Developing a Guide to Depicting Utility Facilities in Design Plans (2026)
Chapter: Front Matter
Developing a Guide to Depicting Utility Facilities in Design Plans
Roy Sturgill
Katherine Madson
Jennifer Shane
Kolade Arisekola
Jim Anspach
Iowa State University
Ames, IA
Drew Markewicz
NV5
Morristown, NJ
Kenny Franklin
Tim Haney
Shani Montes Victorio
Parsons
Indianapolis, IN
Conduct of Research Report for NCHRP Project 15-81
Submitted October 2025
NCHRP Web-Only Document 449
Developing a Guide to Depicting Utility Facilities in Design Plans
© 2026 by the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the graphical logo are trademarks of the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing state department of transportation (DOT) administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research.
Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 initiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques—the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). NCHRP is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of AASHTO and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), United States Department of Transportation.
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The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) grants permission to reproduce written material in this publication for classroom and non-commercial purposes subject to the rights of any third parties and appropriate attribution. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply NAS, TRB, AASHTO, APTA, FAA, FHWA, FTA, GHSA, or NHTSA endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. For other uses of the written material, users must request permission from the National Academies Press.
DISCLAIMER
This material is based upon work supported by the FHWA under Agreement No. 693JJ32350025. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed or implied in this document are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the FHWA; or the program sponsors.
The Transportation Research Board does not develop, issue, or publish standards or specifications. The Transportation Research Board manages applied research projects which provide the scientific foundation that may be used by Transportation Research Board sponsors, industry associations, or other organizations as the basis for revised practices, procedures, or specifications.
The Transportation Research Board, the National Academies, and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report.
The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This material has not been edited by TRB.
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The Transportation Research Board is one of four centers of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challenges. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 5,500 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state departments of transportation, federal agencies including component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation.
Learn more about the Transportation Research Board at www.TRB.org.
COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP WEB-ONLY DOCUMENT 449
Monique R. Evans, Director, Cooperative Research Programs
Waseem Dekelbab, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs, and Manager, National Cooperative Highway Research Program
David M. Jared, Senior Program Officer
Dajaih Bias-Johnson, Senior Program Assistant
Natalie Barnes, Director of Publications
Brian Haefs, Associate Director of Publications
Dominique Williams, Editor
Jennifer J. Weeks, Publishing Projects Manager
NCHRP PROJECT 15-81 PANEL
Field of Design – Area of General Design
Heath Bielefeldt, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Eau Claire, WI (Chair)
Baabak Ashuri, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Jose R. Febres, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Bowie, MD
Deborah L. Kukulich, Delaware Department of Transportation, Dover, DE
Tina Lucas, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA
Natalie S. Parks, Kimley-Horn Associates, Indianapolis, IN
Sarah Leigh Runyon, West Virginia Division of Highways, Charleston, WV
Julie A. Johnston, FHWA Liaison
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 3 – FINDINGS AND APPLICATIONS
CHAPTER 4 – CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTED RESEARCH
APPENDIX B – PRACTITIONER SURVEY FEEDBACK
APPENDIX C – PRACTITIONER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES
APPENDIX D—VALIDATION WORKSHOP AGENDA
NCHRP Web-Only Document 449 contains the conduct of research report for NCHRP Project 15-81 and accompanies NCHRP Research Report 1180: Depicting Utility Facilities in Design Plans: A Guide. Readers can read or purchase NCHRP Research Report 1180 on the National Academies Press website (nationalacademies.org/publications).
