June 2018 - No. 1
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Do you ever need a lifeline?
Reed Oien, Steele County Road Superintendent, recently called to review a road issue and closed with the nicest of comments. After a few words of guidance and encouragement, Reed said, "You guys are my lifeline." His compliment encompassed both the NDLTAP and NDDOT Local Government teams.

NDLTAP is proud to be part of the local roads lifeline network. In reality, that's our core function: to help local leaders. Our teaching and information outreach is meant to help leaders become better, to show how roadways can be safer, to show new technologies, to encourage innovation and much, much more.
Welcome aboard!

 Wayne Klein is the new Burleigh County road superintendent. Wayne shared that, "Gene's retirement provided an opportunity that I am excited to take on. I am thankful for the promotion and look forward to improving roadway services. We have a good crew that I am proud to be a part of. Wayne can be reached at wklein@nd.gov or (701) 204-7748
After a 27-year field trip out of state, John Saiki is glad to be back. As the new Morton County engineer, John is looking forward to learning the ropes and leading the roadcrew. After graduating from UND in 1984 with a civil engineering degree, John ventured to Kansas, workingfor the Kansas DOT and BNSF for 27 years. A bit over 3 years ago, he returned to North Dakota and joined SRF. The opportunity to become the Morton County engineer is a chance to share his vast construction and field experience. John's family roots at UND date back to 1929! John has 10 kids, ages 12 to 30 and they are his world. Please pass on congratulations and welcome him to the wonderful world of counties. John can be reached at his cell number, 701-391-7204, or at john.saiki@mortonnd.org . 
Back in December 2017, Mike Mortenson jumped into the highway superintendent position for Grant County. Mike has been with the county for more than nine years. Watch for more information in an upcoming newsletter. Contact Mike at (701) 425-9251.
NDDOT to submit grant proposal for local county and township bridge projects

NDDOT Director Tom Sorel and FHWA Division Administrator Wendall Meyer have set the stage to submit a $25 million Build grant to help fund local county and township bridge projects. The NDDOT has put together a powerful group from the Planning, Local Governme nt, and Bridge divisions along with UGPTI assistance to prepare the grant. The Bridge Division team prepared lists of bridges on the local network that fit the grant request criteria. The grant submittal will include load testing (i.e., bridges that are close to the 36-ton point for no posting requirement) and accelerated bridge replacements (i.e., 50’ to 150’ bridges that are poor and could be replaced via rapid techniques). Bryon Fuchs has received and impressive response of support letters from 22 counties that qualified. The grant is to be submitted July 18, with notification to be received near the end of the year. Load testing could be done in 2019 and construction in 2020- 2021.  Please pass on thanks to the NDDOT and keep your fingers crossed that the grant is approved!
EDC-5 Innovations (2019-2020)

The following 10 innovations will be advanced under the Federal Highway Administration's EDC-5 (Every Day Counts) initiative which FHWA is calling the "On-Ramp to Innovation:
  • Advanced geotechnical exploration methods
  • Collaborative Hydraulics: Advancing to the next generation of engineering (change)
  • Project bundling
  • Reducing rural roadway departures
  • Safe transportation for every pedestrian (STEP)
  • Unmanned aerial systems (UAS)
  • Use of crowdsourcing to advance operations
  • Value capture: capitalizing on the value created by transportation'virtual public involvement
  • weather-responsive management strategies

Read more about the EDC-5 Innovations .
Creating a strong safety culture

Chris Padilla, NDLTAP's training manager, writes a Safety Talk newsletter highlighting ways to enhance safety and health among your workers. Those Safety Talk newsletters provide the perfect launching pad for safety meeting topics. A strong safety culture is key to a "everyone home safe every day" target.

Want help running a tailgate safety talk? Chris has offered to provide onsite assistance. Contact him at (701) 328-9867 or chris.padilla@ndsu.edu .
Read Road Ready Research

Road Ready Research -- R3s -- are a new publication series from NDLTAP that highlights research that you can put to work on your roads in your county. We take research and help you see how it works in the field. The latest issue is on roadway reversion. Previous issues focused on pavement preservation terminology and crack seal best practices. Additional topics are being developed.
Walsh County Road Day and Open House is Aug. 1

At the January ND Road Superintendents/Engineers Conference we asked for volunteers to host a 2018 County Road Day. Walsh County jumped at the opportunity and Aug. 1, 2018, has been dubbed Walsh County Road Day. Sandy Baisch is leading NDLTAP efforts for this event. Her goal is to share a bit of the road crew's daily efforts that make Walsh County shine, to have the public better understand and appreciate their efforts, and to foster a desire for others to someday be a part of the road crew. Sharon Lipsh, Walsh County engineer, is leading efforts at the county level.
Save the date!

The TRB's International Conference on Low Volume Roads will be Sept. 15-18, 2019 in (relatively) nearby Kalispell, MT. Tentative dates for submission of papers and presentations for the conference is Aug. 25 - Nov. 30.
Feist hits the road

Gerard Feist, NDLTAP's new asphalt consultant is sharing his expertise with road workers across the state. This month he helped out the Minot City public works, street, and engineering crews. His expertise in the field is top notch and the feedback we've already received is fantastic. From road assessments to equipment operations, Gerard has a vast array of road-ready know-how. This week he will be helping out Watford City. Contact us at (701) 328-9855 or via email to request a site visit.
HIVE is on the loose!

