Nevada T2 Center University of Nevada, Reno/0257 Reno, NV 89557-0257 Nevada Milepost is published quarterly by the Transportation Technology Transfer Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Its purpose is to provide the latest information on transportation in a way that is useful to local and county highway personnel. Nevada Milepost contains original and rewritten material compiled from reliable sources. It assumes no responsibility for the correctness of the information. The Nevada T2 Center is part of the nationwide Local Technical Assistance Program. It is financed jointly by the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission. NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID Reno, NV Permit No. 26 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Summer 2009 Maria Ardila-Coulson Peter Sebaaly Lisa Cody Larry Lunz Elie Hajj Nevada Milepost: Editor: Maria Ardila-Coulson Photojournalist: Larry Lunz Graphic Design: KCJ Creative 16 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Vol. 21 No. 2 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL Nevada Milepost Nevada T2 Center/257 University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV 89557 Ph: (775) 784-1433 FAX: (775) 784-1429 http://www.t2.unr.edu T2 Center Staff Nevada’s Technology Transfer Quarterly How to keep gravel roads in good shape t Seat belt crusader wouldn’t buckle under a n Alabama congressmen who became known as “Seat Belt” Roberts is not well remembered today. But Kenneth Roberts was the firebrand behind the first federal law requiring safety devices in all new American cars. The popular myth in the mid-1950s was that seat belts cause more injuries than they prevented. Despite strong public and automaker opposition, Roberts finally got legislation enacted in 1964 that gave the General Services Administration oversight of safety standards for federally purchased cars. The GSA mandated 17 safety features, including padded instrument panels, safety door latches and a uniform sequence for automatic transmissions (P-R-N-D-L). It also required anchors where seat belts could be installed, but not the belts themselves. Lobbyists for the automakers immediately began watering down the GSA’s regulations. Roberts’ law might have had little impact if not for the events of 1965. Grassroots groups joined the cause with the publication of Ralph Nader’s landmark book, Unsafe at Any Speed. Thirty medical doctors got into the act by picketing the International Auto Show in New York, demanding safer designs. The growing uproar spurred a Senate subcommittee to hold public hearings on automobile safety and to invite automakers to testify. When pressed, GM officials admitted that their company spent less than 0.1 percent of its profits on safety. Feeling the political heat, President Lyndon Johnson put his weight behind an auto safety bill. Successful legislation led to the establishment of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It applied the GSA’s standards to all automobiles and further required those built after 1967 to have seat belts. Roberts lost his re-election bid but stayed active by serving as a highway safety advisor. here are more than 1.6 million miles of unpaved roads (53 percent of all roads) in the United States. The focus of this issue is to provide clear and helpful information for doing a better job of maintaining and rehabilitating gravel roads. Very little technical help is available to small agencies responsible for managing these roads. Traditionally, gravel maintenance and rehabilitation has been more of an art than a science, and very few formal standards exist. This leads to many arguments among grader operators, managers and motor- Maintaining and rehabiliting gravel roads has been more of an art than a science. ists over questions such as: What is enough surface crown? What is too much? What causes corrugation? The objective is to offer guidelines to help answer these and other questions about the maintenance and rehabilitation of gravel roads. Section 1: Routine maintenance Understanding road cross sections To maintain a gravel road properly, operators must clearly understand the need for the three basics: a crowned driving surface, a shoulder that slopes directly away from the edge of the driving surface, and a ditch. The shoulder and the ditch of many gravel roads may be minimal. The basic shape of the cross section must be correct or a gravel road will not perform well, even under very low traffic. The operator’s responsibility is to maintain the shape of the road surface and the shoulder. This is classified as routine maintenance. Keeping the foreslope and ditch established and shaped is often the maintenance operator’s responsibility as well. Sometimes there is a need for specialized equipment to do major reshaping of the cross section, especially in very wet conditions. However, the operator of routine maintenance equipment must do everything possible to take care of the roadway; budgets often do not allow for the use of extra equipment and manpower on gravel roads. ■ IN THIS ISSUE ■ How to do a better job of maintaining and rehabilitating gravel roads (p.1-7) ■ The Comstock Silver Strike gave birth to Virginia City 150 years ago, and the big birthday bash is being celebrated this summer (p. 10) ■ L2 on the Road shares not only the late radio commentator Paul Harvey’s “Ode to Dirt Roads” but also snippets of his own idyllic life on an unpaved road (p.11) ■ The Practical Man has come across a device that provides a tighter surface on gravel roads (p. 14) ■ Recycle Michael warns “not so fast” in trading out your old incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. (p. 14) ■ ROUTING SLIP Don’t file this Quarterly in your inbox. Please — read it, photocopy what you want, initial below, and send it on, especially to the frontline troops. _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ FOCUS No-Brainer Mail-In Page EROSION CONTROL Your Name: ___________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Focus Routine maintenance .....................1 Shaping principles..........................2 Crown.............................................3 Road shoulder................................4 Gravel road shaping principles t he motor grader is most often used for gravel road maintenance. However, other devices also can work well. Front or rear-mounted grading attachments for tractors, road rakes and other devices of various designs are sometimes used. The principles of shaping are the same no matter what machine is used. Phone: __________________________________Fax: _________________________________ Company/Organization: __________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ Rehabilitation .................................5 Areas of concern .........................6-7 Humor Gone fishin’ ....................................3 On the Job Ergonomic workstation requires proper design .............................5 Prevent post-vacation blues ...........5 Quotable Quotes Workplace witticisms......................6 Safety Paving safely at night .....................8 Safe mower operation ....................8 Identifying skin cancers..................8 Sun causes skin cancer .................8 Training Intersection safety series developed ...................................9 Highway specifications Web site updated ................................9 More Roads Scholars make the honor roll .......................12-13 In Nevada Summer sizzle ...............................4 New assistant planning director balances needs in tough economy .....................................7 Virginia City throws sesquicentennial celebration ...10 New signal light warns of ultraviolet radiation ...................11 Rear View Mirror Seat belt crusader wouldn’t buckle under .............................16 Regular Features “Road Smart” Contest ..................11 L2 on the Road .............................11 Recycle Michael ...........................14 The Practical Man ........................14 No-Brainer Mail-in Page ...............15 Operating speed Operating speed in blading operations must not be excessive. It is virtually impossible to do good work above a top speed of 3 mph to 5 mph. If the machine begins to “lope” or bounce, it will cut depressions and leave ridges in the road surface. Moldboard angle The angle of the moldboard also is critical to good maintenance. This angle is fixed on some grading devices, but on motor graders it can be adjusted easily. It is important to keep the angle somewhere between 30 degrees and 45 degrees. It is a challenge to recover loose aggregate from the shoulder of the roadway without spilling material around the leading edge (toe) of the moldboard. Operating without enough angle is a primary cause of this spilling. Moldboard pitch Along with correct angle, it is important to understand proper pitch or “tilt” of a moldboard. If it is pitched back too far, the material will tend to build up in front of it and will not fall forward and move along to the discharge end of the blade. This also causes excess material loss from the toe of the machine. In addition, it reduces the mixing action that is desirable when recovering material from the shoulder and moving it across the roadway, leveling and smoothing it in the process. This mixing action is part of routine maintenance. Traffic tends to loosen material from the road surface and displace it to the shoulder as well as between the wheel tracks. The stone will tend to separate from the sand and the fine-sized material. Concurrently, small potholes and an uneven surface will develop. It is the job of the maintenance operator to recover the material, mix it again as it rolls along the face of the moldboard and to restore good surface shape. 2 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Motor grader stability Sometimes it can be hard to keep a machine stable, especially while carrying a light load of material. Counteracting machine bounce or loping requires experience in knowing the cause and then finding a solution. If a motor grader begins to rock from side to side, it is usually caused by blade angle that closely matches the angle from corner to corner of the tires on the rear tandems. Generally, the solution is to stop, change angle slightly on the moldboard and slowing resume blading. Simply reducing speed will often eliminate the loping effect of a machine. Experimenting with different tire inflation pressures can help stabilize a machine, as can leaning the front wheels in the direction that material is being moved. Filling tires with liquid ballast to about 70 percent capacity sometimes is done to increase traction, weight and stability of the grader. Articulation Virtually all modern motor graders are equipped with frame articulation. It can be an advantage to slightly articulate the machine to stabilize it even in a common maintenance operation. Windrows In arid Western states like Nevada, it is common to leave a small inventory windrow to be picked up next time and worked back across the road for filling small depressions. The windrow should be placed near the edge of the roadway to allow as great a width of travel as possible. City: _________________________________________State: _________ZIP: _____________ If you have changed your address, telephone or fax number, please write them below and fax changes to (775) 784-1429 or e-mail to [email protected]. _____________________________________________________________________________ Circle YES where appropriate Do you want a free copy of Minimizing Low Volume Road Water Displacement on Gravel Roads? YES Do you want to borrow Gravel Road Maintenance: Meeting the Challenge DVD/CD combo? YES A complete list of the 2009 workshops is posted to our Web site at www.t2.unr.edu or call Lisa Cody at 775-784-1433. The T2 Center would like to be able to communicate with you by e-mail. Do you have an e-mail address? If so, please enter it here. _________________________________________________________________________ Please provide your answer to the “Road Smart Contest.” Identify the road and two nearest destinations. _________________________________________________________________________________________ FAX this form to (775) 784-1429. Or fold it in three, close with tape and mail. ______________________________________ Motor graders are often used for gravel road maintenance although other devices can work well too. PLACE STAMP HERE ______________________________________ ______________________________________ University of Nevada, Reno T2 Center/257 Reno, NV 89557-0179 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL RECYCLE MICHAEL ■ Mercury mess When a compact fluorescent light bulb breaks in your house, evacuate people and pets from the room. Open a window for at least 15 minutes so no one breathes in the fine mercury dust released from the CFL bulb. If the floor of the room is a hard surface, you can scoop up the debris with a piece of cardboard. The smallest particles can be wiped up with a damp paper towel. The EPA warns that sweeping and vacuuming is not thorough enough for cleanup on hard floors. When you’re finished, seal the cardboard, paper towel and broken pieces of the CLF bulb into two layers of plastic bagging. On carpeting and other soft surfaces, put on gloves and pick up as many pieces as you can of the broken light bulb by hand or with the help of sticky tape and dispose of the material in a double plastic bag. If you need to vacuum to remove the mercury dust and other debris, remove the vacuum bag and dispose of it properly. Wipe out the canister if the vacuum does not have a bag. Recycle Michael is as tight-fisted as his ol’ buddy the Practical Man is tight-lipped. He has the first dollar he ever earned and expects the government to be frugal as well. He’s always on the lookout for ways to reuse things to save a little money while helping to preserve the environment. Shining the light on CFLs u tilities, environmentalists, retailers and government agencies encourage you to swap out your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights to cut electric use. But there’s a hitch. Recycling efforts are unable to keep up with spent and broken CFLs. Only a small fraction of the nearly 500 million CFLs sold in the United States last year were recycled. Mercury menace This raises a potential health hazard with hundreds of millions of the bulbs being tossed in the trash and ending up in landfills. Most CFLs contain about 4 to 5 milligrams of mercury, enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. This trace amount multiplied nearly exponentially can cause neurological disorders as well as lung and kidney diseases in humans. The mercury in the CFLs makes the collection process for recycling difficult. The EPA opposes typical curbside recycling of the bulbs because of the danger of breakage. But no agencies oversee the EPA’s recommended guidelines to double plastic bag CFLs before disposing of them. Furthermore, there are no penalties for throwing CFLs into the trash in Nevada. Limited option Recycling always should be your first option. But if you happen to live in the far reaches of Nevada where recycling centers aren’t available, follow the EPA recommendation to seal the bulbs in two layers of plastic bagging. To find