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This report describes methods that allow for assessing structural integrity using a direct porting of imaging methods captured by both hand-held and uncrewed aircraft system (UAS)-assisted photography into computational analysis tools to monitor structural degradation of transportation structures. Of...
The United States lags behind other developed countries in several transportation safety metrics. Progress has been made in reducing the number of traffic-related fatalities, but preventable crashes resulting in death, injury, and property damage continue to occur. The statewide driver survey provides...
The determination of bed shear stress plays a pivotal role in understanding the fluid dynamics in both natural and engineered channels. The commonly employed logarithmic law provides a mathematical formula to compute the bed shear stress in open-channel flows. However, its applicability in flow through...
A theoretical framework is developed for applying the material point method (MPM) to problems of modeling natural hazard effects on several representative geometries. Following an outline of the general methodology, in which the structural system is replaced by a combination of integrated Lagrangian...
The preservation of road safety in snowy regions during the winter season is of paramount significance due to the presence of perilous meteorological circumstances, such as snowstorms, which can result in escalated vehicular collisions and subsequent roadway closure. In the present investigation, our...
Early research suggested protected left-turn signalization had clear safety benefits over permissive left-turn signalization. Yet, subsequent research on when and where to use protected left-turn signalization focused more on vehicle delay and throughput than on safety. Based on such studies, it would...
Extreme wind conditions can be a formidable foe to both highway and driver safety. Strong gusts increase the likelihood of wind-induced vehicle crashes, especially for high-sided vehicles (i.e., semi-trucks) in the United States. Current understanding of wind loads on high-sided vehicles comes mostly...
This study proposes a new remote sensing technique to measure three-component (3C) dynamic displacement of three-dimensional (3D) structures. A sensing system with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform and contact-free sensors (e.g., optical and infrared (IR) cameras) was employed to provide a portable...
Reliable and accurate assessment and prediction of bridge condition deterioration is critical for effective bridge preservation. Deterioration models, combined with current condition information, can guide inspection, maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation planning, and support risk and life-cycle analysis....
Train-pedestrian conflicts result in a substantial number of serious and fatal injuries annually. Signs indicating safe and permissible behaviors near railroad rights-of-way are commonly relied upon to mitigate collisions. However, the effectiveness of these signs in preventing accidents depends on the...