News

Ensuring that asphalt binders don’t contain too many contaminates can be key to ensuring a longer-lasting roadway. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is implementing use of an innovative technology in a new test method and updated specifications developed during a two-year study conducted by the Materials and Pavements Division of the Texas A&M Transportation […]

The old adage, “Cheap, Fast, Good: Pick Any Two,” applies to most things. Defying this commonly held belief, rehabilitating a roadway with cold-in-place recycling (CIR) can actually be faster and cheaper than traditional methods and still yield outstanding results. CIR is a single operation. An existing deteriorated hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layer is recycled and treated, […]

A National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) project describing a new mechanical-based method for testing aged asphalt led to international recognition for two Texas A&M Transportation Institute employees: Postdoctoral Researcher Meng Ling and TTI Research Engineer Robert Lytton. “An Inverse Approach to Determine Complex Modulus Gradient of Field-aged Asphalt Mixtures” was named a 2017 Best […]

Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Texas was unprecedented in many ways, including rainfall amounts, property damage and human misery. There was also unprecedented disruption and damage to Texas roadways. About a mile of SH 6 in Harris County, from Clay Road to I-10, was covered with up to 7 feet of water for 14 days. Multiple […]

Numerous Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers and students were recognized during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 97th Annual Meeting Jan. 7–11 in Washington, D.C. This year’s gathering of transportation professionals from around the globe included more than 5,000 presentations in nearly 800 sessions and workshops. Best Paper Awards The paper “Field Evaluation of Pilot […]

When we think of a roadway, most of us think of the asphalt or concrete we’re riding on, not the ditches lining the roads or how efficiently water flows off those roads following a rainstorm. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has come up with an automated way of determining whether those ditches are doing […]

As in 2013, ASCE once again rated America’s infrastructure a D+ in its latest 2017 assessment. Although several categories, such as ports and rail, achieved modest improvements, others declined. And six core categories that many think of when they think of infrastructure itself — including bridges, roads and aviation — remained unchanged from four years […]

Damaged roads and devastated homes. Chemical plant explosions in Crosby, Texas. The shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies much of the East Coast with fuel. The shockwaves from extreme weather events like Hurricane Harvey can last for years. Getting damaged infrastructure back online is key to public safety, as well as the nation’s economy, […]

Texas A&M University students have been involved in the research process at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) since the Institute’s founding in 1950. Currently, TTI employs 216 students — 75 of which are graduate research assistants. TTI’s Materials and Pavements Division alone employs 61 graduate and undergraduate assistant researchers. As they were 67 years […]

All airports have one thing in common: pavement, and a lot of it. In fact, in many cases, maintaining runways represents the largest expenditure at an airport. It’s critical that airport management inspect and maintain its pavements in a timely fashion for safety reasons and to avoid costly, full-pavement rehabilitation projects. Researchers at the Texas […]

There is one thing all airports have in common—pavement—and a lot of it. In fact, pavements represent perhaps the largest expenditures at any airport. Thus, it is critical that airport management inspect and maintain their pavements for not only safety reasons, but to perform timely maintenance in order to avoid costly full pavement rehabilitation projects. […]