Annual report fiscal year 1977 [1977]

*** PROGRESS REPORT 1977

Serving more than 4.5 million Georgians and more than a million visitors annually, the Georgia Department of Transportation has a budget of more than $400 million and has the responsibility of planning and building a total transportation system for the state.
Created in 1916 as the State Highway Commission, which became the State Highway Department in 1919 , the agency became the Department of Transportation in 1972 as the result of statewide reorganization. Since that time it has continued to expand its outlook and meet the obligations its name implies by developing a statewide plan for all forms of moving goods and people.
Besides working on the 18,213 miles of roads on the State Highw Y System the department helps local governments maintain and improve the remaining 93 ,256 miles of off-system highway in the Jar .~est state east of the Mississippi River.
.It is a diverse department. Besides requiring expertise in civil engineering, related fields and administration, the DOT employs people with training and knowledge in such fields as history, real estate, archeology, chemistry, ecology, planning, computer technology and a host of other disciplines .
Seven district offices decentralize the workload , making it easier for the department to stay on top of any local situation which it might be called upon to respond to. These district offices are further divided into some 2.0~ fields residencies. At one time the DOT employed as many as 9,000 people, but as the energy crisis and the economic slump bit deeper into the department's
resources, this number dwindled to about some 7,200 people. Fortunately, this decrease was achieved by attrition. As
employees retired or resigned, the workload was assumed by those who remained. Another positive aspect of this arrangement was that the service level, already excellent, remained the same as department personnel took on more tasks with fewer people.
A highly visible department, the DOT affects everyone from the cradle to the grave. The slogan which says "Transportation - America's Lifelines" holds true for Georgia as
well. The DOT is acutely aware of this fact as it becomes increasingly involved in statewide planhing for public transportation, aviation, railway and waterway transportation.

In order to carry out its misston, the Georgia DOT, which is under the executive branch but isn't controlled by it, is divided into five staff functions and five line functions. Its policy is guided by a 10-member board, one member representing each congressional district. These members are elected to five-year terms by caucuses of state legislators representing these districts.
The day-to-day operations are guided by the commissioner, who now serves also as the state highway engineer, and by a deputy commissioner and an assistant state highway engineer.
This progress report, which covers Fiscal Years 1976 and the first half of 1977 (unless otherwise noted) will feature the highlights from each of the department's major divisions.
During Fiscal Year 1976, the DOT, under the guidance of the State Transportation Board, continued to evolve into a fullfledged transportation department.
The board approved a statewide airport plan established a set of multi-modal guidelines for the department. Also, the state's voters passed two significant amendments to the state constitution which allow the DOT to plan, support , supervise and operate railroad , air, water and public transportation systems.
To meet the challenge of reduced revenues, brought on by.the energy crisis and the economic slump, the board adopted a " low road" policy for the department, which meant only high priority projects which had funding available would begun until more money was available.
Despite economic shortfalls, the department was able to maintain the same level of service, due to the decrease of 12.1 per cent in operating expenses, while the payments to contractors were up 17 .I per cent for a total of$303 million. This amounted to two-thirds of the department's total capital outlay for Fiscal Year 1976 .
For the first time, personal services showed a decrease in cash outlay, Personnel continued to be reduced , and the DOT became more cost-effective.
By the beginning of Fiscal Year 1977 there was an upturn in motor fuel consumption. However, the increase remained insufficient when compared to the growth experienced in previous years. Therefore, the DOT continued to seek new revenue sources.

1

Improvements in the state's highway safety record

brought about by an aggressive improvements campaign placed

Georgia in the 25th spot nationally after being in the 48th place a

few years ago . One of those areas wa s the safety improvement at

railroad crossings. Overall, Georgia's roads were the safest in the

Southeast.

Progress on the interstates moved faster than

anticipated . Two stretches of interstate, one on 1-95 and the other

on 1-16, were opened to traffic several months ahead of schedule.

I-16 was named in honor of the late state highway director and

board chairman, Jim L. Gillis, by a General Assembly resolution.

Another section of Ga . 400 , the state's portion of the

Appalachian Development Highway, was approved by the

Appalachian Regional Commission during this period .

The Office of Air Transportation took on a new look as

it traded in older aircraft for newer models.

Carpooling, as a means of reducing congestion and

conserving fuel , received added emphasis as the department began

programs for state, Fulton County and Atlanta employees in the

Capitol Hill area . The program made it easier for those people to

learn about alternative means of commuting to work. A survey

In other areas, the department has had two winners in

early in the program showed that 60 per cent of the respondents the Federal Highway Administration's "The Highway and Its

were interested in some form of ride-sharing.

Environment" competition for three years in a row. lnt 1976 the

Testing of new methods and procedures continued with winners were Peachtree City's Aberdeen Village information and

the emphasis upon the practical applications for highway shopping center and Georgia Plaza in Atlanta's central business

research . Some test projects involved using rubber made from old district. The previous year, the state was honored with a second-

tires, the development of a polymer concrete and the recycling of place win in the multiple use of right of way category. In 1975,

asphalt.

there were also four honorable mentions.

