Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Research On Prefabrication Scheme Of Concrete Barrier Based On Anchorage In Cast-In-Situ Layer, Liang Xiaochong, Kang Hanjing, Luo Yongchuan, Wen Zhiquan, Deng Bao

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In order to improve the on-site construction efficiency of bridge concrete barriers,a prefabrication scheme for bridge concrete barrier installation was proposed.A structure scheme was developed by anchoring transverse steel bars at the bottom of prefabricated wall panels into the integrated cast-in-situ layer,adopting tongue-and-groove connections between adjacent wall panels,and optimizing the structural configuration and reinforcement of the panels.According to the requirements of the Level VI protection standard,full-scale impact tests using a large bus and a large truck were organized in turn.The results show that the prefabricated concrete bridge barrier can effectively withstand continuous impacts from both large buses and trucks.Its structural …

Application And Analysis Of Energy-Conservation And Carbon-Reduction Technologies In Green Highways, Huang Xuewen, Wang Kai, Huang Shanqian, Xiong Xinzhu, Fu Jinsheng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To improve the low-carbon development level of highway engineering,this study relied on a typical green highway in Anhui Province and established a calculation model for energy-conservation and carbon-reduction in highway engineering based on the emission factor method.A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted to evaluate the benefits of 33 energy-conservation and carbon-reduction technologies in reducing life cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions,based on life cycle assessment (LCA ) theory.The results show that during the material production stage,through channel resource coordination and the application of low-carbon,energy-saving materials,comprehensive reductions in the embodied carbon can be achieved.During the construction stage,energy consumption …

Influence Of Horizontal Curve Radius On Vehicle Fuel Consumption And Pollutant Emissions On Tw O-Lane Highways, Tu Shengwen, Lei Meimei, Guo Wenyu

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To investigate the influence of horizontal curve radius on vehicle fuel consumption and pollutant emissions on two-lane highways,this study developed a model based on running speed theory,vehicle driving dynamics,and a fuel consumption and emission analysis system.Fuel consumption and emissions of CO2,CO,HC,and NOx were calculated for a passenger car traveling along horizontal curves under three design speeds:40 km/h,60 km/h,and 80 km/h.The results show that the horizontal curve radius has a significant effect on vehicle fuel consumption and pollutant emissions.The trends of fuel consumption,CO2,and NOx emissions vary consistently with curve radius,while CO and HC emissions follow a similar but different trend.At the …

Reference And Inspi Ration From Low-Carbon Development Experience Of Foreign Highway Infrastructure, Lu Chunying, Gao Shuohan, Du Xueyua N, Jian Li, Wang Xinjun, Kong Yaping

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In order to provide supp ort for the scie ntific formulation of low-carbon highway infrastructure development policies in China,empirical analysis,comparative analysis,and other methods were utilized,and the construction goals and action strategies of low-carbon highway infrastructure in the United Kingdom,the United States,and Australia were sorted out.Advanced experience in the development of low-carbon highways abroad was summarized.On this basis,combined with the current situation and existing problems of low-carbon development of China ’s highway infrastructure,the following countermeasures and suggestions were proposed:① strengthening top-level design and formulating low-carbon development goals and paths;② implementing the concept of life cycle and strengthening the research and promotion …

Bike/Ped Data Collection And Model Calibration, Eirini Stavropoulou, Dionysios Tzamakos, Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Reginald Souleyrette, Teng Wang

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Motivated by an uptick in pedestrian and bicycle traffic, as well as the inclusion of pedestrian and bicyclist weights in the Strategic Highway Investment Formula For Tomorrow, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has made significant investments in transportation facilities for nonmotorized users. Despite an intensified focus on the needs of nonmotorized users, KYTC has not yet established a formal program to track the number of people walking, biking, skateboarding, and using micromobility devices statewide. Based on a review of methods and technologies for counting nonmotorized users; analysis of counting programs established by local, state, and regional transportation agencies; and a …

Congestion And Travel Time Reliability Performance Measures For Shift 2026, Mei Chen, Eugene Antwi, Xu Zhang

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Researchers obtained and processed probe speed data from HERE Technologies and integrated them with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s highway inventory to develop congestion and travel time reliability performance metrics. This report summarizes analyses conducted using HERE speed data for 2022 – 2023. HERE data were processed using an established methodology, after which they were aligned with Kentucky’s highway inventory network. Analysis found that 2022 – 2023 HERE data offer significant improvements in coverage and quality over previous years. For locations that lacked sufficient data, researchers used HERE’s speed model to estimate hourly speeds. Data were used to calculate congestion and …

