Maintenance research 2005 -------------------- 3

IT conversion in county courthouses -------- 6

CTAMS Web goes online ------------------------- 7

Family Happenings --------------------------------- 8

Crossword Puzzle----------------------------------- 9

Driving in a winter wonderland ---------------- 12

INSIDE

From my viewMark F. Wandro, P.E., L.S.

PAGE 2 JANUARY 2005

My friend Brian O’Malley lives a life of adven-ture. Today he is a speaker who shares his experi-ences as a world traveler, mountain climber andformer police officer/fireman/EMT. It’s sobering tolearn that he’s been with more than 250 people in thefinal minute of their lives. An important insight,Brian says, is that none of those people’s last wordswere, “I wish I had spent more time in the office!”The last 60 seconds of life, is a time of stunninglyclear perspective.

Roger Mellott is a therapist and professionalspeaker who produced an excellent tape entitled “TheCourage to See Clearly.” In it, he explains that whenhis father was given 60 days to live because of aserious illness, his dad’s perspective changed dra-matically. He stopped doing things that he didn’tenjoy or feel were important and focused on makingthe most of what he thought were his final days.

Wouldn’t it be helpful, Roger suggests, if wecould gain the same window on the world as some-one with only 60 days left to live? Wouldn’t thatenable us to live fuller, richer and more honest lives?

These lessons from Brian and Roger aren’t aboutdying, they’re about living.

Combining these two concepts of the last 60seconds and the last 60 days creates what I call “60/60 Vision.” You can use this technique to see withclarity what is really important in your life.

In the final moments of your life, will you haveregrets, or will you celebrate the fact that while youwere alive you really lived? When it comes down toa few accomplishments that bring ultimate lifesignificance, what will they be for you?

If you lived life with 60/60 vision:

• Would your communication with others bemore honest?

• How would you approach your work?

• Who would you spend more time with?

• Who would you decide to spend less timewith (or no time at all)?

• What would you stop worrying about?

• What would you strive to be remembered for?

• What would you do each day to maximizeenjoyment?

• What contributions would you strive to make?

Then why not live your life that way now? Whywait for the final countdown? You and I may neverget to know when we’re living our final sixty—daysor seconds—and even if we do find out, it will betoo late to change very much. The only time is thepresent.

Copyright 2004, Sanborn & Associates, Inc.Reprinted with permission of Sanborn & Associates, Inc.http://www.marksanborn.com

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Looking at Life with 60/60 Vision

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 3

Maintenance research

Flow boy semi

A semi flow boy trailer will betested this season in Anamosa

to determine if the ability to haulmore material and allow longersnowplow runs will producebenefits in winter operations.Capacity for this trailer is ap-proximately 2,700 gallons ofliquid material and approximately15 tons of dry material. The truckwill be equipped with a plow andwing with the expectation that itwill be able to treat nearly 120lane miles at 250 pounds per lanemile. The unit will also have theability to prewet or anti-ice usinga test nozzle system.

Slush blade

Slush blades made of one-and-one-half-inch rubber will be

added behind the normal carbidesnow plow blade and tested for its

ability to clean the road in onepass, instead of making a secondround to clean the remaining slushthat the front plow missed. Thesystem being tested in Neola willallow the operator to use thecarbide or carbide and rubberblades, while the Boone applica-tion will be designed to run eachunit independently or operatethem together as a unit.

Hot plate snow gauge

An experimental device hasbeen placed at the Ames

garage by the National Center forAtmospheric Research (NCAR) tomeasure snowfall. Commoninstruments in use today havebeen unable to effectively measuresnowfall rates and amounts. Ifproven to be accurate, this devicemay be helpful in determiningapplication rates based on theamount of liquids falling onto theroadway. The Iowa site is thefirst in the nation to use thisinstrument in highway operationsand will be monitored this year byNCAR along with DOT personnel.

Taller carbidesnowplow blades

All current snowplow bladesare specified to have a five-

eighths inch carbide insert. Workwith alternate blades and investi-gation of European winteroperations determined that manyEuropean countries were usingthree-quarters to one-inch tallcarbide inserts in their operations.Testing in one garage in eachIowa district will determine if theextra expense to purchase bladeswith a taller carbide insert iswarranted for longer blade lifeand reduced operational costs.