Because the Planning and Programming and

Preconstruction sections of the department were able to get

One way the service level was maintained was the

projects off the drawing boards and ready to let to contract by installation of a 24-hour emergency operations center. This center

adhering to priority schedules the DOT was able to get back took hazard reports from the public and could dispatch

between 82 and 84 cents of every dollar it contributed to the department crews at any time of day . This proved particula rly

Federal Highway Trust Fund.

effective during heavy snows and rains.

2

PERSONNEL

In order to meet the personnel needs of this diverse department, the Office of Personel has many specialists whose

skills include training, equal employment opportunity, personnel management and organizational S{udies, among others.

Over the past 18 months covered by this report, the Office of Personnel has initiated several procdures which have

made the department more cost-effective. One major job accomplished during this time was the
reouction by the number of employees by 761, all of which was done by normal attrition.

This office prepared a comprehensive Affirmative Action Plan which was approved by the Federal Highway

Administration and by the commissioner on April 1, 1976.

This Affirmative Action Plan immediately drew praise from the Governor's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity

and Human Affairs and served as a model for other agencies in

developing their own plans. A policy was implemented whereby all vacancies within

the DOT are announced to current departmental employees. This

has resulted (I) more effective use of personnel (2) better career opportunities for employees and (3) assurance that the public

receives the best possible service by the selection of the

department's most qualified people for its key positions. As an adjunct to this task, the Personnel Office carefully

screened all promotions to insure that only well-qualified people

were promoted, based on their responsibilities. It also ascertained

that these duties were needed to enable the department to do its

work effectively. Another means of obtaining the optimum use of

manpower was through the widespread transfer of personnel so

that current employees were assigned to areas having adequate

workloads. The Personnel Office obtained a grant through the

Georgia Department of Labor's Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) which enabled the department to hire

people for roadway maintenance. Since these employees were paid in total by federal funds, the department was able to use its

state revenues for other transportation purposes .

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An overwhelmingly successful program established by this office was an Employees' Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Program. As a result of this effort, a number of employees have become productive and satisfied. Previously, these persons would probably have become liabilities to the state and its taxpa yers instead of valuable assets and well-trained public servants.
Of the total number of permanent employees appointed during the 12-month period from Nov. I, 1975 , through Oct. 31 , 1976, the department employed minority people to fill38 per cent of these positions. (Computations for the last quarter of calendar year 1976 were not completed as of publication date .) Thus the DOT surpassed its goal that 20 per cent of all new appointment s be filled by minority people.
A comprehensive Employee Safety and AccidentPrevention Program, aimed at reducing the number and severity of on-the-job accidents, has achieved its goal , resulting in a reduced accident rate and a savings to the department of thousands of dollars in man-hours and equipment damages.
4

ublic

elations

In an organization as diverse, complex and as publlcally oriented as the DOT, there must be an office which can communicate with Mr., Mrs. and Ms. Citizen so its policies and projects be understood and -hopefully- accepted. In an era when all government agencies are under attack and their motives suspect, this task is difficult. But this is the task of the Public Relations and Information Office.
One way this office communicates with the John Q. Publics is through the state's news media. Another way is through direct contact in exhibits, oersonal visits or letters.
Over the past 18 months, the Public Relations and Information Office wrote an average of two news releases a week that were sent to the state's newspapers, TV and radio station, and industry publications across the country. It served as a liaison for the TV medium in making new films of significant departmental
projects. One of the most effective uses of media promotions
conducted by this office was an Anti-Litter Campaign. As a result in the publicity given to a Litter Pick-Up day, more than 2,500 citizens and departmental employees cleaned up trash along 130 miles of the state's highways. News stories, editorials and personal appearances by the top management people talking about the litter problem generated considerable public interest.
Another way the public was informed about the department's activities was through open houses, exhibits and
fairs which the PR-PI office participated in. A portable display, designed by the staff &rtist, won two awards.
The office answered several hundred letters rangmg from school children's requests to inquiries about various departmental activities.
In order to keep departmental and other interested people informed about the DOT's activites, the PR-PI Office published a monthly news magazine - The TRANSLATOR. Originally called the Survey, the publication marked its tenth anniversary in April 1976. Due to the economic crunch, the personnel publication, the DASHES, was discontinued.
Other publications done by this office included five new or modified brochures which were used as handouts at hearings or exhibits. In addition to the office's pamphlets, the PR-PI staff assisted other offices in developing appropriate material, such as a safety brochure and accompanying posters developed for the department's safety coordinator. This brochure became a model for other state agencies.

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This office continued to publish a weekly collection of news clippings from around the state as a service to keep departmental managers informed about what the print media were writing on transportation and the DOT. It also prepared a number of TV public service spots promoting the 55 MPH speed limit.
As a service to the board members and other departmental leaders, the Public Relations Office prepared some 45 speeches for these officials to give at various functions. Also, a slide program showing the damage done to off-system roads was developed by this office and shown to the 1977 General Assembly, as was a 16mm movie showing the disadvantages of 14-foot-wide mobile homes on the highway.
Possibly the service most frequently used by the general public is the Daily Road Condition Report. People can call 6565267 at any time and learn about current road conditions around the state. During normal working hours this is the office phone. but during the after-hours a recording is used. In inclement weather, this has proven to be a very popular and beneficial servtce.

