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21-3 Initiating Seed Production for Effective Establishment of Native Plants on Roadsides in New England

Project Objectives

The New England Transportation Consortium funded research to move the capacity of native plant establishment along roadsides from 2013-2016. This work trialed seed mixes and methods for establishment and developed a manual with 39 key species for the region identified. Various protocols for site preparation, seeding, and post establishment monitoring and maintenance were also provided. Following this work, a series of next steps were identified as critical for effective implementation. The most important step was the development of local seed sources, which are currently absent in the region. The shift towards planting native plants along roadsides has multiple benefits including: natural defense for invasive plants, habitat for common and rare pollinator species, and the potential to reduce maintenance needs over time. Pollinators play an important role in this country’s agricultural system as well as in maintaining healthy natural ecosystems.

The problem at hand in the New England is the lack of a native seed mix to use in the roadside habitat that includes important species for pollinators. Also, we do not have a consolidated library of best management practices for roadside management to promote pollinators that apply directly to the climate and conditions in the New England.

This project will include two main efforts. First, it will investigate and develop a list of currently available resources for native seed and plant stock throughout the New England region to understand what is currently available. The study will focus on the list of plant species identified in the 2016 New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) study by the University of Connecticut, “Effective Establishment of Native Grasses on Roadsides in New England” (NETC, 2016), as they are known to suitable to the region and are valuable to pollinators throughout the entire growing season of New England. Once an understanding of what is/is not available, the study will look at ways to increase availability of seeds throughout New England. The study will use gathered information on seed stock to draft a plan for developing a native seed source or sources appropriate for use along New England roadsides. The project would also include proof of concept for developing capacity for local seed source and production for the region.

Technical Committee Members

TC Chair: Arin Mills, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Adam Boone, Connecticut Department of Transportation
Tara Mitchell, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Rebecca Martin, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Susan Votta, Rhode Island Department of Transportation
Heather Voisin, Vermont Agency of Transportation

AC Liaison: Dee Nash, New Hampshire Department of Transportation

Project Coordinator: Kirsten Seeber, CTC & Associates

20-2 Current Status of Transportation Data Analytics and A Pilot Case Study Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Project Objectives

The objectives of this research include: (1) reviewing the practices of all DOTs in the New England area and developing a comprehensive inventory of data, data needs, and data analysis practices related to traffic operations; (2) providing recommendations on how to better collect, reduce, achieve, and analyze the data to support DOT decision making and how DOTs should prepare for future transportation data collection and analytics considering emerging sensing and analytical technologies such as connected vehicles, loT, Machine Learning (ML) and AI; and (3) conducting a pilot case study of using AI techniques to automatically analyze specifically-identified operations data and perform a thorough evaluation of its capability to generate useful traffic operation and safety performance measures. This will demonstrate how advanced analytical techniques may extend the capability of traditional traffic sensors and produce additional useful information without expensive infrastructure investment.

Technical Committee Members

TC Chair, Susan Klasen: New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Ed Block, Connecticut Department of Transportation
Colby Fortier-Brown, Maine Department of Transportation
Chet Osborne, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Chris Falcos, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Russ Holt, Rhode Island Department of Transportation
Ian Degutis, Vermont Agency of Transportation
Mandy White, Vermont Agency of Transportation

AC Liaison: Emily Parkany, Vermont Agency of Transportation

Project Coordinator, Kirsten Seeber, CTC & Associates

19-3 Experimental Validation of New Improved Load Rating Procedures for Deteriorated Unstiffened Steel Beam Ends

Project Objectives

In order to capitalize on the knowledge and methodology developed from ongoing research on new improved load rating procedures for deteriorated unstiffened steel beam ends, the structure of the proposed project will be designed accordingly. The research will identify and quantify the most common beam-end corrosion topologies across states in New England. The goal of this work is to enhance load rating methods for assessing corroded unstiffened beam ends to avoid overly conservative bridge posting recommendations. The new developed methods from ongoing research in the state of Massachusetts calculate more accurately the load carrying capacity. However, the wide application of the new procedures needs to be validated with experiments including several different configurations, beam sizes, corrosion shapes, and support conditions. Laboratory testing will validate and enrich the new procedures while providing valuable insight into the failure mechanisms that control these scenarios. Finally, finite element computational calculations will be calibrated using the produced experimental data from full-scale testing of the corroded beams.

Technical Committee Members

TC Chair, Matthew Weidele, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Greg Funk, Connecticut Department of Transportation
James Costigan, Maine Department of Transportation
Joel Veilleux, Maine Department of Transportation
Nicholas Goulas, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Join Poisson, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Christopher Gagnon, Rhode Island Department of Transportation
Keary LeBeau, Rhode Island Department of Transportation
Andrew Lemieux, Vermont Agency of Transportation

AC Liaison: Nicholas Zavolas, Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Project Coordinator, Kirsten Seeber, CTC & Associates

Implementation Activities

Tech Transfer Activities

August 22, 2023 – New York City Bridge Conference, New York, NY
May 3, 2023 – MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference, Worcester, MA
January 8-12, 2023 – Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington D.C. Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.
July 24-28, 2022 – 2022 AASHTO Research Advisory Committee Annual Meeting, Newton, MA
June 20, 2022 – Transportation Research Board Summer Meeting, Virtual
May 31-June 3, 2022 – Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, Baltimore, MD
May 24-25, 2022 – MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference, Worcester, MA
May 6, 2022 – NEW.Mech Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
January 9-13, 2022 – Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.