out if recycling is an option in your area, contact Nevada Power or go online to earth911.org to find the recycling center nearest to you. Enter “CFL” and your zip code. Other ways also are available to identify local recycling options. These include the U.S. Recycling Hotline at (800) 253-2687 and the EPA at epa.gov/bulb. In addition, some retail stores like Ace Hardware and Home Depot now accept spent CFLs. THE PRACTICAL MAN The Practical Man tolerates no nonsense and minces few words. He doesn’t stand on formality and isn’t easily amused. He grudgingly appears here to offer you hard-bitten practical advice to make your job easier. Establishing proper crown on gravel roads e stablishing proper crown in the gravel surface probably generates more controversy than any other aspect of good maintenance. How much crown is enough? Can you build too much crown? What is a recommended crown? Problems develop quickly when a gravel road has no crown. Water will quickly collect on the road surface during a rain and will soften the crust. This will lead to rutting which can become severe if the subgrade also begins to soften. Even if the subgrade remains firm, traffic will quickly pound out smaller depressions in the road where water collects and potholes will develop. An operator also can build too much crown into the road surface. This can lead to an unsafe condition in which motorists do not feel comfortable staying on their side of the road. They begin to feel a slight loss of control of the vehicle as it wants to slide toward the shoulder. As a result, motorists tend to drive down the middle of the road regardless of how wide it is. Recommendations from supervisors and skilled operators across the country indicate that at least ½ inch of crown per foot (approximately 4 percent) on the cross slope is ideal. It is also recognized that it is impossible for any operator to maintain an absolutely uniform crown. Crown gauges can be used to determine existing crown. Sophisticated electronic slope controls also are available for graders. Mitigating parabolic crown The ideal shape for a crown is a straight line from the shoulder up to the centerline of the road. This gives the road the same shape as the roof of a house, often referred to as a flat “A” shape. However, this shape sometimes can become This is the ideal shape rounded. The engineering of a crown. term for this is “parabolic crown.” The middle portion of the road will have considerably less crown than the outer edges. Water will not drain from the middle, and potholes and ruts will form. The greatest cause of parabolic crown is excess water at the center of the cutting edge. This is normal wear and will vary with types of gravel, s 14 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 The tighter surface created by the steel drum improves surface drainage by reducing infiltration into the gravel. Using the ripper hydraulics to increase pressure on the drum applies considerable weight and develops a tight top surface. Development of the pull-behind steel-drum roller took 40 labor hours. Materials included the steel drum, axle, 800-pound bearings, mounts, frame and a scrapper bar for a total cost of $3,000. The Bighorn County boys told me that now they can now provide a better ride with only a slight increase in the time it takes to maintain the road. ■ THE NEVADA T2 CENTER ADVISORY BOARD Delmo Andreozzi City of Elko Allen Bell City of Mesquite Kevin Carnes USDA Forest Service Ken Chambers NDOT Tie He Nevada DOT, Carson City Kevin Lee Nevada DOT, Elko Shital K. Patel FAST, RTC Southern Nevada Patrick Pittenger Carson City Public Works Tighter surface created by using steel drum on gravel roads ome of my buddies at the Bighorn County Road & Bridge Department in Wyoming have come up with a very effective device that they’ve dubbed a pull-behind steel-drum roller. The incentive was their desire to provide a tighter surface after performing routine maintenance with a motor grader on some of their gravel roads. After normal maintenance, the surface was loose and formed ruts and washboards. Their solution was to attach a steel drum to the back of a motor grader. This let them apply sufficient compaction for a tighter top surface, reducing washboards, loose aggregate and rutting on the top surface. width of road, wheel path location and other factors. A good operator will make an effort to avoid the parabolic shape on a roadway by keeping the cutting edge straight. A simple method to avoid the parabolic shape is to use a cutting torch and straighten the cutting edge whenever ½ inch to ¾ inch or more of center wear exists. Another approach is to use a thicker, harder section of cutting edge in the middle of the moldboard to resist wear. This will retard excess center wear but usually will not eliminate it. Another option is to use the modern carbide-tipped bits on the cutting edge. These are extremely wear resistant and dramatically reduce center wear. There also are carbide inserts or carbide-faced cutting edges that are wear resistant. Jim Poston Washoe County RTC Valerie Rodman FHWA Gone fishin’ HUMOR A young boy was taking care of his baby sister while his parents went shopping in town. He wanted to go fishing and decided to take his little sister with him. When he got home, he complained to his mother. “I’m never taking Jill with me again. She wouldn’t behave, and I didn’t catch a thing.” “Jack,” his mother said, “don’t be that way about your little sister. I’m sure she’ll be quieter the next time and won’t scare the fish away.” Bob Russell Washoe County RTC Roger Sutton City of Winnemucca Kathy Sanchez City of Reno Paul Solaegui President, Solaegui Engineers Barbara Stearns NDOT, Training Division 3 “It wasn’t that,” Jack said. “She ate all the bait!” Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL The essentials of road shoulders t Road shoulders are generally kept clear of all traffic so that in an emergency, the driver can pull into it to get out of the flow of traffic. he road shoulder serves several essential functions. It is there to support the edge of the traveled portion of the roadway. But another important function is to provide a safety area for drivers to regain control of vehicles if forced to leave the road surface. Yet another vital function is to carry water further away from the road surface to the foreslope and ditch. For the shoulder to perform all of these functions, its shape is critical. First, the shoulder should meet the edge of the roadway at the same elevation. In other words, the shoulder should be no higher or no lower than the edge of the roadway. By maintaining this shape, the low shoulder or drop-off is eliminated (a safety hazard which also reduces roadway edge support). High shoulders When a gravel road develops a high shoulder or what engineers call a secondary ditch, it destroys the drainage of water directly from the surface to the real ditch. This process causes several problems. In relatively level terrain, the water collects and seeps into the subgrade, often causing the whole roadway to soften. In rolling and rugged terrain, the water quickly flows downhill along the secondary ditch, often eroding away a large amount of gravel and even eroding the subgrade. This also creates a serious safety hazard. Causes of high shoulders High shoulders can develop from improper maintenance, such as losing material from the toe of a grader’s moldboard or from cutting too deep at the shoulder line with the toe of the machine. This is a particular problem when the cutting edge is not kept reasonably straight. But there are other causes. Fast traffic can cause excessive “whip-off” of loose material, which tends to build up along the shoulder line. Heavy loads on gravel roads with weak subgrades also can cause this. When heavy vehicles have to travel near the shoulder while meeting other vehicles, the roadway can rut while the shoulder area shoves upward. ■ Summer Sizzle Laughlin is second only to Laredo, Texas, for the most record high temperatures in the United States. The highest recorded temperature in Laughlin was 125° F, which was reached June 29, 1994. The temperature also stands as the record high temperature for Nevada. 4 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Recovering and spreading on roadway When a motor grader is the only piece of equipment used on the job, usually more than one pass will be required to recover material from high shoulders. If there is little or no vegetation on the shoulder, simply extend the moldboard out into the shoulder material and begin to pull it onto the roadway. If the amount of material is light, you may be able to do this in one pass. The material recovered is often good gravel that needs to be returned to the roadway surface. Breaking up sod and vegetation Quite often the material pulled out onto the roadway from the shoulder is very hard to spread because of the vegetative material in it. It will require multiple passes with the grader to get the job done. Many agencies are turning to other mechanical means of breaking up the material to make the road safe for traffic. This can range from something as simple as a disk or drag to sophisticated pulverizing equipment. TRAINING More Roads Scholars of equipment. He says one of his job goals is helping to educate his crew. “The greatest challenges I face are working with the pubic and dealing with the traffic on Interstate 80.” John says he has enjoyed the T2 Center classes and has found them to be “very interesting.” Equipment operations instructor Glen Rogers has worked for NDOT in Las Vegas for three years. He is responsible for teaching vehicle operators safe and efficient use of construction equipment. He is well qualified for his job, having spent 20 years in the Navy on heavy Glen Rogers equipment operation. “I want to ensure that my students comprehend and master the new skills I teach them,” he confesses. As for himself, Glenn says that the Roads Scholar Program was “essential” for him to learn and advance. Employed with NDOT in Las Vegas for 20 years, Kenny Smith is a highway maintenance worker III, who among his duties, operates heavy equipment. “I want to become a better employee and advance to a higher position,” he says. “I plan to use information that I learned Kenny Smith from the T2 Center classes to achieve these goals.” He sees his greatest challenge as keeping NDOT employees and the public safe in work zones. Troy Teixeira has worked for the City of Reno for three years and is a maintenance worker I. His main duty is asphalt maintenance on city streets. “My greatest challenge on my job is working with the public and dealing with heavy traffic,” he admits. “I liked all the workshops I took from the T2 Center and found them very informational,” he says. “My favorite class though was Troy Teixeira Winter Survival.” NDOT 19-year veteran Tommy Thompson is a highway maintenance supervisor II in Las Vegas. He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating maintenance tasks for assigned sections involving up to four highway maintenance supervisors under him. “My main goals are to insure that the crews who fall under my supervision are accident and injury free,” he says. “I also want to become the most efficient and supportive supervisor that I can be. This involves dealing well with people and their unique personalities.” Tommy says that the T2 Center Program is a “great learning tool” for Tommy Thompson NDOT employees. For more information about the Road Scholar program, please visit our Web site at www.t2.unr.edu. A complete list of the 2009 workshops is posted to the site or you can call Lisa Cody at (775) 784-1433. 13 Road shoulders provide a safety area for drivers to retain control of their vehicles. Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS TRAINING EROSION CONTROL Section 2: Rehabilitation of gravel roads 12 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Rick Coral has been with the City of Reno for 10 years and is a maintenance worker I. He does street, sign and right-of-way maintenance and guardrail installation and repair. “My greatest challenge on the job is learning new technologies,” he says. Rick contends that the T2 Center’s classes are “very good.” He says, “I came away from them with a lot Rick Coral of valuable information for everyday use.” Bill Griffey has been with NDOT in Reno for four years and is a highway maintenance worker III. His duties involve operating equipment, paving and snow removal. “My job goal is to learn how to operate more equipment,” he says. “My greatest challenges on the job are public safety and crew safety while operating snow removal equipment.” Bill asserts that his favorite T2 Center class was Snow & Ice Control. “Finishing the Roads Scholar Program was a real achieve- Bill Griffey ment,” he says proudly. Just like Griffey, Joshua Jay has been with NDOT in Reno for four years and is a maintenance worker III. But his responsibilities are different. He works on the sign and lighting crew doing new installation and maintenance. “My job goals are to learn as much as I can and to teach others what I’ve learned,” he says. “The greatest challenge I face is constantly working on new technical projects.” Joshua advises, “Anyone who works in road construction and mainteJoshua Jay nance should take the T2 Center’s classes because you can learn a lot of useful information.” Danny Jordan has been a highway maintenance worker II with NDOT in Las Vegas for three years. His maintenance duties include operating a loader, guardrail repair and highway clean up. He also helps with traffic control during accidents in work zones. “I want to learn more on the job and through the T2 Center programs to become a better employee,” he says. “The greatest challenge is helping to keep NDOT crews and the public safe in work zones.” Employed by NDOT Danny Jordan in Las Vegas for 10 years, Kevin Killian is a highway maintenance supervisor I. He is responsible for running a night maintenance crew. “Trying to deal with vendors and other support people who work during the day is probably the hardest thing I have to do. I must rely on others to communicate my needs to these people.” “My primary goal is to maintain a trained crew who are capable of accomplishing any task that they are asked to do,” he states. “The T2 Center provides my crew and me the chance to learn Kevin Killian new skills and refresh those skills that are not used every day.” NDOT 20-year veteran Mike Palzet is a highway maintenance supervisor I in Las Vegas. He is snow removal certified and in charge of a six-man crew who do storm water maintenance and concrete repair on drains and culverts. His goal is to work 30 years at NDOT and retire. Mike Palzet “The greatest challenges for me on the job are heavy traffic and the intense Las Vegas summer heat,” he says. Mike identifies his three favorite T2 Center classes as Winter Survival, Summer Survival and Work Zone Traffic Control. John Picetti works for NDOT in Fernley as a highway maintenance worker II. With the department for 10 years, he is an equipment John Picetti operator on all major pieces g ravel roads gradually begin to show distress that requires more than routine maintenance to correct. At certain intervals, every gravel road requires some major rehabilitation. Reshaping of the