Resilience Of Interdependent Transportation And Healthcare Systems: A Simulation-Driven Framework Incorporating Social Equity And Facility Optimization, S. Yasaman Ahmadi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop an integrated, simulation-driven framework to assess and enhance the resilience of interdependent transportation and healthcare systems before, during, and after natural hazards. By examining how spatial disruptions, social vulnerability, operational constraints, and infrastructure interdependencies affect access to and functionality of hospitals, this research offers a multifaceted evaluation of system performance under stress. This dissertation examines the impact of natural hazards, particularly floods, on the interdependent transportation and healthcare systems. The proposed approach combines and advances GIS-based network analysis, graph-theoretical modeling, and discrete-event simulation to evaluate system performance under different scenarios. The …

Modeling Disaster Resilience Through A Human-Centered Lens: Exposure, Vulnerability And Adaptation, Tong Liu

All Dissertations

The core of reframing and operationalizing disaster resilience with a human-centered lens is to incorporate concepts from socio-ecological resilience into engineering resilience to better understand the humans’ capability for disaster adaptation. Existing studies have drawn practical implications by identifying actionable thresholds for infrastructure systems under disasters, which can be easily applied by policymakers, emergency managers and municipal agencies. However, how individuals interact with, respond to, or adapt under these infrastructure thresholds remain understudied. This hinders the operationalization of disaster resilience at the human scale.

First, I examined exposure by analyzing how configuration and distribution of urban infrastructure systems, such as …

Constructing A State: Canals And The Transformation Of The Economy, Politics, And Finance In Nineteenth-Century New York, Youwei Xing

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays in economic history, unified by a focus on one of America's earliest transportation infrastructures, the canal system, in nineteenth-century New York. Each chapter explores a different aspect of the state's transformation: its economy, politics, and finance, each of which helped construct New York as the Empire State.

The first chapter studies the economic impact of canals on economic modernization from three aspects: sectoral transition, urbanization, and banking development. Contrary to much of the modern literature finds transportation infrastructure leads to decentralization, I find the opposite-evidence of centralization. Specially: (1) canal towns experienced a transition …

Fleet Algorithm Design For Pooled Rideshare: Integrating Human Factors, Simulation, And Optimization, Joseph Paul

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the study the integration of human factors modeling and rideshare fleet control algorithms. Pooled rideshare is a unique transportation mode offering that allows riders increased flexibility and accessibility over public transportation, and decreased cost relative to personal vehicles or traditional rideshare. Additionally, relative to personal vehicles, pooled rideshare offers reduced costs and options for those with difficulty obtaining transportation. Prior research in the space typically focused on modeling human behavior, or optimizing system performance, but a lack of integration of the concepts leads to unrealistic or underutilized outcomes. To tackle this problem, novel rideshare assignment, and repositioning …

Influence Of Mixing Duration And Absorption Characteristics Of Superabsorbent Polymers On The Fresh And Hardened Properties Of High-Performance Concrete, Yu Cun Gu, Kamal H. Khayat

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigates the combined influence of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) with distinct absorption kinetics and extended mixing sequences on the rheological, mechanical, and transport properties of high-performance concrete (HPC). Two SAPs—an ionic acrylamide-co-acrylic acid copolymer (SAP-P) and a non-ionic acrylamide polymer (SAP-B)—were incorporated at an internal curing level of 100%. The impact of extended mixing times (3, 5, and 7 min) following SAP addition was systematically evaluated. Results showed that longer mixing durations led to increased superplasticizer demand and higher plastic viscosity due to continued water absorption by SAPs. However, yield stress remained relatively stable owing to the dispersing effect …

Groundwater Flooding On Highways In The Nebraska Sandhills: Applying Remote Sensing, Precipitation And Groundwater Modeling To Determine Depth, Cause And Frequency, Aaron R. Mittelstet

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Climate change significantly impacts infrastructure sustainability, particularly through shifts in precipitation patterns, intensity, and duration. These precipitation dynamics may increase the occurrence of surface water and groundwater flooding. Groundwater in the Nebraska Sand Hills (NSH), including the thickest portions of the High Plains Aquifer, extends close to the land surface in interdunal areas, making the NSH vulnerable to groundwater flooding. Recent events involving heavy precipitation, snow melt, and rising groundwater levels have caused prolonged highway flooding, disrupting transportation networks. This study estimates groundwater flood inundation depth, duration and frequency in the highways of NSH using remote sensing techniques and groundwater …

Balancing Infrastructure Demands: Analysis Of Materials Pricing And Supply, Bethany Paris, Ying Li, Steve Waddle, Bryan Gibson

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) lets around 700 contracts year valued at over $1 billion. One of KYTC’s foremost goals is to deliver projects on time and on budget. However, over the past five years achieving these twin goals has grown in difficulty due to material shortages, widespread inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the tight labor market triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although material shortages have abated and supply chain disruptions have eased, instability is seemingly a permanent feature of the national and global economies. As such, Cabinet decision makers need reliable tools that can be used to understand historical …

Stabilizing Embankments Using Geosynthetic Reinforcement, Daryl Greer, Charlie Sun

