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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <atom:link href="https://rip.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <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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      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Investigate Wisconsin Bridge Scour in Mobile (Alluvial) Sand-Bed Rivers</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2671987</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The primary objective of this research is to enhance scour prediction accuracy for bridges in Wisconsin’s mobile sand-bed rivers by developing region-specific scour envelope curves. The proposed study will address the limitations of existing scour prediction methods by incorporating Wisconsin’s unique hydraulic, geomorphic, and sedimentological conditions. By refining existing scour envelope methodologies and tailoring them to Wisconsin’s river systems, this research aims to improve scour estimation accuracy, reduce unnecessary costs, and enhance long-term bridge safety and maintenance planning. In order to provide guidance for determining the probable depth of scour under various hydraulic, geological, and structural conditions, FHWA developed Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18 (HEC-18): Evaluating Scour at Bridges (Richardson & Davis, 2012). HEC-18 has served as a technical standard for bridge scour analysis in the United States. It establishes a comprehensive methodology for evaluating scour at bridge foundations, including pier scour, contraction scour, and abutment scour. Additional documents are also available, including HEC-20: Stream Stability at Highway Structures (Lagasse, Schall, et al., 2001) and HEC-23: Bridge Scour and Stream Instability Countermeasures (Lagasse, Zevenbergen, et al., 2001).These documents are also adopted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) as the standard procedures for bridge scour analysis. To address the limitations of HEC-18, many state DOTs (e.g., Minnesota, Iowa, New Jersey, South Carolina) have developed regional modifications or supplemental procedures to enhance scour prediction models. While many state DOTs have developed regional modifications for HEC-18, or regional scour envelope curves, Wisconsin has not yet established a dedicated set of scour envelope curves tailored to its river systems. This study seeks to refine scour prediction in Wisconsin’s rivers by supplementing HEC-18’s methodology with locally derived scour envelope curves, improving the accuracy of scour predictions and optimizing bridge foundation designs.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:26:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2671987</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Coastal and river bridge scour mitigation using hybrid solutions (TAMU)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663228</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Bridge piers, foundations, and abutments in coastal areas or across rivers often face heightened risk of detrimental scour development under wave and/or current loading. Along  coastlines bridges are part of essential evacuation routes, saving lives ahead of predicted storm impacts with life-threatening consequences if compromised. Further inland, many bridges across creeks and rivers that are part of rural transportation systems and low-volume road networks afford equally important transportation connections. When disaster strikes and these structures are compromised – as was painfully demonstrated in the recent Central Texas flash flood disaster – entire communities are cut-off from relief help or means to recover quickly. In most instances, bridge failure is initiated through hydraulically-induced scour formation and growth at the interface of the structural components and the surrounding sediment. If scour issues can be predicted and mitigated early, catastrophic failure can be avoided. The problem is that traditional mitigation techniques are costly or, in the case of rural bridges, may not even be included in the design. Here, the research team plans to test low-cost hybrid mitigation techniques that can help reduce scour impact to bridges caused by wave or current impact by using bio-cementation (such as Microbially-Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation - MICP) and/or geosynthetics in combination with the in-situ sediment.

Proposed Research: The team plans the following tasks to address the efficacy of these solutions to reduce scour: Task 1: Assess existing technological options for coastal and riverine bridge scour protection. This will be done via an in-depth literature review on scour protection with the goal of identifying various options, their advantages and limitations. 
Task 2: Conduct physical model wave flume scour tests with wave and/or current loading for different low-cost, hybrid scour protection combinations including MICP and geosynthetics in tandem with the in-situ sediments.
Task 3: Develop scour prediction equations based on the conducted physical model tests that can be used to assess the efficacy of the hybrid solutions for use in coastal and riverine bridge systems.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:25:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663228</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>COLLABORATIVE: Quantifying erosion and load transfer mechanisms of geosynthetic reinforced coastal pavement subgrades and embankments during inundation events (TAMU/TXST)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663227</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Project Description: Transportation infrastructure in coastal regions is highly susceptible to soil erosion and subgrade degradation under frequent inundation events caused by storm surges. Fines within the subgrade are washed out due to flood-induced subsurface flow, while overflowing water along embankments results in overtopping and eventually leads to surficial erosion and complete collapse. These processes result in embankment and pavement failures; addressing these issues requires novel and innovative infrastructure durability solutions. One approach that combines hydraulic protection of subsoils with reduced soil erosion and provides drainage to recede floodwaters from infrastructure is geosynthetics. Geosynthetics, like geocomposites and turf-reinforced mats (TRMs), are often used to control erosion in slopes and levees from overtopping and rainfall. Also, the use of geosynthetics is increasingly growing for pavement reinforcement applications. These well-established benefits of geosynthetics can be combined and effectively applied for coastal transportation infrastructure that often sees failures following inundation events. Hence, this research study focuses on evaluating geosynthetics to solve both embankment erosion and maintain drainable and resilient subgrade foundations to support coastal transportation infrastructure. 
