Improving Striping Operations through System Optimization – Phase 2

Striping operations generate a significant workload for MoDOT maintenance operations. The requirement for each striping crew to replenish its stock of paint and other consumable items from a bulk storage facility, along with the necessity to make several passes on most of the routes to stripe all the lines on that road, introduce the potential for inefficiencies in the form of “deadhead miles” that striping crew vehicles must travel while not actively applying pavement markings. These inefficiencies generate unnecessary travel, wasted time, and vehicle wear.

This report updates a 2015 report that developed a decision support tool for scheduling and routing road striping operations. The updates presented in this report improve the optimization model, and generate more user-friendly outputs.

VIEW REPORT

Report number: cmr 16-015
Published: July 2016
Project number: TR201607
Author(s): Ronald G. McGarvey (Principal Investigator), Timothy Matisziw (Co-Principal Investigator), Charles Nemmers (Co-Principal Investigator), Gokhan Karakose (Research Assistant), Christopher Krause (Research Assistant)
Performing organization: Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi), University of Missouri-Columbia

Evaluation of Erosion Control Blanket Properties and Test Criteria for Specification and Design

A research project to investigate the product approval, design process, and ongoing product evaluation of erosion control blankets (ECBs) for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) was conducted. An overview of federal and state environmental construction laws was performed noting the significance of ECBs on construction sites. Standardized erosion control testing, product approval, and design processes utilized by other state departments of transportation and those recommended by the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program were researched for further insight to typical ECB applications. A field investigation was established to study the effectiveness of two ECBs on a MoDOT construction site. MoDOT completed construction sites, which utilized ECBs, were also included in the investigation to evaluated how well vegetation was sustained and ongoing blanket degradation following site acceptance in accordance with the MoDOT Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP). In addition to field site evaluations, surveys were developed and administered to record contractor and MoDOT employee ECB experiences and identify common problems and successful practices using ECBs. Recommendations for ECB approval procedures and a design process for conditions representative of Missouri were developed using insight gained through the study of common ECB product acceptance and design, the field site investigation, evaluation of completed construction sites, and the surveys of ECB experiences. The National Transportation Product Evaluation program’s (NTPEP) ASTM standardized testing was recommended as the basis for product approval. For ECB design, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was recommended and used to establish minimum performance requirements for both product acceptance and design. Digital maps were developed using ArcGIS for Missouri’s representative hydrologic and geologic conditions for use in the RUSLE. The ECB approval procedures and design process, which were developed specifically for the state of Missouri, are recommended for implementation into the MoDOT Engineering Policy Guide (EPG). An ongoing product evaluation system was also developed for ECBs to document field performance and assist in identifying ECBs that should be removed from the approved products list.

VIEW REPORT

Report number: cmr 16-016
Published: July 2016
Project number: TR201509
Author(s): Daniel T. Sommer, Amanda L. Cox, Ronaldo Luna
Performing organization: Department of Civil Engineering, Saint Louis University