driving surface and road shoulder can be done by cutting material with the motor grader and relaying it to the proper shape and crown. If possible, the use of a roller for compaction will greatly improve the finished surface. This will leave a denser, stronger, smoother surface that will be easier to maintain. Severe rutting, loss of crown, gravel loss and deep secondary ditches –– a combination of any two or more of these calls for a major reshaping. This often has to be done on the entire cross section, and it may have to be done immediately regardless of vegetative growth. Motor graders, disks, pulverizers and rollers are often needed. These are not always available but certainly make the job easier. The field supervisor’s knowledge and the operator’s skill in understanding how to rebuild the cross section becomes very important. These projects seldom have the benefit of much planning or technical assistance. Seldom is any surveying or staking done. But it is vital to rebuild a uniform cross section and pay attention to restoring good drainage. Only after this is done correctly should good surface gravel be replaced. ■ Prevent postvacation blues Even if your vacation has relaxed and recharged you, getting back to work can soon make you feel listless and unmotivated. Here are tips to alleviate the symptoms of post-vacation letdown. Pace yourself. We tend to have high expectations of what we can get out of our vacations. So we tend to overplan or overbook ourselves for time meant to relax. Make sure you’re not trying to do so much that you never relax and regret it when you return home. Schedule your return a couple of days early. Give yourself a day or so between vacation and going back to work; it can help ease the transition to your duties. Let others know your plans. It is always good workplace practice to let people know you’re away and to provide them with alternative contacts. Arrange for messages on your voice mail and e-mail. It can reduce the number of messages waiting to be returned. Ease into it. If you can arrange it, make your first day back a half day. You can take care of the most pressing matters with this time. ON THE JOB Ergonomic workstations require proper design for employees e rgonomics is the science concerned with designing and arranging workstations that are safe and efficient. Employees who work at a computer are at high risk of developing injury due to repetitive movement. An ergonomic workstation greatly reduces the risk of office injury, encourages good posture and provides the least amount of stress on the body. A properly designed and arranged workplace is worth the time and effort to create. Employees will experience less discomfort, be more productive and better enjoy their work. Office chair Buy a chair with an adjustable seat height, adjustable back angle with lumbar support and with armrests. All three are important to reduce strain and injury while lumbar support for the lower back will decrease back fatigue. To adjust the chair, first set the seat height so your knees are at an angle between 90 degrees and 110 degrees, with your feet resting flat on the floor or a footrest and your thighs parallel to the floor. Second, set the back angle so your hips are at a 90-degree angle. Third, adjust armrests low enough not to interfere with mouse use. Computer monitor Place the monitor directly in front of the keyboard at a height so your eyes land on the top onethird of the screen while looking straight ahead. This will reduce the risk of neck and shoulder pain. Also, place the monitor at a comfortable distance to reduce eye strain. Keyboard and mouse Some of the most common computer-related injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, come from improper placement of the keyboard and mouse. First, buy an adjustable tray for the keyboard and mouse. Second, adjust the tray at a proper height so your elbows are at a 90-degree angle while your wrists remain straight and relaxed. Third, place the mouse at the same height as the keyboard and within easy reach. Elbows should be at your side and close to the body while working. Breaks Take frequent breaks throughout the day to stretch and refocus. Stretch your back, neck, wrists and forearms to reduce stress and allow work to be more comfortable for longer periods of time. 5 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL ■ Quotable quotes Workplace witticisms Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow. – Don Herold Nothing is so embarrassing as watching your boss do something you assured him couldn’t be done. – Earl Wilson I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. – Jerome K. Jerome The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. – Robert Frost 6 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 IN NEVADA Areas of concern for gravel roads t here are special situations in gravel road maintenance that should be addressed. They are common to nearly all gravel roads, and it is essential to understand how to deal with them. These concerns are unique to gravel roads and practical solutions are recommended for each of them. Corrugation The technical term is corrugation, but virtually everyone in the field refers to the problem as washboarding. There are three primary causes: driving habits, lack of moisture and poor quality of gravel. Driving habits are clearly evident when you observe washboarding at intersections, going up or down steep hills, leading into or out of sharp curves and sometimes even near driveways. These are all places where drivers tend to accelerate hard or brake aggressively. Lack of moisture will encourage washboard formation. Nevada’s prolonged dry weather can greatly aggravate the situation. The crust that forms on the surface of a good gravel road will tend to loosen. This allows the stone and sand-sized particles of gravel to “float,” and the material can easily align itself into the washboard pattern under traffic. The two causes just mentioned are completely out of the control of gravel maintenance operators and managers. The third primary cause — the quality of the gravel — is what we need to concentrate on. Good quality surface gravel must have the right blend of stone, sand and fines. The stone should be fractured, and the fine-sized particles should have a binding characteristic, technically called “plasticity.” This type of gravel resists washboarding. Virtually any gravel will develop some washboard areas under traffic. The key for the maintenance operator is to strive to keep the material blended. In dry conditions, the operator can only smooth the road temporarily. When moisture is present, it pays to quickly get out and rework these areas. The material should be cut to a depth of 1 inch or more below the depressions, mixed and relayed to the proper shape. If time allows, using the machine to apply wheel compaction to material will help reform the crust. If possible, the use of a roller will improve the compaction. Gravel intersections At controlled intersections, the primary road should retain its crown, and the intersecting roads should have their crowns gradually eliminated beginning approximately 100 feet before the inter- section. At the point of intersection, the side roads are virtually flat to match the primary road. When the intersection is uncontrolled, the roads should all have the crown gradually eliminated approximately 100 feet from the intersection. The intersection becomes virtually flat, allowing vehicles to pass through without a noticeable hump or dip from any direction. Be careful not to make the intersection lower so that water collects there. Intersections with paved roads The rule for shaping these intersections is always the same. Begin to eliminate the crown on the gravel road approximately 100 feet from the edge of the pavement. At the intersecting point, the gravel should match the paved surface. This requires continual attention because potholes can easily develop at the edge of the pavement. However, be careful not to push gravel out onto the pavement because this causes a dangerous loss of skid resistance on the pavement. The technique of “backdragging” is useful in these operations. When filling a pothole at the edge of the pavement, extra material may spill onto it. Simply pick up the moldboard and set it down in front of the material, then back up and spread the excess back on the gravel road. Bridge approaches Once again, the rule for shaping a bridge approach is always the same. Approximately 100 feet from the bridge, begin to gradually take the crown out of the gravel road so that you can match the bridge deck as closely as possible. Potholes can easily form at the edge of the deck. Keep them filled but don’t push gravel onto the deck. Super elevation at curves So-called “banking a curve” is one of the biggest challenges in gravel road maintenance. It also is not very well understood by many operators. The outer edge of the roadway is higher than the inside edge, and the road surface is shaped straight from the upper to the lower edge. As the operator approaches a curve, adjustments should be made with the blade to take out the normal crown and begin to transition into a straight, super-elevated surface. This shape should be maintained uniformly throughout the curve. A gentle transition is then made at the other end back to a normal crowned road surface when you are once again on a straight section of road. Traffic will tend to displace the gravel toward the upper end of the road, and the inside of the Continued on page 7 “Road Smart” contest For each issue of the Nevada Milepost, field representative Larry Lunz (“L2 on the Road”) submits a photograph from his trips across the Silver State for the “Road Smart” contest. How to play To win a handsome prize that will make you the envy of all your co-workers, you need to be the first to identify the stretch of road in the accompanying photograph. Specifically, you need to identify the road and two nearest destinations. If you think you know the road and location, write it in where indicated on the No-Brainer Mail-In Page. If you’re the first person to fax the T2 Center with the correct information, you win! It’s that easy. Private sector prize winner What’s your best guess as to the location of this road? Send in your answer on the “No Brainer” page. First correct answer by fax is the Road Smart winner! Civil engineer David Pulley with C&M Engineering and Design is the latest “Road Smart” contest winner. He was the first to identify the photograph in the Spring 2009 issue of the Nevada Milepost as Old Highway 40 between West Wendover and the Ola interchange. The Nevada T2 Center recognized David’s road knowledge by presenting him with a kit containing a compass, pocket knife and flashlight. L2 ON THE ROAD Larry Lunz = L2 Life runs smooth on an unpaved road w e live out in the country on a dirt and gravel road. I love it despite its washboards, pot holes and dust. We and the five other families on this private road just forked out money to have it graded. It’s a dead end, so there’s not much traffic. I guess you could say it’s off the beaten path. Among the reasons I’m attached to this road is because you can walk right down the middle of it without getting run down. (Accompanying photo shows L2’s penchant for accustoming himself to the middle of roads.) You and a neighbor can stop in your cars and talk out the windows without causing a traffic jam. It just makes for a slower pace of life. Recently deceased long-time radio commentator Paul Harvey said it best in his “Ode to Dirt Roads”: Dirt roads build character. People who live at the end of a dirt road learn life is a bumpy ride, but it’s worth it, if waiting at the other end is home, a loving spouse, happy kids and a frisky dog. Our values were better when our roads were worse. People didn’t worship their cars more than their kids. And motorists are more friendly and courteous on a dirt road. You don’t tailgate, or the guy in front of you will choke you with dust and pelt you with rocks. Dirt roads teach patience. If it rains and the dirt road gets washed out, you get to stay home and have some family time. Most paved roads lead to trouble, but dirt roads are more likely to lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. Criminals do not go two dusty miles to rob or rape if they know they’ll be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double-barrel shotgun. Living at the end of a dirt road, the only time we lock our car is in August, because if we don’t some neighbor will fill it with too much zucchini. ■ New signal light warns of ultraviolet radiation The new signal installed on U.S. Highway 395 near Gardnerville’s maintenance facility resembles a traffic light, but it warns people of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Simply put, it measures how much sun protection people need when outdoors. The stack of five lights range from a low of green when it’s safe to be outside without sun protection to an extreme of violet when it is best to try to avoid exposure to the sun. The signal faces away from oncoming traffic so motorists won’t confuse it with a traffic light. The local Knights of Columbus, who paid $2,195 for the signal, hope to install a similar mechanism in neighboring Minden. 11 Us and the other families on our unpaved road watch out for each other and, like Mr. Harvey’s neighbors, share vegetables from our gardens. Whenever it snows some of us are always out with our tractors clearing the road. It’s not work, it’s fun pulling together. Life is good for us country folk on our little dirt road. Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS IN NEVADA ■ Famous Comstock personage The most famous of Virginia City’s luminaries during the Comstock period in the mid19th century was Samuel Clemens. It was as a reporter on one of the city’s newspapers, the Territorial Enterprise, that he first plied his writing trade and adopted the pen name Mark Twain. Years later he would recreate his colorful Comstock adventures in his book Roughing It. Virginia City acted as a silver magnet to many up-and-comers, such as Twain, who made their fortuitous stake in the Comstock, or soon after laid claim to fame and fortune. Among the latter was George Hearst, who went on to establish his vast newspaper empire. Another was John MacKay, who would form the company that laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable. Some of the most masterful achievements in the Comstock were accomplished by European immigrants. German Philip Deidesheimer invented the square-set method of timbering that supported crumbling rock and enabled shafts to be dug to depths of more than 3,000 feet. Austrian Adolph Sutro, who planned and built a 4-milelong tunnel from the Comstock to the Carson River to drain scalding water from the mines, used a significant portion of his money made in Nevada to help beautify San Francisco. The most notorious woman in the Comstock was classy courtesan Julia Bulette, who relocated from New Orleans. When she was murdered in 1867, virtually the entire male population of Virginia City turned out for her funeral. They turned out again to see her alleged murderer hanged. The town’s women were also there, but for the expressed purpose to mourn his death with hymns and flowers. Profile Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Areas of concern A celebration for Virginia City t his summer Virginia City celebrates its 150th birthday. The exact date of its inception is lost The 19th century mining boom turned Virginia City to history. But the town hosted its centennial into the most important settlement between Denver on June 12, 1959, when then Vice President Richand San Francisco. ard Nixon joined in the festivities. in today’s dollars would be worth $16 billion. Most The Comstock silver strike gave birth to of this wealth came from more than 750 miles of Virginia City, which for a time was the most tunnels underneath the streets of Virginia City. important settlement between San Francisco and Denver. The rich diggings turned the grubby Economy prospectors into instant millionaires who built manVirginia City’s economy is primarily dependent sions, imported furniture and fashions from Europe on tourism and county government. With about and the Orient, and helped finance the Civil War. 950 residents, it is the seat for Storey County. To a At its pinnacle in the 1860s, Virginia City small extent, mining is still a factor in its economy. was a boisterous town of 30,000 people operating 24 hours a day. Climate For celebrities of the day, the much At an elevation of 6,200 feet, anticipated stop was a highly lucraVirginia City’s winter temperatures tive part of their Western tours. range from night lows of 10 degrees The Comstock metropolis to daytime highs of 60 degrees. In boasted daily newspapers, competthe summer, nighttime lows range ing fire companies, fraternal orgafrom 40 degrees to day highs of 90 nizations, five police precincts and degrees. the first Miners Union in the United States. Operating out in the open Attractions with other legal commerce were the Virginia City is remarkably the opium dens and a thriving red light same as it was during its heyday district. The six-story International with wooden sidewalks, restored Hotel featured the West’s first elevamansions, the 1877 Storey County tor, called a “rising room.” courthouse and jail, Territorial A devastating fire in 1875 laid Enterprise newspaper museum, The 1877 Storey County the town in near ruin, destroying Court House in Virginia City mine tours, “Old West” saloons and 2,000 buildings. But the resolute still stands today. Piper’s Opera House. residents rebuilt the town in just a The Virginia & Truckee year. Most of the buildings you see Railroad has been restored between today date from that time. Virginia City and Gold Hill and is open for train The Comstock Lode generated a spectacular rides. The train winds its way through much of the amount of wealth — more than $700 million, which Comstock Historic District, which encompasses the mines and the town of Virginia City, Gold Hill and Silver City. 10 Visitors can experience the Old West by walking down C Street, which features board sidewalks in front of restored 1870s buildings. EROSION CONTROL Events Virginia City offers a smorgasbord of events to attract tourists. These creations include the Mountain Oyster Cook-Off in March followed by another culinary favorite, the Comstock Chilli CookOff in May. Independence Day is celebrated in patriotic cowboy fashion with a parade and fireworks. The International Camel Races are run in September, followed the next month by the most unusual extravagance –— the International Outhouse Races. continued from pg.6 curve will become lower. Curves very easily can go out of proper shape. The correct amount of slope or “banking” of a curve can only be determined by engineering analysis. There also is a device called a ball bank indicator for determining the safe speed of a curve. When you are unsure of correct shape on a curve, get professional advice if at all possible. Railroad crossings Maintaining a road that intersects a rail crossing is very similar to bridge approaches or intersections with paved roads. Always begin to eliminate the crown approximately 100 feet away and shape the road to match the crossing. Be extremely careful to keep gravel out of the flangeways along the rails. This can cause a derailment — particularly when it combines with snow pack. Also be extremely careful not to strike the rails. If you snag or strike a rail with your equipment, report it immediately to your supervisor and the railroad. Driveways The public road always should retain its normal crowned shape in front of driveways. Too often the gravel builds up on the road at a driveway entrance. This changes the shape of the roadway, which can cause loss of control of vehicles. These situations need to be reshaped. The driveway entrance always should match the edge of the public road. Cattle guards Cattle guards are a special maintenance challenge when installed on gravel roads, The approach to them should be treated much like blading up to a bridge deck. Begin to eliminate normal crown 50 feet to 100 feet from the guard. The road must then be shaped to match the cattle guard. However, gravel must never be spilled into the cavity below the gate. If this is done repeatedly, the hollow area below will be filled with gravel and cattle simply will walk out. Stop the grader 2 feet or 3 feet from the guard and back-drag loose material away from it. Then, hand work will often have to be done at the edge of the cattle guard to maintain a smooth crossing for traffic. Railroad crossings are one area of concern for gravel road maintenance because gravel must be kept out of the flangeways along the rails. Profile Assistant planning director balances needs in tough economy t racy Larkin-Thomason became NDOT’s assistant director of planning in 2008. She stepped into her new position after 21 years with the department. She oversees research, traffic information, intermodal transportation, program development, roadway systems and operational analysis divisions. “The greatest challenges I face on the job are balancing NDOT’s needs and programs in face of the rough economy and the effects of the federal stimulus package,” Tracy acknowledges. This balancing act pervades all her departmental responsibilities. These include the major corridor studies, rail and multimodal plans, and research and transit programs. Tracy joined NDOT in 1987 as a engineer technician trainee before being promoted through the engineering technician series. In 1994, she began her rise through the Bridge Division to become a Staff III Engineer. In 1997, Tracy transferred to NDOT District II in Reno as its traffic engineer. She was named assistant district engineer for maintenance in 2002, where for six years she oversaw northwestern Nevada maintenance activities. Tracy is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering. She is a registered professional engineer in the State of Nevada, a certified traffic operations engineer and president of the Certified Public Managers Society of Nevada. Born in Massachusetts and raised in upstate New York, Tracy lives with her husband, Jeff, and their 13-year-old son near Stagecoach, east of Carson City. Her hobbies are drawing and rock collecting. Tracy asserts that she is a “big fan” of the Nevada T2 Center. “As the assistant district engineer in NDOT’s District II,” she says, “I used the Center’s resources constantly for standard and unique training.” Tracy Larkin-Thomason became NDOT’s assistant director of planning in 2008. 7 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 SAFETY ■ Paving safely at night Night paving always comes with risks. But there are measures you can take to minimize risks: Hold frequent safety meetings –– nightly if needed — to raise employee awareness of work zone safety. Complacency is the enemy. A buddy system can work well. Safe mower operation FHWA develops intersection safety series any proven and effective safety countermeasures have been developed specifically for intersections over the years, but implementation has been slow in coming. To facilitate implementation of the wide variety of safety improvements available for both signalized and unsignalized intersections, as well as to market and promote knowledge and use of these countermeasures, the Federal Highway Administration has developed a series of easy-to-read one-page guide sheets. Most of the information in the guide sheets is from two volumes of the NCHRP Report 500: Volume 5 — A Guide for Addressing Unsignalized Intersection Collisions; and Volume 12 — A Guide for Reducing Collisions at Signalized Intersections. The FHWA Web site contains full sets of 77 sheets available to view or download. Each sheet contains an image of the countermeasure, a description and information (including keys to success), issues to consider, known effectiveness, implementation, time frames and costs, and compatibility with other countermeasures. A one-sheet brochure is also available with summaries of all 77 countermeasures, a visual key indicating the typical implementation times, the safety concerns and estimated costs. The brochure is available in printed form and on the FHWA Web site, with links to both HTML and PDF versions of the full guide sheets. The Web and PDF versions of the materials are available at safety.fhwa.dot. gov/intersections/intsafestratbro. Spacing the work zone’s cones or barricades even more closely than specified can help prevent impatient drivers from jumping into your space behind the cones. If the specification calls for 120-foot intervals, you might want to use 60-foot intervals. Use one or more Nevada Highway Patrol cars or police cars — with their light bars flashing — in critical locations near your work zone. Police cars can even do “rolling road blocks” by cruising through the zone at a reduced speed. Use plenty of light and avoid shining lights toward traffic. Some project officials don’t use light towers and rely on extra equipment lights. Experience shows that motorists’ eyes are easily diverted to a light source, which can cause accidents. Signage and message boards usually make flaggers unnecessary on highvolume highway projects. If flaggers are necessary, make sure they are well lighted. 8 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 TRAINING Before starting any mower, make sure it is completely lubricated, adjusted and checked for loose nuts and bolts. Check the chain guard and other mower covers intended to keep debris from being thrown. Replace broken or missing debris guards immediately; don’t operate a mower without them. A small rock or pieces of cans and bottles become dangerous projectiles when launched by a mower. Cover all v-belts, drive chains and power take-off shafts. Shut off power before checking any mower unit. Block the mower before changing or sharpening a blade. Any blade being reinstalled should be checked for cracks or damage that will lead to failure. Avoid mowing with a regular unit on slopes that rise or fall away more than one foot in 2.5 feet of horizontal distance. Use a sidemounted mower or a boom and keep the tractor unit on the gently sloped surface. Operate side-mounted or boom mower units on the uphill side of the tractor, where pos- sible, to further diminish the possibility of overturning. Raise mowers when crossing driveways and roadways. Face oncoming traffic as much as possible when mowing around hazard markers, signs and guardrails near the edge of the roadway to watch for out-of-control vehicles. Place a Slow Moving Vehicle sign (reflective triangle) on the rear of tractors. Use rotating yellow beacons on the tractors and install yellow flashers on the roll bar or top of the tractor cab. Operate the flashers at all times. Install an orange pennant on a whip to show the location of the tractor over the edge of slopes. Use the tractor’s headlights at all times. Wear hearing protection and a safety vest. Wear a hard hat and safety goggles to protect yourself from branches and flying debris. Wear leather gloves and boots that have hard toes and soles. Identifying skin cancers o ne third of all new cancers are skin cancer. About one million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year. The good news is that skin cancer prevention and early detection are easy and, if caught early enough, most skin cancers are curable. Watch for these warning signs: Actinic keratosis is a precancerous lesion that looks like a patch of dry skin that won’t go away. It can measure anywhere from one-quarter inch to one inch in diameter, is slightly raised, and can be tan, brown, gray or red. Basal cell carcinoma is a tumor that appears either as a slow-growing, fleshy, translucent bump on the head, neck or hands, or more rarely as a flat growth on the trunk of the body. Squamous cell carcinoma is a red, scaly patch typically found on the ear, face, lips and mouth. It may spread to other parts of the body or develop into large masses. Malignant melanoma may appear without warning, or it may begin in or near a mole or dark spot on the skin. It often begins as a light-brown to black, flat blemish with irregular borders. One of the best ways to detect melanoma is to check your skin regularly for any changes, especially in the size, height, shape, color, texture on sensation of a mole. Sun causes skin cancer Ultraviolet radiation, or UV rays, are the leading cause of skin cancer. The more intense the sun, the greater your exposure to UV. The amount of UV you are exposed to depends on the following: Time of day — UV is greatest when the sun is highest in the sky (usually midday, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). Seasons — Although UV exposure is the greatest in the summer (May–August), it is important to remember that UV rays reach the Earth throughout the year. Altitude — With clearer and thinner air at high altitudes, UV exposure is greater in the mountains than in the valleys. Time spent in the sun — Obviously, the longer you are out in the sun, the more UV you receive. Don’t forget to account for time spent outside doing daily activities — such as walking the dog — as time spent in the sun. m Visit the FHWA Web site to read A Guide for Reducing Collisions at Signalized Intersections. Highway specifications Web site updated to be more user friendly t he National Highway Specifications Web site was recently updated to provide greatly increased content and to make it more user friendly. The updated Web site can be accessed at www.specs.fhwa.dot.gov. Users can now search, review, cross reference and download not only current standard specifications but also innovative and emerging specifications and construction manuals from various agencies. The updated site contains the following three main sections: Specifications: Allows users to browse both approved standard and innovative/emerging highway construction specifications by keyword. Construction manuals: Allows users to browse the manuals by agency or search them by keywords. Standard drawings: Contains links to drawings on state DOT Web sites. The NHSW is designed to allow authorized state DOT personnel to upload, alter or delete their agency’s specifications, construction manuals and links to standard drawings as needed to maintain an up-to-date library of the latest specifications available for their state. Upload procedures have been greatly simplified in the update of the NHSW to make it very easy for states to upload their most recent documents. 