Digital Commons Network^™

Guidelines For Use And Design Of Deep Foundations For Three-Sided Structures, Yao Wang, Rodrigo Salgado, Monica Prezzi

JTRP Technical Reports

Buried three-sided structures are widely used for roadway crossings and underpasses. Whereas spread footings are common, deep foundations are required when weak soils, scour risk, or site constraints exist. This study aimed to improve understanding of load-transfer mechanisms and develop guidance for the design of deep foundations supporting buried three-sided structures.

A nationwide survey of 34 state DOT engineers and 12 three-dimensional finite element analyses were conducted. Results show that greater stem wall height and thicker earth cover lead to a more uniform live-load distribution between piles. The most critical condition occurs when the design truck is placed near the …

Physics-Based Modelling Of Concrete Degradation Phenomena: Impact Of Construction Defects On Long Term Cost And Material Properties, Manuel Salmeron, Oscar D. Forero, Talha Faiz Mohammed, Kabir Shrivastava, Shirley J. Dyke, Julio A. Ramirez

JTRP Technical Reports

The quality of workmanship and adherence to specifications during the bridge construction phase of concrete decks, slabs, and continuous T-beams, are key factors on which future structural performance and durability hinge. If construction practices do not meet the required standards of quality, they may trigger early onset of deterioration processes that shorten the service life leading to unplanned interventions or unscheduled repairs, thus intensifying the need for maintenance actions and increasing costs during the service life of the bridge. Despite the consensus view that substandard construction practices reduce the performance of concrete structures, quantifying the impact is challenging. This difficulty …

Rampcast Phase Ii: Connected Vehicles Traffic Management Application On Indiana Highways, Abin Mathew, Agnideven Palanisamy Sundar, Juntong Peng, Jue Zhou, Yaobin Chen, Feng Li

JTRP Technical Reports

This project advances connected vehicle applications by developing and testing an enhanced RampCast system, a comprehensive traffic management system using C-V2X technology for Indiana highways. The system features a dual-mode architecture integrating both short-range (PC5) and long-range cellular (Uu) C-V2X communication pathways, utilizing commercial-grade Cohda MK6 hardware and adhering to SAE J2735 standards to ensure interoperability. A key innovation is the integration of an AI-based prioritization framework, which leverages a large language model to enhance the contextual relevance of traffic messages. This AI system introduces two intelligent agents: one to dynamically estimate the appropriate display distance for an event based …

Pedestrian And Bicyclist Trespassing Impacts On Rail Grade Crossings Safety And Mobility, Shanyue Guan, Siqi Chen, Shufan Liu, Samy Noureldin, Bridgette Hail, Brandon Burgoa, Elizabeth Mouser, Alison Shaner, Paige Story, Karen Stippich

JTRP Technical Reports

Highway roads intersect with a railroad track, forming a multimodal transportation system. The intersection is called a highway railroad grade crossing (HRGC). Because of the multiple transportation operations, induced conflict at the grade crossing, crashes may happen between road users (e.g., automobiles, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.) and trains in operations at highway railroad grade crossings. This is a global challenge for many countries around the world. According to the 2022–2026 Indiana Strategic Highway Safety Plan and 2022 Indiana Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan, one of the biggest challenges facing Indiana is the higher numbers of pedestrians in and around crossing …

Review Of Aashtoware Pavement Me Design Version 3.0, Jusang Lee, Jongmyung Jeon, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

This study evaluated the differences between AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (PMED) Version 2.6 and Version 3.0 using representative Indiana pavement structures and traffic conditions. PMED Version 3.0 introduces several major updates, including adoption of the MERRA-2 climate database, revised rigid pavement slab-base interaction models, updated calibration coefficients, and support for Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR)-based asphalt binder grading. Because the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) currently uses PMED Version 2.6 with locally calibrated distress models, evaluation of Version 3.0 was necessary prior to implementation. A total of 114 pavement design files representing full-depth asphalt pavements, asphalt overlay pavements, and Portland …

Evaluation Of Aggregate Gradation Specifications And The Feasibility Of Harmonization With Aashto Standards, Husam Elgaali, Ayesha Shah, Jan Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

