Abstract Manager

Assessing the existing road safety of our vast rural transportation networks to isolate what is the best impact of our capital expenditure to improve safety can be an incredibly onerous task. Often the highway safety parameters that get considered in capital planning decisions are ‘post-incident’ related traffic data, but don’t generally consider physical corridor risk considerations. With the introduction of Generative Design, using algorithms to systematically analyze and process large quantities of data for these contributing factors to safety, this exercise can be streamlined. As we start to leverage computation design to complete mundane calculations and analysis, we find ourselves in a position to accelerate highway rehabilitation choices, and make more intelligent design decisions about safety and roadway assets prior to implementing capital plans by simultaneously combining broader roadside safety with road to help define projects.

What is Generative Design?  To answer this question, we will first need to take a deep dive into a 2-lane rural roadway corridor. To understand the typical rehabilitation challenges owners face, from cost to schedule, even sustainable solutions. We will look to identify the problems faced.

We will demonstrate how Generative design allows us to take a straightforward approach to data analysis and assessment, from a local road rehab to the largest transportation rehabilitation projects – it’s just data, and Generative Design loves to consume data. It allows us to extract values for elements like existing crossfall and superelevation, minimum sight distances or passing opportunities, recoverable, non-recoverable and critical slopes, and assess hundreds of alternatives at a conceptual level in a relatively short period of time.   

By understanding the existing characteristics of the corridor, starting with the existing pavement structure, we can assess alternative to meet our design criteria to understand how different pavement design alternatives impact our corridor. These impacts could include grade raises, platform widening, and generating excess materials.  We then assess each of the alternatives to determine impacts to the existing elements. We generate costs, critical path schedule, even sustainability values for each of these alternatives.

Providing our clients with more information, earlier in the process, to make better informed decisions. We will discuss how Generative Design is changing the way we make decisions and improving how and when we are able to make them.