Each year there is something new to celebrate, and 2023 was no exception. Whether it was marking the completion of a project, discovering new research areas to study, or simply noting key milestones, it’s important to stop for a moment and rejoice in our successes. En Route, the annual report for the Institute for Transportation…
Local agencies can spend anywhere from $500,000 to $1.5 million per year just putting down fresh aggregate on gravel roads in Iowa, where about 60% of the road network is gravel or otherwise unpaved. An Institute for Transportation (InTrans) research project, now in its second phase, aims to help local agencies implement improved design methods…
Several factors go into an agency’s decision on the ideal time to open a new concrete pavement surface to the traveling public. These can include everything from the work zone setup to the materials and construction methods used and from the expected traffic load to pavement strength development. The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP…
Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering and Research (PROSPER) Director Halil Ceylan will receive the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Robert Horonjeff Award, ASCE’s Board of Governors of the Transportation and Development Institute recently announced. The award recognizes outstanding achievements in, and contributions to, the advancement of the field of air transportation engineering. Ceylan will…
The recently completed research also recommends specifications for implementation The first Otta seal, a low-cost bituminous surface treatment (BST) for low-volume roads, was constructed in Iowa in 2017. Since that first 4 mile stretch was built in Cherokee County, more than 50 Otta seal sites have been constructed. Those sites demonstrate the widespread interest in…
Smartphones have replaced several items we previously used in our daily lives as their technologies have improved, with the addition of various internal components such as Global Positioning Systems and sensors. Those internal advances also offer the potential for use in collecting and analyzing road performance data. While a few such smartphone-based applications (apps) exist…
Transportation agencies across the nation are striving to quantify the environmental impacts and carbon emissions of their pavement materials as part of their overarching endeavor to construct and maintain sustainable pavement systems. However, before they can quantify their impacts, transportation agencies need tangible strategies to start their projects off successfully by reducing the carbon emissions…
A research team led by the Institute for Transportation’s (InTrans’) Real-Time Analytics of Transportation Data (REACTOR) Laboratory Co-Director Anuj Sharma is working to develop, test, and prove the concept of a snowplow navigation system to aid operators in the worst winter conditions. Iowa snowplow drivers have been helping the research team with the project. About…
CP Tech Center Director Peter Taylor was awarded the Marlin J. Knutson Award for Technical Achievement from the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) at its 60th Annual Meeting held in late 2023. The award is presented to an individual or group who has made significant contributions to advance the development and implementation of technical innovations…
Pedestrian safety treatments can present a challenge to winter maintenance operations—and maintenance efforts in general—based on their designs and characteristics. To ensure that pedestrian treatment designs consider winter maintenance issues, recent research sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) identified best practices for designing pedestrian safety countermeasures that are compatible with effective winter maintenance…