Greater Columbus Convention Center Columbus, OH Visit Event Website
Tuesday, October 29
1:30 – 3:00 PM
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Room A120-122
Session 24 Evaluating Safety Improvements
The section of Main Street (SR 48) in Dayton, Ohio from Great Miami Boulevard to Shiloh Springs Road has become known to locals as a dangerous place to walk and drive. Data from 2015-2017 shows more than 900 reported crashes in this four-mile corridor with seven fatalities. The data also records 36 pedestrian crashes, which included six of the fatalities.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the City of Dayton, and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) have stepped up and formed a partnership to address safety problems in this multi-jurisdictional corridor. The first step of the effort includes a safety screening study of the corridor to better identify current crash patterns and causes. The study team, working with local stakeholders and the public, is exploring a variety of potential countermeasures that could mitigate the current traffic crash problems. Countermeasures being considered include lighting, intersection improvements, road diet, pedestrian crossing enhancements, and a small section of road realignment. The study is focusing on low to medium cost improvements that do not require significant reconstruction of Main Street.
B&N’s Steve Thieken, PE, PTOE, AICP will be joined by Mary Hoy, PE from ODOT and Joe Weinel, PE from the City of Dayton to discuss a history of the study corridor, concurrent planning efforts in the corridor, the study process and stakeholder/public outreach, intriguing data and findings from the technical analysis, and recommendations. Several useful lessons learned will be shared.
Tuesday, October 29
3:30 – 5:00 PM
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Room A120-212
Session 30 Construction Structures
The Clinton Street Bridge over the Maumee River provides a vital transportation link to the City of Defiance. The four-lane structure serves as a connection for vehicles and pedestrians between the central business district and the northern portion of the City. It is the only Maumee River crossing in the downtown area, with the nearest alternative requiring a five-mile detour. Local businesses depend on the bridge for customer access and deliveries, many students at Defiance College cross the bridge to get to school, and it is the shortest route for emergency vehicles to reach large portions of the City.
Traffic disruption was a major concern when the bridge replacement was initiated in 2014. Although staged construction would allow pedestrian access and two lanes of traffic to be maintained throughout construction, project stakeholders ultimately decided that a 15-month partial closure would be more detrimental than a 9-month full closure. Innovative contracting methods were employed to achieve this aggressive construction schedule. During construction, applications such as temporary signals to facilitate detour traffic and cameras to provide trip planning information were implemented.
The bridge is a significant visual feature in the river corridor and serves as a gateway to downtown Defiance. Aesthetic enhancements were incorporated in the redesign with consideration of the City’s history. The bridge includes pylons and plazas reminiscent of Fort Defiance, once located at the nearby confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers.
This presentation will cover lessons learned from the entire five-year history of the project, including discussion of the public involvement process, the design, and the construction of the bridge.
Tuesday, October 29
3:30 – 5:00 PM
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Room B230-232
Session 34 Unique Hydraulic Case Studies
Every drainage design is faced with difficult decisions that rarely have a clear-cut answer. In the practical design era, there is justification for cost savings if there is minimal risk to the public. This presentation will walk through example case studies and discuss the factors that impacted cost saving decisions. The presentation will conclude with a look at other regions of the country to give some perspective on how radically different the design approach can be.
Tuesday, October 29
3:30 – 5:00 PM
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Room A123-125
Session 41 Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Following the collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) mandated that agencies prepare or update load ratings for primary gusset plates on steel truss bridges. The information for this is found on design and shop drawings. However, field measurements are needed for bridges with incomplete or missing drawings. Technology can cut the time and cost to gather data in the field and expedite analysis work in the office.
B&N performed load rating of gusset plates on several of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s larger truss bridges. Each structure required a variety of approaches to collect and analyze data. This presentation will outline five Kentucky River bridge load rating projects, the information needed to complete the load rating and how technology applications were leveraged for each. In addition, the presentation will also discuss the advantages and limitations of utilizing a sUAS.
Wednesday, October 30
8:00 – 9:30 AM
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Room A223-225
Session 53 The Importance of Local Road Safety
Ohio has 121,000 miles of road, but only 16 percent of them are maintained by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The remaining 101,640 miles of road are built and maintained by local governments. Between 2008 and 2012, 62 percent of all traffic-related severe injuries occurred on these local roads along with 55 percent of all traffic deaths. Local roads also have the highest number of traffic deaths or serious injuries involving bicycles, pedestrians, intersections, alcohol, speed, motorcycles and young drivers.
Because of the high proportion of injury and death on local roads, ODOT has retained B&N and Cambridge Systematics, Inc. to develop Local Road Safety Plans (LRSPs) for counties and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). The LRSP identifies, analyzes and prioritizes holistic safety solutions for that location.
B&N’s Kendra Schenk, PE, PTOE, RSP will join Jordan Whisler, PE from ODOT and Nicole Waldheim from Cambridge Systematics, Inc. to detail the safety statistics on local roads, local governments’ eligibility to receive an LRSP, the LRSP request process, the types of improvements an LRSP can generate for a community and examples of the LRSPs that have already been developed.
Wednesday, October 30
2:00 – 3:30 PM
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Room A123-125
Session 79 Condition Assessment
With the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) increased focus on addressing critical findings (Metric #21), correcting bridge deficiencies in a timely fashion has become a top priority for local agency bridge owners. It can be challenging to develop a comprehensive plan to address these deficient structures due to the variety of bridge types, the age of the structures, and coordination with stakeholders such as elected officials and non-engineers.
This presentation will highlight cost-effective procedures used to track and mitigate critical findings during local agency fracture critical bridge inspections to address public safety, including closure, repair or replacement of the bridge. Topics include: