This ongoing project uses the state-of-the-art equipment in receiving satellite position information for collecting real-time state-wide traffic data. The data is then analyzed and displayed by Geographic Information Systems software.

Project Manager:  Dan LaCombe, Division of Planning

Because of the increasing volumes of traffic, traffic congestion, changing demographics and the influx of retirees seeking residence in the state, there is a greater demand and need for transportation services and programs.  The deployment of Bus Rapid Transit (BTR) is one alternative to meeting the needs of anticipated transportation demands.   This project will research determine the feasibility of deployment of BRT in the state of Delaware. 

Project Manager:  Catherine Smith, Delaware Transit Corporation

Clean Energy Use in Vermont and Delaware Land Use Planning

Project Manager:  Ralph Reeb, Division of Planning

Sussex County needs to be the focus of a comprehensive compilation and presentation of available travel and demographic data including origins and destinations, projections and their impacts, trip purpose, employment, seasonal variation, and trip generation.  Available population projections also need to be examined in terms of  future impact to areas in Sussex County.  The Delaware Transportation Monitoring System, the National Travel Survey, and the Census 2000 CTPP are among practically untapped data sources.  These together with Travel Demand Forecasting outputs, traffic studies, and traffic counts could provide a vital resource for planning and understanding for the public.  Methods for dissemination of travel demand and traffic count information need to be developed.

Project Manager:  Mike DuRoss, Division of Planning

This project is aimed at assessing the fatigue life of Delaware's steel bridges to enable identification and implementation of appropriate repair and retrofit techniques, thereby preventing fatigue cracks, which require costly road closures and repairs.

Project Managers:  Jiten Soneji, Division of Pre-Construction; Doug Robb,  Division of Bridge Design

Asset management has been receiving greater attention at both the state and national level.  Escalating demands by the public for increased accountability, aging infrastructure, increasingly constrained resources, new funding challenges, and increasing emphasis on the private provision of public service and public-private partnership all point to the need for asset management.  Asset management is a data driven process that is rooted in comprehensive inventory of physical assets and their condition, and the quantification of the impacts of alternative decision.

Project Manager:  Ralph Reeb, Division of Planning

Effective bridge management can aid in determining resource allocation and help a DOT in cost-effectively maintaining its inventory of bridges.  The current methods used have inherent limitations:  the use of as-built conditions and design capacities yields ratings that may be overly conservative, while full-scale load tests yield accurate data but are costly and require closure to traffic.  The researchers used an in-house-developed In-Service Bridge Monitoring System (ISBMS) to collect data that was then used to develop a load rating for the bridges studied. Using two weeks of data collected during biannual inspections of bridges, a two-week rating for each bridge in the study was developed. This two-week rating was compared to the 50-year rating that is usually calculated for bridges based on design capacities.  The study showed that the two-week rating factors are, for the most part, between three and eight times greater than the 50-year rating factor. It is believed that the projected two-year rating from this data would lead to an increased rating factor in bridges.  Additional work is needed to incorporate peak gauge data into the data collected by the ISBMS, enabling better prediction of the load rating stress.   It would also be valuable to compare weigh-in motion (WIM) data to the stresses seen during a certain time period to help identify the average weight of trucks crossing the bridge and correlate the truck weights to the stress in the bridge.  The project is a continuation of the work done in the initial bridge management project, with the focus on some of these as-yet unaddressed issues.

Project Manager:  Doug Finney, Transportation Solutions, Bridge Design

Bridge Management Using In-Service Data (Phase II)

  The proposed project is a continuation of the work done in the initial bridge management project (above), with the focus on some of these as-yet unaddressed issues.   

Project Manager:  Jiten Soneji, Division of Pre-Construction, Bridge Design

There is an ongoing project for the instrumented bridge headed by Michael Chajes and Trip Shenton.  They will be putting numerous instruments to measure the loads and strains on the bridge.  I feel it would be a huge benefit to also have calibrated cameras on that bridge as well.  It makes sense to do it there, since the other measurements are already being taken. By calibrated I mean that I could, as necessary, cast the data into a local coordinate system and obtain actual measurements from the imagery (distances and speeds).  The primary interest would be to set up some sort of trigger such that if a particular stress was exceeded the camera would collect a time stamped image.  Then, we could go back and determine actual vehicle size and/or if multiple vehicles were responsible for the observed stress.  Clearly I am not a structures type, but my knowledge with video systems could make a good remote bridge sensing system even better.

