EDC Exchange for Local and Tribal Agencies

Save the Date – April 9, 2015

Four-lane undivided highways experience relatively high crash frequencies–especially between high-speed through traffic, left-turning vehicles and other road users.  One option for addressing this safety concern is a Road Diet, which typically involves converting an existing four-lane undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two through lanes and a center two-way left-turn lane.  This reconfiguration has many benefits:    (more…)

From the Center for Accelerating Innovation

New art pieces at Idaho’s first diverging diamond interchange showcase that the Chubbuck interchange is one of a kind. The $10.8 million project connects U.S. 91/Yellowstone Highway over the I-86 system. The metal art pieces adorning the interchange include a moose, a pronghorn and several birds of prey. “We worked with the contractor on design. They worked with a Utah artist who translated our ideas into fabricated pieces,” said Alissa Salmore, Idaho Transportation Department’s Region 5 senior environmental planner. Additional bridge aesthetics included concrete color for the parapet, piers, island paving and retaining-wall panels.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/everydaycounts/index.cfm

Idaho Hosts 3-D Peer Exchange

An Idaho workshop and peer exchange on 3-D engineered models for construction drew more than 60 participants from public agencies and private industry. The Idaho Transportation Department and Federal Highway Administration organized the event. Topics included applications of 3-D models during design, using 3-D models for construction engineering and quality assurance, and creating implementation plans. Participants also shared successes and lessons learned.

Idaho Accelerates Bridge Project

The Idaho Transportation Department received an FHWA Highways for LIFE grant to use accelerated bridge construction techniques on a project to replace two bridges on State Highway 75 near Challis. Crews replaced the bridge over the East Fork and the bridge over the main channel of the Salmon River on Highway 75. They used precast concrete bridge elements to finish in one construction season.

Source: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/everydaycounts/edcnews/index.cfm

From the Center of Accelerating Innovation

The Idaho Transportation Department used slide-in bridge construction to move the new Lardo Bridge over the North Fork Payette River on Idaho 55 into place. Crews began the slide on the morning of October 27 and had it finished in a few hours. The $3.64 million Lardo Bridge is the first new one the Idaho Transportation Department has built using the lateral slide construction method, which reduces full closure of the bridge by months. It’s expected to be opened to traffic by mid-November.

Innovation Sessions at EDC-3 Regional Summits, Every Day Counts webinars, various dates through December 10, 2014. Register here.

Design-Build Project Delivery: Project Selection Process, Every Day Counts webinar, November 6, 2014, 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET. Register here.

Design-Build Project Delivery: Owner-Agency Planning for Success, Every Day Counts webinar, November 13, 2014, 12:30 to 2 p.m. ET. Register here.

The Future: Adding Time, Cost and Other Information to 3-D Models, Every Day Counts webinar, November 19, 2014, 1 to 3:30 p.m. ET. Register here.

Design-Build Project Delivery: Procurement Process, Every Day Counts webinar, November 20, 2014, 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET. Register here.

Improving DOT and Railroad Coordination, Strategic Highway Research Program 2 webinar, December 11, 2014, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Register here

About EDC

Every Day Counts, a state-based initiative of the Federal Highway Administration’s Center for Accelerating Innovation, works with state, local and private sector partners to encourage the adoption of proven technologies and innovations to shorten and enhance project delivery.