Research Highlights

Here is a quick look at the anticipated delivery of a 1937 truss bridge originating from Michigan. The trusses will be setup later this spring for use at Purdue University's Steel Bridge Research, Inspection, Training, and Engineering Center (S-BRITE) located outside of campus. The S-BRITE Center is under the direction of Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Robert Connor.

JTRP and LTAP proudly accepted the 2015 CoE Faculty Award of Excellence Team Award on Friday, April 10, 2015. Lyles School of Civil Engineering Bowen Engineering Head of Civil Engineering Rao S. Govindaraju nominated the two groups to be honored at the 13th annual banquet.

U.S. infrastructure continues to decay at an alarming rate, as exemplified by the low grades consistently awarded by the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card. While there are many contributors to the decay and degradation of our nation's transportation infrastructure, one that cannot be overlooked in many states is the annual winter application of deicing salts.

On March 6, 2015, Good Morning America aired an investigation on bridge accidents. Footage was used that originated from Purdue University Associate Professor of Lyles School of Civil Engineering Robert Connor and his research with a web-based bridge monitoring interface. His research focused on a short-term monitoring solution for a more effective asset management tool used by bridge owners when inspecting critical onsite locations.

In partnership, Purdue Libraries and the Joint Transportation Research Program (JTRP) achieved a major milestone on Sunday, December 7, 2014, with over one million downloads of technical reports within the Libraries’ Purdue e-Pubs, the University’s worldwide online open access Institutional document repository.

On November 19, 2014, JTRP hosted a joint meeting with Tonya Brothers-Bridge, Lt. Governor Chief of Staff, Steve Abel, Purdue University Associate Vice President for Engagement, INDOT Commissioner Karl Browning and INDOT Deputy Commissioner Jay Wasson.

Runway incursions are a significant safety concern, particularly at general aviation airports. In 2013, there were over 1200 runway incursions. In May 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded a project to Profs. Darcy Bullock and Sarah Hubbard to evaluate the feasibility of using rumble strips on taxiways to warn pilots of the upcoming runway with the objective of reducing runway incursions.