On the Move
Quarterly NewsletterOn the Move
Quarterly NewsletterFall (September) Quarter 1999, Volume 12, Number 3
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The rapidly approaching "new millennium" presents a myriad of new challenges.
Paramount among the many challenges is the task of maintaining, renewing, and improving
the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) of the work force. This is especially true in
the area of transportation, and affects local, state, and federal agencies, as well as the
industry as a whole. As the demand for versatile, highly skilled, and productive workers
grows, a special focus on personnel development and training will be needed to address the
challenges of the new millennium.
During last spring's training season, a limited, informal survey was made of the
equipment operator workforce of 12 local agency road departments in Utah. Not
surprisingly, the workforce experience base for these road departments ranged from a total
of 126 years heavy equipment operation/truck driving experience to 462 years. The average
experience level per operator per agency ranged from 10 years to 21 years with most
agencies having an average operator experience level of 16-plus years. This survey
presents both a "good news/bad news message". The good news is
"these road departments currently have a fairly strong work force base of truck
drivers/heavy equipment operators." The bad news is "without an
aggressive truck driver/heavy equipment operator development program, this work force base
could diminish to half strength in the next 10 years or sooner depending on operator
age."
The findings of this survey are symptomatic of most occupations within the
transportation and public works industry. The American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Association of General Contractors (AGC) during
recent summer subcommittee meetings have also expressed concern over the diminishing work
force pool. In response to this challenge, special efforts are underway to enhance both
workforce capacity and capability, and to promote interest in transportation and
construction in all areas (heavy equipment operation, construction management,
engineering, materials technology, traffic operations, safety, etc.).
The Utah Tē Center, along with Local Technical Assistance Program Centers (LTAP) in
other states, have taken special steps to partner with AASHTO, AGC, APWA, NACE, ITE,
FHWA's National Highway Institute and various professional and industry trade associations
to leverage resources and cooperatively address the work force problem. These partnering
efforts provide for: (1) cooperatively developed training materials and programs; (2)
promotion of mentoring programs; and, (3) co-sponsored workshops and training courses,
field demonstrations, cooperative personnel certification programs and special
"hands-on" technical assistance programs. These steps enhance our ability to
address a variety of special training needs and provide a strong base of expert training
resources. Within Utah, the Tē Center is working closely with the local chapters of APWA,
AGC and ITE, the Association of Counties (UAC), the League of Cities and Towns
(ULC&T), Utah Local Governments Insurance Trust (ULGT), Utah Risk Management Mutual
Association (URMMA), and UDOT in these efforts. In addition, the Tē Center is working
cooperatively with the trade associations of the asphalt paving industry, the concrete
pavement industry and the concrete and flexible pipe industries.
As the winter training season approaches, we encourage each local agency to make a special effort to assess their current personnel assets and to determine what their current and future training and personnel needs will be as we move into the new millennium. The following steps are suggested for making this assessment:
The Utah Tē Center and our partners stand ready to assist local, state and Federal
agencies--and the transportation industry as a whole--in meeting the staffing and
workforce needs of the 21st Century. A standing program offered by the Utah Tē Center is
the ROAD SCHOLAR program. This training and development program offers a variety of
training opportunities for different job levels: equipment operators, technical staff, and
supervisors and administrators. A summary listing of the Road Scholar course offerings
follows:
We also endeavor to keep the transportation and public works community in Utah informed
of all appropriate training or development opportunities by posting the course offerings
of our partners through our quarterly newsletter, website, or special announcements. In
this capacity, we attempt to serve as a clearing/coordinating house for training,
personnel development and new technology relating to the transportation and public works
industry. If your analysis of personnel assets indicates there are areas of training and
development that are not currently offered, the Utah Tē Center would be pleased to take
the necessary steps to make such training/development opportunities available.
For more information on the courses currently scheduled, see our calendar in this
newsletter, or check out our calendar on the web. You will also want to check out
"what our partners are doing" for opportunities to tap into their offerings.
