The May-June 2017 edition of the TR News explores the role of transportation in economic development. Articles feature information about benefit-cost analysis, freight production models, transportation satellite accounts, and right sizing strategies. The TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-art research and practice in all modes of transpo...

TRB has released its requirements for submitting papers for presentation at the 2018 TRB Annual Meeting and/or publication in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board . This guide covers the organization and formatting of manuscripts for peer review and for publication, as well as instructions for submission. Papers that do not follow the guidelines will ...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) latest Ready Results examines NCHRP Research Results Digest 391 : Modulus-Based Construction Specification for Compaction of Earthwork and Unbound Aggregate. Proper compaction of roadway base and subbase is vital to ensure good pavement performance throughout its life span. Modulus, a measure of stiffness, predicts the performance of p...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) latest Ready Results examines an update to fuel usage factors. NCHRP Report 744 : Fuel Usage Factors in Highway and Bridge Construction provides guidance for more than 1,000 new fuel usage factors and guidance on implementing them, along with a tool for calculating factors for specific contracts and situations.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) latest Research Topic Highlights explores the use and application of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA). This fact sheet summarizes the use of WMA and applications in the past decade. WMA is produced at temperature that is cooler than hot mix asphalt (HMA), reducing worker exposure to asphalt fumes as well as reducing emissions. The publication pr...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) latest Ready Results explores test methods for adhesive anchors—bolt systems augmented by structural adhesives. Adhesive anchor systems add holding strength to steel-to-concrete connections such as concrete construction panels. However, short-term tests of fully cured adhesives do not accurately predict long-term performance. NCHRP Rep...

A featured article in the March-April 2017 issue of the TR News highlights photos from the 96th TRB Annual Meeting, January 8-12, 2017. The article features photographs of sessions, workshops, committee meetings, and awards. Bruce M. Smith, Apperson Crump PLC, and General Counsel, Memphis Area Transit Authority, delivered the delivered the 2017 Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture on “Ethical I...

A featured article in the March-April 2017 issue of the TR News highlights photos from the 96th TRB Annual Meeting, January 8-12, 2017. The article features photographs of sessions, workshops, committee meetings, and awards. Bruce M. Smith, Apperson Crump PLC, and General Counsel, Memphis Area Transit Authority, delivered the delivered the 2017 Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture on “Ethical I...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 504: Strategic Program Delivery Methods explores holistic approaches to maximizing the benefits of time and cost savings when delivering transportation programs, rather than delivering individual projects. While a considerable amount of published research has focused on the process of selecting an optimal project delivery met...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 502: Practices for Establishing Contract Completion Dates for Highway Projects documents current methodologies and procedures used by state transportation agencies to estimate contract time for various highway project delivery methods. Establishing contract time is an important part of the highway project development process ...

TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Research Report 37: Using Commodity Flow Survey Microdata and Other Establishment Data to Estimate the Generation of Freight, Freight Trips, and Service Trips: Guidebook provides policy makers with improved establishment-level models that estimate the Freight Trip Generation (FTG), the number of vehicle trips produced and attracted at ...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 500: Control of Concrete Cracking in Bridges provides information on methods used to control concrete cracking in bridge superstructures and substructures, and on the influence of cracking on long-term durability. Cracking of concrete in bridges continues to be a concern for bridge owners, particularly with bridge decks expos...

