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                                                                                                             Traffic Safety Articles

NHTSA to apply new high-speed braking rules - street smarts - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

"Better watch out …" Anaconda MPs conducting traffic safety checks

Barricade provides temporary traffic control

Light/Flag Mount fits Type III Barricade systems

Fire and Safety Lights feature photoluminescent lens rings

Road construction expected to gain in 2005

Fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites

Construction climbs 4 percent in October, highways up 12 percent

ROAD WARRIOR; Port Road project returns with spring

NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS ON RECYCLING IN HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

 

    Hello, I am the owner of Brandon’s Safety Lights. I am going to be explaining to you what my prices are and how I am able to charge the least you will see here on the internet. The prices we are talking of are 12 volt or 6 volt, with photocell, Flasher or Steady burn.
    I am willing to sell these barricade lights in small quantities, such as just one for example, because I want to create a good relationship. I not only have a relationship with a manufacturer, but I also keep some at my office just incase someone only wants a couple. Mainly, big manufacturing companies don’t sell only one.
    You can count on us always having enough for bulk orders as well. We give great discounts when you buy in bulk. A quantity of 1-9 lights will be $14.99 each. 10-49 lights will be $13.99. 50-99 lights will be $12.99. 100-199 will be $12.50. 200-999 will be $11.99. 1000+ will be 11.50. (not including freight). Light prices include hardware, subtract $.50 without. Add $.79 per light for red lenses and clear. We have bulbs for 6 Volt/12 Volt starting at 50 cents each. We also have 6 volt batteries starting at $2.00.

 

Replacement parts
Adaptor .79
Bolt protector .36
Case top & bottom 2.90
Case w/head assembly 7.50
Amber lens 1.80
Red lens 2.00
Complete head assembly 4.35
Green Wire .10
Key (switch pin) .05
Lens screw .027
Lock ring .12
Marina Lens 6.50
Photo candle 4.45
Socket w/center wire .41
Nut plate .35
Switch .62


 

6 or 12 Volt candle assembly
Candle plain 1.00
Candle w/switch 1.40
Candle w/regular circuit w/o switch 3.65
Candle w/photocell circuit w/o switch 4.05
Candle w/steady burn photocell w/o switch
Transistor circuit regular 2.40
Transistor circuit photocell 3.10
Transistor circuit steady burn 3.10

Bolt
3.5” Long halfmoon (notched) .37
3.5” Long conehead .37
4.5” Long halfmoon .47
5.5” Long conehead 1.10


 
Hot stamp requirement
100 light minimum order
Stamp charge .50 per light

Wrenches
Collt wrench .70
Socket wrench half moon 7.05
Socket wrench for notched bolts 2.05

Road safety

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The field of road safety is concerned with reducing the numbers or the consequences of vehicle crashes, by developing and implementing management systems ideally based in a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, with interrelated activities in a number of fields. This has not always been the case, some historical road safety initiatives were based on overly simplistic models of driver behaviour


History
Crashes seem as old as automobile vehicles themselves. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. The first recorded automobile fatality was Bridget Driscoll in August 17, 1896 in London.
Many of the earliest innovations in road safety are credited to William Phelps Eno, sometimes known as the "father of traffic safety". He is credited with conceiving the stop sign, the traffic circle (roundabout), the one way street, and many other features of traffic control that are taken for granted today.
The earliest methods for improving road safety included traffic signs and signals, and road markings such as center lines, as well as compulsory driver testing and licensing.
The foregoing list of early interventions are some examples of the "three E's": Engineering, Education, and Enforcement efforts to overcome human error and imperfect human reliability. Road user error has been recognized as a principal causative factor of collisions from the beginning, since the percentage of crashes directly attributable to animals or mechanical failure is very small. The term "crash" is preferred by authorities rather than the popular term "accidents" so as to also encompass rare but deliberate acts, such as road rage. Generally, crashes appear to be results of the "three I's", that is, inattention, illness, or impairment, rather than malice or terror. Vulnerable road users bear the consequences of the 3 I's, even in the cases when they themselves are inattentive, ill, or impaired rather than a motorized user being, perhaps, impaired.


Defining the problem
The standard measures used in assessing road safety interventions are fatalities and Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) rates, usually per billion passenger kilometres.
Speed is a key goal of modern road design, but impact speed determines the severity of injury to both occupants and pedestrians. For occupants, Joksch (1993) found the probability of death for drivers in multi-vehicle accidents increased as the fourth power of impact speed (often referred to by the mathematical term dv ("delta V"), meaning change in velocity).
Pedestrians travel slowly, so dv is dominated in pedestrian collisions by vehicle speed. Best estimates suggest that 5% of pedestrians who are struck at 20 mph (30 km/h) are killed, 45% at 30 mph (50 km/h) and 85% at 40 mph (65 km/h) (Ashton and Mackay, 1979). On highways there are few pedestrians: same-direction crashes may have a low dv (although this may end up in a high dv if one or both vehicles then hits a stationary object) while opposing-direction crashes will have dv of roughly double mean free traveling speed, so most highways separate opposing traffic flows.
In the United Kingdom, pedestrians and pedal cyclists accounted for about 45% of KSI in built-up (urban) areas -- compared to 5% of KSI on roads intended solely for motorized traffic. Ongoing safety issues in built-up areas has led in some cases to a surprising reversal of a long-standing strategy: the strategy of segregating motorists from other, more vulnerable road users by the use of footpaths, underpasses, guard rails, etc.


The scale of the problem
Increasing motorization has resulted in a corresponding growth in crashes and it is currently accepted that in most OECD countries the cost of road traffic collisions amounts to about two per cent of their Gross domestic product (GDP). In developing countries, these losses can be greater than the amount received in international aid and loans, a fact that has prompted the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to include activities in this field as one of its priorities. In terms of fatalities, the worldwide estimation was 800,000 per year in 1999, forecast to grow to between 1.1 and 1.2 million by 2010 and to between 1.3 and 1.4 million by the year 2020. (Silcock, 2003). It has been estimated that cars have killed more people since their invention than all wars in the same period (including both World Wars).
Casualty rates vary widely from country to country, for reasons which are only imperfectly understood, although Smeed's law has been advanced as a partial explanation.
KILLED per 1 BILLION Veh·Km year 2003 KILLED per 1 BILLION Veh·Km year 2003 Country (alphabetically) Rate Country (re-ordered by rate) Rate Australia 8.0 Finland 7.6 Austria 11.7 United Kingdom 7.6 Belgium 16.3 The Netherlands 7.7 Canada 8.9 Australia 8.0 Czech Republic 31.7 Norway 8.3 Denmark 9.7 Sweden 8.3 Finland 7.6 Switzerland 8.8 France 10.9 Canada 8.9 Germany 9.7 The United States 9.4 Greece 26.7 Denmark 9.7 Iceland 16.0 Germany 9.7 Ireland 10.9 France 10.9 Italy 10.9 Ireland 10.9 Japan 11.2 Italy 10.9 Korea 26.0 Japan 11.2 The Netherlands 7.7 Austria 11.7 New Zealand 12.4 New Zealand 12.4 Norway 8.3 Iceland 16.0 Slovak Republic 46.9 Belgium 16.3 Slovenia 16.7 Slovenia 16.7 Sweden 8.3 Korea 26.0 Switzerland 8.8 Greece 26.7 United Kingdom 7.6 Czech Republic 31.7 The United States 9.4 Slovak Republic 46.9
source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD); all countries listed with overall fatality rates.
Top 10 Leading Contributors to the Global Burden of Disease or Injury
1990 2020 Disease or Injury Disease or Injury 1 Lower respiratory infections 1 Ischemic heart disease 2 Diarrhoeal diseases 2 Unipolar major depression 3 Perinatal conditions 3 Road traffic injuries 4 Unipolar major depression 4 Cerebrovascular disease 5 Ischaemic heart disease 5 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 6 Cerebrovascular disease 6 Lower respiratory infections 7 Tuberculosis 7 Tuberculosis 8 Measles 8 War 9 Road traffic injuries 9 Diarrhoeal diseases 10 Congenital Abnormalities 10 HIV
Source: Murray CJL, Lopez AD, eds.

In order to build a ranking, epidemiologist use estimated DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) lost as the measure of the burden of disease.
As can be seen, road traffic injuries are a growing health problem, and for year 2020 it is expected that will come to the third position. This is partly due to improvements in medicine reducing deaths from other causes but largely due to the steady increase in motorization around the world, reflecting the greater severity of motor traffic versus other causes of injury. In the UK, for example, motor traffic injuries are responsible for one in ten child hospital admissions but over half of all injury fatalities (2002 figures).
The scale of road casualties is also a concern for public health because it deters active travel (walking, cycling, etc.), and journeys deterred from these modes themselves become part of the problem.


Interventions
Interventions take many forms.


Road design
On neighborhood roads where many vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists (both young and old) can be found, traffic calming can be a tool for road safety. Shared space schemes, which rely on human instincts and interactions, such as eye contact, for their effectiveness, and are characterized by the removal of traditional traffic signals and signs, and even by the removal of the distinction between carriageway (roadway) and footway (sidewalk), are also becoming increasingly popular. Both approaches can be shown to be effective.
Outside neighborhood roads, design features are added to increase motorized safety and mobility. These features come at increasing costs; costs which include monetary amounts, decreased or discouraged usage by non-motorized travelers, as well as aesthetics. Benefits include a broader spectrum of occupational, cultural and entertainment options than enjoyed by more travel-limited generations.
At the other end of the spectrum from neighborhood roads are motorways, which may be called freeways, limited access highways, Autobahn, Interstates or other national names. Motorways have the best engineered road features, limited access and minimize opportunities for conflict so are typically the safest roads per mile traveled and offer better fuel economy despite higher average speeds.


Road Design Features
Better highways are banked on curves in order to reduce the need for tire-traction and increase stability for vehicles with high centers of gravity. Most roads are cambered (crowned), that is, made so that they have rounded surfaces, to reduce standing water and ice, primarily to prevent frost damage but also increasing traction in poor weather. Some sections of road are now surfaced with porous bitumen to enhance drainage; this is particularly done on bends.
Most street furniture is now designed to absorb impact energy and minimize the risk to the occupants of cars, and bystanders. For example, most side rails are now anchored to the ground, so that they cannot skewer a passenger compartment, and most light poles are designed to break at the base rather than violently stop a car that hits them. Some street furniture is designed to collapse on impact. Highways authorities have also removed trees in the vicinity of roads; while the idea of "dangerous trees" has attracted a certain amount of skepticism, unforgiving objects such as trees can cause severe damage and injury to any errant road users.
Road hazards and intersections are now usually marked several times, roughly five, twenty and sixty seconds in advance so that drivers are less likely to attempt violent maneuvers.
Most signs and road line paint are retro-reflective, incorporating small glass spheres to reflect headlights more efficiently.
Lane markers in some countries and states are marked with Cat's eyes or Botts dots, bright reflectors that do not fade like paint. Botts dots are not used where it is icy in the winter, because frost and snowplows can break the glue that holds them to the road, although they can be embedded in short, shallow trenches carved in the roadway, as is done in the mountainous regions of California.
In some countries major roads have "tone bands" impressed or cut into the edges of the legal roadway, so that drowsing drivers are awakened by a loud hum as they release the steering and drift off the edge of the road. Tone bands are also referred to as "rumble strips," owing to the sound they create.
The U.S. has developed a prototype automated roadway, to reduce driver fatigue and increase the carrying capacity of the roadway. Roadside units participating in future Wireless vehicle safety communications networks have been studied.
There is some controversy over the way that the motor lobby has been seen to dominate the road safety agenda. Some road safety activists use the term "road safety" (in quotes) to describe measures such as removal of "dangerous" trees and forced segregation of the vulnerable to the advantage of motorized traffic. Orthodox "road safety" opinion fails to address what Adams describes as the top half of the risk thermostat, the perceptions and attitudes of the road user community.


