Records Appraisal Report:
Texas Department of Transportation Archival Review Records Series

Contents of this report
Record Series Reviews

Internal links to series reviews
Calendars
Bryan District Laboratory Strategic Highway Research Program Records
Corpus Christi District Public Relations Records

April 23, 2012, Tonia J. Wood, Appraisal Archivist

Record Series Reviews

Records Series Review
Series Title: Calendars, 2009-2010, bulk 2010, 0.5 cubic ft.

Appraisal Decision:
Records reviewed are calendars for 2010, with 2009 calendars for two individuals, from staff at TXDOT, including the General Counsel, Government and Public Affairs director, Audit director, some division directors, most region service center directors, and district engineers for many districts. Calendars for the executive director, deputy executive director, assistant executive directors, or chief financial officer, and some division directors were not included with the materials received from TXDOT. I compared the calendars with the organizational chart from the 2011-2015 strategic plan to determine the positions held by individuals. I reviewed the calendars for content and determined those with mostly personal or staff leave information did not have archival value. I compared district engineer calendars for all four geographical areas, and found they contained similar types of meetings. Retaining a calendar from each geographical area with the most descriptive and substantive meeting information and the least personal information provides a window into district engineer activity across the state. I compared calendars for three of the four region service center directors and determined the North region calendar could serve as a representative sample as it had the most descriptive and substantive meeting information. Calendars do contain information which may be confidential under Texas Government Code 552.101 (common law privacy—medical information) or 552.117 (family information of public employees). Calendars of staff that reflect the activities of top agency officials, for whom calendars are lacking, are being appraised as archival. Calendars will need to continue being reviewed to confirm they contain substantive information. Because the agency underwent reorganization effective sometime between November 2011 and January 2012 and because different individuals use calendars in different manners, this appraisal of calendars cannot be applied across the board.

The calendars reviewed are listed below in two groups—those with archival value and those without.

2010 TXDOT calendars reviewed that have archival value (and one 2009 calendar):
General Counsel, Bob Jackson (mtgs with ExDir, Commr, etc.)
Government & Public Affairs, Coby Chase (mtgs with ExDir, US Congress, TX Leg, etc.)
Transportation Planning & Programming, Jim Randall (mainly b/c of ref to ExDir, Asst Ex Dir, etc.)
Aviation, David Fulton (and 2009) (mtgs with local officials, aviation legislation)
Region Service Center—North, Tim Powers (rep sample, mtgs with ExDir)
Yoakum District Engineer (South), Lonnie Gregorcyk (mtgs with local officials, TX Leg)
Beaumont District Engineer (East), Randy Redmond (mtgs with local officials, hurricane effects)
Childress District Engineer (West), Terry Keener
Fort Worth District Engineer (North), Maribel Chavez

2010 TXDOT calendars reviewed that do NOT have archival value (and one 2009 calendar):
Audit Office, Owen Whitworth
Traffic Operations, Carol T Rawson
Construction, Russell Lenz
Research & Technology Implementation, Rick Collins
Design, Mark Marek
General Services, Scott Burford
Public Transportation, Eric Gleason
Tech Services, Judy Skeen
Motor Carrier, Carol Davis
Region Service Center—West, Donna Hill
Region Service Center—South, Cathy Floyd
Amarillo District Engineer—West, Howard Holland
Lubbock DE—West, Dough Eichorst
Abilene DE—West, Lauren Garduno
Paris DE—North, Bobby Littlefield (and 2009)
Tyler DE North, Randy Hopmann
Wichita Falls DE North, Larry Tegtmeyer
Lufkin DE East, Dennis Cooley
Bryan DE East, Catherine Hejl

Previous accessions of General Counsel and Paris District Engineer calendars, 2003-2008 (2010/037 and 2010/068) have not been reviewed, but will be retained based on the retention of General Counsel 2010 calendars and the Paris District Engineer calendar serving as a representative sample.

Records Series Review
Series Title: Bryan District Laboratory Strategic Highway Research Program Records, 1990-2004, 0.4 cubic ft.

Agency Item # 46PAV03, 3 yr. retention

Strategic Highway Research Program and Long Term Pavement Performance records from the Bryan District Laboratory, dating 1990-2004, concern testing of pavement in the Bryan District, especially Brazos County (SHRP SPS-8 Brazos County FM 2223) as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s SHRP and LTPP project. Records include correspondence, test results, reports, forms, printed material from DataPave, guidelines, and a traffic control instruction manual. Topics include traffic control, maintenance, sampling, and changes at the test sites. Correspondents include contractors, TXDOT staff, the Federal Highway Administration, and researchers.

