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Materials Research at TRB
The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. This page highlights recently released TRB reports, meeting announcements, requests for proposals, and other announcements related to materials. In addition, it includes links to selected materialsresearch-related activities taking place at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities. Finally, this page also highlights and provides links to TRB programs and activities, which are the source of most of TRB’s materials-related research products. |
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What's New
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TRB Materials-Related Programs and Activities
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 TRR: Stiffer roadways could cut GHG emissions, improve truck fuel efficiencyJuly 9, 2020 Different choices in the budget assigned to road preservation and repair should be considered to find the optimal contribution of the road network to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation and to meet targets set in the Paris Agreement on climate change. "Potential Contribution of Deflection-Induced Fuel Consumption to U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," by Hassam Azarijafari, Jeremy Grego... |
TRB Webinar: What’s Cooler than Cool? Cooler Pavements for Urban Heat Island MitigationJuly 9, 2020 Urban Heat Islands (UHI) are a common phenomenon in which urban areas are warmer than adjacent rural areas. As the climate continues to change and more people move into urban areas, the UHI effect becomes more pronounced, especially with regards to energy consumption and public health. TRB will host a webinar on Thursday, August 13, 2020 from 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern that will synthesize knowledge... |
TRB Webinar: Selecting Better Pavement Markings through Field Trials July 9, 2020 How can the quality of pavement markings be improved in a cost-effective and efficient manner? TRB will conduct a webinar on Monday, August 10, 2020 from 2:00-3:30 PM Eastern that will discuss how organizations can use field trials as tools for improving pavement markings. Presenters will describe transverse test decks that may be used to evaluate pavement markings, explaining how to choose th... |
Submit papers on current topics to TRB 2021 Annual Meeting and TRR by August 1 deadlineJuly 9, 2020 TRB standing committees will be reviewing submissions for the 2021 TRB Annual Meeting and potential publication in the Transportation Research Record (TRR). We welcome submissions on all modes of transportation and relevant transportation-related research. Because of committee restructuring, individual committees will not be issuing Calls for Paper this year. However, in addition to the general... |
John and Jane Q. Public Communications Contest entries due July 31, 2020July 9, 2020 The TRB Technical Activities Division’s Standing Committee on Public Involvement in Transportation is holding its 14th annual John and Jane Q. Public Communications Contest. TRB seeks best practices in successfully communicating with John and Jane Q. Public during disruptive, crisis situations that affect the transportation industry. The John and Jane Q. Public Communications contest recog... |
TRB Webinar: Using Otta Seal as a Surface Treatment on Low-Volume RoadsJuly 8, 2020 Low-volume roads represent a significant proportion of the transportation infrastructure system, and their maintenance can often be costly. TRB will conduct a webinar on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 from 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern that will explore using Otta seal surfaces for treating low-volume roads. Traditional bituminous surface treatments require high-quality materials and specialized expertise, bu... |
 History Highlights: From the Highway Research Board to the Transportation Research BoardJuly 7, 2020 The cover of the new Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) 1974 Annual Report celebrated its rebirth with the letters “HRB” fading into the growing bolder “TRB.” Yet, inside, the report—typically full of photos—was surprisingly plain and even perfunctory. William N. Carey, Jr., TRB’s executive director, explained why in the equally plain Annual Report for 1975. The high inflation and oil cris... |
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 Lessons continue to be learned in TRB events on COVID-19July 1, 2020 As in many industries, transportation is facing significant challenges as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Through the ongoing and rapidly changing phases of the pandemic, TRB is giving researchers, practitioners, and experts opportunities to share their insights with a wider audience through our webinars, Zoom meetings, blog articles, social media, and other platforms w... |
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Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Problems
TRB's Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Problems searches out and synthesizes useful knowledge from all available sources and prepares concise, documented reports on specific topics. Reports from this endeavor constitute an National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) report series, Synthesis of Highway Practice.
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Highway Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program
TRB's Highway Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program is designed to provide an opportunity to investigate new and unproven concepts or to evaluate novel applications of technologies that have been tried, tested or used for highway systems practice.
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Cooperative Research Programs
TRB's Cooperative Research Programs Division manages several cooperative research programs that frequently produces reports that have relevence to issues outside of the program's core focus areas.
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Technical Activities Standing Committees
TRB's Technical Activities Division provides a forum for transportation professionals in all modes and functions to identify research needs and to share information on research and issues of interest. The Division's staff of specialists in each mode and discipline work with a network of volunteers to carry out activities on behalf of TRB sponsors and the transportation community, including the TRB Annual Meeting, conferences and workshops, publications, visits to each state, and responses to inquiries. This network includes members and friends of over 200 standing committees, supplemented by designated TRB representatives in each state, over 150 universities, and 35 transit agencies. |
Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2)
Congress established the SHRP 2 in 2006 to find strategic solutions to three national transportation challenges: improving highway safety, reducing congestion, and improving methods for renewing roads and bridges. Research was focused in four areas, which are described below. The program carried out 145 research projects and produced 130 products as well as 132 research reports. |
Research in Progress in this Subject Area
TRB's Research in Progress (RiP) Database now contains more than 11,900 current or recently completed transportation research projects. Most of the RiP records are projects funded by federal and state departments of transportation. University transportation research is also included. The RiP Database also serves as a clearinghouse of University Transportation Centers ongoing research. |
Research Needs in this Subject Area
An important function of TRB is to stimulate research that addresses concerns, issues, or problems facing the transportation community. In support of this function, TRB Technical Activities standing committees identify, develop, and disseminate research need statements (RNS) for use by practitioners, researchers, and others.
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Research Completed in this Subject Area
TRB's TRID is integrated database that combines the records from TRB's Transportation Research Information Services ( TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation ( ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to over 900,000 records of transportation research worldwide. |
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