ALEXANDRIA, VA (USTCNS) --- A Transportation Engineering Agency project that uses the Web to track freight shipments and the factors that influence them has won a cartographic honor.

Intelligent Road-Rail Information Server, or IRRIS, as it is commonly known, was named a winner in the Cartographic Excellence awards at the GeoSpatial World 2002 conference in Atlanta.

Military Traffic Management Command’s TEA scored first place in the category "Dynamic Interactive Presentations." The awards were presented June 12, to recognize excellence in design, technique, aesthetics, innovation, communication, and presentation.

"We are absolutely delighted," said Marc Barthello, one of two engineers who spearheaded the server's values to diverse audiences. The first-place award also named fellow engineer Jon Pollack, from GeoDecisions, of Camp Hill, Pa.

Intelligent Road-Rail Information Server is one of the Newport News, Va., agency's most important projects in 2002. The $1.7 million project was developed jointly over 18 months by agency engineers and GeoDecisions.

IRRIS gathers and integrates all types of information from the far reaches of the transportation world - about highways, railroads, marine ports, weather, and defense movements - and combines this information into a visual, easy-to-understand form.

IRRIS also provides integrated, up-to-date information on deployment route readiness in the continental United States, and even displays real-time route camera images, where available. It was developed to provide instant information for military deployments. As engineers developed the server, its functionality has expanded to allow real-time monitoring of selected defense shipments.

"IRRIS can track nearly a limitless number of shipments," said Bill Cooper, director, Transportation Engineering Agency.

Currently, the MTMC Operations Center is tracking as many as 500 freight shipments daily on a real-time basis. The stream of instant and accurate data will give MTMC operators a new level of carrier performance.

"We are able to evaluate carrier stops, speed and route selection," said Cooper. "We can produce automatic reports in a few seconds. No longer will it take numerous phone calls."

IRRIS also includes video routes in the server from military installations to strategic seaports. These video logs, provided by the Federal Highway Administration, are marked in video images every 108 feet. These logs capture highway surroundings and points of interest, providing excellent training for drivers.

"This is a very popular feature among drivers," said Cooper. "They may literally drive the route of a deployment ahead of time."