The Committee on Transportation was called to order at 1:30 p.m., on Thursday, February 18, 1999. Chairwoman Vonne Chowning presided in the rear lobby of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada, for a tour of the Nevada Department of Transportation Operations Center. Exhibit A is the Agenda. All Exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mrs. Vonne Chowning, Chairwoman

Mr. Douglas Bache

Mr. John Carpenter

Mr. Jerry Claborn

Mrs. Kathy McClain

Ms. Bonnie Parnell

Mr. Kelly Thomas

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

Ms. Genie Ohrenschall, Vice Chairwoman (Excused)

Mrs. Barbara Cegavske (Excused)

Mr. Tom Collins (Excused)

Mr. Don Gustavson (Excused)

Mr. Dennis Nolan (Excused)

Mr. David Parks (Excused)

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

OTHERS PRESENT:

Keith Mackey, Director, Freeway Service Patrol Division,

Nevada Department of Transportation

Ed Wilson, Customer Service Director,

Nevada Department of Transportation

Terri Reaves, Photogrammetry Division,

Nevada Department of Transportation

Susan Martinovich, Assistant Director of Engineering, Nevada Department of Transportation

Mike Bratzler, Nevada Department of Transportation

Kathleen Taylor, Nevada Department of Transportation

Dean Weitzl, Chief Materials Engineer, Nevada Department of Transportation

Wayne Brinkmeyer, Supervisor for the Asphalt Lab, Nevada Department of Transportation

Michael Dunn, Researcher, Nevada Department of Transportation

The committee was greeted by Tom Stephens, director, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) who presented the committee with a tour agenda (Exhibit B) and formally welcomed the committee to the NDOT Operations Center. During that time he explained a few of the customer service items NDOT made available to the general public free of charge. One of the items was an official highway map, which NDOT had recently gotten back from the printer. Mr. Stephens explained the department normally produced the maps every 2 years but since Nevada had a new governor, NDOT had new maps printed with Governor Kenny Guinn’s welcome message on the back (Exhibit C). Other information handed out by Mr. Stephens was the NDOT newsletter (Exhibit D), and a current facts and figures booklet (Exhibit E).

Mr. Stephens explained the photographs displayed on the walls of the lobby. The first series was of the construction of the "Spaghetti Bowl" in Las Vegas. The gantry crane used was built in Norway. The crane was used to pick up the "Lego" like sections of concrete and put them in place. NDOT had some difficulty with that section of road because off ramps curved onto the freeway, instead of a straight section of road.

Mr. Stephens moved on to the next series of photographs, which was the Spring Mountain Interchange. He explained that project should be completed in April 1999. The pictures of the Hoover Dam showed where NDOT wanted to place a proposed expansion bridge. The Cheyenne Interchange on Interstate 15 was shown in the next series of pictures displayed. NDOT was working on a new bridge and after completion NDOT would rebuild the current structure.

Assemblywoman McClain asked the approximate timeline on the Hoover Dam project. Mr. Stephens responded the project was scheduled to begin around 2005. The bridge would be 1,500 feet above the dam with an expansion of 780 feet.

Mr. Stephens then showed photographs of the new snow removal equipment used on the Mount Rose Highway and stated the machines cost approximately $290,000 each. The next picture was of one of the NDOT bailey bridges. Further the next display was of the construction of a median barrier in the Crystal Bay area of Lake Tahoe. Next was the Freeway Service Patrol and finally, the committee was shown the trash clean up after the New Year’s Eve celebration on the Las Vegas Strip.

Keith Mackey with the Freeway Service Patrol Division of NDOT, explained to the committee how the service patrol operated. He presented the committee with a brief overview of the service patrol (Exhibit F). The service patrol began April 5, 1998, with a staff of four. They patrolled a 17-mile section of U.S. Route 95 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. On October 5, 1998, the service patrol also began covering part of Interstate Highway 15; one person serviced that section of road during the hours of 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Since the inception of the service patrol there had been 19,274 incident stops (Exhibit G), which included assisting 5,719 disabled vehicles. The category "other types of incidents" generally referred to removing dogs from the roadways.

Mr. Mackey explained the three objectives of the Freeway Service Patrol:

1. Provide safety to the traveling motorist;

2. Remove abandoned vehicles; and

3. Provide assistance to the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP).

The service patrol would provide assistance to the NHP by placing message signs along the highways informing motorists of upcoming incidents. The signs were placed far enough ahead of the incident to give travelers enough time to find an alternate route. The current signs used were precursors to large, permanent freeway signs. The service patrol was developing an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) to assist the Las Vegas area in determining traffic flow in real time. ITS would use a series of cameras along heavily traveled freeways to determine if traffic slow downs were due to normal traffic or an accident. All service patrol drivers were certified as Emergency Medical Technicians and carried emergency equipment in their vans; since they were generally the first person on the scene of an accident.

Mrs. Chowning inquired if the service patrol would be expanding their hours of service to provide the safety feature to drivers at all hours. Mr. Mackey explained he would like to expand the hours of the service patrol; however he felt the first priority would be to arrange a second shift on the Interstate 15 route. Currently there was only one person who patrolled that section of road; that created a backlog of demands since he made over 100 stops per day, which only allowed him to drive the entire route once per day.

