Research News

Impacts of Cascadia Subduction Zone M9 Earthquakes on Bridges in Washington State: Three-Dimensional Bridge Models

The performance of bridges during large-magnitude earthquakes generated by the Cascadia Subduction Zone is an essential feature of the resilience of communities along the U.S. West Coast because bridges will be needed for pre-tsunami evacuation, emergency response, and economic recovery. This project developed a three-dimensional, nonlinear model of a typical bridge and subjected it to sets of simulated magnitude 9.0 earthquake ground motions to investigate the performance of bridges with a variety of structural characteristics.

Simulation Environment to Optimize Public Investments in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Plug-in electric vehicle registrations have increased rapidly in Washington state. While most charging can be done at home for low cost, long-distance travel requires fast chargers that can deliver a charge while drivers take a short break. This study developed a simulation model to recommend where electric vehicle fast charging stations would be most useful to help WSDOT staff prioritize investments in fast charging infrastructure.

Standard Test Procedures for Determining the Ice Melting Capacity of Deicers

Winter road maintenance often includes the use of deicing chemicals. However, many roadway deicing products are available, and their ice melting capacity can vary significantly. In addition, the processes that states use to procure and test deicing materials are subjective in measuring performance and are becoming increasingly burdensome for staff. The objective of this project was to provide transportation agencies with an objective, standardized, repeatable laboratory test procedure for measuring the ice melting capacity of deicers.

2023 and 2024 WSDOT-PacTrans Summer High School Transportation Camps

The demand for transportation-related workforce development programs has never been greater. In addressing this issue, the 2023 and 2024 WSDOT-PacTrans Summer High School Transportation camps were a significant effort toward attracting the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals to the field of transportation.

Model Deployment of the Virtual Coordination Center for Multimodal Integrated Corridor Management

The Virtual Coordination Center (VCC) is a digital collaborative environment for integrated multimodal transportation corridor management. Under Federal Highway Administration sponsorship, an operational community of state, city, and county agencies—including law enforcement, transit, and transportation departments—developed, deployed, and evaluated a VCC for interagency management of significant traffic incidents in the Seattle urban corridor.

Analytic Tools for Locating, Sizing, and Evaluating Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

To meet its anticipated growth in electric vehicle adoption, Washington state will need sufficient charging and refueling infrastructure to serve the public. This project reviewed the available analytic tools for planning electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and made recommendations on how to meet legislative requirements for forecasting the needs for zero-emission vehicles and mapping recharging equipment.

Leading Indicators of Transportation Equity: Equity in Planning

To increase equity in transportation planning, this project sought to identify key performance indicators that can measure the effects of transportation projects on vulnerable populations and to develop a framework for incorporating equity into the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) planning processes for long-range, regional, and corridor planning initiatives.

WSDOT Maintenance Performance Measure Algorithms

WSDOT faces multiple challenges in managing its highway assets. The primary objective of this project was to develop a way to predict the performance of important highway assets such as culverts, barriers/guardrails, traffic signal systems, ditches, slopes, and shoulders. This could help the WSDOT Maintenance Division set performance targets that balance available funds, acceptable performance expectations, and maintenance division priorities, potentially preventing the need for expensive reactive maintenance.

Data-Driven Assessment of Post-Earthquake Bridge Functionality and Regional Mobility

Local, state, and federal engineers and emergency managers need reliable estimates of bridge performance after an earthquake so that they can plan pre-event mitigation, post-event response and mobility, and long-term recovery. This project provided improved predictions of the post-earthquake functionality of bridges in Western Washington following a Cascadia Subduction Zone magnitude-9.0 earthquake.

Preparing for Traffic Signal Operations in a Multimodal Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Environment

Because WSDOT maintains 1,000 signalized intersections throughout the state, it is important for WSDOT to plan for connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology and the information it generates, which may greatly help reduce congestion. 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. This project was intended to help WSDOT identify the technological issues and requirements of integrating connected vehicle hardware in existing traffic signal systems.

Washington State Transportation Center