Motorway
Motorways have the highest design standards for speed, safety and fuel efficiency. Motorways improve safety by:
prohibiting vulnerable road users
prohibiting slow-moving vehicles, thus reducing speed variation and potential dv for same-direction travel
segregating opposing traffic flows with median dividers or crash barriers, thus reducing potential dv for opposite-direction collisions
separating crossing traffic by replacing intersections with interchanges, thus reducing potential dv into the side, most vulnerable vehicle section (side impacts are also responsible for some of the most serious traumatic brain injuries)
removing roadside obstacles.
Although these roads may experience greater severity than most roads to due higher speeds in the event of a crash, the probably of a crash is reduced by removing interactions (crossing, passing, slower and opposing traffic), and crash severity is reduced by removing massive, fixed objects or surrounding them with energy attenuation devices (e.g. guardrails, wide grassy areas, sand barrels). These mechanisms deliver lower fatalities per vehicle-kilometer of travel than other roadways, as documented in the following table.
In general, fatality rates are inversely correlated with AADT (average annual daily traffic), and this is remains true for motorways. It is unclear if higher AADT are generally correlated with lower fatality due to better access to medical care, lower speed variances, lower speeds, or other mechanisms such as Smeed's law.
 

The bi-direction traffic count representing an average 24-hour day in a year. Sometimes called "traffic density" although it ignores or assumes a constant number of travel lanes.
source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD), Risk Values in 2003 and Selected References Values for 2003 -- courtesy of the Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, that is, the (German) Federal Highway Research Institute. Travel was computed by dividing the fatality rate by the number of fatalities; AADT by dividing travel by the length of the motorway network. 2003 speed limits were obtained from the Wiki page and verified with other sources.
Motorways are far more expensive and space-consumptive to build than ordinary roads, so are only used as principal arterial routes. In developed nations, motorways bear a significant portion of motorized travel; for example, the United Kingdom's 3533 km of motorways represented less than 1.5% of the United Kingdom's roadways in 2003, but carry 23% of road traffic.
The proportion of traffic borne by motorways is a significant safety factor. For example, even though the United Kingdom had a higher fatality rates on both motorways and non-motorways than Finland, both nations shared the same overall fatality rate in 2003. This result was due to the United Kingdom's higher proportion of motorway travel.
Similarly, the reduction of conflicts with other vehicles on motorways results in smoother traffic flow, reduced collision rates, and reduced fuel consumption compared with stop-and-go traffic on other roadways.
The improved safety and fuel economy of motorways are common justifications for building more motorways. However, the planned capacity of motorways is often exceeded in a shorter timeframe than initially planned, due to the under estimation of the extent of the suppressed demand for road travel. In developing nations, there is significant public debate on the desirability of continued investment in motorways.
Motorways around the world are subject to a broad range of speed limits. Recent experiments with variable speed limits based on automatic measurements of traffic density have delivered both improvements in traffic flow and reduced collision rates, based on principles of turbulent flow analysis.


Drivers and vehicles
Safety interventions focusing on the driver and vehicle include:
Seat belts, including seat belt legislation. Seat belts are now fitted by law in both front and rear of most passenger cars and an increasing number of public transit vehicles.
Safety cages, which protect the driver from intrusion by impacting objects, and crumple zones, which absorb collision energy.
Compulsory training and licensing (although this is often a once-off thing some countries require periodic retests and others will require drivers convicted of offences to undergo certain training and retests before being allowed back on the roads). (see: traffic psychology)
Restrictions on driving while drunk or impaired by drugs.
Restrictions on mobile phone use while on the move.
Compulsory safety testing of vehicles over a certain age.
Compulsory insurance to compensate victims.
Restrictions on commercial vehicle driver hours, and fitting of tachographs.
Some of these interventions have been opposed by car manufacturers (see Unsafe at Any Speed) or by drivers, or by academics who believe that because of the risk compensation effect some of these measures may actually reduce road safety overall.
Employers currently escape, for the most part, the chain of responsibility for their employees' driving on company business. Truck drivers, especially self-employed ones, can be given unrealistic deadlines to meet. There are moves to bring driving for work (both commercial vehicles and, more controversially, private cars driven on company business) under the umbrella of workplace safety legislation. These are strongly resisted as they would place a far greater burden on employers and employees alike: penalties for industrial safety infractions are typically much greater than for negligent motor vehicle use.


Other road users
Interventions aimed at improving safety of non-motorized users:
segregated facilities such as cycle lanes, underpasses and over bridges
pedestrian barriers to prevent pedestrians crossing at junctions
limiting pedestrian access to highways
bicycle helmet promotion and compulsion
traffic awareness campaigns such as the "one false move" campaign documented by Hillman et. al.
pedestrian crossings, which are seen as restricting the number of points at which a road may be crossed and often requiring detours.
traffic calming and speed humps
shared space schemes giving ownership of the road space and equal priority to all road users, regardless of mode of use
reduced urban speed limits
rigorous speed limit enforcement by automated means such as speed cameras


Criticisms


Non-motorized lobby
Pedestrians' advocates, environmental groups and related organizations such as Road Peace have been strongly critical of what they see as moves to solve the problem of danger posed to vulnerable road users by motor traffic through increasing restrictions on vulnerable road users, an approach which they believe both blames the victim and fails to address the problem at source. This is discussed in detail by Dr Robert Davis in the book Death on the Streets: Cars and the mythology of road safety, and the core problem is also addressed in books by Professor John Adams, Mayer Hillman and others.
It is argued by some that the problem of road safety is largely being stated in the wrong terms because most road safety measures are designed to increase the safety of drivers, but many road traffic casualties are not drivers (in the UK only 40% of casualties are drivers), and those measures which increase driver safety may, perversely, increase the risk to these others, through risk compensation.
The core elements of the thesis are:
that vulnerable road users are marginalized by the "road safety" establishment
that "road safety" interventions are often centered around reducing the severity of results from dangerous behaviors, rather than reducing the dangerous behaviors themselves
that improved "road safety" has often been achieved by making the roads so hostile that those most likely to be injured cannot use them at all
that the increasing "safety" of cars and roads is often counteracted wholly or in part by driver responses (risk compensation).
Pedestrians in particular are often reluctant to use segregated facilities which involve them in extra distance, extra effort (e.g. over bridges) or perceived extra risk (underpasses, often a haunt of muggers). Pedestrians' advocates question the equitability of reducing the danger posed to pedestrians by car drivers, through mechanisms which place the primary burden on the victims.


Case study: UK pedestrian safety

The "road safety" establishment is proud of the fact that the UK has among the best pedestrian safety records in Europe, as measured in pedestrian KSI per head of population. But it has been noted that this value would also be low if the roads were sufficiently dangerous as to deter pedestrians from using them at all. One way of testing this hypothesis would be to compare rates for those whose transport options are most limited, the elderly and children. Hillman and others have done this and found that:
Britain's child pedestrian safety record is worse than the average for Europe, in contrast to the better than average all-ages figure (Department for Transport)
Children's independent mobility is increasingly curtailed, with fear of traffic being cited as a dominant cause (Hillman, Adams, Whitelegg)
Distances walked have declined more than in other European countries
Similar (though less well-defined) observations can be made regarding the elderly
So there is some evidence at least to support the contention that Britain's roads are not in fact particularly safe at all, it is just that the vulnerable are too intimidated to use them.


Motorized lobby
Driver's organizations and road safety campaigning organizations such as the Association of British Drivers and Safe Speed in the UK argue that the strict enforcement of speed limits does not necessarily result in safer driving, and may even have a negative effect on road safety in general. These claims are not supported by peer-reviewed evidence.
Many groups argue that speed humps result in increased air pollution, increased noise pollution, and even unnecessary vehicle damage.
 

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

 

 

 

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is a U.S. Government agency, part of the Department of Transportation, responsible for setting safety standards and verifying compliance by automobile manufacturers.
It also issues recall notices that ensure full awareness of mechanical problems with cars sold in the US, and publishes the results of safety tests of various automobiles, to allow buyers to evaluate the anticipated behavior of an automobile in a crash.


History

In 1958, the UN established the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. This development was not noted in the United States at the time, but vehicles meeting these established safety standards were legal to import into the United States.
In 1965 and 1966, public pressure grew in the US to increase the safety of cars, culminating with the publishing of Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed, and the National Academy of Sciences' "Accidental Death and Disability - The Neglected Disease of Modern Society".
In 1966, Congress held a series of highly publicized hearings regarding highway safety, and passed legislation to make installation of seat belts mandatory, and created several predacessor agencies which would eventually become the NHTSA, including the National Traffic Safety Agency, the National Highway Safety Agency, and the National Highway Safety Bureau.
The NHTSA was officially established in 1970 by the Highway Safety Act of 1970. In 1972, the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act expanded NHTSA's scope to include consumer information programs.
Since this era, automobiles have become far better in protecting their occupants in vehicle impacts. The number of deaths on American highways hover around 40,000 annually, a lower death rate per mile travelled than in the 1960's.
NHTSA has conducted numerous high-profile investigations of automotive safety issues, including the Audi 5000/60 Minutes affair and the Ford Explorer rollover problem.
Consumers today have a far greater amount of auto safety information available, due to the efforts of NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.


Born from Oligopoly
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see discussion on the talk page.
In the era when NHTSA began, a commonly repeated saying in the US auto industry was "safety does not sell." From a modern perspective, this seems unusual, since auto manufacturers now prominently feature safety features and positive safety ratings in their advertising, but the automobile market in the US at this time in history had some unusual characteristics.
At the time NHTSA was established, the US auto market was an oligopoly, with just three companies controlling 85% of the market. These auto makers were each producing basically the same car with minor styling variations. These manufacturers were isolated from both imports and exports of vehicles by producing extremely large, uneconomical automobiles, unsalable in most other nations.
In economics, oligopoly is a type of market failure. US manufacturers (which had innovated the automatic transmission, air conditioning, and power steering in the post-War years) suddenly realized that any innovation - safety or otherwise - would be unprofitable. Without choices that include superior products, consumers effectively have no choice.
The major car safety innovations of the 20th century, like roll cage construction, seat belts, disk brakes, anti-lock brakes, and traction control, were therefore developed abroad in response to competitive market forces in those territories.
Government agencies have a modest record of success in the area of innovation and breakthrough design, but they are widely perceived as good at establishing minimum acceptable standards.
Faced with this situation, the normally free market capitalist Americans sought government help. Car manufacturers appeared to be forcing unsafe cars on Americans. Some saw parallels to the 1906 case of Upton Sinclair and meatpacking. Command and control legislation appeared to many to be a wise course of action at the time.
This move was controversial, with other Americans feeling that if a certain passenger vehicle is not safe, the consumer is perfectly free not to purchase it. They would point to Volvo, which equipped its cars with seat belts beginning in 1959, and was available to Americans. The real market failure in this view was the lack of safety information. Other than providing this information, the government has no role.
The command and control group won this argument and NHTSA reflects this view. Cars that fall outside of NHTSA regulations are actually illegal for Americans to possess.
Today the US auto market has fragmented and is far more competitive, leading to advances in car safety, technological innovation, and price competition.