Ed Wilson, customer service director, NDOT, relayed to the committee the department handled 500 to 600 contacts per month from Nevada residents. The Customer Service department had developed a system for tracking the outcome of all public requests for services (Exhibit H). The system was implemented so NDOT would be able to accurately develop future programs and budgetary requests.

Mr. Stephens then led the committee to the Photogrammetry Division for a presentation on the flight photography used in design of roads. The committee was introduced to Terri Reaves, who explained the system. Ms. Reaves showed how NDOT used a 3-dimensional image program on the computer, called Softcopy Photogrammetry, to extract pavement studies on what needed to be done to the land to repair a road. The images were gathered from aerial photos and placed in the computer, then using aerial triangulation the surface vector data could be determined. That program allowed the designers to run cross sections of the area and develop plans from the land and current highway features using real coordinates and elevations. Ms. Reaves used the off ramp expansion at Primm to demonstrate how the system worked.

Ms. Reaves explained NDOT continued to use older analogue machines since they allowed the user to view the curvature of the Earth and the altitude of the plane when the photo was taken. With that system the designer manually created a hard copy of the map and had to develop a separate hard copy for each cross section desired. The current computer system allowed for a faster turnaround rate on the views of the roadway desired by the designers.

Susan Martinovich, assistant director of engineering, NDOT led the committee to the Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) demonstration given by Mike Bratzler and Kathleen Taylor. Mr. Bratzler began by explaining all designs, which came out of NDOT, were now developed using the CADD program. He used the Carson Bypass and the College Parkway Interchange as his examples of the program.

Mr. Bratzler explained a photograph, using a digital camera, was taken of the area to be impacted. The image was then downloaded into the computer for future use. The designers then received a copy of the map Photogrammetry developed. To that map an isometric view was developed so the designers were able to see building or other landmark placement. Different colors were used to distinguish different features on the rough map; i.e. yellow lines were used to represent dirt roads, pink outlines for buildings, and green areas for water. The next step in design was to lay out a first plane for the proposed roadway. The designers created a vertical plan to show the current elevation and what the new elevation would be. A sample roadway would then be generated, which the designers were able to cut into cross sections to view any potential problems with current landmarks and to calculate the amount of earth moving that needed to be done. A footprint of the new road was then created. That view showed what needed to be done to build the road and modifications were then made.

Assemblyman Carpenter questioned what would happen to Hot Springs Road, since the current views shown of the College Parkway Interchange did not show that aspect. Mr. Bratzler explained the current plan would be to create a cul-de-sac since the road allowed for other points of access.

Mr. Bratzler continued with the CADD demonstration by showing the triangulation of plane, which was generated next. That view allowed the designer to view the existing road and the new road at the same time. From that point a 3-dimentional model of the new road was created and transposed onto the digital photo allowing the designers to show what the finished project would look like.

Assemblywoman Parnell inquired as to the start date on the Carson City Bypass and the College Parkway Interchange. Mr. Bratzler claimed the project should be finished by 2003. NDOT would begin looking for contractors in October and hopefully begin construction in 2001. The dates of the projects had to be pushed back because of the environmental problem with butterflies. Mr. Stephens interjected explaining NDOT found the particular species of butterfly in four other areas in the Sierra Nevada, and none were found in Carson City. The department discovered the questioned type of butterfly was not endangered, but claimed it stalled the project for 1-year. NDOT was required to follow the process established by the Federal Highway Administration for environmental studies, which required other options/ locations for the roadway be considered.

Mr. Bratzler finished the CADD demonstration, explaining the designers were able to create various views of a single roadway and study different options with the design. Before the CADD program was used designers had to complete all changes by hand onto graph paper, which was both time consuming and expensive.

Mrs. Chowning asked if the department was able to save money because the designers were able to view any changes made on the computer. Mr. Stephens reiterated Mr. Bratzler’s view by saying the CADD program allowed for different options previously unavailable, such as viewing what a completed project would look like from the digital photo image, which was very popular during public meetings.

Assemblyman Claborn wondered if NDOT was using, or would be using, the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the computer design programs. Mr. Bratzler commented the designers would like to use GPS, and had in the past; however they would like the system to be more accurate before depending solely upon it. Currently the aerial photographs were the most accurate system used, but NDOT would continue to monitor the progress of GPS. Mr. Stephens explained the designers still had to use points on the ground since GPS was constantly off by a few feet. He noted the GPS program was expensive and the department did not want to submit a budgetary request until the system worked accurately.

Mr. Claborn asked if NDOT was ahead of schedule in the design of new roadways. Mr. Stephens said the department was at least a year behind in the design of new roads because of the high demand.

