New Mexico State Transportation Innovation Council-STIC Overview
State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) is dedicated to bringing innovations to NMDOT.
Working with our partners at the FHWA we are implementing cutting edge techniques and industry leading technologies to the department. The STIC’s focus is to bring innovations through programs like the EDC, Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) and Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) by coordinating efforts with figureheads and other ambassadors of transportation. These innovations and improvements will ensure that we provide a safe and efficient transportation system for the traveling public, while promoting economic development and preserving the environment of New Mexico. With these innovations, we will be able to continue to be an industry leader in the field of transportation while maintaining the safety, accountability, and integrity of our customers.
STIC Incentive Program Funding
In conjunction with FHWA and the New Mexico STIC, the STIC Incentive program is requesting proposals for innovative projects that need funding. The program has $100,000.00 available to assist innovative projects. Please keep in mind that eligible projects need the funding to be split with 80% Federal Share (limited to $100,000) and 20% non-federal share.
Your proposal should include the following:
- Description of the proposed work
- End product / Expected results
- Amount of STIC Incentive Funding requested
- Identify commitment of other funding
- Budget justification
- Project schedule
The attachment below provides an example proposal for your reference!
The proposals will be reviewed by the committee in July and if your proposal is accepted it will be submitted to FHWA in August.
If you would like more information about the program please select the link below for the FHWA STIC Incentive program webpage.
Highlights
2020 – STIC
E-Ticketing Technologies for Efficient Asphalt Ticket Collection and Quantity Calculation – Every year state departments of transportation (DOTs) collect thousands of paper tickets for delivering hot mix asphalt, warm mix asphalt, concrete, base course, embankment, and other construction materials. Collecting paper load tickets is an antiquated practice that exposes inspectors to substantial risk of death or personal injury by assigning them adjacent to traffic or moving or backing equipment. Under the current system, paper-based load tickets are taken back to the project office where they are summed and entered into an Excel spreadsheet for reporting and payment purposes. This research demonstrated and evaluated an e-Ticketing system on three pilot projects throughout New Mexico using two different software platforms. The e-Ticketing process was observed and documented during field visits, interviews, and surveys. When compared to a paper ticketing system, e-Ticketing was shown to have fewer opportunities for error, require fewer decision points, and provide significant time savings, thus demonstrating a higher level of efficiency.
2021 – STIC
SMART Pile – The goal and outcome of this research is to replace the handheld Saximeter device used to determine pile integrity and acceptance with a more efficient and smart technology that can both collect and record data more accurately and reduce the amount of personnel needed for the data collection operation. The project is currently under 90% Design. The Smart Technology equipment has been delivered and will be used on a practice/test run on the driven piles that are to be utilized for project CN 1100990 I-25 Williamsburg Broadway St. over I-25. Another practice run using the SMART Pile will be conducted on this group of piles in preparation for project CN 6100846.
2022- STIC
Implement Automated Bridge Inspection Practice UAV – The objective of this project is to initialize pilot study program to assess the practicality of the UAV for bridge inspection purposes in New Mexico State, which aims to conduct preparations from equipment and personnel perspectives:
- Step A: Determine the essential equipment to achieve the long-term research goal.
- Step B: Research in equipment selection.
- Step C: Testing of purchased equipment.
- Step D: Professional pilot training.
Implement Back-Calculation Algorithms to Analyze GPR Signals on NM Pavements – The objective is to develop a back-calculation algorithm to calculate both layer thickness and dielectric constants by minimizing the error between the calculated and measured GPR signals (only signals from 2 GHz air-coupled GPR antenna) using a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) based open-source software called, gprMax. As the proposed algorithm is expected to be more accurate than the RADAN based interpretation in determining pavement layer thickness, the amount of required pavement coring to determine an existing pavement thickness would be significantly reduced.
2023 – STIC
Robotic-enabled Automated Underwater Bridge Inspection – The research aims to develop a robotic-enabled underwater inspection system that will automate data collection to data processing stages. The proposed system allows for rapid data collection, high quality data, objective data interpretation, cost efficiency, low safety concerns, low labor cost, and easy repeatability. The system would provide a viable solution to the routine inspections of these overwater bridges and could also be applied to other underwater inspection applications, like dam inspections in New Mexico.
e-Ticketing Portal – As part of Everyday Counts 6 initiative from FHWA, this project will advance e-Ticketing beyond the pilot stage by developing an Agency Portal specifically designed to meet the DOT needs. Both transportation agencies and the private sector spend considerable resources producing, sorting, recording, and achieving paper tickets. Collecting paper tickets from hauling vehicles also exposes construction inspectors and contractor personnel to safety hazards in work zones. The end goal is to develop, test and institutionalize e-Ticketing over the next 2 years. The Department will have its own customized agency portal for field material deliveries. Small companies will be able to use our system if they don’t have the means or trained personnel to use other e-Ticketing vendors. This will be at no additional cost to them or the department. E-Ticketing will mitigate the challenges of paper tickets through a safer, faster, less resource intensive, more sustainable and streamlined process using digital technology.