Quantifying the Impact of Energy Traffic on Local Unpaved Roads

Converse, Goshen, Laramie, and Platte counties were selected in accordance with a legislative directive as part of a project to determine the impact of the oil and gas industry on county infrastructure. This thesis takes into account the impact of county gravel roads and strategies used to help develop methods to assess and mitigate this impact. With a lacking road and bridge budget, these counties are only just keeping up with the current impact. In order to receive additional funding from the state legislature, actual impact needs to be assessed. The different distresses and ride quality of all the county gravel roads showed that, on average, the roads were in good condition no matter the level of impact. However, the cost to keep the impacted roads in this condition came at a much greater price. By modeling the data gathered in this study and comparing the differences between impacted and non-impacted roads, a better understanding of the degradation taking place was attained. A priority ranking for impacted roads was also assessed to determine the severity of the impact. The process developed in this study could be very useful for other local agencies impacted by energy development.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=764
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Wyoming, Laramie

  Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering
  1000 East University Avenue
  Laramie, WY  United States  82071

  Mountain-Plains Consortium

  North Dakota State University
  Fargo, ND  United States  58108

  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

  North Dakota State University
  1320 Albrecht Boulevard
  Fargo, ND  United States  581052

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Stroud, Nathan K
  • Ksaibati, Khaled
  • 0000-0002-9241-1792
• Publication Date: 2013-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 202p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic impacts; Energy resources; Gravel roads; Highway maintenance; Ride quality; Traffic loads; Truck traffic
• Geographic Terms: Wyoming
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I10: Economics and Administration; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01516459
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 13-263
• Files: UTC, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 2014 1:32PM