What's New in Construction

The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that explores the development of a test to evaluate the healing behavior of a dense- and open-graded asphalt mixture.

TRB standing committees have issued  calls for papers for the TRB 92nd Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2013, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential...

TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has released a project brief that highlights Transportation Project Impact Case Studies (T-PICS). T-PICS is a web-based tool designed to allow for economic impacts to more easily be considered during community visioning for transportation, or during public and stakeholder involvement for long-range system planning or corridor planning. Vi...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 429: Geotechnical Information Practices in Design-Build Projects addresses how states use geotechnical information in solicitation documents and contracts for design-build highway projects. The report examines current practices regarding the allocation of geotechnical risk and the level of geotechnical information provided wi...

The Federal Highway Administration has released the latest version of its Focus magazine, which highlights efforts designed to accelerate infrastructure innovations in order to build better, safer roads.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that explores issues to consider when deploying ultra-high performance concrete construction material for the construction of prefabricated bridge elements and systems. 

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released the latest issue of its Successes in Stewardship monthly newsletter, which highlights current environmental streamlining practices from around the United States.

This fall, TRB will release Rockfall: Characterization and Control, which will address rockfall hazard identification and evaluation, investigation process, mitigation options, and maintenance and management programs. The 400 page publication will include a DVD with video clips of rockfall field tests and several historical movies documenting rockfall field activities. Because of the expec...

The Utah Department of Transportation has released a report that explores monitoring concrete precast panels for bridge decks that are reinforced with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for proposals to compare and contrast environmental resource, regulatory, and other processes that various governmental entities use to facilitate recovery from catastrophic events. Proposals are due May 21, 2012.

TRB is cosponsoring the 10th International Symposium on Cold Regions Development (ISCORD) on June 2-3, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska. The symposium will explore efforts necessary to conduct large scale commercial and research activities in cold regions that don’t have significant adverse effects to the environment as well as to the local population. Issues to be addressed during the symposium incl...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 432: Recent Roadway Geometric Design Research for Improved Safety and Operations reviews and summarizes roadway geometric design literature completed and published from 2001 through early 2011, particularly research that identified impacts on safety and operations. The report is structured to correspond to chapters in th...

The Oregon Department of Transportation has released a report that evaluates laboratory tests on ten full-size reinforced concrete girders, representative of in-situ bridge members, to determine the performance of near surface mounted-carbon fiber reinforced polymer (NSM-CFRP) retrofitting for shear strengthening.

Roundabouts have seen unprecedented growth across the United States, from just a handful a decade ago to more than 2,000 and counting. National guidance had to keep pace with the needs of states and communities planning and implementing roundabouts, and NCHRP took a lead role.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 428: Practices and Procedures for Site-Specific Evaluations of Earthquake Ground Motions identifies and describes current practice and available methods for evaluating the influence of local ground conditions on earthquake design ground motions on a site-specific basis. The report focuses on evaluating the response of soil de...

The Oregon Department of Transportation has released a report that explores improvements and new uses for 3D laser scanning in highway construction, maintenance, and monitoring to enable state transportation departments to detect problematic areas and hazards before they occur.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 712: Optimization of Tack Coat for HMA Placement presents proposed test methods for measuring the quality and performance characteristics of tack coat in the laboratory and the field, and includes a training manual presenting proposed construction and testing procedures for tack coat materials. Links to appendixes B and D to NCH...

On March 16, 2012, TRB’s Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Committee sent its first letter report to Victor Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The committee provides advice and assistance on the conduct of the LTBP program, which is designed to collect research-quality data on a large representative sample of in-service U.S. highway bridges and to analyze thes...

The Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies at Penn State University has released a report that quantifies sediment generation rates from oil access roads in the Allegheny National Forest and determines differences in sediment production after placing new aggregate on four of the tested sites.

In regions across the nation, bridge engineers know that the next major seismic event is coming—maybe tomorrow, maybe centuries from now. DOTs have the critical charge of designing for earthquakes and protecting the lives of travelers.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has released a report that explores the use of a self-curing admixture for bridge deck concrete mixes.

The North Carolina State University College of Engineering has released the latest issue of its newsletter, which provides updates on the civil, construction, and environmental engineering activities taking place within the college.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has released a report that evaluates new and existing beam end coatings and treatments that may extend the life of new and existing concrete and steel bridge beams.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a briefing memo that provides an overview of the use of Polyphosphoric Acid as a modifier for asphalt binders and its impact on asphalt pavement performance.

TRB conducted a webinar on April 10, 2012, that explored techniques for maintaining and managing granular surfaced roads. Participants must register in advance of the webinar, and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor employees. Contact Reggie Gillum at RGillum@nas.edu to request a recording of the webinar. Webinar presenters will share techniques for maintaining and managing granular surfaced roa...

TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has released a project brief that provides an overview, brief description, and the status of the SHRP 2 projects related to underground utilities.

The Colorado Department of Transportation has released a report that explores a cost-benefit analysis of constructed hot mix asphalt projects using three and five-year warranty specifications.

The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a report that explores the construction of a two-lane single-span precast box girder bridge, which used accelerated bridge construction techniques.

The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a report that describes the field demonstration and testing of a newly-constructed, glued-laminated timber girder bridge.

The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that explores a statistical modeling exercise to develop a means for predicting the expected in-service skid resistance of rural sections of the New Zealand state highway surfaced with chip seal.