Consultants

Design Aids and other Links for Consultants

• R.O.A.D.S. Repository for Online Access to Documentation and Standards. Home of the Drainage Manual, Plan Presentation Guide, Bridge Design Manual, and other manuals as they become available.
• Traffic Safety and Design Office Design Aids
• Plan Development Process Describes the steps a project takes from Concept to Letting
• Cover Sheet Signature Requirements Revised in January to allow office heads to sign the cover sheet on behalf of the Chief Engineer. See the first paragraph under "Submission of Plans for Letting"
• 2004 AASHTO Green Book adopted This letter from FHWA formally approves use of the 2004 AASHTO Green Book. Buddy Gratton subsequently approved its adoption by the DOT on March 21, 2005.
• GDOT Contracts Administration Web Site Has not only bid notices and reports but things that are useful to designers like the pay item index and mean pay item summary (average unit costs based on bids), letting schedule and final plans submission checklist. GDOT Specifications are available there as well.
• Traffic Safety & Design Home of the ATMS Design Manual and other guidelines. Also home of the Legend program for putting text on signs.
• Example Data Set for Engineering Design Software This .zip archive (93 MB!) contains all of the CAiCE and Microstation files for a case study project at GDOT. It is being made available for information only to give people an opportunity to see a sample data-set.
• The Source A collection of construction-related information including specifications, special provisions, and construction manuals and procedures. Note that the link to TOPPS Directives is set to work internally to the DOT only at this time so please continue to use OCD's mirror for TOPPS.
• TOPPS Pay special attention to the section on Field Plan Reviews including FPR checklists and draft reports (hint: they will ask you about all of the things in the report at the review).
• Bridge Detailing Guide See a collection of helpful hints on detailing bridges like your client wants.
• Asphalt Pavement Design (APD) (3,972 kb) This program will come up with an asphalt pavement design based on general soil parameters for each county (preliminary design) or more specific soil information if it is available (final design). To use, download the file listed below to an empty temporary folder on your hard drive, unzip the files, and double-click the file Setup.exe. The program has been revised (current version dated December 1, 2001) but not the installation files so once you have finished the installation, replace the executable with this file: WIN_APD.exe (376 kb) Please Note that when analyzing multiple designs, full-depth and/or overlay, some variables/computations appear not to reinitialize properly. This is overcome by restarting the program.
• Superpave Mix Design Letter (1/30/06 106kb) This is necessary when you develop both your typical sections and pavement design analysis. Be aware some sections of the state will require alternate base material (GAB and/or soil cement). Minor, bridge, and widening projects may utilize an asphaltic concrete base as an alternate also. For guidance, please consult the Pavement Design Manual (available on the R.O.A.D.S. website), specific project Soil Survey Summary, and/or the Pavement Branch at GDOT Office of Materials and Research.
• Standard Pavement Designs for Minor Projects Buddy Gratton's June 7 letter allows the use of standard pavement designs on minor projects given traffic volumes and soil support values. For projects that fit the designated parameters it is no longer necessary to submit pavement designs for approval to OMR.
• PFPR Soils Waiver (10/31/05 499 kb) Buddy Gratton's 10/24/05 letter allowing OMR to waive the PFPR requirement for an approved Soil Survey Report (one would still be needed later) on some projects.
• Design Guidance (388 kb) Frank Danchetz' letter of 1/7/03 providing guidance on lane widths, medians, rumble strips, and sidewalks.
• Culvert Note Memo (10/23/01 24kb) Paul Liles' letter pertaining to notes that should appear on plans for cast-in-place culverts. The function of these notes is to limit the minimum earth cover and to define the desired treatment of vertical construction joints in culvert barrels, thereby attempting to minimize concrete cracking that tends to occur with settlement of culverts. The treatment of minimum cover and construction joints is not presently addressed uniformly by GDOT specifications or culvert standard drawings.
• Future of HOV in Atlanta (20 kb) Darryl VanMeter's discussion points from the October 28, 2005 ASHE meeting Technical Presentation.