Geosynthetic Reinforcement of Coastal Embankment Slopes: TRMs and geocomposites will be studied for this application. Texas State University (TXST) will measure the erosion characteristics of the test materials using the erosion function apparatus (EFA). The EFA will quantify the erosion rates of the soil with and without the protection of these geosynthetic layers under varying hydraulic stresses, providing insights into soil erodibility and material performance. Texas A&M (TAMU) will conduct small-scale flume erosion studies on model embankment slopes using a coastal, sandy soil. Flume studies on embankment slopes built with and without geosynthetic reinforcements will be subjected to overtopping and inundation flow conditions for various time periods. Erosion patterns will be studied via laser and digital image scans. These data will also assess the role of geocomposites and TRMs on mitigating soil erosion and enhancing slope stability.  
Geosynthetic Reinforcement of Coastal Pavement Subgrade Foundations: TAMU flume study results will yield erosion patterns, more specifically void patterns, that will be used to create an  “eroded” pavement structure. These artificial voids will be created inside a large box setup, with 12 to 18 in. of subgrade supporting a flexbase aggregate base layer. These box samples will be instrumented with moisture probes, pressure cells, and MEMS deformation sensors. Each model pavement will be subjected to cyclic plate load tests to study and evaluate the load-bearing capacity and load transfer mechanism from repeated loads to the underlying subgrades. The same tests will be performed on the samples after they are inundated. The role of geocomposites both before and after exposure to moisture inundation, as well as load transfer mechanisms on subgrades with erosion-simulated voids, will be evaluated.
This is a collaborative project between Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Texas State University (TXST). Flume and large-scale box studies will be performed at TAMU Galveston campus and Center for Infrastructure Research (CIR) laboratories, respectively. TXST will perform the EFA with geosynthetic layers experiments. EFA studies focus on evaluating the critical shear stresses (i.e., hydraulic shear stresses at which soil erosion initiates) of the reinforced/unreinforced subsoils. Changes in critical shear stress at discontinuities such as gravel/sand interfaces will be of particular interest.  These combined results will generate a comprehensive understanding of the potential improvements of embankment and foundation reinforcement using advanced geosynthetic materials in providing resilient support to transportation infrastructure in coastal corridors. The results of this project will be used to design Phase II with coastal railroad track embankments.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:12:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663227</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SEAHIVE® solutions to mitigate bridge scour – Phase III (UM)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663128</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This is a collaborative research project conducted in partnership with Texas State University. Phases I and II of the project were conducted during AY24 and AY25. This one-year proposal is for Phase III of the three-phase project.  The objective of this research project is to show a proof-of-concept of using innovative hydraulic load dissipating elements, known as SEAHIVE®. This is a modular engineered protection system composed of concrete perforated hexagonal prisms. Perforations on the side faces of the elements provide passage for water flow dissipating the energy within the system while also adding structural complexity which improves its potential for habitat creation. 
SEAHIVE® has been under research and development at the University of Miami (UM) for wave energy dissipation and habitat enhancement with three pilot installations completed. This UTC study investigates the performance of the SEAHIVE® system intended for mitigating bridge scour. This project has the potential to create a consortium-wide effort for implementing the SEAHIVE® system into practice and changing how we design or retrofit bridge foundations for mitigating scour. Phase I focused on externally-prestressed elements given the mass production and scaling-up advantage. Externally prestressed (by Glass FRP rovings) units were produced by the dry-cast method with the same equipment used for the production of concrete pipes. Phase II focused on the production of internally-prestressed units using a revolutionary mold system. Using this technique, it will be possible to increase production efficiency and, as importantly, manufacture units of lengths up to 24 ft. that could be necessary for installation in riverine environments. The units produced with this technology were characterized.
