Synthesis of Pavement Issues Related to High-Speed Corridors: Summary Report

The Trans Texas Corridor (TIC) (Figure 1) will be a multimodal transportation system that includes separate lanes for passenger vehicles and trucks, high-speed passenger rail, commuter and freight rail, and a dedicated utility zone for water, petroleum pipelines, electricity, and data. The futuristic concept of the TIC is to intra-connect Texas by a 4200-mile network of corridors up to 1200 feet wide with separate lanes for passenger vehicles (three in each direction) and trucks (two in each direction) (Figure 2). The corridor will include six rail lines (three in each direction): one for high-speed passenger rail between cities, one for high-speed freight, and one for conventional commuter and freight. The third component of the corridor wilI be a 200-foot wide dedicated utility zone. The estimated total cost for the TIC ranges from $145 biIlion to $ 184 billion. The TIC is the largest engineering project ever proposed for Texas. It is a world-class concept.