Transportation Research Program Overview

Regional Cooperative Projects

(Pooled Fund Projects)

These projects utilize the pooled resources of several groups, agencies, and institutions to complete various research projects.

THE NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM (NETC). Six New England States, together with six State Universities, have formed the New England Transportation Consortium (NETC). Full participants in this program also include the Federal Highway Administration. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Inc. (AASHTO) is a party to this Memorandum of Understanding, solely in its capacity as the agency of the participating state departments of highway and transportation, to pool contributions received from them and to contract for carrying out research on their behalf. The purpose of the NETC is to pool the financial, professional, and academic resources of the region and to focus those resources on the research and development of substantially improved methods for dealing with the common problems with the construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and operation of the highway system in those six states.

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM (NCHRP). This national program was established to search out and synthesize useful knowledge from all available sources and to prepare documented reports on current practices in the subject areas of concern. This program prepares synthesis series reports on various practices, making specific recommendations where appropriate.

Durability of Segmental Retaining Wall Concrete Blocks The objective of this study is to establish design and durability performance criteria for concrete modular blocks, service evaluation and inspection guidance, and acceptance testing protocol. Investigations by Minnesota and Wisconsin DOT's have documented moderate to severe deterioration of concrete modular blocks used in segmental retaining walls. These blocks have been in service for only four to eight years. The problem is attributed to freeze-thaw susceptibility and accelerated deterioration from de-icing salts.

NEXT GENERATION RETRO-REFLECTIVE BEADS FOR TRAFFIC PAINTS. Glass beads are used with traffic paint to increase retro-reflectivity. Current traffic line paints have excellent retro-reflectivity properties when newly applied, however, experience has shown that most glass beads are lost early in the life cycle of the lines. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of using an alternative to glass beads called impact-modified polymethylmethacrylate.

STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS USING GEOSYNTHETICS FOR BASE COURSE REINFORCEMENT. Geosynthetics have been getting increased attention as base course reinforcement to increase the structural capacity of pavement sections. This application has the potential to yield cost savings through increased pavement life, in addition to the savings resulting from reduce aggregate base course thickness. There is a lack of field performance measurements, however, on pavements designed with geosynthetic reinforcement. This study will conduct full scale; accelerated load testing on pavement sections constructed using Geosynthetics. This work is being done at the US Army Corp of Engineers Cold Regions Lab in Hanover , NH .

Page last updated: September 26, 2005