aashto

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Press Releases

States Forced to Delay Millions of Dollars in Highway Contracts

September 9, 2008 rockman Comments Off on States Forced to Delay Millions of Dollars in Highway Contracts

[UPDATE 9/11/08] Yesterday the senate broke through their deadlock and approved $8 Billion to restore the solvency of the highway trust fund. Very good news indeed. [/UPDATE]

[Editor] From American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, released September 9, 2008.  Contact: Tony Dorsey 202-624-3690 [/Editor]

States have put the brakes on millions of dollars of highway construction projects and are scrambling to substitute scarce state funds for the federal funds that have been cut off due to the crisis in the Highway Trust Fund.

“States are suspending new contract awards, halting right-of-way acquisition and looking for ways to stop on-going construction while maintaining public safety,” said AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley. “It is truly a crisis that Congress must resolve immediately. Every day the federal IOUs are piling up and the states’ financial hole gets deeper.”

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced on Friday that the federal government would slow down reimbursements to the states, and would likely be able to make only partial payments beginning next week, due to insufficient funds in the Highway Trust Fund. She has urged Congress to enact by the end of the week an $8 billion transfer from the General Fund to preserve the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. Action is pending in the Senate.

More than a dozen states have detailed the impacts of the federal default on state programs, either in news releases or via media reports. Those impacts are available on the AASHTO website www.transportation.org or at the following links: [Editor] Read on for the rest of the press release. [/Editor]


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Press Releases

380,000 Jobs Now in Jeopardy Because Congress Fails To Rescue America’s Transportation Account

June 30, 2008 rockman Comments Off on 380,000 Jobs Now in Jeopardy Because Congress Fails To Rescue America’s Transportation Account

[Editor] From American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, released June 26, 2008. [/Editor]

An estimated 380,000 thousand jobs and hundreds of construction projects are in jeopardy across the nation after Congress failed this week to fix a 3.3 billion dollar deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. The House and Senate dropped a provision from a three-month aviation tax extension bill that would have provided $8 billion to keep the nation’s transportation account solvent.

AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley expressed his strong disappointment saying, “If members of Congress believe that this failure to act has no consequences, they’re wrong.” Most states depend on federal funding to support transportation projects, but states won’t know if their federal highway funding will be cut by 34 percent until their fiscal year begins. For many states, the fiscal year starts on July 1.

This failure to act sets the stage for a last minute effort in late September to rescue America’s Transportation Account. If that does not occur, the federal-aid highway program will be reduced by $13.5 and $20 billion.

This loss would be another blow to the transportation industry, which is suffering from a stagnant economy, high fuel prices, inflationary pressures, and natural disasters.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is the “Voice of Transportation” representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. AASHTO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association serving as a catalyst for excellence in transportation.

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Press Releases

National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 7-11 2008

April 7, 2008 rockman Comments Off on National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 7-11 2008

 

April 7-11 is National Workzone Awareness Week (NWZAW) which draws attention to the hazards roadway construction crews face from motorists not heeding safety warnings. For 2006—the last year for which data is available—more than 1,000 died in work zones. Figures for 2007 will be released by the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse later this year. Motorists are also at risk for not following work zone safety precautions. They may face damage to their vehicles, injuries, and loss of life. For 2006, 614 motorists died in work zone crashes. (Graphic by Caltrans)

Below are a few items to think about the next time you’re driving through a workzone taken from a Caltrans fact sheet. More after the break (sorry for the “Duh” ones, but I didn’t write them). As someone who occasionally works on the road and knows many more people who do, please, please remember to slow down!

  • Most injuries and deaths in the Cone Zone are from rear-end collisions.
  • If you slow from 65 to 55 mph for one mile, you only lose 10 seconds on your travel time.
  • The first cause of death for people aged 16 to 20 is car crashes. Even if you don’t lose your life causing a car crash, it could still cost you your license or a heavy fine.
  • If a car’s speed is doubled, the stopping distance is doubled twice over. For example, if a car traveling at 30 mph requires 100 feet to stop, the same car at 60 mph takes not 200 but 400 feet to stop.
  • At 60 mph, you’re traveling 88 feet per second. A lot can happen in one second, so give yourself plenty of room to stop in case of an emergency.
  • For the 15,000 miles of California highway Caltrans maintains, it must buy 120,000 new cones every year to replace ones run over by careless drivers.

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Standards and Codes

Changes in Geotechnical Engineering Practice in Arizona

March 7, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Changes in Geotechnical Engineering Practice in Arizona

[Editor] Note: NCS Consultants, LLC is Randy Post’s full time employer…ie. my day job! [/Editor]

There are some significant changes being made to the state of the practice in geotechnical engineering in Arizona. NCS Consultants, LLC has prepared three policy memoranda for the Arizona Department of Transportation or ADOT that have been issued to consultants all over the State. These memos are on the topics of bearing capacity and settlement of spread footings and retaining walls, the design of drilled shaft foundations in gravelly soils, and the preparation of drilled shaft axial capacity charts for use by bridge engineers.

Although primarily applicable to upcoming ADOT projects implementing the AASHTO 2007 LRFD code, the memos will have a ripple effect down through other local agencies within the state who frequently defer to ADOT guidelines for geotechnical engineering. Also, the memos and the ADOT/NCS approach to LRFD implementation in geotechnical engineering were presented by NCS at the 2008 TRB Conference in Washington D.C., and many other state DOTs and the FHWA were very excited about the memos. The approach used if not the exact content may become a model for other agencies. More info and links to download the policy memoranda are provided after the break.

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Standards and Codes

AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications – 2008 Interims Released

March 4, 2008 rockman Comments Off on AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications – 2008 Interims Released

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) just released the 2008 interims for the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, Customary U.S. Units, 4th Edition. These specifications govern the design of foundations for federal and state highway projects. As soon as we find out if there are any significant changes with respect to bridge foundations or retaining walls, we’ll let you know.

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Journal Article Reviews

Drilled Shaft Industry Notes

July 15, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Drilled Shaft Industry Notes

In the May 2007 edition of Foundation Drilling Magazine, a publication of the Association of Drilled Shaft Contractors (ADSC), Silas Nichols, PE of the Federal Highway Administraton provided a summary of the FHWA’s role in providing guidance on drilled shaft design and construction over the years through research funding, publications and involvement in AASHTO and other agencies. Also in the article is an overview of upcoming updates to AASHTO codes, and FHWA publications. Read on for more details.

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