unprecedented event, read the "How a Collapsed Section of I-95 Reopened in 12 Days" article in this publication.

An aerial image of the collapsed section of I-95 with large pieces of construction equipment working to remove debris from the site

I-579 Urban Open Space Cap Connector Project

The I-579 Urban Open Space Cap Connector Project, located in the City of Pittsburgh, consisted of constructing a new cap structure spanning over a portion of I-579 (Crosstown Boulevard) to create a link between downtown Pittsburgh and the Hill District. The project significantly improved the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as provide new and improved links to public transportation at the nearby Steel Plaza subway station. The surface of the cap provides a new 3-acre public open space that includes recreational and educational areas, including an amphitheater and stage, as well as rain gardens for stormwater management.

A digital rendering showing two pedestrians walking through an open space in Pittsburgh with a parking lot to the left, a roadway with vehicles on it to the right and a red brick church and the PPG Paints Arena and high-rise building in the background

Video courtesy of HDR, Inc.

Bayfront Parkway Improvement Project

The Bayfront Parkway Improvement Project in the City of Erie, Pa., will include updates to the intersections with Holland Street, State Street and Sassafras Street Extension. At Holland Street, a dual-lane roundabout and an overhead pedestrian bridge will be constructed. At State Street, a grade separated intersection will be built. At Sassafras Street Extension, a dual-lane roundabout will be constructed. Throughout the corridor, there will be pedestrian access improvements made to the sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting, construction to connect portions of the existing multi-use trail, and upgrades to the lighting and landscaping.

A digital rendering showing vehicles travelling through a dual-lane roundabout and a pedestrian bridge over the roadway leading into the roundabout

Lycoming County SR 220-193 Movable Median Barrier System Project

Innovative traffic control technology was used to maintain traffic flow on the State Route 220 bridge improvement project in Woodward Township, Lycoming County in PennDOT Engineering District 3. Route 220 is a major connector between the City of Williamsport, Jersey Shore and Lock Haven, which carries approximately 20,000 vehicles a day. Traffic was controlled using an innovative traffic control technology called a movable median barrier system. This technology, while new to District 3, has been used in more urbanized areas to address traffic control and congestion. For more information, read the "Innovative Traffic Control Technology Used for Bridge Improvement Project" article in this publication.

I-95 Central Access Philadelphia (CAP) Project

The I-95/CAP project is replacing and expanding the existing covered area over I-95 between Chestnut and Walnut streets with a larger cover that extends east over Christopher Columbus Boulevard at Penn's Landing. The $329 million partnership between PennDOT, the City of Philadelphia and the Delaware River Waterfront Commission will improve pedestrian and multimodal access between Center City and the popular Delaware River Waterfront.

An aerial image showing various pieces of construction equipment staged atop an existing covered area over Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, while construction crews work to demolish areas along the interstate

WELCOME!

A Message from the Secretary

Featured Innovations

How a Collapsed Section of I-95 Reopened in 12 Days

Mentorship: A Pathway to Help Disadvantaged Businesses Succeed

Digital As-Builts and e-Ticketing: Data at Your Fingertips

Innovating Winter Maintenance: PennDOT Evaluating Tools for Safer Roads

Innovative Traffic Control Technology Used for Bridge Improvement Project

Innovations in Motion

Innovation Timeline

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