Iowa DOT using audible attenuators to increase short-term work zone awareness
Attenuators designed to warn drivers of crews ahead and take the crash impact if drivers do not slow down or move over
April 30, 2021 / 2 minute read
Image: Iowa DOT
The Iowa Department of Transportation is employing a number of safety practices including the use of audible attenuators on short-term, stationary, or slow-moving maintenance operations.
The attenuators are designed to warn drivers of crews ahead and take the impact of a crash if a driver does not slow down or move over for the crew.
An attenuator is a trailer that is pulled behind a truck equipped with flashing lights and signage signaling the presence of crews. If a driver does not appear to slow down or move over for the crew, the attenuator operator has the ability to turn on additional flashing lights that shine at a higher frequency. If a driver is still not responding to the extra lighting, the attenuator operator can then activ
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SPRUCING UP ROADSIDE MARKERS: Alan Clarke asks in an email for contact information to report “defaced or otherwise damaged N.M. roadside historic information markers. I’m not sure of their official name, but I’m talking of the big historic markers, usually with the big logs at each side. Some are quite shabby and are not repaired for months or sometimes a year or so. These are deserving of proper attention.”
The contact person is New Mexico Department of Transportation Traffic Operations Engineer Andrew Gallegos.
Gallegos says, “As part of the State Maintenance Bureau, I have volunteered our services to install new markers along NMDOT roadways which have been approved by the Cultural Properties Review Committee (CPRC) as well as attempting to maintain all the existing markers along NMDOT roadways. It is a difficult task in that there are several hundred markers and they are spread o