MDSS (maintenancedecision supportsystem) – pooledfund study

As you may remember reading inINSIDE last year, three mainte-nance garages (Ames, DesMoines-north and Grimes) weredemonstration locations for amaintenance decision supportsystem (MDSS) developed by theNational Center for AtmosphericScience with funding by theFederal Highway Administration.After the conclusion of the federaldemonstration, the Iowa DOTjoined forces with five other states(Minnesota, Indiana, SouthDakota, North Dakota and

Maintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance research,continued on next page

As the old saying goes, “If you don’t like theweather in Iowa, stick around 10 minutes, it’llchange.” Helping to keep roadways safe inIowa’s changeable weather, the Office ofMaintenance, working with several employeecommittees, researches many new products andtechniques to assure Iowa maintenance crewsare the best equipped in the country.

PAGE 4 JANUARY 2005

Colorado) and a private forecast-ing firm to move the MDSSdemonstration project to moreusers and also make enhance-ments to the system.

MDSS is a computer systemthat combines advanced weatherforecasting with maintenanceoperational rules. The end resultis a product to assist decisionmakers fight a winter storm inthe most efficient and effectivemanner. Being able to predictwhen a storm is going to start,what deicing chemicals would bemost effective and what methods(plowing, anti-icing, sanding) touse in a storm can be a helpfulguide that can make operationsmore efficient and provide morecontinuity on the condition ofroadways throughout the state.

This system will combineweather forecasts, roadwayweather information system(RWIS) data, and past treatmenthistory to help the supervisordecide when to apply additionaldeicing chemicals and how muchto apply. This winter fourgarages (Ames, Spirit Lake,Spencer and Alton) will be testlocations for this effort, whilethe Des Moines-north andGrimes shops will be providingfeedback on the software andquality of the information.

Rock salt with higherrates of salt brine

Performance of rock saltapplied with a higher rate of

salt brine will be tested against atraditional prewetted rock saltapplication in Latimer. Perfor-mance will be monitored todetermine if higher rates ofliquid increase effectiveness ofthe material in removing snowand ice from the roadwaysurface.

Zero velocityspreader

Zero velocity spreaders havebeen purchased in the last two

years to more accurately controlthe placement of deicing materialson the roadway. A problemdeveloped with the spreaders lastyear when material tended tocollect at the top of the spreaderand clog the equipment. Thisyear’s research will involve testingvarious solutions to resolve thisissue.

The principle behind the zerovelocity spreader is that it willspread materials from the truck ata rearward speed that matches theforward speed of the truck. Thisresults in “zero-velocity” place-ment of the materials on theroadway surface. Zero velocityspreaders are being evaluated todetermine if the speed of plowingoperations can be increased to helpeliminate the differential in speedsbetween travelers and snowplowsthat often leads to rear-endcollisions with snowplows duringwinter storms. The system canalso keep more of the materials onthe roadway at higher speeds thantraditional spinners, which willmake deicing treatments moreeffective to remove the snow andice.

SafeLites

A product called SafeLites willbe tested to see if illuminated

thin film technology will provideincreased visibility to motoristsapproaching a snowplow truckfrom the rear. This technologywill be tested on a sign and mudflaps mounted on trucks atOsceola and Grimes.

Automatically storing anddownloading data gathered

from the sander, pre-wet and anti-ice flow meters is the emphasis oftesting in Boone this winter.

New technology allows datato be stored in the sander controlhead and automatically moved toa laptop computer as the truckpasses the garage after the run.The system uses wireless technol-ogy to allow data to automaticallymove from the truck to the garagecomputer.

Reports can then be preparedby users for after-storm analysis.

Wedge-shapedsalt brine tanks

Because of the late arrival of testequipment last year, these tanksare again being tested this winter.The wedge-shaped tanks in thetruck bed provide maximum

Maintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance research,continued from previous page

Maintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance research,continued on next page

Drive-by datadownload system

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 5

liquid and dry material capacityon one truck without additionalweight to the vehicle. The tanksare designed to fit in both sides ofthe truck bed and salt is carriedbetween the tanks. This allows thetruck to carry approximately 900-1,000 gallons of liquid and six-to-eight tons of dry material.

