8/17/2018

District 2 Innovation
Dollars saved by “piggybacking” contracts
Faced with soliciting bids for two projects along remote portions of the Lochsa River, District 2 structures and fleet manager Roy Hill decided to get creative with the bidding process for the benefit of taxpayers. He calls it piggybacking contracts.
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District 5 Innovation
Changing cart for snowplow blades makes for safer transitions
An innovative new plow blade-changing cart pioneered in District 5 but applicable statewide promises to offer relief for workers changing over to new blades during the late fall transition. Blades have to be changed on average after every 1,500-1,800 miles of use per vehicle.
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District 3 Innovation
Avalanche weather stations upgrades provide more reliable forecasting
Life in the rugged mountains of Central Idaho requires self-reliance, grit, and a healthy dose of ingenuity to solve tough problems. Thankfully, the Avalanche Crew in Lowman have those traits in spades – and they put them to work with a recent project to improve the way they do their job.
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District 5 Innovation
Portable, longer-lasting forms for foundation pours ease impacts to travelers
In the past, ITD has utilized wood forms to create foundations for signposts, but a recent innovation promises to minimize wasted materials, reduce the need for pouring forms in the field where weather conditions may not be favorable, and create forms that will last longer than the old wood ones.
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District 2 Innovation
D2 develops sign storage for the field
In District 2, one crew’s system for organizing signs in operations pickups has increased safety on the highway and conserved resources. Workers installed tubes in the bed of a truck to store signs. The sealed tubes protect signs from the weather and the less-clean contents in the back.
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District 4 Innovation
Equipment Identification Chart helps define inventory
A large majority of ITD employees work in, or have worked in, the maintenance/operation field. But some employees may not have had a great deal of exposure to the field, but are seeking to expand their skills by learning the responsibilities of other areas in the department.
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District 2 Innovation
New scissor lift cart may help prevent back injury
A new foot-operated scissor-lift cart is combating the potential for injury from ITD inspectors and lab technicians repeatedly bending and lifting to transfer asphalt samples from the back of pickups into the ovens in the lab. During peak production-paving season, there can be several samples per day from each job, with each weighing 80-100 lbs.
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Administration Innovation
Innovative project helps improve safety, reduce congestion by combining funds
The challenge facing ITD was a familiar one — How to make improvements to a highway route fast enough to keep up with growth and demand? They came up with a new solution: Identify and combine funding sources to generate money to make needed improvements as fast as possible.
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