As mentioned previously, each Region may be organized and structured differently based on their needs and priorities. 

Guardrail crews are responsible for coordinating the replacement and repair of guardrail and crash attenuators that are not associated with a construction project. Depending upon how the Region is organized guardrail crews may perform the actual replacement of guardrail or be responsible for overseeing contracts where third party maintenance contractors provided these services. It is also very common that the Guardrail crew works with the Maintenance stations to plan and coordinate the replacement/repair of guardrail with combined UDOT forces or utilize a contractor to perform the work.

Typical responsibilities of a Guardrail Crew include but are not limited to the following:

• Coordinate with the Region Contract Specialist along with Central Maintenance to ensure that contracts are in place to assist with the repair and replacement of guardrail.

• Perform annual inspections on current guardrail attenuators and ensure they are functioning properly and outline any areas that need to be addressed. Update the asset information within the Maintenance Management System

• Work with Project Managers to identify needs of guardrail to be included in current and future projects.

• Maintains a priority list of guardrail that is substandard and needs to be addressed, this list is to be coordinated with the Station and Area Supervisors and included in the 3 year plan or Regions priority plan.

• Provide assistance to Maintenance stations with training on repair and or replacing guardrail along with attenuation.

• Ensure resources are available to perform the identified work plan for the Region.

• Review project and permit plans to ensure permit contractors are using and installing the correct type of guardrail according to UDOT Standards.

• Maintenance of existing guardrail. 

• Replace damaged guardrail/attenuation involved in crashes with their crew or coordination with approved contractors/vendors.

• Help with inspections of guardrail on new projects when called upon (final walkthrough).

• The goal of the Attenuator Repair Crew is to repair damaged attenuators throughout the state of Utah.  The Roles and Responsibilities of the Attenuator Repair Crew can be found in the following manual:  Attenuator Repair Crew Manual 

The Goal for the UDOT Landscape & Vegetation Crew is to maintain desirable roadside vegetation in such a manner to ensure highway safety, by maintaining unobstructed clear zones with proper sight distances, roadside sign visibility, plant health, aesthetics, and erosion control.  Some of the tasks they perform to meet this goal is:

• Chemical and mechanical weed control

• Mowing

• Tree removal (hazard) 

• Seeding

• Erosion control

• Irrigation maintenance

Other tasks the Landscape and Vegetation Crews are charged with is managing, training, and answering fielding questions from the maintenance stations concerning roadside landscape/vegetation issues, herbicide purchases through UDOT contracts, maintenance of Spray and other landscape vegetation equipment.  Some Regions may also have the Landscape and Vegetation Crew Supervisor manage their contracts related to any type of R.O.W. landscape maintenance, mowing, tree trimming and removal.

The goal for paving crews is to provide a pavement treatment plan to help maintain and preserve UDOT’s pavement. The paving crews coordinate with the Region Pavement Engineer to develop a region wide plan of where and when the paving crews will address pavement needs. Through coordination they will identify the locations, the pavement design or other pavement treatments to be used, the limits and depth of the paving operations along with the need for material testing. They will coordinate with the District Engineers and Maintenance Analyst to ensure they have the appropriate budget for the identified pavement needs. Paving Crews can be stand alone crews or assembled from members of various stations who possess the skill set needed to operate the machinery and equipment. 

The coordination meetings between the Pavement Engineer and the Paving Crews should identify the overall goal for each segment of the State Routes within their region. This includes going over future construction projects along potential capacity or chokepoint projects that will add capacity or surface mileage to the region. It is important to capture these changes or modifications as they will require additional funding to maintain.

Once the pavement plan is set for the year the Station supervisors coordinate with the Traffic Engineers to verify the hours of operation for each paving operation. The station supervisor also ensures that all the necessary resources are available and function correctly (equipment, materials, labor). Coordination with the region contract analyst to verify contracts are in place and up to date along with identification of the scope of each project and if any what roles contractor or suppliers will be assisting with, i.e; hauling material, providing operators or equipment, the amount of material that has been ordered is sufficient for the project, verification of materials and placement to ensure UDOT specifications have been met.

It is also very important that Maintenance forces understand the Maintenance Bid limit that is updated on an annual basis. The Maintenance bid limit establishes the threshold for which UDOT Maintenance forces may self perform work. Maintenance forces may not perform work which is estimated to be above this threshold and must contract this work out, there are exceptions so please check with Central Maintenance if you have a project that is approaching the bid limit. The threshold for UDOT Self Performing work is established by Utah Code 72-6-107(2) (b). It is also important to note that this limit only applies to labor and materials and not the cost of equipment, Utah Code 72-6-109. If you have questions regarding the current limit please check the link provided below or contact Central Maintenance as they update the Maintenance Bid limit every year (see more info on the Maintenance Bid Limit in Chapter 9.2).

