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C hip sealing lower volume roads in Ohio continues to be an important activity for

preserving roadways across the state on the local system. Research shows the cost of restoring a

deteriorated pavement to new condition is four times the cost of maintenance for the same seg-

ment of roadway. Ohio’s Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL) program recently completed a

study which has great information for any local agency planning to chip seal their roads in 2020

and beyond.

Why was it important to do this study on chip sealing? Because one-size (or specification in this case) doesn’t fit all. ODOT does have a chip seal specification, but many counties and oth-

er local agencies don’t adopt it because it is meant to handle higher traffic volumes than the volumes experienced on most local roads. Why pay for something you don’t need? Counties and other local agencies ‘right-size’ their chip seal process to meet the needs of their local

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Focus on Funding: Local Major Bridge (LMB) 3

Snow and Ice Courses Available 4

Roads Scholar Update 6

ORIL Program Receives National Recognition 7

It’s Sawing Season! 8

Announcements and Upcoming Events 10

Video Corner: Chainsaw & Chipper Safety 11

How to Contact LTAP 12

NEWSLETTER Volume 36, Issue 3

2019

What are your Chip Seal plans for 2020?

roads in an effort to both extend the ser-vice life but also stretch budget dollars.

This study looked at eight counties and six cities across Ohio, along with conducting

an online survey of Ohio counties, town-ships, cities and villages regarding their

chip seal processes to identify good ways to save even more money.

The ways the study found to save even

more money (called Best Practices) are:

Cont’d on page 2

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• Bid all sections in a county (including township projects if possible) as one project

• Put contracts out to bid in the spring for lowest bid prices (because contractors are trying

to fill up their schedules for that year’s paving season)

• Always prepare roadways and pavement prior to chip sealing:

Repair localized structural (base) failures

Repair potholes Crack seal pavement

Remove tree limbs and brush which shade the road and prevent moisture evaporation

Cut berm and clean ditches to provide surface drainage Replace failed culvert(s)

Restore cross slope with scratch course or grader patch where necessary Cover manhole covers, catch basins, value boxes, etc., with a debonding mate-

rial

• Use washed, hard, durable aggregate

• Maintain a steady pace for all equipment during application of the chip seal ele-

ments

• Monitor binder and aggregate usage during application, adjust as needed

• Use experienced inspectors

The report also mentions a type of chip seal ap-

plication developed by others which could be evaluated for possible use in Ohio. The applica-

tion is called an Otta seal. It is named Otta be-cause it was developed in the Otta valley

(Norway) by the Norwegian Road Research La-boratory. An Otta seal uses well graded local

gravel which is typically less costly than the single size aggregate used for chip seal. The Otta seal also uses a soft binder to allow the binder to mi-

grate into the gravel surface. A benefit of using the soft binder is cracks tend to “heal” during warm weather.

Otta seals utilize graded aggregate placed on a relatively thick film of soft asphalt binder

(Overby 1999). Construction of Otta seals follows the same process as chip seals: spraying the binder on the surface, spreading aggregate chips and rolling the aggregate into the bind-

er. Otta seals can also be placed as either a single or double Cont’d on page 5

Cont’d from page 1

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What does LMB fund? The LMB Program provides Federal funds for bridge replacement or major bridge rehabilitation projects that are publicly owned and on existing publicly-owned

property. A Local Major Bridge is defined as a moveable bridge or a bridge having a deck area greater than 35,000 square feet and must carry vehicular traffic.

Application period: September 1 to October 1 each year

Who can apply: Counties and municipalities who own a Local Major Bridge

Funds available: $20 Million Annually (approximately)

Match requirements: ODOT will provide up to 80% of eligible costs for construction and con-struction engineering up to the specified funding limit. Currently, 15% Toll Revenue Credit

(TRC) is available to increase the Federal percentage to 95% to those projects awarded through state fiscal year 2024. The local agency is responsible for the nonfederal share of the

construction costs and for all costs associated with preliminary engineering, environmental studies and documents, final design, and right-of-way. The local contribution for construction

is required to be a cash match. In-kind contributions cannot be accepted as part of the local share.

Project grading for eligibility: If you are interested in learning more about LMB, please check out the program guidelines available at: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/

LocalPrograms/Local%20Major%20Bridge%20Documents/Local%20Major%20Bridge%20Program%20Guidelines.pdf

Who received funding from LMB in 2018?

