NJ Transportation Research Ideas Capital Improvement & Infrastructure

Deterioration of bridge decks and other components results in costly maintenance preservation, increased traffic, and reduced service life. Federal, state, and local transportation agencies have increasingly been deploying advanced infrastructure materials, such as MMFX reinforcing steel, ultra high-performance concrete (UHPC), and stainless steel reinforcement, among others, to improve the long-term durability of bridge... more »

The Piezoelectric Electric Generator utilizes the phenomena that electricity is generated when crystal is under pressure. The application of this technology is widely used in our daily life, from the rubber tube that DOT uses to count vehicles on the roads, to the cigarette lighters that utilize piezo ignition to give us fire. By embedding a series of Piezoelectric Electric Generators under the pavement, piezoelectric... more »

According to the Federal Highway Administration statistics as of December 31, 2016, New Jersey is one of the 10 worst states in the nation in the percentage of deficient bridges. About 10% of the total bridges is classified as structurally deficient. To reduce the number of deficient bridges in New Jersey and to remove bridges from the “Structurally Deficient” list, bridge deck rehabilitation/ replacement projects have... more »

With the average age of New Jersey bridges exceeding 50 years, cost effective and efficient bridge replacement strategies are becoming paramount. Although accelerated bridge construction (ABC) practices are now gaining interest in many locations around the country, the truth is that due to high population and infrastructure density, states like New Jersey have been implementing ABC practices (without the acronym) for... more »

Demand for rapid construction procedures has resulted in the development of concrete mixtures with faster strength gains so that roads and bridges can be opened up quickly. This move has, however, resulted in the formation more drying and plastic shrinkage micro-cracks in concrete bridge decks and pavements. These micro-cracks are fast paths for the ingress of water and aggressive chemicals that can cause corrosion of... more »

Pervious concrete and pervious asphalt have been increasing in popularity as a potential solution to reduce impermeable surface areas associated with pavements and sidewalks, reduce puddling, and potentially slow storm water surface high flow rates. As important as these benefits are to surface runoff mitigation, there are concerns with the ability of pervious concrete and pervious asphalt mixes to provide sufficient... more »

Transportation infrastructure is vital to economic development and critical to response and recovery after extreme events. Highway bridges are the most critical link in the transportation system. However, they are also quite vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards such as flooding and storm surges, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and terrorist threats. Therefore, there is the need to move toward multi-hazard design... more »

Repairs or replacement of transportation infrastructure is a necessity, for the safety of the public Replacing a deficient or very old highway and railway bridge is one example.

In difficult terrain, it gets much more expensive to replace the entire bridge. .

New Jersey Department of Transportation Bureau of Research recently carried out a limited study on the Elimination of Weight Restriction on Amtrak, NJ Transit and Conrail Lines.
This report FHWA-NJ-2012-003 looked at the impact of increasing the weight of freight rail car on various passenger lines in New Jersey. Most of the railway bridges in New Jersey were built prior to World War II and are not designed for this... more »

Investigate methodologies to reduce shrinkage cracking of asphalt mats at cold joints and elsewhere in the mat. Shrinkage cracks are the principal cause of joint failure of paving mats. Is it a mix design issue or do installation techniques need to change?