PacTrans News
-
June 15, 2015
PacTrans Sponsors ITS America Symposium
PacTrans is proud to sponsor the ITS America Symposium on Building a Smart, Diverse, and Shared Travel Network. Technology is advancing traveler mobility at an unprecedented rate, and Seattle and the Puget Sound region are leading the way in the adoption and deployment of many shared-use transportation options. From the new Pronto cycle sharing system, to the region’s evolving transit environment, infrastructure improvements and more, technology is making the commute faster, smarter and more efficient for the traveling public.
For more information and to register, read on.
-
June 11, 2015
PacTrans Hosts International Exchange, Connects Japanese and US Transportation Professionals
On May 26, PacTrans welcomed transportation professionals from Japan as part of an international exchange to share best practices in data, organizational collaboration, and road management. Kenji Saita, Assistant Manager, West Nippon Express Company (NEXCO), and Seishu Kitamura, Senior Researcher and Kzuhiko Makimura, Deputy Director, both of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences, visited the PacTrans STAR Lab to learn about the center’s work in intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
-
June 10, 2015
PacTrans Attends 2015 CUTC Summer Meeting
PacTrans Research Associate Zhibin Li and University of Washington alumnus Paul Barr.
PacTrans joined University Transportation Center representatives from across the nation for the 2015 Council of University Transportation Centers Summer Meeting, June 1-4 in Brunswick, New Jersey. Held at Rutgers, the event brought transportation and university professionals and administrators together to share best practices and success stories to advance research, education, and development in the transportation field. Read More
-
May 28, 2015
PacTrans Hosts Region 10 Transportation Safety Workshop
Dongho Chang, City Traffic Engineer, City of Seattle, moderates the Transportation Agency Panel
The PacTrans Region 10 Transportation Safety Workshop on May 5 drew representatives from universities, public agencies, and private companies across the Pacific Northwest to discuss important regional transportation safety issues. This workshop was jointly organized by PacTrans, ITE Washington, ITE Oregon, ITE Idaho, and ITE Alaska. Read More
-
April 30, 2015
Imad Al-Qadi Speaks on Uses of Ground Penetrating Radar
Dr. Imad Al-Qadi, an internationally renowned professor in pavement materials and engineering, visited the University of Washington on April 28 to speak at the Spring PacTrans Regional Transportation Seminar. Dr. Al-Qadi, Founder Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, delivered his talk entitled “Transportation Infrastructure Assessment Techniques Using Ground Penetrating Radar.” (Watch the recorded lecture).
Continuous monitoring of transportation infrastructure allows for the maintenance of durable and safe systems. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology, based on electromagnetic waves, is an important non-destructive evaluation method, and yet GPR works better in some situations than in others. Bridge and pavement assessment, primarily for estimating layer thickness and localizing moisture accumulation within structure layers, has successfully used GPR.
However, the “images” obtained from GPR-reflected signals are dependent on the priori unknown dielectric properties of structural materials, which can make GPR data interpretation difficult. It can also prove difficult to detect layer interfaces, but signal and data processing techniques have been developed to estimate the dielectric properties of surveyed structures from GPR reflected signals. These techniques have improved GPR data interpretation and the quality of the GPR signal.
GPR provides quick and reliable information about subsurface characteristics when appropriately used. Pavement layer thickness can be accurately predicted, for example, as well as the location of rebar.
Dr. Al-Qadi has been working on GPR research for more than two decades, among his other diverse research interests. He is the Director of the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) and the founding Director of the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT). A registered professional engineer, Dr. Al-Qadi has authored/co-authored more than 550 publications and has delivered more than 550 presentations, including numerous keynote lectures.