Unintended consequences
Design legislation led to many unintended consequences, especially in the early days of NTHSA.
Many of these spring from the fact that Americans in the 1960's, 1970's, and early 1980's often preferred not to wear seat belts - yet these were single most important saftey device ever created. NHTSA struggled with this fact and came up with the seatbelt interlock in 1974, that prevented the car from starting unless the occupants were belted. The interlock provoked such an uproar that it was quickly pulled from the market.
Also in 1974, NHTSA banned the Citroen SM automobile, which contemporary journalists noted was one of the safest vehicles available at the time, due to an non-safety related design issue. The law under which the SM was banned was repealed in 1981. Lincoln re-introduced a similar powered suspension system to the US market in 1988.
NHTSA also administers the controversial Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program. The Wall Street Journal and others have argued that this program distorts market incentives, forcing people to buy smaller, less safe vehicles. CAFE may indeed be a driving factor behind the explosion in demand for the CAFE-exempt SUV. The counter argument is that politically reflecting the actual cost of oil and its externalities to the US consumer is not politically feasible.
[edit]

Aerodynamics brings change to NHTSA

In the 1980's, NHTSA suddenly faced a conflict between its mission to enforce the laws Congress had mandated on automobiles and it's objective to increase vehicle fuel economy. Ford, a major U.S. car company. wished to introduce the first aerodynamically designed American family sedan as a 1986 model - the Ford Taurus. The design of this vehicle would not achieve decent aerodynamic performance if forced to comply with the 1937 regulation on automobile headlights then in force and administered by NHTSA.
With the lobbying muscle of Ford, a change in the headlight law was finally enacted.


The Grey Market
The United States has chosen to make is automobile design regulations incompatible with those of other industrialised nations, such as the European Union and Japan.
Since NHTSA regulations have no provision for equivalency, and full NHTSA type approval costs approximately $2 million, the availability of some cars to American consumers is restricted. This particularly impacts low volume manufacturers.
Because of the unavailability of certain cars, the grey market for vehicles arose in the late 1970's. This provided an alternate method to acquire these vehicles, and still obtain NHTSA certification. The success of the grey market, however, ate into the business of Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc, which launched a successful congrssional lobbying effort to eliminate this alternative in 1988.
It is no longer possible to import a non-US vehicle into the United States as a personal import, with one exception. In 1998, NHTSA granted vehicles over 25 years of age dispensation from the rules it administers, since these are presumed to be collector vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A barricade is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. As a military term, the barricade denotes any improvised field fortification, most notably on the city streets during urban warfare.
It is also used to describe the devices actually used for this purpose. Some examples are:

A temporary traffic barricade, pictured here, which has the goal of dissuading passage into a protected or hazardous area.
A large slab of cement or specially formed plastic tub of water, whose goal is to actively prevent forcible passage by a vehicle.
 

 

"Barricade lights

SeeMee, Inc. showed its Millennium Always Bright, a new LED technology for barricade lights. A new manufacturing process carefully calibrates and fixes the brightness level of individual LEDs so that output is reliable over an extended period (2,000 hrs./six months). This means that drivers receive consistent protection from a high-performance barricade light system. In addition, the technology allows each light to carry a certificate of compliance with industry standards, eliminating a common liability question for contractors of whether or not barricades were visible enough to drivers in the case of vehicular work-zone accidents.

-Wikipedia

 

C&C Signal’s new D-cell, LED barricade light features a lens that was designed with significantly improved optics and greater durability.

The stronger LED holder is made from a new high-impact plastic and the case housing’s neck is almost unbreakable. The light is one of the most serviceable in the industry with fewer, less-expensive parts and is available in two models.

 

The new Barricade View is a low-cost alternative to traditional barricade lights that require less maintenance, no batteries, and less replacement due to theft. Made of aluminum with Fluorescent Yellow Diamond Grade sheeting, the unit improves reflectivity and comes with easy-to-install hardware. It can be mounted on barricades, channelizers, and delineators. Other colors are available

 

The Solar Powered Hazard Light is sold in every state in the country and features a crystalline solar panel, removable solar panel protector, board-mounted on/off switch, and high impact lens. The barricade light’s polypropylene base is designed for all applications and security mounting hardware is included. Solar Masters.

 

The new parade-style, A-frame barricade system from Davidson Traffic Control Products offers temporary or long-term installations. The barricade is made from a durable, yet lightweight plastic that will not rot, rust, crack, or peel. The double-slotted frame will hold either one or two 2- by 8-inch panels in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, or 12-foot lengths. The barricades are striped with 3M Scotchlite High Intensity Work Zone Sheeting to offer high performance reflectivity. "

  -Betterroads.com

 

Empco introduced their new lightweight D-cell LED barricade light at the recent ATSSA convention. The Y2K light has a three way switch and an estimated battery life of 5 to 6 months for a flasher and 3 months for a steady burn.

 

While EPA'S 2007 diesel engine emission rules make most of the engine headlines these days, there are some other big changes ahead which will have significant impact on heavy trucks in the same time frame. The biggest, perhaps, is the yet-to-be-announced 60 mph brake performance rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Later this year NHTSA is expected to start rulemaking which will require substantially shorter stopping distances for heavy trucks and tractor trailers.

Truck manufacturers and brake suppliers are anticipating this and engineering is already underway. The rule is likely to require manufacturers to upgrade today's S-cam air brake systems, especially front brakes, to get more braking torque.

More powerful front brakes, whether larger S-cams or the adoption of air discs, will significantly change braking dynamics and vehicle handling. There will be much more weight transfer to the front axle during heavy (panic) braking. This will require beefier front suspensions and steering gear.

These changes are likely to come at the same time as the 2007 model engines, which must comply with EPA'S super-low N[O.sub.x] and particulates rule. The latter will require exhaust traps (filters) for the first time, another big-ticket item to add to 2007-model price tags. Truck users, fleets and owner operators alike, are just now learning that the engine/brake/chassis changes all hitting at the same time will raise the price of a Class 8 chassis at least $10,000 and perhaps $15,000. This is a huge hit, one which heavy truck buyers will undoubtedly resist by delaying new purchases just as they did in 2003.

But the big surprise, which doesn't have a time deadline yet, is what I call NHTSA'S 75 mph surprise. At the SAE Truck and Bus meeting last November in Fort Worth, Texas, NHTSA'S Duane Perrin, chief of the Crash Avoidance Division, Office of Vehicle Safety Research, told the largely engineering audience what his agency has learned from testing big rig brakes above 60 mph. This was a first and caught many by surprise.

As Perrin showed charts and graphs illustrating ongoing truck-brake research, up popped a slide with the subhead "75 mph." It read as follows:

* Stopping distances increase with the square of speed.

* In-stop (brake) fade is more likely from higher speeds.

* 42 states have legal speed limits for big trucks above 60 mph.

* Nine states now have 75 mph legal speed limits for big rigs.

As his presentation progressed, we saw charts comparing tractor stopping distances from 75 mph with traditional S-cam brakes, air disc brakes and with electronically controlled braking systems (ECBS). The graphs showed clearly that the air discs with their greater torque input and fade resistance, can stop a big rig or heavy straight truck in one-third less distance.

Following presentations showed fade resistance comparing S-cams with air discs both from 60 and 75 mph. As brakes heated up during a series of 17 stops, fade got progressively worse on the S-cams and more than doubled stopping distances by the 17th stop. With air discs, there was a slight distance increase starting at the 10th stop but no change in distances below that.

The unanswered question was what is the likelihood of a big rig having to make emergency (panic) stops from 75 mph? There's no denying the facts that drum-type brakes expand rapidly from high heat. Expanded drums require linings to move out further to meet the dram. This, in turn, requires more push-rod travel and more air needed in each brake chamber. It's a losing battle.

Perrin wouldn't say new rules were in the works for 75 mph brake performance, but he did indicate NHTSA would be gathering more data at this higher speed. In talking with brake engineers afterwards, there was no question in their minds that NHTSA is clearly on a 75 mph path. The question is, how soon? A 75 mph stopping performance requirement will clearly drive a change over to air disc brakes. It's only a matter of time--and costs!

STREET SMARTS IS A MONTHLY COLUMN DEVOTED TO THE ON-HIGHWAY ENGINE MARKET. JIM WINSOR IS EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF HEAVY DUTY TRUCKING AND DIRECTOR OF MARKETING FOR NEWPORT COMMUNICATIONS.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

 

END OF ARTICLE

"Better watch out …" Anaconda MPs conducting traffic safety checks

Jack Gordon

LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, BALAD, Iraq -- If you're behind the wheel of a vehicle on the streets here, be certain you've dotted all the "i"s and crossed all the "t"s in the phrase "traffic safety," since it's awareness of the camp's vehicle operations policies and safety requirements military police here from the 362nd MP Company are attempting to instill and enforce.

We're heading up a TCP (Traffic Control Point) here," said SSG David Burton. "If there's anything wrong with vehicle registration or paperwork, we'll call back to our office and correct it here and now."

For vehicle identification and control, as well as force protection, all vehicles operating on Anaconda must first be registered at the 362nd's station located off Pennsylvania Avenue--somehow appropriate for the Army Reserve unit from Ashley, Pa., that is now tasked with conducting all law enforcement operations within the camp's perimeter.

"We're trying to root out everybody who's not following the rules--rules save lives and the Army has rules--so we're cracking down on Soldiers who are breaking the rules," said SGT Diery Louis. If somebody is coming to Anaconda, they need to know that we're out here."

Soldiers aren't the only ones who fall under the jurisdiction of the 362nd--all civilian contractors operating motor vehicles on Anaconda are too, subject to the camp's traffic regulations and the MPs' enforcement of them.

"We check the non-tactical vehicles for registration and seat belt compliance," SPC Christopher O'Brien said, "and we check the tactical vehicles for a co-driver, vehicle dispatch, seat belts, and that the Soldiers are wearing Kevlar (the Army's helmet made of Kevlar). O'Brien said they encounter violations at every TCP. The procedure isn't designed to harass troops, but to ensure adherence to established safety rules.

"The non-tactical vehicles are mostly good," said O'Brien. "The tactical vehicles are mostly OK too, but with the non-up-armored HUMVEEs--a lot of Soldiers don't think you need a co-driver, but you do. A single driver is not authorized."

The increasing threat of roadside and vehicle-born IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) has the Army welding quarter-inch steel plate on the sides and gun turrets of many of its vehicles to protect Soldiers from shrapnel. Newer HUMVEEs are much more heavily armored and outfitted with bulletproof glass windshields and windows that make driving maneuvers like backing up more difficult.

"We're just enforcing the safety rules," said SPC Thomas Relation. "The HUMVEEs need the assistant driver." The assistant driver is also responsible for ground-guiding the vehicle any time it enters a troop or bivouac area, for additional safety. The MPs' efforts are not lost on the Command Sergeant Major of the 13th Corps Support Command (COSCOM) and LSA Anaconda, CSM Dan Elder.

"This is extremely important," Elder said. "Sometimes in an environment like this, Soldiers feel safer, and though it's much safer than it is outside the perimeter, there are still risks associated with operating motor vehicles without the proper safety gear and seat restraints. This helps Soldiers realize the risks and dangers--and it reminds them of the importance of using these protective items."

Only days earlier, some Soldiers here were undoubtedly surprised after they were halted at a TCP and instead of an MP, the sergeant major approached them. Elder believes in the safety checks so much he participates in them, reinforcing the drivers' awareness of the 13th COSCOM's focus on safety--a focus the 362nd MP Company's troops are bringing into sharper clarity.

"These MPs have a large mission for a small organization," Elder said. "They're doing a great job with limited resources--they're supporting this camp well."

MSG Jack Gordon

Public Affairs Acquisition Team

U.S. Army Reserve

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Army Reserve
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 

 

END OF ARTICLE

 

Barricade provides temporary traffic control

The Mast(TM) is made of UV-stabilized prime polyethylene resin with molded-through hardware holes for added strength and to facilitate installation. Uprights meet all applicable MUTCD specifications. Warning light and 2 flags can be installed on each upright. The Mast(TM) will accept The Wave(TM) molded centerboards, extruded centerboards, and most other plastic centerboards available.