5

Systems Development
Formed to meet the DOT's need for an internal unit to handle the department's data processing matters, the Office of Systems Development develops computer programs and serves as a liaison with the Department of Administrative Services DOAS .
Major accomplishments of the Office of Systems Development (OSD) during Fiscal Year 1976 and 1977 were: (I) the preparation of three-year Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Plan for FY 77 , 78 and 79 , (2) the installation of a large flatbed plotter and (3) the installation of a minicomputer dedicated to DOT engineering services.
The EDP Plan for FY 77 , 78 and 79 was the culmination of several years effort by the OSD to encourage the DOT managers to anticipate their data processing needs and thereby assist the state's centralized processing agency, the DOAS , in providing the personnel and facilities to serve these needs. The EDP plan was recently updated to encompass FY 78 , 79 and 80 .
The addition of the XYNETICS flatbed plotter has significantly expanded the department's plotting capability. New uses continue to be developed as the equipment capability becomes better understood by the DOT's professional planners and design engineers. The older UCC drum plotter has been retained as additional capacity and backup. Also, the City of Atlanta's digitizing equipment has been temporarily installed in the DOT plotter facility. In total, this provides the DOT with a sophisticated plotting capability.
A new DOT-dedicated minicomputer, permitted by executive order, handles engineering data processing in a convenient and cost-effective manner through remote terminals in the various engineering offices. The DOT Minicomputer Center and its related data network are in full operation, and most engineering programs have been converted .
The emphasis during Fiscal Years 1976 and 1977 has continued to be toward improving efficiency, convenience and service while reducing the cost of operation.
6

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Called by some the creative center of the department the Division of Planning and Programming is one of the earliest steps in changing a transportation need into a reality. All transportation projects are processed or initiated by this division, and all those that are approved are programmed for construction in a statewide plan based on available funding.
Some major progress for the division includes an update of the Work Program to the year 1982, adoption of urban transportation plans for Athens and Gainesville, aid to the elderly and handicapped in Cherokee County, the beginning of a state rail plan and the completion of policy statements for all modes of transportation.
Created in April 1976, the Policy Planning Section has served as the staff for the department's policy Committee in researching and documenting policy in the areas of :
/-Compensatory time, work hours and overtime
2- Maternity leave 3- Promotional salary increases 4-Federa/ grants other than from U.S. DOT 5- Ride-sharing 6- Contract time limits 7- Skid resistance testing 8- Pilot assignments on state flights 9- Internal audits In addition this section has served as the staff for the Multi-Modal Task Force defining new DOT policy for public transportation, aviation, rail and waterway transportation. Planning Data Services' duties are to document the locations, length and characteristics of existing roads, measure the systems use, provide general maps and data on motor fuel consumption, tax receipts, vehicle registration and local road expenditures. The office has reduced the average age of the county maping program, extended its activities into other transportation modes and decentralized its road inventory activity. The average age of the department's total county mapping program has been reduced to about 2.8 years. The average age in 1974 was 4.7 years between updatings, and for the first time the program essentially complies with the 1973 transportation code. On-board transit surveys, for all the maJor public transportation systems in the state except MARTA, extended the section's systems usage activity into other modes. Decentralization of the road inventory activity into the seven district offices has enabled the DOT to be more cost effective in this area.
7

Besides having the Construction Work Program updated and approved through 1982, the Office of Programming under this division began a new task in the summer of 1975. This involved searching for non-gas-tax federal dollars that could be used for transportation. This was a special effort to coordinate with local governments, encouraging them to seek grants for these federal monies. Approximately $10 million was gained during Fiscal Year 1976, and the goal for 1977 was set at $12 million.

Transit on-board surveys conducted by this bureau provide a benchmark figure for total system patronage makeup. Every three to five years a more comprehensive survey is conducted which ascertains information on the socio-economic characteristics of transit riders.
A feasibility study for the Atlanta Downtown People Mover (ADPM) has been completed. This project would provide a secondary circulation system for the Atlanta central business

To get maximum use of these federal dollars , the commissioner promised engineering services to all local governments that are successful in receiving grants on a projectby-project basis.
Progress made by the Public Transportation Bureau involves a program for the elderly and handicapped in Cherokee County, a state rail plan, DOT policy statements for all modes of transportation, transit marketing, ride-sharing, rural transportation, Section V designation, a long-range transit plan, a transit data fact book, transit on-board surveys and the Atlanta Downtown People Mover Project.

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Designed to meet the transportation needs of the elderly

"" and handicapped people in the Cherokee County area,

HANDELTRANS represents the department's lead role in

planning and implementing such a program. A state and federal

grant has been awarded for the purchase of capital equipment, and

service is to inaugurated in the latter part of FY 1977.