The aggregate gradations specified by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) differ from those of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Preliminary discussions suggest that adopting AASHTO standard gradation sizes could provide national alignment and simplify production for those operating in multiple states and supplying projects not subject to INDOT specifications. A comprehensive study was performed to evaluate the current INDOT specifications for coarse and fine aggregate gradations and to assess the potential impacts and feasibility of adopting AASHTO-specified gradations. A comparative analysis of INDOT gradations against AASHTO, ASTM International (ASTM), and those of neighboring states …

Implementation Study For In-Place Testing Of Asphalt Treated Cold Recycled Pavements, Pablo Orosa Iglesias, Cheng Zhang, Daniel Mauricio Santamaria, John E. Hadddock

JTRP Technical Reports

This study evaluated the feasibility of rapid in-situ strength test methods for asphalt-treated cold recycled (ATCR) pavements in Indiana, with a secondary objective of characterizing the dynamic modulus of a locally produced ATCR mixture for use as AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design inputs. The long-pin shear test (LPST) and short-pin raveling test (SPRT), developed through National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 09-62, were evaluated on a cold in-place recycling (CIR) project on SR 13 in Greenfield, Indiana. Field results for blow counts exceeded the proposed NCHRP threshold moments after compaction, with torque values approaching but not yet reaching the NCHRP …

Simulating Current And Future Ev Growth Scenarios In Indiana, Omar Faruqe Hamim, Xiaowei Chen, Kenny Chandra Wijaya, Lavan Teja Burra, Zengxiang Lei, Rajat Verma, Konstantina (Nadia) Gkritza, Satish Ukkusuri

JTRP Technical Reports

As Indiana transitions toward electric mobility, data-driven planning is essential to guide electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure investment and deployment. This study evaluates the current and future performance of Indiana’s EV charging infrastructure using Multimodal Energy-Efficient Trip Simulation in Real Time (METS-R), a high-resolution simulation platform. Five EV adoption scenarios, ranging from pessimistic to optimistic, are modeled for the years 2024 through 2031, to assess spatial and temporal variations in public charging demand. Results reveal increasing public charging demand under high adoption scenarios, with significant disparities between urban and non-urban areas. Accessibility to public charging is found to be uneven …

Receiver, Vehicle, And Roadway Systems For A Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer Roadway Testbed, Oscar Andrés Moncada, Isaac Abram, Nicholas Frooninckx, Vatan Mehar, Chiara Cervini, O'Brien Ben, Bruno Cesar Krause Moras, Steve Pekarek, John E. Haddock, Dionysios Aliprantis, Aaron Brovont, Konstantina Gkritza, Rob Swanson

JTRP Technical Reports

A dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) system using a novel three-phase transmitter/receiver design was embedded 2.4 in beneath the surface of an existing rigid pavement on US 52/US 231 in West Lafayette, Indiana, with 85 coils installed and paired with a retrofitted Class-8 Cummins electrified truck. The system successfully delivered 50–190 kW at speeds up to 65 mph with efficiencies approaching 85%, and all coils met electromagnetic balance targets; similar results were validated on a 3-coil testbed at Utah State University, with magnetic flux densities well below human exposure limits. Testing also demonstrated strong misalignment tolerance and reliable high-power delivery …

Utilizing Emergency Management Audio Messages For Traffic Incident Management Performance Measures, Christopher Gartner, Vihaan Vajpayee, Jairaj Desai, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

Timely and accurate information regarding roadway incidents is critical for Traffic Management Centers (TMCs) to maintain safety and mobility. While Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) cameras and crowdsourced data provide significant visibility, rural interstate corridors often suffer from coverage gaps, or "blind spots," where incidents go undetected until significant queuing occurs. Public safety radio communications serve as the primary coordination method for first responders, creating a "verbal infrastructure" that contains vital information regarding incident location and severity. This study evaluates the feasibility of using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to bridge these gaps by monitoring and analyzing radio traffic. The project developed …

Portable Driving Simulation Platform For Innovative Intersections, Luyang Jiang, Zihao Li, David Chen, Blake Edwards, Angel Rivera Cardenas, George Takahashi, Brandon Pitts, Ziran Wang

JTRP Technical Reports

This report presents a portable driving simulation platform developed to improve public understanding and evaluation of innovative intersection designs. Built in Unity, the system integrates real-world roadway data with modular traffic and vehicle simulation to create realistic, interactive driving scenarios. Results show the platform effectively supports driver learning and stakeholder engagement, demonstrating its feasibility as a tool for education, safety analysis, and deployment support of innovative intersections.

