Safety of traffic facilities is most often measured by counting the number (and severity) of crashes that occur. It is not possible to apply such a measurement technique to traffic facility designs that have not yet been built or deployed in the real world. This project has resulted in the development of a software tool for deriving surrogate safet
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The construction of all transportation facilities involves skilled labor, appropriate equipment, and proper materials and workmanship. After the labor and equipment have completed their work, the materials remain in place constituting embankments, pavements, runways, bridges, and related facilities. Construction Quality Assurance (QA) is intended t
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While employees of FHWA are building relationships with the public and our partners' front-line staff, managers dealing with their counterparts are seeing things from a different perspective. Two stories about our partnerships with the National Park Service and the Forest Service revealed how those special relationships are forged.
Over the years, there have been many changes to what is now known as the Federal Lands Highway Program. For a period of time, the Vancouver office Bureau of Public Roads supported the Bureau of Land Management, constructing their timber access roads, and handling BLM road maintenance. In fact, when changes to our program caused a drop in work in th
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Our partner agencies have always helped the Federal Lands program succeed, and employees of BPR and FHWA have worked hard to deliver the product they wanted. Retirees recalled some experiences working with the Park Service and with the public, and times when those partnerships worked well – or faltered slightly.
During the 1950's, Direct Federal construction management for the Northwest was housed in the Region Office in Portland, Oregon, with the head of the Direct Federal activity reporting to the Regional Engineer. Projects were often in remote areas, and during the construction season, project crews lived in tent camps close to the work.
Under ideal conditions, WFLHD staff all works together to get the job done. Project Development comes up with the design, Contracting writes the contract and awards the job, and the Construction staff makes sure the contractor builds the project to specifications. When conditions are less than ideal, however, there may need to be some redesigning d
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Jobs in remote areas were often prone to interruption by the whims of Mother Nature. Long distances or convoluted transportation between the camps and the job could also mean shorter days to do the work, and when weather related events brought things to a halt, crews might spend days waiting for an opportunity to get back to the line.
A number of retiree memories of construction and survey tent camps have been combined in other stories. Vern Ford shared the following experience during a winter on the Gumboot Road in Eastern Oregon near what is now the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
Retirees' memories of the camps were not always centered around the work. When roads were being surveyed for the Libby Dam project in Montana, the crew found adventurous ways to entertain themselves while off duty.
Learning in Progress, NHI's quarterly newsletter, provides updates on new course launches, upcoming Web conference seminars, training programs and events, and NHI policy changes.
Reactive Solutions is a quarterly newsletter developed under FHWA's ASR Development and Deployment Program. Reactive Solutions will share developments of the Program, share what other States and agencies are doing to address ASR, and provide tools and information for readers to address ASR.
From January through April 2008, I had the pleasure of interviewing several retirees whose careers date back to the late 1940’s. During individual interviews, they shared their memories of working for the Bureau of Public Roads and Federal Highway Administration out of our Vancouver office. In honor of the Federal Lands Highway Program 25th Anniver
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The tents and trailers described in Part One were one kind of camp experience, but there were often other options. On many projects, vacation inns and hunting lodges became the crew’s home away from home -- until the convenience of Motel 6 and per diem allowances came along.
While sharing Federal Lands memories, several of WFLHD’s retirees recalled their experiences while on survey crews or construction crews when they stayed in tent camps or leased quarters. Some of their recollections are best shared in individual stories, but the memories below provide a good insight into life in the camps.
In 2008, the Federal Lands Highway Program celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Looking back at the past quarter century – and more – a number of retirees have shared their stories about life in the Vancouver office and in the field.
While most projects are completed, some designs never make it to construction. Other projects develop a life of their own and end up bigger than anticipated. Sometimes it is the earliest experiences with prospective projects that prove to be the most memorable.
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