All posts by trac

This project is addressing two important environmental issues by evaluating the use of crushed fines from recycled concrete to treat wastewater containing high levels of chlorides. Chlorides from deicer use are a significant source of runoff contamination. Chlorides are highly soluble, non-degradable, difficult to remove, and tend to accumulate over time. In addition, chlorides can combine with heavy metals, rendering many of them more water soluble and therefore more damaging to soils, vegetation, wildlife, and aquatic species. The second issue is that construction and demolition waste is the largest single source of all generated municipal solid waste. The EPA has reported that in 2013 335 million tons of concrete demolition waste were generated in the U.S., of which an estimated 10 percent could not be recycled for new construction. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of crushed fines from recycled concrete (CFRCs), followed by nano-modified cement paste powder (NMCPP), and use them as reactive filter media to treat synthetic wastewater with high levels of chlorides and typical levels of total phosphorus, total nitrogen and metals. The researchers will also explore the mechanisms underlying contaminant removal by these engineered sorbents.

Principal Investigator: Xianming Shi, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: Center for Environmentally Sustainable Transportation in Cold Climates
Scheduled completion: June 2018

Although increasing expenditure nationwide on transportation construction projects raises concerns of overruns, delays, and poor contract administration, it is difficult to find consistency in data gathering and reporting, or validity in the analyses of contract performance, to look at trends and patterns within delivered projects. The reality is that construction projects are unique. They are of different types, sizes, materials, locations, construction methods, and complexity, and a proper classification of project types currently does not exist. The objective of this research is to develop a classification system for project types on the basis of data from Pacific Northwest transportation projects that are completed, active, and awaiting execution. The classification system will be based on several dimensions, such as type of system, geographical location, controlling scope of work, level of complexity, contractual constraint, project delivery method, and other parameters. Such standardization could improve the validity of research findings and enhance research and practice on highway projects within the Pacific Northwest and around the country.

Principal Investigator: George Okere, Construction Management, WSU
Sponsor: PacTrans
Scheduled completion: February 2020

Connected vehicles, the internet of things, and smart infrastructure technologies will facilitate the exchange of real-time, highly granular information among individual users in transportation networks, system operators, and the supporting infrastructure. Harnessing this emergent connectivity and its resulting data stream will open unexplored possibilities to improve mobility on urban street networks. Traffic metering along urban street networks is among the effective traffic control methods that can greatly benefit from connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. A dynamic traffic metering system may use collected data to maintain network accumulation at an optimal level, thereby avoiding long queues, queue spillovers, and gridlock. The goal of this project is to improve mobility by developing a dynamic traffic metering methodology for connected urban street networks. The methodology will aim to meter an optimal portion of incoming traffic at the borders of the network or inside it to increase system-level mobility.

Principal Investigator: Ali Hajbabaie, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: PacTrans
Scheduled completion: February 2020

The use of pervious concrete pavements is recommended by several U.S. environmental agencies as a Best Management Practice for stormwater control, which has increased their application to streets, parking lots, bike lanes, and sidewalks across the Pacific Northwest. However, with increased use of pervious concrete in areas with adverse winter weather, proper ice and snow control protocols must be developed to ensure the mobility and safety of drivers and pedestrians on pervious concrete installations. In a previous project, the researchers determined that the friction performance of pervious concrete pavement surfaces from one mixture design outperformed that of traditional concrete pavements in dry, wet, and icy conditions.  This project will extend the scope of laboratory and field testing to include a wide range of mixtures and installations. The goal is to ensure mobility on various classes of pervious concrete pavements all year around.

Principal Investigator: Somayeh Nassiri, Civil and Environnmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: PacTrans
Scheduled completion: February 2020

Fascia walls are structural earth retaining components for soldier pile and soil nail walls, and they are traditionally constructed with cast-in-place (CIP) concrete.  In recent years, some state departments of transportation have begun to replace the CIP concrete with shotcrete for wall fascias. The primary difference between shotcrete and CIP concrete is that shotcrete is placed and consolidated pneumatically (using high-pressure air). This method of construction is attractive because of its potential for saving cost and construction time. However, it also has potential drawbacks that raise concerns about its durability. Currently very limited information is available to evaluate curing practices, construction, and long-term durability for shotcrete. Phase I of this research (see WA-RD 870.1) showed that the performance of shotcrete is viable and promising in comparison to CIP concrete and that, if fully investigated, shotcrete may replace CIP concrete and be suitable for other applications. This Phase 2 project will follow up on issues identified in Phase I, such as the influence of mix design criteria on early age and long-term performance and the effects of air content on long-term performance. With the increasing desire for highway agencies to use shotcrete for accelerated construction and rapid renewal, the results will be a useful resource to help WSDOT achieve the best structure quality and durability.

