scholarly journals Selected Detention Ponds: SH 36 from FM 2218, Fort Bend County to FM 1495, Brazoria County

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Butler
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Detention Ponds ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
State Highway ◽  
Staging Area ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
National Historic Preservation Act ◽  
Archeological Site

On behalf of CP&Y and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), AmaTerra Environmental conducted an intensive archeological survey of two of five proposed detention ponds in Brazoria and Fort Bend Counties, Texas. The detention ponds are part of TxDOT’s proposed widening of State Highway (SH) 36 from Farm to Market Road (FM) 2218 in Pleak, Fort Bend County to FM 1495 in Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas (CSJs 0187-05-050, 0188-02-029, 0188-03-019, 0188-04-035, 0188-04-025, 0188-05-027, 0188-06-046, 0111-08-100, 0187-05-048, 0188-04-044, and 0188-02-036). The project was completed in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT) under Permit no. 8868. Work was conducted April 17, 2019 by a team of two archeologists and consisted of visual inspection and shovel testing of two proposed pond locations (Varner Creek and Pond B). A total of 21 shovel tests were excavated and one new archeological site (41BO282) was recorded. This mid-twentieth century site, recorded in the proposed Pond B location, retains little to no data potential within the APE. It is therefore recommended not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places or as a State Antiquities Landmark. Access was not available at the time of survey for proposed detention Pond A. However, it was visually inspected from the existing right-of-way (ROW) and its current use as a paved construction staging area indicates that archeological resources are unlikely to exist at the location. Therefore, no further work is recommended for this pond site. Rights of Entry (ROE) were not available at the time of survey for the remaining proposed pond locations (Big Creek 1 and Big Creek 2). AmaTerra recommends intensive archeological survey for these areas when access becomes available and prior to construction.

scholarly journals Archeological Excavation and Reburial of Unmarked Historic Graves in the Pioneer Cemetary (41BO202), Brazoria County, Texas

2003 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Young Woman ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Older Woman ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
State Highway ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

Three unmarked graves within the predominantly African American Pioneer Cemetery in the City of Brazoria (Brazoria County), Texas, were exhumed and reburied within the cemetery. The graves were located within the right of way of State Highway 332, and were found during an earlier search phase done in conjunction with a planned expansion of the highway. The burial excavations and reburial were done in March and April 2003, by Prewitt and Associates, Inc., for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The graves contained the remains of three unknown individuals—a young woman (17–23 years old), an older woman (45–60 years old), and an infant (2–4 years old)—who died in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries.

scholarly journals A Partial Magnetometer Survey of The Archaeological Conservancy’s Portion of the A. C. Saunders Site (41AN19)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Hudler ◽  
Jonathan Jarvis ◽  
Tim Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
The Right ◽  
The University

The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at The University of Texas at Austin conducted a partial magnetometer survey of The Archaeological Conservancy-owned portion of the A. C. Saunders site (41AN19) during the period between 6-8 December 2005. This survey was sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT/ENV) due to a proposed expansion of the right-of-way of U.S. Highway 175 and was conducted under a research design approved by The Archeological Conservancy and TxDOT/ENV. The work was conducted under the direction of Dale Hudler (Principal Investigator) from TARL with a joint TARL/Prewitt and Associates, Inc. field crew (Jonathan Jarvis, TARL and Tim Griffith, Prewitt and Associates, Inc.).

Accommodation of Saltwater Temporary Pipelines on the Roadside

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (12) ◽  
pp. 198-208
Author(s):  
William Holik ◽  
Cesar Quiroga ◽  
Ioannis Tsapakis ◽  
Jing Li
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Percentage Reduction ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Clear Zone ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Oil And Gas Wells ◽  
Maintenance Activities ◽  
The Right

Drilling and completing oil and gas wells, particularly when using horizontal and hydraulic fracturing techniques, requires enormous amounts of water. Generally, it is cheaper for the industry to move fluids by pipeline than by truck, hence the interest in using permanent and/or temporary pipelines to transport water in areas where oil and gas developments take place. This paper describes temporary pipeline installation and operation practices and how they impact roadside maintenance activities as well as offering guidelines on how to install and operate temporary pipelines. A GIS database of temporary pipeline locations was developed from permits issued by the Texas Department of Transportation between July 2011 and August 2016. General trends indicate that temporary pipelines are typically 3, 4, 8, or 10 inches in diameter. Operators tend to favor certain highway segments to install temporary pipelines within the right of way. When multiple temporary pipelines are installed on segments repeatedly, this can affect maintenance operations. Several trends were observed that necessitate the development of guidelines for temporary pipelines. Many temporary pipelines were placed away from the right of way line, which creates conflicts with maintenance operations and results in some temporary pipelines being in the clear zone. Many temporary pipelines are not anchored in place and roll into the bottom of ditches or do not maintain a uniform alignment, which affects roadside maintenance. The percentage reduction in overtopping flow rate due to installing temporary pipelines through culverts is also analyzed.