Aimed at developing a rational and effective program

for the cooperative management of Georgia's rail resources, the

State Rail Plan assesses current conditions, delineates alternatives

and details a state action program for rail transportation.

As part of the Transportation Board's direction, the

Public Transportation Bureau developed a series of policy

statements on the department's postures on rural transportation,

district and will be a cooperative venture of city, state and federal governments, with the department assuming the responsibility for project development.
The Urban Systems Planning Section for Fiscal Year 1976 and the first half of FY 1977 had urban transportatio n plans adopted for Athens and Gainesville, It completed the reorganization or formulation of transportation citizen advisory committees in the five urbanized areas of Augusta , Albany, Columbus, Macon and Savannah. It initiated the Waycross-Ware Transportation Study.
Work continues toward the completio n of transportation plans for Brunswick, Dalton, Rome, Valdosta and Waycross. A comprehensive transportation study update is going on in the five urbanized areas of Albany, Augusta , Columbus, Macon and Savannah . The plan for each of these areas is expected to be completed during FY 1977 .
Certification review of the transportation planning process in all of the state's urbanizd areas was conducted a nd approved by the Georgia Division of the FHWA and UMTA (Urban Mass Transit Administration).
Resource base analysis studies for Valdosta a nd Chatham areas were completed . The draft resource studies for Augusta , Columbus and Albany have been finished, and those for Atlanta, Waycross, Macon and Brunswick have been initiated .

transit and rail. These policy statements define the role and the

committment of the department to each mode.

The DOT was awarded a federal grant to develop a

national marketing program using a local urban transit system as

a model. Work on this project has been completed, and the

program will be published and distributed nationwide.

A Rural Transportation Program, under Section 147 ,

will test the concept of a regional transportation system as

opposed to a fragmented system. The Department has assumed

the responsibility for technical assistance and administration of

this program in the 10-county Athens area .

Ride-sharing represents an attempt to address the urban

congestion problem in the Capitol Hill area. It is a computerized

system which systematically matches people who desire to ride in

carpool. The program is a demonstration model which will be

distributed to all urban areas.

Under the Section V designation, the department is the

recipient for monies from the Urban Mass Transportation Act.

This requires that the DOT closely monitor the section's programs

in areas under 200,000 population. The purpose ofthese programs

is to assist local areas in capital purchases and operating expenses. In order to be eligible for federal transportation grant

funds , the department must develop a data base, conduct analysis

and compile a long-range transit plan for each urbanized areas.

The Public Transportation Bureau has done this.

The Transit Data Fact Book, an annual comprehensive publication of the DOT, shows the fiscal and operational statistics

for each transit system.

8

Responsible for the design, location and right of way acquisition phases of any state transportation project the Division of Preconstruction conducts all those activities necessary to bring the project to the letting stage and takes up where long range planning leaves off and moves the project closer to the start of the construction. There are five offices under this division. The Office of Road and Airport Design, the Office of Urban Multi-Modal Design, the Office of Bridge and Structural Design, the Office of Location and the Office of Right of Way.
During the 18 months covered by this report the Office of Road and Airport Design let to contract during the fiscal year 1976, 305 projects totaling 2,123 miles for total cost of $182,978,723.88. During the first six months of the fiscal year 1977 this office let 155 projects for a total of 959.6 miles at a total cost of $69,667,345.39. This breaks down into 260 federal aid projects and 264 state aid projects for the 18 month period.
The Office of Urban and Multi-Modal Design during fiscal year 1976 let 41 projects at a total cost of $39,176,399 and for the first 6 months of the fiscall977 let 16 projects for a total of$24,04,368. For the first six months of fiscall977, it let 16 projects for a total of $24,034,365.
The major projects begun during the 1976 and 1977 period are I285 and I-20 west; I-285 eight Ianing; I-85 and I-75 downtown connector including the Brookwood interchange projects; I-85 Brookwood to Chamblee-Tucker; I-85 and to I-75 airport connector; I-85 south expressway from Cleveland Ave. to I285; Briarcliff Road widening; Moreland Avenue widening in Atlanta. In Savannah, it completed projects for the Harry Truman Parkway and the Derenne Avenue improvements from State Route 21 to I-95.
In Macon the I-16 ramp additions, Vineville Avenue widening and Shurling Drive widening were completed. In Augusta the Bobby Jones Expressway and the John C. Calhoun extention were finished. In Columbus the Spider Webb area improvement and I-185 and 13th street improvements and Columbus Manchester Highway State Route 85 were done.
9

The Office of Bridge and Structural Design noteworthy achievements were a completion of the last bridges required for Interstate 16 on the Macon Savannah Road in Candler and Bulloch Counties. The first in Georgia post tension prestressed co ncrete box structure bridge on 1-185 in Troup County was let to contract. Also let to contract were four bridges for 1-75 in Bartow county which were the la st bridges required to complete the original interstate system in the state. Dollar value for these and other bridges for fiscal year 1976 were 149 bridges at a cost of $49 ,661 , 129.61 . And for the first half of fiscal year 1977 ,52 bridges for $12 ,917 , 173 .84 were designed , bringing its total to 20 I bridges at $62,578 ,303.46.
The Office of Location has responsibility for location stud ies and preconstruction survey data. This data includes location survey, right of way, drainage and topographic survey. Engineering studies for photogrammetric products furnished by this office are used throughout the department in all phases of highway engineering.
Location Progress

