Seminar Agenda

This session engages TQI team members from PTC, PennDOT, ACEC-PA, and APC in a panel discussion of their recommendations for the management of fill in a variety of civil construction import, export and reuse conditions. Among the topics addressed are understanding owners’ and contractors’ perspectives and expectations, environmental due diligence and soil classifications, and compliance with Pennsylvania’s soil management regulations, permits, and policy. Panelists will cover both design and construction considerations and will share the team’s recommendations for construction special provisions.

Presentation focusing on the Commission’s Tunnel Program and the issues and lessons learned from the Tuscarora Tunnel Rehab Project. The presentation will highlight the design considerations and construction challenges faced in rehabbing an 80 year old tunnel.

Cheer on Eastern PA vs. Western PA team members as they compete (with your help) in guessing what the “survey says” about different aspects of APC membership…and learn a little about your benefits while you play.

Will be posted when available.

Airborne exposures in the workplace remain a priority for OSHA enforcement, including at construction sites for highways and bridges. Compliance with standards for silica, chromium, lead, and other airborne contaminants, including isocyanates, can be technical and complex, implicating controls through engineering, work practices, training, and respiratory protection. This panel will address the OSHA regulatory framework for airborne contaminants and legal, technical, contractual, and practical considerations to protect workers, mitigate noncompliance, and respond to OSHA inspections and enforcement.

Risk remains an issue in transportation construction. This panel will discuss risk through the lens of “traditional” design-build procurement. The panel will address six major risk areas:

1. Proposal/Procurement Approach
2. Unknown Conditions
3. Scope Expectations
4. Schedule
5. Standard of Care (SOC)
6. Liability Audience participation is encouraged

A new modular superstructure type conceptualized by PennDOT District 1-0 Bridge staff, the Flex Beam is an inverted structural T cast into a precast concrete deck. The section was developed, modelled and tested by Lehigh University and the current BD-663M was created after the findings of that research. A pilot bridge was built in 2021 in Erie County on SR 3010. Lehigh University, as a follow up to the development project, performed live load instrumentation and field testing of the bridge to correlate the in-situ performance of the bridge with the modelling used to develop the standards. The presentation will give background, overview on the pilot project, and discussing of the instrumentation and testing of the bridge.

This presentation looks back at the early research and development of Latex Modified Concrete and the many structures that have LMC preserving them, highlighting some of the longest performing overlays in the Commonwealth.

This presentation will provide a brief update on the Pa Turnpike’s conversion to Open Road Tolling. It will also cover the Commissions Fiberoptic network construction.

Will be posted when available.

Will be posted when available.

In this session we will explore two new road safety infrastructure devices that have been crash tested to AASHTO MASH 2016 guidelines. A Branching transition that has the capacity to connect a string of temporary concrete barrier to permanent concrete barrier creating a safe working space and protection for motorists. The second product is an anchored cross bolt temporary concrete barrier that has only 2 inches of dynamic deflection. Each product will improve safety and versatility on the road network.

A discussion around the requirement for deflective Safety Barriers in the Work Zone and how MASH crash testing is being used to define the performance of each barrier. What to expect:

• Crash test videos
• Explaining MASH testing criteria
• Deflection
  • What is it
  • How is it measured
  • Defining Dynamic, Permanent and Working Width
• What barriers are acceptable
• Interpreting the Bulletin 15
• Q&A

In transportation engineering, there is a wide range of potential questions (e.g. determining rebar conditions and patterns, detection of faults or fractures, analyzing the seismic response of bridges, etc.), a wide range of media through which one might like to “see” (e.g. asphalt, concrete, soil, rock, water), and a very wide range of problem “scale” (e.g. characterizing landslide or sinkhole potential over large areas for project routing down to locating a single manhole or valve box that has been paved-over). The rapid expansion of digital, and now wireless, technology has led to innovative geophysical instruments and methods for addressing all scales, nearly all materials, and many potential questions about the subsurface.

This review of the roles of geophysics in transportation engineering will emphasize the importance of matching both old and newly-emerging technologies with the critical questions and site conditions using case histories spanning different applications, materials and scales. These examples will also illustrate what several recent accounting studies have shown: money budgeted for geophysics starting early in any transportation project returns many times that money in later project stages or lifetime through early detection and elimination of surprises.

This presentation will highlight innovative approaches being developed and implemented for improving the durability and cost-effectiveness of long-life pavements.

Did you know that the Transportation Quality Initiative (TQI) Program has an organized and focused group of industry leaders and professionals from the PTC, PennDOT, APC and ACEC-PA that work daily to minimize owner-contractor conflicts and to address industry issues that represent barriers to mutual project successes? Come learn more about the ongoing workings of TQI and hear about what is being worked on in the areas of supply chain impacts, regulated fill, shop drawing reviews and processes, stormwater design and training, and dispute resolution.

Imposter syndrome: What is it? How is it affecting women in the highway construction industry? And, most importantly, what can be done to combat it? Join a panel of women who will discuss their experiences with this challenge that most women experience at some point in their careers, as well as strategies used to overcome it.

Will be posted when available.

This presentation will discuss the employment outlook for the Safety Profession. Describe what make someone a safety professional and how to spot up and coming employees that could be safety professional by understanding what are some key aspects that make up a good Safety Professional. Lastly, give great examples of why and how a Safety Professional could help the bottom line.

The PennDOT Digital Delivery Directive 2025 is embarking in its second year of the implementation of the strategic plan developed in 2020. During this presentation, the speakers will provide a brief update on the Directive, then dive into the details of the pilot projects that are utilizing 3D model deliverables for each milestone submission. The presentation will cover details related to the process of developing the Digital Delivery Guidelines document and coordination with contractors, inspectors and external stakeholders through digital sandboxes.

Will be posted when available.

Posted when available.