The major objective of this project is to obtain traffic information from existing wireless infrastructure. In this project freeway traffic is identified and modeled using data obtained from existing wireless cellular networks. Most of the previous research on freeway traffic control assumes the availability of traffic parameters like vehicle velocity and density. Such data is available only at a few locations on major highways where sensor nodes have been pre-deployed.

Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) is the common non-destructive testing method for in-situ evaluation of pavement condition. This study aims to develop finite element (FE) models that can simulate FWD loading on pavement system and capture the complexity in material properties, layer interface, and boundary conditions. Parametric analysis was conducted considering the effects of dynamic analysis, temperature gradient, bedrock depth, asphalt layer delamination, viscoelasticity, and unbound material nonlinearity on pavement surface deflections and critical strain responses.

Box girder bridges are becoming more common because of their ease of construction, pleasing aesthetics, and serviceability. Projects with curved configuration and long spans can especially benefit from these advantages. However, the industry lacks a wide range of research on multi-span steel box girder cross-sections and their response to fire events. In addition, steel box girders are commonly constructed from weathering steel, which has little available research into their performance in fire.

This study examined the performance of curved weathering steel bridges in fire. Bridge fires can present a severe hazard to the transportation infrastructure system. In fact, a nationwide survey by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has shown that fires have collapsed approximately three times as many bridges as earthquakes. Bridge fires are often intense as they may be fueled by gasoline from vehicles that have crashed in the vicinity of the bridge.

Recent studies show that the dynamic forces because of truck impacts may be significantly higher than the 600kips force recommended by the AASHTO. Hence, there is a need to carry out detailed investigations on vehicular-bridge collision for a reliable evaluation of an existing bridge subject to impact by trucks and design of new bridges with more redundancy for vehicular impacts.

Our initial UTRC research project identified routes and road segments with predicted high volumes of truck traffic related to natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale region. Results also generated annual estimates of pollution emissions per route and road segment related to these transportation activities. The road segment results identified areas of potentially elevated pollution emissions due to incremental truck traffic resulting from natural gas development.

Achieving environmental sustainability of the US transportation infrastructure via more environmentally sound construction is not a trivial task. Our proposal, which addresses this critical area, is aiming at transforming concrete, the material of choice for many transportation projects, into less environmentally harmful and better performing component of the US infrastructure. This will be extremely relevant to construction of pavements, bridges, tunnels, airports, marine installations and other transportation projects.

The focus of this project was on supplying gasoline after a natural disaster. There were two aspects for this work: determination of which gas stations should be provided with generators (among those that do not have electric power) and determination of a delivery scheme that accounts for increased demand due to lack of public transportation and considerations such as equity. A Mixed-Integer Mathematical formulation was developed for this situation. Two case studies based on Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey are developed and solved in CPLEX.

Anonymous probe vehicle data are currently being collected on roadways throughout the United States. These data are being incorporated into local and statewide mobility reports to measure the performance of freeways and arterial systems. Predefined spatially located segments, known as Traffic Message Channels (TMCs), are spatially and temporally joined with probe vehicle speed data. Through the analysis these data, transportation agencies have been developing agency wide travel time performance measures.

The most economical approach to maintain existing concrete bridges is by adopting an active preventive maintenance approach. An in-depth investigation of the combined deterioration effects of various deterioration mechanisms is needed to establish sound thresholds for harmful chemicals in concrete bridge elements.