********************

. . . joins the growing product line from PSS, a major supplier of temporary traffic control products

Many features surround "The Mast(TM)" and include:

o NCHRP-350 certified.

o A warning light and two flags can be installed on each upright.

o The Mast(TM) uprights meet all applicable MUTCD specifications.

o Up to 25 sq, ft. of lightweight or roll-up sign material has been approved.

o The Mast(TM) is made of durable U.V. stabilized prime polyethylene resin.

o Molded through hardware holes for added strength and ease of installation.

o Will accept PSS The Wave(TM) molded centerboards, PSS extruded centerboards and most other plastic centerboards available today.

o Recessed hardware holes, when used with The Wave(TM) centerboards, allows for flush mount hardware on front and back of barricade system. This greatly reduces reflective sheeting abrasion during transportation.

FREE LITERATURE

Plastic Safety Systems, Inc. is a major supplier of temporary traffic control products, "On The Roadway For Safety[R]."

Plastic Safety Systems, Inc., 2444 Baldwin Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44104; Phone (216) 231-8590, 1-800-662-6338; Fax (216) 231-2702; Email: sales@plasticsafety.com.

COPYRIGHT 2005 ThomasNet, Incorporated
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 

 

END OF ARTICLE

 

Light/Flag Mount fits Type III Barricade systems

Made of UV-stabilized prime polyethylene resin, Light and Flag Mount accommodates up to 2 warning flags and 1 warning light. Hardware holes are molded through for strength and to facilitate installation. Mount is compatible with PSS extruded uprights and 13/4 x 13/4 in. metal or plastic uprights, as well as 2 or 3 lb U-channel uprights.

********************

Plastic Safety Systems, Inc., a major supplier of traffic control systems, presents a light and flag mount combination.

Light and Flag Mount Compatible with ...

o PSS Extruded Uprights

o 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" Metal or Plastic Uprights

o 2 lb. or 3 lb. U-Channel Uprights

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

o Each light Flag Mount can take up to two warning flags and one warning light.

o Light and flag mount can be used with most uprights.

o Made of durable UV stabilized prime polyethylene resin.

o No additional hardware needed to mount on PSS uprights.

o Hardware holes molded through for strength and easy installation.

Plastic Safety Systems, Inc., 2444 Baldwin Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44104; Phone (216) 231-8590, 1-800-662-6338; Fax (216) 231-2702; Email: sales@plasticsafety.com.

"On The Roadway For Safety[R]," the trademark of PSS, a major supplier of traffic control products.

COPYRIGHT 2005 ThomasNet, Incorporated
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 

 

END OF ARTICLE

 

Fire and Safety Lights feature photoluminescent lens rings

Available in both incandescent and Recoil LED(TM) models, Photoluminescent Series features special material in lens ring that maintains charge from exposure to ambient light from almost any source, including light bulbs, sun, or flashlight's own beam. Resulting green glow shines like beacon even after light is switched off, enabling firefighters and other safety professionals who work in low-light environments to find lost flashlight.

********************

TORRANCE, CA - March 3, 2006 - Shining the way for safety lights to come, Pelican(TM) Products has unveiled glow-in-the-dark versions of their most popular fire and safety lights which will feature photoluminescent lens rings.

The special material in the lens ring maintains a charge from exposure to ambient light from almost any source, including light bulbs, the sun or even the flashlight's own beam. The resulting green glow shines like a beacon even after the light is switched off. So firefighters and other safety professionals, who work in low-light environments, can easily find their lost flashlight in a dark or smoky environment.

The photoluminescent series features both incandescent and cutting-edge Recoil LED(TM) models of Pelican's classic lights. They include:

o SabreLite(TM)2000

o SabreLite 2010 Recoil LED

o StealthLite(TM) 2400

o StealthLite 2410 Recoil LED

o Big Ed(TM) 3700

o Big Ed Rechargeable 3750

o Little Ed(TM) 3600

o Little Ed 3610 Recoil LED

Like all Pelican products, the Photoluminescent Lights are backed by their Legendary Lifetime Guarantee of Excellence, "You Break It, We Replace It...Forever."(TM)

About Pelican Products

Pelican Products is a leading manufacturer of technically advanced flashlights and high-impact, watertight equipment Protector(TM) Cases. For more information contact the company at 23215 Early Ave., Torrance, CA 90505. Phone: (310) 326-4700 or (800) 473-5422 (Outside CA), Fax: (310) 326-3311, www.pelican.com, sales@pelican.com.

All trademarks and logos displayed herein are registered and unregistered trademarks of Pelican Products, Inc. and others.

COPYRIGHT 2006 ThomasNet, Incorporated
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group

 

END OF ARTICLE

Road construction expected to gain in 2005

In its "2005 U.S. Markets Construction Overview," management consulting firm FMI Corp. has an optimistic view for highway and road construction. FMI says despite several obstacles and market uncertainties over the past 12 months, the U.S. highway construction industry has continued to experience positive gains in volume, a trend that is expected to continue, albeit at a moderating pace, for at least the next two years. While 2004 was a year of "wait and see" for the industry, 2005 will prove critical in determining both the volume and direction of highway-infrastructure improvements for the remainder of the decade.

FMI estimates that highway construction expenditures will increase by approximately 3 percent in 2004, to a mark just shy of $64 billion. The year 2005 will be a near repeat in pace of growth, adding another $2 billion in volume put-in-place. This is slightly greater than what has been witnessed over the past two years, when growth was closer to 2 percent.

It is said that timing is everything, and timing is precisely why the near-term growth outlook for highway construction falls below initial expectations. Under normal conditions, it could well be expected that 2004 and 2005 would see an increase in spending of perhaps twice as much or more than currently projected. However, the lack of a permanent federal transportation act has left the various state transportation agencies in a state of limbo and is the primary limiting factor for the industry.

The previous six-year federal transportation act, TEA-21, expired on Sept. 30, 2003. Since no new bill was enacted at that time, the state transportation agencies have been operating under a series of extensions for more than nine months. The uncertainty and disruption caused by this situation has limited the planning and programming capabilities of these agencies and subsequent project letting capabilities, a condition that will continue until a permanent bill is enacted.

To illustrate this point, the American Road and Transportation Builder's Association (ARTBA) reported that by the end of April 2004 (a full seven months into the 2004 federal fiscal year) approximately $10 billion in federal funds had been obligated to the states.

This is just about half the amount that would have been witnessed under normal circumstances. .

Information for this section courtesy of FMI Corp.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Questex Media Group, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group Barricade Lights

 

END OF ARTICLE   

Fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites

Stephen Pegula

During the 1995 to 2002 period, 844 workers were killed while working at a road construction site. (1) More than half of these fatalities were attributable to a worker being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment. The range of these fatal occupational injuries was a low of 93 in 1996 and a high of 124 in 1999, as shown below:

1995    94
1996    93
1997    94
1998    113
1999    124
2000    106
2001    118
2002    102

Fatal workplace injuries at road construction sites were first identified as a separate category in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) in 1995. Since that time, overall workplace fatalities have generally declined, but fatalities at road construction sites have fluctuated, staying in the low 100's since 1998. Workplace fatalities that occur at a road construction site typically account for 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent of all workplace fatalities annually.

A number of safety measures exist for road construction sites. For instance, the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices provides guidance ranging from the types of signs to use at a road construction site to the proper use of rumble strips. (2) In addition, the Federal Highway Administration offers tips for motorists on traveling safely through road construction sites. (3) As fatal work injuries at road construction sites continue to account annually for a large number of fatal occupational injuries, it becomes even more important to determine the types of workers involved in road construction site fatalities and the events that precipitate the fatalities. (4)

What is a road construction site?

There are various definitions of what constitutes a road construction site. According to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, a road construction site includes, "... road construction workers and vehicle occupants fatally injured in work zones. Work zones include construction, maintenance, and utility work on a road, street, or highway." The Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices gives this definition, "A work zone is an area of a highway with construction, maintenance, or utility work activities. A work zone is typically marked by signs, channelizing devices, barriers, pavement markings, and/or work vehicles. It extends from the first warning sign or high-intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights on a vehicle to the END ROAD WORK sign or the last TTC [temporary traffic control] device." (5)

In this report, only fatal work injuries that occurred at road construction sites as defined by CFOI are included in the analysis. Fatal work injuries at road construction sites were identified in two ways. First, all occupational fatalities that were coded as having occurred at a road construction site were included. (6) Next, the remaining CFOI record set was searched for key variables that might indicate that a fatal work injury did indeed occur at a road construction site, but was not coded as such. These variables include:

* Keywords. Records with narratives containing variations on the following words were examined-zone, construction site, worksite, pedestrian, road construction, road site, flag, cone, road crew, highway construction, street construction, barrel, manhole, road repair, painting line, pothole, and sewer.

* Industry. All records in which the decedent was employed in Standard Industrial Classification (sic) 1611--Highway and Street Construction; or sic 1622Bridge, Tunnel, and Elevated Highway Construction; and where the fatality occurred on a roadway were examined.

* Occupation. All records in which the decedent was employed, per the U.S. Census Bureau Occupation Codes, as a construction laborer (869), operating engineer (844), or paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operator (594), and where the fatality occurred on a roadway were examined.

* Worker activity. All records in which the decedent was, as classified by the CFOI worker activity codes, directing or flagging traffic (150); walking behind a vehicle (162); or resurfacing, blacktopping, etc. (140); and where the fatality occurred on a roadway were examined.

* Source and secondary source. All records in which the source or secondary source of the fatal work injury, as classified by the Occupational Injury and Illnesses Classification System, was construction, logging, and mining machinery (codes 3200 to 3299) and where the fatality occurred on a roadway were examined.

* Event. All records in which the decedent was killed, as classified in the Occupational Injury and Illnesses Classification System, by being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment and where the fatality occurred on a roadway were examined.

Records found through this key variable search deemed to have occurred at a road construction site (per the CFOI definition), but not coded as road construction, were recoded for this report. (7)

Limitations of the data. The consistency of the application of the road construction site location code in CFOI could affect the data used for this analysis. An examination of the CFOI narratives shows that the road construction site location code was applied more rigorously later in the study period. (8) More cases in need of recoding were found in the early years of the study than in the latter years. These different applications of the code may skew the data; that is, the increase in fatal work injuries at road construction sites over time may be partly due to the more rigorous application of the location code in the latter years of the study period.

Dangers at road construction sites

Few work environments present the multitude of risks as do road construction sites. For example, vehicles may pass by at high speeds, and the work conditions are constantly changing. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that injuries at road construction sites are a major concern. In 2001, 1,079 people were killed at a road construction site. (9) This figure includes people who were not at work at the time of their death, such as occupants of vehicles passing through road construction sites for nonwork-related reasons.

Highway traffic is a concern for workers at a road construction site, but workers also face a similar danger from vehicles and mobile equipment being used at such sites. As shown later, fatally injured workers at road construction sites were more likely to be struck and killed by construction vehicles and equipment than by automobiles.

To improve the country's roads, Congress passed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998. This act provided more than $200 billion dollars for transportation-related programs. (10) This legislation is in the process of being renewed. (11) Improving the country's roads will mean that more road construction sites will be needed. To better protect workers, the Federal Government has taken steps to improve safety in work zones. For example, in 2001, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published "Building Safer Highway Workzones: Measures to Prevent Worker Injuries From Vehicles and Equipment." (12) In addition, the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse was created in February of 1998 to improve safety in highway work zones. (13) This clearinghouse provides access to data, training, and safety information for workers at road construction sites.