Item

FY'76

FY'77

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During this period the Office of Right of Way continued to work toward some settlement on the 1-485 dilemma . The main function of the Office of Right of Way is to acquire land needed to construct and maintain all highways under the DOT jurisdiction. The office also keeps a complete record on deeds, easement, condemnation, contracts, title information and fiscal transactions related to the right-of-way acquisition.
10

Linen top ographic maps Centerline mapping Vertical contact prints Vertical photo exposures Contact prints printed Contact prints repro. Other Reproductions Control tra verses done

/93 53 .5 miles
18,088 10 ,291 7.149 8,5 44 7, 149 892 miles

Miles of LRvels

615 .5 miles

Number square miles for

Geodetic tra verses

67.6 mi. (vertical)

and LRvels

4 ,951 mi. (horizon tal)

Sq. miles Geodetic levels 4,951 miles horizontal

M onuments pla ced

299

Miles of Ph otog rammetric Cross sections Mile s of Phot og ram metric Sur veys d one Miles of Aerial Triangulation

104.9 miles 9.1 42 .9

75 22.8 miles
6 ,591 4 , /15
3 ,956 3.164 362 miles 204 miles
0 mi. (vertical) 1,721 mi. (horizontal) 1,72 1 miles horizontal
105
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From the Preconstruction Division we move on to the Division

of Construction.

This division is responsible for the construction of

transportation projects includes the Office Construction, the

Office Materials and Research, the Office of Contract

Administration, and has general administrative responsibility for

seven District Offices.

The Office of Construction is responsible for evaluating

construction operation needs and determining that construction is

done in accordance with plans and specifications. During fiscal

year 1976 this office let to contract to commercial contractors 374

projects totaling $224,565,000. For the first half of fiscal year 1977

it let 156 projects totaling $93,168,000. And for city/ county

contracts for fiscal year 1976, 657 projects were let totaling

$19,522,000. For the first half of fiscal year 1977, 380 projects were

let totaling $11,094,000. For state highway construction contracts

was

one for 1-16 completed in fiscal year 1976 totaling

$2,611 ,671. Completed in the first half in fiscal year 1977 was one

for $5,399,993. Under way on 1-16 were 11 projects totaling

$36,745,125. On 1-20 forfiscal year 1976 there were four projects

completed totaling $20,365,545. Completed during the first half of

fiscal year 1977 were five projects totaling $17,682,606 on 1-20.

Under way were nine projects on 1-20 at a total of$23 ,588,640. On

1-75, five projects were completed in 1976 for a total of

$21,362,545. Three projects on 1-75 completed in for the first half

of FY 1977. These totaled $9,800,000. On 1-85, four projects were

completed during fiscal year 1976 for a total of$9,767,919. Two

were completed in the first half of fiscal year of 1977 for a total of

$6,925,491. and five were under way during the first half of 1977

totaling $31,828,590. This figure includes onefor$13.5 million for

relocating 1-85 for the Atlanta Airport expansion and was

partially funded by the city of Atlanta. On 1-95, five projects were completed in fiscal year 1976 totaling

$21,217,453. Nine were completed in fiscal year 1977 at a cost of

$29.7 million. Ten were underway totaling 41.4 million dollars. 1-

185, there were no projects completed in fiscal year 1976 nor the

first half 1977, but there were eight underway for a total of

11

7th District Metro Atlanta

2nd District Tennille
6th District Cartersville
Materials & Tests Forest Park

$37,644,798. And on I-285 there were seven projects completed for the first half of 1977, totaling 7.9 million dollars. And there were five projects underway totaling 16.5 million dollars. Totals for this period during fiscal year 1976 were 19 projects at a cost of $75,325,133. and completed in first half in 1977 fiscal yearwere27 projects totaling $77,463,853. Under way for the first half of fiscal year 1977 were 64 projects totaling $243,422,971.

During this period there were two unusual projects underway.

One was for a reinforced earth retaining wall built in Brunswick in

Glynn County. Another project in Mcintosh County contained

provision for marsh protection. Bridge projects containing post-

tentioned box girders were placed under contract

for the

first time during fiscal year 1976 in Troup and Clayton counties.

The Office of Materials and Research is responsible for

administration, policy formulation and provision of technical

advice concerning quality control of construction materials,

technical engineering services, transportation related research and

automotive maintenance. Some highlights for this division are 76

thousand samples tested at the central and branch laboratories for

the fiscal year 1976 and for the first half of fiscal year 1977,26,731

samples were made. Total number of linear feet of engineering soil

and bridge foundations drilled were 80,142 feet for fiscal year 1976

and 52,053 feet for fiscal year 1977. Thirty thousand 862 tons of

structural steel were inspected for fiscal year 1976 and 10,842 tons

were inspected for the first half of fiscal year 1977. Ninety one

bridges were inspected for fiscal year 1976 and 35 for the first half

of 1977.