Lamoure County got the chance to test out the new Hydraulics Vehicle Inspection Explorer (HIVE). Check out the HIVE-eye-view video clip . Last week, Andrew helped NDDOT members see how this inexpensive piece of technology can be used to inspect culverts. Field testing revealed some needed improvements. Andrew has taken what he learned and improved the tool and it's now ready to go! Contact Andrew to schedule a demo and to arrange to borrow this inspection tool.  
GRIT 2.0 is up and running!

Brad Wentz at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute recently announced that GRIT 2.0 is up and running! All your data has been converted and the link and username/password are the same as before.  For those of you that missed the webinar which explained the new changes, we have the webinar recording on the GRIT Home Page . Take a look at the video or jump right in as the updates seem to be pretty intuitive.

GRIT is the tool that helps you to Understand your roadway assets and planning roadway preservation and improvement projects.  
GRIT to interface
with LoadPass System

The GRIT Program, under the "Owner/Load Limits" tab shows the legal weight limits and spring weight limits for vehicles traveling on local roads. In an exciting development, LoadPass Permits (a permit system currently used by some ND counties for permitting big loads) is in phase 1 of developing an automated routing system. In phase 2, weights limits in the GRIT program will be interfaced with the LoadPass permit system. This will eliminate the need for county officials to enter roadway weight limit data in two separate programs. A savings to the counties in manpower, time and money.
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Learning lifeline

Sandy Baisch, NDLTAP administrative secretary and Jack of all trades, picked out a few recordings from the Transportation Learning Network that may provide the perfect learning lifeline. If you listen, remember to use the sign-in sheet and send it to Sandy to get Road Scholar credit. Call Sandy at (701) 328-9855 for assistance. Topics range from Asphalt maintenance to confrontation management and conflict resolution. See the entire list of Sandy's recommendations with links to full descriptions.
Learn to lead

NDLTAP circuit rider Leanna Emmer will be leading a new class this November based on the book You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader . Our pilot class will include a mix of operators, foreman and new road superintendents. If you are interested in learning how to be part of your team’s success, how to lead from any position, how to prepare for a future promotion or how to jump start your new leadership position, call Leanna at 701-220-4595 to reserve your spot in the class.
NDLTAP's Advisory Board

Speaking of lifelines, NDLTAP is guided by a boad of 13 talented and energetic transportation experts, representing a broad spectrum of the transportation industry. We hold two meetings per year. This photo is from our June meeting. From left to right are: Bryon Fuchs, NDDOT Local Government; Mark Verke, ND Insurance Reserve Fund; Clayton Schumacker, NDDOT Lab; Mike Grafsgaard, City of Devils Lake City Engineer; Denise Brown, NDLTAP; Al Heiser, Stark County Highway Superintendent; Kevin Fieldsend, Ramsey County Highway Superintendent; Sandy Baisch, NDLTAP; David Ferrell, FHWA Safety & Traffic Operations Engineer; Larry Syverson, ND Township Officers Association; Andrew Wrucke, NDLTAP; Tim Horner, NDLTAP; Mark Anderson, Director of Surface Transportation, Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Inc.; Leanna Emmer, NDLTAP; Mark Berg, Traffic Engineer, City of Bismarck; Dale Heglund, NDLTAP; and Chris Padilla, NDLTAP. Not shown: Matt Linneman, NDDOT Materials & Research; Wendall Meyer, Division Administrator, FHWA; Blake Crosby, ND League of Cities; and Genny Dienstmann, ND Association of Counties.
Advisory Board Member Spotlight:
Genny M. Dienstmann

Genny represents the ND Association of Counties on the NDLTAP Advisory Board. She is originally from Grant County. She has the human resources responsibilities for the Collaborative for Local Government and works closely with the ND Association of County Engineers and the ND Association of County Recorders. She achieved certification from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) as a Certified Association Executive (CAE) in 2005.

Genny said, "Since joining the NDLTAP advisory board in 2018, I am most proud and appreciative of the connections and networking, the synergies that we've developed. At the end of the day, our cumulative efforts are key to helping our road crews to move forward. It's all about making it real, to provide assistance and solutions for our local leaders."
Denise is back!

Thank goodness! In June, Denise was able to jump back into her work at NDLTAP. Her recovery continues to go well and she is looking and feeling better each day. She has her next appointment at the Mayo Clinic in August.

One of the many items that she is working on this summer is our Motor Grader Operator Training. We're excited to announce that the training is being retooled and is nearly ready for delivery. Gary Steiner, Burleigh County, and Russell Klimpel, Mountrail County, are the new blade instructors. Sheridan County will be the first county to tap into our new system. More information will be released soon. For more information or to get on the list for basic or advanced blade training, call Denise at (701) 328-9856.
Russel Klimpel, Mountrail County, and Gary Steiner, Burleigh County, will be the new blade instructors for our Motor Grader Operator Training. Watch for more information coming soon.Caption
Upcoming from NDLTAP

For a complete listing of NDLTAP training, go online to www.ndltap.org .  Upcoming special events: Walsh County Road Day, August 1; Truck Summits, Sept. 25 in Valley City and Sept. 27 in Manning. Watch for a new I-LEAD class this fall.  
When you need a lifeline, call on your NDLTAP team!

Safe Travels and have a wonderful Independence Day!
Our Mission

To foster safe, efficient, environmentally sound, and cost effective North Dakota highway, road, and street systems by exchanging transportation technology with North Dakota's local units of government and transportation community through training, technical assistance, and information services as part of the US FHWA's nationwide LTAP network.
Contact us @ NDLTAP 515 1/2 E Broadway, Ste 101, Bismarck ND 58501 -
(701) 328-9855 or ndltap@ugpti.org
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