One location is also fillingpart of the wedge-shaped tankswith calcium chloride to deter-mine if it is more effective tocarry multiple liquids on the truckto help fight winter storms.Another test project is experi-menting with using these tanks inconjunction with an 1,800 gallonanti-ice trailer to provide another900-1,000 gallons of liquid.

Down-pressure plows

Several locations throughoutthe state have purchased

down-pressure plows that give theoperator control over the frontplow on the roadway surface. Thisadjustment will allow the operatorto increase the downward pressureof the plow when trying toremove snow and ice that mayhave bonded to the roadwaysurface, or reducing the pressureif plowing lighter snow or slush.It is expected that plowingoperation speeds could be in-creased if operators can adjust theplow pressure to the roadwayconditions, which will alsohopefully lead to fewer rear-endcollisions with snowplows.

Standing cornsnowfences

For years the Iowa DOT hastested many types of natural

snowfence. This year, testing willbe done to determine the mostefficient use of standing corn toreduce blowing and drifting onthe roadway.

New tests will examine how asnowdrift is formed in a stand ofcorn rows to determine how farthe corn rows should be locatedfrom the roadway for maximumprotection.

Guidelines in the past haverecommended that standing cornrows be placed a distance ofapproximately 210 feet from theedge of the road feet or 35 timesthe height of the stalks. Standingcorn fences typically store moresnow between the rows rather thandownwind of a traditionalsnowfence, which would meanthat the standing corn snowfencemay be more effective whenlocated closer to the roadway.This placement option mayencourage more landowners toparticipate in the program if theycan leave standing corn closer tothe roadway, rather than in themiddle of the field. ThePocahontas garage will be provid-ing measurements and photos ofdrifting at standing corn locations.

Maintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance researchMaintenance research,continued from previous page

Steer clear ofoffice gossip

One of the best ways tokeep your professionalreputation intact is to avoid

office gossip. Use these tips foravoiding mean-spirited and destruc-tive scuttlebutt:

Choose confidantes carefully.Having friends at work makes yourjob satisfying and enjoyable. Butkeep your opinions to yourself untilyou know which of your co-workerscan keep a confidence.

Avoid sharing personal problems.Project a positive, professionalattitude. Your chance of being thesubject of gossip will decrease if youkeep such things as domestic woes ormoney problems to yourself.

Give gossip a positive spin.When someone tells you a maliciousstory, try to restructure it. “I’m sureMarilyn was just trying to be help-ful.” Or “Tim’s an experiencedworker; I trust his judgment.” Suchstatements deflate gossip and create apositive image for co-workers.

- Adapted from “Beware of the Trap of OfficeGossip,” Carole Kanchier, The Star ofPhoenix and reprinted from CommunicationsBriefings, Dec. 2004.

PAGE 6 JANUARY 2005

IT conversionupdates countycourthouseconnections

IT conversionIT conversionIT conversionIT conversionIT conversion, continued on page 11

Members of the team tasked with this installationgathered for a celebratory pizza party. The groupincluded: (front row, from left ) Roger Workman, TimMortvedt, Mark James, Linda Torgeson, HeatherSheehan, Wendy Rehm, Brian Cottrell; (secondrow, from left) Marcus Ryan, Kathryn Scott, BarbWeigel, Deb Thompson, Nancy Goecke; (third row,from left) Bryce Feldhoff, Josh Greenfield, DennisMuggenberg, Roger Rohlf, Bob Schatzke, RichBaker, J.O. Berry.Information Technology Division employees

call it the SDLC to IP Project. Congratulationsto those of you who know what that means.For the rest of us, this project could be called,

“Updating 99 county courthouses with technology toenable the new vehicle system rewrite to revolution-ize Iowa’s vehicle registration and titling system.”

“In 1997 a redesign of the vehicle registrationsystem that has been in use by all of the countytreasurers to transact vehicle business since May1982 was initiated. This resulted in the need toupgrade the network infrastructure and technology toaccommodate the data transfer requirements of thenew system,” said Debra Shafer, motor vehiclesupport team manager.

“The technology that was being used for vehicleregistration was 22 years old,” said Mark Lumsden,application technology manager. “There was aconnection to the DOT’s mainframe from eachcourthouse for data transfer (SNA/SDLC), but thelink was very slow and couldn’t accommodate newertechnology and the new server-based Vehicle andTitling application that is being implemented.”

