AASHTO RAC Region 2 Business Meeting

July 17, 2013—Baton Rouge, LA

Attendees: David Jared (Georgia DOT), Cindy Smith (Mississippi DOT), James Watkins (Mississippi DOT), Jeff Brown (Alabama DOT), Kidada Dixon (Alabama DOT), Sarah Tamayo (Arkansas SHTD), Joe Crabtree (Kentucky Transportation Center/University of Kentucky), Mark Morvant (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Skip Paul (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Bill King (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Darryll Dockstader (Florida DOT), Jimmy White (Virginia DOT), Donny Williams (West Virginia DOT), Mike Pumphrey (West Virginia DOT), Mike Sanders (South Carolina DOT), Sandy Brady (Louisiana DOTD), Jason Bittner (University of South Florida), Georgene Geary (Georgia DOT), Clark Graves (Kentucky Transportation Center at UK), Richard Long (University of Florida), Vijaya Gopu (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Mike Brown (VA Center for Transportation Innovation & Research), J.T. Rabun (Georgia DOT), Kirk Zeringue (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC) , Gavin Gautreau (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Kevin Gaspard (Louisiana DOTD/LTRC), Mary Stringfellow (FHWA-Louisiana Division), Leslie Wright (FHWA), Joe Giegle (FHWA-North Carolina Division)

The meeting was called to order, and introductions were made. We were fortunate to have an excellent showing as seen in the attendee list above. A separate attendee list with names, organizations, and email addresses will also be sent out.

Skip Paul followed up the previous SHRP2 Implementation sessionon Tuesday and wanted feedback from state DOTs, either in the meeting or later via email. He wanted to know if the program is clearer now, do states know how to engage, whom to contact, or if states have other questions. State DOT reps said that they need more information on exact requirements for project, applications, funding, etc. Browsing the SHRP2 website in many cases leads only to a fact sheet or final report. A sample application might be useful to post. Also the time frame for the first round of applications was short. State DOTs need more information on the target audience for SHRP2 webinars other than research directors; for example, personnel in the construction, bridge, maintenance, and/or materials areas of DOTs may benefit from webinar attendance since they are decision makers for projects and/or procedures. Alabama DOT has recently decentralized, which will complicate matters since regions will make most project decisions. There will still be some policy oversight from the central office, but ALDOT is not sure how this will affect SHRP2 and other research implementation.

Old Business

Membership News: Elisha Wright-Kehner is on active military duty until next May. Sarah Tamayo attended from Arkansas SHTD and advised that Elisha will be in California until September, at which time she will be deployed to Afghanistan, and in the meantime Elisha can be reached . Sarah will handle RAC business for Arkansas in the interim. Elisha will remain Region 2 vice chair.

Amy Thomas is retiring from Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Bob Lewis is still on RAC from the Cabinet. Moy Biswasretired from NCDOT as of July 1. Victor Barbour is NCDOT’s interim research director and is nowan official RAC member. Milt Fletcher retired from SCDOT, and Mike Sanders remains on RAC/RAC2.

Southeast Transportation Consortium (STC) Update—Mark Morvant

Budget

The March quarterly report is posted on LTRC’s STC website. STC has funds waiting for project selection and initiation. The June quarterly report is due shortly and will be posted.

Research Performance Measures Synthesis

The draft final report was sent out for review a month ago. KirkZeringue from LTRC, the project manager, advised the report is going through LTRC’s editorial process, but if we have last-minute comments, please send them to him within next week. STC needs to decide what to do with the synthesis results as a group, if anything. The RAC Value of Research task force is keenly interested in the report and may use it to push out results and formulate future strategy.

Asphalt Surface Treatments Synthesis

Dr. Hesham Ali has submitted the draft final report to the TAC members, who have sent comments back to him. The contract was extended by 3 months from the original date due tothe length of the surveydistributed as part of the study. After Dr. Ali edits the draft report, it will be sent through LTRC’s editorial process.

Water Quality Synthesis

This report is also under editorial review, and the publication approval process will begin in a week or so. STC needs to decide what to do with results. LTRC will put the report into TRID and possibly on the TPF website. Also LTRC will distribute to members, and they can send it out to other interested parties.

Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) Synthesis

This study was the last one STC started and is still ongoing. Clark Graves presentedat today’s Region 2 meeting (see below).

New Synthesis Studies

The four new synthesis studies were sent out for proposal,and the RFPs will be posted until Friday, July 19. TACs were set up at April’s STC meeting, and Mark will send out email on responses to RFPs.

WMA Synthesis Presentation—Dr. Clark Graves

Clark Graves from the Kentucky Transportation Center at the University of Kentucky manages the Pavement, Materials, and Geotechnology research program at UK. He presented the findings on the WMA literature search and the 25-question survey for the southeastern states. Following is a summary of findings so far:

  • WMA is a viable technology, but DOTs and other agencies must take into account aggregate, location, climate, etc.
  • More long-term field performance research is needed. Rutting and cracking so far are comparable to HMA.
  • NCHRP is doing a large performance study nationwide.
  • According to survey responses, WMA adoption has gone well, but costs and long-term performance are unclear.
  • Better compaction is a key benefit.
  • Water foam injection is the method of choice for most users.
  • One question is what the approval process will be for WMA, and if it will lie with NTPEP, AASHTO, or somewhere else. Some states have approved and/or experimental product lists. NTPEP has not finished their work on WMA because of lack of funding.
  • The WMA synthesis has one month left, and hopefully the final report will be ready on time.
  • Contact email is if anyone wants a copy of the presentation.

