FY 2016 TRC PROJECTS
FY 2016 TRC Projects are below:
TRC 1601: Determining the Feasibility of an AHTD Mobile LiDAR System
TRC 1602: Examining the Required Cement Content
TRC 1603: Deep Shear Wave Velocity Profiling in North-Eastern Arkansas
TRC 1604: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Pavement Preservation Treatments in Arkansas
TRC 1605: Evaluating the Usage of Culverts and Bridges by Wildlife in Arkansas
TRC 1606: Estimating Bridge Girder Camber and Deflection
TRC 1607: Developing Best Practices for On Site Production and Placement of CSCSBC Material
TRC 1608: Locating TransLoad Facilities to Ease Highway Congestion and Safeguard the Environment
Several transportation challenges the state of Arkansas is up against will be addressed in the 2016 fiscal year. TRC 1601 deals with Mobile LiDAR Systems. Mobile LIDAR combines 3-D laser scanning, GPS, inertial measurement and video technologies to collect highly accurate data quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. The objectives of this research project are to determine the Districts/Divisions/Sections within the Department that could benefit from the data produced by a mobile LiDAR system as well as investigate the economic feasibility of purchasing a mobile LiDAR system by AHTD to be used in-house rather than contracting mobile LiDAR consultants’ services.
TRC 1601 will also aim to determine the additional resources required to facilitate the use of an in-house mobile LiDAR system.
The objective of TRC 1602 is to determine the minimum cementitious content that can be used for PCCP, Class S, and Class S(AE) concrete. The project will provide information on the performance characteristics of these mixtures and make recommendations to AHTD for future research in this area. A number of concrete mixtures will be designed and tested to evaluate their workability, compressive strength, and durability in accordance with the 2014 AHTD Standard Specifications, Sections 501 and 802.
TRC 1603 investigates the cost saving benefits to seismic design analysis. This project’s objectives will be to conduct deep (~500-1000 m) shear wave velocity (Vs) profiling at 10-15 sites in NE Arkansas. These sites will be chosen to provide broad coverage of the NE Arkansas area, while also providing site specific shear wave velocity profiles for sites where future highway structures will be needed. These 10-15 sites will also be used to generate geo-statistical contour maps of NE Arkansas that can be used to estimate the deep Vs structure at sites not tested during this research.
Currently, pavement preservation in Arkansas mainly consists of two inch overlays, chip seals, and crack sealing. Numerous other pavement preservation techniques are available and may be able to help stretch limited maintenance funds. It is widely accepted that more frequent preservation treatments are more cost effective than simply repairing recurrent damage. TRC 1604 will quantify the life cycle cost of various proactive and reactive pavement preservation treatments including, but not limited to; sandwich seal, cape seal, slurry seal, and spray polymer emulsions. This project will evaluate the performance of each treatment, determine the treatment's role in extending the life of the pavement, and the life cycle cost of each treatment.
TRC 1605 will evaluate the Usage of Culverts and Bridges by Wildlife. This project’s research will survey surrounding states to determine their policies on wildlife shelves and other wildlife crossing tools and establish baseline data by monitoring wildlife movements in selected areas in order to determine major crossing areas, behaviors and crossing frequencies. Part of TRC 1605’s research will require the installation of game cameras in or near select culverts and bridges to determine the extent that wildlife are utilizing these structures for road crossings. Other objectives of this research project include Collect crash data associated with wildlife crashes within the monitored areas, Collect road kill data before and after wildlife walkway installations and develop a plan to utilize wildlife shelves and other wildlife crossing tools based on data collected.
The research for TRC 1606 will address the issue of bridge girder camber and deflection. The purpose of this project is to improve the accuracy in estimating of camber and the long-term deflection of prestressed concrete girders. The project has three objectives which focus on evaluating concrete properties, measuring strand stress, and monitoring camber.
Currently there are many variables that can affect the quality of the CSCSBC material in the field including: when and how to add water, as well as spreading, placing, grading, and compaction techniques used on the cementitious material. Also, current specifications dealing with CSCSBC material production and placement are very vague. The objective of TRC 1607 is to develop best practices for production, placement, and testing of CSCSBC material in the field and to perform a cost analysis on the technique using variability in the production and placement methods.
TRC 1608 objectives are to formulate, solve and analyze mathematical models to intelligently locate new TransLoad Facilities in Arkansas and leverage its short line and waterways resources. The research also aims to estimate the extent to which doing so would decrease transportation costs related to highway congestion and maintenance, emissions and energy-efficiency.
