Kirk Landers

Brooke Wisdom - Jul 01, 2010

Failure to Bash When I became the new editorial director of Better Roads in 2001, I made a pilgrimage to the Federal Highway Administration to tap into the agency’s vast resources of information and expertise. The experience was a lot like gorging ...

Road Science

Brooke Wisdom - May 01, 2010

Get smart New technology bringing new standards to measuring bridge conditions By Tom Kuennen, Contributing Editor "Smart” bridges are on the way for road agencies burdened with the responsibility of monitoring bridge conditions. Not-so-old technologies like ground penetrating radar (GPR), acoustic emissions testing and ...

Road Science Tutorial

Brooke Wisdom - Apr 01, 2010

Two for the Price of One Recycled concrete aggregate proves its value; but it demands an engineered approach. By Tom Kuennen, Contributing Editor Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is a valuable resource for road owners and builders, both in terms of lowering costs and ...

Caltrans awarded $2.7 million in stimulus job training grants

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Mar 29, 2010

Caltrans today announced that the state has been awarded $2.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) job training grants for eight California workforce development centers. California received more than 20 percent of the national share of the grants ...

Caltrans awarded $2.7 million in stimulus job training grants

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Mar 29, 2010

Caltrans today announced that the state has been awarded $2.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) job training grants for eight California workforce development centers. California received more than 20 percent of the national share of the grants ...

LaHood awards nearly $10 million in training grants for minority, women-owned businesses

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Feb 25, 2010

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced $9.9 million in grants to provide training and other services to minority- and women-owned businesses in 33 states to help them compete for highway contracts. “The U.S. Department of Transportation has an excellent history ...

White Paper — Recovery Act Transportation Investments: Delivering Real-world Results

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Feb 17, 2010

The Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), co-chaired by American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractor of America (AGC), today released the white paper, Recovery Act Transportation Investments: Delivering Real-world Results (click here for a downloadable PDF.). Thanks ...

MoDOT has obligated all recovery act funds a month ahead of schedule

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Feb 08, 2010

JEFFERSON CITY , Mo.– The Missouri Department of Transportation has obligated all of the $524.6 million it received in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for MoDOT administered projects, meeting the required deadline a month ahead of schedule. State departments of ...

2009 a difficult year but ‘devastating’ to the construction industry

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Jan 21, 2010

It's no secret that it's rough out there. It's been that way for a while now. But in the construction industry, we've been one of the hardest hit job sectors. While only 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, construction workers shouldered ...

How do YOU ID, choose and use safety performance measures in transportation planning?

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Dec 23, 2009

In 2008 more than 37,000 people were killed and nearly 2.35 million were injured in crashes on the Nation’s roadways, according to the recently released study, A Primer on Safety Performance Measures for the Transportation Planning Process, from the Federal ...

FHWA chief offers some thoughts: Tell a better story

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Dec 03, 2009

By John Latta, Better Roads Editor-in-Chief, Onsite at the American Concrete Pavement Association annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Maybe Victor Mendez, head of the Federal Highway Administration, reads my column. Or maybe it's his own idea. Either way, he is urging contractors and ...

Texas Transportation Institute’s Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program receives award from FHWA and Roadway Safety Foundation

Tina Grady Barbaccia - Nov 11, 2009

The Texas Transportation Institute’s Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program has been honored with a Roadway Safety Award sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF). This is the third national award for TDS, the ...