Cuyahoga County – Hilliard Road Bridge Rehabilitation - $19,816,175.00

City of Cleveland – Center Street Swing Bridge Rehabilitation - $7,480,832.00

For a complete list of those who received funding in previous years, please visit the LMB

webpage at: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/LocalPrograms/Pages/Local-Major-Bridge.aspx

Questions concerning LMB funding can be directed to the Program’s Manager, Nichole Law-

horn, at 614-752-6581 or Nichole.Lawhorn@dot.ohio.gov ◊

Focus on Funding: Local Major Bridge (LMB) Program

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L ooking to take a break from the late summer heat by thinking about cool-er weather? Autumn is just a few short days away!

We are pleased to announce registration is currently open for the following re-

gional sessions of our 1-day LTAP course on Snow & Ice Control:

Lebanon – September 18

Garfield Heights – September 30

New Philadelphia – October 1

Columbus – November 5

Our LTAP enrollment webpage provides details and registration information for these sessions. For persons interested in the Roads Scholar training recognition

program, please note completion of this 1-day Snow & Ice Control course fulfills Row 2 of Level I (see RS transcript form).

Looking ahead, our abbreviated Snow & Ice ‘Circuit Rider’ classes will also be

available this fall and winter. LTAP Circuit Rider classes have a typical duration of 2 to 3 hours depending on the topic, and are designed to give on-site in-struction for Ohio local agencies (county, city, village or township). In order to

schedule a class, the local host agency must be able to provide:

• A minimum of 15 participants who will attend (may invite employees from

other local agencies). Larger groups are encouraged. For example, if a

County Engineer’s Office hosts the class, they are welcome to also invite township, village or other local agency personnel to attend.

• A meeting room, with tables and chairs, suitable for conducting a training

class with a PowerPoint presentation.

An announcement with details regarding the Snow & Ice C.R. classes will be dis-tributed through LTAP email in September. ◊

Snow & Ice Courses Available

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treatment. Otta seals are different than chip seals because they utilize a heavier application of soft binder where chip seals use a harder binder and lower binder application rate. Chip seal

aggregates (for single-layer chip seals) are preferably single sized, while Otta seals use graded aggregate with a wide grading envelope. Otta seals may be used in some cases to allow for

the use of locally available aggregate such as natural gravel or crushed rock. (Green 2018)

Otta Seal (top) Compared to Single Chip Seal (bottom) (Overby 1999)

If you are interested in learning more about this important study on chip sealing for Ohio’s

local roads, please download the one-page fact sheet or the final report by clicking on their links below.

• One-page fact sheet: Best Practices for Chip Sealing Low-volume Roads in Ohio

• Final Report: Best Practices for Chip Sealing Low-volume Roads in Ohio

And keep in mind, ORIL is YOUR research program! ORIL focuses on local road issues and

funds research to help find solutions to locally-focused transportation problems. ORIL needs to know what challenges you are facing. So please

consider submitting your research ideas while the annual application period is open. The online idea

submission form is available at: http://oril.transportation.ohio.gov Submissions accepted

now through November 1st. ◊

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Roads Scholar Update

W e are pleased to announce the following new Roads Scholar graduates!

• Joe Staten (City of Kettering) – Level I

• Jerry Wright (City of Kettering) – Level I

• Ryan Link (City of Centerville) – Level I

The Roads Scholar Training Recognition Program provides a

great opportunity for Ohio’s roadway maintenance and public works employees to document their continuing education and professional development.

Persons who attend LTAP workshops/courses within specified topic categories can work to-ward up to three levels of Roads Scholar achievement. Aside from the regular LTAP registra-

tion fee for each course, there is no cost to participate in this program.

The Roads Scholar program in Ohio is based on completion of six approved LTAP workshops/courses for Level I, and six more for Level II. For those who decide to pursue Level III (Road

Master), this highest level of recognition involves completion of seven additional electives, along with a written project report or verbal presentation.

Participants track their own progress for each level using transcript forms pro-vided in the Roads Scholar Program Packet, which is available online from the

RS webpage at: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/LocalPrograms/LTAP/Pages/ROADSSCHOLAR.aspx. This packet also includes information about

the Safety Distinction Recognition (SDR), which emphasizes safety-related train-ing and is available to persons who have achieved at least RS Level I.

The total number of Level I and II graduates is now 334, and eight individuals have achieved

Level III (Road Master) recognition. For alphabetical and chronological listings of all RS grad-uates, please refer to the Roads Scholar webpage.

Be sure to look for the Roads Scholar icon on LTAP registration announcements for courses that are approved for RS credit. If you have any questions about the Roads Scholar program,

please contact Mike Fitch at 614-387-7358 or Mike.Fitch@dot.ohio.gov. ◊

RoadsScholarLevel 1

Rows 4-6

+ SDR

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E stablished in 2013 to provide research support for Ohio’s county, city, village and town-ship agencies, Ohio’s Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL) is one of only three locally-

focused transportation research programs in the United States. As of July 2019, the ORIL pro-gram has successfully launched or participated in 26 research projects/studies within catego-

ries such as Hydraulics, Pavements & Materials, Policy / Legal / Revenue, and Structures.