The goal for chip seal crews is to provide a proactive, preventive pavement treatment plan to help maintain and preserve UDOT’s roadways between pavement reconstructions or rehabilitations.  Chip seal crews coordinate with the region pavement engineer to develop a region wide plan for which sections of roadway are to receive chipping or paving treatments that are to be addressed by maintenance forces. 

In the southern part of the State, they average about a 10-year cycle between chip seals. 

Below is an example of how Region 4 performs their function as a Chipping Crew, be advised that other regions may vary.

The chip seal crews have skilled operators for the chip box, asphalt emulsion distributor, dump trucks, rubber-tired rollers, and side cast brooms.  Here is a typical chip seal process:

• Starts with having the maintenance crew crack seal the planned road for the scheduled chip seal project area in advance (typically 1 year prior to chip seal).

• The chip seal crew supervisor works with the station supervisor to verify traffic control is coordinated and approved through UDOT traffic engineer and set up to UDOT standards, along with having flaggers scheduled for the project (if required).

• The chip seal crew supervisor works with the UDOT region contract specialist and station supervisor in procuring and verifying the “chips” and “emulsion” quantities are sufficient for the project.  Also, works with the paint crew supervisor in scheduling time to re-stripe the road after the completion of the chip seal project and coordinates the equipment and operator needs.

• The chip seal crew prepares by tabbing the existing paint lines to aid in delineation before emulsion is applied. 

• The area being chipped is sprayed with an asphalt emulsion and followed up with a layer of chips, then rolled into the emulsion at 75% embedment.  After the asphalt emulsion and chips have had time to bond, the road surface is broomed to remove excess chips.  

• After the operation of chipping is complete a flush coat is spayed within 48 hours to help lock down the chips and absorb excess asphalt emulsion. 

• Notification given to the paint crew supervisor the chip seal project is complete and the road is ready to re-stripe. 

All this work is completed while providing oversight and verifying the project stays within budget.

The goal for the paint crews is to maintain the roadway pavement markings and messages on UDOT roads for the safety of the traveling public. Particular UDOT regions have their own paint crews that perform the roadway pavement striping and messages, while other regions contract out the work and manage and oversee the work.  The Paint Crew Supervisor works with UDOT traffic engineers, station & area supervisors, district engineers etc. in creating/sharing a prioritized plan for roadway striping.  Here are some of the tasks the paint crews perform:

• Consult the Striping Selection Logic diagram and the  Pavement Marking Matrix when making striping installation decisions: 

  • 03112025_StripingSelectionLogicV2.pdf 

  • Copy of CurrentPavementMarkingMatrix.pdf

• Material orders and managing inventory of paint, glass beads, thermoplastic pavement messages etc...  

• Roadway pavement striping.

• Roadway messages.

• Oversight of Pavement Markings warranty to ensure performance and re-application if necessary - coordination with Central Maintenance 

• Parking lot striping and messages.

• Thermoplastic messages (through state contracts).

• Striping and message removal (through state contracts).

• Paint crew address the graffiti calls for their region.  

  • Their Goal for removing graffiti if it is racial, vulgar or gang related is to mobilize and remove as fast as reasonably possible. 

With the onset of autonomous vehicles, pavement markings are becoming more critical to the safety of the transportation system.   Paint Crew Supervisors are coordinating with Central Maintenance, Traffic and Safety, and the Research division to develop new material and strategies to ensure longer lasting and high performing pavement marking materials. 

At one time UDOT had a designated blasting crew, however at this time they have been absorbed into the Region 4 Maintenance crews and are called upon when there is a need for blasting. Here are the two most typical blasting scenarios that UDOT’s blasting crew faces:

• Dealing with rock falls that are too big to handle with equipment.

• Need to widen cut slopes to provide safer recovery areas, better visibility or make more room for snow storage.

UDOT holds training/certification classes every 2 years for their certified blasters. They review the process for storing, handling, transporting, and using explosives and have a day in the field to practice “hands on” with loading, connecting, and the initiation processes of blasting. 

UDOT has designated Maintenance Stations for storage areas for blasting material. With these designated areas, the certified blaster/blaster in charge will do weekly checks on the magazines to verify they are locked and not tampered with. They also review the detailed inventory sheet and order material when needed. 