Data analysis

Demographics. As mentioned earlier, over the 1995-2002 period, 844 workers lost their lives due to fatal work injuries incurred at a road construction site. (See table 1.) The workplace fatality demographic breakdown for this group was very similar to the workplace fatality demographic breakdown for workers in general. Males accounted for 93 percent (787) of the workplace fatalities at a road construction site, compared with 92 percent for all workplace fatalities. White workers accounted for 73 percent (613) of the road construction site workplace fatalities and 73 percent of fatally injured workers overall. Black workers and Hispanic workers represented 10 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of workplace fatalities occurring at road construction sites, and 10 percent and 12 percent of workplace fatalities to all workers.

In terms of age, approximately 70 percent (594) of the decedents were between the ages of 25 and 54. Workers under age 25 made up 10 percent of fatal work injuries incurred at a road construction site and 11 percent of fatal work injuries overall. Workers age 55 and older accounted for 20 percent of the fatal work injuries incurred at a road construction site and 22 percent of workplace fatalities overall. Workers killed at a road construction site were largely working for wage and salary; approximately 96 percent (811) of the decedents were wage/salary workers, while only 4 percent were self-employed. For overall workplace fatalities from 1995 to 2002, 80 percent of the decedents were wage/salary workers and 20 percent were self-employed.

Texas had the largest number of workplace fatalities at road construction sites; 8 percent (71) of the workplace fatalities occurred in this State. (See table 2, page 45.) Other States with a large number of these types of occupational fatalities included California (6 percent), Florida (5 percent), Ohio (5 percent), Pennsylvania (5 percent), and New York (5 percent).

Eventor exposure. More than four-fifths (693) of occupational fatalities that occur at a road construction site were caused by transportation incidents. Most prevalent were workers who were struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment, who accounted for approximately 60 percent (509) of all fatal work injuries that occurred at a road construction site. (See table 3, page 45.) Other fatal events of note included highway collisions between vehicles or mobile equipment (10 percent of all fatal work injuries at a road construction site), being struck by an object (5 percent), and falls (3 percent).

Industry and occupation. In the private sector, 82 percent (566) of the road construction site decedents worked in construction. (See table 4, page 45.) Most of these construction fatalities (60 percent) were incurred by workers in highway and street construction. No other major industry group in the private sector accounted for more than 8 percent of the fatalities. Government workers accounted for 18 percent (156) of the workplace fatalities that occurred at a road construction site. These fatalities were incurred primarily by State and local government workers. As in the private sector, decedents working for a government entity were most likely to be working in highway and street construction.

Among occupations, 40 percent (335) of the decedents worked as construction laborers. (See table 4, page 45.) The remaining decedents were employed in the construction trades (20 percent), as material moving equipment operators (12 percent), and as truck drivers (10 percent), among other occupations. (14)

Struck by vehicle or mobile equipment incidents. Approximately 60 percent (509 fatalities) of the occupational fatalities that occurred at road construction sites were the result of workers being struck by vehicles or mobile equipment. Construction laborers incurred 49 percent (247) of these fatalities. In addition, 48 percent (242) of the decedents were working in the private highway and street construction industry. Geographically, these incidents were most likely to occur in Texas (9 percent, or 46 fatalities, of all struck by vehicle or mobile equipment workplace fatalities at road construction sites), Florida (7 percent), California (6 percent), Pennsylvania (6 percent) and Ohio (6 percent). (See table 5.)

For fatalities for which the time of incident was available, 29 percent of the decedents who were struck by vehicles or mobile equipment at a road construction site were struck between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:59 a.m., and 17 percent were struck between 6:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. These percentages were larger than those for all fatal occupational injuries, where 23 percent occurred between 9:00 a.m. and 11:59 a.m., and 13 percent occurred between 6:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. Fatalities at road construction sites from being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment also tend to be more clustered in the daylight hours (6:00 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.) than fatalities in general. Approximately 83 percent of the fatal work injuries incurred by workers at road construction sites from being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment occurred in daylight hours, while 75 percent of all fatal work injuries occurred during these hours.

In struck by vehicle or mobile equipment cases, the vehicle or mobile equipment that struck the worker is the source of the fatal injury. In 54 percent (274) of the cases, a truck struck the worker. Of these trucks, 36 percent were dump trucks, 21 percent were pickup trucks, and 19 percent were semitrailer, tractor trailer, or trailer trucks. Automobiles were the source in 28 percent (143) of all cases of struck by vehicle or mobile equipment at road construction sites. Finally, construction machinery, which includes backhoes, levelers, planers, scrapers, steamrollers, and road pavers, accounted for 11 percent (56) of the struck by vehicle or mobile equipment fatalities. (See table 6.)

Note that workers at a road construction site faced a greater likelihood of being struck by a construction vehicle or construction equipment than of being struck by a car, While 28 percent of the workers who were killed in struck by vehicle or mobile equipment incidents at a road construction site were struck by automobiles, 31 percent were struck by dump trucks or construction machinery.

With respect to the activity the decedent was performing when he or she was struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment, 29 percent (147) were constructing, repairing, or cleaning. Approximately 28 percent were walking in or near a roadway when they were struck, slightly more than 18 percent were directing or flagging traffic, and 7 percent were resurfacing or blacktopping. (See table 7.)

Table 1. Worker fatalities at road construction sites
over the 1995-2002 period, by selected
demographic characteristics

       Characteristics             Number of fatalities

    Total                                  844
Employee status:
  Wage and salary workers (1)              811
  Self-employed (2)                         33
Gender:
  Male                                     787
  Female                                    57
Age:
  18 to 19 years                            17
  20 to 24 years                            63
  25 to 34 years                           185
  35 to 44 years                           213
  45 to 54 years                           196
  55 to 64 years                           130
  65 years and older                        36
Race or ethnic origin: (3)
  White                                    613
  Black or African American                 86
  Hispanic or Latino (4)                   118

(1) May include volunteers and other workers receiving compensation.

(2) Includes paid and unpaid family workers, and may include owners
of incorporated businesses, or members of partnerships.

(3) The categories "White" and "Black or African American" do not
include "Hispanic or Latino" persons.
Persons identified as Hispanic may be of any race.

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the September
11 terrorist attacks. Totals for major categories may include
subcategories not shown separately.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 2. Worker fatalities at road construction sites over the
1995-2002 period, by State of incident

State of incident     Number of fatalities

Texas                         71
California                    51
Florida                       46
Ohio                          46
Pennsylvania                  44
New York                      40
Indiana                       38
Illinois                      36
Virginia                      36
Georgia                       32

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attacks.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, NewYork City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 3. Worker fatalities at road construction sites over
the 1995-2002 period, by event or exposure

               Event or exposure                  Number of fatalities

Transportation incidents                                   693
  Highway                                                  137
    Collision between vehicles, mobile
      equipment                                             83
      Moving in the same direction                          29
      Moving and standing vehicle,
        mobile equipment in roadway                         29
    Noncollision                                            36
      Jack-knifed or overturned-no
        collision                                           27
  Nonhighway                                                43
    Noncollision accident                                   41
      Overturned                                            27
  Worker struck by vehicle, mobile
    equipment                                              509
    Worker struck by vehicle, mobile
      equipment in roadway                                 363
    Worker struck by vehicle, mobile
      equipment on side of road                            119
Contact with objects and equipment                          85
  Struck by object                                          44
Falls                                                       28
Exposure to harmful substances and
  environments                                              33
    Contact with electric current                           23
    Contact with overhead power lines                       20

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attacks. Totals for major categories may
include subcategories not shown separately.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 4. Worker fatalities at road construction sites over the
1995-2002 period, by industry and occupation

                Characteristics                          Number of
                                                        fatalities

Industry:
  Private industry                                         688
    Construction                                           566
      Heavy construction, except building                  467
        Highway and street construction                    340
        Heavy construction, except highway.                125
          Bridge, tunnel, and elevated highway              70
          Water, sewer, and utility lines                   34
      Special trade contractors                             90
    Transportation and public utilities                     52
      Trucking and warehousing                              44
        Trucking and courier services,
          except air                                        44
          Trucking, except local                            34
    Services                                                34
  Government (1)                                           156
    State government                                        83
      Construction                                          57
        Heavy construction, except building                 56
          Highway and street construction                   55
      Public administration                                 24
    Local government                                        70
      Construction                                          38
        Heavy construction, except building                 38
          Highway and street construction                   37
      Public administration                                 29
Occupation:
  Managerial and professional specialty                     52
  Precision production, craft, and repair                  183
    Construction trades                                    170
      Supervisors, construction occupations                 55
      Construction trades, except supervisors              115
        Paving, surfacing, and tamping
          equipment operators                               27
  Operators, fabricators, and laborers                     558
    Transportation and material moving
      occupations                                          186
      Motor vehicle operators                               85
        Truck drivers                                       83
      Material moving equipment operators                  101
        Operating engineers                                 54
        Grader, dozer, and scraper operators                27
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, operators,
      and laborers                                         359
      Construction laborers                                335

(1) Includes fatalities to workers employed in governmental
organizations regardless of industry.

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attacks. Totals for major categories may
include subcategories not shown separately.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 5. Worker fatalities at road construction
sites over the 1995-2002 period, resulting from
being struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment,
by State of incident

    State             Number
     of                 of
  incident          fatalities

Texas                   46
Florida                 37
California              33
Pennsylvania            30
Ohio                    29
Illinois                23
Georgia                 22
NewYork                 20
Virginia                18
North Carolina          17

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attacks.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 6. Worker fatalities at road construction sites over the
1995-2000 period, resulting from being struck by a
vehicle or mobile equipment, by source of the fatality

                                                        Fatalities

                     Source                          Number    Percent

All struck by vehicle or mobile equipment
  fatalities (1)                                      509        100
Vehicles                                              446         88
  Highway vehicle-motorized                           441         87
    Automobile                                        143         28
    Truck                                             274         54
      Dump truck                                      100         20
      Pickup truck                                     57         11
      Semi-trailer, tractor trailer, or trailer
        truck                                          53         10
    Van                                                14          3
Machinery                                              63         12
  Construction, logging, and mining machinery          56         11
    Excavating machinery                               21          4
      Backhoes                                          9          2
      Bulldozers                                        6          1
    Road grading and surfacing machinery               30          6
      Graders, levelers, planers, and scrapers         20          4
      Steam rollers and road oavers                     6          1

(1) In struck by vehicle or mobile equipment fatalities, the source of
the fatality is the vehicle or mobile equipment that struck the
decedent

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attacks Totals for major categories may
include subcategories not shown separately

SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, NewYork City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Cen-sus of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Table 7. Worker fatalities at road construction sites over the
1995-2002 period, resulting from being struck by a
vehicle or mobile equipment, by worker activity

          Worker activity                               Fatalities

                                                     Number   Percent

All struck by vehicle or mobile equipment
    fatalities                                        509       100
  Vehicular and transportation operation              278        55
    Resurfacing and blacktopping                       38         7
    Directing or flagging traffic                      93        18
    Walking in or near roadway                        141        28
  Using or operating tools or machinery                17         3
  Constructing, repairing, or cleaning                147        29
    Construction, assembling, or
      dismantling                                      66        13
      Constructing or assembling                       10         2
      Installing                                       14         3
      Dismantling or removing                           8         2
    Repairs or maintenance                             30         6
      Repairing                                        17         3
      Maintenance                                       9         2
    Inspecting or checking                             18         4
    Painting, etc.                                     11         2
  Material handling operations                         12         2
  Physical activity, not elsewhere classified (1)      46         9

(1) Includes walking, sitting, running, and climbing ladders or
stairs.

NOTE: Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities resulting from the September
11 terrorist attacks Totals for major categories may include
subcategories not shown separately.

SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in
cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and
Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The author thanks Dino Drudi, Samuel Meyer, Katharine Newman, Stephanic Pratt. Scott Richardson, Bill Wiatrowski, and Janice Windau for their assistance in the preparation of this article.

