Effects of Contracting Out Engineering Services Over Time in a State Department of Transportation

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 331-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Gen ◽  
Gordon Kingsley
Keyword(s):  
State Department ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Contracting Out ◽  
Engineering Services ◽  
Over Time

New Paradigm for State Department of Transportation Environmental Initiatives: New York State’s Guidelines and Procedures

2000 ◽  
Vol 1702 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary McVoy ◽  
Mark Sengenberger ◽  
Elizabeth Novak
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York State ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
State Department ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
York State Department ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
New Paradigm

Public-works agencies have an obligation to enhance the environment as opportunities arise. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has developed an environmental initiative to make an affirmative contribution to the environment, using the department’s organizational strengths. The environmental initiative is a paradigm shift applicable to all departments of transportation (DOTs). Conventional reactive regulatory compliance can reduce unnecessary environmental damage and sometimes gain grudging regulatory agency cooperation; however, it is not a positive, satisfying way of doing the people’s work. Through proactive steps, NYSDOT has become an important part of the state’s environmental solution (often at little or no additional cost) and has changed its working relationships with environmental agencies and groups. As these agencies and groups have become partners, instead of adversaries, permit-approval times have improved, mitigation costs have declined, morale has improved, and cost-effective environmental benefits are being realized. Procedures are outlined to apply the engineering capabilities of a DOT to the environmental-stewardship responsibilities shared by all governmental organizations.

Using Large Linked Field Data Sets to Investigate Density’s Impact on the Performance of Washington State Department of Transportation Asphalt Pavements

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110061
Author(s):  
Ryan Howell ◽  
Stephen Muench ◽  
Milad Zokaei Ashtiani ◽  
James Feracor ◽  
Mark Russell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Large Data ◽  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Maximum Aggregate Size ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Washington State Department

Large data sets of Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) pavement construction and condition data are linked together and used to investigate an implemented change in in-place density to lower specification limit (LSL) from 91% to 92%. This serves as a test case for using such large in-service data sets to create analysis value for a state DOT. Findings include: (1) WSDOT field density has remained relatively steady at 93% for over 20 years; (2) raising the density LSL to 92% will likely result in more contractor effort to achieve higher densities; (3) no clear trend links density with better pavement condition; (4) raising the density LSL will likely result in fewer problematically low densities; and (5) there is no evidence of differing pavement performance based on asphalt content, gradation, or nominal maximum aggregate size.

Bureaucratic organization and innovation : a mixed-methods study of U.S. State Department of Transportation website adoption

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
A. J. Million
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
State Level ◽  
State Department ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Bureaucratic Organization ◽  
Barriers To Change

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study explores bureaucratic organization and innovation in U.S. state department of transportation (DOT) websites. To determine if working with third parties fosters change in state DOT websites, it employs a two-part, explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In phase one, an online survey was disseminated to IT managers and communications officers in all 50 states to collect data regarding agency demographics, bureaucratic models, and Web infrastructure. In total, 45 valid responses (or 90 percent) were received from DOTs indicating that most built, hosted, and managed their websites in-house, but that state-level IT consolidations required many to pool resources with third parties. In research phase two, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted of a maximum variation sample of survey respondents. These interviews were conducted to explain why DOTs built and operated their websites with the support of third parties. Employing a grounded theoretical approach, analysis revealed 6 themes explaining website adoption and showed that working with third parties can foster innovation; however, not all change is positive. Therefore, a need exists for governments to selectively work with others, ascertain future barriers to change, and ensure that adopted innovations meet desired ends. Finally, five best practices informed by study findings are presented that may help decision-makers and civil servants provide e-government services in a flexible manner.

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into State Department of Transportation Highway Bridge Inspection Procedures: Challenges, Implications, and Lessons Learned

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110444
Author(s):  
Michael Plotnikov ◽  
John Collura
Keyword(s):  
State Department ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Highway Bridge ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Bridge Inspection ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bridge Inspections

Rapid proliferation of small, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) promises to revolutionize traditional methods used to carry out civil engineering surveys and analyses and conduct physical infrastructure inspections. One of the most promising areas of implementation of innovative UAS technology includes the integration of UAS into current state Department of Transportation (DOT) bridge inspections. While regular bridge inspections are paramount for road user safety, many traditional inspection methods and procedures are cumbersome, expensive, and time consuming; present significant hazards to both the traveling public and the inspection personnel; and are disruptive to normal operations of the transportation facilities. The results of recent studies indicate that UAS can serve as a useful tool in many highway bridge inspection procedures, while significantly reducing costs and time and improving safety. The major factors that affect the success of integrating UAS into the bridge inspection process relate to selection of the proper types of UAS platforms and avionics, data collection sensors and processing software, as well as conduct of task-specific pilot training. The paper provides an examination of current standard bridge inspection procedures and protocols currently carried out by state DOTs; an evaluation of state DOT experiences with the integration of UAS technology into bridge inspections; and an assessment of the issues and challenges associated with this technology. It is expected that this paper will be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders representing state and federal governments, academia, and industry.

Examination of Washington State Department of Transportation Transfer Functions for Mechanistic-Empirical Asphalt Concrete Overlay Design

1996 ◽  
Vol 1539 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Joe P. M ahoney ◽  
Linda M. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Fatigue Cracking ◽  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Overlay Design ◽  
Pavement Testing ◽  
Washington State Department

A review of transfer functions for mechanistic-empirical design procedures is addressed. Specific emphasis is placed on those transfer functions currently used by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and shift factors that relate estimates of laboratory to field fatigue cracking. To achieve this goal, brief discussions about how the WSDOT transfer functions were developed or chosen are presented. A comparison of WSDOT with South African transfer functions is presented. This comparison is of special interest because the South African transfer functions have been updated recently and are in part based on extensive accelerated pavement testing. Finally, mechanistic-empirical overlay designs have been performed by WSDOT for more than 10 years, and a selection of prior overlay projects is reviewed to examine fatigue cracking shift factors. Only projects exhibiting fatigue cracking or its early manifestation are used. The annual visual distress surveys contained in the WSDOT Pavement Management System make this review a bit easier because all pavement sections on the WSDOT route system have been systematically monitored for the preceding 26 years. The conclusion is that the laboratory-based tensile strain relationship currently used by WSDOT must be shifted to predict field fatigue cracking. Such shift factors appear to fall most commonly into a range between 4 and 10.

Study on the Status and Development of Ship Management Company Based the Online Survey Technology

2013 ◽  
Vol 401-403 ◽  
pp. 2298-2301
Author(s):  
Qian Wang ◽  
Bin Xie
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Risk Control ◽  
State Department ◽  
The State ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Maritime Safety ◽  
Management Company ◽  
Ship Management ◽  
The Status

As a newborn organization bearing the responsibility, ship management company plays more and more important role in the maritime safety and management. The article studies the concept of ship Management company, combined with several special rectification activities of The State Department of transportation, use online survey technology to analyze the reason of the problem, clarifies the position of the ship management company and gives some suggestions for the risk control and development of the company.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document