If you have a request and need to schedule a workshop or have a specific training or personnel development need, please call Keri at 1-800-822-8878!
Legislative & Regulatory Update: Governor Leavitt Urges Discussion/Mediation of Road Definition with special thanks to The Deseret News for excerpts from Leavitt Offers Plan on Roads artile by Lucinda Dillon, The Deseret News (September 11, 1999)
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In September, Governor Mike Leavitt announced a plan to "surgically" dissect the issue of "what will be considered a road in a publicly protected wilderness area within the [Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument]." Leavitt suggested that county, state and BLM officials detail what they agree upon regarding roads and what they don't. Details of the plan include:
Leavitt also said that the state may have to sue over the roads issue, and the state will help pay the costs, according to the plan. This is a particularly critical issue to residents of Kane and Garfield counties who has ranched, farmed, mined and recreated in these areas for generations. Stay tuned for further developments.
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Our hats are off to the following individuals from the Cottonwood Improvement District who received outstanding scores on the work zone traffic control (flagger) exam during the August 18, 1999 work zone traffic control training: Wayne Bowman, Chris Brown, Brent Canham, Richard Cartwright, Russell Dangerfield, Bill Davis, Steve Desmarais, Walter Engel, Russell Harmon, Kevin Hendricks, Seoni Latu, Bill Patterson, Farrell Price, Lon Rasmussen, Jeff Terry, Louai Tupoumaloh, Frank Yengich! Special recognition goes to Richard Cartwright, Russell Harmon, Kevin Hendricks, Farrell Price, Long Rasmussen and Frank Yengich who all received a perfect score!
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The theme of the 10th Annual Rocky Mountain/Plains Concrete Pavement Conference is
"Paving the Way to the 21st Century" and promises to offer innovative and cost
effective approaches to meet the transportation demands and challenges of the new
millennium. The Conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Salt Lake City.
The general session of the conference will feature an overview of the I-15 Corridor
Design/Build Reconstruction Project. Breakout sessions will cover the subject areas of:
pavement design, high performance concrete (HPC), base construction, pavement smoothness,
quality assurance processes, innovative construction and materials technologies, concrete
pavement research, ultra-thin whitetopping, non-destructive testing, and mitigating the
effects of alkali-silica reactions. Breakout session topics will be presented by leading
practitioners and experts in their field.
Mark your calender and plan on participating in this informative conference. Registration packets will be mailed October 31, 1999.
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1998 brought many new and cost saving methods of road construction to Uintah County.
They were able to process the native tar sands material found in the County to improve
both gravel and paved roadways. To utilize this process required careful cooperation
between a variety of entities. The Uintah Special Services District was able to leverage
the Mineral Lease money it received to purchase the necessary equipment to place the
native tar sands material on all roads in the County. They worked closely with the Uintah
County Road Department to serve all areas of the County.
To fully utilize this process, they worked to: "facilitate the communication and
cooperation among all governmental agencies involved in the road aspects of the County;
help local governments develop practices that are uniform and comparable to other local
governments in road construction methods; and, have quarterly meetings of the entities
involved and hear the concerns and questions in an open forum that could consider the
needs and concerns of the people of the county."
To accomplish this, a handbook containing information, guidelines, and project planning is being developed to help everyone address all aspects associated with their individual projects and how they can fit together in a cohesive plan of road construction and maintenance. This handbook, it is hoped, will offer an effective approach to informing, tracking, planning, defining, measuring, and costing all construction and maintenance activities. It will also outline standard practices for local governmental agencies, while still allowing for the flexibility needed to address local problems and conditions. Good work, and keep it up, Uintah County!
Our thanks to these important partners for sharing this information and working with us
in our efforts to serve the local agencies of Utah.
For more information on League activities, or to register for a League sponsored event,
please call the Utah League of Cities & Towns directly at (801) 328-1601 or
1-800-852-8528 or go to their website [http://www.ulct.org].