Mr. Stephens then led the committee to the Materials Division’s Asphalt Lab where Dean Weitzl, Chief Materials Engineer, greeted them. Mr. Weitzl explained the Materials Division had 80 full-time employees, with 69 in Carson City and 11 in Las Vegas. The division also added 12 additional employees during construction season. He said that they were the first as well as the last division on a project. They were the first on a project since they were the ones who took the samples needed for design and last since they certified the materials used on a project. He informed the committee there were four branches under the Asphalt Lab:

1. Roadbed and pavement design branch, which dealt with pavement management and structural design;

2. Geo-technical design branch, which dealt with finding material sights near a project, determining if construction could occur on existing earth, and conducting seismic analysis of bridges;

3. Structural and chemical testing branch, which included testing on concrete, structural steel, and inspection of steel girders; and

4. Bituminous branch, which developed tests for the structural and chemical testing branch.

He explained asphalt was a waste material from oil companies. It was a temperature sensitive material that flowed when too hot and cracked when too cold. The goal of his division was to find a balance in the asphalt, which constantly changed since different asphalt was used for different areas. One would not use the same mixture in northern Nevada as in southern Nevada. Mr. Weitzl informed the committee there were two testing areas in the lab, which they would view.

Mr. Claborn asked if the Materials Division was using recycled tires in their current mixture of asphalt. Mr. Weitzl explained they had done some testing of tires in the past and spread the projects throughout the state. They were not having very good results with the mixture, unlike California and Colorado. NDOT was working with the California Transportation Authority to develop specifications for recycled tire usage that would work in Nevada.

Mrs. Chowning stated she had seen the usage of recycled tires in asphalt in Arizonia, where all tires were recycled. They seemed to have improved the process, using the tires in all their roads, which not only lasted longer, but were quieter as well. Mr. Weitzl explained NDOT had not given up on the idea yet.

Michael Dunn, researcher, began by explaining the empirical testing methods NDOT had been using for many years. The first test shown to the committee was for thermal cracking and viscose properties. As viscosity increased the thermal properties decreased, and vice versa. The goal of the lab was to try to get the best of both properties into a single asphalt, which could be used throughout the state.

Mrs. Chowning questioned what the average life span of Nevada roads was. Mr. Dunn replied there was really no way of knowing exactly how long a road would last. However if the proper materials were used, a road could last longer than 7 years.

Mr. Dunn moved on to the next empirical test, which was asphalt content. The road material was weighed, placed in an ignition oven, burned at 538 degrees Celsius for 85 to 95 minutes, and weighed one last time to determine content. There was an ignition oven on every job site in the state and the asphalt was checked on a daily basis. The final test was the toughness and tenacity test. That test was used to determine the length of time the asphalt could retain some sense of pull. The asphalt was stretched using 750 pounds per square inch until it snapped. The test was used to compare different types of asphalt.

Mr. Dunn explained 1 quart of asphalt was tested per every 23 metric tons. The samples taken were used to determine the entire truckload of asphalt. Because of the time constraints on testing, asphalt was tested as it was being poured onto the roadway. If there was a problem with the asphalt the construction company had to replace all the asphalt at their cost, even if the project was completed.

Mrs. Chowning questioned if that was the reason why Stewart Avenue in Las Vegas had grooves in the pavement so soon after the asphalt had been laid. Mr. Dunn explained the grooves might have been due to having too much clay in the materials, a problem many construction companies tended to have in the Las Vegas area.

Wayne Brinkmeyer, supervisor for the Asphalt Lab, demonstrated the new Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) equipment. He explained the SHRP equipment was designed to measure properties of asphalt, which directly related to performance, given a specific set of conditions. The tests were much more accurate than the empirical testing.

Mr. Carpenter asked from where the asphalt for the projects came. Mr. Brinkmeyer stated there was a refinery in Las Vegas, which was used for local projects in the southern portion of the state; while other areas truck the asphalt in from California, Idaho, and Utah.

Mr. Brinkmeyer explained there were a variety of Performance Grade Asphalts (PGA). PGAs were asphalts predetermined to work in a given set of conditions. They were set up by using the hottest temperature as the determining factor, i.e. P6 64-28 would mean 64 degrees Celsius would be the highest temperature desired before the asphalt would begin to become malleable, while –28 degrees Celsius would be the lowest temperature allowed before the asphalt would begin to crack. The normal PGA used in the Las Vegas metro area was P6 76-16. He continued showing examples of the asphalt when tested for strain, aging, deflection, and stiffness.

Mr. Stephens concluded the tour of NDOT at the rear of the building to show off some of the new equipment purchased. The four pieces of equipment were a snow blower, snowplow, dump truck, and front loader. He pointed to the white panels on the side of the dump truck and explained they contained a salt-brine, or sand mixture developed by Steve Williams, a member of NDOT, used for blanketing on roads during inclement weather. The mixture would not allow the ice to stick to the roadway. It was placed on the road before the snow began to stick and cut the impact of the storms by one-half. NDOT had discovered by using the pre-wet mixture they were able to decrease the usage of both products. The department had also discovered if straight salt must be used and was applied just before the snow began to stick on the road, around 34 to 33 degrees Fahrenheit, NDOT was able to cut back on their salt usage. That had eased environmental concerns raised by Lake Tahoe residents.

With no further business before the committee Chairwoman Chowning concluded the meeting at 3:30 p.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Jennifer Batchelder,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, Chairwoman

DATE: