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Photo for visual interest. Several cars use the roadway (seen from the rear) and travel under an overpass. Traffic signs appear on the right-of-way.

Structures

Structural research at TTI covers infrastructure and constructed facilities as well as the design and use of roadside safety structures. Researchers at TTI develop innovative methods to analyze, design, construct, maintain, and manage large structural components of the nation's transportation network. In addition, TTI research has resulted in products that have been deployed nationwide to improve roadway safety and enhance travel—such as crash cushions, breakaway sign supports, guardrails and treatments, barrier systems, and improved pavements and materials.

TTI's structural engineers and researchers study supporting structures fundamental to transportation, focusing on design and analysis of constructed facilities, dynamic loading and structural behavior, modeling and analysis, natural hazards, probabilistic and stochastic modeling, and rehabilitation and renewal of infrastructure. In addition to other structural topics, TTI research encompasses the design and evaluation of bridges along with studies of expansive soils, scour and erosion, construction quality control, and seafloor characteristics.

TTI's roadside safety experts have extensive experience in finite element analysis, simulation, structure analysis and design, vehicle dynamics, and safety. Research on roadside devices encompasses the influence of roadside geometric features such as driveways, slopes, ditches, shoulders, and medians. Results produce real-world guidance that enhances overall transportation safety.

Related Research Units

Related Subtopics

TTI conducts research in a number of specific transportation-related areas. Click the following link to see a list of the subtopics related to this area.

For More Information

David Trejo
Constructed Facilities Division
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-2416
trejo@civil.tamu.edu
or
Peter Keating
CE/TTI Building, Room 710
TTI/Major Highway Structures
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-9969
p-keating@tamu.edu