9 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 SAFETY ■ Paving safely at night Night paving always comes with risks. But there are measures you can take to minimize risks: Hold frequent safety meetings –– nightly if needed — to raise employee awareness of work zone safety. Complacency is the enemy. A buddy system can work well. Safe mower operation FHWA develops intersection safety series any proven and effective safety countermeasures have been developed specifically for intersections over the years, but implementation has been slow in coming. To facilitate implementation of the wide variety of safety improvements available for both signalized and unsignalized intersections, as well as to market and promote knowledge and use of these countermeasures, the Federal Highway Administration has developed a series of easy-to-read one-page guide sheets. Most of the information in the guide sheets is from two volumes of the NCHRP Report 500: Volume 5 — A Guide for Addressing Unsignalized Intersection Collisions; and Volume 12 — A Guide for Reducing Collisions at Signalized Intersections. The FHWA Web site contains full sets of 77 sheets available to view or download. Each sheet contains an image of the countermeasure, a description and information (including keys to success), issues to consider, known effectiveness, implementation, time frames and costs, and compatibility with other countermeasures. A one-sheet brochure is also available with summaries of all 77 countermeasures, a visual key indicating the typical implementation times, the safety concerns and estimated costs. The brochure is available in printed form and on the FHWA Web site, with links to both HTML and PDF versions of the full guide sheets. The Web and PDF versions of the materials are available at safety.fhwa.dot. gov/intersections/intsafestratbro. Spacing the work zone’s cones or barricades even more closely than specified can help prevent impatient drivers from jumping into your space behind the cones. If the specification calls for 120-foot intervals, you might want to use 60-foot intervals. Use one or more Nevada Highway Patrol cars or police cars — with their light bars flashing — in critical locations near your work zone. Police cars can even do “rolling road blocks” by cruising through the zone at a reduced speed. Use plenty of light and avoid shining lights toward traffic. Some project officials don’t use light towers and rely on extra equipment lights. Experience shows that motorists’ eyes are easily diverted to a light source, which can cause accidents. Signage and message boards usually make flaggers unnecessary on highvolume highway projects. If flaggers are necessary, make sure they are well lighted. 8 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 TRAINING Before starting any mower, make sure it is completely lubricated, adjusted and checked for loose nuts and bolts. Check the chain guard and other mower covers intended to keep debris from being thrown. Replace broken or missing debris guards immediately; don’t operate a mower without them. A small rock or pieces of cans and bottles become dangerous projectiles when launched by a mower. Cover all v-belts, drive chains and power take-off shafts. Shut off power before checking any mower unit. Block the mower before changing or sharpening a blade. Any blade being reinstalled should be checked for cracks or damage that will lead to failure. Avoid mowing with a regular unit on slopes that rise or fall away more than one foot in 2.5 feet of horizontal distance. Use a sidemounted mower or a boom and keep the tractor unit on the gently sloped surface. Operate side-mounted or boom mower units on the uphill side of the tractor, where pos- sible, to further diminish the possibility of overturning. Raise mowers when crossing driveways and roadways. Face oncoming traffic as much as possible when mowing around hazard markers, signs and guardrails near the edge of the roadway to watch for out-of-control vehicles. Place a Slow Moving Vehicle sign (reflective triangle) on the rear of tractors. Use rotating yellow beacons on the tractors and install yellow flashers on the roll bar or top of the tractor cab. Operate the flashers at all times. Install an orange pennant on a whip to show the location of the tractor over the edge of slopes. Use the tractor’s headlights at all times. Wear hearing protection and a safety vest. Wear a hard hat and safety goggles to protect yourself from branches and flying debris. Wear leather gloves and boots that have hard toes and soles. Identifying skin cancers o ne third of all new cancers are skin cancer. About one million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year. The good news is that skin cancer prevention and early detection are easy and, if caught early enough, most skin cancers are curable. Watch for these warning signs: Actinic keratosis is a precancerous lesion that looks like a patch of dry skin that won’t go away. It can measure anywhere from one-quarter inch to one inch in diameter, is slightly raised, and can be tan, brown, gray or red. Basal cell carcinoma is a tumor that appears either as a slow-growing, fleshy, translucent bump on the head, neck or hands, or more rarely as a flat growth on the trunk of the body. Squamous cell carcinoma is a red, scaly patch typically found on the ear, face, lips and mouth. It may spread to other parts of the body or develop into large masses. Malignant melanoma may appear without warning, or it may begin in or near a mole or dark spot on the skin. It often begins as a light-brown to black, flat blemish with irregular borders. One of the best ways to detect melanoma is to check your skin regularly for any changes, especially in the size, height, shape, color, texture on sensation of a mole. Sun causes skin cancer Ultraviolet radiation, or UV rays, are the leading cause of skin cancer. The more intense the sun, the greater your exposure to UV. The amount of UV you are exposed to depends on the following: Time of day — UV is greatest when the sun is highest in the sky (usually midday, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). Seasons — Although UV exposure is the greatest in the summer (May–August), it is important to remember that UV rays reach the Earth throughout the year. Altitude — With clearer and thinner air at high altitudes, UV exposure is greater in the mountains than in the valleys. Time spent in the sun — Obviously, the longer you are out in the sun, the more UV you receive. Don’t forget to account for time spent outside doing daily activities — such as walking the dog — as time spent in the sun. m Visit the FHWA Web site to read A Guide for Reducing Collisions at Signalized Intersections. Highway specifications Web site updated to be more user friendly t he National Highway Specifications Web site was recently updated to provide greatly increased content and to make it more user friendly. The updated Web site can be accessed at www.specs.fhwa.dot.gov. Users can now search, review, cross reference and download not only current standard specifications but also innovative and emerging specifications and construction manuals from various agencies. The updated site contains the following three main sections: Specifications: Allows users to browse both approved standard and innovative/emerging highway construction specifications by keyword. Construction manuals: Allows users to browse the manuals by agency or search them by keywords. Standard drawings: Contains links to drawings on state DOT Web sites. The NHSW is designed to allow authorized state DOT personnel to upload, alter or delete their agency’s specifications, construction manuals and links to standard drawings as needed to maintain an up-to-date library of the latest specifications available for their state. Upload procedures have been greatly simplified in the update of the NHSW to make it very easy for states to upload their most recent documents. 9 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS IN NEVADA ■ Famous Comstock personage The most famous of Virginia City’s luminaries during the Comstock period in the mid19th century was Samuel Clemens. It was as a reporter on one of the city’s newspapers, the Territorial Enterprise, that he first plied his writing trade and adopted the pen name Mark Twain. Years later he would recreate his colorful Comstock adventures in his book Roughing It. Virginia City acted as a silver magnet to many up-and-comers, such as Twain, who made their fortuitous stake in the Comstock, or soon after laid claim to fame and fortune. Among the latter was George Hearst, who went on to establish his vast newspaper empire. Another was John MacKay, who would form the company that laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable. Some of the most masterful achievements in the Comstock were accomplished by European immigrants. German Philip Deidesheimer invented the square-set method of timbering that supported crumbling rock and enabled shafts to be dug to depths of more than 3,000 feet. Austrian Adolph Sutro, who planned and built a 4-milelong tunnel from the Comstock to the Carson River to drain scalding water from the mines, used a significant portion of his money made in Nevada to help beautify San Francisco. The most notorious woman in the Comstock was classy courtesan Julia Bulette, who relocated from New Orleans. When she was murdered in 1867, virtually the entire male population of Virginia City turned out for her funeral. They turned out again to see her alleged murderer hanged. The town’s women were also there, but for the expressed purpose to mourn his death with hymns and flowers. Profile Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Areas of concern A celebration for Virginia City t his summer Virginia City celebrates its 150th birthday. The exact date of its inception is lost The 19th century mining boom turned Virginia City to history. But the town hosted its centennial into the most important settlement between Denver on June 12, 1959, when then Vice President Richand San Francisco. ard Nixon joined in the festivities. in today’s dollars would be worth $16 billion. Most The Comstock silver strike gave birth to of this wealth came from more than 750 miles of Virginia City, which for a time was the most tunnels underneath the streets of Virginia City. important settlement between San Francisco and Denver. The rich diggings turned the grubby Economy prospectors into instant millionaires who built manVirginia City’s economy is primarily dependent sions, imported furniture and fashions from Europe on tourism and county government. With about and the Orient, and helped finance the Civil War. 950 residents, it is the seat for Storey County. To a At its pinnacle in the 1860s, Virginia City small extent, mining is still a factor in its economy. was a boisterous town of 30,000 people operating 24 hours a day. Climate For celebrities of the day, the much At an elevation of 6,200 feet, anticipated stop was a highly lucraVirginia City’s winter temperatures tive part of their Western tours. range from night lows of 10 degrees The Comstock metropolis to daytime highs of 60 degrees. In boasted daily newspapers, competthe summer, nighttime lows range ing fire companies, fraternal orgafrom 40 degrees to day highs of 90 nizations, five police precincts and degrees. the first Miners Union in the United States. Operating out in the open Attractions with other legal commerce were the Virginia City is remarkably the opium dens and a thriving red light same as it was during its heyday district. The six-story International with wooden sidewalks, restored Hotel featured the West’s first elevamansions, the 1877 Storey County tor, called a “rising room.” courthouse and jail, Territorial A devastating fire in 1875 laid Enterprise newspaper museum, The 1877 Storey County the town in near ruin, destroying Court House in Virginia City mine tours, “Old West” saloons and 2,000 buildings. But the resolute still stands today. Piper’s Opera House. residents rebuilt the town in just a The Virginia & Truckee year. Most of the buildings you see Railroad has been restored between today date from that time. Virginia City and Gold Hill and is open for train The Comstock Lode generated a spectacular rides. The train winds its way through much of the amount of wealth — more than $700 million, which Comstock Historic District, which encompasses the mines and the town of Virginia City, Gold Hill and Silver City. 10 Visitors can experience the Old West by walking down C Street, which features board sidewalks in front of restored 1870s buildings. EROSION CONTROL Events Virginia City offers a smorgasbord of events to attract tourists. These creations include the Mountain Oyster Cook-Off in March followed by another culinary favorite, the Comstock Chilli CookOff in May. Independence Day is celebrated in patriotic cowboy fashion with a parade and fireworks. The International Camel Races are run in September, followed the next month by the most unusual extravagance –— the International Outhouse Races. continued from pg.6 curve will become lower. Curves very easily can go out of proper shape. The correct amount of slope or “banking” of a curve can only be determined by engineering analysis. There also is a device called a ball bank indicator for determining the safe speed of a curve. When you are unsure of correct shape on a curve, get professional advice if at all possible. Railroad crossings Maintaining a road that intersects a rail crossing is very similar to bridge approaches or intersections with paved roads. Always begin to eliminate the crown approximately 100 feet away and shape the road to match the crossing. Be extremely careful to keep gravel out of the flangeways along the rails. This can cause a derailment — particularly when it combines with snow pack. Also be extremely careful not to strike the rails. If you snag or strike a rail with your equipment, report it immediately to your supervisor and the railroad. Driveways The public road always should retain its normal crowned shape in front of driveways. Too often the gravel builds up on the road at a driveway entrance. This changes the shape of the roadway, which can cause loss of control of vehicles. These situations need to be reshaped. The driveway entrance always should match the edge of the public road. Cattle guards Cattle guards are a special maintenance challenge when installed on gravel roads, The approach to them should be treated much like blading up to a bridge deck. Begin to eliminate normal crown 50 feet to 100 feet from the guard. The road must then be shaped to match the cattle guard. However, gravel must never be spilled into the cavity below the gate. If this is done repeatedly, the hollow area below will be filled with gravel and cattle simply will walk out. Stop the grader 2 feet or 3 feet from the guard and back-drag loose material away from it. Then, hand work will often have to be done at the edge of the cattle guard to maintain a smooth crossing for traffic. Railroad crossings are one area of concern for gravel road maintenance because gravel must be kept out of the flangeways along the rails. Profile Assistant planning director balances needs in tough economy t racy Larkin-Thomason became NDOT’s assistant director of planning in 2008. She stepped into her new position after 21 years with the department. She oversees research, traffic information, intermodal transportation, program development, roadway systems and operational analysis divisions. “The greatest challenges I face on the job are balancing NDOT’s needs and programs in face of the rough economy and the effects of the federal stimulus package,” Tracy acknowledges. This balancing act pervades all her departmental responsibilities. These include the major corridor studies, rail and multimodal plans, and research and transit programs. Tracy joined NDOT in 1987 as a engineer technician trainee before being promoted through the engineering technician series. In 1994, she began her rise through the Bridge Division to become a Staff III Engineer. In 1997, Tracy transferred to NDOT District II in Reno as its traffic engineer. She was named assistant district engineer for maintenance in 2002, where for six years she oversaw northwestern Nevada maintenance activities. Tracy is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering. She is a registered professional engineer in the State of Nevada, a certified traffic operations engineer and president of the Certified Public Managers Society of Nevada. Born in Massachusetts and raised in upstate New York, Tracy lives with her husband, Jeff, and their 13-year-old son near Stagecoach, east of Carson City. Her hobbies are drawing and rock collecting. Tracy asserts that she is a “big fan” of the Nevada T2 Center. “As the assistant district engineer in NDOT’s District II,” she says, “I used the Center’s resources constantly for standard and unique training.” Tracy Larkin-Thomason became NDOT’s assistant director of planning in 2008. 