Passing the test: KDOT material labs test variety of products

By Kelly Kultala

Northeast Kansas Public Affairs Manager

District One is responsible for construction and maintenance activities for 17 counties in northeast Kansas.  These responsibilities include improving and maintaining more than 5,704 miles of state highways that are located within this district. But did you ever really think about all the different ways we work to improve and maintain our state highways? 

For example, KDOT has several different labs across the state that conduct experiments and research on the materials we use in the construction and maintenance activities.  In District One, we have the Materials Lab in Topeka and the Holton Area Materials Lab.

These two labs have four responsibilities.

1). The District One lab conducts the verification and testing of asphalt, making sure that the composition of the asphalt meets state and national standards.

The District One Materials Lab conducts the verification and testing of asphalt.

2). They are responsible for the independent assurance witnessing of anyone who is testing the asphalts, aggregates and concrete. This helps make sure that anyone out in the field conducting tests is conducting them according to state and national procedures.

3). The lab also performs core drilling on projects to determine the condition of the roads. This checks the thickness of the concrete establishes corrective factors if needed.

 4). The Holton Area Materials Lab monitors the quarry rock samples, conducting tests on all the rock from quarries that want to be able sell their rock for KDOT approved projects. The rock is tested every year and sand is tested every five years.

This testing is critical to the success of our projects.  As Tammy Wilson, District One Materials Supervisor, said “KDOT has strict standards about what’s acceptable to go into our roads and bridges.  As it should be.”

KDOT project wins "Sweet Sixteen" award from AASHTO

KU Professors Dr.Robert Parsons, State Transportation Engineer Burt Morey and Dr. Jie Han who coordinated graduate student Mustapha Rahmaninezhad's research on the Software for Load Distrubution on Low-Fill Box Culverts project, which earned KDOT a 2019 Sweet 16 Research award.

By Mallory Aye, KDOT Headquarters

Project presented award: A KDOT project was presented with a “Sweet Sixteen” High Value Research award at the 2019 National Research Advisory Committee and TRB State Representatives Meeting, which took place July 22–25 in Santa Fe, N.M.

The research project K-TRAN: KU-16-5, Software for Load Distribution on Low-Fill Box Culverts: User’s Manual, was conducted by University of Kansas Professors Jie Han and Robert Parsons with graduate students Seyed Mustapha Rahmaninezhad and Fei Wang in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.

Structures and Geotechnical Services Chief Calvin Reed recognizes the Bridge Evaluation team on Nov. 4 at the Materials and Research Lab for their role in the K-TRAN research project and the related software that they routinely use. 

The project team was successful in developing a stress distribution program to better test the various forms of stress that may affect shallowly buried culverts. The program was designed to compute the Equivalent Live Load Distribution Factor (ELLDF) for distributed loads, distributed area and distributed stress on buried box structures. 

This data is compatible to be input into current AASHTO design software to better determine how pavement affects load distribution onto buried box culverts.

The “Sweet Sixteen” award exists as part of an initiative by the AASHTO Research Advisory Committee to identify and document recently completed “High Value Research” projects. Every year, states are asked to submit research projects of recognizable qualitative or quantitative benefit for consideration. The Sweet Sixteen award recipients are selected from the qualifying high value projects, with four projects being chosen from each of the four AASHTO regions.

Cost Share Program projects selected

      Gov. Laura Kelly and Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced this morning the 22 projects selected across the state as part of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s new Cost Share Program. These projects total nearly $74 million in state, local, federal and private investment in transportation improvements statewide.

      “These projects demonstrate communities’ commitments to improve the quality of life for their citizens and to do so in a practical manner,” said Gov. Kelly. “This program also demonstrates the great things that happen when communities and the state work together.”

Nearly 100 applications were submitted in the first round of the program from across Kansas.

      “There is pent up demand for transportation investments across our state,” Secretary Lorenz said. “I am excited to provide resources to help build safer, healthier and livelier communities that Kansans – young and old – want to make their forever homes.

      The program will provide funding to local entities for transportation projects that improve safety, support job retention and growth, improve access or mobility, relieve congestion and help areas across the state improve the transportation system.

      Funding for the $39 million in grant awards is part of the $216 million authorized by the Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly to remain in the state highway fund in fiscal year 2020. In addition to the Cost Share Program, those funds are being used to increase highway preservation, help complete delayed T-WORKS projects, improve safety and provide new funding opportunities for cities and counties.

      The next call for applications for the second round of projects will be announced next year.
      To see the list of projects and the news release, click here.