TRB Magazine Highlights ORIL’s First Five Years

We are pleased to announce the ORIL program was recently featured in the March-April 2019

issue of TR News, a national magazine published by the Transportation Research Board. The article “Five Years of Real Results: Ohio DOT Collaborates in Research Initiative” describes the

program’s origins and project selection process, along with success stories from completed projects. Comments from several ODOT representatives and ORIL Board members are also

included.

TRB policy is to release the full PDF version of a TR News magazine four months after its re-lease in print format. The complete March-April issue with the ORIL article should be availa-

ble online by the end of this summer, at: http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/179123.aspx.

Annual Idea Submission Process Underway

ORIL’s process for submitting research ideas for the upcoming FY 2021 program is now open.

Announcements with details will be posted to the ORIL website and distributed through LTAP email. All ideas must be applicable to the local transportation system and must be re-

search. The ORIL Board will review all ideas submitted and select those that propose the greatest benefit for Ohio. Selected ideas will be developed into Requests for Proposals, which will be posted for response from the transportation research community in March 2020. Re-

search projects may begin any time after July 2020.

Please visit the ORIL website for the

most up-to-date information regarding ORIL projects and activities. Please visit

the ORIL Research Ideas Submission page to submit your research needs! ◊

ORIL Program Receives National Recognition

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W hat in the world is sawing season? Are we talking about Michael Myers and Hallow-een being right around the corner? Nope. We are talking about tree trimming sea-

son. Many local public agencies target late fall and winter for tree and brush clearing due to no leaves being on the trees and shrubbery. If your agency is planning to clear tree limbs,

trees or brush this sawing season, there are important safety requirements and recommenda-tions you need to keep in mind.

Chainsaw operations are dangerous. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report approxi-

mately 36,000 individuals nationwide are treated each year in emergency rooms for chainsaw injuries (2017). Because of the danger, the Occupational and Safety Health Administration

(OSHA) has specific legal regulations which must be followed when performing chainsaw op-erations. These regulations have been adopted by Ohio’s Public Employees Risk Reduction

Program (PERRP). The regulations are listed in the box on the next page at the top and we encourage you to click each link and read each regulation to the end. Some regulation high-

lights include:

employer requirements to provide

properly fitting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),

mandatory first-aid kits for chainsaw op-

erations and what the kits must contain, and

mandatorily required first-aid training for all employees involved with chainsaw

operations, including what must be taught during the first-aid training.

In addition to the regulations, both OSHA and PERRP have developed resources which you can use in your agency to host a safety talk, do a tailgate talk in the AM before a crew heads

out, or provide as reading material in your breakroom. The resources are listed in the toolbox on the next page.

Safety doesn’t end when the sawing is finished. Proper chainsaw maintenance is also key. En-sure your crew knows how to properly care for and store chainsaw equipment. Keeping

chains sharp, noticing and replacing damaged pieces such as the bar, and keeping equipment free from saw dust debris are all part of a safe chainsaw operation. ◊

It’s Sawing Season!

New chainsaw operators should always

be paired with an experienced operator

when first operating a saw.

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• Tree Trimming Safety Alert—Ohio Public Employees Risk Reduction Program (PERRP)

• Hazards of Wood Chippers—OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin

• Safety and Health Program Resources for Tree Care Work from OSHA

• Logging eTool from OSHA

• Preventing Chain Saw Injuries During Tree

Removal After a Disaster from the CDC

• Chainsaw Safety Agricultural and Natural

Resources Bulletin—University of Arkan-sas Division of Agriculture

Links to CFR Regulations on Chainsaw Operations

29 CFR 1910.132, Personal Protective Equipment, General Requirements 29 CFR 1910.266 - Logging operations 29 CFR 1910.266 - Logging operations, Appendix A - First-aid Kits

(Mandatory) 29 CFR 1910.266 - Logging operations, Appendix B - First-aid and CPR Train-

ing (Mandatory) 29 CFR 1910.269 - Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution 29 CFR 1910.268 – Telecommunications

Tech Transfer Toolbox—Chainsaw Operation Resources

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T he Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference (OTEC) will be held October 29-30 at the Greater

Columbus Convention Center. This year marks the 73rd annual meeting of this statewide conference, which has

grown to reach attendance levels of more than 3,750 persons from across the United States. The theme for 2019 is Fueling Transportation Transformation. For details and registration in-

formation, please visit the OTEC website at: www.otecohio.org.