Ground Water Conference (Moab Valley Inn)--tentative
National League of Cities (Los Angeles)
Newly Elected Officials Workshop* (Cedar City)
Newly Elected Officials Workshop* (Richfield)
Newly Elected Officials Workshop* (Price)
*regional legislative meetings will be held the night before at the respective City
Hall; contact David Spatafore at (801) 365-0787 for more information.
For more information on UAC activities, or to register for a UAC sponsored event,
please call them directly at (801) 265-1331 or go to their website [http://www.uacnet.org].
1999 Annual Convention
Dixie Convention Center, 1835 South Convention Center Drive, St. George, Utah
Registration is $145 (all attendees), and $35 (spouses). Attendees registering on-line (website listed above) receive a $25 discount. Anyone registering at the convention will be charged an additional $25. Please make your own hotel accommodations and ask for the UAC room block at the following hotels:
For more information, and a complete agenda, please see the UAC website.
For more information on these or other APWA activities, call Bob Davis with DMJM at
(801) 484-9884 x 5075.
Luncheon at Hometown Buffet (Redwood Road in Salt Lake City) followed by a speaker (to
be determined)
Stormwater Issues & Your Community
Department of Environmental Quality, 168 N 1950 W, Bldg 2, Rm 101, Salt Lake City, Utah
This workshop is on preparing for Phase II of the National Permit Discharge
Elimination System for Storm Water. Registration is $20 if registered before November
15th, $30 at the door. Registration fee covers all materials and lunch. Topics to be
discussed include: financing storm water in your community; regulations and compliance;
best management practices; permitting; case studies (Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County;
and Q&A.
For more information or to register, please contact Stephen Weber with the City of
Orem, Department of Public Works, by calling (801) 229-7530.
For information on these and other ITE activities, please call Don Adams at (801)
323-0887.
ITE Monthly Lunch Meeting (Topic: Main Street Closure)
ITE Monthly Lunch Meetings (Topic: To be announced)
ITE Annual Christmas Lunch (Topic: to be announced)
All luncheons will be held at the Shanghai Restaurant (7200 South 188 West, Salt Lake
City).
For information on Trust activities, please call them at (801) 355-5609.
For information on URMMA activities, please call them at (801) 225-6692.
For information on these or other activities of Utah Operation Lifesaver, or to get involved with this worthwhile effort, please contact the State Coordinator, Brett Barney by calling (801) 489-9668.
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October 5-7, 1999
Wyndham Metrocenter Hotel, Phoenix, Arizona
You won't want to miss the 8th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Asphalt
User/Producer Group (RMAUPG) in Phoenix, Arizona. Registration is $110 and includes
materials and a continental breakfast (October 5-7) and lunch (October 6). Vendor space is
available for $500. For additional information, please contact RMAUPG (Judy) at: phone
(303) 471-6286, fax (303) 471-6781, e-mail [RMAUPG@aol.com].
November 30-December 2, 1999
David Eccles Conference Center, 2415 Washington Blvd, Ogden, Utah
Register now and plan to attend the Utah Engineer's Conference! Cost is $200 and
includes materials, lunches, breaks, social hour, dinner, and continental breakfasts.
Consultants, contractors, pre-construction and construction engineers won't want to miss
this important event and chance to meet with over 800 other transportation professionals.
A limited number of vendor spaces are still available. The cost for vendor space is
$600 and allows 2 people to attend without a registration fee. Sponsorship is also
available. For each $400 in sponsorships vendors can send one person without a
registration fee. Sponsors should contact Gail Jordison at (801) 965-4173. Space is very
limited, so call today!
Room blocks are being held at several local hotels. To receive a registration packet or if you have any questions, please call Joyanna Peterson at (801) 965-4110 or Gail Jordison at (801) 965-4173.