Phase III deals with the production and characterization of elements made by wet-casting using a combination of randomly distributed short fibers for the control of cracking with and without the presence of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement made of GFRP bars. This investigation is made possible because of the special formwork that has recently been constructed as shown in Figure 1.
Figure1: Custom SEAHIVE® formwork 
The behavior of these units will be compared to others produced with the technologies investigated in the previous Phases I and II.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:52:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2663128</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Optimizing SEAHIVE® solutions to mitigate bridge scour (TXST)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2662984</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Bridge scour remains the top cause for bridge failure in the United States. When scour is observed during bridge inspections, a plan of action must be established to ensure the safety of the traveling public. Bridge failure is obviously costly; scour mitigation and monitoring are additional costs for the life cycle of the structure. Scour is additionally challenging to predict and unforeseen changes in the hydraulic load (both in direction and in magnitude from extreme events) can further exacerbate bridge scour. This research is the next phase of Texas State University (TXST)'s effort to implement SEAHIVE® elements for scour mitigation. SEAHIVE® is an engineered protection system composed of concrete hexagonal prisms. Perforations on the side faces of the elements provide passage for water flow, dissipating the energy within the system while also adding structural complexity to improve its potential for habitat creation. SEAHIVE® is under research and development at the University of Miami (UM) for wave energy dissipation. TXST conducted experimental and computational studies on a horizontally stacked three-unit SEAHIVE® system. A three-unit system placed three pile diameters in front of a monopile reduced the scour magnitude by 70.2% and volume by 94.1%. The configuration also reduced tangential velocity by one-third and vertical velocity by 80%, effectively weakening vortex strength and minimizing local scour. A limitation of the first phase is the SEAHIVE® system was continuous in that it extended edge-to-edge across the TXST flume and in the computational model.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to expand the analysis to more realistically simulate field-scale challenges and to establish baseline design parameters towards testing a prototype system in the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University (OSU). The calibrated coupled hydrodynamic-morphodynamic model in Open FOAM will be used for further analysis to include studying the effects of: soil density, flow height, velocity, and  SEAHIVE® length to pier diameter ratios. Additionally, in this phase we will analyze vertical SEAHIVE® systems, including a SEAHIVE® skirt around the monopile and a SEAHIVE® wall. Such data are needed more fully understand the practical boundaries of SEAHIVE®  as an effective green-gray scour counter measure and design the prototype scale experiments in the OSU flume.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:52:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2662984</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>DOT Application of the Palmiter Stream Management Technique in Small Streams

</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2633332</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has one large experimental installation of the Palmiter Method in Clark County along the Mad River.  ODOT is interested in expanding the use of this technique across the state. Rapid deployment/implementation of the method on smaller streams with erosion concerns near infrastructure is potentially a better application of the method.  It is unclear how the method can be deployed and what benefits and drawbacks are likely in a small stream.  There is potential that the Palmiter Method is much better suited for small stream erosion issues, using low-cost materials, and potentially beneficial to stream habitat (as measured using OEPA sampling methods).  

The Palmiter Method was initially vetted using a Researcher-On-Call (ROC) contract with Ohio University who looked at what was known about the technique and potential applications in the DOT. No actual installations were constructed and monitored for risks/benefits/cost comparisons with traditional methods. ODOT manages thousands of stream erosion issues across the state. The most predominant stream type and stream/road interaction in the system are smaller streams that erode around culverts, into embankments, and undermine road shoulders. Research is needed to investigate the use of the Palmiter Methods on small streams comparing the cost, time, success/failure, biological impact, permitting, stream hydrology, and structure longevity compared to more traditional methods used to maintain erosion on small streams.

The goal of this research is to compare the Palmiter Method to traditional methods for erosion control in small streams.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:37:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2633332</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Practices. Topic 57-03. Practice on Monitoring Scour Plan of Action for Bridges During and After Floods</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2630487</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Scour is the most common cause of bridge failures. Per 23 CFR 650.313, state departments of transportation (DOTs) must have programs to manage the risks of scour vulnerability in their bridge inventories. Specifically, this regulation requires state DOTs to maintain a documented plan of action (POA) for every scour-critical bridge and every bridge with unknown foundations. A POA typically includes a plan for monitoring the bridge during or after flooding to ensure it is safe for traffic or closed if found to be unsafe.