7 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL ■ Quotable quotes Workplace witticisms Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow. – Don Herold Nothing is so embarrassing as watching your boss do something you assured him couldn’t be done. – Earl Wilson I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. – Jerome K. Jerome The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. – Robert Frost 6 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 IN NEVADA Areas of concern for gravel roads t here are special situations in gravel road maintenance that should be addressed. They are common to nearly all gravel roads, and it is essential to understand how to deal with them. These concerns are unique to gravel roads and practical solutions are recommended for each of them. Corrugation The technical term is corrugation, but virtually everyone in the field refers to the problem as washboarding. There are three primary causes: driving habits, lack of moisture and poor quality of gravel. Driving habits are clearly evident when you observe washboarding at intersections, going up or down steep hills, leading into or out of sharp curves and sometimes even near driveways. These are all places where drivers tend to accelerate hard or brake aggressively. Lack of moisture will encourage washboard formation. Nevada’s prolonged dry weather can greatly aggravate the situation. The crust that forms on the surface of a good gravel road will tend to loosen. This allows the stone and sand-sized particles of gravel to “float,” and the material can easily align itself into the washboard pattern under traffic. The two causes just mentioned are completely out of the control of gravel maintenance operators and managers. The third primary cause — the quality of the gravel — is what we need to concentrate on. Good quality surface gravel must have the right blend of stone, sand and fines. The stone should be fractured, and the fine-sized particles should have a binding characteristic, technically called “plasticity.” This type of gravel resists washboarding. Virtually any gravel will develop some washboard areas under traffic. The key for the maintenance operator is to strive to keep the material blended. In dry conditions, the operator can only smooth the road temporarily. When moisture is present, it pays to quickly get out and rework these areas. The material should be cut to a depth of 1 inch or more below the depressions, mixed and relayed to the proper shape. If time allows, using the machine to apply wheel compaction to material will help reform the crust. If possible, the use of a roller will improve the compaction. Gravel intersections At controlled intersections, the primary road should retain its crown, and the intersecting roads should have their crowns gradually eliminated beginning approximately 100 feet before the inter- section. At the point of intersection, the side roads are virtually flat to match the primary road. When the intersection is uncontrolled, the roads should all have the crown gradually eliminated approximately 100 feet from the intersection. The intersection becomes virtually flat, allowing vehicles to pass through without a noticeable hump or dip from any direction. Be careful not to make the intersection lower so that water collects there. Intersections with paved roads The rule for shaping these intersections is always the same. Begin to eliminate the crown on the gravel road approximately 100 feet from the edge of the pavement. At the intersecting point, the gravel should match the paved surface. This requires continual attention because potholes can easily develop at the edge of the pavement. However, be careful not to push gravel out onto the pavement because this causes a dangerous loss of skid resistance on the pavement. The technique of “backdragging” is useful in these operations. When filling a pothole at the edge of the pavement, extra material may spill onto it. Simply pick up the moldboard and set it down in front of the material, then back up and spread the excess back on the gravel road. Bridge approaches Once again, the rule for shaping a bridge approach is always the same. Approximately 100 feet from the bridge, begin to gradually take the crown out of the gravel road so that you can match the bridge deck as closely as possible. Potholes can easily form at the edge of the deck. Keep them filled but don’t push gravel onto the deck. Super elevation at curves So-called “banking a curve” is one of the biggest challenges in gravel road maintenance. It also is not very well understood by many operators. The outer edge of the roadway is higher than the inside edge, and the road surface is shaped straight from the upper to the lower edge. As the operator approaches a curve, adjustments should be made with the blade to take out the normal crown and begin to transition into a straight, super-elevated surface. This shape should be maintained uniformly throughout the curve. A gentle transition is then made at the other end back to a normal crowned road surface when you are once again on a straight section of road. Traffic will tend to displace the gravel toward the upper end of the road, and the inside of the Continued on page 7 “Road Smart” contest For each issue of the Nevada Milepost, field representative Larry Lunz (“L2 on the Road”) submits a photograph from his trips across the Silver State for the “Road Smart” contest. How to play To win a handsome prize that will make you the envy of all your co-workers, you need to be the first to identify the stretch of road in the accompanying photograph. Specifically, you need to identify the road and two nearest destinations. If you think you know the road and location, write it in where indicated on the No-Brainer Mail-In Page. If you’re the first person to fax the T2 Center with the correct information, you win! It’s that easy. Private sector prize winner What’s your best guess as to the location of this road? Send in your answer on the “No Brainer” page. First correct answer by fax is the Road Smart winner! Civil engineer David Pulley with C&M Engineering and Design is the latest “Road Smart” contest winner. He was the first to identify the photograph in the Spring 2009 issue of the Nevada Milepost as Old Highway 40 between West Wendover and the Ola interchange. The Nevada T2 Center recognized David’s road knowledge by presenting him with a kit containing a compass, pocket knife and flashlight. L2 ON THE ROAD Larry Lunz = L2 Life runs smooth on an unpaved road w e live out in the country on a dirt and gravel road. I love it despite its washboards, pot holes and dust. We and the five other families on this private road just forked out money to have it graded. It’s a dead end, so there’s not much traffic. I guess you could say it’s off the beaten path. Among the reasons I’m attached to this road is because you can walk right down the middle of it without getting run down. (Accompanying photo shows L2’s penchant for accustoming himself to the middle of roads.) You and a neighbor can stop in your cars and talk out the windows without causing a traffic jam. It just makes for a slower pace of life. Recently deceased long-time radio commentator Paul Harvey said it best in his “Ode to Dirt Roads”: Dirt roads build character. People who live at the end of a dirt road learn life is a bumpy ride, but it’s worth it, if waiting at the other end is home, a loving spouse, happy kids and a frisky dog. Our values were better when our roads were worse. People didn’t worship their cars more than their kids. And motorists are more friendly and courteous on a dirt road. You don’t tailgate, or the guy in front of you will choke you with dust and pelt you with rocks. Dirt roads teach patience. If it rains and the dirt road gets washed out, you get to stay home and have some family time. Most paved roads lead to trouble, but dirt roads are more likely to lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. Criminals do not go two dusty miles to rob or rape if they know they’ll be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double-barrel shotgun. Living at the end of a dirt road, the only time we lock our car is in August, because if we don’t some neighbor will fill it with too much zucchini. ■ New signal light warns of ultraviolet radiation The new signal installed on U.S. Highway 395 near Gardnerville’s maintenance facility resembles a traffic light, but it warns people of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Simply put, it measures how much sun protection people need when outdoors. The stack of five lights range from a low of green when it’s safe to be outside without sun protection to an extreme of violet when it is best to try to avoid exposure to the sun. The signal faces away from oncoming traffic so motorists won’t confuse it with a traffic light. The local Knights of Columbus, who paid $2,195 for the signal, hope to install a similar mechanism in neighboring Minden. 11 Us and the other families on our unpaved road watch out for each other and, like Mr. Harvey’s neighbors, share vegetables from our gardens. Whenever it snows some of us are always out with our tractors clearing the road. It’s not work, it’s fun pulling together. Life is good for us country folk on our little dirt road. Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS TRAINING EROSION CONTROL Section 2: Rehabilitation of gravel roads 12 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Rick Coral has been with the City of Reno for 10 years and is a maintenance worker I. He does street, sign and right-of-way maintenance and guardrail installation and repair. “My greatest challenge on the job is learning new technologies,” he says. Rick contends that the T2 Center’s classes are “very good.” He says, “I came away from them with a lot Rick Coral of valuable information for everyday use.” Bill Griffey has been with NDOT in Reno for four years and is a highway maintenance worker III. His duties involve operating equipment, paving and snow removal. “My job goal is to learn how to operate more equipment,” he says. “My greatest challenges on the job are public safety and crew safety while operating snow removal equipment.” Bill asserts that his favorite T2 Center class was Snow & Ice Control. “Finishing the Roads Scholar Program was a real achieve- Bill Griffey ment,” he says proudly. Just like Griffey, Joshua Jay has been with NDOT in Reno for four years and is a maintenance worker III. But his responsibilities are different. He works on the sign and lighting crew doing new installation and maintenance. “My job goals are to learn as much as I can and to teach others what I’ve learned,” he says. “The greatest challenge I face is constantly working on new technical projects.” Joshua advises, “Anyone who works in road construction and mainteJoshua Jay nance should take the T2 Center’s classes because you can learn a lot of useful information.” Danny Jordan has been a highway maintenance worker II with NDOT in Las Vegas for three years. His maintenance duties include operating a loader, guardrail repair and highway clean up. He also helps with traffic control during accidents in work zones. “I want to learn more on the job and through the T2 Center programs to become a better employee,” he says. “The greatest challenge is helping to keep NDOT crews and the public safe in work zones.” Employed by NDOT Danny Jordan in Las Vegas for 10 years, Kevin Killian is a highway maintenance supervisor I. He is responsible for running a night maintenance crew. “Trying to deal with vendors and other support people who work during the day is probably the hardest thing I have to do. I must rely on others to communicate my needs to these people.” “My primary goal is to maintain a trained crew who are capable of accomplishing any task that they are asked to do,” he states. “The T2 Center provides my crew and me the chance to learn Kevin Killian new skills and refresh those skills that are not used every day.” NDOT 20-year veteran Mike Palzet is a highway maintenance supervisor I in Las Vegas. He is snow removal certified and in charge of a six-man crew who do storm water maintenance and concrete repair on drains and culverts. His goal is to work 30 years at NDOT and retire. Mike Palzet “The greatest challenges for me on the job are heavy traffic and the intense Las Vegas summer heat,” he says. Mike identifies his three favorite T2 Center classes as Winter Survival, Summer Survival and Work Zone Traffic Control. John Picetti works for NDOT in Fernley as a highway maintenance worker II. With the department for 10 years, he is an equipment John Picetti operator on all major pieces g ravel roads gradually begin to show distress that requires more than routine maintenance to correct. At certain intervals, every gravel road requires some major rehabilitation. Reshaping of the driving surface and road shoulder can be done by cutting material with the motor grader and relaying it to the proper shape and crown. If possible, the use of a roller for compaction will greatly improve the finished surface. This will leave a denser, stronger, smoother surface that will be easier to maintain. Severe rutting, loss of crown, gravel loss and deep secondary ditches –– a combination of any two or more of these calls for a major reshaping. This often has to be done on the entire cross section, and it may have to be done immediately regardless of vegetative growth. Motor graders, disks, pulverizers and rollers are often needed. These are not always available but certainly make the job easier. The field supervisor’s knowledge and the operator’s skill in understanding how to