Speaking

According to the Federal Highway Administration, West Virginia has one of the highest run-off-the-road crash frequencies in the nation. The state’s challenging terrain and sharply curved roadways are likely contributors to these crashes. Data from FHWA indicates that 53 percent of all fatal crashes in the United States were roadway departure crashes. Furthermore, 28 percent of all fatal crashes were associated with horizontal curves. In order to reduce these crashes, the FHWA has funded a roadway departure study in West Virginia. B&N worked with West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) to evaluate 260 miles of state and U.S. routes with highest run-off-the-road crash occurrences and identify potential low-cost solutions.

B&N’s Kendra Schenk and WVDOH Mobility and Safety Engineer Donna Hardy will discuss: 

• Methods used to collect the most accurate, up-to-date data in this challenging terrain including how to determine the advisory speeds for all curves within the study area using the new Curve Advisory Reporting Service (CARS^TM) technologies
• Practical design improvements that are cost-effective and have the potential to reduce run-off-the-road collisions
• Contract documents that address systematic and spot improvements and allow projects to move directly into construction

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) provides quantitative methods to evaluate improvement alternatives that result in safer, more efficient roadway transportation systems. However, when approaching a complex intersection or project, performing a safety analysis can be difficult to navigate. DOTs are seeing inconsistent safety analyses that use older methods to calculate crash rates and do not factor in roadway characteristics. This results in inaccurate crash analyses which can cause significant project delays and affect project funding.

Join B&N’s Kendra Schenk with ODOT’s Derek Troyer and Brianne Hetzel for a discussion on how to apply the HSM to complex or unusual projects from the state, district, and consultant perspectives. Topics will include:

• ODOT Central Office: Gaps in the current data and the typical roadblocks and associated solutions.
• ODOT D8 Case Study: Superstreet (restricted crossing U-turn) analysis in Green County, Ohio where ODOT analyzed the safety benefits using the HSM and ODOT tools.
• B&N Case Study: Freeway safety interchange analysis in Northeast Columbus where B&N quantified the safety benefits of three interchange configurations to help ODOT select the best alternative.

Four steel bridges located on a remote stretch of Interstate 15 in northern Arizona are currently the subject of a study involving visual inspection, load testing, long-term instrumentation and remote health monitoring. The project is being funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) through a FHWA Accelerated Innovation Deployment Grant.

The steel bridges currently exhibit widespread fatigue cracking. The purpose of the project is to use state-of-the-art structure health monitoring technologies to provide information that will ensure the safety of the traveling public and provide better information to assist ADOT with short and long-term decision making about these significant bridges.

Join B&N’s Ed Cinadr for a status update on the project that started in 2016 and will continue through 2018. His presentation will include a discussion of the history of the bridges, visual inspection efforts and documentation, analytical modeling work, load testing and instrumentation, instrumentation selection, fatigue analysis, site challenges, and long-term monitoring plan.

ODOT's new SmartLANE, also known as Hard Shoulder Running (HSR), is being planned for a busy and congested corridor in Columbus, Ohio - the existing interchange of I-670 and I-270. B&N transportation engineers were chosen to lead this pilot project - the first of its kind in Ohio - for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

HSR opens up the shoulder of the highway for use as an additional travel lane during peak hours to relieve congestion and improve traffic flow. This approach is often less expensive than other options for adding capacity on an existing freeway, such as road widening, because it uses the existing roadway infrastructure. Currently, there are only 10 active HSR corridors in the United States.

Join B&N's Brian Toombs along with ODOT's Anthony Turowski for a discussion on: 

• Benefits and challenges of implementing HSR in this corridor
• Current status of project and where it is headed
• Use of Intelligent Transportation Systems, including dynamic message signs and closed-circuit TV cameras, to monitor the freeway and communicate any issues to motorists