The Research and Development Bureau under Materials and

Research is assigned the task of initiating, developing, conducting

monitoring and managing new and existing research projects

along with continuing the efforts directed at technology transfer

research informatation product evaulation and testing of

pavement performance.

Some special noteworthy accomplishments for this section during this period include completion of a surface treatment study, a overlay for plain concrete pavement study, maintenance practices for Portland cement concrete pavement, a development of methods for evaluating fatigue and rutting characteristics of asphalt mixes; a pavement delineation study, a study for predicting moisture induced damage to asphaltic concrete, a study for evaluation of rubber asphalt rehabilitation of flexible pavements, recycling asphaltic concrete, skid resistant testing, a roughness measuring program, and in the calendar year 1976 the Systems Research Branch completed five research projects along with several special studies and assignments. This branch also initiated five research projects during the year with two others under development. One information project was also started.

Some specific accomplishments were the development of a transportation planning system, the development of a transportation planning land use model, a study of the impact of expanding transportation network on potential economic development location in the north Georgia area, development of a right-of-way cost model, a special rural arterial truck weight study the hydrology of small drainage areas in Georgia, evaluation of the over speed warning device on north bound I-75, 85 near North Avenue, freeway wrong way entry study, pavement evaluation and performance data systems, asphalt paving cost trends from 1971 through 1975 and a truck canal distribution survey on Georgia Interstate highways.

12

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The various actiVIties of the Research Information Branch involved technology transfer with research result' providing curent awarness and evaluating new products. These activities are carried out in many different ways: technology transfer and research information; a G DOT research news letter; a research program review, research coordinators informatation package.
and annotated bibilography of completed research projects highway, research information services and department libraries.
In order to carry out its workload the Georgia Department of Transportation is divided into seven districts, located in Gainesville, Tennille, Thomaston, Tifton, Jesup, Cartersville and Atlanta, These districts decentralized the Department's workload and have offices conventiently located around the state to carry out its mission of building a coordinate transportation system.
During the 18 month period covered by this report Gainesville completed several major projects among which were in the relocation of State Route 20, over the Southern Railroad in Gwinnett County; tow miles of Appalahian Development Highway, Ga. 400, in Forsyth County; completion of a one mile of concrete overlay on I-85 south of Hamilton Mill Road and in Gwinnett County three miles of asphaltic concrete overlay test sections on I-85.
This district saw the construction of bridges and approaches on State Route 2 and US 76 beginning at the Athens Bypass, resurfacing on I-85 beginning at State Route 317 and extending northeast. Resurfacing done by the district in 1976 and 1977 included 267 miles on state roads; 157 miles on county roads and 31 miles on city streets. During fiscal year 1976 maintenance operations completed 13.4 miles of slurry seals on the on-systems roads for a total of$61,715, completed 17.5 miles of chipped seal at a cost of $31,074, 18.5 miles of asphaltic concrete at a cost of $121,000 and 2.15 miles of traffic improvements at a cost of
$96,913. This same district saw 31.8 miles of leveling and resurfacing on the off-system roads for a total of $153,000, patching for three miles for total of$21 ,000 paving of 15,000 yards at a total cost of $24,000. On the on-system roads for fiscal year 1977 to February, 1977 there were 13 miles of slurry seals, 27 miles of chipped seal 1.6 miles of asphaltic concrete and 2,770 yards of traffic improvements.
District two, Tennille saw construction contracts in fiscal year 1976 total460 miles at a total cost of$14,418719 .43. During fiscal year 1977, the total miles were 322 at a total cost of $6,727,345.57 for the first half of the year.

The first section of the Albany by pass construction was completed at a cost of 12.3 million dollars. The Fourth Street over the Flint River at Albany was completed at a cost of$2.2 million and a new bridge over the Flint River at Bainbridge was let to contract at a cost of$3.3 million. Maintenance conducted 38 miles of sand asphalt resurfacing; 54 miles of chipped seal; 19 miles of spot patching and widening; two bridges.
The design section of the District completed the design work on 106 miles of roadway and completed survey work on 131 miles on roadway. Right-of-way acquired 112 parcels at a cost of $500,000.
In Jesup in fiscal year 1976 176 projects were let at a cost of 33.039 million dollars. During fiscal year 1977, 13 projects were completed at a cost of $44.2 million. This gives a total for the district of 289 projects at a total cost $73.3 million. Projects completed totaled 155 at a cost of $58.6 million.
In the fiscal year 77, three projects on interstates were opened for 25.8 miles: the total cost of$12 million. Seventy-four miles of roadway design work was done for fiscal year 76 and 32 miles was done for the first half of fiscal year 77.
Right of Way section for fiscal year 76 and 77 purchased land for nine projects which necessitated the acquisition of 185 parcels of land at a total cost of 899 thousand dollars.
Maintenance completed 96 miles of chipped seal and 835 linear feet of concrete bridges for fiscal year 1976. In 1977 it completed 153 linear feet of bridge widening, 32 miles of chipped seal; 12 miles of slurry seal; seven miles of plant mix resurfacing and 25 miles of interstate signing.
The Cartersville district, District Six, had let 23 projects for contract and right of way section had 53 condemnations and 55 driveways to handle.
District 7 Atlanta district completed 265 projects and it took on 84 new projects, surfaced 178 miles of state routes, 90 miles on
county roads, 50 miles on city streets, and plain asph2lt resurfacing or 2.6 miles.