rebuild the cross section becomes very important. These projects seldom have the benefit of much planning or technical assistance. Seldom is any surveying or staking done. But it is vital to rebuild a uniform cross section and pay attention to restoring good drainage. Only after this is done correctly should good surface gravel be replaced. ■ Prevent postvacation blues Even if your vacation has relaxed and recharged you, getting back to work can soon make you feel listless and unmotivated. Here are tips to alleviate the symptoms of post-vacation letdown. Pace yourself. We tend to have high expectations of what we can get out of our vacations. So we tend to overplan or overbook ourselves for time meant to relax. Make sure you’re not trying to do so much that you never relax and regret it when you return home. Schedule your return a couple of days early. Give yourself a day or so between vacation and going back to work; it can help ease the transition to your duties. Let others know your plans. It is always good workplace practice to let people know you’re away and to provide them with alternative contacts. Arrange for messages on your voice mail and e-mail. It can reduce the number of messages waiting to be returned. Ease into it. If you can arrange it, make your first day back a half day. You can take care of the most pressing matters with this time. ON THE JOB Ergonomic workstations require proper design for employees e rgonomics is the science concerned with designing and arranging workstations that are safe and efficient. Employees who work at a computer are at high risk of developing injury due to repetitive movement. An ergonomic workstation greatly reduces the risk of office injury, encourages good posture and provides the least amount of stress on the body. A properly designed and arranged workplace is worth the time and effort to create. Employees will experience less discomfort, be more productive and better enjoy their work. Office chair Buy a chair with an adjustable seat height, adjustable back angle with lumbar support and with armrests. All three are important to reduce strain and injury while lumbar support for the lower back will decrease back fatigue. To adjust the chair, first set the seat height so your knees are at an angle between 90 degrees and 110 degrees, with your feet resting flat on the floor or a footrest and your thighs parallel to the floor. Second, set the back angle so your hips are at a 90-degree angle. Third, adjust armrests low enough not to interfere with mouse use. Computer monitor Place the monitor directly in front of the keyboard at a height so your eyes land on the top onethird of the screen while looking straight ahead. This will reduce the risk of neck and shoulder pain. Also, place the monitor at a comfortable distance to reduce eye strain. Keyboard and mouse Some of the most common computer-related injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, come from improper placement of the keyboard and mouse. First, buy an adjustable tray for the keyboard and mouse. Second, adjust the tray at a proper height so your elbows are at a 90-degree angle while your wrists remain straight and relaxed. Third, place the mouse at the same height as the keyboard and within easy reach. Elbows should be at your side and close to the body while working. Breaks Take frequent breaks throughout the day to stretch and refocus. Stretch your back, neck, wrists and forearms to reduce stress and allow work to be more comfortable for longer periods of time. 5 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL The essentials of road shoulders t Road shoulders are generally kept clear of all traffic so that in an emergency, the driver can pull into it to get out of the flow of traffic. he road shoulder serves several essential functions. It is there to support the edge of the traveled portion of the roadway. But another important function is to provide a safety area for drivers to regain control of vehicles if forced to leave the road surface. Yet another vital function is to carry water further away from the road surface to the foreslope and ditch. For the shoulder to perform all of these functions, its shape is critical. First, the shoulder should meet the edge of the roadway at the same elevation. In other words, the shoulder should be no higher or no lower than the edge of the roadway. By maintaining this shape, the low shoulder or drop-off is eliminated (a safety hazard which also reduces roadway edge support). High shoulders When a gravel road develops a high shoulder or what engineers call a secondary ditch, it destroys the drainage of water directly from the surface to the real ditch. This process causes several problems. In relatively level terrain, the water collects and seeps into the subgrade, often causing the whole roadway to soften. In rolling and rugged terrain, the water quickly flows downhill along the secondary ditch, often eroding away a large amount of gravel and even eroding the subgrade. This also creates a serious safety hazard. Causes of high shoulders High shoulders can develop from improper maintenance, such as losing material from the toe of a grader’s moldboard or from cutting too deep at the shoulder line with the toe of the machine. This is a particular problem when the cutting edge is not kept reasonably straight. But there are other causes. Fast traffic can cause excessive “whip-off” of loose material, which tends to build up along the shoulder line. Heavy loads on gravel roads with weak subgrades also can cause this. When heavy vehicles have to travel near the shoulder while meeting other vehicles, the roadway can rut while the shoulder area shoves upward. ■ Summer Sizzle Laughlin is second only to Laredo, Texas, for the most record high temperatures in the United States. The highest recorded temperature in Laughlin was 125° F, which was reached June 29, 1994. The temperature also stands as the record high temperature for Nevada. 4 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Recovering and spreading on roadway When a motor grader is the only piece of equipment used on the job, usually more than one pass will be required to recover material from high shoulders. If there is little or no vegetation on the shoulder, simply extend the moldboard out into the shoulder material and begin to pull it onto the roadway. If the amount of material is light, you may be able to do this in one pass. The material recovered is often good gravel that needs to be returned to the roadway surface. Breaking up sod and vegetation Quite often the material pulled out onto the roadway from the shoulder is very hard to spread because of the vegetative material in it. It will require multiple passes with the grader to get the job done. Many agencies are turning to other mechanical means of breaking up the material to make the road safe for traffic. This can range from something as simple as a disk or drag to sophisticated pulverizing equipment. TRAINING More Roads Scholars of equipment. He says one of his job goals is helping to educate his crew. “The greatest challenges I face are working with the pubic and dealing with the traffic on Interstate 80.” John says he has enjoyed the T2 Center classes and has found them to be “very interesting.” Equipment operations instructor Glen Rogers has worked for NDOT in Las Vegas for three years. He is responsible for teaching vehicle operators safe and efficient use of construction equipment. He is well qualified for his job, having spent 20 years in the Navy on heavy Glen Rogers equipment operation. “I want to ensure that my students comprehend and master the new skills I teach them,” he confesses. As for himself, Glenn says that the Roads Scholar Program was “essential” for him to learn and advance. Employed with NDOT in Las Vegas for 20 years, Kenny Smith is a highway maintenance worker III, who among his duties, operates heavy equipment. “I want to become a better employee and advance to a higher position,” he says. “I plan to use information that I learned Kenny Smith from the T2 Center classes to achieve these goals.” He sees his greatest challenge as keeping NDOT employees and the public safe in work zones. Troy Teixeira has worked for the City of Reno for three years and is a maintenance worker I. His main duty is asphalt maintenance on city streets. “My greatest challenge on my job is working with the public and dealing with heavy traffic,” he admits. “I liked all the workshops I took from the T2 Center and found them very informational,” he says. “My favorite class though was Troy Teixeira Winter Survival.” NDOT 19-year veteran Tommy Thompson is a highway maintenance supervisor II in Las Vegas. He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating maintenance tasks for assigned sections involving up to four highway maintenance supervisors under him. “My main goals are to insure that the crews who fall under my supervision are accident and injury free,” he says. “I also want to become the most efficient and supportive supervisor that I can be. This involves dealing well with people and their unique personalities.” Tommy says that the T2 Center Program is a “great learning tool” for Tommy Thompson NDOT employees. For more information about the Road Scholar program, please visit our Web site at www.t2.unr.edu. A complete list of the 2009 workshops is posted to the site or you can call Lisa Cody at (775) 784-1433. 13 Road shoulders provide a safety area for drivers to retain control of their vehicles. Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL RECYCLE MICHAEL ■ Mercury mess When a compact fluorescent light bulb breaks in your house, evacuate people and pets from the room. Open a window for at least 15 minutes so no one breathes in the fine mercury dust released from the CFL bulb. If the floor of the room is a hard surface, you can scoop up the debris with a piece of cardboard. The smallest particles can be wiped up with a damp paper towel. The EPA warns that sweeping and vacuuming is not thorough enough for cleanup on hard floors. When you’re finished, seal the cardboard, paper towel and broken pieces of the CLF bulb into two layers of plastic bagging. On carpeting and other soft surfaces, put on gloves and pick up as many pieces as you can of the broken light bulb by hand or with the help of sticky tape and dispose of the material in a double plastic bag. If you need to vacuum to remove the mercury dust and other debris, remove the vacuum bag and dispose of it properly. Wipe out the canister if the vacuum does not have a bag. Recycle Michael is as tight-fisted as his ol’ buddy the Practical Man is tight-lipped. He has the first dollar he ever earned and expects the government to be frugal as well. He’s always on the lookout for ways to reuse things to save a little money while helping to preserve the environment. Shining the light on CFLs u tilities, environmentalists, retailers and government agencies encourage you to swap out your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights to cut electric use. But there’s a hitch. Recycling efforts are unable to keep up with spent and broken CFLs. Only a small fraction of the nearly 500 million CFLs sold in the United States last year were recycled. Mercury menace This raises a potential health hazard with hundreds of millions of the bulbs being tossed in the trash and ending up in landfills. Most CFLs contain about 4 to 5 milligrams of mercury, enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. This trace amount multiplied nearly exponentially can cause neurological disorders as well as lung and kidney diseases in humans. The mercury in the CFLs makes the collection process for recycling difficult. The EPA opposes typical curbside recycling of the bulbs because of the danger of breakage. But no agencies oversee the EPA’s recommended guidelines to double plastic bag CFLs before disposing of them. Furthermore, there are no penalties for throwing CFLs into the trash in Nevada. Limited option Recycling always should be your first option. But if you happen to live in the far reaches of Nevada where recycling centers aren’t available, follow the EPA recommendation to seal the bulbs in two layers of plastic bagging. To find out if recycling is an option in your area, contact Nevada Power or go online to earth911.org to find the recycling center nearest to you. Enter “CFL” and your zip code. Other ways also are available to identify local recycling options. These include the U.S. Recycling Hotline at (800) 253-2687 and the EPA at epa.gov/bulb. In addition, some retail stores like Ace Hardware and Home Depot now accept spent CFLs. THE PRACTICAL MAN The Practical Man tolerates no nonsense and minces few words. He doesn’t stand on formality and isn’t easily amused. He grudgingly appears here to offer you hard-bitten practical advice to make your job easier. Establishing proper crown on gravel roads e stablishing proper crown in the gravel surface probably generates more controversy than any other aspect of good maintenance. How much crown is enough? Can you build too much crown? What is a recommended crown? Problems develop quickly when a gravel road has no crown. Water will quickly collect on the road surface during a rain and will soften the crust. This will lead to rutting which can become severe if the subgrade also begins to soften. Even if the subgrade remains firm, traffic will quickly pound out smaller depressions in the road where water collects and potholes will develop. An operator also can build too much crown into the road surface. This can lead to an unsafe condition in which motorists do not feel comfortable staying on their side of the road. They begin to feel a slight loss of control of the vehicle as it wants to slide toward the shoulder. As a result, motorists tend to drive down the middle of the road regardless of how wide it is. Recommendations from supervisors and skilled operators across the country indicate that at least ½ inch of crown per foot (approximately 4 percent) on the cross slope is ideal. It is also recognized that it is impossible for any operator to maintain an absolutely uniform crown. Crown gauges can be used to determine existing crown. Sophisticated electronic slope controls also are available for graders. Mitigating parabolic crown The ideal shape for a crown is a straight line from the shoulder up to the centerline of the road. This gives the road the same shape as the roof of a house, often referred to as a flat “A” shape. However, this shape sometimes can become This is the ideal shape rounded. The engineering of a crown. term for this is “parabolic crown.” The middle portion of the road will have considerably less crown than the outer edges. Water will not drain from the middle, and potholes and ruts will form. The greatest cause of parabolic crown is excess water at the center of the cutting edge. This is normal wear and will vary with types of gravel, s 14 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 The tighter surface created by the steel drum improves surface drainage by reducing infiltration into the gravel. Using the ripper hydraulics to increase pressure on the drum applies considerable weight and develops a tight top surface. Development of the pull-behind steel-drum roller took 40 labor hours. Materials included the steel drum, axle, 