Category: News

On Saturday, July 12th, 2014, graduate students from Georgia Tech took part in the first annual Transportation Career Expo Fair at the Garrett A. Morgan Youth Symposium. This symposium was sponsored by the DC-based Committee of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) during their 43rd annual National Meeting and Training Conference in Atlanta, GA. The symposium gave students from underrepresented minorities a chance to engage in and learn about the field of transportation and careers in the field.

Part II of the Symposium, titled Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead, provided introduction for students considering the transportation field for their career. A number of colleges, technical schools, and local transportation agencies were available to speak with students. Notable organizations such as GDOT, MARTA, and The Atlanta Streetcar Project were present.

Georgia Tech transportation graduate students Stefanie Brodie and Margaret-Avis Akofio-Sowah were in attendance representing Georgia Tech, through the recommendation of Dr. Adjo Amekudzi Kennedy of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. For their presentation, volunteers Brodie and Akofio-Sowah presented the students with five questions relating to Atlanta that transportation research can or is addressing in the city. They also showed the students several approaches towards answering those questions, and potential solutions, as well as coordinating a game of Transportation Jeopardy to further spark student interest in the field.

Back on campus, Brodie is a third year Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering, working with Dr. Amekudzi Kennedy’s Infrastructure Research Group. Her thesis topic is on accessibility. Margaret-Avis Akofio-Sowah is also a third year Ph.D. student working with Dr. Amekudzi Kennedy’s Infrastructure group, and her thesis topic is on the topic of asset management implementation strategies.

GTI is proud to announce the first four Transportation Speaker Series events of the 2014-2015 school year. These events will be held on Thursdays at 11:00 am, in the Mason Building’s room 1133. Topics for the speaker series include:

1. August 28 – Dr. Ram Pendyala Speaks at CEE at Georgia Tech
2. September 4 – ITS, WTS, and ASHE Host Joint Transportation Kickoff Meeting
3. September 11 – Dr. Anne Goodchild to Speak at GT Seminar
4.  October 9 – Wassim Selman of Arcadis to Present at GT Seminar

More information will be available soon on the individual seminars, so be sure to check back soon. 

The Georgia/Carolinas Precast Concrete Institute’s annual membership meeting was held from June 12-15 of this year, and one of Georgia Tech’s own was among those invited to present at the meeting. At the meeting, which was held in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Dr. Watkins gave a presentation on some of her group’s ongoing research.

This work is in the field of evaluating the use of limestone-blended (Type IL) cements for precast applications. Recently introduced into the market, Type IL cements may potentially help reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions traditionally associated with concrete construction.

Dr. Watkins, along with Dr. Lawrence Kahn and graduate students Ahmad Shalan and Behnaz Zaribaf, has been researching the early age strength development of this type of cement, along with its other properties, and comparing their results to those of traditional cement. 

NCTSPM is a proud sponsor of Dr. Watkins’ research. 

Atlanta drivers know all too well the giant interchange at Interstates 85 and 285 northeast of the city—it’s called Spaghetti Junction for a reason. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked readers Sunday to imagine a similar tangle of bridges, ramps and access roads at the top end of the city’s Perimeter where it meets heavily traveled Ga. 400.

Associate Professor Michael Hunter reviewed plans for the massive project as part of the AJC’s analysis of the growing scope of the work:

Imagine the artfully contorted whorl of concrete that is Spaghetti Junction, transported nine miles to the west. That should give you some idea of the state’s plans for the revamped Ga. 400/I-285 interchange.

Now imagine three years of construction on one of the busiest stretches of road in Atlanta. That should give you some idea of the traffic nightmares that lie ahead.

The Ga. 400/I-285 rebuild, meant to ease traffic for 416,000 drivers a day, has always been a big undertaking. But in exclusive interviews, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution discovered that the project has morphed far beyond its original scope — to the possible delay of other projects in coming decades.

State leaders have latched on to a truly mammoth version of the concept, one that would add miles of lanes adjacent to both major highways and consume an amount almost equal to the state’s entire annual road construction budget.

At an estimated cost of $950 million, it would be the most expensive road project in state history, paid for by going at least $130 million into debt, not counting interest costs. It would take three years of heavy construction to build. And after it is completed in 2019, the debt payments could eat into the state’s regular construction budget, forcing other road projects to be put on hold.

Nevertheless, state officials believe the expanded version is worth the cost, because the result could transform traffic on the top end of the Perimeter. Both Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia Department of Transportation have labeled the congested interchange the state’s highest priority road project.

 “It’s a tremendous undertaking,” said Michael Hunter, a professor of civil engineering at Georgia Tech who reviewed the conceptual design at the AJC’s request.

Recently, the Georgia Department of Transportation nominated four projects performed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)’s Research Advisory Committee’s High Value Research Award. Also known as the “Sweet 16”, four projects that showcase transportation excellence through research are selected from each of the four AASHTO regions. 

