Speaking

Roundabouts continue to be a popular intersection choice for many agencies. Much data has been evaluated in the past decade regarding the performance of roundabouts in the U.S. This presentation will give transportation engineers a solid overview of current analysis and design practices related to roundabouts based on the presenter’s experience and involvement as a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Roundabout Committee. Topics to be discussed: 

• Go-to U.S. planning and design guidance and resources
• Recent/ongoing research that will influence roundabout policy and practices
• Current and draft ADA federal rule-making for pedestrian crossings
• Common crash patterns at multilane roundabouts 
• Roundabout capacity analysis options and the strengths/weaknesses of each
• Important considerations when conducting studies that compare the potential benefits, impacts, and costs of roundabouts to other intersection options
• Roundabout myths and misunderstandings
• Some entertaining quotes from social media and public surveys related to roundabouts

Recent changes to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications have significantly impacted the design of cross frames in steel girder bridges. The assigned fatigue category for fillet welded connections has increased from E to E’, greatly reducing the allowable stress range in welded cross frame members.

Load factors applied to fatigue loads have also increased, further reducing effective stress limits. As a result, designers using traditional analysis and detailing methods often find that required member and connection sizes are much larger than those commonly used in the past. This is primarily a problem in curved and skewed framing arrangements, where large forces develop in cross frame members due to differential deflections between adjacent girder lines.

AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration publications provide recommendations for the analysis and detailing of steel bridges, including specific provisions for the placement and design of cross frames. When properly applied, these recommendations can reduce cross frame member forces and help to minimize the size of members and connections.

Join B&N’s Travis Butz, PE, for this presentation to review the AASHTO/NSBA recommendations and discuss their application in practical design situations. 

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) provides quantitative methods to evaluate improvement alternatives that result in safer, more efficient roadway transportation systems. The HSM has typically been used on Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) projects when safety is included in the purpose and need, or a safety concern has been previously identified. However, ODOT has implemented changes to the project development process for planners that involves safety considerations on all projects – big and small.

This addition is called data-driven safety analysis (DDSA). By 2019, planners will need to incorporate safety analysis as part of their alternatives evaluation and decision-making process on major transportation projects due to changes in ODOT’s manuals and guidelines. This includes the Project Development Process (PDP) and the Location and Design Manual. This session, presented by B&N’s Kendra Schenk, PE, PTOE and ODOT’s Derek Troyer, PE will:

• Explain details of the DDSA changes
• Discuss how these changes affect planners and their process for completing ODOT projects
• Provide examples of how the newly required analysis has been completed on previous projects

Lurking beneath the surface of otherwise visibly sound concrete bridges lies a potentially significant disease-causing corrosion and deterioration. If left untreated, it can lead to a shortened service life and reduced load carrying capacity of post-tensioned (PT) bridges. Many PT bridges built before 2003 are showing deficiencies in the steel tendons. In part, this is due to the lack of adequate grouting materials and construction procedures at the time they were constructed. 

Recognizing the potential for deficient conditions, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 8 retained B&N to inspect, perform non-destructive testing (NDT) and, if necessary, generate rehabilitation plans for ten PT bridges. The NDT involved current in-situ testing procedures to assess the condition of internal and external tendons without damaging the steel strands. 

B&N presenters will provide an overview of the project, the inspection and testing methods used, and a discussion about the results.

B&N designed the Hoover Dam and Reservoir – central Ohio’s largest source of drinking water – and the Smothers Road Bridge that spans it.  Sixty years later, the Franklin County Engineer’s Office (FECO) chose B&N to design improvements to the original Smothers Road Bridge, a six-span, 550-foot steel plate girder structure.  B&N designed the replacement and widening of the bridge superstructure and designed repairs and retrofits to the substructure to improve safety and create a more durable and maintenance-friendly bridge.  It was one of the first projects in the state, and FCEO’s first project, to utilize the new Federal-State Exchange Program which funded the $3.5 million, under-budget, construction cost.  Improvements to the bridge maintain an important community connection across the Hoover Reservoir while improving safety and durability, and reducing the maintenance requirements.

This presentation will include all elements of the project process from the beginning of design through construction, from the perspectives of the owner, the designer, and the contractor.

Recent innovation in roadway design software has allowed engineers to accurately provide a visual representation of a project and design roadway projects more efficiently. This presentation will explore a case study featuring an interchange feasible alternatives analysis using Bentley® Solutions. We will specifically discuss the use of OpenRoads, a civil design software for road networks, and ConceptStation, a preliminary engineering level application used to communicate concepts to the public and key stakeholders. 

B&N’s Mike Taricska and ODOT’s Katie Montoya will discuss:

• Overall benefits, shortcomings and workarounds of these software platforms
• The process used to cost-effectively and efficiently develop alternatives
• Effectively communicating roadway concepts for consensus