Pondering deer-crossing signs

There are certain criteria that needs to be met in order for a deer crossing sign to be installed.
Photo by Tim Potter, KDOT South Central Public Affairs Manager 

By Tim Potter

KDOT South Central 

Public Affairs Manager

It’s deer season in Kansas – deer are extra active. And a motorist passed a deer-crossing sign the other morning and wondered: What determines when and where the signs get installed?

KDOT’s Steven Buckley, State Highway Safety Engineer, helped with an explanation:

First, there’s a threshold for adding a deer-crossing sign: Five deer-vehicle collisions within a quarter mile per year, or 15 crashes per mile in a year. The corresponding threshold used to be lower -- three crashes in a quarter mile or 10 crashes in a mile, before the current policy went into effect on May 1, 2012. KDOT determined that the previous threshold led to too many signs.

Meeting the threshold doesn’t automatically guarantee that a sign will be installed. Under KDOT policy, “New signs will be installed when brought to our attention and if shown on the most recent deer crash map.”

“Anywhere”: Although the signs alert drivers to a possible higher potential for deer, Buckley said there’s an important safety guidance: “The reality is deer can be anywhere. They’re not just going to cross by the signs. We don’t want people to be just looking for deer when they see a sign.”

“Don’t swerve”: If a motorist does encounter a deer, he said, he or she should remember not to swerve to avoid the animal, because it could send the car dangerously out of control.

How KDOT learns of deer crashes: From law enforcement reports. But motorists don’t always report collisions.

Where a sign gets planted: Under the KDOT’s sign manual, deer crossing signs are to be installed 650 feet in advance of where deer have crossed where the speed limit is 65 mph, and 750 feet where the speed limit is 70.

Second round of Local Consult Meetings off to a great start

Attendees at the Local Consult Meeting in Pittsburg participated in breakout sessions. They discussed new policies, project selection approaches and programs under FORWARD. 

When our transportation system is healthy, our state is healthy.

That was a key takeaway message from the second round of Local Consult meetings KDOT held in Pittsburg and Junction City this week.

KDOT used the input gathered at the first round of Local Consult meetings in August to shape not only the public input sessions underway now, but also the next major state transportation plan, known as FORWARD. The second round of meetings are designed to make sure we are on the right track with new policies, selection approaches and programs under FORWARD – and also making sure that we better understand regional priorities for expansion and modernization projects.

We had great discussions this week and heard from more than 200 Kansans – 151 in Pittsburg and 66 in Junction City – who are helping us think about how we can structure the next program to be flexible and nimble, and how our agency can be a better partner in solving local and regional problems.

Themes heard across the meetings include:

·         Kansans support a rolling program. A rolling program approach  makes sense to Kansans who want communities to have some certainty related to how transportation programs will be structured for 10 years  – yet recognize communities’ needs change and flexibility is important with transformation technology, economic changes and more fluid demographics.. We heard many comments from participants who like the idea of interacting with KDOT on a more reliable, regular basis to talk through new opportunities to make the most strategic investments in our transportation system.

·         Safety continues to be a top priority for all. Participants said they were interested in knowing more about how KDOT would add additional focus to FORWARD on making smart and strategic safety improvements, particularly when it comes to adding shoulders and passing lanes to new and existing roads.

·         Local programs – including our new Cost Share program, our recently reinstated Local Bridge program, and our City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP) – continue to be enormously popular, and participants at these meetings said funding should be kept at the same level or even increased.

·         Flexibility increases our problem-solving ability.  KDOT offers many highway and modal programs – and participants recommended looking for ways to combine those program resources to tackle more transportation needs and be part of the solution for complicated community challenges.  Rather than trying to fit a transportation need in a specific program category, Kansans would prefer KDOT to tailor its resources to serve their needs.

·         New approaches can help meet needs.  From using alternative delivery methods and practical improvements to allow KDOT to address more needs faster to adding pavement improvements as an eligible item for the local bridge program, many business process improvements were suggested.

It’s time to get work in the pipeline. During the breakout sessions, participants were asked to prioritize highway modernization and expansion needs in their regions.  Participants were split into different groups and asked to identify which projects would be consider a high or medium priority.  The charts below show the results of this exercise.  The left-hand columns each represent one breakout group recommendations.