If you think about it in terms of pipes that carryliquid, the old connections to the courthouses wouldbe dainty drinking straws; the new ones, fire hoses.“Anymore it’s all about bandwidth,” said Lumsden.“How much data can be carried on the line and atwhat speed plays a major role in the response time ofthe business application.”

Planning for the project began two years agowith the motor vehicle support team visiting eachcourthouse and completing a questionnaire abouttheir existing technologies and network. Since eachcourthouse was different, Lumsden said 99 uniquesolutions had to be developed in terms of location ofcircuits and equipment, number of computers andprinters, etc… In addition, the state’s AutomatedWeather Observation System (AWOS) was throwninto the mix for 56 airports to have data linesupdated as well, because they were still using the oldSNA/SDLC technology, too. The process of switch-ing technologies, one site at a time, was tedious andtook about a year to complete.

During that year, several challenges faced theDOT’s IT employees. “Many of the counties havetheir own IT staff that we could work with, whichwas great,” said Lumsden. “Those that do not haveIT staff usually contract to the same service provider,so we developed quite a good relationship with them,too.”

Security was another issue. The DOT had to putsignificant security technology in place to protect thedata in our systems as well as the county courthousenetworks. A solution was found by Steve Mortvedt

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 7

Have data, will integrate

A sk any bridge designerwhere to find data on aspecific structure, andmore likely than not,

you’ll be directed to the Elec-tronic Records ManagementSystem (ERMS). Ask about crashstatistics on a certain roadway andyou might be directed to the dataSAVER application used by theOffice of Traffic and Safety.These are just a couple of ex-amples of the many databases theDOT maintains and the softwareused to analyze this data.

A need for integrating thisdata has developed over the pastseveral years as analysis ofinformation from the varioussources has become more andmore complex. As you’ve read inINSIDE over the past two years,the linear referencing system(LRS) has been developing and isnow beginning to be used tointegrate databases through the useof their location component.

As the LRS progressed, theDOT began to search for a front-end to tie together all the data-bases in a user-friendly applica-tion.

Steve Kadolph of the Re-search and Technology Bureauand Bill Schuman of the Informa-tion Technology Division headedup this effort on behalf of theagency. They found an applica-tion being developed in Oklahomaand have adapted it for Iowa use.“The interface is similar to theone in Oklahoma,” explainedKadolph. “We put the power ofthe LRS behind what Oklahomadeveloped and have worked with agroup of users from the DOT toidentify additional needed func-tionality in the interface. We spenta lot of time with employees tosee what data applications wereused most and how they could be

correlated to each other. We askedthe users and data providers whatinformation was most importantand asked them to prioritize thedata.”

The result is a new decisionsupport environment (DSE)application called CTAMS Webthat gives users a great deal ofcontrol over the data they want toview. Aerial images appearbehind the maps and, because ofthe LRS, a variety of differentlayers of data can be very accu-rately overlayed.

“If we use pavement data andthe current transportation programfor example,” said Schuman, “Wecan overlay the data along theroad and display it on maps to seeif a deteriorating pavement sectionis in the current program. Theinformation from the map canalso be viewed in a spreadsheetformat, and cut and pasted intomost Microsoft Windows-compli-ant software. Users can also get amile post location or a literaldescription of the pavementsections being viewed, or click ata point along any road on the mapto get additional pavement andlocation information.”

Adding layers of informationto the map to gain a perspective ofpavement conditions, bridge data,roadway inventory, GIMS (for-merly base record) data, crashlocations, and other informationwill be helpful to a large numberof DOT employees for a varietyof reasons.

Kadolph said, “The mainusers will be anyone who needs tosee integrated data displayedgraphically without a significantinvestment in their time. We hopethis will be an interface that amajority of people will use toview location-based data, that wasmuch more difficult to analyze

prior to the new interface. Wecurrently have the entire primarysystem in CTAMS Web.” Inaddition to integrating data, thesystem also provides a mapinterface to the Iowa DOT videolog system and to portions of theERMS. Schuman said, “It is nowpossible to access many sources ofinformation about Iowa’s roadsfrom one interface. BeforeCTAMS Web, multiple systemshad to be queried to find informa-tion about a single location; now asingle query can access data fromthese systems.”