These four projects include:

• Development of a Risk-Based Scorecard to Assess Scour Vulnerability of Georgia’s Bridges, performed by Dr. Laurie Garrow, Matthew Higgins, Alexandre Khelifa, and Dr. Michael D. Meyer;
• Development of Risk Management Strategies for State DOT’s to Effectively Deal with Volatile Prices of Transportation Construction Materials, performed by Dr. Baabak Ashuri;
• Estimating Foundation Scour for Extreme Hydrologic Events at Scour-Critical Bridges;
• Sustainable Streets and Highways: An Analysis of Green Roads Rating Systems, performed by Ana Eisenman.

The AASHTO Research Advisory Committee is committed to being a proactive committee, promoting quality and excellence in research and in the application of research findings to improve state transportation systems. 

GTI is extremely proud of the authors of these projects. 

The Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Transportation Institute jointly hosted a transportation research poster session. It was hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology on September 24, 2013, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. All researchers in the Georgia Transportation Institute (Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Mercer University, and Albany State University) were to are invited to displaying active and recently completed GDOT-sponsored research projects. This poster session provided an opportunity for GDOT employees and administration to see the multitude of excellent projects that are underway and the scope of resources available at our universities.

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location: Rooms 402-404, One Georgia Center (600 West Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30308)

Georgia Tech’s Baabak Ashuri, assistant professor in the School of Building Construction, was recently selected to Engineering News Record (ENR) Southeast’s “Top 20 Under 40” list for 2014. 

Each year, ENR’s regional editions celebrate the excellence of young construction professionals by highlighting 20 individuals under the age of 40 who represent the “Best-of-the-Best” in the construction and design industry. Recipients are selected by an independent panel and evaluated based on their industry experience, leadership skills and community service.

Baabak Ashuri is an assistant professor in the School of Building Construction and director of the Georgia Tech Economics of the Sustainable Built Environment (ESBE) Lab. His educational, research, and service activities focus on sustainability conscious infrastructure investment valuation, a multidisciplinary field that lies at the confluence of construction engineering and management, infrastructure asset management, project finance, and innovative project delivery systems. Work in this area is essential for improving long-range planning and decision-making processes for buildings and civil infrastructure assets, advancing economic/financial valuation methods for investments in capital projects while preserving environmental and social conditions to foster sustainable development.

To see the complete list, visit http://bit.ly/1joOm8E. The recipients will be covered in-depth in January, 2014 print edition of ENR. Engineering News Record Southeast provides local, in-depth and comprehensive coverage on heavy, highway, building and industrial construction news in the four-state area of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Congratulations go out to Dr. Randall Guensler and his research team whose Sidewalk Quality and Safety Assessment  was recognized by the Atlanta-based Pedestrians Educating Drivers for Safety (PEDS) on October 29 during the group’s annual Golden Shoe Awards.

                       Dr. Randall Guensler                                                                        Alexandra Frackelton                                                                 Alice Grossman

Funded by STRIDE (Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center) and GDOT(Georgia Department of Transportation), the sidewalk project is producing a precedent-setting database of sidewalk condition information that the Atlanta Department of Public Works (DPW) officials will be able to use to evaluate and prioritize repairs in a city that boasts 2,100 miles of sidewalks.

Recognized during the evening reception were Guensler and two graduate students, Alexandra Frackelton and Alice Grossman, who have worked together on the $400,000 project. This is not the first award that the team has garnered for its work; in September, the Colorado-based Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professions (APBP) recognized Frackelton and Grossman with a Ken Cross Scholarship for a poster the duo produced on the same project.

Dr. Baabak Ashuri was recently awarded a 2013 AASHTO High Value Research “Sweet Sixteen” Award for his research project for the Georgia Department of Transportation: “Recommended Guide for Next Generation of Transportation Design-Build Procurement and Contracting in Georgia”. 

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), in partnership with Georgia Tech, developed a Design-Build (DB) guidebook to improve the efficiency of DB contracting in highway construction. A DB selection tool was developed to evaluate the appropriateness of DB for transportation projects. This tool helps GDOT to: 
(1) Determine suitability of DB for projects. 
(2) Assess whether project risks can be managed if DB is selected for a project. 
(3) Evaluate authorized procurement methods and selecting the most appropriate method. 
(4) Implement DB transparently and consistently. 

A post-research workshop was held to facilitate adoption of DB contracting in Georgia. Effective July 1, 2012, Georgia legislators raised the cap for DB by 50 percent (in dollars), based on the total amount of construction projects awarded in the previous fiscal year. This was made possible, in part, by solid DB project suitability assessments that this research enhanced for future use.

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on Research (SCOR) awarded its 2013 Sweet Sixteen High Value Research Projects at its annual summer meeting held in July in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Each year, RAC collects High Value Research highlights from member states across the nation. These highlights showcase projects that are providing transportation excellence through research. From these submittals, each of the four RAC regions selects its top four projects to form the Sweet Sixteen Awards. Continually challenged to deliver more efficient transportation systems, State DOTs are committed to utilizing research and innovation to meet these challenges. All aspects of transportation, from planning and design to construction and maintenance, benefit from the power of research. The “Sweet 16” projects are just a sampling of the many pioneering works from across the nation.