136.13 Glossary

23 CFR: Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations is a collection (updated annually) of the general and permanent rules and regulations required to implement the provisions of federal law relating to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Highway Administration.

AADT: Annual Average Daily Traffic. (ADT, Average Daily Traffic, is also commonly used.)

AASHTO: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

ACHP: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

District Liaison Engineer discusses project requirements and the application process with local communities interested in Transportation Enhancement funds.

Agreement: The legal document between agencies necessary to administer projects.

Allocation: The reservation of federal funds to the local agencies each year.

AREMA: American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.

Authorization: Approval by FHWA to incur future costs relative to a project.

BRM: On-System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program.

BRO: Off-System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program.

Brooks Act: Consultant contracts for engineering and design related services financed with Federal-Aid highway funds must result from negotiations which utilize qualifications based selection procedures. Qualifications based procedures do not allow for price to be used as a factor in the selection process.

Categorical Exclusion (CE): Projects that are minor enough in nature that they will not require preparation of a formal environmental statement.

Change Order: A supplement to the contract that provides authority to pay for revisions in quantities or authorize changes to design features or specifications.

CMAQ: Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality

COE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Commission: Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission.

Competitive Bidding: Construction projects are required to be advertised and awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder through open competitive bidding, unless use of an eligible force account is more cost effective.

Construction Engineering (CE): Construction inspection engineering

Credit Bridge: Bridge constructed to BRO standards with local funds, 80% of the cost may be applied to a normal federally funded bridge project in lieu of the 20% local match.

Cultural Resources: A cultural resource is any archaeological site, building, structure (e.g., bridge), district, or object. A historically significant cultural resource is one that meets certain criteria and is included in, or eligible for inclusion on, the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and is termed a historic property or historic resource. Not all cultural resources are historically significant, but potential project impacts to all must be considered.

DBE: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise

Deficient Structure: A bridge which is either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Design Standards: Projects on the National Highway System (NHS) must be designed with AASHTO and/or FHWA approved standards. It is recommended that all projects follow AASHTO guidelines for design and construction.

DNR: Missouri Department of Natural Resources

DOI: U.S. Department of Interior

EEO: Equal Employment Opportunity

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency

FHWA: Federal Highway Administration

Force Account Work: Work that arises unexpectedly during the construction of a project. The work can be performed by a contractor, a subcontractor, or the local agency's forces and the cost is determined by keeping track of the labor forces, equipment, material, and associated costs used to complete the unexpected work.

Functionally Obsolete: A bridge is generally considered functionally obsolete if it is unable to properly accommodate traffic due to poor roadway alignment, waterway, insufficient width, waterway, low structural evaluation, or inadequate clearances. For a more detailed description of the specific criteria used to determine this item, refer to MoDOT's "Bridge Inspection Rating", or the appropriate FHWA publication.

FWS: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

HABS: Historic American Building Survey

HAER: Historic American Engineering Record

Hazardous Waste: Hazardous waste is a material that could cause harm to people or the environment; it can include solid materials, liquids, and gases. Some examples could be gas station releases, drums or containers of known or unknown material, tanks, old dumps, and e-waste. Any container with unknown contents should be considered hazardous until identified by a qualified person. If there is a question about what might be hazardous, contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Environmental Emergency Response Unit at 573-634-2436 for assistance with identification.

HBP: Highway Bridge Program.

Historic Resource: A historic resource is a cultural resource that meets at least one of the following criteria: a) it is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to our history; b) it is associated with significant persons in our past; c) it has high artistic value, is the work of a master craftsman, or embodies distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; or d) it can answer specific research questions and topics or can contribute to our current state of knowledge. Historic resources typically must be at least 50 years of age or older but exceptionally important resources can be less than 50 years old.

HUD: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Independent Assurance Test: A test performed independently of a job control test and according to the guide schedule.

In Kind Services: Donated labor, equipment, or material.

ISTEA: Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Six year Highway Act from October 1, 1991 to September 30, 1997.

Job Control Test: Routine test performed on the site by the local agency or its representative to assure that the project is constructed in compliance with the applicable specifications.

Low Water Bridge: A bridge having a waterway capacity design less than the 10 year frequency discharge.

Low Water Crossing: Waterway crossing other than a bridge where construction improvements have been made to produce a firm surface for vehicles to travel.

LPA: Local Public Agency a city, county, or civic organization sponsoring a federally funded transportation project.

