Through data analytics, airports can perform valuable tasks such as better visualizing their data to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their operations, developing predictive analysis, backing up their management decisions with hard data, identifying operational inefficiencies, and leveraging historical information and/or real-time data to better plan for the future. ACRP WebResource 18: Implementing and Improving Data Analytic Capabilities in Airports , from TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research P...

Federal laws and rules require performance standards to be implemented to enhance stewardship of the transportation infrastructure and foster greater innovation in delivering a resilient transportation system, including the life of pavement systems, that supports prosperity and opportunity. Transportation Research Circular E-C296: Foundation Design and Construction for 100-Year Pavement Systems documents the presentations and discussions from two workshops held during the 2024 and 2023 TRB Annual Meeting...

Prestressing systems for railroad concrete crossties originated from the need to redistribute and localize prestressing forces to regions where they are required and, thus, optimize the design and counteract the appearance of the predominant cracking patterns. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 46: Adaptive Prestressing System for Concrete Crossties: Prototype Development details a product that features railroad concrete crossties that incorp...

In recent years, as air travel has increased worldwide, attention to the global spread of communicable diseases via air travel has also grown. While considerable research has been undertaken on the topic, the information is disparate and not often presented in a manner that allows airports to easily develop a comprehensive response. ACRP WebResource 22: Airports and Communicable Diseases: Preparedness and Response , from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, synthesizes existing materials across th...

Many of the country’s smallest airports may not have qualified onsite management or staff familiar with operational needs and risks to safely manage an airfield electrical system, and there is a lack of cost-effective training on basic airfield electrical system maintenance available for small airports. ACRP WebResource 20: Safe Maintenance of Airfield Electrical Systems for Small Airports , from TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides guidelines and tools to help small airports recognize ha...

The Federal Railway Administration track safety standards require rigorous visual inspections of tracks based on their operating speed. These inspections can be as frequent as twice per week. They are carried out using hy-rail (highway/rail) vehicles, with the trained inspector using a set of hand tools (such as track level, string line, and gauges) to further measure locations that appear to be out of compliance. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final ...

Asphalt mixture mechanical tests (such as Hamburg Wheel-Track, Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, Indirect Tensile Cracking) are growing in use by numerous state departments of transportation (DOTs) as part of their standard material specifications to complement volumetric properties and help ensure satisfactory asphalt mixture performance. Transportation Research Circular E-C294: Adjustment to Asphalt Mixtures to Meet Performance Testing Requirements and Allow Innovations , from the Transportation Research Boar...

Quality control during soil compaction is critical to the proper construction of our roadways and structures. There has always been a void between laboratory moisture-density compaction and the soil’s strength and stiffness. The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 244: Development of a Compaction Quality Control Standard for the Small Diameter Pressuremeter presents information on the development of a new product called the SSMini Pressureme...

Asphalt pavement stakeholders are working toward a common goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and incorporating the use of technologies and tools to rationally quantify the environmental impacts of asphalt pavement materials and construction alternatives. Transportation Research Circular E-C295: Day-to-Day Practices to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Asphalt , from the Transportation Research Board, summarizes a session called "Day-to-Day Practices to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Asphalt," which was hel...

Over the years, major railways and transit agencies have heavily invested in programs to enhance the early detection of track movement and high rail temperatures. Extreme rail temperatures, lateral push, and vertical pumping pose significant risks to railway infrastructure, leading to track misalignment, buckling, and kinking, which result in passenger and freight train delays, derailments, and costly repairs. TRB's Transit IDEA Program Final Report 102: The Magnetic Rail Movement Measuring Device for Ra...