The team has recently put together a construction schedule for each of the three project areas. In order to do this, the team had to perform calculations on how long each construction step would take, and put together a Gantt Chart using Microsoft Project showing the duration of each step in the construction process. The calculations show that the entire duration last from the start of June until early November.
Construction Schedule
April 29, 2021
April 21, 2021
In recent weeks, the team has finished the construction cost estimate for the project which can be seen below. This construction cost estimate does not account for relocation of utilities or sign structures. Some items were priced using the online software RS Means data from Gordian, which uses 2011 cost analysis. To account for inflation from 2011 to 2021, 2% of the cost was added to each of the item's cost estimate. The final construction cost for individual items and materials came to $1,097,574.89. Once other costs of labor, taxes, permits, mobilization, and other needed elements were added according to percentages of the total, the final construction cost estimate came to $1,830,206.14., rounded to approximately $1.83 million dollars.
Final Construction Cost Estimate
Construction Items Cost Estimate
March 25, 2021
The team this month made significant progress for the engineering drawings of the project areas. The team first put together an engineering drawing of the existing conditions of all three of the project areas, which included stationing and labeling of all of the surrounding area that was considered in the design. The team used the existing engineering drawings in order to make sure that the design drawings were in line with the alignment that were in place. This was done in an effort to minimize construction of the new design, based on the construction of the design on the existing conditions. The team has also explored tweaking the design in project area 1, so that the eastbound approach of the main intersection includes a dedicated delayed left turn, through lane, and a channelized right turn into Mount Vernon Ave.
Project Area 1 East Bound Design Concept
Existing Conditions Engineering Drawings
March 14, 2021
The team began working on the final designs for all three project areas. The designs are being drafted with Civil 3D following all NJDOT and FHWA design specifications. The traffic and signal modeling is also being finalized in Synchro. The team started preparing figures for the design poster which will cover the final designs and important data related to the project. Rachel, our team leader, is beginning to work on the assembly of the poster for the upcoming poster presentations.
Traffic Volume Figures for Poster
February 26, 2021
Throughout the month of February, the team has made great progress in the final design and traffic analysis. The existing conditions of the site were shown in AutoCAD so the team can begin to produce the final design in the coming weeks. The existing site traffic conditions and proposed traffic conditions were modeled in Synchro. With this model, the team will begin to compare the optimal design solution to the current conditions and allow for the team to produce the the best final design. The team has also begun to further analyze the speed data of the site for the existing conditions, proposed design, and compare pre-COVID-19 data against what the future post-COVID-19 could look like.
Existing Site Conditions
Proposed Traffic Conditions
February 17, 2021
The team has begun putting together a timeline with different goals to accomplish throughout the spring semester. A detailed existing conditions file has been created with the use of AutoCAD and Civil 3D software. Traffic volume analysis has been performed based on current conditions, and an analysis is being performed on what the team determines the future traffic counts to be. In order to determine this, growth data in Trenton, NJ will be studied. With this information and the help of Synchro software, different traffic simulations will be performed and any errors found will be addressed to optimize the design for traffic flow and pedestrian access. Once the detailed existing conditions is finished, the team will begin working on the proposed design.
November 28, 2020
The team is looking into alternative software options for traffic simulation. Anylogic was found to have most of the necessary simulation tools for the analysis of the intersections in this project. Anylogic allows us to set up a simulation of the intersections being redesigned. Signal timing, number of lanes in each direction, speed limit, and limitations to traffic movements within each lane are a few of the many parameters being used within this software. ArcMap is also being used to gather mean speed data throughout the day, graphs were created for analysis to see the actual speed data which is being used alongside the Movani screen recorder for a deeper understanding of the area at specific times.
November 9, 2020
The team has begun to gather further existing traffic volume counts from the project site in order to perform analysis of the changes in traffic patterns from the existing conditions in comparison to the future redesign. The Movani Screen Recorder software is being used to record traffic flow on Google Traffic during different times throughout various days of the week. This data will be used, along with recorded data from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, to conduct traffic volume and pattern analysis for the existing conditions at the project site. At this point, the team has also finalized the engineering cost for the entirety of the work throughout the project. Based on the estimated salary level of each team member, and advisor, as well as the number of hours working on the project, the total engineering cost was found to be $40,000.
October 25, 2020
The team finalized all Alternative Designs. After constructing and analyzing a design selection matrix with seven different factors, the team found Alternative Design 3, which addresses issues of traffic flow and pedestrian access, to be the optimal of the three redesigns. Additionally, the team has begun working on the first quarterly report for the project. The team soon anticipates on creating traffic models with the traffic counts obtained and the use of Synchro and Movavi Screen Recorder software to further analyze the traffic flow with each alternative design. This modeling will assist in the final redesign that will be used in the final report and will help analyze the congestion at each project area and how pedestrian access can be safely added.
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October 11, 2020
The team came up with three alternative designs, in order to improve the conditions of the site. The first alternative design focuses on maximizing the efficiency of the traffic flow of the area, based on traffic count and speed data. The purpose of this design is to increase the theoretical free flow speed of traffic. The second alternative design is based on the needs of pedestrians, and the surrounding neighborhoods. Looking at the current conditions, the team saw that configuration separated the community, and caused a disconnect between neighborhoods. The focus for this design is to reduce the traffic speed, and increase the mobility for pedestrians, all while connecting the community. The third alternative design was based on a combination of the first two, and while neither aspect would be fully emphasized, both problems with the area would be addressed, and vehicles, as well as pedestrians and community members, would have a better transportation system. The team is working on finalizing the design alternative proposals and selection.
September 24, 2020
The team has begun research for existing conditions. Site visits were performed to get a good idea on the existing conditions at morning and afternoon peak traffic times. Traffic data was collected at all locations including overall volume and turning movements. Below are the field notes for the counts of each intersection at a 15 minute interval. The data is currently being analyzed and the team is getting information ready for use in Synchro. collected data will be graphed for better interpretation in the near future.
Sullivan Way and Hilvista Blvd. Intersection
Rt. 29 and Sullivan Way Intersection
September 9, 2020
The team had their first proposal presentation given by the team leader, Rachel Dultz. The project overview was discussed to introduce the topic and plan for the duration of the project. The Website is officially published! All project information, including bi-weekly updates, will be available throughout the duration of the project.