News Archives

The HEART Crash Cushion is much easier to say than the Hybrid Energy Absorbing Reusable Terminal. But that’s what it is. The crash cushion, developed by Researchers Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard, is designed to be reusable after most crashes and therefore, a money saving product for taxpayers. Alberson and Bullard were honored Feb. 23 […]

Robert Lytton, TTI research engineer and Benson Chair Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received the 2006 NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum for his Pavement Composition Analysis (PCA) research. Lytton’s award-winning research uses an air-launched, ground-penetrating radar to aid highway construction quality control. The radar is […]

Texas A&M University, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and TTI are exploring a long-term research partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras). Texas A&M’s Dr. Kumbakonam Rajagopal from mechanical engineering, a graduate of IIT Madras, has been actively leading these discussions and assisting each agency with staff interactions and development of […]

TTI helped organize this Managed Lanes Open House at Austin’s Thompson Conference Center at The University Of Texas to explain this alternative to HOV lanes. Managed Lanes are operating in several states and three are being planned for the Austin area.

Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) Director John Mounce welcomes members of the CTS Advisory Council during its meeting February 22. The CTS Advisory Council examines issues involving traffic safety and determines which topics need to be addressed.

Roger Bligh and Dean Alberson (L-R center) hold up their K.B. Woods Award presented January 22 at TRB’s 86th Annual Meeting for their paper, “Low-Deflection Portable Concrete Barrier.” Coauthors Nauman Mansoor Sheikh and Akram Abu-Odeh were also recipients. Also pictured are (L) Neil Pedersen, Maryland State Highway Administration and (R) TRB Executive Director Robert Skinner. […]

Former TTI director Dr. Herbert Richardson receives the Roy W. Crum Distinguished Service Award from Linda Watson, the 2007 Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee. Richardson, who retired last fall, was honored January 24 at the TRB 86th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The Crum Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field […]

TTI employee and blood drive organizer Nancy Stratta does her part to “give the gift of life.” In her lifetime, Stratta has donated more than 49 gallons of blood. Since 2003, the Texas Transportation Institute has organized numerous blood drives each year. In the January 30 event, 42 people signed up to donate.

The first step in initiating research to reduce the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the United States will get underway Jan. 30-31 as members of eight Departments of Transportation (DOTs) conduct their inaugural meeting. Members of the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Research Center (DVCIR Center) Pooled Fund Project will identify, prioritize and guide research aimed at […]

TTI Research Engineer Jean-Louis Briaud has been notified by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) of his selection for the 2007 Ralph B. Peck Award. The award ceremony will take place Feb. 19 at the National Congress of the Geo-Institute in Denver. In a letter notifying Briaud of the award, the Executive Director of […]

TTI researchers and visitors from the Texas A&M University System examine the aftermath of a crash test staged to evaluate the effectiveness of a new guardrail design. The recent test is a part of an ongoing series of safety tests conducted at TTI’s Riverside facility.

TTI Director Dennis Christiansen, Lubbock Citibus General Manager John Wilson and Hall of Honor Board Member Gary Thomas were among those attending the induction ceremony for Colonel John F. Strickland into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor recently. Strickland was responsible for the development of the interurban railway system in the Dallas area in the […]

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has presented TTI’s Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) with its National President’s Safety Award. The honor was given to TDS team members representing TxDOT and TTI at AASHTO’s Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 28. “This national recognition will go a long way in […]

It is a pretty safe bet to say that TTI Researcher Carlos Chang-Albitres owes much of his career to the International Road Federation (IRF). Since 1948, the IRF provided graduate school scholarships to 1,150 transportation students from around the globe. In 1997, Chang-Albitres was a private sector employee in his home country of Peru, working […]

When Transportation Engineer Keith Knapp accepted a job at TTI a couple of months ago, he brought with him the multi-state Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse (DVCIC) and its website. Knapp has been director of the Clearinghouse since its inception and expects to continue to lead the effort through the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information and Research Center […]

Dennis L. Christiansen was formally appointed director of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) during a special telephonic meeting of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Wednesday, November 1. Regents named Christiansen sole finalist for the position last month. Wednesday’s confirmation by the Board completes the appointment process. “The leadership provided by former directors […]

In one of his last public appearances as Director of TTI, Herb Richardson gives a gift to director finalist Dennis Christiansen. Richardson is known for his fondness of plaid shirts and suggested it should help Christiansen in his new position. The gift giving occurred during Richardson’s retirement BBQ October 27.

A Transportation Hall of Honor ceremony was recently held for Cyrus R. Smith. Pictured (L-R) are Gerard Arpey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines; Dennis Christiansen, Deputy Director of TTI; and Douglas Smith, son of C.R. Smith standing in front of a restored American Airlines DC-3 located in the C.R. Smith museum.

Friends and colleagues gathered at the George Bush Library Center on Wednesday to honor the career of TTI Director Herb Richardson. Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering and host of the event, announced that over $200,000 had been raised to endow the Herbert H. Richardson Faculty Fellowship in the College of […]

Outgoing TTI Director Herb Richardson passes a ceremonial gavel to Dennis Christiansen, recently named by the Texas A&M System board of regents as sole finalist to be the Institute’s next director. The brief exchange occurred during opening ceremonies of the 80th Annual Short Course, now underway on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.