Developing and deploying new and innovative computer applications and techniques to improve roadway design workflow is the primary objective for the technology deployment program of Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) of Federal Highway Administration. New developments in this area are vital to the ongoing growth and viability of current and future projects. Yet the ability to utilize standard tools in concurrence with new developments is vital for cost-effectiveness and overall impact. Ongoing roadwork on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana made the road an ideal case study location for the WFLHD. The rehabilitation of the Going-To-The-Sun Road poses unique challenges and a wide range of project issues: road rehabilitation, visitor use improvements, public information, information technology improvements, and transit systems. The WFLHD, in collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS), is responsible for the design and construction of road rehabilitation, and actively pursues technology deployment to improve technical efficiency and cost of these projects. This paper will present several examples of visualization techniques used in the Going-To-The-Sun Road case study, including current tools and new developments; and show that certain new visualization techniques are more aptly suited to communicate a variety of engineering design issues and context sensitive solutions to a broad spectrum of stakeholders, ranging from general public to technical experts. Some examples of technologies explored are real-time interactive models including the PDF 7.0 and 3D DWF formats; incorporation of CADD data into GIS-based presentation tools such as Google Earth; capture, processing and display of terrestrial-based LIDAR data; and more traditional tools such as photo-simulation and 3D rendering and animation. Results of these visualization techniques were documented and presented to design and engineering staff of WFLHD. Simple visualization techniques can be easily incorporated into design workflow to augment context-sensitive design; however, considerable technical expertise is needed to utilize complex visualization techniques, such as 3-D animated models. This can limit its incorporation into standard design workflow in the absence of a specialized visualization modeler on design staff. However, the overall consensus of the stakeholders was that some of the newer visualization tools clearly communicated technical aspects of the project better than traditional paper-based design plans.
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