Data integrationData integrationData integrationData integrationData integration,continued on page 8

This is the image you’ll see loggingon to CTAMS-Web at http://ntlrsapp/ctamsweb/.

This is an image of bridge data linkedfrom CTAMS-Web to bridge ERMS.

PAGE 8 JANUARY 2005

FamilyHappeningsDistrict 1Lori Morris

Kevin Hockett, constructiontechnician senior in Marshalltown,and his wife, Sandra Hockett,formerly of the Office of MotorCarrier Services, are the proudparents of Alexandra Lois Hockett.Baby Alexandra was born Oct. 17weighing 5 lbs. 12.5 ozs. and was18.5 inches long. Uncles are PaulHockett of the Office of Materialsand Norman Hockett, construc-tion technician supervisor inMarshalltown, who is currentlyserving in the military in theMiddle East.

MaterialsDawne Berner

Shane Fetters, materialstechnician 3, and his wife, Shan-non, are the proud parents ofDrake Edwards Fetters. BabyDrake was born Sept. 23 weighing8 lbs. 5 ozs. Congratulations to thefirst-time parents!

Thank youI want to thank everyone who donated time to me during my

recovery from surgery. It means so much to me and I am gratefulfor all your donations.

Barbara (Brown) WahlGrinnell garage

In MemoryJoe Riley

Larry Joseph Riley, 33, of Bedford died Monday, Nov. 15, athis home. Riley was an equipment operator in the Bedford shop.He was an active member of the Bedford Fire Department, BedfordAmbulance and Taylor County Reserves. He enjoyed the outdoors,including hunting, fishing, golf and softball.

Riley is survived by his children, Brooke and Brad of Clarinda;his wife, Dawn Riley, also of Clarinda; his parents, Lawrence andMary Riley of Maryville, Mo.; brothers, sisters, nieces, nephewsand other relatives and friends.

• James F. Fisher

James Franklin Fisher, 69, of Red Oak, died at his home Nov.26. Fisher retired from the DOT in 1996 as a materials fabricationinspector in the District 4 materials lab in Atlantic.

Fisher is survived by his wife, Cathryn “Katie” Fisher, twodaughters and their families, all of Lakeland, Fl.; two brothers,nieces, nephews, and many friends.

This release provides users an opportunity to begin developing afamiliarity with the application. Within the next few months the dataavailable in CTAMS Web will be upgraded with current business data.In the future, data will be upgraded as it becomes available from thecurrent business units.

Since the interface uses Internet Explorer and is Windows-based,Kadolph and Schuman hope most employees will be able to use themain functions without a great deal of training. The system will beavailable at just about any computer terminal with an intranet connec-tion and Internet Explorer. “The main functions should be prettyevident. We will have to train the power users who need more detailedelements of this powerful tool,” said Kadolph. “The application hasrobust online help, but we will start a train-the-trainer program inJanuary to educate users on some of the more complex workflows.”

In the future, a second project will be initiated to expand thecapabilities and add additional data to the application. This project isscheduled to begin in late spring of 2005. Please feel free to providesuggestions for future enhancements to CTAMS Web.

For more information on CTAMS Web or to provide input, pleasecontact Peggi Knight at 515-239-1530 or Steve Kadolph at 515-239-1677.

Data integrationData integrationData integrationData integrationData integration, continued from page 7

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 9

Winter weather crosswordACROSS

1 Automatic Weather Observa-tion System acronym

4 Usually forms first on bridgesand overpasses

7 Snow removal equipment10 Barrier between blowing snow

and roadway11 Where equipment is stored in

the field14 32 degrees Fahrenheit15 Roadway Weather Information

System acronym16 Professional weather fore-

caster19 Dangerous, unseen patches on

roadway20 Study and development of

new technology

DOWN2 Granular treatment for snow

and ice3 Small white crystals of

precipitation falling from thesky

5 Begins March 206 The part of the snowplow that

pushes snow8 DOT’s weather Web site9 The person who keeps the

equipment running10 Person in charge of a garage12 The temperature factored with

wind velocity13 DOT’s winter operations

administrator17 What operators use plows to

clear in a winter storm18 Liquid snow and ice treatment

Solution to December crossword

Having trouble with the solution to the January crossword? Go to DOTNET, find thepublications pulldown, click on INSIDE and then January 2005. Page 13 has your answer!