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5-7 RMAUPG Annual Meeting (Phoenix, Arizona)--see above
10-14 National Transportation Training Directors Conference (Olympia Park Hotel, Park City)
18 Winter Maintenance Workshop (American Fork)
19 Winter Maintenance Workshop (American Fork)
20-21 Annual County Road Advisors Conference (Rapid City, South Dakota)
26 Work Zone Traffic Control (Vernal)
1-5 Heavy Equipment Operator Training & Certification (Tooele)--tentative
9-10 Drug Abuse & Alcohol Misuse for CDL Drivers/Safe Driver Training (San Juan County)
17-19 UAC Annual Convention (St. George)
1-2 Utah Engineer's Conference (Ogden)--starts on November 30th
2 Storm Water Workshop (Salt Lake City)
7 CMVO Training (Nephi)
8 Work Zone Traffic Control (Payson)
14-15 Work Zone Traffic Control (West Jordan)
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Box Elder County, under the direction of Denton Beecher, County Surveyor, submitted the
winning entry for the "You Show Us" contest sponsored by the Utah Tē Center.
This contest was held in anticipation of the regional competition held as part of the
Annual County Road Advisors Conference.
Box Elder County is faced with a checker board pattern of land ownership in its 5500
square miles, particularly in the western portion of the county. This problem dates back
to the 1860s when the transcontinental railroad was constructed and the railroad was
awarded sections of land on both sides of the track. When these sections of land were
later divided and sold, this created a problem with public road access in the county.
As ownership has changed hands over the years, new owners have wanted to close many of
the roads created by the Utah "right-of-use" law. The problem was "how do
we insure access to the public lands for the use and benefit of all the public."
Box Elder County's solution was to organize a team of representatives to develop an access management plan for roads and other uses in the County--addressing private and public needs. The County Commission appointed a team of representatives from: Utah State Trust Lands, County planning/surveyors and road department, Sporting Dog Association, BLM, Sportsman for Fish & Wildlife, Utah Parks & Recreation, a citizen at large, Box Elder County Wildlife Federation, County Sheriff, County Farm Bureau, Utah Woolgrowers, Utah Mountain Bikers, Utah Wildlife Federation, U.S. Forestry Fire & State Lands, Audobon Society, Box Elder Cattlemans Association, ATV Association, Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service. The group was then charged to:
This process took about three years to develop and is now in the final stages of
producing maps and signage to assist the public in knowing where they may travel to access
public lands. Many hours of labor and computer time were used for this project. Some
County funds were spent along with the contributions made by the organizations involved in
developing the access management plan.
This has paid major dividends to all stakeholders--private and public--and assures proper access to public lands. In addition this enables law enforcement personnel and emergency response units to more effectively do their jobs.
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The Annual County Road Advisor's Conference (formerly the Region 8 County Road
Advisor's Conference) will be held October 20-21, 1999 at the Ramkota Hotel in Rapid City,
South Dakota.
The conference is being sponsored by the Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAP/Tē
Centers) of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming with special
assistance from Bobby Meister of Minnehaha County, South Dakota.
The conference begins at 8 am on the 20th and concludes at 12 noon on the 21st. The
opening session will feature FHWA presentations on national issues affecting local roads.
This will be followed by a round table discussion with county engineers and road
supervisors from the various states.
Lunch will include the "You Show Us" awards presentation for all state
winners and the regional winner. This will be followed by sessions on unpaved roads and
management systems. The next day will features a round table discussion of road
construction, improvement and maintenance funding, "hot topics" with Bobby
Meister and concludes with door prizes and an awards ceremony.
Registration is $50 and includes: one lunch, one breakfast, breaks and all handout
materials. Mail or fax (POs only) registration to: Bobby Meister, Minnehaha County, PO Box
704, Sioux Falls, SD 57101, Phone (605) 367-4316, FAX (605) 367-7255.
A block of rooms is being held at the Ramkota Hotel. Please make your own reservations by calling (605) 343-8550.