Field Evaluation of Automated Flagger Assistance Devices in Work Zones on Two-Lane Roads

2013 ◽  
Vol 2337 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melisa D. Finley
Keyword(s):  
Field Evaluation ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Stop Sign ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Right ◽  
Violation Rate

Automated flagger assistance devices (AFADs) are designed to be operated remotely by a flagger positioned outside of the travel lanes and thus to reduce the flagger's exposure to vehicular traffic. There are two types of AFADs. One type uses a remote-controlled stop and slow sign to alternate the right-of-way; the other uses remote-controlled red and yellow lenses to alternate the right-of-way. A gate arm is required only with the latter. Although AFADs may have increased the safety of flaggers, there were concerns that motorists may have misunderstood AFADs and proceeded before it had been safe to do so. As part of a recent Texas Department of Transportation project, Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers conducted field studies at lane closures on two-lane, two-way roadways in Texas to assess the operational and safety effectiveness of AFADs relative to the use of flaggers. The research findings show that the violation rate for the stop–slow AFAD without a gate arm is the highest and is significantly higher than the violation rate for the red–yellow lens AFAD (which requires a gate arm). Adding a gate arm to the stop–slow AFAD decreased the violation rate such that it was not significantly different from the red–yellow lens AFAD. In addition, alternative supplemental signs increased motorists' understanding that the stop sign would have changed to a slow sign when motorists were allowed to proceed. Overall, the research findings show that some motorists violate AFADs, especially when the queue of vehicles going in the same direction is visible to the stopped motorist.

scholarly journals Testing and Data Recovery Excavations at 11 Native American Archeological Sites Along the U.S. Highway 271 Mount Pleasant Relief Route, Titus County, Texas Volume I

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Data Recovery ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Mount Pleasant ◽  
Lithic Tools ◽  
National Historic Preservation Act ◽  
The U.S

This report deals with three episodes of archeological work that began in 2005 and concluded in 2010 for the proposed U.S. Highway 271 Mount Pleasant relief route in Titus County, Texas. The early part of the work was done for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental Affairs Division. The later part was done for PTP, LP, acting on behalf of Titus County. The work was done to address the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Texas Antiquities Code and was governed by the terms of Texas Antiquities Permit Nos. 3786, 4303, and 5495. The project involved 11 Native American archeological sites: 41TT6, 41TT846, 41TT847, 41TT851–41TT854, 41TT858, 41TT862, 41TT865, and 41TT866. The overall goal was to assess these 11 sites in terms of their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Antiquities Landmarks, and to conduct data recovery excavations at any that were found to be eligible. The project began with intensive auger or shovel testing at all 11 sites in July–August 2005. Formal testing was done between December 2006 and February 2008, and data recovery excavations were undertaken at three sites—George Richey (41TT851), William Ford (41TT852), and James Richey (41TT853)—between January and June 2010. In total, the excavations consisted of the following: 1,147 auger tests at 10 sites and 31 shovel tests at the eleventh site; 386 backhoe trenches covering 2,695 m2 and 225 m2 of manual excavations at all 11 sites; and machine excavation of 215 sample units measuring 2.0 m long and 1.0 m wide on average and trackhoe stripping of about 6,875 m2 at the 3 data recovery sites. The excavations identified 378 cultural features, mostly postholes and pits, with much smaller numbers of burials, burned rock concentrations, artifact clusters, and middens. The artifacts recovered consist mainly of 11,713 ceramic sherds and vessels and 8,729 lithic tools and debitage. Most of these remains relate to occupation of the project area during the Middle–Late Caddo periods (a.d. 1250–1700), with minor amounts resulting from earlier and later use during the Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, Early Caddo, and Historic Caddo periods. The primary Middle–Late Caddo components at the three fully excavated sites represent use as rural farmsteads within a dispersed local community associated with the Titus phase Caddo. At least four of the tested sites were occupied less intensively during this same interval.

Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware Crash Testing and Evaluation of Multiple Mailbox Supports for Use with Locking Architectural Mailboxes

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (7) ◽  
pp. 684-695
Author(s):  
Chiara Silvestri Dobrovolny ◽  
Roger P. Bligh ◽  
Justin Obinna ◽  
Mark McDaniel ◽  
Wade Odell
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
State Highway ◽  
Crash Testing ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Crash Tests ◽  
Highway System

With increasing concern about mail-identity theft, there is a growing demand among homeowners and businesses for the use of locking mailboxes for theft deterrence and resistance to vandalism. Lockable mailbox products can be significantly larger and heavier than standard lightweight mailboxes. Therefore, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) requested evaluation of their crashworthiness before permitting their use on the state highway system. Under TxDOT Project 9-1002-12, crash tests were performed following the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) guidelines and procedures to assess the impact performance of lockable, secure mailboxes in both single and multiple mount configurations. Testing of the larger and heavier locking mailboxes on multiple-mount support posts was unsuccessful owing to vehicle windshield deformation and intrusion. This paper describes the efforts to develop and evaluate the crashworthiness of new proposed designs for multiple mailbox supports used with a combination of lockable and standard mailboxes. The crash tests were performed following MASH guidelines and the evaluation criteria. Two proposed designs were evaluated through full-scale crash testing. Both systems satisfied all required MASH evaluation criteria at low and high impact speeds using a passenger car, which was considered to be the critical design vehicle based on the mailbox mounting height.