Principal Investigator: Pizhon Qiao, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Brian Aldrich
WSDOT Project Manager: Mustafa Mohamedali
Scheduled completion: June 2019

Connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology and information may greatly help reduce congestion, especially in urban settings. However, currently there is no real-time, reliable, and multimodal approach for controlling the timing of signalized intersections in a connected or semi-connected arterial or urban street network. In addition, research is needed to explore the ability to communicate basic traffic signal controller information such as signal phase and timing (SPaT) to connected vehicles to allow them to directly respond to and coordinate with ongoing signal operations. Because WSDOT maintains 1,000 signalized intersections throughout the state, it is important for WSDOT to plan for this emerging and revolutionary technology and to develop ways to use the additional information that CAVs will provide to improve traffic operations. This project will help WSDOT to identify technological issues and requirements of integrating CV hardware in existing traffic signal systems.

Principal Investigator: Ali Hajbabaie, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Ted Bailey
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: December 2020

This project is working to establish guidelines for placing coarse bands in streambed simulation culverts to maintain the form of the stream channel and enhance fish passage. At road crossings, restoring fish passage is recognized as a key priority. Stream simulation is one of the design methods that are allowed, and one kind of stream simulation utilizes coarse bands, which are relatively thin regions of sediment that are coarser than the natural streambed material and are placed horizontal to the flow to enhance stream channel stability. They are intended to simulate the natural stream in terms of both bed material and geometry. Of the 3,175 fish passage structures that WSDOT owns, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has determined that 60 percent are barriers to fish passage. More than 800 of these structures must be fixed by 2030, and many will be replaced with stream simulation culverts. Results of this project will include recommendations for the layout, dimensions, and composition of the coarse bands to maximize longevity of the simulated streambed. A key component of this project will also be a standardized procedure for quantifying the performance of a simulated streambed.

Principal Investigator: Nicholas Engdahl, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Julie Heilman
WSDOT Project Manager: Jon Peterson
Scheduled completion: December 2020

This project is investigating the integrity of wood guardrail posts in strategic locations of Washington state. Guardrail systems protect motorists involved in a crash by dissipating energy and keeping them from leaving the roadway. The guardrail post is an important part of the system. Unfortunately, wood guardrail posts are susceptible to failing during a crash event because of a loss of strength from wood decay.  Wood decay may be due to fungal growth or insect intrusion and is difficult to detect by visual inspection alone because decay commonly occurs inside the post.  Phase I of this research proposed utilizing a stress wave timing (SWT) device for non-destructive field testing of wood posts.  This Phase II study is focusing on quantifying the factors that affect wood post service life in the Northwest, including the post’s age, location, and physical properties such as wood species, treatment method, and lumber grade.  WSDOT will be able to use the information provided to consider the need to revise wood treatment specifications and/or design guidance for wood guardrail posts.

Principal Investigator: Adam Phillips, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical M0nitor: Brad Manchas
WSDOT Project Monitor: Doug Brodin
Scheduled completion: June 2018

Active travel to school helps children be healthy. It also reduces air pollution and noise, as well as traffic congestion. To ensure that parents and teachers support and encourage walking, active school travel must be safe. This project is developing a School Walkability Score that WSDOT can use to rate all K-12 schools in Washington state. The score will help parents and teachers assess walkability levels around individual schools, and it will guide WSDOT staff in selecting strategies that will improve walkability and safety. The score will be derived from measures of the built and transportation environment around each school, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic volumes, parks, and vacant lands. It will be validated by using school-level mode splits from Washington State Student Travel Surveys.

Principal Investigator: Anne Vernez Moudon, Urban Design and Planning, UW
Sponsor: PacTrans
Scheduled completion: August 2019