Ohio’s Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL) has announced its seventh annual research idea submission process, which is underway this fall.

Everyone has an opportunity to submit ideas for locally-focused trans-portation research projects to the ORIL Board for consideration. The

deadline for idea submissions is November 1, 2019. For details and to access the online idea submission form, please visit the ORIL website at:

http://oril.transportation.ohio.gov.

ODOT’s Office of Local Programs and the Ohio LTAP Center and will be

conducting a free Funding & Resources Workshop (“Show Me the Mon-ey!”) at ODOT Central Office in Columbus on December 3rd. This workshop will provide an

overview of available funding sources in Ohio for Local Public Agencies (LPAs) responsible for Ohio’s roadways

and transportation systems. The announcement flyer with registration information will be available soon from the

Training page of our LTAP website and emailed out on the listserv.

The 2019 CCAO/CEAO Annual Winter Conference will be held December 4-6 at the Hyatt Regency, Columbus,

Ohio. For details, please visit the County Engineers Asso-ciation of Ohio (CEAO) website at: http://www.ceao.org.

The 2020 Ohio Township Association (OTA) Annual Winter Conference is scheduled for Febru-

ary 5-8 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. For additional information, please visit the OTA website at: http://www.ohiotownships.org. ◊

Announcements & Upcoming Events

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Chainsaw and Chipper Safety Resources

Late fall and winter bring a key time in roadway maintenance – tree trimming season! Lack of leaves allows for easy trimming of trees and other shrubbery which have grown over into the right of way, are blocking signs and creating other hazards for your roadways. Chainsaw and chipper operations are key to accomplishing the clearing work, but these are very hazardous equipment to operate. In this edition of Video Corner, we provide you different recommenda-tions for videos to either train your new employees or to refresh your seasoned employees. Due to the personal danger to the operator when using a Chainsaw or Chipper, we highly rec-ommend new employees always be paired with a seasoned employee when first operating chainsaws or chippers, even after watching the training videos. Having a hands-on mentor will help minimize the risk for first-time chainsaw and chipper operators.

Recommended videos are in two categories – Chainsaw Safety and Chipper Safety. The chainsaw safety videos list provides two links to videos by the US Agricultural Safety and Health Centers, both approximately 17 minutes in length. The videos demonstrate how to operate a chainsaw to fell trees. Topics in-clude choosing an appropriate saw, history of saws, safety fea-tures of saws, saw maintenance, how to run a saw, and proper posture when using a saw. The third chainsaw video is an old-er, but good video which explains step-by-step how to manual-ly sharpen a chainsaw’s chain.

The Chipper Safety videos list contains two videos which should be watched as a set. The first is a video from the Virginia De-partment of Transportation. It covers from start to finish key safety aspects for Chipper operation. The second video is from the California Fatality and Evaluation Control Program. It dis-cusses an actual fatality which occurred during operation of a chipper and steps to prevent similar fatalities.

Be sure to also check out the other information in this edition of the LTAP newsletter concerning chainsaw and chipper opera-tion. The information provided in the other article, along with the videos at the links to the right, will help your agency plan for a safe sawing season. Take care! ◊

Chainsaw Safety Videos

1. Chainsaw Safety Part 1 – US Agricultural Safety and Health Centers

2. Chainsaw Safety Part 2 – US Agricultural Safety and Health Centers

3. Manually Sharpening a Chainsaw Chain—Ohio LTAP Center

Chipper Safety Videos

1. Safety, Chipper Operations – VDOT (Virginia DOT)

2. Debris entanglement - FACE (California Fatality and Control Evaluation Pro-gram)

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The Ohio LTAP Center

1980 W. Broad Street, MS 1240

Columbus, OH 43223

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Ohio Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Ohio’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) is to assist

local governments in managing and maintaining a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound

transportation system by providing

training and technical assistance in the

areas of safety, workforce development, and

infrastructure management.

LTAP CENTER STAFF: Victoria Beale, JD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Ohio LTAP Center Director Mike Fitch, MS, PE Program Manager Raymond Brushart, Program Manager Debbie Cox, Registrar CONTACTING OHIO LTAP: Information, Workshops & Videos (614) 387-7359 ltap@dot.ohio.gov

General Circuit Rider Training Program and Roads Scholar Information (614) 387-7358 Mike.Fitch@dot.ohio.gov Safety Circuit Rider & Equipment Loan Program (614) 387-0523 Raymond.Brushart@dot.ohio.gov Fax (614) 466-2120 Toll-free in Ohio: (877) 800-0031 http://www.dot.state.oh.us/LTAP

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