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Reinforced soil slopes (RSSs) can be a feasible solution for embankments where there exist right of way re-strictions, environmental issues, rolling or mountainous topography, unfavorable geology, and other limiting fac-tors. They can be an alternative to retaining walls or importing select fills to construct steeper, stable embankment slopes where flatter embankment slopes may result in unwanted impacts, costs, and maintenance issues. Thisreport discusses the advantages and limitations of using geosynthetic reinforcement to construct RSSs. Researchers investigated current design, specification, and construction practices to determine which practices can be adopted by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Specifications were developed for using …

Enhanced Pavement Project Prioritization, Bryan Gibson, Jon Wilcoxson, Gayle Marks

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is responsible for inspecting, maintaining, and improving 27,000 centerline miles of pavement. Given the vastness of the state’s transportation network, KYTC needs a robust method for prioritizing pavement preservation projects. The Cabinet has relied on pavement condition ratings, data collected using Laser Crack Measurement Systems, and input from district-level staff to prioritize these types of projects. But this approach overlooks information that should be considered, such as factors related to safety, mobility, and geographic context. To resolve these shortcomings, Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers worked with KYTC subject-matter experts to develop the Enhanced Pavement Prioritization …

Effect Of Vehicular Electrification On Transportation Emissions In Florida, Shreya Sapkota Dhakal

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Vehicular emissions from fuel-based passenger cars emit an array of gases and particles that are detrimental for human health and the environment. In that regard, electric vehicles (EVs) present a viable, sustainable solution. This study investigated the impact of electrification of passenger cars on air quality in Florida, in five major urban counties namely Miami-Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Orange, and Leon. Between 2018 and 2022, these counties experienced a significant increase of 219.50 ± 52.32% in EV adoption, coupled with a 11.55 ± 6.13% decrease in fuel-based vehicle usage. Herein, we characterize five pollutants primarily generated from fuel-based passenger vehicles- carbon …

The Role Of Internal Factors On Vehicular Mobility, Aziz Mdimi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Vehicle mobility internal factors are influenced by the performance state of the road surface quality, governor, engine, gear train, differential unit and mobility unit. Studies on vehicular mobility models exist for off-road external factors but absent on on-road internal factors. The on-road internal factors model describes the vehicular mobility performance as a function of internal factors. In the current undertaking, results are generated by the determination of mobility performance characteristics with the application of 2nd Order Ordinary Differential Equations and using Laplace operator with MATLAB Software simulation. The effect of road surface against the time taken varies accordingly. At a …

A Model Of Trips Route Planning To Improve The Accessibility Of Public Transportation In Bengkalis City Using Geographic Information System (Gis), Nur'ain Jaafar, Hendra Saputra, Mutia Lisya

CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development

The increase in population and motorized vehicles in Bengkalis City has led to greater demand for public transportation, which remains insufficient in meeting accessibility needs. This study aims to develop a model for planning public transportation routes using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to improve accessibility in Bengkalis City. The study employs primary data from field surveys and secondary data from relevant agencies. GIS-based spatial analysis methods, such as service area analysis and the Origin-Destination (OD) matrix, are applied to evaluate accessibility and passenger movement patterns. The analysis results in two route alternatives assessed based on stop point density, community …

Discontinuous Deforma Tion Analysis Of Progressive Toppling Of Rock Slopes With Fractured Slab Structure, Yuan Sifan, Li Tonglu, Haider Mumtaz, Zhang Changliang, Li Ping

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Progressive toppling of rock sl opes with fractured slab structures is quite common in the slopes of hydropower and highway engineering,posing a potential safety risk during both construction and operational phases.The field investigation found that progressive toppling mostly occurs on slopes with concentrated tectonic stress,intense river incision,and high steepness.Typically,these slopes are composed of hard,thinly-layered,and overthrusted rock mass with a fractured slab structure.From a macroscopic point of view,progressive toppling failure is neither a collapse nor a slide but a form of discontinuous deformation.The traditional limit equilibrium method for slope stability analysis is not suitable for evaluating such slopes.In this paper,by taking …

Prediction For Humidity Adjustment Factor And Dry-Wet Cycle Reduction Factor Of Resilient Modulus Of Subgrade Soil Based On Ann, Wang Xufeng, Fu Wei, Peng Junhui, Hu Jiankun, Zhang Junhui, Li Zhiguang

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Existing methods for determining the humidity adjustment factor and dry-wet cycle reduction factor of the resilient modulus of subgrade soil are mostly based on laboratory tests that consume a large amount of manpower and time,and the prediction accuracy is limited due to the constraints of specification value ranges.In order to achieve fast and accurate prediction of these two factors,the effects of stress state,moisture content,and the number of dry-wet cycles on the resilient modulus of subgrade soil were investigated through laboratory dynamic triaxial tests.Based on existing literature,physical parameters,state parameters,and stress parameters of subgrade soil were selected,and an artificial neural network prediction …