A featured article in the November-December 2016 issue of the TR News highlights the challenges of freight transportation with regards to meeting new emissions standards. The TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-art research and practice in all modes of transportation. It also includes brief news items of interest to the transportation com...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 499: Alternate Design/Alternate Bid Process for Pavement-Type Selection documents the state of the practice in alternate design/alternate bid (ADAB) for pavement-type selection by highway agencies. ADAB is a contracting technique that allows the pavement-type selection decision to be made as part of the procurement process. C...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Report 167: Exploratory Analysis of Augmented Reality Visualization for Right-of-Way Excavation Safety explores methods to communicate utility location data to equipment operators during excavation. The report includes ways to visualize assets buried in an excavator’s vicinity using a g...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2573 consists of 20 papers that explore construction, including: Using Parametric Modeling to Estimate Highway Construction Contract Time Civil Integrated Management for Highway Infrastructure: Case Studies and Lessons Learned Comparing Construction Manager–General Contractor and Federal Early Contractor Inv...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Report 157: Development of an Intrinsically Conducting Polymer-Based Low-Cost, Heavy-Duty, and Environmentally-Friendly Coating System for Corrosion Protection of Structural Steels explores the use of Intrinsically Conducting Polymer for developing a more cost-effective, heavy-duty, and...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Report 171: Producing a Sustainable, Bio-Based Alternative to Petroleum-Based Asphalt Binder explores adding bio-binder to crumb-rubber-modified (CRM) asphalt to enhance its low-temperature rheological properties while improving workability and reducing phase separation. The application...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2592 consists of 18 papers that explore transportation structures, including: Evaluation of AASHTO Suggested Design Values for Reinforced Concrete Bridge Piers Under Vehicle Collisions Practical Implementation of Stability Bracing Strength and Stiffness Guidelines for Steel I-Girder Bridges Structural Redund...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 831: Civil Integrated Management (CIM) for Departments of Transportation, Volume 1: Guidebook presents guidance for collecting, organizing, and managing information in digital formats about a highway or other transportation construction project. The term civil integrated management (CIM) has been adopted in recent years to encom...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 831: Civil Integrated Management (CIM) for Departments of Transportation, Volume 2: Research Report provides background material on collecting, organizing, and managing information in digital formats about a highway or other transportation construction project. The term civil integrated management (CIM) has been adopted in recen...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2591 consists of 13 papers that explore pavement management, including: Full-Depth Reclamation: Cost-Effective Rehabilitation Strategy for Low-Volume Roads Fiber Effect on Interfacial Bond Between Concrete and Fiber-Reinforced Mortar Validation of Staged Construction Pavement Design with the Falling Weight D...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2590 consists of 15 papers that explore pavement management, including: Research Implementation of AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design in Louisiana New Approach to Determining Concrete Slab Lift-Off by Use of Interfacial Fracture Mechanics Concepts Verification of Time–Temperature Superposition Principle for Shear...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record (TRR): Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2589 Pavement Management, Vol. 1 consists of 18 papers that explore pavement management, including:  Informing Roadway Sustainability Practices by Using Greenroads Certified Project Data Computational Technique for Detecting Errors in Network-Level Pavement Condition Data Influence of Pavement Con...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 826: Estimating Highway Preconstruction Services Costs presents guidance for state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies for estimating preconstruction services (PCS) costs for transportation project development. PCS refers to a varied assortment of project-specific engineering and other professional services r...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 826: Estimating Highway Preconstruction Services Costs presents guidance for state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies for estimating preconstruction services (PCS) costs for transportation project development. PCS refers to a varied assortment of project-specific engineering and other professional services r...

TRB's Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis Highway Report 180: Drained Timber Pile Ground Improvement for Liquefaction Mitigation explores joining two existing technologies currently available in the marketplace that are not frequently used to mitigate liquefaction. The product evaluated herein is a pile fitted with drainage elements that, under sufficient conditions, serves to increase t...

A featured article in the March-April 2016 issue of the TR News highlights photos from the 95th TRB Annual Meeting, January 10-14, 2016. The article features photographs of sessions, workshops, committee meetings, and awards. Dr. Hani Mahmassani, William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation and professor, Northwestern University, and Director, Northwestern University Transportatio...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 493: Practices for High-Tension Cable Barriers reports on the current state of the practice for high-tension cable barriers (HTCB) used in the medians of access-controlled roadways in the United States. Information on high-tension cable barrier systems related to state agency specifications, special provisions, design standar...

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 490: Practice of Rumble Strips and Rumble Stripes documents current practices used by states installing rumble strips and rumble stripes. The report details and explores variations in state highway agency practices in terms of design, criteria, and locations for installation, maintenance, perceived benefits, communication of ...