(1) Preliminary data for 2002 are used in this analysis.

(2) For more information on the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, see http:// mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

(3) See http://safery.fh wa.dot.gov/roaduser/ wzs.htm

(4) For an examination of worker fatalities in highway work zones from 1992 to 1998, see pages 5 and 6 of Building Safer Highway Work Zones: Measures to Prevent Worker Injuries from Vehicles and Equipment, on the Internet at: http://www.ede.gov/niosh/pdfs/01-12g.pdf

(5) See http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/ 2003r1/Ch6A-E.pdf, page 6C-2.

(6) CFOI uses a location code of 65 to designate fatal work injuries that occur at road construction sites.

(7) Ascertaining whether a record should be recoded as a road construction fatality was sometimes complicated by vague and/or incomplete narratives. For the borderline cases, the determination as to whether a fatality occurred at a road construction site was made by examining the combination of the narrative, industry, occupation, and worker activity. Because there are various definitions of what constitutes a road construction site, different people may make different determinations as to whether a fatal work injury occurred at a road construction site. For this analysis, the reclassifications were made by the author with in put from CFOI staff. These reclassifications were based on a consistent set of requirements formulated by the author and CFOI Staff.

(8) The examination of the narratives should mitigate the problems arising from the application of the location code. The breakdown for added records is as follows:

Years    Records    Years    Records
         added                added

1995       63       1999       53
1996       47       2000       43
1997       36       2001       45
1998       37       2002       24

In total, 496 records were included because the location code was 65-road construction. An additional 348 were added after examining records.

(9) See Table 61 in http://www-nrd.nhtsa. dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2001. pdf

(10) Camille Villanova, "Looking for Safety Zones," Job Safety and Health Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 19. For more information on TEA--21, see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/

(11) For more information on the reauthorization on TEA-21, see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ reauthorization/index.htm

(12) See http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pdfs/01128.pdf

(13) The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse was the product of collaboration between the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Federal Highway Administration. Now, it is run jointly by ARTBA and the Texas Transportation Institute. For more information, access http:// wzsafety.tamu.edu and http://wzsafety.tamu. edu/files/brochure.stm

(14) Material moving equipment operators include occupations such as operating engineers; excavating and loading machine operators; and grader, dozer, and scraper operators.

Stephen Pegula is an economist in the Office of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 

END OF ARTICLE

Construction climbs 4 percent in October, highways up 12 percent

New construction starts increased 4 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $592.7 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. Gains were reported for nonresidential building and nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities), while the residential sector fell slightly. Through the first 10 months of 2004, total construction on an unadjusted basis came to $495.3 billion, up 9 percent from the same period in 2003.

The October statistics lifted the Dodge Index to 179 (1996=100), up from a revised 171 for September. The 179 represents the third highest reading for the Dodge Index so far in 2004, after the 184 in July and the 180 in May. The 10-month average for the Dodge Index during 2004 comes to 173, compared to a reading of 160 for the full year 2003.

"October showed the pattern that's expected to become more common during 2005, that being expansion will come increasingly from nonresidential building, following the leading role played by homebuilding over the past four years," says Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "October had the added benefit of improved contracting for public works, which in a broader time frame continues to be dampened by tight fiscal conditions for the federal and state governments."

Nonbuilding construction

Nonbuilding construction, at an annual rate of $99.7 billion in October, was up 11 percent relative to September. Highway and bridge construction improved 12 percent, although on a year-to-date basis these project types were still down 5 percent from the previous year. Murray says, "The plus for highways and bridges is that Congress in November finalized fiscal 2005 spending levels, which included a 2 percent increase for the federal-aid highway program. The negative continues to be that Congress has yet to pass a multiyear federal transportation bill, and the uncertainty over long-term funding has made it more difficult for state departments of transportation to go ahead with major new projects."

October also included 4 percent gain for water supply systems and a 72 percent rise for river/harbor development work, boosted by the start of a $74 million dredging project in Florida and a $71 million canal lining project in California. Reduced contracting in October was evident with sewers, down 2 percent, and mass transit and site work, down 24 percent from a strong September. The volatile electric utility category in October surged 395 percent from a very weak amount in September, helped by the start of a $492 million power plant in New York. The broad trend for electric utilities continues to be downward, however, with year-to-date 2004 contracting 41 percent below the previous year.

The 9 percent increase for total construction during the January-October period of 2004, compared to last year, was due to this performance by sector--residential building, up 16 percent; nonresidential building, up 3 percent; and nonbuilding construction, unchanged. By geography, total construction in the first 10 months of 2004 was the following--the South Atlantic, up 13 percent; the West, up 12 percent; the Northeast and South Central, each up 7 percent; and the Midwest, up 4 percent.

Year-to-Date Construction Contract Value
Unadjusted Totals, in Millions

                           10 Mo. 2004   10 Mo. 2003   % Change

Nonresidential Building       $136,856      $133,415         +3
Residential Building           278,945       239,999        +16
Nonbuilding Construction        79,493        79,852          0
Total Construction            $495,294      $453,266         +9

COPYRIGHT 2005 Advanstar Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

 


END OF ARTICLE
 

ROAD WARRIOR; Port Road project returns with spring

LARRY SANDLER

The groundhog had it just about right.

Back on Feb. 2, that shadowy character at the Milwaukee County Zoo predicted six more weeks of winter. Despite an occasional spring day here and there, it's been seven weeks and counting.

But eventually, spring is going to get here. And with it will come the three B's of warm weather: bicycles, baseball and bulldozers.

Even though Marquette Interchange reconstruction has plowed through the winter, most other road construction projects have been waiting for the temperature to rise.

Among them is the reconstruction of N. Port Washington Road, from W. Good Hope Road in Glendale to W. Bergen Drive in Fox Point. That $4.6 million project was supposed to be done last year, but utility work delays and a foreman's death in a construction accident forced crews to put the job on hold when the weather deteriorated. Now it's time to check in again.

Fast and furious: A.J. Carter wants to know what's behind the slowdown.

"The speed signs from Good Hope to Dean Road were changed to 25 mph during the construction period, when there was only one-way traffic," writes Carter, a Fox Point reader. "Now, however, the construction has halted until spring and two-way traffic has resumed, but the 25 mph signs are still up. Why? Certainly it can't be about the manhole covers exposed, as tar builds up to them, making them mild bumps."

Certainly it is about the raised manhole covers, says Bret Swenson, a project engineer for the Milwaukee County Department of Public Works.

"It's a bumpy road to drive right now," Swenson said.

And maybe those bumps would be relatively mild at 25 mph or 35 mph, but police were worried about the people who consistently drive 10 mph over the limit, Swenson said. At 45 mph, those bumps could be hazardous, he said.

Don't fence me in: Carter also asks why one construction barricade lingered after the rest went off to wherever barricades go for the winter.

"All impediments were removed when the two-way traffic was resumed, but barricades remain in front of the Residence Inn, just north of Good Hope Road," Carter writes. "What's the reason?"

The reason is that the road narrows to one lane each way a couple of blocks north, at W. Calumet Road, and engineers wanted to discourage traffic from driving two abreast up to there and then trying to squeeze into one lane, Swenson said. When the road is finished, pavement markings will give drivers better guidance, he said.

Back to work: If the weather cooperates, construction crews plan to resume work in mid-April, Swenson said. Traffic again will be limited to one-way southbound for seven or eight weeks, until sometime in June, he said. And I-43 again will be the detour route for northbound traffic.

Among the features of the finished road will be a bicycle and walking path from RiverPoint Village shopping center to Calumet Road.

Also resuming this spring is a separate $2.1 million project to rebuild the Bayside intersection of Port Washington and W. Brown Deer roads, along with the stretch of Brown Deer Road between N. Mohawk Road and I-43, the state Department of Transportation announced. Work will start again April 3 and wrap up in July.

Curbside comments

You may not need a clock and a calendar to avoid a speeding ticket on the lakefront much longer.

For years, the speed limits on N. Lincoln Memorial Drive have changed according to the hour and the season. Most of the time, the limit is 35 mph. But from May 15 to Sept. 15, the limit drops to 25 mph between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.

The higher limit recognized the road's unofficial status as a major commuter route, while the lower limit recognized its official designation as a parkway through heavily used parks and beaches.

But that schizoid speed limit has been tough to enforce, says George Torres, Milwaukee County public works director. He's asking the County Board to compromise on a 30-mph limit, all day and all year.

The board's Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee will consider the issue Wednesday.

Street lines

Route numbers: Free buses provided 33,595 rides on the Milwaukee County Transit System on St. Patrick's Day, according to Miller Brewing Co., which paid for the free rides to discourage drunken driving. This year's total was up 14% from 29,250 last year, and 39% above normal weeknight ridership.

Electronic highway: The Road Warrior will answer your questions about traffic, commuting and other transportation issues in a live Internet chat at noon Tuesday on the Journal Sentinel's Web site, www.jsonline.com/chat. You can post questions in advance.

Send your questions or comments about traffic and commuting to the Road Warrior by e-mail to roadwarrior@journalsentinel.com. Please include your full name, address and daytime phone number. You can call Larry Sandler at (414) 224-2015. Because of the volume of mail received, not all questions can be answered.

Copyright 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

END OF ARTICLE

 

This article describes several recently completed or ongoing research projects pertaining to recycling in highway construction. These projects, which are national in scope, were sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), and they reflect a renewed interest in recycling, spurred by an increasing volume of waste or byproduct materials from industrial, domestic, and mining sources and a decreasing availability of landfill space for disposal.

FHWA encourages the use of recycled materials as part of its commitment to maintaining the quality of the natural environment. However, to ensure that the quality of the nation's infrastructure is maintained -- or improved -- FHWA insists that engineering and environmental performance using recycled materials must be equal to or better than the performance using conventional materials.

FHWA began programs in recycling in the early 1970s. Throughout that decade and into the early 1980s, several feasibility studies and demonstration projects were completed on various materials, including sulfate waste, coal combustion byproducts, incinerator ash, and mining waste.

In 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) outlined some specific recycling-related activities, including a report to Congress by FHWA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the technical, environmental, safety, and economic aspects of using crumb rubber in asphalt pavements and a compendium of experience with other recycled materials. These activities led to the initiation of several research projects on crumb rubber use, a symposium to assemble current knowledge and state-of-the-practice information, and the establishment of a high-priority research area in recycling.

The first project initiated in this high-priority area was the development of a guidance manual on the use of waste or byproduct materials in pavement construction. In 1997, four additional research projects were initiated through cooperative agreements with a consortium headed by the University of New Hampshire. These included an assessment of the residual alkali-silica reaction potential of recycled portland cement concrete used as aggregate, the development of mix design methods for cold in-place recycling of asphalt, the development of a framework for evaluating appropriate uses of recycled materials, and the prediction of long-term performance of recycled materials using accelerated aging.

During the same time frame, two NCHRP projects related to recycling were initiated. These were NCHRP 421, "Appropriate Uses for Waste Materials in Transportation," and NCHRP 25-9, "Environmental Impact of [Highway] Construction and Repair Materials on Surface and Ground Waters." A database of information about recycled materials was developed as part of NCHRP 4-21, and several recycled materials -- such as reclaimed asphalt pavement, reclaimed concrete pavement, slags, coal ash, and rubber -- were evaluated as part of NCHRP 25-9.

User Guidelines

Objectives

The development of the User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction began in 1996. The primary objective of the project was to assess the state of the practice of using waste or byproduct materials in pavement construction and to produce a guidance manual for a variety of interested parties, including state and local transportation agencies, environmental agencies, waste generators and recyclers, design engineers, and contractors.

