JTRP - Research Highlights

November 20, 2013

JTRP Partnership with Purdue Libraries Receives Open Access Award

Interim President Timothy Sands presented Professor Darcy Bullock with the 2012 faculty award for Leadership in Open Access on October 26, 2012. This award is given in recognition of his commitment to broadening the reach of scholarship by making publicly-funded research freely accessible online in collaboration with Purdue Libraries. Several members of the Library staff joined Jim Mullins, Dean of Purdue Libraries and Charles Watkinson, Head of Scholarly Publishing Services, in celebrating the successful JTRP/Library collaboration.

November 20, 2013

Application of Pile Dynamics to Quality Assurance in Deep Foundations Seminar

On April 16, 2013, INDOT geotechnical engineers (see photos above) participated in a training program on the application of pile dynamics to quality assurance in deep foundations hosted by Purdue University. Professors Monica Prezzi and Rodrigo Salgado organized the program, which featured two presentations given by Dr. Frank Rausche from GRL Engineers, Inc. and Pile Dynamics, Inc. The presentations included Wave Equation Analysis and Dynamic Pile Load Testing.

November 14, 2013

Maximizing the Use of Local Materials

Local polish-susceptible aggregates can be used to replace a portion of high-quality friction aggregates in HMA and SMA surface mixtures without detrimental effects on friction.

October 25, 2013

Intelligent Compaction Technology for Quality Control

A JTRP study (SPR-3709) led by Purdue Civil Engineering Professors Phillip Dunston and Hubo Cai has been initiated to analyze the data from the IC rollers. This data, along with the corresponding Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) acceptance tests, will be used to develop allowable tolerances and acceptance testing criteria.

October 25, 2013

Striping Truck Utilization Project

Prior to 2013, INDOT operated two paint trucks per district (one edge line truck and one center line truck). The Greenfield and Crawfordsville districts were chosen to develop and test ideas to enable the transition to painting with just one truck per district.

September 24, 2013

2012 Indiana Mobility Report

INDOT continues to innovate how it prioritizes investments in capital and operations projects to improve Indiana mobility. This report, the second in the series, provides quantitative performance measures that identify congestion according to its frequency and severity.

July 1, 2013

INDOT Research and Development Specialized Testing

INDOT's Research and Development Division provides specialized testing services in a variety of areas related to pavements and structures for data driven decision making and to minimize risks. These tests assist the department in warranty contract compliance, pavement designs, safety of Indiana roadways, and forensic investigations.

May 14, 2013

Improving U-Beams for Indiana Bridges

The objective of this research is to develop design strategies to improve the efficiency and optimize the design of the Indiana modified U-beam. The research program has been focused in three areas (1) evaluating the live load distribution appropriate for the design of U-beams, (2) assessing the behavior and design of the bridge deck when supported by U-beams, and (3) evaluating both the shear strength and shear design of the composite U-beam system.

April 13, 2013

Internally Cured Concrete

Internally cured high performance bridge concrete (ICHPC) is a standard bridge deck concrete mixture in which a portion of the cement is replaced with silica fume and fly ash to improve the properties, providing a more dense and less permeable material.

April 3, 2013

Improved Design and Construction Procedures Improve Seismic Resistance of Bridges

In 2008, Robert Frosch, Michael Kreger, and Aaron Talbott completed "SPR-2867: Earthquake Resistance of Integral Abutment Bridges." The project examined the response of integral abutment bridges to seismic loading. The project combined the results of field, analytical, and laboratory investigations to evaluate allowable bridge lengths based on seismic performance.