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In anticipation of the coming winter maintenance season, the Utah Tē Center is holding two Winter Road Maintenance workshops--October 18 (Ogden) and 19 (American Fork). This workshop is designed for: (1) state and local highway agency construction and maintenance engineers and road personnel involved in winter maintenance of roads, as well as (2) contractor personnel who provide materials and perform this work for local agencies. Information covered during the workshop will include:
Cost of the course is $20 per person ($5 discount for ULGT members) and covers workshop
materials and lunch. You may register by phone at 1-800-822-8878), fax at (435) 797-1582
or by e-mail [utahltap@cc.usu.edu].
Please check the calendar for additional workshop offerings, or call the Utah Tē Center to schedule a specific workshop to meet your training needs!
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The Mountain Plains Consortium is sponsoring a regional survey to determine the needs of rural road users. Often times these needs get overlooked as emphasis and resources are placed on higher traffic roads. This survey is being conducted by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute under the direction of Jill Hough, principal investigator. The survey targets key rural road users, such as school bus drivers, mail carriers, farmers, etc. The results of the survey are expected to provide critical information to transportation decisions makers on the needs of the rural road user and hopefully bring balance to the allocation of resources. Please encourage your rural road user to respond to the survey.
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Over the years UDOT has taken a lead role both locally and nationally in efforts to
enhance and improve the performance of all types of pavements. In addition to being a lead
State in the implementation of " Superpave," UDOT recently acquired a new tool
that offers significant potential for making further improvements in asphalt pavement
technology. This is the "Asphalt Pavement Analyzer" developed and manufactured
by Pavement Technology Incorporated (PTi) a subsidiary of ASTEC Industries, Inc.
The Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) permits UDOT to quickly evaluate asphalt mixes and
pavements at all stages of construction and service life. Asphalt pavements typically fail
or wear out due to three principal mechanisms. These mechanisms are: rutting, fatigue
(alligator) cracking and/or stripping acting alone or in combination.
The APA performs tests covering all three of these mechanisms--a rutting test
(permanent deformation), a fatigue test for cracking, and moisture sensitivity test for
stripping. Recent studies at WesTrack, the National Center for Asphalt Technology, and the
Virginia Research Council indicate that correlations are excellent between the results of
the APA tests and actual field performance of asphalt pavements.
UDOT has begun to use the APA to test new asphalt mix designs, to evaluate the likely
performance of recently placed asphalt pavements, to diagnose asphalt pavement performance
problems, and to assure quality during construction. The potential cost savings along with
improved pavement performance resulting from use of the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer is
expected to be substantial.
Credit for the lead role UDOT has and is playing with regard to improving pavement
performance is largely credited to the leadership, initiative, and tireless work of UDOT's
Regional Materials and Pavements staff; namely, Wade Betenson, Steve Niederhauser, Cameron
Petersen, Murari Pradhan, and the other Regional Materials staffs. We commend UDOT's
Materials and Pavements staff for their efforts over the years.
The Utah Tē Center will be working closely with UDOT to evaluate and test asphalt mixes for use at the local level. The initial effort will be to test the potential performance of recently placed Superpave mixes used in Ogden and Orem. Those interested in having a local agency asphalt mix tested and evaluated may contact the Utah Tē Center at 1-800-822-8878.
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The date has been set for the 25th Annual Utah Asphalt Conference and the agenda is
currently in the development stage. Mark your calendars now, and plan to join us March
1-2, 2000 in Salt Lake City.
Current agenda options include sessions on:
With these and many more interesting and informative topics to be discussed, you won't want to miss this important conference. More information, including registration and hotel information, will be available in our next issue.
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Many local Utah agencies are now registered e-mail users. In view of this, we are now
using e-mail as another way of quickly advising and updating our customers on Tē Center
happenings. Registration remains open, and local Utah agency personnel are invited to
subscribe to our e-mail alert service. This list is restricted to use by our staff only,
and is used as follows:
You can subscribe to our e-mail alert service at our website [http://www.utaht2.usu.edu]:
1. Click on "e-mail alert" (at the bottom of the page)
2. Click on "click here to join"
3. Provide your name, agency name and e-mail address, and SEND!
Or to subscribe by phone, call Keri Shoemaker at 1-800-822-8878. NOTE: You can also register by e-mailing this information to us at [utahltap@cc.usu.edu].