At the time, two NCHRP syntheses, one on the use of recycled rubber and the other on waste and byproduct materials in highways, had just been published. Several states had also published reports on recycled material use. The User Guidelines project was designed to bring these reports and other information together into one guidance document that would provide information about materials and how to use them in appropriate pavement construction applications and about how to evaluate the suitability of a material with limited or no history of use in a given application. A related goal was to identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved issues related to the use of waste or byproduct materials in order to include them in the guidance document and to provide a basis for future research.

Scope

There are many recycled materials and many possible uses for them in the highway environment. To name just a few applications, recycled materials have been used in pavements, appurtenances, guardrails and lampposts, paints and signs, and landscaping. Because it was not feasible to cover all these areas in one project, the scope was limited to six pavement construction applications that require a large volume of materials: asphalt concrete, portland cement concrete, stabilized base, granular base, flowable fill, and embankments/backfill.

Within each of the six application areas, there are one or more possible uses or roles for a material. For example, in asphalt concrete, a material could be used as aggregate, mineral filler, or asphalt cement modifier. In granular base, a material could only be used as aggregate.

The scope was also limited in terms of materials. Materials within the general categories of agricultural, domestic, industrial, and mining wastes were considered, and selection was based on several criteria. Only materials that were suitable for the six application areas described above were considered. For this reason, agricultural wastes, although significant in volume, were not included. For materials meeting this requirement, sufficient information had to be available to allow guidelines to be developed for one or more of the selected application areas. Material availability (volume generated and stockpiled) was also considered.

Nineteen materials were selected. A matrix of the 19 materials and six applications was developed, giving 114 possible combinations. Each combination was evaluated, and 55 were determined to be existing or potential uses with sufficient information available to develop guidelines:

Format and Contents

Because User Guidelines was intended to be a guidance manual rather than a standard research report, several factors had to be considered in designing a suitable format for the document. The first consideration was size. With the amount of information available on recycled materials, the document could easily have become too large to be practical. It took several iterations to determine what constituted "essential" information -- enough to make the manual a valuable reference, but not so much that it became unwieldy. Second, the manual was intended to be user-friendly and consistent in organization so that a user could easily locate the information he or she needed without having to scan through unwanted information. Also, the document's format had to allow for periodic expansion and updates as new information became available and as new materials and uses became known. For this reason, the manual was designed to fit in a three-ring binder with tabbed section dividers.

Overall, the manual consists of four major sections:

1. Introduction.

2. Material-Specific Guidelines.

3. Evaluation Guidance.

4. Application Descriptions.

The introduction summarizes the purpose, scope, format, and contents of the manual. The second and largest section, Material-Specific Guidelines, is divided into 19 sections that are organized alphabetically by material. Each section contains a description of the material and one or more user guidelines and is typically six to 12 pages long. Each material description is divided into five parts, providing information on the origin of the material and the quantities available, current management options, market sources, highway uses and processing requirements, and material properties.

For each material-application combination, a user guideline -- containing information on previous use and performance, processing requirements for the specific application, engineering properties relevant to the application, design and construction considerations, and unresolved issues -- is provided. The number of user guidelines varies for each material. For example, baghouse fines has one user guideline, while blast furnace slag has four. This was not a judgment that baghouse fines are only suitable for one application, but rather it is recognition that, at the time, there was sufficient information available to assemble a guideline for only one application.

The third major section consists of three Evaluation Guidance chapters, which are precursors to the more comprehensive Consensus Framework described later in this article.

The first of the three evaluation guidance chapters outlines a process for evaluating the suitability of a recycled material for use in a pavement application. The steps involved include identifying relevant technical issues, establishing appropriate tests and performance criteria, performing tests, considering implementation (nontechnical) factors, and possibly conducting field demonstrations.

The other two chapters provide additional guidance on environmental and cost issues. The environmental guidance chapter describes legislative and regulatory history related to the use of recycled materials in highways; summarizes current state regulatory practices; and outlines procedures for assessing health, environmental, and ecological impacts for pavement construction applications using recycled materials. The cost chapter describes the cost elements that must be considered to determine the initial and life-cycle costs of using a recycled material.

The fourth and final section of User Guidelines contains application descriptions that provide more detailed information about the applications (e.g., asphalt concrete, portland cement concrete, etc.) for users who may not have a civil engineering background. These sections provide a general introduction to the application and describe the conventional component materials, desirable properties of the component materials and the final product, and standard tests or specifications that are used to evaluate these conventional materials and products.

User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction was written by Dr. Warren Chesner, Chesner Engineering P.C.; Robert Collins, ISG Resources Inc.; and Michael MacKay, John Emery Geotechnical Engineering Ltd. Marcia Simon is the FHWA contact; her telephone number is (202) 493-3071 and her e-mail address is marcia.simon@fhwa.dot.gov.

FHWA Research Projects (UNII Consortium)

In 1997, four recycling research projects were initiated through cooperative agreements with a consortium headed by the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The consortium included UNH, the University of Rhode Island, Cornell University, Rutgers University, and international consultants from Sweden and Japan. Each project is described briefly below.

Residual ASR Potential in Existing PCC

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a deleterious reaction between reactive silica in some aggregates and alkali present in the concrete (PCC) water. The alkali causes the reactive silica to go into solution, and it is deposited as a gel that expands when external water enters the concrete. This expansion leads to cracking and deterioration of structures and pavements over a period of years.

A significant portion of the nation's infrastructure is suffering from this dilemma. This makes it difficult to recycle concrete with ASR present as the reaction can continue within the new concrete matrix. It would be invaluable to have a better knowledge of how to mitigate ASR. In addition, to be able to successfully recycle ASR-affected structures as an aggregate source in new concrete would save our quickly declining supply of mineral aggregates.

Methods are being investigated to more quickly evaluate a given concrete for its ASR potential. Traditional methods such as ASTM 1260 and ASTM 1293 are being modified by using different sample geometries, electric fields, and microwaves to more quickly detect ASR in concrete made with recycled concrete aggregate. Electric fields and microwaves are also being used to accelerate the reaction in field cores obtained from pavements known to have ASR to determine their remaining ASR potential.

Dr. David Gress of the University of New Hampshire is the principal investigator for this project. The final report will be published in 2000, and it will also be available on the Recycled Materials Resource Center Web page (http://www.rmrc.unh.edu).

Mix-Design for Cold In-Place Recycling

Cold in-place recycling (CIR) offers a number of opportunities to reuse reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) from low-volume roads nationwide. However, performance-based mix-design procedures are needed. Presently, to develop a performance based mix design, the effects of density and air voids must be assessed. Traditional mix designs are typically based on the modified Marshall method as described in the report from American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Task Force #38.

An expert technical group (ETG) has been formed for this project. The group broadly represents the industry, including emulsion suppliers; emulsion chemists and contractors; state highway agencies; town, city, and county engineers; academia; and researchers. Based on input from the ETG, the Superpave mix design is being used to develop a performance-based mix design. Specimens are fabricated using the Superpave Gyratory Compactor (SGC). Experimental examination of important process variables such as moisture content, amount of emulsion, type of emulsion, asphalt content of the recycled material, and compactive effort have been undertaken. The specimens are prepared at densities similar to those found in the field. The new procedure will also include a performance analysis component using the incremental static-dynamic creep test (and fatigue test, if feasible) and the indirect tensile test to prevent rutting and cracking. Representative RAP samples from different regions of North America were obtained from A rizona, Connecticut, Kansas, and Ontario for use in the research.

Prof. K. Wayne Lee of the University of Rhode Island is the principal investigator for this project. He can be reached at (401) 874-2695 or lee@egr.uri.edu. Project information can be viewed on the Web (http://www. tserver.cve.uri.edu). The final report is expected in 2000 and will also be on the Web pages for the University of Rhode Island and the Recycled Materials Resource Center (http://wwwrmrc.unh.edu).

Evaluation of the Use of Recycled Materials

While many recycled materials have historically been used in the highway environment, the use of recycled material is a relatively new concept in some states. Even among states with extensive experience in using recycled materials, considerable differences exist in the evaluation and permitting processes for the use of recycled materials under beneficial use determinations (BUDs) or similar mechanisms.

A logical and hierarchical evaluation process that all states could use to either develop or refine their BUD process would help reduce barriers to the use of recycled materials and allow for some measure of reciprocity between states. The goal of this project is to develop such a process.

Management and regulation of recycled materials use in the highway environment are jurisdictionally the responsibility of both the state departments of transportation (DOTs) and the state environmental regulatory agencies. One major goal of this project is to work with both state agencies to develop a consensus-based approach. Such an approach can facilitate and encourage the two agencies to work together in the BUD process. State DOTs and environmental agencies from Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York are involved in this project.

The project used an ETG to help in the development of a hierarchical framework evaluation process. The framework process has a series of stages: issues definition, data evaluation, laboratory testing, and field testing. Each

of these steps can lead to approval of the beneficial use application. Guidance on testing and specifications is also provided.

Dr. Taylor Eighmy of the University of New Hampshire and Dr. Warren Chesner, Chesner Engineering P.C., are the principal investigators. Marcia Simon is the FHWA contact. She can be reached at (202) 493-3071 or marcia.simon@ffiwa.dot.gov. The final framework document will be published in 2000. The document will also be available on the Recycled Materials Resource Center Web page (http://www.rmrc.unh.edu).

Predicting Long-Term Environmental Performance

The use of recycled materials in the highway environment frequently leads to several questions: How will this road with recycled materials perform physically and environmentally in 10 or 20 years? Will there be deleterious physical deterioration? Will there be a release of environmentally deleterious constituents if such deterioration occurs?

At this time, there is a clear lack of predictive strategies to identify future physical or environmental behavior of recycled materials used in highway construction. Traditionally, real-time, 20-year field-scale demonstrations are used to evaluate aging and subsequent physical and environmental performance. A predictive approach, however, would allow more timely evaluation of recycled material and pavement compatibility issues and expected future performance. Ideally, such a method could either replace or complement field trials. The purpose of this project is to develop such a predictive approach using accelerated aging.

A common and accepted highway application of a recycled material -- portland cement concrete pavements made with coal fly ash -- was selected for development of an accelerated aging methodology. A pavement from U.S. Route 20 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which failed after 10 years of service, is being used as the model system. The pavement concrete contained Class C fly ash. A pavement slab, obtained with the assistance of Iowa DOT, has been analyzed for a number of experimental response variables, including:

* Compressive strength.

* Pore size distribution and effective pore diameter (using mercury intrusion porosimetry).

* Microcracking (using neutron radiography).

* Component analyses and relative microcracking (using petrographic methods).

* Alkali-silica reactivity and sulfate minerals abundance.

* Mineralogy (using x-ray diffraction).

* pH-dependent leaching.

* Monolith diffusional leaching.

The approach chosen to accelerate the aging of concrete pavements used three principal aging variables. The concrete materials and mix designs for the Iowa pavement were used to cast 400 laboratory prism specimens, which were temperature aged, cyclical stress aged, and freeze-thaw aged. The prisms were analyzed for the same response variables as the slab, and models relating the physical and environmental performance of the concrete to the levels of aging are being developed.

Preliminary results suggest that this aging regimen was able to produce samples that are similar to the pavement slab that failed in the field for some of the response variables that were tested (strength, mineralogy, and leaching behavior). Over time, further work will lead to a predictive strategy based on laboratory-accelerated aging methods and on predictive models that would be available for adoption by state and federal transportation officials.