In the Tifton District, during this period, 382 construction projects were completed which involved 996 miles of construction

and or reconstruction

totaling 68 million dollars. The

Districts provided construction supervision for the construction

projects fiscal year 1976 with the total cost equal to only eight per

cent of the contractors earning. During fiscal year 1976 the following work on highways was done by District Three, 13,000 tons of road way leveling work; 76 thousand square yards of slab jacking; 50 thousand acres of right of way mowing; 30 thousand

square yards of chemical control of grass; and 484 acres of

grassing.

In the Fourth District, Tifton, resident offices were reduced from 18 to eight with two sub offices, two additional counties were

added to the Fourth District giving it a total of 32 counties. Two

hundred fifty five projects were authorized for construction at a

cost of 32 million dollars and including in this was resurfacing of

323 miles of state routes at a cost of six million dollars.

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The Division of Operations has the broad responsibility for the maintenance and management of the state highway system. The primary duty of this Division is to insure that the system is operated or maintained at its highest possible level, which involves continuous re-evaluation of the system's condition, as well as improving the system to make it safer and more serviceable. In this Division are the offices of Maintenance, Utilities, Permits and Enforcement, Traffic and Safety and State Aid.
Preservation of the roads and bridges in the state are the responsibility of the Maintenance Office. During fiscal year 1976, this office resurfaced 699 miles of Georgia Highway Authority (General Obligation bonds) roads; had 423 miles done by maintenance contract; had 252 miles done by general funds and did 392 miles of federal resurfacing work.
It did 11,242 tons of premix spot patching, with 43,464 tons of leveling; 7,417 miles of blading and reshaping shoulders; 9,324 miles of ditching work; mowed 331,273 acres; used 142,918 manhours to cut trees and brush; 40,996 man-hours for chemical control of grass; grassed 1,851 acres of right-of-way; spent 527,985 man-hours for litter pick up; did 1,049,431 linear feet of ditching with a grader; repaired 166,533 signs; repaired 76,22llinearfeet of guard rails; did 20,440 linear feet of curb and rail repair; did 21 ,401 linear feet of structure painting and spent 142,996 man-hours on winter and emergency maintenance.
An agency that affects the lives and activities of almost everyone and must use right-of-way that is often occupied by the public utilities or railroads, must have an office to handle the arrangements among the agencies involved. This is the responsibility of the office of Utilities.
The Office Utilities develops and administers policies and regulations to conform with current highway and utility laws. This office also offers guidance to the Design Offices, Right-of-Way, Traffic and Safety, and the seven districts.
From July 1975 to December 1976 the Office of Utilities reviewed and processed 1,780 progress and final bills, processed 216 change orders and determinations; processed and reviewed 558 cost estimates; handled 558 force account agreements and received and processed 15,368 permits.
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The DOT's only enforcement unit, the Office of Permits and Enforcement has the responsibility of issuing permits for special vehicles such as oversized and overweight carriers. During the 18 months of this report, this Office issued 11,395 overdimensional citations; 6,076 overweight citations; issued 57,060 oversize/ overweight permits and 1,364 vehicle tag inspections. In additions two other significant things occurred during this time.
One was legislation which placed the DOT's enforcement personnel under the Peace Officers' Standards and Training Act. This requires certain standards for new personnel hired plus their successful completion of the Basic Mandate Police Course, which consists of 240 hours of training within their first year of employment. Although the current employees as of the enactment date were grandfathered under the Act, in order to further upgrade the Enfocement personnel, the DOT had these officers attend the course.
The second point concerned the Permanent Weigh Stations. The initial station to be completed was shifted from Lowndes County to Monroe County near Forsyth. The contract for the well has already been let and (as of this writing) the contract for the

grading and paving for the station was to be expected within a few months.
Responsible for administering the city/ county contract program, the Office of State Aid administered approximately 450 contracts covering county roads and 175 covering city street improvements as well as administering several other programs as designated by the Commissioner.
Traffic Engineering and Safety Office of this Division handles the traffic engineering management of roads and assures that existing and proposed roads are in compliance with the latest safety standards.
From July 1, 1976 through February 1977 this office processed 1,447 traffic engineering reports; 295 traffic signal permits; issued 2,304 right-of-way control permits; made 933 speed zone studies; analyzed 192.351 accident records; made 1,399 fatal accident investigations; made safety reviews of 25 design plans; investigated 366 high hazard locations; designed 48 TOPICS projects; completed 165 Rj R Crossing improvements; completed 11 ,840.15 miles of local system pavement markings and made or began six roadside obstacle location improvements.

