Specifications and Construction Materials, Methods, and Practices
State of the Art
The same level of service is provided through the work zone. Workers are physically separated and are protected from the traffic. Work areas are sufficiently illuminated at night without blinding the motorist and gawk screens are used to prevent the motorists from being distracted during daytime operations. Contractors have a vested interest in quality, timeliness, and road-user safety. Facilities perform at an acceptable level of service for 35-50 years with the minimum planned system preservation. Acceptance is based on performance.
To achieve state-of-the-art construction materials, methods, and practices transportation agencies would need to:
- Revise prescriptive-type specifications to performance-based
specifications.
- Adopt specifications that reward contractors for
innovation, quality, and exceeding expectations.
- Develop and utilize performance-based specifications
for traffic control.
- Routinely include warranty specifications with bonuses
for exceeding the expected life of the end product.
- Require positive barriers to physically separate
the workers from the traffic.
- Adopt specifications that require adequate lighting
for all nighttime operations, lane shifts, lane drops, and temporary
gores.
- Insist on quality work and timely completion of the
work.
- Develop short-term testing and modeling for newly
constructed highway components to reasonably predict long-term performance
and remaining life.
- Develop design specifications, guidelines, and testing methods for
composite materials.
- Standardize design details to encourage a greater
use of precast materials.
- Provide real-time work zone traffic information to road users and workers in sufficient time to make informed decisions
