Iowa DOT looking for partners in standing corn program

September 18, 2020

With the derecho, drought, and other negative impacts on Iowa farming in 2020, many farmers will have standing corn left in their fields. The Iowa Department of Transportation is looking to partner with farmers who have fields along state or U.S. highways for our Standing Corn Snow Fence Program.

Over the last 20+ years, the program has helped improve wintertime mobility and highway safety using partnerships with dozens of farmers statewide. The program used corn that can be left in fields during the winter to serve as snow fences that slow down or stop snow from blowing and drifting across the road. More recently, this cooperative effort has included using round hay bales as snow fences, as well.

Iowa DOT answers the call for debris removal following devastating derecho

August 27, 2020

As if a global pandemic wasn’t enough this year, on Aug. 10, a windstorm of catastrophic proportions hit Iowa. Iowa Department of Transportation forces mobilized to the impacted areas within hours of the storm. Iowa DOT crews from more than 50 garages around the state hauled tens of thousands of truckloads of debris from nearly 40 cities and towns for the last few weeks. Almost every day, hundreds of DOTers used our trucks, loaders, excavators, and other equipment to get Iowa neighborhoods cleared of debris so people can begin the rebuilding process on damaged homes and other structures.

Prior to Aug. 10, few of us had ever heard the term “derecho.” We are all now very aware of the damage and destruction this “land hurricane” can cause.

Decoding the past - U.S. 30 flyover bridge's secret messages

August 6, 2020

When you’re driving around Iowa, do you ever wonder why certain bridges or pieces of the transportation system look different than others? Did you know that many times there is public art built into these structures that have meaning? A recent project connecting northbound Interstate 35 to U.S. 30 near Ames tells an interesting tale of the connection between a university, technology, and transportation.

As you may know, the world’s first electric digital computer was built at Iowa State University by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. This Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) propelled the world into the digital age.

When a new flyover bridge connecting northbound I-35 to westbound U.S. 30 was proposed, the Iowa Department of Transportation’s bridge aesthetics expert, Kimball Olson, devised a plan to incorporate the invention of the ABC into the art of the structure.

New paint process improves safety for workers and motorists

July 27, 2020

Slow-moving maintenance activities, like painting pavement markings, are some of the most dangerous parts of the work our field forces need to get done. Typically, our own crews use equipment to apply a layer of water-borne paint and then drop a layer of tiny glass beads into the wet paint. The glass beads reflect light, which makes the lines more visible at night. But, because this is Iowa and our harsh weather conditions require snow-removal equipment that can scrape off the paint and glass beads, many of our roads, and especially our interstate markings, need to be repainted every year. The nature of the work means we have to paint the lane markings while traffic is speeding by, increasing the danger for both travelers and our crews.

Always looking for a better way to do things, our staff is testing a new epoxy paint system applied in grooves on Iowa interstates this summer. Iowa DOT engineers John Hart and Clayton Burke, of our Construction and Materials Bureau, are spearheading the effort to improve paint markings.

Have a brilliant idea? Our research section wants to hear about it.

July 7, 2020

New ideas in transportation can come from any number of sources. Iowa DOTers are an inquisitive bunch who don’t hesitate to look at new ways of doing business and update methods when necessary. The research section, part of the Strategic Performance Division, is always gathering ideas from all areas of the DOT on topics that can be considered for our research program which could potentially help you find new and better ways to do your job and improve transportation in Iowa.  

Do you have an idea or problem you are trying to solve that you think should be researched or are you curious about the current status of ideas in the research pipeline? The Iowa DOT has launched a new Research Ideas website. This site is a complement to the existing research site and offers information on new and in-progress research in an easy-to-navigate format. The new site allows keyword searches and the ability to filter ideas. 

New online chat gives customers another way for contact-free services

June 9, 2020

With the current pandemic, many of us are doing more of our business online. To make it easier for us to engage with you in a better and more efficient way, the Iowa Department of Transportation has implemented a robust chat feature on our website. While we were starting to implement the live chat portion prior to the pandemic, the health crisis caused us to speed up the implementation.

The state’s Office of the Chief Information Officer brought in the live chat product, Bold360, and made it available to all state agencies. The Iowa DOT launched the first phase of the chat feature on Oct. 23, 2019. with the most basic questions being answered using a database of pre-programed answers. Zhaia Wineinger from our Strategic Communications & Policy Bureau built the database of content that provides the automated answers from the chatbot.