This interdisciplinary project is being conducted by the Environmental Research Group and the Civil Engineering Department at the University of New Hampshire, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL),Vanderbilt University, Cornell University, and Michigan Technological University (MTU). The principal investigators are Dr.Taylor Eighmy, Dr. Ray Cook, and Dr. David Gress, all from the University of New Hampshire; Dr. Ken Hover from Cornell University; Dr. David Kosson from Vanderbilt University; and Chuck Korhonen of CRREL. Dr. Tom Van Dam of Michigan Technological University is a subcontractor, and Marcia Simon, who can be reached at (202) 493-3071 or marcia.simon@fhwa.dot.gov, is the FHWA contact. A literature review on accelerated aging and the final report are expected in 2000. These documents will also be available on the Recycled Materials Resource Center Web page (http://www.rmrc.unh.edu).

Recycled Materials Information Database (NCHRP 4-21)

The development of the Recycled Materials Information Database began in 1998. The primary objective of the project was to provide a tool that could be used to store data about recycled material properties, applications, testing procedures, and reference information. The database was designed to be an interactive tool that would provide users with the means to update and print information, edit the text and tables within the database, update the information with new tables and maps to respond to new data inputs, or delete existing information.

Preparation of the database was sponsored by AASHTO in conjunction with FHWA and was conducted under the auspices of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council.

Scope

The Recycled Materials Information Database is a Windows-based program containing information on 21 waste and recycled materials (WRMs) for use in transportation-related applications. The 21 materials are bag-house fines, blast furnace slag, cement kiln dust, coal boiler slag, coal bottom ash, coal fly ash, flue gas desulfurization sludge, foundry sand, lime kiln dust, mill tailings, municipal waste combustor ash, non-ferrous slag, phosphogypsum, quarry waste, reclaimed asphalt pavement, reclaimed concrete material, roofing shingle scrap, scrap tires, sewage sludge ash, steel slag, and waste glass.

The database is divided into nine major categories that are intended to provide the user with both general and detailed engineering and environmental information on each WRM. Included in the database are recommended laboratory engineering tests that can be used to assess the suitability of each WRM for use in transportation-related applications and recommendations for monitoring WRM field trials.

Format and Content

The nine major sections within the database for each material are:

1. General Information.

2. Production and Use.

3. Engineering Properties.

4.Environmental Properties.

5. Applications.

6. Laboratory Testing.

7. Field Testing.

8. References.

9. Contacts.

General Information contains material descriptions, including photographs and graphical displays of potential uses and production processes. Production and Use contains a series of maps that illustrate the geographic distribution of recycled material production and use within the United States. Engineering Properties provides descriptions and tabular listings of the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the selected materials. Environmental Properties provides descriptions and tabular listings of trace metals, trace organics, leachate properties, and environmental issues associated with the selected material. Applications provides information on design, specifications, processing, construction, performance, and research needs for the selected material in a given application. Laboratory Testing provides a listing of test methods and test criteria to evaluate selected properties. Field Testing provides recommended field-testing procedures to evaluate selected properties. The References section provi des a listing of database references, and The Contacts section provides a list of agencies or organizations that can be contacted to obtain additional information on a specific material.

The NCHRP Materials Database was created by Dr. Warren Chesner and Christopher Stein of Chesner Engineering P.C.; Robert Collins, ISG Resources Inc.; and Michael MacKay, John Emery Geotechnical Engineering Ltd. The NCHRP program officer is Dr. Edward Harrigan; his telephone number is (202) 334-3232.

Environmental Impact on Surface and Ground Waters (NCHRP 25-9)

The recently completed NCHRP study "Environmental Impact of [Highway] Construction and Repair Materials on Surface and Ground Waters" was directed to determine whether commonly used construction and repair materials might affect the quality of surface and ground waters. The objective of the study was to evaluate the persistence of any toxic leachates of the selected materials and to estimate the possible impacts of these materials on surface and ground waters. The materials were evaluated considering the removal, retardation, and remediation that occurs as leached substances migrate from the material used in pavements, sub-bases, or fills toward surface or ground water. The study did not include materials deposited on the pavements, pavement wear particles, and vehicle wear and exhaust particles.

Following evaluations based on product literature reviews, the materials tested were selected from the most common construction and repair materials considered likely to impact water quality. Due to the current interest in considering the use of waste and byproduct materials in highway construction, a number of widely used waste and byproduct materials were evaluated as part of this project, including municipal solid waste (MSW) ash, coal fly ash, foundry sand, phosphogypsum, blast furnace slag, steel slag, non-ferrous slags, roofing shingles, scrap tire rubber, reclaimed asphalt, mine tailings, and mining/smelter slags from various locations in the United States and Canada.

Materials in their pure form were mixed with deionized water to extract leachates. The leachates were then used in bioassay tests on algae and Dapbnia (representing plant and animal life). Along with these tests, concurrent chemical analyses were made to determine the level of toxicity and, when it did occur, why.

Many of the materials were tested in the form in which they might be used in the highway environment -- for example, as a component of pavement. Also, if materials were found to be toxic from the initial bioassay tests, the leachates were mixed with common soils, and the resultant supernatant liquids were given the same bioassay and chemistry tests. These tests gave an indication of the inherent remediation and removal processes that would be at work when the materials are used under field conditions. The fate of leachates in the surface and subsurface soil environments was determined by testing the persistence of contaminant concentrations after the removal processes of volatilization, photolysis, biodegradation, and sorption had occurred. Other observed changes due to dilution, ionic changes, and so forth were also considered.

While leachates by distilled water from the "pure" materials were, in many cases, found to be toxic to the fresh water alga Selanastrum capricornutum and/or to the macro-invertebrate Daphnia magna (water flea), the toxic impacts were reduced when these materials were incorporated into pavement materials. In almost all cases, the toxicity was removed by mixing the leachates with soils. Only a few waste or byproduct materials produced a toxic impact on nearby surface or ground water when they were placed into a pavement mixture, perhaps as part of aggregate. Also, leachates were generally non-toxic when passed through soils next to their placement in the highway materials, provided there was at least a nominal thickness (several centimeters) of a typical soil. Three Oregon soils of low to relatively high organic and silt and clay content, representative of large areas of the United States, were used in the laboratory sorption tests.

Field observations and experiences from numerous states suggest that these laboratory results were correct. Under both laboratory and field conditions, the rates of leaching of toxic substances decrease with time as the ingredients are more tightly sorbed, modified, degraded, or removed.

A model that can be applied to each successive media the leachates may pass through has been developed to evaluate these overall processes. Leachates are generated from common highway configurations (pavement, pilings, aggregate, etc.) and transported in the near-highway surface and subsurface environment (a few meters).When the concentrations of toxic materials fall below toxic or detection limits or background concentrations, it is then determined that there are no toxic impacts from the highway construction and repair materials on nearby surface or ground water.

Bioassay and other procedures have been developed under this project to test waste (recycled) materials for environmental impacts on surface and ground waters. Although many example materials were tested and the results were archived, it is not possible to make industry-wide generalizations based on the limited number of samples tested and the variability in the properties of materials -- such as foundry sands, coal ashes, or slags -- depending on their origin. Hence, more tests will be required for specific candidate materials for use in highways.

However, it should be emphasized that for every material tested except a deck sealer (methacrylate), toxicity to the algae and daphnia was low when the material was used in an assemblage form (e.g., pavement or fill) and drastically reduced or totally eliminated following passage of the leachate through soils.

Even though the study included no field tests to confirm models of toxicity changes, numerous field tests provide guidance and conceptual qualitative confirmation. For example, laboratory results showed relatively rapid biodegradation of organic toxic leachate from rubber. Field tests from Virginia where scrap rubber was put in a fill section and nearby soils and ground water were observed showed no toxic impact, suggesting that toxicity of the leachates was quickly removed by biodegradation and sorption.

The principal investigators for NCHRP 25-9 are Dr. Neal Eldin and Dr. Wayne Huber from Oregon State University. The NCHRP program officer is Dr. Edward Harrigan; his telephone number is (202) 334-3232.

Conclusion

The projects described in this article illustrate a commitment at the national level to promote the appropriate uses of recycled materials in the highway environment. The goal is to conserve resources while maintaining a safe, efficient, high-quality highway system. The results of these projects are helping states and municipal governments effectively use recycled materials in road construction.

Marcia J. Simon is a research materials engineer for the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Infrastructure Research and Development at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Va. For the past nine years, she has been involved in research and problem-solving in the area of portland cement concrete (PCC) materials, as well as waste and byproduct materials and their uses in highways. As a member of the PCC Team, she oversees staff research on various aspects of concrete materials, such as mixture optimization and freeze-thaw durability. In the recycling area, she served as technical manager for the FHWA research study that produced the User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction. Simon is currently involved with two secondary materials projects at the University of New Hampshire; the projects deal with development of a consensus framework for evaluation of recycled materials in highways and with the prediction of long-term performance using accelerated aging for concrete pavements containing fly ash. She received her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984 and a master's degree in civil engineering from Cornell University in 1989.

Warren H. Chesner is the president of Chesner Engineering P.C., an enginering firm in Commack, N.Y. He has more than 25 years of experience in stabilizing waste materials and using byproduct materials in construction applications. Dr. Chesner is the primary author of the Federal Highway Administration's User Guidelines on Waste and Byproduct Materials in Highway Construction Applications, the Transportation Research Board's computerized database on waste and recycled materials, and co-author of the University of New Hampshire's framework document. He is currently involved in the development of AASHTO specifications for recycled material use in highway applications.

T. Taylor Eighmy is a research professor of civil engineering at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham, N.H. Dr. Eighmy currently directs the Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC) at UNH; RMRC is a partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to promote recycled materials use in the highway environment. He also directs the Environmental Research Group (ERG) at UNH; ERG is one of the university's formal research centers and the parent organization to RMRC. His research interests include materials characterization, geochemical modeling of leaching, and leaching of highway products containing recycled materials. He is the principal investigator (PI) on two FHWA-funded projects: Development of a Predictive Approach for Long-Term Environmental Performance of Waste Utilization in Pavements Using Accelerated Aging and Development of a Consensus Framework for Waste Utilization Evaluation Procedures. Formerly, he was a PI on the Laconia, N.H., Bottom Ash Paving Project, a member of the International Energy Agency's International Ash Working Group (IAWG), and a member of FHWA's Expert Advisory Panel for the User Guideline for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction project. Dr. Eighmy received both his master's degree and doctorate in civil engineering from UNH. He is a member of The International Society for the Environmental and Technical Implications of Construction with Alternative Materials (ISCOWA).

Howard Jongedyk is a research engineer in FHWA's Office of Infrastructure Research and Development. Since 1969, he has been managing and conducting research related to highway and traffic operations effects on the environment and has participated in numerous Transportation Research Board activities and projects. He has worked on materials problems, hydraulic engineering problems, and soils problems for private industry and for other government agencies before coming to FHWA. He has a master's degree in soil science from the University of Illinois and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Availability of Related Reports

User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials (FHWA-RD-97148) is available from the FHWA R&D Report Center. The telephone number of the Report Center is (301) 577-0818.

In 1997, an electronic version of User Guidelines was created and posted on the Web site of the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. The current URL is www.tfhrc.gov/hnr2o/recycle/Waste /begin.htm. A PDF version of User Guidelines is planned.

When they are completed, the Consensus Framework document and reports from the alkali-silica reaction (ASR), cold in-place recycling (CIR), and accelerated aging projects will be available in hardcopy from FHWA and in electronic format (PDF) at the Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC) Web site (www.rmrc.unh.edu).

To obtain a copy of the database program, you may contact Dr. Edward T. Harrigan, the NCHRP program officer, at (202) 334-3232.

Also, FHWA and the RMRC plan to release a CD-ROM containing the NCHRP database, User Guidelines, and the Consensus Framework document in PDF format. (Check the RMRC Web site, www.rmrc.unh.edu, for updated information about the release.)

COPYRIGHT 2000 Superintendent Of Documents

This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.

 

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