Project Manager:  Jiten Soneji, Division of Pre-Construction, Bridge Design

Prioritization of concrete used for SR-1 pavement (shrinkage & modulus evaluations).

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials & Research

Delaware is experiencing a growing elderly population (60+) due to aging baby boomers.  Also, the state is experiencing an influx of retiree’s seeking residency, particularly in Sussex and Kent Counties.  The number of elderly drivers with longer life expectancies than generations past is likely to present a challenge to the state’s transportation system and produce greater demands and needs for transportation services and programs in certain areas.  These include services and programs to accommodate the increasing number of elderly drivers, provide alternatives to driving, and improve overall elderly-friendly mobility standards.

Project Manager:  Mark Luszcz, Assistant Chief Traffic Engineer

There were several sections along the north and south embankment where settlement plates, inclinometers, and piezometers were installed.  This instrumentation served as construction monitoring assuring that there is no impending failure.  However, no real reduction of data was made.  Such reduction can provide DelDOT with accurate soil properties in that area as well as feedback regarding the design calculations.  Reduction of data can be carried out in the framework of MS thesis and will require funding for a graduate student for 2 years.

Project Manager:  Dennis O'Shea, Bridge Design

The new Tier II UTC at the University of Delaware will focus on resiliency of transportation corridors; the overall goal of the center is to support research, education and technology transfer that will improve our ability to plan, design, construct, manage and maintain an advanced transportation infrastructure.

Project Manager:  Amy Stearns, RITA

The initial stage of the project will involve a thorough literature search and review of documentation related to the existing body of knowledge and practices.  A statistically accurate method for functional conversion of the raw vehicle registration and travel data will be developed to identify the contribution of each vehicle type to VMT.  This project will convert Division of Motor Vehicle (DMV) reported registration data from percent registration by vehicle type to actual mileage accumulation rates as they contribute to VMT through- out the state.  Project output will be a statistically reliable automated process for converting available DMV registration information to an accurate on-road mileage based contribution by vehicle type, acceptable to both USEPA and FHWA as part of the transportation conformity air quality analysis process.

Project Manager:  Doug Finney, Division of Maintenance and Operations

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

The project will investigate vegetation models conceived to restore Delaware’s roadside landscapes to a more natural state reflecting the regional flora.       

Project Manager:  Chip Rosan, Roadside Environment

DelDOT has subsurface investigation test results and Pile Driving Analyzer test results for foundation studies located throughout the state.  Currently this information is located on paper, tape, and disks.  It needs to be converted to a standard format that can be easily accessed with current technology and easily converted to future storage technology.

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

Project Manager:  Mark Glaze, Division of Planning

To provide an appraisal of the current strength and weaknesses of the existing and proposed GIS and information system efforts in DelDOT as they pertain to the Division of Planning

Project Manager:  Joseph Cantalupo, Division of Planning

Project Manager:  Doug Robb, Division of Transportation Solutions

This project is a research effort to develop, build, and deploy a fuel­ cell powered hybrid transit vehicle, to be used on the UD Campus and within the state of Delaware.  Fuel­ cell technology offers the potential to reduce our reliance on foreign oil supplies and to decrease the effects of harmful emissions on our environment.  The project will focus on developing a fuel ­cell­ powered technology demonstration vehicle, establishing a refueling infrastructure, and conduct­ing reliability, safety, and durability studies. 

Project Manager:  Sean Rickerson, FTA

A continuation of analysis of DelDOT’s Hot Mix Asphalt Quality Assurance Specifications.  Include an updated comparison to other states, particularly Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

To develop and install a long-term structural monitoring system for the new Indian River Inlet Bridge for both the substructure (the high MSE walls used to support the bridge approaches) and for the bridge superstructure.