[SPS=Specific Pavement Studies].

Program Overview:
In 1987, the U.S. Congress authorized the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) - a five-year, applied research initiative - to develop and evaluate techniques and technologies to combat the deteriorating conditions of the nation's highways and to improve their performance, durability, safety, and efficiency.

Directed by a committee of top-level managers from state highway agencies, industry, and academia, SHRP operated as a unit of the National Research Council. The states paid for the program by contributing one-quarter of 1 percent of their federal-aid highway funds. Research, conducted under contract with private organizations and universities, was concentrated in four areas: Asphalt, Concrete and structures, Highway operations (maintenance and work-zone safety), and Pavement performance (long-term pavement performance study).

In addition to products and processes, part of the SHRP initiative involved a long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program. The LTPP program was a 20-year research project to monitor more than 2,000 test stations on asphalt and portland cement pavements throughout the United States and Canada to determine why some pavements perform better than others. LTPP was scheduled to end in 2007.

Appraisal Decision:
Most of the Bryan District Laboratory SHRP file submitted for archival review contains correspondence that relates to routine tests and notification of maintenance on project test sites in the Bryan District. Detailed information on each pavement test site is available online through the LTPP database maintained by federal contractors. Access is free with registration at http://www.ltpp-products.com/. The database includes the 1996 report to the FHWA on SPS-8 in Brazos County (online at http://www.ltpp-products.com/ReferenceDocuments/pavement/ltpp/cons/SR_TX_480800_Rep1.pdf). Since this was a federally managed project and documentation exists at the federal level, I appraise these SHRP records from the Bryan District Laboratory as not archival. Other SHRP records created and maintained by TXDOT may have archival value.

Records Series Review
Series Title: Corpus Christi District Public Relations Records, 9 cubic ft.

1.1.019 on the state RRS

Newspaper clippings, 2001-2008, 3 cubic ft.
Files consists entirely of clippings concerning a wide variety of transportation issues from newspapers in the Corpus Christi District, especially the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, mostly arranged chronologically by month for 2001-2008. Because there are no additional materials created by TXDOT within these files and the newspapers can easily be searched by date on paper, microfilm, or online, these do not have archival value. Two newspaper clippings subject files, for ports and ferries, date 1998-2007, bulk 1998-2001, also contain a few other documents from TXDOT and the Army Corps of Engineers. Since these two files contain compiled information on a narrow topic over time, these two files do have added value and can be retained.

Completed project files, about 1989-about 2007, 2 cubic ft.
These project files, arranged by project or special transportation type (bridge, ferry, port), contain clippings, press releases, design drawings, maps, public hearing information including presentations and agenda, correspondence, district project publications, printed material, etc. concerning specific TXDOT projects in the Corpus Christi District, including causeways, the Crosstown expressway, spur construction, and transportation enhancement. A few CD-RW disks are included. Documents on the disk may duplicate paper files. These completed project files provide evidence of interaction between TXDOT, local officials, and the public concerning significant transportation projects in the Corpus Christi District that affect citizens’ daily life. These subject files do have archival value.

Videotapes, about 1989-about 2004, 4 cubic ft.
Many VHS, 22 MiniDV, and one Beta video cassette tapes contain productions from TXDOT headquarters, locally generated raw video footage, and local newscasts of TXDOT projects. Headquarters productions include public service announcements (PSAs) for Don’t Mess with Texas litter campaigns, hurricane evacuation, and Ozone Action Days; programs on wildflowers and Spanish missions; coverage of transportation conferences; and video news releases on bats and crash avoidance, among other subjects. Raw footage includes interviews with John Kight, James Grayson, Pete Jones and others about past agency practices; public hearings; and footage of interchanges and sections of highways. Video from local newscasts shows TXDOT projects and concerns, including the effects of flooding and hurricanes on transportation. Significant individuals covered in the footage include Governor Rick Perry, Transportation Commissioners, and Rick Treviño singing on a PSA. These videotapes provide a visual record of the agency’s functions and programs and the state’s transportation system, and do have archival value. We have not received videotapes from TXDOT headquarters or other districts. If we receive higher quality video for programs produced at TXDOT headquarters, the VHS copies can be destroyed. There are multiple copies of some videotapes. At this point, keeping multiple copies improves the chance that the content will be preserved until we are able to transfer to another medium since videotape is not the best option for long-term storage.