800-pound bearings, mounts, frame and a scrapper bar for a total cost of $3,000. The Bighorn County boys told me that now they can now provide a better ride with only a slight increase in the time it takes to maintain the road. ■ THE NEVADA T2 CENTER ADVISORY BOARD Delmo Andreozzi City of Elko Allen Bell City of Mesquite Kevin Carnes USDA Forest Service Ken Chambers NDOT Tie He Nevada DOT, Carson City Kevin Lee Nevada DOT, Elko Shital K. Patel FAST, RTC Southern Nevada Patrick Pittenger Carson City Public Works Tighter surface created by using steel drum on gravel roads ome of my buddies at the Bighorn County Road & Bridge Department in Wyoming have come up with a very effective device that they’ve dubbed a pull-behind steel-drum roller. The incentive was their desire to provide a tighter surface after performing routine maintenance with a motor grader on some of their gravel roads. After normal maintenance, the surface was loose and formed ruts and washboards. Their solution was to attach a steel drum to the back of a motor grader. This let them apply sufficient compaction for a tighter top surface, reducing washboards, loose aggregate and rutting on the top surface. width of road, wheel path location and other factors. A good operator will make an effort to avoid the parabolic shape on a roadway by keeping the cutting edge straight. A simple method to avoid the parabolic shape is to use a cutting torch and straighten the cutting edge whenever ½ inch to ¾ inch or more of center wear exists. Another approach is to use a thicker, harder section of cutting edge in the middle of the moldboard to resist wear. This will retard excess center wear but usually will not eliminate it. Another option is to use the modern carbide-tipped bits on the cutting edge. These are extremely wear resistant and dramatically reduce center wear. There also are carbide inserts or carbide-faced cutting edges that are wear resistant. Jim Poston Washoe County RTC Valerie Rodman FHWA Gone fishin’ HUMOR A young boy was taking care of his baby sister while his parents went shopping in town. He wanted to go fishing and decided to take his little sister with him. When he got home, he complained to his mother. “I’m never taking Jill with me again. She wouldn’t behave, and I didn’t catch a thing.” “Jack,” his mother said, “don’t be that way about your little sister. I’m sure she’ll be quieter the next time and won’t scare the fish away.” Bob Russell Washoe County RTC Roger Sutton City of Winnemucca Kathy Sanchez City of Reno Paul Solaegui President, Solaegui Engineers Barbara Stearns NDOT, Training Division 3 “It wasn’t that,” Jack said. “She ate all the bait!” Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 FOCUS No-Brainer Mail-In Page EROSION CONTROL Your Name: ___________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Focus Routine maintenance .....................1 Shaping principles..........................2 Crown.............................................3 Road shoulder................................4 Gravel road shaping principles t he motor grader is most often used for gravel road maintenance. However, other devices also can work well. Front or rear-mounted grading attachments for tractors, road rakes and other devices of various designs are sometimes used. The principles of shaping are the same no matter what machine is used. Phone: __________________________________Fax: _________________________________ Company/Organization: __________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ Rehabilitation .................................5 Areas of concern .........................6-7 Humor Gone fishin’ ....................................3 On the Job Ergonomic workstation requires proper design .............................5 Prevent post-vacation blues ...........5 Quotable Quotes Workplace witticisms......................6 Safety Paving safely at night .....................8 Safe mower operation ....................8 Identifying skin cancers..................8 Sun causes skin cancer .................8 Training Intersection safety series developed ...................................9 Highway specifications Web site updated ................................9 More Roads Scholars make the honor roll .......................12-13 In Nevada Summer sizzle ...............................4 New assistant planning director balances needs in tough economy .....................................7 Virginia City throws sesquicentennial celebration ...10 New signal light warns of ultraviolet radiation ...................11 Rear View Mirror Seat belt crusader wouldn’t buckle under .............................16 Regular Features “Road Smart” Contest ..................11 L2 on the Road .............................11 Recycle Michael ...........................14 The Practical Man ........................14 No-Brainer Mail-in Page ...............15 Operating speed Operating speed in blading operations must not be excessive. It is virtually impossible to do good work above a top speed of 3 mph to 5 mph. If the machine begins to “lope” or bounce, it will cut depressions and leave ridges in the road surface. Moldboard angle The angle of the moldboard also is critical to good maintenance. This angle is fixed on some grading devices, but on motor graders it can be adjusted easily. It is important to keep the angle somewhere between 30 degrees and 45 degrees. It is a challenge to recover loose aggregate from the shoulder of the roadway without spilling material around the leading edge (toe) of the moldboard. Operating without enough angle is a primary cause of this spilling. Moldboard pitch Along with correct angle, it is important to understand proper pitch or “tilt” of a moldboard. If it is pitched back too far, the material will tend to build up in front of it and will not fall forward and move along to the discharge end of the blade. This also causes excess material loss from the toe of the machine. In addition, it reduces the mixing action that is desirable when recovering material from the shoulder and moving it across the roadway, leveling and smoothing it in the process. This mixing action is part of routine maintenance. Traffic tends to loosen material from the road surface and displace it to the shoulder as well as between the wheel tracks. The stone will tend to separate from the sand and the fine-sized material. Concurrently, small potholes and an uneven surface will develop. It is the job of the maintenance operator to recover the material, mix it again as it rolls along the face of the moldboard and to restore good surface shape. 2 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Motor grader stability Sometimes it can be hard to keep a machine stable, especially while carrying a light load of material. Counteracting machine bounce or loping requires experience in knowing the cause and then finding a solution. If a motor grader begins to rock from side to side, it is usually caused by blade angle that closely matches the angle from corner to corner of the tires on the rear tandems. Generally, the solution is to stop, change angle slightly on the moldboard and slowing resume blading. Simply reducing speed will often eliminate the loping effect of a machine. Experimenting with different tire inflation pressures can help stabilize a machine, as can leaning the front wheels in the direction that material is being moved. Filling tires with liquid ballast to about 70 percent capacity sometimes is done to increase traction, weight and stability of the grader. Articulation Virtually all modern motor graders are equipped with frame articulation. It can be an advantage to slightly articulate the machine to stabilize it even in a common maintenance operation. Windrows In arid Western states like Nevada, it is common to leave a small inventory windrow to be picked up next time and worked back across the road for filling small depressions. The windrow should be placed near the edge of the roadway to allow as great a width of travel as possible. City: _________________________________________State: _________ZIP: _____________ If you have changed your address, telephone or fax number, please write them below and fax changes to (775) 784-1429 or e-mail to [email protected]. _____________________________________________________________________________ Circle YES where appropriate Do you want a free copy of Minimizing Low Volume Road Water Displacement on Gravel Roads? YES Do you want to borrow Gravel Road Maintenance: Meeting the Challenge DVD/CD combo? YES A complete list of the 2009 workshops is posted to our Web site at www.t2.unr.edu or call Lisa Cody at 775-784-1433. The T2 Center would like to be able to communicate with you by e-mail. Do you have an e-mail address? If so, please enter it here. _________________________________________________________________________ Please provide your answer to the “Road Smart Contest.” Identify the road and two nearest destinations. _________________________________________________________________________________________ FAX this form to (775) 784-1429. Or fold it in three, close with tape and mail. ______________________________________ Motor graders are often used for gravel road maintenance although other devices can work well too. PLACE STAMP HERE ______________________________________ ______________________________________ University of Nevada, Reno T2 Center/257 Reno, NV 89557-0179 Nevada T2 Center University of Nevada, Reno/0257 Reno, NV 89557-0257 Nevada Milepost is published quarterly by the Transportation Technology Transfer Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Its purpose is to provide the latest information on transportation in a way that is useful to local and county highway personnel. Nevada Milepost contains original and rewritten material compiled from reliable sources. It assumes no responsibility for the correctness of the information. The Nevada T2 Center is part of the nationwide Local Technical Assistance Program. It is financed jointly by the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission. NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID Reno, NV Permit No. 26 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Summer 2009 Maria Ardila-Coulson Peter Sebaaly Lisa Cody Larry Lunz Elie Hajj Nevada Milepost: Editor: Maria Ardila-Coulson Photojournalist: Larry Lunz Graphic Design: KCJ Creative 16 Nevada Milepost • Summer 2009 Vol. 21 No. 2 FOCUS EROSION CONTROL Nevada Milepost Nevada T2 Center/257 University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV 89557 Ph: (775) 784-1433 FAX: (775) 784-1429 http://www.t2.unr.edu T2 Center Staff Nevada’s Technology Transfer Quarterly How to keep gravel roads in good shape t Seat belt crusader wouldn’t buckle under a n Alabama congressmen who became known as “Seat Belt” Roberts is not well remembered today. But Kenneth Roberts was the firebrand behind the first federal law requiring safety devices in all new American cars. The popular myth in the mid-1950s was that seat belts cause more injuries than they prevented. Despite strong public and automaker opposition, Roberts finally got legislation enacted in 1964 that gave the General Services Administration oversight of safety standards for federally purchased cars. The GSA mandated 17 safety features, including padded instrument panels, safety door latches and a uniform sequence for automatic transmissions (P-R-N-D-L). It also required anchors where seat belts could be installed, but not the belts themselves. Lobbyists for the automakers immediately began watering down the GSA’s regulations. Roberts’ law might have had little impact if not for the events of 1965. Grassroots groups joined the cause with the publication of Ralph Nader’s landmark book, Unsafe at Any Speed. Thirty medical doctors got into the act by picketing the International Auto Show in New York, demanding safer designs. The growing uproar spurred a Senate subcommittee to hold public hearings on automobile safety and to invite automakers to testify. When pressed, GM officials admitted that their company spent less than 0.1 percent of its profits on safety. Feeling the political heat, President Lyndon Johnson put his weight behind an auto safety bill. Successful legislation led to the establishment of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It applied the GSA’s standards to all automobiles and further required those built after 1967 to have seat belts. Roberts lost his re-election bid but stayed active by serving as a highway safety advisor. here are more than 1.6 million miles of unpaved roads (53 percent of all roads) in the United States. The focus of this issue is to provide clear and helpful information for doing a better job of maintaining and rehabilitating gravel roads. Very little technical help is available to small agencies responsible for managing these roads. Traditionally, gravel maintenance and rehabilitation has been more of an art than a science, and very few formal standards exist. This leads to many arguments among grader operators, managers and motor- Maintaining and rehabiliting gravel roads has been more of an art than a science. ists over questions such as: What is enough surface crown? What is too much? What causes corrugation? The objective is to offer guidelines to help answer these and other questions about the maintenance and rehabilitation of gravel roads. Section 1: Routine maintenance Understanding road cross sections To maintain a gravel road properly, operators must clearly understand the need for the three basics: a crowned driving surface, a shoulder that slopes directly away from the edge of the driving surface, and a ditch. The shoulder and the ditch of many gravel roads may be minimal. The basic shape of the cross section must be correct or a gravel road will not perform well, even under very low traffic. The operator’s responsibility is to maintain the shape of the road surface and the shoulder. This is classified as routine maintenance. Keeping the foreslope and ditch established and shaped is often the maintenance operator’s responsibility as well. Sometimes there is a need for specialized equipment to do major reshaping of the cross section, especially in very wet conditions. However, the operator of routine maintenance equipment must do everything possible to take care of the roadway; budgets often do not allow for the use of extra equipment and manpower on gravel roads. ■ IN THIS ISSUE ■ How to do a better job of maintaining and rehabilitating gravel roads (p.1-7) ■ The Comstock Silver Strike gave birth to Virginia City 150 years ago, and the big birthday bash is being celebrated this summer (p. 10) ■ L2 on the Road shares not only the late radio commentator Paul Harvey’s “Ode to Dirt Roads” but also snippets of his own idyllic life on an unpaved road (p.11) ■ The Practical Man has come across a device that provides a tighter surface on gravel roads (p. 14) ■ Recycle Michael warns “not so fast” in trading out your old incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. (p. 14) ■ ROUTING SLIP Don’t file this Quarterly in your inbox. Please — read it, photocopy what you want, initial below, and send it on, especially to the frontline troops. _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________
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