scholarly journals Archeological Investigations of the Lang Pasture (41AN38) Midden Deposits on private property west of the SH 155 Right-of-Way, Anderson County, Texas

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula ◽  
Bo Nelson ◽  
Mark Walters ◽  
LeeAnna Schniebs
Keyword(s):  
Baton Rouge ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Data Recovery ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Private Landowner ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Circular Structures ◽  
The Right

In the spring of 2006 data recovery investigations were completed at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) by Coastal Environments, Inc. (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC (Austin and Pittsburg, Texas) for the Texas Department of Transportation. The site is situated along the SH 155 rightof- way in the Caddo Creek basin in northeastern Anderson County, Texas, in the Caddo archeological area of Northeast Texas. The archeological excavations indicate that the site was primarily occupied by Caddo peoples during the Frankston phase, sometime after A.D. 1400. The number and kinds of features identified in the right-of-way—portions of two circular structures, two possible ramadas or work platforms, several large pit features, and a number of extended burials with associated funerary offerings— indicate that the Lang Pasture site is likely a domestic farmstead occupied by more than 1-2 families. Most of the site occurs outside the right-of-way on private property. At the time of the data recovery work, Bo Nelson and Mark Walters noted dark midden-stained sediments in gopher mounds ca. 8-15 m west of the 4-5 m wide right-of-way (ca. N189 E184 on the 41AN38 right-of-way grid) but on private property. Since no midden deposits had been identified (and were never identified) in the SH 155 right-of-way, despite extensive excavations, we felt it was important as part of a better and broader understanding of the archeological record at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) to investigate the midden to establish its content, age, and overall extent. Permission was obtained from the private landowner, Mr. Earl Lang, to carry out a limited amount of work, and this work was done in March 2006. This article presents the results of the archeological investigations at these prehistoric Caddo midden deposits.

Motorists' Understanding of Automated Flagger Assistance Devices in Work Zones

2013 ◽  
Vol 2337 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada D. Trout ◽  
Melisa D. Finley ◽  
Brooke R. Ullman
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Vehicular Traffic ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right ◽  
Do So

Automated flagger assistance devices (AFADs) are designed to be operated remotely by a flagger positioned outside the travel lanes and thus to reduce their exposure to vehicular traffic. There are two types of AFADs: one type uses a remote-controlled stop and slow sign to alternate the right-of-way and the other uses remote-controlled red and yellow lenses to alternate the right-of-way. A gate arm is required only with the latter. Although AFADs may have increased the safety of flaggers, there were concerns that motorists might have misunderstood AFADs and proceeded before it had been safe to do so. As part of a recent Texas Department of Transportation project, Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers conducted surveys to assess motorists' understanding of both types of AFADs. For the stop–slow AFAD, a newly designed “Wait on Stop–Go on Slow” symbol sign resulted in the highest percentage of participants who understood that they should stop and remain stopped until the AFAD indicated that it was safe to proceed. However, for all of the stop–slow AFAD treatments, a portion of the participants indicated that they would have stopped and then proceeded instead of waiting until the AFAD displayed the slow sign. Thus researchers recommend that a gate arm be required with stop–slow AFADs. For the red–yellow lens AFAD, participants understood the stop phase. However, there was evidence of a lack of understanding of the difference between the proceed and transition phases. Even so, the use of the gate arm appeared to inform motorists when to proceed and when to stop.

Development of Best Practices for Right-of-Way Valuations and Negotiations in Transportation Projects

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos H. Caldas ◽  
Zhanmin Zhang ◽  
Kara M. Kockelman ◽  
Khali R. Persad ◽  
Ragheb Al Halabi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Transportation Projects ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Property Owners ◽  
The Right ◽  
Delivery Efficiency

The valuations of properties and the negotiations with property owners are two major tasks in the right-of-way acquisition process for transportation projects. If improved, those tasks can increase the overall project delivery efficiency. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funded a research project that aimed to recommend some best practices for successful valuations and negotiations in Texas. The authors reviewed the different strategies and procedures followed in TxDOT by conducting interviews and surveys with right-of-way personnel. Guidelines supported by recommended practices were identified for both valuation and negotiation and then reviewed and validated by experts. Lastly, implementation guides were developed.

Innovative Financing Approach for President George Bush Turnpike

1997 ◽  
Vol 1576 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-66
Author(s):  
Frank J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Joint Venture ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Financing Structure ◽  
George Bush ◽  
State Highway ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Surface Transportation ◽  
The City

An innovative financing program for a toll project in Texas that has been financed and will be constructed by a joint-venture team composed of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA) is described. The President George Bush Turnpike (State Highway 190) will connect 42.5 km (26.4 mi) of suburbs north of the city of Dallas. The project has been in various stages of planning and design since the late 1960s. Each agency working alone could not complete SH-190 in a timely and cost-effective fashion. Exploiting changes made to the state constitution in 1991 and maximizing the use of the innovative financing provision of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, TxDOT, TTA, and FHWA in partnership developed a financing structure to accelerate the construction of this project.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document