Research

The theme for the Utah Transportation Center (UTC) is "Innovative Engineering Against Hazards" and comes from the core expertise of the initial group of colleagues associated with the Center. For the past decade the transportation research expertise within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Utah State University has been in areas addressing natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides, and flooding. It was decided to mold the Center around this expertise and then reach out to other colleagues to provide expertise that can be applied to both hazards and other areas of transportation--congestion and transit being two prime examples.

This approach has been very successful during the first two years of the Center, particularly with the association of colleagues in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). That association was expanded during the second year with additional colleagues from ECE sharing their wealth of technical and research expertise in the area of transit. We anticipate the expansion of collaboration will continue in the coming years with the addition of colleagues from USU’s College of Natural Resources.

The educational activities of the Center continue to be primarily centered around instruction by CEE faculty associated with the Center. This faculty teaches an array of transportation-related courses in many disciplines of civil engineering: surveying, structures, hydraulics, operations, transportation design, planning, and engineering economics.

Center research activities continue to focus on “engineering against hazards,” and have also expanded to include transit. The Center’s principal research partner continues to be the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and has grown to include the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). We anticipate additional partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as well as local agencies in the near future as our work with the Utah Local Technical Assistance (LTAP) Program expands.

The technology transfer activities of the Center this past year have been in the presentation of papers at professional conferences--the annual Transportation Research Board meeting being the principal medium for these presentations. Peer reviewed journal publications are also a key element to the Center’s technology transfer activities. With the restructure and reauthorization of the Utah LTAP Center at Utah State University, we anticipate the ability to utilize the Utah LTAP Center for dissemination of Center research results to expand.

New Projects

  • UTC 1201 “Forensic Testing of Prestressed Girders,” Dr. Paul J. Barr, PI.
  • UTC 1202 “Accelerated Bridge Construction Deck Testing,”Dr. Marv W. Halling, PI.
  • UTC 1203 “Sign Management,” Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI.
  • UTC 1204 “A Two-Stage Approach for Estimating a Statewide Truck Trip Table,” Dr. Anthony Chen, PI.
  • UTC 1205 “Do Changing Prices Portend a Shift in Fuel Consumption, Diminished Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Lower Fuel Tax Revenue?” Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI
  • UTC 1204 “Develop Design Guidelines for Integral Abutment Bridges,” Dr. Paul J. Barr, PI.

Ongoing Projects

  • UTC 1001 "Work Zone Design Evaluation," Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI. Co-funded by UDOT and UTC.
  • UTC 1002 "Forecasting Network Traffic for Small Communities in Utah," Dr. Anthony Chen, PI. Funded by UTC.
  • UTC 1004 "Investigation of the Use of Texel Cameras for Counting Passengers on Public Transportation, Phase II," Dr. Scott Budge, PI. Funded by UTC.

Completed Projects

  • UTC0904 “Quality of Life in Cache Valley Study,” Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI. Funded by UTC.
  • UTC0903 “Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMPO) Traveler Preference Study,” Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI. Funded by the CMPO.
  • Cache Valley Transit District (CVTD) Rider Surveys and Analyses,” Dr. Kevin Heaslip, PI. Funded by the CVTD.
  • UTC0901 Long Term Bridge Performance Program, Supplemental Funding, Year 1,” Dr. Marvin Halling, PI. Funded by UTC and FHWA.
  • UTC0805 “Shear Capacity of Pre-stressed Girders,” Dr. Paul Barr, PI.  Funded by UDOT.
  • UTC0804 “Investigation of the Use of Texel Cameras for Counting Passengers on Public Transportation,” Dr. Scott Budge, PI.  Funded by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA).
  • UTC0802"Synthesis Study and Field Evaluation of In-Situ Culvert Rehabilitation in Utah," Dr. Blake Tullis, PI.  Co-funded by UDOT.
  • UTC0801 “Development of a Decision Support Tool for Assessing Vulnerability of Transportation Networks,” Dr. Anthony Chen, PI.  Co-funded by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)
  • UTC0706 “Wireless Broadband for Commuter Rail: ‘River of RF’,“ Dr. Chris Winstead, PI. Funded by UTC.
  • UTC0705 “Logan Bluff Landslide Risk Analysis,” Dr. James Bay, PI.  Funded by UDOT.
  • UTC0704 “Failure Modes Analysis of UDOT’s MSE Wall Inventory,” Dr. James Bay, PI.  Co-funded by UDOT.
  • UTC0703 “Strong Motion Instrumentation Plan for UDOT Bridges: Array Design, Typical Details, and Specifications,” Dr. Marvin Halling, PI. Co-funded by UDOT and UTC
  • UTC0702 "UDOT's Calibration of AASHTO's New Prestress Loss Design Equations," Dr. Paul Barr, PI. Co-funded by UDOT and UTC.
  • UTC0701 "Evaluation of Bridges for Seismic Retro,” Dr. Keri Ryan, PI.  Co-funded by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and UTC.
  • UTC1003 "Highway Wildlife Crossing Design Study," Dr. Patricia Cramer, PI. Funded by UTC.
  • UTC0803 "ABC Deck Connections, Laboratory Testing and Evaluation," Dr. Marvin Halling, PI. Co-funded by UDOT and UTC.