General STC Process Questions

There was discussion regarding the current process of sending draft final reports to STC TAC members, members sending comments back to Mark and Skip, then finally editing and publication processes. Mark asked if we needed more time or wanted them to send draft reports to everyone in STC (not just TAC members). STC members are fine with the current process.

LTRC Timber Bridge Project Update (Vijaya Gopu)

Vijaya Gopu from LTRC gave a quick update on the timber bridge evaluation and assessment project on which LTRC is the lead agency. LA, AL, NC, and GA bridges have mostly been inspected, and inspections should be finished next month. LTRC will take the inspection results and move toward calibration of load characteristics.

Meeting Guests: Dale Peabody (Maine DOT), the new RAC vice chair, joined our meeting. Mary Stringfellow (FHWA-LA Division) advised that FHWA division offices should engage state DOTs in SHRP2 implementation.

New Business

Region 2 Conference Calls: We have had conference calls monthly because of meeting planning, but we will return to quarterly calls lasting one hour. We need to choose a time that does not interfere with RAC leadership calls. David will send out an email on this. He also wants to explore the GoToMeeting optionto allow time for states to give updates with visual information. Mark has a GoToMeeting account with the Value of Research (VoR) task force we can use.

SHRP2 Implementation Update/State Updates: The floor was once again opened for discussion on SHRP2 implementation, with the focus on state efforts and assistance or collaboration ideas. FDOT has interested districts and are meeting with FHWA. ALDOT is going to talk with upper management again to see if they can get support. West Virginia DOT invitedPam Hutton to hold a one-day seminar on SHRP2 implementation. Neil Pedersen came to GDOT and presented to upper management, then targeted his presentation to different technical areas. He also visited Kentucky, which has tried innovative bridge rapid renewal and pavement preservation. The Atlanta Regional Commission (Atlanta’s MPO) has a project. MPOs and local agencies can apparently apply without state DOTs’ knowledge even though SP&R funds are being used. MSDOT needs to schedule a state visit.

National/Regional UTC Updates: Joe Crabtree (KTC) advised on the recompetition status. Under the previous recompetition, selected UTCs got 2 years of funding, but a new solicitation went out last October, letters of intent were due in January, and proposals were due in March. The proposals have been through technical review, but there was no word at the RAC/CUTC meetingas to when the administrators and new Secretary of Transportation would announce the funded programs. There will be 5 national, 10 regional, and up to 20 Tier 1 centers.

Richard Long advised that STRIDE, the current regional UTC led by the University of Florida (UF),submitted a proposal which includes Clemson University in their proposed consortium. There are at least two proposals in the southeast region (UF and University of Tennessee) for regional UTCs. By law the announcement should be made this federal fiscal year, that is, by September 30, 2013. There are more than 140 proposals for 35 available centers. Richard talked about the UTC meeting in Orlando back in April. Georgia Tech, University of Southern Mississippi, University of South Florida, and University of Florida attended. The next meeting will be held in Atlanta in April 2014. The UTCs would like more DOT involvement to set the program and discuss how UTCs can help DOTs. UTCs may send out a survey to see what DOTs think should be on the agenda. Each UTC is specialized, which can make it hard for DOTs to award projects; however, themes were not required in the currentUTC applications. Instead RITA is focusing on five FHWA strategic goal areas. Some UTCs such as KTC and LTRC will exist regardless of USDOT/RITA funding.

New Transportation Pooled Fund(TPF) Study Ideas: STC synthesis report results and further study needed could be future TPF candidates. Program management automation may also become one. Michael Brown discussed a possible idea for a second-round study on the use of laser tech for fabrication of large steel girders.

RAC Task Forces: Region 2 is well represented on all the task forces. There was discussion on High-Value Research (HVR) and voting for the Sweet 16 projects by region. The question of whether each region should have autonomy to figure out selection process or if Sweet 16 voting rules (such as tie-breakers, whether to allow one state to have more than one in regional top 4, whether to allow a state to vote for its own project) should be standardized for all regions. If a state’s CEO saw the selected studies, we would want to be able to defend how they are chosen. Region 2 will find out what other regions are doing since Mark chairs the VoR task force. VoR possibly can communicate guidelines, but allow regionsto have latitude.

Skip Paul advised that SCOR is overall happy with and appreciates the work of the task forces. SCOR will look at a new strategic plan and will need to give the task forces feedback on how they can better align with the plan. However, SCOR realizes that task forces also have their own purposes apart from the strategic plan. As always, task forces are looking for new volunteers and enhanced participation.

The meeting was adjourned.