An approach for measuring the swelling of expansive soils is developed in Swelling Characterization of Natural and Chemically Stabilized Clays using Centrifuge Technology , a report from the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin. Expansive soils, common throughout Texas, may cause severe damage to pavements and other lightweight structures.

The Wisconsin DOT issues both single- and multi-trip permits for Oversize–Overweight (OSOW) vehicles. As the number of OSOW vehicle permits issued in Wisconsin have increased in recent years, the management and analysis of OSOW permit data has become more labor-intensive and time-consuming. This "Research Pays Off" feature in  TR News edition 324 (November-December 2019), by Hani Titi, Nic...

The engineering post-hazard assessment of bridges is detailed in Post-Hazard Engineering Assessment of Highway Structures using Remote Sensing Technologies , a report from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. This report focuses on geo- and hydraulic hazards, and its goal is to collect engineering data related to the behavior and damage to bridges.

The use of biofuels to stabilize pavement subgrade soil is investigated in Biofuel Co-Product Use for Pavement Geo-Materials Stabilization Phase II: Extensive Lab Characterization and Field Demonstration , a report from the Iowa Department of Transportation. This report identifies unconfined compressive strength, shear strength, freeze-thaw durability, and moisture sustainability of biofuel-tre...

A monitoring system is analyzed in Continuously Operating Reference Stations for the Bayou Corne Sinkhole , a report from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The goal of this report is to ensure the system that was designed to mitigate sinkhole-related hazards is effective.

This article is adapted from The Transportation Research Board, 1920–2020: Everyone Interested Is Invited , to be published by the National Academies Press in January 2020. TRB can be best understood as an infrastructure—one that people purposely designed, carefully constructed, and devotedly maintained to share and strengthen knowledge about transportation. The core missions and structures tha...

The November-December 2019 issue of TR News - with a focus on climate change resilience - is available in hard copy and digital copy for subscribers. For those who are not subscribers, the table of contents is available. Other feature articles in the issue include ones on the history of both TRB and transportation in general and a preview of the TRB Annual Meeting slated for January in Washingt...

Commuter rail services bring travelers from the rural and suburban fringes to the inner neighborhoods and central business districts of many large metropolitan areas in the U.S. The isolated nature of these rural and suburban commuter rail parking lots makes it difficult and expensive to secure and safely operate these transit assets. Further, as the more than two dozen commuter rail systems in...

Guidelines for geosynthetics are developed in Use of Geosynthetics for Separation and Stabilization in Low-Volume Roadways , a report from the Virginia Department of Transportation. This report specifically focuses on subgrade and pavement applications.

Using geosynthetics to reinforce pavements is examined in Accelerated Load Testing of Geosynthetic Base Reinforced/Stabilized Unpaved and Pavement Test Sections , a report from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Specifically, this report evaluates the benefits of using geosynthetics to reinforce or stabilize base aggregate layer and subgrade in pavements under repeated ...