You may think that your PC is "Y2K" compliant, and tests may have actually affirmed that your hardware is compliant. You may even have a company sticker affixed to your system saying "Y2K Compliant"...but you'll be surprised that Windows may still crash unless you do the simple exercise below. It's an easy fix, but something Microsoft seems to have missed in certifying their software as Y2K compliant. This is easy to do, but VERY important:
Unless you've previously changed it the setting will have just two Y's...it needs to be
four! That's because Microsoft made the two digit setting the default setting for Windows
95, Windows 98 and NT. This date format selected is the date that Windows feeds ALL
application software and will not rollover into the year 2000. It will roll over to the
year 00.
If you haven't already, you will still need to check your hardware, but this will help alleviate many of the Y2K software problems you might encounter.
excerpts taken from a presentation given by Tim Boschert, Utah Department of Transportation
UDOT has just put out a request for proposals (RFP) to begin developing an access
management manual including standards and processes for the "UDOT permitting process
for facility connection and driveways." In light of this development, here is an
overview of some of the things UDOT is doing to update their use of access management.
UDOT is currently working on assessing and enhancing the existing connection and driveway permitting process. This includes:
The existing driveway/connection permit process involves:
The updated process involves:
UDOT's Access Management Program hopes to evolve the driveway/connection permit process to include access management principles and practice at key points:
Through the principles and practice of access management, UDOT hopes to provide the best possible service to the traveling public.
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If an accident occurs involving a highway-railroad crossing, you might be surprised to
learn that finding out where that event occurred may be difficult...you need more than a
street address to effectively respond and even prevent such an accident. A new project
that the Utah Tē Center is working on--with UDOT, Union Pacific, OPERATION LIFESAVER, and
local agencies--hopes to determine how to increase communication and more safely manage
highway-railroad crossings.
The Railroad Crossing Management project has been working with a variety of
agencies--including Utah County--to determine an efficient inventory, inspection, and
management process. Utah County was selected for the pilot project primarily because of
their existing geographic and database information on Utah County railroad crossings. This
project utilizes the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to locate railroad
crossings and increase communication between the critical agencies involved.
A railroad crossing prototype application will be available on the web by the first of
October. This application will allow the user to visualize each railroad crossing
geographically as well as look at specific information for each crossing. The application
will also allow the user to search for a crossing using Union Pacific Reference Post, UDOT
route reference post, and local address. The project will also look at providing
controlled access to the information for updating inspection information and inputting
data as part of an inventory process. To increase safety, agencies need to be aware of
railroad crossings and understand their responsibility of maintaining and inspecting each
crossing regularly.
Increased communication allows various organizations to identify current and potential problems at railroad crossings. A coordinated inspection process produces timely information that can be used to make critical safety decisions. This increased communication enables railroad crossings to be managed safely as part of an integrated transportation system.
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Due to the large quantity of new materials in our library, we cannot list them all in
the space available in this newsletter. So, please check out our website
[http://www.utaht2.usu.edu/] for a complete, searchable listing (by title and topic).
The fastest and easiest way to submit a library request is on-line these days and the Tē Center has made is as simple as possible! Just follow these easy steps to submit your request:
Within a few seconds you will receive an on-screen confirmation indicating that your
request has been received (print for your records)! Your request will be taken care of
within 3 working days (often sooner)!
If you are looking for a specific item, please don't hesitate to call us about it at 1-800-822-8878 or (435) 797-2931. Library materials are available to local Utah agencies, free of charge.
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Local Utah agencies are welcome to order their copy of the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Control Devices from the Utah Tē Center. The cost per copy is $57, plus $3 shipping
(for a total of $60). This represents our cost to buy the materials.
We typically have 5-10 copies available at any given time. If you would like to order the MUTCD, please call Keri at 1-800-822-8878.