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Innovator - MDOT Highlights

Below is a list of MDOT features in FHWA's publication, Innovator, released by the Center for Accelerating Innovation.

Michigan Deploys Adaptive Signal Control Technology

To help overcome operational obstacles posed by growing tourism in the Traverse City area, the North Region of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) designed and deployed adaptive signal control technologies (ASCT), closed-circuit television cameras, and WiFi/Bluetooth readers aimed at reducing congestion, improving travel time reliability, and reducing traffic crashes. The system enables MDOT to monitor and measure traffic operations and make regular adjustments for optimization. Learn more in a case study recently published by the National Operations Center of Excellence.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/innovator/issue101/page_05.html

States Report EDC-6 Deployment Successes

Fifty-one States attained demonstration, assessment, or institutionalized implementation for virtual public involvement (VPI). VPI strategies enhance agencies’ efforts to engage the public by supplementing traditional processes such as face-to-face meetings with digital technology. The Michigan DOT, one of the States that has institutionalized VPI, developed a practical guide to VPI tools. The guide describes the basics of implementing VPI tools and their benefits, barriers to consider when using them, and how to make VPI efforts more inclusive.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/innovator/issue97/page_04.html

Michigan STIC Celebrates 10-year anniversary

On March 21, 2022, the Michigan STIC, or MI-STIC, celebrated its 10-year anniversary. MI-STIC was the first in the Nation to sign a charter. Attendees at the March 21, 2022 meeting. said it was an opportunity to look back at innovation activities over the years and reflect on where they are today, and it was also an opportunity to look forward to the 50-year anniversary and envision what transportation innovation will look like in the year 2062.

Read more in the September/October 2022 issue of the Innovator newsletter. 


Ultra High Performance Concrete

The use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to strengthen and repair bridges has grown substantially in the past 15 years. Early on, UHPC was most often used as an option for connecting prefabricated bridge elements. Today, States are using it to repair bridge deck overlays and beam or girder ends and to replace expansion joints with UHPC link slabs.

Read more in the March/April 2022 issue of the Innovator newsletter.


A-GaME

Advanced geotechnical methods in exploration (A-GaME) is a set of technologies promoted by Every Day Counts (EDC) to increase the accuracy of subsurface investigations for improved project design and construction. States are making the most of their site characterization programs by using A-GaME techniques such as measurement while drilling (MWD), cone penetration testing (CPT), and seismic and electrical geophysics.

Read more in the July/August 2022 issue of the Innovator newsletter.

Alternative Technical Concepts

"We're also starting to see more contracts where agencies are using ATCs with D-B-B, and part of that is deciding which project is a good candidate," said John Huyer, FHWA Office of Infrastructure. "FHWA recently worked out a programmatic agreement with the Missouri DOT (MoDOT) for promoting ATCs on D-B-B projects, and it's now in MoDOT's strategic plan. D-B-B ATC use is also branching off into other areas. For example, the Michigan DOT has used it for controlling and maintaining traffic."

Read more in the July/August 2021 issue of the Innovator newsletter.





AID Demonstration 

FHWA's Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration grants will help seven States advance innovative solutions for mobility and safety for all road users. Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah are receiving more than $5.6 million in combined funding.

The Michigan DOT will use knowledge gained from previous efforts to bundle bridge projects on local agency routes. Expected outcomes with project bundling, a method supported during EDC-5 for awarding several projects under a single contract, include streamlined coordination and permitting and increased economies of scale.

Read more in the July/August 2021 issue of the Innovator newsletter.






Virtual Public Involvement

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is tapping the power of virtual public involvement to capture public input, including feedback on a study to improve traffic operations on Interstate 94 and a project to reconstruct a highway through a busy tourist town.

Read more in the March/April 2021 issue of the Innovator newsletter.


Advanced Geotechnical Methods in Exploration (A-GaME)

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has completed about 30 CPT soundings at eight locations, most near traditional borings. On a culvert replacement project on M-66 near East Jordan, MDOT conducted CPTs before traditional drilling and sampling. The CPT data indicated a weak layer beneath the surface, which was targeted for additional sampling during soil borings. The additional testing and CPT data added valuable information to the decision-making process, leading MDOT to change the culvert type and construction process from part width to detour, which reduced risk to the traveling public and the project.

Read more in the September/October 2020 issue of the Innovator newsletter.




Project Bundling

Freeway lighting is another project type that can benefit from bundling. In a metropolitan Detroit project, the Michigan Department of Transportation entered into a P3 agreement to improve lighting on five interstate corridors where just 70 percent of the lights functioned. The project bundled the replacement and maintenance of 15,000 lights for 15 years. The project improved freeway visibility and safety while achieving energy savings by replacing high-pressure sodium and metal halide lights with efficient light-emitting diode fixtures.

Read more in the July/August 2020 issue of the Innovator newsletter.



 
Unmanned Aerial Systems

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Michigan Technical University are collaborating to expand use of unmanned a erial systems (UAS) to meet systems operations and maintenance data needs.

Read more in the July/August 2020 issue of the Innovator newsletter.



 
AID Demonstration

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will use ABC and prefabricated bridge elements and systems to accelerate construction and reduce traffic delays during the Second Avenue Network Arch Superstructure project, part of the Interstate 94 modernization project in Detroit. MDOT estimates that erecting a network arch instead of a conventional structure will save $2 million in user delays.

 Read more in the May/June 2020 issue of the Innovator newsletter.