A Milestone in Making IHSDM Available
The unique Interactive Highway Safety Design Model view shown here is evaluating a proposed road design. Reaching a critical milestone in the development of the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM), FHWA and GEOPAK Corporation signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). Under the agreement, GEOPAK, collaborating with FHWA, will integrate IHSDM into its civil design software package, making GEOPAK the first vendor to do so. GEOPAK is a leading developer of civil engineering software. Many State DOT's and FHWA currently use GEOPAK Corporation's civil design package as their standard roadway design software.
When completed, IHSDM will give highway planners and designers the opportunity, within a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) environment, to evaluate the safety implications of alternative highway designs from the planning through the final design stage.
Now in the prototype development, IHSDM currently has applications for two-lane rural roads. Ultimately IHSDM, which is designed for new and reconstruction road projects, will expand its applications to the Nation's entire highway system.
As stated in the CRADA: "Widespread distribution of IHSDM is critical to improving the safety of highway design. Since CAD/roadway design software will be the core of the model, FHWA believes that the best way to disseminate IHSDM is through the CAD/roadway design products."
The CRADA calls for the North Miami Beach corporation to provide a variety of services to facilitate IHSDM's advancement, with the chief aim of accelerating the transition of IHSDM from research and development into actual use by roadway planners and designers.
GEOPAK Corporation's CEO Gabriel F. Norona said of the CRADA with FHWA, "This agreement provides for the technical collaboration between GEOPAK and the FHWA to further expand the transportation needs of the future."
To ensure IHSDM's user-friendliness, a Technical Working Group has been established, consisting of members from the State DOT's of Arkansas, California, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia, and from FHWA's Region 8 Office and the Indiana Division Office.
The recently signed CRADA between FHWA and GEOPAK signals the beginning of meeting an important goal of IHSDM: to be available to roadway planners and designers in an easy-to-learn, and easy-to-use format in all commonly used CAD/civil design software. The FHWA will pursue similar CRADA's with other roadway design software companies.
-- Justin True.
Crash Testing the MELT-II Terminal
To date, 17 full-scale tests have been conducted to develop a Modified Eccentric Loader Terminal (MELT) design that can meet the recommendations for Test Level Three (TL-3) in the Nationally Coordinated Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report No. 350. The photo shows the latest version of the MELT-II terminal after it was impacted with a 2000-kg pickup truck at 100 km/h at an impact angle of 20 degrees. The test vehicle impacted the terminal at the third post and was redirected upright. A finite element model of the MELT-II terminal is under development at the University of Iowa.
This shows the MELT-II terminal after a crash test with a Chevrolet C2500 pickup truck. The pickup truck was successfully redirected and remained upright.
-- Charles F. McDevitt, (202) 493-3313.