Influence Of Nanomaterials-Based Admixtures And Polymeric Microspheres On Entrained Air Void System And Freeze-Thaw (F/T) Resistance Of Concrete, Alberto Castillo, Jan Olek, Mirian Velay-Lizancos,

JTRP Technical Reports

This study investigated the feasibility of using colloidal nanosilica (nS) as microstructure modifier and polymeric microspheres (MS) as alternative air-entrainment systems for Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) bridge deck concrete. These admixtures have gained interest due to their potential to modify the air-void system, enhance freeze–thaw (F/T) resistance, reduce permeability, and improve early-age performance. However, their field applicability depends on understanding their sensitivity to mixture composition, type of batching process, consolidation practices, and water-to-cement (w/c) ratio. The objectives of this research were to: (1) conduct field trials incorporating nS and MS and evaluate both fresh and hardened properties, (2) compare …

Demonstration Of Infrared Pavement Heater, Dwayne Harris

JTRP Technical Reports

Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) maintenance currently employs several patching methodologies; however, prior to this study, INDOT had little experience with using infrared pavement heaters as a maintenance tool.  The purpose of this research was to introduce pavement heating technologies and provide INDOT maintenance personnel with experience using these technologies.

Bridge Data Virtual Validator, Jiansong Zhang, Bo Pang, Meta Soy, Bernard Nartey, Yunfeng Chen

JTRP Technical Reports

This report presents Bridge Data Virtual Validator, which is a prototype web-based tool developed to support automated quality assurance (QA) of INDOT bridge project deliverables. The project focuses on Final Tracings documents, where important bridge data are distributed across bridge plans, cost estimates, and other documents/elements. Two validation components were developed. The first component supports bridge plan format compliance checking by using optical character recognition (OCR), computer vision, and rule-based reasoning to identify missing or inconsistent letting control information such as file numbers, dates, stamps, signatures, and sheet numbers. The second component performs comparative checking of pay items between bridge …

Exploring Autonomous Maintenance Technologies (Amt) In Indot Road Maintenance Activities: A Feasibility Study, Ajuna Puthenpurackal John, Cong Zhang, Yunfeng Chen, Yiheng Feng

JTRP Technical Reports

This project conducted a feasibility study of adopting autonomous maintenance technologies (AMTs) for Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) road maintenance activities. It surveyed state DOT representatives on AMT adoption, reviewed candidate AMT products and automation levels, and conducted a preacceptance survey to INDOT maintenance personnel. The market and technology reviews identified 51 AMTs across eight categories: snowplowing, mowing, crack sealing, pothole patching, traffic-control-device setup and retrieval, sweeping, culvert inspection, and roadway inspection and three automation types: full automation, partial automation, and remote operation. The INDOT survey showed cautious, technology-specific acceptance, with highest near-term potential for traffic control device setup, culvert …

Indot Training Gap Analysis, Developing A Training Program For Indot Workforce Development (New, Front-Line, Supervisors) And Smart Tool For Effective Planning For Workforce, Steven R. Dunlop, Satish V. Ukkusuri, Yunfeng Chen, Dutt J. Thakkar, Eunhan Ka, Shagun Mittal, Xinran Hu, Ze Wang, Isha Khanna, Rithesh Tammineni

JTRP Technical Reports

The primary goal of the study was to understand reasons for workforce turnover, addressing INDOT’s employee attraction and retention strategies. This objective was achieved by dividing the project into four tasks, each focusing on different criteria. Task A focused on understanding workforce development needs and gaps by determining training opportunities available at INDOT and understanding the different training methods and frequency of training required. Additionally, Task A also benchmarked workforce development programs with industry and other neighboring states. Task B comprised performing a comprehensive numerical and text data analysis of the workforce using exit interview data to identify the reasons …

Development Of Indiana-Specific Trip Generation Procedures And Models Of E-Commerce Demand: Implications For Indot’S Travel Demand Modeling And Investment Planning, Rishika Srinivasa Tumula, Zhuoli Yin, Hua Cai, Nadia Gkritza

JTRP Technical Reports

This study aims to improve Indiana’s travel demand modeling practices by incorporating locally collected trip generation data and emerging e-commerce travel trends into INDOT’s planning framework. The research focuses on two primary objectives. First, it enhances trip generation procedures for high-impact land uses in Indiana, including warehouses, fast-food restaurants, gas stations, and truck stops. This effort includes reviewing existing ITE land use categories, prioritizing land uses for phased data collection, and developing improved trip generation equations that incorporate Indiana-specific independent variables and adjacent traffic conditions. Second, the study develops models to capture the transportation impacts of rapidly evolving e-commerce behavior. …

The Efflorescence Of Apocalypticism (Imminent & Prepping Beliefs): Considering Informational And Motivational Regulatory Mechanisms, James T. Good Mr.