HINT

“There are 86,400 secondsin a day. It’s up to you todecide what to do withthem.” — Jim Valvano

PAGE 10 JANUARY 2005

PPPPPERSONNELERSONNELERSONNELERSONNELERSONNEL U U U U UPDPDPDPDPDAAAAATESTESTESTESTESInformation supplied by the Office of Employee Services for Oct. 22 to Nov. 19, 2004.

SSSSSERVICEERVICEERVICEERVICEERVICE A A A A AWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSInformation supplied by the Office of Employee Services for January 2005.

35 YearsNadine Kelley, Finance; Larry McGrane, New Hamptonconstruction; Kenneth Toomsen, Location and Environment;Neil Volmer, Modal Division and Planning and ProgrammingDivision.

30 YearsWarren Barcus, De Soto garage; Robert Schauf, Sigourneygarage.

25 YearsDanny Bailey, Davenport interstate garage; Gary Brunsvold,Hanlontown garage; Ralph Hansohn, Denison garage; AlanLohr, Design; Steven Menke, Dyersville garage; AllanOberbroeckling, Anamosa garage; Barbara Peterson,Information Technology Division; Dean Roberts, Pocahontasgarage.

20 YearsDavid Beary, Information Technology Division; DavidBrisbois, Neola garage; Coleen Brown, Ames maintenance;Dennis Christensen, Leon garage; Gwendolyn Hill, DriverServices; Dennis Kleen, Driver Services; Robert Malli,Waukon garage; Dennis McQueen, Soldier garage; JamesMoreland, Motor Vehicle Enforcement; William Nading,Design; Charles Pattee, Neola garage; Joe Schupanitz, Cedar

New HiresGregory Anderson, management analyst 1, DocumentServices; Larry Badgett, equipment operator senior, District4 paint crew; Cindy Baker, driver’s license clerk, DesMoines DL station; Robert Clark, mechanic, Ida Grovegarage; Martin Coughenour, equipment operator, Amesgarage; Tina Greenfield Huit, program planner 3,Maintenance; Shawn Hunter, equipment operator, Amesgarage; Eric Keiner, bridge inspector 1, Bridges andStructures; Eric Levins, planning aide 1, TransportationData; Rosemary Lucas, driver’s license clerk senior, DesMoines DL station; Jason Maahs, motor vehicle officer,Motor Vehicle Enforcement; Terry McCarl, motor vehicleofficer, Motor Vehicle Enforcement; Jason Mertz,management analyst 1, Document Services; ThomasMesserole, motor vehicle officer, Motor VehicleEnforcement; Ronald Schmidt, equipment operator, Sabulagarage; Kameron Shugar, motor vehicle officer, MotorVehicle Enforcement; Wayne Teslow, mechanic, Waukongarage; Craig Van Der Wilt, equipment operator, Newtoninterstate garage; Joshua Yeager, equipment operator,Newton interstate garage.

PromotionsMylon Card, from equipment operator senior to garageoperations assistant, Latimer garage; John Gardner, fromconstruction technician senior to construction techniciansupervisor, Chariton construction; Darwin Klenk, fromequipment operator to equipment operator senior, Malcominterstate garage; Robert Porter, from equipment operator togarage operations assistant, Burlington garage; Brian Smith,from construction technician to construction technician senior,Chariton construction.

TransfersDonna Buchwald, transportation engineer specialist, fromSpecifications to Local Systems; Dennis Kimsey, equipmentoperator from Ames garage to Altoona garage; Barney Thomsen,equipment operator, from Avoca interstate garage to Sigourneygarage.

RetirementsMorris Jackson, mechanic, Maintenance; Robert Olson,equipment operator, Sioux City-Hamilton garage.

Rapids garage; Alan Shields, Osceola garage; WayneStrovers, Right-of-Way; Cathleen Webber, Waterloo DLstation; Douglas Wedemeyer, Adair garage; Jay Williams,Transportation Data; Randall Williams, Avoca interstategarage.

15 YearsOlya Arjmand, Information Technology Division; BradleyAzeltine, Location and Environment; Christopher Boswell,Motor Vehicle Enforcement; Jeanne Fuller, Motor CarrierServices; Howard Lamb, Ames garage; Curtis Richardson,Design.

