*Statistics taken from ASCE’s 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. “It’s vital — especially now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when our economy needs all the help it can get — that Congress pass a bill aimed at rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. Doing so will create many new jobs and continue to improve […]
Volume 57, Number 1
Just Scratching the Surface: Electrical Resistivity Tomography Offers Nondestructive Solution to Drilling, Trenching
With roadway construction projects such as bridge construction, time and money are both at a premium. Mistakes may not only set the timeline back but stretch already strained budgets as well. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is becoming a popular method to study the subsurface of a construction project area in a nondestructive way. ERT scans […]
Creative Strategies in Nondestructive Testing and Smart Coring Save Time, Resources
Tailoring construction and repair solutions to unique problems along a discrete part of the roadway — instead of applying a one-size-fits-all method — is gaining popularity as a pavement design/rehabilitation method for entire corridors. It’s just one innovation that Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers are using to help the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) […]
Recipe in the Making: The TxDOT Balanced Mix Design Project Is Developing a New System for Mix Design of Asphalt Mixtures
Using recycled materials on roadways has been standard procedure in construction for several decades. The challenge lies in having a practical mix design process — think of it like a recipe, selecting the right ingredients and proportions — that agencies responsible for highway infrastructure can rely on for guidance. The Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) […]
IDEAL-CT — Simple, Reliable, Efficient, Repeatable, Cost Effective
State departments of transportation (DOTs) nationwide have long dealt with the problem of asphalt pavement cracking — the primary type of distress that creates the need for pavement rehabilitation. Many cracking tests have been developed, but no single test has been simple, reliable, efficient, repeatable and cost effective — until now. Over the past four […]
Making Space for Big Rigs: TTI Helps TxDOT Evaluate Technologies to Facilitate Truck Parking
Finding safe parking is a constant concern for the nation’s hundreds of thousands of truck drivers. There are typically not enough parking spaces along their routes, and there is no real way for truckers to know in advance about parking availability. How big is the issue in Texas? According to the Texas Department of Transportation’s […]
I-35 Traveler Information System Helps Waco Fire Department Navigate Routes, Improve Response Times
In 2008, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) began its massive My35 Reconstruction Project to improve mobility and safety along 100 miles of I-35 in Central Texas. While most of the project is complete, Project 4B in Waco is currently underway, providing travelers improved traffic control, updated access roads and better interstate access locally. Since […]
From Space Travel to Roadway Safety: LiDAR Helps Identify Pavement Sections Prone to Hydroplaning
A technology once focused on aerospace applications half a century ago is finding new utility to improve the safety of driving surfaces in Texas thanks to evolving research at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). The effort employs LiDAR — or light detection and ranging — which calculates distances by transmitting a laser beam to […]
TTI Participates in TRB’s 100th Annual Meeting — Virtual for the First Time
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) was well represented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Jan. 5–29. This was the first time in its history TRB has held the event virtually. The meeting program included more than 3,000 presentations addressing 350 sessions and workshops on topics aimed at policy makers, […]
TTI News
Transportation Planning Fellowship Named for TTI’s Andy Mullins The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the Andy Mullins Transportation Planning Fellowship, established by colleagues at TTI. A TTI research scientist and the manager of TTI’s Travel Forecasting Program, Mullins passed away unexpectedly Oct. 22, 2020. His research explored travel demand modeling and transportation […]
Thinking Transportation… Good News, Bad News. A better grade for America’s infrastructure, but still no bragging rights.
TTI researchers Edith Arámbula Mercado and Charles Gurganus reflect on the American Society of Civil Engineer’s 2021 Infrastructure Report Card. They explain how taking care of America’s infrastructure is a lot like taking care of our homes — the longer you wait to make repairs, the more costly they can be. Download, listen and subscribe […]
The Last Stop with Greg Winfree: Harsher Weather? Build Better. Resiliency Should Be a Priority for Infrastructure Funding
In February, Texas suffered a brutal storm that made international news — an arctic blast knocked most of the state’s power grid offline and plunged millions of residents into darkness. The luckier folks only suffered rolling blackouts and had plenty of water. Others slept in their cars with the motor — and heater — running. […]