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In the last quarter of the 21st century, apocalyptic beliefs emerged in scholarly and lay representations notably doubling over the last decade. With nearly forty percent of United States citizen reporting this belief, unfulfilled questions arose: What drives discrepancies in beliefs of an imminent end of the world? Additionally, what drives beliefs in the need to prepare for an end of the world? These individual questions were examined together in this study using Construal Level Theory (CLT) and Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT) in an attempt to identify how psychological mechanisms are significantly affecting the fluctuations, in these self-reported beliefs. A …

Early Icu Physiological Subtyping From Time-Series Data: A Comparative Study Of Feature Complexity, Predictive Performance, And Model Interpretability, Rojeena Khadka

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients do not follow a single uniform physiological pattern. Patients admitted with the same diagnosis show different clinical trajectories over time making standardized classification and treatment approaches insufficient. The increasing availability of large-scale electronic health records in MIMIC-IV makes it possible to investigate such heterogeneity through data-driven approach that captures how physiology evolves during the early phase of ICU admission. This thesis compares two analytical pipelines designed to identify physiological subtypes from the first 48 hours of ICU time series data. This study then assesses how well these subtypes predict in-hospital mortality. The first approach, referred …

The Influence Of Localized Water Quality On Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) And Their Internal Microbiome Under Changing Environmental Conditions, Jessie Rivera Lafreniere

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Oysters are found ubiquitously in estuaries along the Georgia coast, where marsh morphology and large daily tidal fluctuations create dynamic and stressful conditions to which oysters may be locally adapted. Based on water quality data from the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, it is evident that changing climatic conditions are rapidly causing shifts in water quality that may be adversely affecting oyster health, especially as ocean acidification alters the carbonate buffering capacity, increasing the amplitude of daily pH variations. Importantly, the rate of change of conditions are not uniform within estuaries, varying on spatial and temporal scales. The symbiotic …

Effects Of The Menstrual Cycle Phase On Rpe, And Symptom Characteristics In Pre-Professional Female Soccer Players, Emily Potts

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Hormonal fluctuations across the distinct phases of the menstrual cycle have been shown to influence physiological and psychological responses to exercise, with some evidence suggesting phase-dependent changes in symptom presentation and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE); however, findings remain inconsistent, and few studies have examined these relationships across an entire competitive season in female soccer players. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in RPE and menstrual symptoms across cycle phases, as well as the relationships between RPE and symptom reporting in pre-professional female soccer players. A total of 22 female soccer players (age 22± 1.85) were recruited …

A Community Affair: An Exploration Of The Queer Community, Nightlife, Performance Art And Their Adjacent Qualities, Tatiana M. Castro

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis explores the importance and roll of community in queer artwork, such as drag and burlesque and retroactively also all the work that I create. This paper aims to express this importance by exploring my personal relationship with building community. By interviewing performers selected through a customized-for-savannah voting process, I allowed the community to directly influence my thesis, as well as directly referencing photos of the hands of community members as a continued motif used throughout my work to represent community. This culminated in a two night thesis performance and installation  exhibition that explored performance and how its environment …

Subliminal Nature: Dialogues In Performance, Carlos A. Carvajal

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

I will discuss how my artwork sets for the development of various layers of experience within the same context and space, to stimulate the subconscious of the audience. This layering is a combination of stimuli of senses (the inclusion of sound and active participation) and the syntax of the dynamics of audience interaction. Sound and visuals create a performance to acknowledge and read, while also pertaining to participation by a sort of instruction for the viewer to partake in the work. These are all different layers of experience that happen simultaneously within a piece, setting up different possible outcomes from …

Effect Of Elemental Additions On The Microstructure, Macrostructure, And Mechanical Properties Of Gray Iron, August E. Rautmann