The FORWARD Advisory Group requested that we ask participants at the Local Consult meetings about ideas for funding this significant transportation program. We heard several innovative ideas, but two significant themes: first, Kansans want transportation funding to be used only for transportation needs. Second, there is a growing concern that the increased adoption of electric vehicles will affect motor fuel tax revenues and the state should begin studying potential alternative funding methods like a road usage charge. We will continue to gather input from Kansans to share with the advisory group and others who are interested in this program.

While we are off to a great start, this is only the beginning. These local consult meetings are the start of the conversation, not the end.   FORWARD will allow for ongoing conversations – not only to help us select projects every two years but also to help us improve our business models along the way.  We have more to learn about how we can better deliver transportation for Kansans – and we’re committed to improving every year.

We look forward to seeing you in Topeka and Kansas City next week!

Frightening Fiction: Distracted Nightmares

By Mallory Goeke
Communications Specialist
KDOT HQ

On Halloween night, the glow of a smartphone shone through the window of a fiery red sedan as it raced down the highway. The mindless chatter of friends as they listen to their favorite band and play air guitar in unison filled the car’s cabin.  

“I love this song!” Melissa screamed over the music while she sent a quick text and slid her phone back in her pocket and returned her hands to the wheel. The teenager was relishing in her newfound freedom.  Just days before she had received her first car, along with permission to drive it to the big Halloween party at school. Melissa’s outfit was what she wore every Friday, a cheerleading outfit, but her make up was smeared and her hair was tousled. She was a zombie-fighting cheerleader. She couldn’t wait to show off her new look, even if it meant texting while driving. 

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Her best friend, Lidia laughed. “If I did that, my parents would take my keys and phone away for sure.” Lidia’s costume of choice was an art student who used her tools to fight the aforementioned zombies.

“That’s because your parents worry too much,” Kyle leaned forward from the back seat and turned up the music even louder. “Melissa totally knows what she is doing.” Kyle was dressed up as one of the zombies the dynamic duo would have been fighting.

“Yah, see? I’m paying attention now. No harm done.” Melissa replied, but then reached down and picked up her phone again when she felt the familiar buzz. “I just need to post that I’m driving in my new car real quick! Lidia, take the wheel.”

Lidia bit her lip nervously, this sounded like a really bad idea, but what could she say? Her friends would totally make fun of her. She reached over and held the steering wheel while Melissa snapped a selfie.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure with glowing eyes leapt onto the road in front of them. Lidia screamed and turn the wheel sharply. Melissa jumped and stomped her foot on the brakes while her phone flew into the backseat. Kyle’s forehead stopped the phone from flying out the windows. He gasped in pain and held his hand over his eyes.

The passenger side tires hit loose gravel and the car slid down the ditch and launched into the air.

Melissa remembers rolling five times. Lidia lost count and Kyle hardly remembered anything from that night.

While they may have survived the crash, they didn’t make it to their Halloween party. Melissa never used her phone while driving again. Lidia learned to speak up for herself, and Kyle learned to keep his mouth shut and listen to reason.

While this story may be a work of fiction, the scary part is that scenario can happen every single day.

No one should be driving distracted, anything can happen. Are you willing to take the risk?

Don’t drive scary.

The End.

Trick or treat: Safety tips for all the ghouls and monsters

Tomorrow, trick-or-treaters across the country will take to the streets to collect the sugary sweets Here are some safety tips to help everyone have a frightfully good time and stay safe.

Drivers:

• Turn on your headlights to improve visibility - Even in the day time.
• Watch for trick-or-treaters on curbs, streets and medians. They could be wearing darker costumes so keep your eyes peeled.
• Slow down in residential areas.  Give yourself extra time to react should a trick-or-treater dash into the road.
• Be sure to scan both sides of the street as you drive. Be prepared  to stop for trick-or-treaters.

Trick or Treaters:

 If you are young at heart and will be taking to the streets to collect some goodies, there are a few things you need to know:

• Let your parents or guardians know where you will be going. Create a route and stick to it. 
• Follow safety rules, and look both ways before crossing the streets. Don’t cross between vehicles.
• Trick or treat in a group. It can be more entertaining and safer. Younger children should be with a responsible adult or youth.
• Be bright at night - ensure that that your costume can be seen by drivers. Enhance your costumes with reflective tape or glow sticks.
• You should be able to see without difficulty. Don’t wear bulky masks or head gear. Consider using non-toxic face make up or paint.
• Carry a flashlight inside your Halloween bucket or bag so you can see where you are going. DON’T shine it into the eyes of drivers.
• Stay on sidewalks - if you must walk in the street, walk on the left side, facing traffic.

We hope you have a happy Halloween!