10 YearsRandy Crannell, Procurement and Distribution; StevenDeVoe, Perry garage; Steve Ehrich, Facilities Support; LanceEvans, Motor Vehicle Enforcement; Roger Parker,Information Technology Division; Deanna Smyth, District 1field staff; Kevin Steele, Motor Vehicle Enforcement.

5 YearsJeff Arbogast, Mount Pleasant garage; Rodney Ferguson,Driver Services; Kyle Hardie, Cherokee garage; FredMcClaran, Des Moines DL station; Susan McCullough,Transportation Data; Lisa Schwery, Council Bluffs DL station;Rick Taylor, Oskaloosa garage.

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 11

Service Area Correspondent Phone

District 1 ..................................................... Lori Morris, Ames .................................. 515-239-1635District 2 ..................................................... Pam Cox, Mason City ............................. 641-423-7584District 3 ..................................................... Mary Beth Banta, Sioux City ................. 712-276-1451District 4 ..................................................... Marlene Jensen, Atlantic ........................ 712-243-3355District 5 ..................................................... Brenda Hadley, Fairfield ........................ 641-472-6142District 6 ..................................................... Jeanne Heeren, Cedar Rapids ................ 319-364-0235Bridges and Structures ............................... Judy Whitney, Ames .............................. 515-239-1564Construction ............................................... Nancy McMenamin, Ames ..................... 515-239-1043Contracts ..................................................... Peg Muxfeldt, Ames ................................ 515-239-1422Design ......................................................... Judy Lensing, Ames ................................ 515-239-1469Director’s Staff Division ............................ Lynn Purcell, Ames ................................ 515-239-1730Driver Services ........................................... Melanie Mathes, Des Moines ................. 515-237-3153General Counsel ......................................... Sheri Anderson, Ames ............................ 515-239-1509Information Technology Division ............. Colette Simpson, Ames ........................... 515-233-7728Local Systems ............................................. Kathy LaRue, Ames ............................... 515-239-1081Location and Environment ......................... Jean Jesse, Ames ..................................... 515-239-1225Maintenance ............................................... Cindy Shipley, Ames .............................. 515-239-1824Materials .................................................... Dawne Berner, Ames .......................... 515-239-1919Modal andPlanning & Programming Divisions .... Mary Kay Reimers, Ames ................. 515-239-1661Motor Carrier Services ............................ Diann McMillen, Des Moines ........... 515-237-3250Motor Vehicle Enforcement ...................... Val Hunter, Des Moines ......................... 515-237-3218Operations and Finance Division ............... Janet Kout-Samson, Ames ..................... 515-239-1340Research and Technology Bureau ............. Phyllis Geer, Ames .................................. 515-239-1646Right-of-Way .............................................. Linda Kriegel, Ames ............................... 515-239-1135Traffic and Safety ....................................... Linda McBride, Ames ............................ 515-239-1557Vehicle Services ......................................... Thelma Huffman, Des Moines ............... 515-237-3182

INSIDE is developed to help keep all Iowa DOT employees informed aboutcritical issues affecting them, recognize DOT employees for their excellentservice, and share interesting aspects in the lives of our coworkers. For moreinformation, contact Tracey Bramble, Office of Media and Marketing Services,515-239-1314 or e-mail tracey.bramble@dot.iowa.gov.

Mark F. Wandro, Iowa DOT Director

Tracey Bramble, Office of Media and Marketing Services, EditorLynn Purcell, Office of Media and Marketing Services, Desktop Publisher

J. Cory Heintz, Office of Media and Marketing Services, PhotographerPrinting Staff, Office of Document Services, Printing

800 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50010 • 515-239-1372.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS ISSUE

On the cover:On the cover:On the cover:On the cover:On the cover: Sign Shop employees Clare Wilson and Peggy Phippsprepare signs for shipping to the field.

IT conversionIT conversionIT conversionIT conversionIT conversion, continued from page 6

and Linda Torgeson that would encrypt the data allthe way from the PC in the courthouse into ournetwork where the application servers are located.Lumsden said, “Security of the data was a toppriority for the DOT’s network people. The countyemployees were just as concerned that they haveaccess to their own network and ours using the samePCs. The solution the DOT (Steve and Linda)devised is so well thought-out that Nortel Networkshas asked them to share their experience with otherclients.”