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Gray iron is composed primarily of an iron matrix and flake graphite, with the higher percentage of volume taken up by the iron matrix. The iron matrix is the transformation product of austenite, and this prior austenite structure is understood to affect the final grain structure. Grain structure affects the properties of a metal, with a finer structure recognized as beneficial for most properties. Thus, the refinement of austenite structure has potential in improving the material properties of gray iron. This study aims to advance the limited knowledge about the control of austenite grain size via elemental additions. Building off …

Disrupting Ableist And Heteronormative Narratives Through The Other-Abled Body In Octavia E. Butler's "The Evening And The Morning And The Night", Morayo Joy Akingbelue

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Ableist discourse has historically positioned disabled people as ‘unfit,’ resulting in their marginalization within society. This marginalization is not only manifested in terms of their physical performance but sometimes in the way disability intersects with race, gender, and sexuality, reinforcing the construction of disabled individuals as ‘other.’ While prominent feminist and disability scholars have challenged deficit based narratives of disability, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s concept of the misfit, Sami Schalk’s Defamiliarization, John Swain and Sally French’s Affirmative Theory, and Moya Bailey and Izetta Autumn Mobley’s A Black Feminist Disability Framework, Black women’s speculative fiction, offers a critical intervention by defamiliarizing dominant narratives …

Reimagining Doctoral Supervision And Mentorship In Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence From Ethiopia, Kenya And Rwanda, Tom Peter Migun Ogada, Kevin Okoth Ouko, Eunice Omwoyo, Agnes Lutomiah, Nicholas Odongo, Caroline Mbaya, Eric Magale, Clarisse Mideva, Joel Onyango, Samwel Oyugi, Cynthia K. Orang’O, Bonface Nyagah, Everlyn Nguku

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Doctoral education is central to strengthening research capacity and advancing knowledge production in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, challenges in supervisory quality, mentorship systems, and institutional governance continue to constrain doctoral completion, productivity, and equity. Comparative empirical evidence on supervision and mentorship systems in African higher education remains limited. This study examines how governance arrangements, supervisory practices, and mentorship structures shape doctoral supervision ecosystems in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda. Using a mixed-methods design, it integrates survey data (n=154), interviews (n=27), and policy dialogues under the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF). Guided by the Doctoral Supervision Ecosystem Framework, the study explores institutional …

The Colorado River: Searching For Solutions In The Face Of Uncertainty: Conference Summary, Emilia Endara, Douglas Kenney

Books, Reports, and Studies

The Colorado River is facing unprecedented change and uncertainty. Average annual flows continue to decline, and negotiations to craft post-2026 guidelines to manage the river have repeatedly bogged down in disagreements about delivery obligations, sharing shortages, and mandatory conservation. While some clarity may emerge in the coming months, the ability to sustain many existing municipal and agricultural water users is already being compromised. Meanwhile, there is growing recognition that a durable resolution must also address the water rights of sovereign Tribal Nations and better integrate environmental values into river management. All sovereigns, stakeholders, and sectors must work together now more …

Pamphlet, The Great Book, Ellen Davies-Rodgers, 1973

Documents

A pamphlet advertising, "The Great Book, Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, 1832-1972, Memphis, Tennessee" by Ellen Davies-Rodgers, published by The Plantation Press, Davies Plantation Road, Brunswick, Tennessee, 1973.

Document, Resolution Adopted By Memphis Council Of Civic Clubs

Documents

A document listing a "Resolution Adopted by Memphis Council of Civil Clubs," Memphis, Tennessee, undated. This is about the concern of the routing of Interstate Highway 40 through Overton Park in Memphis.

"TO YOU WHO Believe in KEEPING Our City Parks - Overton Park - PRESERVING Natural Areas of Land and SAVING Memphis' Heritage"

A Quantum Quandary: Does Algorithmic Complexity Inherently Diminish Security, Chinyere Isaac-Heslop

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Although essential, cryptographic security practice often relies on assumptions and abstractions that are difficult to audit under emerging quantum resource models. This creates an unnecessary barrier between the algorithms that govern the connected and the people cryptography protects. Modern cryptography relies on the assumption that computational complexity guarantees security. As algorithms become increasingly complex, their resistance to attack is presumed to increase. Practical constraints suggest that this relationship is neither linear nor indefinite. Resource limitations, algorithmic structure, and pressures from quantum computing introduce points at which added complexity ceases to improve and may instead degrade cryptographic robustness. This dissertation asks …