Highway Feature Sustainability A Maintenance Perspective Luci Moore State Maintenance &Operations Engineer Oregon Department of Transportation April 2009

Maintenance Perspective Be able to be maintained Get to it Cost effective and doable within a variety of constraints including environmental Trying to infuse maintenance needs/issues into design guidance and thought processes

What Are Sustainable Landscapes? Easy To Establish Native Plants if Possible No Irrigation Requirements Require Little or No Maintenance Able to Out-Compete Noxious Weeds

The Right Plant in the Right Place

What Doesn’t Work

What Does Work

Permeable Pavement Concerns Spills and cleanup requirements Verticle grades and sags Surface Life Low risk areas –Multiuse paths –Parking lots for new cars –Guardrail flares ?

Water Quality Feature Considerations Location-accessibility to maintain ODOT has a prioritized list for these features based on life cycle costs Try to minimize propriety parts needed Maintenance Costs –Disposal of materials from clean outs –Frequency of clean outs –Replacment Parts –Equipment required to clean out Must have a maintenance and operations plan

Impact Attenuators Low Maintenance Group now on the Qualified Products List Issues –Numerous different replacement parts may be needed if lots of variety on the system –Time and Costs to repair Safety of the crew and the public Traffic delays resulting in more emissions

Summary Maintainability is a critical element of sustainability –Reduces fuel, emissions, chemicals and materials needed to keep the system functioning Please think past constructability and include maintainability