The 23 CFR 650.313 does not prescribe specific monitoring methods, so state DOTs use a variety of approaches and software in their POAs. These approaches can vary depending on factors such as data availability, funding, and resources for scour monitoring. Therefore, a synthesis study documenting state DOT practices for meeting POA monitoring requirements for both on- and off-system bridges will help state DOTs implement monitoring scour POAs within their unique organizational contexts.

The objective of this synthesis is to document state DOT practices and policies for POA implementation, including monitoring methods, software, instrumentation, and other tools used in these efforts.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:33:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2630487</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Enhancing the Reliability of Transportation Structures by Quantifying Strength Reduction Magnitude of Soils in Midwestern States</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2626785</link>
      <description><![CDATA[For highway structures in Nebraska and many Mid-Western states, the extreme precipitation brought the failure of slopes even though they were designed and constructed complying with relevant codes and practices. Back analyses of these failed slopes showed that the strength of soils at failure turned out to be substantially lower than the tested one at the design stage. Further studies showed that this kind of substantial strength reduction was due to the strength reduction of glacial tills during wet seasons. This reduced strength of soils is called “Wet-Drained-Fully-Softened-Strength (WDFSS)”, however, the method to evaluate this critical strength takes extremely long time (months if not years for one test) and high cost. This research team developed a new field-testing method to evaluate this critical strength by utilizing an innovative “self-wetting” CPT-based method that can evaluate this WDFSS in a rational time span, that is usually a day.
This research team, therefore, proposes to evaluate the WDFSS of various Nebraska soils with this innovative CPT method, so that WDFSS can be conveniently obtained and utilized for design work.
In addition, this study includes the Santee Reservation area – one of Native American Reservations in Nebraska as one of test sites. This area showed as high as 90% strength reduction for clayey glacial tills in the previous study (Song et al. 2019). Providing specific geotechnical information to the tribal government will greatly enhance the usage of their territory in more resilient and productive ways.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:18:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2626785</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Development of new design guidelines for protection against erosion at bridge piers and estimating effects of pressurized flow on erosion potential
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627350</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Addressing flood-induced erosion problems at bridges is critical to maintain the safety of the transportation infrastructure. Better design of scour prevention measures will result in less failure of bridges during natural disasters. A numerically-based approach will be used to propose a new design formula for determining minimum riprap stone size needed for riprap apron protection against erosion at circular, rectangular and oblong bridge piers. The proposed approach was already validated for abutments. The flow fields predicted using fully 3-D RANS simulations will be used to estimate the maximum bed shear stress over the riprap layer and the critical Froude number corresponding to the shear-failure entrainment threshold for the riprap stone. A comprehensive parametric study will be conducted to understand how pier shape and aspect ratio influence the peak shear stress over the riprap region. Results will be compared with those given by present formulas including by those recommended by HEC-18. A new multi-parameter design formula that incorporates the effect of pier shape and aspect ratio will be developed. The research also aims to develop procedures for riprap sizing at bridge piers under pressurized flow conditions due to bridge deck overtopping at high flow conditions. Simulations will be conducted to understand how the critical Froude number varies with increasing flow depth in between open-channel and pressurized flow conditions at the bridge. Recommendations will be made on how to use the design formula developed for open channel flow regime for cases when the flow at the bridge site is pressurized.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:27:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627350</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>In-Stream Vegetation as a Nature-Based Approach to Scour Control at Bridge Crossings
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627352</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Scour and erosion are well-established as leading causes of bridge failures in North America. While bridge crossings often include countermeasures for scour control and mitigation, the majority of existing scour countermeasures are considered expensive, impractical, and ineffective. Although routinely commented on in state-of-practice reports and highly beneficial in building and maintaining sustainable communities and ecosystems, nature-based solutions have been overlooked as an approach to scour control. A knowledge base which provides scientific evidence of the efficacy of green infrastructure such as in-stream vegetation for scour control at bridge crossings is not currently available. Evaluation based on detailed bathymetric and flow field measurements is necessary for future development of practical guidelines.
