How to Complete TxDOT Form 599: Frequency, Ratings, and SiteManager Entry

TxDOT Form 599, the Traffic Control Devices Inspection Checklist, is the two-sided form a Department Responsible Person uses to record the condition of every temporary traffic control device on an active TxDOT construction project. You complete it during a physical walkthrough of the work zone, rate each device against the ATSSA Quality Guidelines, document any deficiencies with a priority level and correction date, get the Contractor’s Responsible Person to sign it, and enter the inspection into SiteManager. Miss the cycle or leave devices uncorrected and the contractor loses money off the final payment under Item 502.¹

How Often the Inspection Has to Happen

Every active contract requires at least two formal Form 599 inspections per month, spaced roughly two weeks apart. One must be a daytime inspection; one must be at night.² On projects with overnight traffic control, run the first night inspection as soon as possible after the initial device setup.

A detailed inspection is also required immediately after any traffic alignment change, such as switching traffic to a new phase.³ If the contractor repeatedly fails to correct priority 1 or priority 2 deficiencies within the expected timeframes, the DRP should increase inspection frequency. Quarterly inspections are a separate district-office responsibility and are tracked in SiteManager under their own event type.⁴

What to Have Before the Walkthrough

Pull the project’s identifying information first. The main identifier is the nine-digit CSJ number: four digits for the Control (a highway segment of roughly 25 to 30 miles), two for the Section within that control, and three for the Job.⁵ You also need the highway designation, contractor name, and contract number.

Bring the approved Traffic Control Plan and the applicable Barricade and Construction (BC) standard sheets. The TCP is your baseline: every device in the field should match what the plan shows for placement, taper length, spacing, and device type. The BC sheets tell you the crashworthy support configurations and correct installation positions.² Notify the Contractor’s Responsible Person before you go out so they can walk the zone with you.

Getting the Current Form

Form 599 lives in the TxDOT E-forms application. From the Crossroads intranet homepage, click “Apps,” select “E-forms” under the letter E, sign in with your network credentials, and search “599.”⁶ The front is the checklist; the back holds the instructions telling you what to evaluate. Check the revision date every time. An outdated version can create documentation problems in an audit.

Walking the Work Zone

The inspection is a physical walkthrough. You are comparing what is in the field against the approved TCP and the ATSSA Quality Guidelines, which TxDOT formally uses as the benchmark for device condition.³ Evaluate these areas:

Device effectiveness and TCP compliance. Every device should be clean, visible, and consistent with the plan. Sign placement should match the TCP, with only minor field adjustments based on engineering judgment for visibility or to cut sign clutter.
Tapers and channelizing devices. Taper lengths, spacing, and device type must match the TCP and BC standard sheets.
Reflectivity and color. Devices must show the same shape and similar color day and night. During night inspections, confirm retroreflectivity holds up under headlights. Work zone pavement markings should be visible for at least 160 feet under low beams.⁷
Crashworthiness. Signs, sign-mounted drums, and barricades must use approved supports and substrates and sit in the positions the BC sheets show. A sign laid down instead of removed is not crashworthy.
Pavement markings. Temporary markings must give clear guidance through the zone. Obliterated old markings that still stand out or confuse drivers count as a deficiency.
Message consistency. Advance warning signs, striping, channelizing devices, temporary rumble strips, and arrow boards all have to tell the same story. If the right lane is closed, every device should say so.
Speed zone signs. Regulatory construction speed signs require a Commission Minute Order and must be removed or covered when they do not apply.
Worker safety apparel. Contractor employees in the zone must be wearing proper high-visibility apparel.

These criteria come straight from the Construction Contract Administration Manual.²

Rating Each Device

The ATSSA Quality Guidelines for Temporary Traffic Control Devices sort every device into three categories: acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable. The guidelines cover signs, barricades, drums, cones, tubes, warning lights, arrow panels, changeable message signs, pavement markings, and markers.⁸ At initial setup and after any major stage change, every device should be acceptable. Normal wear over the project may push some devices into marginal condition, but anything rated unacceptable has to be replaced.

The Standard Specifications back this up by requiring the contractor to clean, replace, straighten, cover, or remove devices as needed so they stay properly positioned, legible, and retroreflective in all conditions once notified.¹

Documenting Deficiencies and Corrections

When a device fails, record the specific deficiency on the form. Form 599 uses a priority 1 and priority 2 system to set expected correction timeframes.³ Report every TCP-related discrepancy to the contractor immediately and note it in the Daily Work Report.

As the contractor fixes each item, write the completion date on the original Form 599 and initial the verification section.⁹ That single page then shows both the problem and the fix, which is exactly the record that matters in an audit or after a work-zone incident.

Signatures and the Contractor’s Copy

The Contractor’s Responsible Person signs and dates the completed form. The DRP then gives the contractor a signed copy so they know exactly what corrective action is required.⁹ Skip this step and the checklist is not an enforceable record. Without the signature there is no proof the contractor was notified.

Entering the Inspection in SiteManager

Every completed Form 599 has to be logged in SiteManager. The steps:⁴

Log in with your TxDOT User ID and password.
Double-click Contract Administration, then Contract Records, then Checklist Event Dates.
Select the project and pick the event type that matches the inspection you ran: BARR INSP – DAY, BARR INSP – NIGHT, or BARR INSP – QUART.
Click the New icon, enter the actual date of the inspection, and use the comments box if you need to flag something, such as a second report in the same month for the same event type.
Save the record.

If SiteManager is down, deliver hard copies to the local Area Office for manual filing in the project diary. Either way, Form 599 becomes part of the permanent project record and falls under TxDOT’s records retention schedule.

What Falling Behind Costs the Contractor

Item 502 of the Standard Specifications sets the financial consequence. If the contractor does not provide or maintain signs and barricades within the timeframe the engineer sets, the contractor is in noncompliance and no payment is made for the months in question. The final payment quantity is reduced by the number of noncompliant months.¹ That is money subtracted from what the contractor would otherwise earn, not a separate penalty on top of the contract.

Nighttime lighting failures carry a heavier remedy. The department can suspend work without stopping the working-day clock and withhold all future estimates until the contractor comes into compliance.¹⁰ Working-day charges continuing to run during a suspension means contract time is burning while the contractor is not allowed to work, and that compounds fast.

1
Texas Department of Transportation. 2024 Standard Specifications for Construction and Maintenance of Highways, Streets, and Bridges
2
Texas Department of Transportation. Construction Contract Administration Manual – Section 3: Traffic Control Plan
3
Texas Department of Transportation. Construction Contract Administration Manual – Section 2: Work Documents
4
Texas Department of Transportation. Construction Recordkeeper Job Aid – Entering Checklist Event in SiteManager for Barricade Reports
5
Texas Department of Transportation. Project Development Process Manual – 3.6.1 CSJ Numbers
6
Texas Department of Transportation. Entering Checklist Event in SiteManager for Barricade Reports
7
Texas Department of Transportation. BC(1)-21 Standard Sheets
8
American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). Quality Guidelines
9
Texas Department of Transportation. Formal Inspection Documentation
10
Texas Department of Transportation. Construction Contract Administration Manual – Chapter 10: Prosecution and Progress