Project Managers:  Jiten Soneji, Division of Pre-Construction; Doug Robb, Division of Bridge Design

The importance of travel time reliability should not be underestimated.  Commuters, trucking companies, and other travelers depend on a reliable transportation network to plan schedules, and improvements in this reliability by DelDOT will provide increased customer service.  Countless hours and fuel are wasted each year by these customers while waiting in long queue lines, and integrating this concept into planning and management would certainly provide an improved transportation system.

Project Manager:   Mike DuRoss, Division of Planning

This project will investigate the cost, liability, and reliability of anti-idling equipments for trucks; evaluate environmental, energy and economic impacts of trucks’ anti-idling equipment; and develop a set of policy recommendations to both curb idling and facilitate the entry of anti-idling equipment in the marketplace in Delaware.

Project Manager:  Mark Glaze, Division of Planning

Evaluation of how other state DOTs are incorporating intelligent compaction technology into their state quality-control specifications.  Exploration of new areas for knowledge growth in intelligent compaction that may be beneficial for the State of Delaware.

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

This project focuses on reviewing the work done in the "Resilient Modulus" project and identifying gaps between products and the recently released pavement design procedure. 

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

DelDOT collects Pavement Condition data from all the pavements in their network, and uses this data to develop Annual Paving Programs that address the roads requiring work for each year.  This condition data, collected over several years, could be analyzed to predict future condition, predict when maintenance should be applied, and predict the end of a pavement’s useful life. Combined with data from initial construction quality records and maintenance activity records, one could develop performance prediction models for similar pavements in the DelDOT network.  With these models, DelDOT could better anticipate future needs of each pavement, and could better target the appropriate rehabilitation techniques to pavements at the opportune time.

Project Manager:  Jennifer Pinkerton, Division of Preconstruction

Many fully-controlled (signalized) intersections, causing vehicles to stop and start, result in greater emissions (decreased air quality) than would be the case if the intersections were a roundabout instead.  Which intersections would be appropriate for roundabouts?  What impact would roundabouts have in DE?  Need a model to identify intersections for roundabouts.

Project Manager;  Dan LaCombe, Division of Planning

This project will conduct a laboratory resilient modulus test on pavement materials from the State of Delaware to characterize their behavior under the different traffic loadings and environmental conditions; and to provide input necessary for modeling the material with the mechanistic pavement design and evaluation.

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

Project Manager:  Mike DuRoss, Division of Planning

A web-based manual to facilitate the identification, designation and management of scenic historic highways

Project Manager:  Maria Andaya, Division of Planning

Determine the environmental and engineering properties that should be monitored during the construction of shredded tire embankments.  Include instrumentation, installation, monitoring and an analysis plan.  Implement the monitoring.  What instruments are needed and how to construct and monitor them.  The issue in Delaware is that the temperature is much higher in the summer than it is in New England.

Project Manager:  Jim Pappas, Division of Materials and Research

There is considerable concern regarding the scour near and around the existing Indian River Inlet Bridge.  As a result, the bridge is scheduled to be replaced.  However, since the initial design was deemed too expensive to build, the design process will need to start over again.  This will result in the existing bridge needing to remain in service for longer than anticipated.  As a result, there is concern over the safety of the existing bridge into the future.  It is suggested that a research project be initiated that:  evaluates existing scour detection technologies, develops a scour detection system for the existing bridge, and assesses the structural integrity and safety of the bridge throughout its remaining service life.

Project Manager:  Doug Robb, Division of Transportation Solutions - Bridge Design

Transfer of institutional knowledge to the next generation of DelDOT professionals:  Retirement/Succession planning; evaluate pros/cons of increased use of consultants vs. in house expertise; work force assessment (present & future). Develop an aggressive plan

Project Manager:  AnnaMay Decker, Division of Planning

This ongoing project uses the state-of-the-art equipment in receiving satellite position information for collecting real-time traffic data.  The data is then analyzed and displayed by Geographic Information Systems software.

Project Manager:  Dan Blevins, WILMAPCO