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All DOT fiscal management, which includes accounting, purchasing, budgeting and auditing as well as the operation of Georgia's state-owned aircraft fleet, is under the Division of Administration and the Transportation Board's SecretaryTreasurer.
From July I, 1975 to December 31, 1976, the Department's total assets were $1,215,608,995.38 and its liabilities were $1 ,215,608,995.38.
A summary of expenditures for the 18 month period shows a total of $593,443,401.87 with Planning and Construction having the largest portion for a total of$433,989,566.88. Funds paid out for Maintenance and Betterments amounted to $95,110,993.69 and General Operations expended of $63,667,813.65.
DOT's Fiscal Year 1978 budget was $450.3 million and of this amount 58 per cent was for capital outlay, 21 percent for personal services and the remaining 21 per cent was for regular operating expense, grants to cities and counties, authority lease rentals and others. The sources of funds for FY '77 budget breakdown to 53 per cent from motor fuel tax funds, 32 per cent from federal funds, 10 per cent from state funds and the remainder from miscellaneous sources.
The Cost Accounting Section of the Office of General Support Services implemented a "roll-a-dex" file to post Monthly Usage Reports (DOT 497) to assure that all 497's are submitted on a timely basis; revised the Equipment Inventory and Cost Accounting programs and forms to give more useful information and current information; reduced the DOT 497 from a two-sided to a one-sided form; revised the Bulk Petroleum Manual and completed the audit of the bulk petroleum facilities.
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Expenditures
by Obiect

General Operations

Maintenance and
Betterments

Planning and Construction
July 1, 1975 to December 31, 1976
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Fiscal Year 1978 Budget

Capital Outlay 58%

Department Summary of Activities by Object of Expenditures

Department Su mmary of Activities by Fund Source

The Shop Coordination and Equipment Control Section revised the Shop Accounting System and prepared a new manual which allowed for a 50 per cent reduction of office and warehouse personnel; placed the last shop (Avondale) under the Shop Accounting System; began a test program on recapped tires and established more accurate salvage values for equipment being auctioned by inspecting the equipment before approval for surplus .
Some significant changes in the Property Control Section included a revision of the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) Telecommunications billing for the General Office; im proved coordination between DOAS and DOT for salvaging parts from equipment to keep similar equipment operating and update of the deed file and Real Property inventory.
The General Office Warehouse section decreased the numbers of items carried; decreased the back log of request and reduced the paper flow concerning equipment maintenance.
Several achievements made by the Budget Unit of the Office of General Support Services are (I) a computer generated monthly budget expenditure report, (2) a program and system analyses for a method of giving budgeting units the major portion of their perso nal services detail required in Zero Base and annual budgeting process and (3) performance evaluation measures have been established to determine how effectively and efficiently the DOT meets its goals and objectives.
Records Management disposed of 15 tons of scrap paper through the State's Paper Recycling Program. DOT continued to

be a leader in this program. This section redistributed some 50 drawer filing cabinets and other files throughout the Department resulting in a more efficient use of filing cabinets and the DOT didn't have to purchase any new filing equipment during Fiscal Year 1976 or the first half of FY ' 1977 .
Twenty-five Computer Output Microfilm (COM) projects were started resulting in an estimated saving of$9 ,000. annually. COM uses a mag print type to produce 105 mm piece of film and precludes the use of high speed printers to print out multi-page paper reports in two, three, four or five parts. For example, a multi-page report containing I ,000 pages can be produced at a cost of $7.00 per thousand pages or $7.30 per thousand pages for duplicate copies.
This section redesigned some 25 forms for more effective use within the department and retrieved approximately 600 projects and documents which had been transferred to the Record Center for storage. It also transferred 1200 closed projects to this center for storage unit they would be eligible for destruction.
Records Management transferred 1402 cubic feet of current file records to holding areas; 1045 cubic feet of records were transferred to the State Records Center; 101 cubic feet were transferred to the State Archives and 3,040 cubic feet were disposed in accordance with established guidelines.
The Procurement Unit of the Office of General Support Services maintains control of approximately $23 million in purchasing expenditures involving some 70,000 transactions. During this period, it began investigating a system for

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consolidating purchase orders to obtain quantity discounts and the standardization of certain commodities. This unit helped established increased control of Equipment Rental Agreements and all of this was done with a 20 per cent reduction in personnel.
The Air Transportation Office is another section of the Administrative Division. During the time of this report it traded for four new Cessna aircraft and flew 2885 hours for the last six months of fiscal year 1976 and the first six months of FY '77.
END
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This Progress Report was compiled and edited by the Public Relations and Information Office of the Georgia Department of Transportation.
William C. Bryant, Jr. Director of Public Relations and Information
William I. Allgood, Jr. Editor Cover design by William B. McGee- Artist Type Set by Denise Spence
Staff Jerry Stargel Car.~< Patrick Tricia Kilbourn
Copies may be obtained by writing The Georgia Department of Transportation 2 Capitol Square Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Attention: Public Information Office