These processes are in place to help ensure the blasting crew is ready to respond when needed and is well trained and safe when called upon for a blasting procedure. Note: The blasting crew can provide support to other UDOT Regions when needed.

The avalanche crew differs from other speciality crews in the fact that they are not part of the Transportation Technician program.  All the avalanche crew members have specialized training and have been hired to focus on managing the threat of avalanches in Utah’s canyons that can impact state routes.

The Avalanche crew is structured in a matrix organization where the crew is led by a UDOT Avalanche program manager but this central program manages the statewide efforts for avalanche detection, and prevention.  See below for the current organization structure for the Avalanche crews (See Figure 10.2.1)

The Land and Building Facility crews are tasked with managing, and overseeing the condition of UDOT owned facilities which include administration, maintenance, and construction facilities. Activities performed by the Lands and Buildings crews are electrical, plumbing, HVAC, lighting, carpentry, sheetrock, mud, taping, painting, Office furniture installation/repair, roofing, flooring, brine shed repairs at Maintenance Stations etc.  Other tasks they manage and oversee are: 

• Performing Maintenance Audits on all facilities owned by UDOT to develop a preventive maintenance plan that can be used for identifying Capital improvement needs.

• Managing the Buildings ground maintenance needs i.e., sprinkler system, snow removal etc.

• Oversee the approved Subcontractors on larger building projects needs to make sure the jobs assigned to them are being performed and quality service is being provided.    

• Oversee the Capital Improvement projects for their UDOT Region while working with Central Maintenance in iIdentifying and submitting project needs every year for Capital Improvement funding requests.   

• Work with Region leadership, station supervisors and construction crews to make sure all their building needs are being met and also work with state procurement when needed to help set up contracts to meet the needs of the Regions. 

The land and building/facility crew works to ensure all the buildings and assets are maintained and in good, safe working order.

Some of the UDOT Regions have their own signal crew, while others rely on help from the signal crew dispatched out of the UDOT Traffic Operation Center.  UDOT's goal for the signal crew is to maintain UDOT’s signal infrastructure and assist in the operations and maintenance of a world class system.  Here are some of the preventative maintenance tasks performed on the signal hardware at each intersection by the signal crew: 

• Inspection and cleaning the signal cabinet inside and out, which includes checking and tightening all the screws inside and replacing the air filters.

• Verify to see if the switches, thermostat, and fans are all working.

• Verify vehicle detection and pedestrian buttons are all functional.

• Remove signs and graffiti from the cabinet and poles.

• Verify all vehicle and pedestrian indications are working.

• Test the malfunction management unit (MMU) each year to ensure public safety while using the intersection.

• Signal crew also turns on and inspects each new or rebuilt traffic signal. 

• Signal crew has a group replacement plan to minimize burnt out lights at intersections with a goal to replace them before they have a chance to go out. 

• Signal crews look for ways to improve how signals operate i.e., installation of heat tape to keep snow from building up in signal heads during snowstorms is one example.

• Signal crews receive and close out work orders generated from the TOC for problems that have been reported.

• During a power outage when signals are dark, they will install generators on the signals until power is restored. 

• Work with contractors to install generators to keep signals running while they are doing maintenance activities that may cause a loss of power to the signals.

• Respond to any damage to signals because of construction activities and get the signal functional until proper repairs can be made.

• Continually look for ways to improve and make things safer i.e., the wrong way mitigation changes to signal heads and the installation of accessible pedestrian push buttons are some examples. 

Some of the challenges the signal crew face is keeping a working on-call system to ensure coverage for 24/7 response to malfunctioning signals, training for everyone involved within signal operations, obtaining timely replacement of signal materials, keeping equipment operational and up to date.  The signal crew works very hard to help “keep Utah moving” safely!

As discussed in Chapter 7 Equipment, UDOT incorporates a matrix organizational structure to help manage and oversee all the necessary work performed on the various types of equipment throughout UDOT.  Chapter 7 Equipment. A matrix organizational structure provides management at the central level but allows for more versatility for mechanics to work on numerous types of projects rather than just focusing on one specific type of equipment. 

• Required training for the all full time avalanche crew members:

• Annual 8 hour Gun School training following AAUNAC training standards

• Every three years, 3 day(16 hour) gun school training following AAUNAC training standards

• Maintain current advanced medical training (OEC, WFR, or equivalent) certification

• Maintain current CPR/BLS certification

• Optional training and professional development:

• Advanced weather forecasting or similar

• Advanced backcountry rescue or similar

• Advanced professional avalanche training or similar

• Rock and Alpine guiding or similar

• Snow and avalanche workshop or conferences attendance 

• American Avalanche Association Membership