The proposed research will employ extensive physical modelling to explore the efficacy of in-stream vegetation for scour control at bridge crossings. Experiments will be conducted in the laboratory facilities of IIHR – Hydroscience & Engineering, which include a high-gradient sediment-capable tilting flume with a sediment recess. Robust flow measurement techniques, including particle image velocimetry (PIV) and acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV), will provide insight into distribution of velocity components, shear and normal stresses, and higher-order turbulence moments in the flow field of interest due to inclusion of vegetated sections in the channel. The results of the physical modelling efforts will enhance the severely limited understanding of the influence of green infrastructure elements on the scour mechanism. The primary anticipated product is the initiation of a knowledge base for the development of a framework of guidelines to be used in practice.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:20:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627352</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TRS: Management of Woody Debris in Rivers to Protect Bridges and Reduce Flood Risk</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2607955</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will summarize the risks to bridges created by the presence of woody debris, conduct a survey of state department of transportation (DOT)s to understand practices in other states on this topic, and document applicable laws and regulations in Minnesota rivers and floodplains. This Transportation Research Synthesis (TRS) will be used to further the understanding of this issue both for bridge owners as well as regulatory authorities.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Oct 2025 16:56:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2607955</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Dynamics, Drivers and Mitigation of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) and Shoreline Change: Data Needs Associated with the Mid-Currituck Bridge</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2604610</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Recent research (S.A.V.E. Currituck, 2020) has shown that in Currituck Sound, the primary factor limiting submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) distribution is water clarity. SAV in the sound will likely be impacted by construction and shading post construction of the Mid-Currituck Bridge. In addition, studies have shown that shorelines near the Mid-Currituck Bridge terminus on the east and west side are experiencing significant erosion rates. Bridge design and ultimate construction may change local dynamics (i.e., wave field, water clarity) that can influence SAV distribution and shoreline position. This project has three primary objectives relevant to understanding water quality, SAV and shoreline mitigation strategies: (1) Quantify temporal and spatial changes in water quality, specifically CDOM abundance in surface waters of northern Currituck Sound; (2) evaluate shoreline change rates on multiple timescales, including influence of storms, near bridge landing; and (3) synthesize remote sensing and field data to provide information to limit impacts to water quality, SAV and shorelines during bridge construction and maintenance and to prioritize mitigation for maximum benefit. It is critical to have more information on the current local water quality, shoreline change and SAV dynamics to better predict and limit damage associated with bridge construction and to prioritize required mitigation activities for maximum benefit. This research will focus on expanding data collection near the bridge corridor and broadening understanding of water clarity/quality dynamics and its potential role in changing SAV distribution.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:53:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2604610</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Scour Critical Shear Stress of Ohio Soils
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2601291</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Currently, Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) assumes all cohesive soils to be granular soil with the same gradation as fine Ottawa sand, which is the most scourable soil material. This is an unreasonable assumption for cohesive soils, and it over-predicts scour to an unrealistic degree, potentially costing Ohio from a few thousand to millions of dollars per bridge foundation at water crossing structures with cohesive foundation soils. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) "NextScour" program, "The result of this assumption can be too conservative when soils other than the uniformly graded granular soils are encountered and can dramatically increase the cost of many bridge foundations."

ODOT needs to develop reasonable scour guidelines and analyses based on soil scour critical shear stress (tc) to provide realistic predictions of scour depth for scour design floods and scour check floods, so that appropriately efficient and economical foundations can be designed for Ohio bridges. ODOT needs an economical and practical way to estimate tc for input into scour analyses, based on common laboratory soil testing index properties, without the need to resort to expensive and time-consuming flume soil testing to measure tc for each project.

ODOT proposes to develop better soil scour guidelines and analyses based on scour critical shear stress (tc), including estimation of tc based on common laboratory soil testing index properties through this study.
                          ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 08:35:07 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2601291</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessment of GDOT Grassing Practices for Post-Construction Disturbed Areas within the Right-of-Way</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596523</link>
      <description><![CDATA[
The objective of the proposed research study is to assess the effectiveness of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)’s current grassing revegetation process and provide recommendations for improvement. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 08:00:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2596523</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Real-time Continuous Bridge Scour Monitoring for Improved Safety and Cost Savings</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2592197</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Current Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) methods for monitoring bridge scour are time-consuming, labor intensive, not always accurate, very dangerous to perform during extreme storm events, and unrealistic to apply to all of the scour critical bridges. Development of a deployable remote real-time monitoring system could alleviate these issues as well as provide an early warning system for Region and District personnel. This project will (1) develop methods for identifying scour early and safely using deployable automated Real-Time Scour monitoring systems, (2) use data collected to improve bridge design, and (3) provide a planning matrix to address the scour critical bridge inventory with this advanced real-time technology.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2025 14:19:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2592197</guid>
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