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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>Comparing Resistivity and Conductivity in Metal Culverts</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2582927</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Currently, the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) uses the “2018 NMDOT Culvert Resistance Spreadsheet” (CRS) when estimating the service life of culverts. The values of resistivity in the CRS for different types of culverts of varying material (steel, concrete, aluminum, plastic, etc.) and of varying wall thickness with different corrosive inhibitor coatings were collected from manufacturers’ specification literature. With all these manufacturers’ values being reported in resistance (ohm-cm), it was assumed that the electrical conductance (milliSiemens per meter, mS/m) values reported by the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) for soils throughout New Mexico were indirectly proportional to each other, based on Ohm’s law. Furthermore, the resistivity of the soil is determined in-situ adjacent to the culvert and the values reported by NRCS are from electrical conductivity (EC) tests conducted in a lab from field-collected soil samples. These two methods, in-situ and laboratory are significantly different in procedure and produce values of different units, ohm-cm (resistivity) and mS/m (conductivity), respectively. It is assumed that the laboratory test is more accurate than the field tests, which will be evaluated in this proposed project. Providing a better understanding of and evidence that these two methods, although different, produce results that are indirectly proportional to each other will enhance NMDOT’s continued usage of their CRS when calculating service life of culverts.

OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this proposal are as follows:

Conduct a literature review of similar work on culvert service life estimation coupled with field and laboratory analysis. Research various (inexpensive and expensive) in-situ and laboratory soil testing equipment to be used for this study and then provide recommendations for NMDOT;
Test various (inexpensive and expensive) in-situ and laboratory soil testing equipment on approximately 20 sites throughout New Mexico;
Compare service life estimates to existing removed culverts with soil samples tested in-situ and in the laboratory and measure corrosive effects on these removed culverts;
Validate the assumptions made in NMDOT CRS for culvert service life estimates; 
Adjust the CRS if needed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2025 13:13:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2582927</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Role Of Grout And GFRP Slip Liner On The Circumferential Behaviour Of Retrofitted Corroded Metal Culverts </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2404267</link>
      <description><![CDATA[For any aging infrastructure, its probability of failure increases with time. There are a multitude of ways to repair and rehabilitate deteriorating pipes, and as the infrastructure system continues to age, it is important to understand and promote the use of effective and durable materials for retrofit. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have shown to offer an attractive alternative to replace the deteriorating steel in structural corrugated metal pipes (CMPs). FRP composites have significantly improved durability characteristics compared to steel, which will reduce maintenance costs and improve lifecycle costs. Other materials such as HDPE slip liners for retrofit are in existence but their durability and improvement to load carrying capacities is under question. Past experimental work has shown GFRP to be a suitable material for developing composite action with corroded steel using a polymer grout. Longitudinal testing of corroded CMP with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) slip liners has garnered interest of the New Mexico DOT. However, field conditions are more circumferential dominant behaviors, and no data exist on this performance measure for CMPs with GFRP slip liners. The proposed work will help evaluate the parameters obtained from circumferential bending necessary to develop design for field implementation using GFRP slip liners with different grouts for corroded culvert retrofit. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jul 2024 14:59:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2404267</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Field retrofit and testing of a corroded corrugated metal culvert using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1751163</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Metal culverts have served as a common structural element in highway design since the mid 1950’s because of their low initial cost, ease of fabrication and simple construction method. There has been an epidemic of corrosion of metal culverts for the last decade. Such corrosion results in loss of cross-section and occasionally leads to structural failure of the culvert. Numerous failures have taken place imposing a high cost with the need to rebuild many culverts in addition to significant indirect costs associated with highway closure. Glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) have become a desirable material for structural strengthening and rehabilitation over the past two decades. Prior research supported by TranSET showed that GFRP profile liner can retrofit an existing metal culvert and provide structural capacity for the corroded metal culvert to extend its service for 50-100 years. This proposal requests support for field experimentation of the above noted technology. New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has recently allocated a field trial site. A mock road resembling a two-lane rural road with a 6- inch backfill above a 22-foot long and 24-inch diameter corroded metal culvert is being prepared by NMDOT. This project will perform field retrofit of the corroded metal pipe using the fit-in GFRP profile liner technology and will provide field monitoring of the retrofitted pipe under truck loads. It is the intention to monitor the retrofitted culvert for up to 60 days after the retrofit is complete. The implementation phase of this project includes developing a guidebook for Departments of Transportation (DOTs) with information on design method for the GFRP retrofit technology and recommendations for work force training on field implementation of this new technology in the future.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2020 21:14:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1751163</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Plastic Pipe for Highway Construction-Phase 2</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1360383</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Culvert pipes used for highway cross drains have historically been concrete or corrugated metal (steel and aluminum). However, over recent years, the plastic pipe industries have been pushing state transportation agencies, including the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), to give equal consideration to plastic pipes. In 2006 the political emphasis culminated in regulation that broadened the types of culvert materials that should be considered for drainage applications on federal-aided highway projects. The regulation required that "equal consideration" be given when specifying alternate pipe materials--including plastic and corrugated aluminum--that are "judged to be of satisfactory quality and equally acceptable on the basis of engineering and economic analysis." Although this requirement was relaxed through the "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" (MAP-21) in 2012, the plastic pipes industries continue their push to expand their market to include widespread use of plastic pipes for cross drain applications. Although the most common types of plastic pipes, namely profiled wall high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipes, have been developed specifically for highway drainage applications and integrated into American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standard specifications, there are still many concerns, and confidence in their use for cross-drain applications remains low. The most prominent of these concerns revolve around the long-term integrity of plastic pipes and their joints. Plastics such as HDPE and PVC are viscoelastic materials, and by definition, creep under loading, and their rigidity characteristics change considerably (Gabriel and Goddard 1999; Goddard 1994). Table 1 provides material stiffness and strength (modulus of elasticity and yield strength) for plastic pipes as defined by AASHTO and the Plastics Pipe Institute (AASHTO 2009, AASHTO 2010, PPI 2003), along with comparable information for concrete and metal. The drastic stiffness change over time, which is used in standard design calculations, can be noted, with the modulus of polyethylene dropping by 80% and the modulus of polyvinylchloride dropping by 65%; likewise, the yield stress used in design calculations for polyethylene and polyvinylchloride drops by 70% and 47%, respectively. As discussed thoroughly in the report "Evaluation of HDPE and PVC Pipes Used for Cross-drains in Highway Construction" from the initial plastic pipe project, these properties are merely estimates based upon accelerated test methods and modeling that were adopted from the gas pressure pipe industry (PPI 2003, McGrath et al. 2009, Stuart et al. 2011). Although material quality control has improved over recent years, it has also been demonstrated that the resins used to manufacture plastic pipes can vary significantly between pipe producers. The long-term stability concern is further complicated by the fact that, unlike concrete pipes, plastic pipes are flexible-walled conduits 10 whose strength and structural integrity relies upon the arching effect provided by the surrounding backfill. The arching effectiveness, along with tendencies for the soil and backfill to also creep through time, is highly dependent upon the backfill and compaction quality during installation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2015 01:00:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1360383</guid>
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