TRB Annual Conference 2025

OTL and CTC & Associates

Michael Molina, Brian Hirt, and Katie Jackson presented their poster at TRB 2025 on their joint Section 508 training. This training was a resounding success, and the slides and recordings are still available for use.

Along with the Oklahoma Transportation Library, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and CEC & Associates, Inc., SPTC recently hosted a Section 508 training webinar. Section 508 is part of the Americans with Disabilities Act governing material read with a screen reader and applies to the research SPTC puts out, ensuring that our materials are available to all.

Session 1 gave a basic overview of all Section 508 requirements and how to execute them in both Word and Adobe Acrobat. Session 2 was a follow-up of Session 1, reviewing more complex topics and clarifying questions received after Session 1 concluded.

TAMU Students at TRB

Two graduate students at Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University presented their research work, funded by the Southern Plains Transportation Center (SPTC), at the 104th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in January 2025.

Mr. Jaime Derik Suarez-Ardila made a lectern presentation titled “Assessment of Wicking Geotextiles for Enhanced Drainage and Reinforcement in Flood-Prone Coastal Highway Slopes” on January 6th, 2025. His presentation highlighted the main elements of the research that was conducted by the research team at TAMU including the growing threat of flooding on coastal road infrastructure, the materials used for testing, the experimental program, and the results from experimental tests and the numerical modeling. His results demonstrated that the wicking geotextile used in the study improved adhesion, reduced soil moisture content, and improved the factor of safety of highway embankment slopes during and after flooding events.

Mr. Muddassir Sanei made a poster presentation titled “Utilizing Recycled Concrete Aggregate Fines as Co-Additives in Low-Carbon Cement for Problematic Soil Stabilization” on January 7th, 2025. His presentation highlighted the need to enhance sustainability in the subgrade layer in pavements and the application of recycled materials, especially recycled concrete aggregate fines (fRCA), towards the development of sustainable solutions for subgrade stabilization. The research impressed upon the viability of fRCA as a co-additive to traditional calcium-based stabilizers based on engineering performance evaluations. This study illustrated that improvement in engineering properties of weak subgrade soil subjected to fRCA-cement-based treatment was comparable to that of cement-only treatment with a higher cement dosage. His research work shows that the application of fRCA as a co-additive to cement stabilizers may enhance sustainability in the subgrade layer without compromising engineering performance.

These two SPTC projects provided a great opportunity and platform for Jaime and Muddassir to gain knowledge and experience in current research related to transportation infrastructure geotechnical work. Working on the projects has greatly enhanced their understanding of different ground improvement techniques and highlighted the importance of improving the durability and sustainability of our infrastructure. Jaime and Muddassir have gained great interest in conducting research work through their participation in these two research projects and have both decided to continue their education after graduation. They started their PhD studies at TAMU in Spring 2025.