Network circuit contracts were handled throughthe DOT communications group. “Heather Sheehanordered all the circuits for each site through theICN,” said Lumsden. “Since each installation wasunique, that was a huge undertaking.”

”The ICN played a big role in this project, asthey had the challenge of coordinating the installa-tion of many of these circuits with the many tele-communications companies in Iowa,” said RogerParker, IT communications manager.

To begin installation, IT staff concentrated onthe counties surrounding Ames. “We started in StoryCounty so we could work close to home for the firstinstallation,” explained Lumsden. “The processincluded installing T-1 lines to carry about 1.5megabytes of information per second to replace theanalog lines that carried a maximum of 9,600 bytesper second. We worked outward from the center of

the state until we finally reached the border coun-ties. With the AWOS sites included, we ended upwith about 170 conversions.”

Motor vehicle support team members, BryceFeldhoff and Barb Weigel, workstation support teamfield technicians, Roger Workman, Wendy Rehm,J.O. Berry, Carl Fenceroy, Rich Baker, and MarkJames, and planning/modal team members TimMortvedt and Josh Greenfield traveled to thecounties and removed the old network equipmentand installed the new equipment.

At $540 to $580 for each new connection, thecost of installation was significant. Kirsten Bandow,executive officer in IT, said the DOT paid a one-time charge of $56,415 for all installations.

The equipment installation is complete andnearly all the counties have converted to the newnetwork. Watch upcoming issues of INSIDE for anexplanation of the new application and how it willbenefit Iowans.

“Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a stateof mind. Nobody grows old by merely living anumber of years. People grow old by desertingtheir ideals. You are as young as your faith, asold as your doubts; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young asyour hope, as old as your despair.”— General Douglas MacArthur

Quote for the day

PAGE 12 JANUARY 2005

wWhat you do behind the wheel is the key to your personal safety

Driving in a winter wonderland

hether it’s drift busting through a foot of heavy, wetsnow or sliding sideways on sleet-covered streets, asIowans, we all have a picture in our minds of whatconstitutes dangerous winter driving. But what abouta light snow with a little wind, does that make youtake notice?

Because we face this challenge every year, weget accustomed to winter driving fairly quickly, andmight not take the light stuff as seriously as weshould, especially when the wind picks up andpavement temperatures are below freezing.

“This type of snow is a little like when a dancehall has sawdust on the floor to make it slick for thedancers,” said Scott Falb of the Office of DriverServices. “The snow becomes a barrier for thefriction that normally keeps the tires on the road andallows you to steer and brake effectively.”

Falb says new drivers need to be especiallycareful because it takes experience to correctly gaugeroad conditions. “But even with years of drivingexperience, the weather in Iowa changes so quickly,everyone needs to pay more attention to theirdriving.”

For those with four-wheel drive vehicles, winterdriving often becomes a challenge to see how muchthe vehicle can handle. “Four-wheel drive quicklyconverts to four-wheel slide on slick roads,” warnsFalb. “Four-wheel drive might be an advantage insnow deeper than several inches, but these higherprofile vehicles are often the first ones off the roadin windy conditions because they handle so muchdifferently.”

If you find yourself in a vehicle that has goneoff the road during a winter storm, Falb advises youto stay with your vehicle. “In this age of cell phonesit’s not necessary to get out and search for help. Itseems every year we have at least one person killedbecause he or she got out of the vehicle and was hitby another car sliding into the ditch.”

“It comes down to priorities,” said Falb. “Noth-ing is worth risking your life on a snowy highway.”

In any winter drivingscenario, you should alwaysfollow these guidelines:

• Always wear your seat belt.• Do not use your cruise control.• Keep a safe distance between you and

vehicles in front of you. If someone cuts infront of you, slow down and continue tomaintain appropriate spacing.

• Remember that your ability to steer may beimpacted by snow or ice on the roadway.

• Keep you eyes on the road, as blowing snowmay diminish visibility.

• Anti-lock brakes may help keep you fromskidding, but they won’t decrease yourstopping distance versus manual brakes.

• If the weather conditions are questionable,postpone your trip.

JANUARY 2005 PAGE 13

January crossword solution