Alkali–silica reactions (ASRs) cause cracking issues in precast concrete bridge structures. In collaboration with Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Research Scientist Kai-Wei Liu, TTI Senior Research Scientist Anol Mukhopadhyay developed two ASR test methods now accepted as American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards, as well as a four-step process for […]
infrastructure
Wunderlich Quoted in USA Today on the Need to Improve Rural Road Safety
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Robert Wunderlich is featured in a USA Today story (source: Pew/Stateline), “Deadly crashes on rural roads prompt new safety efforts,” wherein he discusses building safety into road projects from the get-go to help prevent traffic crashes. Simple engineering changes at the design stage — such as rumble […]
Transportation and Public Health at the Crossroads: SMART Infrastructure to Improve Health Equity
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the world, including how we view our transportation system. But that interruption in “the way we’ve always done things” has also provided us an unprecedented opportunity to take a step back and reassess our habits, systems and interactions to achieve healthier outcomes. One strategy to do so demands that transportation […]
U.S. Roads Meant to Last Decades – But Not Forever
By: Gregory Winfree and Zachary Grasley The subject of our nation’s infrastructure is once again prominent, both in the wake of the recent release of the American Society of Civil Engineers quadrennial report card on the state of America’s infrastructure and among our policymakers in Washington, D.C. The ASCE report card presents one of those […]
Video Summary Report — Synthesis for Quantification of Binder Availability in Recycled Materials
Increasing recycled materials content in asphalt mixtures has numerous economic and environmental benefits, but ensuring good performance has always been a challenge. That’s because stiff, brittle, heavily aged materials can result in premature cracking. This synthesis project sets the course for revising TxDOT’s Standard and/or Special Specifications to recognize this challenge. The TTI video production […]
New Episode of Thinking Transportation Podcast Released
Episode 5. Good News, Bad News. A better grade for America’s infrastructure, but still no bragging rights. FEATURING: Charles Gurganus, Edith Arámbula Mercado American roads and bridges get us to where we live, learn, work, shop, and play. And that network has needed repair for a while, now. TTI experts Edith Arámbula Mercado and Charles Gurganus […]
TTI’s Villa Publishes Book on North American and European Trade and Transportation
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Scientist Juan Carlos Villa published International Trade and Transportation Infrastructure Development: Experiences in North America and Europe (1st edition) Apr. 24, 2020, on Elsevier’s publisher platform. Villa is a co-author with Maria Boile, director of the Hellenic Institute of Transport, part of the Center for Research and Technology Hellas, […]
America’s Infrastructure Score* in 2021: C–
*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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Newcomb Presents at Virtual Town Hall for Texas Representative Terry Wilson
TTI Senior Research Engineer and Materials & Pavements Division Head David Newcomb delivered a presentation at Texas Representative Terry Wilson’s Virtual Town Hall on September 30, 2020. The discussion centered on the impact of increased truck traffic due to the Aggregate Production Operations Industry in surrounding communities. “Representative Wilson’s office reached out to TTI prior […]
Paving the Way: TTI Pavement Research Provides Economic, Environmental Benefits
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has a varied and productive history of applied research for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. These projects provide excellent value by solving the myriad of problems facing transportation professionals. Two recent projects in the pavement area, Short-Term Laboratory Conditioning of Asphalt Mixtures and The Effects of Recycling Agents […]
Winfree Emphasizes Timing as Key to the Future of Transportation in GRIDSMART’s #talkITS Magazine Article
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Agency Director Greg Winfree explores the outer reaches of tomorrow’s transportation system — along with the tools and resources needed to get there — in a recent #talkITS magazine article. His article, “Timing is Everything: Technology, education, and tomorrow’s transportation workforce,” was published in the Fall 2019 issue of the […]
Is That Road Made of Recycled Asphalt? If It’s Done Right, You Will Never Know
Recycled pavement saves money and the environment. By Amy Epps Martin and Edith Arambula Ask just about anybody to name the most recycled material in America, and you’re likely to get some predictable responses: Aluminum cans. Plastic bottles. Glass bottles. Paper. Each guess is logical. And each one is wrong. That’s because 99% of reclaimed […]
TTI Researcher Arambula Featured in Asphalt Pavement Article
TTI Associate Research Engineer Edith Arambula’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program project on evaluating the use of recycling agents was recently featured in an article for Asphalt Pavement. Taking RAP to the Max examines the barriers that prevent the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), which is stockpiled throughout the country, and what can be […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.