MHTC: Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission

MoDOT: Missouri Department of Transportation

MOA: Memorandum of Agreement

Materials Certification: Statements provided by the contractor, fabricator, or manufacturer that certain materials comply with the requirements of the contract.

Missouri Standard Plans: Construction detail plans available from MoDOT which meet AASHTO design requirements.

Missouri Standard Specifications for Highway Construction: The directions, provisions and requirements for the performance of the work for the quantity, quality and proportion of materials.

MPO: Metropolitan Planning Organizations carry out the transportation planning process for communities with a population greater than 50,000.

MUTCD: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

NBI: National Bridge Inventory

NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act

NHPA: National Historic Preservation Act

Obligation Limitation: Limits the amount of federal funds that may be obligated during a certain time period (also called Obligation Authority and Contract Control).

Obligation of Funds: The formal commitment by FHWA to participate in a share of the project costs.

Off-System Routes: Routes that have a functional classification of rural local, local road or street, or a rural minor collector.

On-System Routes: Routes that have a functional classification of urban collector, rural major collector, rural or urban arterial, or an expressway.

PE: Preliminary Engineering. All engineering work performed by the local agency or their consultant prior to award of contract.

PS&E: Construction plans, specifications, and quantity estimates.

Posting: Establishment of a maximum weight limit for vehicles using the bridge.

Pro Rata Share: The legal federal share for a project established at the time of project approval. Pro rata share is typically expressed as a percentage of the total participating costs of the project.

Public Interest Finding: Cost effective justification that must be provided to MoDOT by a local agency that is seeking to do a federally funded project with its own forces.

Rehabilitation: Work required to eliminate the items that cause a bridge to be identified as deficient.

Reimbursement: Payment of federal funds to a local agency.

RFP: Request for Proposal

SAFETEA-LU: Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. Five year Highway Act from October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2009.

Section 106: Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 is the primary legislation that requires cultural resource investigations. Any project using federal funds or needing federal permits must comply with the Section 106 requirements . The Section 106 process consists of three primary stages, with the outcome of each stage determining whether the activities of the next stage are necessary (36 CFR Part 800).

Section 404/Wetlands: A project may involve activities in an area which contain wetlands or waters of the United States and may require a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is a violation of federal law to place fill in waters of the U.S. or wetlands without the necessary permits.

Section 4(f): Provides protection for public parks and recreation areas, wildlife and waterfowl refuges and significant historic sites on publicly owned land. It requires demonstrating that there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use of the property and that all possible planning has been done to minimize harm to the property.

Section 6(f) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund: A project that has potential involvement with parks or other public lands which may have been purchased or improved using funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

S.E.M.A.: The State Emergency Management Agency has responsibility for coordinating state agencies' response to disasters.

SHPO: State Historic Preservation Officer

Soft Match: Credit earned by counties who replace their deficient bridges with local funding. It can be used in lieu of the 20% local match on bridge projects.

Sponsor: The local government or public agency responsible for providing matching funds for the proposed project.

SRTS: Safe Routes to Schools

STIP: Statewide Transportation Improvement Program

STP: Surface Transportation Program

Structurally Deficient: A bridge is generally considered to be structurally deficient if it is in relatively poor condition, or has insufficient load carrying capacity for modern design loadings. The insufficient load capacity may be the result of the loads used in the original design or degradation of structural properties due to deterioration. For a more detailed description of the specific criteria used to determine this item, MoDOT's "Bridge Inspection Rating" or appropriate FHWA publications should be consulted.

Sufficiency Rating: A numerical rating of a bridge based on its structural adequacy, safety, serviceability, functional obsolescence and essentially for public use.

TEA21: Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Six year Highway Act from October 1, 1997 to September 30, 2003 with a one-year extension to September 30, 2004.

TIP: Transportation Improvement Program

Title 23 U.S.C.: Title 23 of the United States Code contains most of the laws governing the Federal-Aid Highway Program.

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture

USGS: United States Geological Survey

WBE: Women Business Enterprise. Term not in current usage. Definition of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise includes WBE's.

Work by Local Forces: Construction performed by the local agency's work force. If the local agency elects to perform work with its own forces, and/or use their own materials and equipment, MoDOT and FHWA must approve all work being done. The work by local forces must be in the public interest and shown to be cost effective. See EPG 136.3 Project Selection and Programming and EPG 136.9 Final Design for more detail.