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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>Clay and Shale LRFD Design Criteria for Drilled Shaft Foundations</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2604567</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) geotechnical design guidance has transitioned from using Texas Cone Penetrometer (TCP) boring logs and capacity correlations to design drilled shaft foundation elements with American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Load and Resistance Factor Design (AASHTO LRFD) investigations and resistance-based design methods. The research team will optimize TxDOT's drilled shaft design methods and resistance factors for clay and shale in accordance with TxDOT's specific soil and construction conditions. The research team will develop a likelihood map of shale for a district selected by TxDOT.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:35:38 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Develop Standardized LRFD Design Methods for Ancillary Highway Structures</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2420079</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT's) current standards for design of ancillary highway structure foundations are based on allowable stress design (ASD) framework and need to be updated to the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) framework to be compliant with American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) policy. The goal of this project is to develop standardized LRFD design methods for foundations of various ancillary traffic structures that are compliant with AASHTO requirements while maintaining an efficient design and the ease-of-use of a standard. The research team will (a) perform literature review and summarize the state of the practice and key findings of standards and design criteria for traffic structure foundations of TxDOT and other DOTs, (b) identify soil parameters and associated testing methods that can be used in updated standards, (c) evaluate TxDOT's current traffic structure standards for foundation design by comparing design outcomes from TxDOT's standards and those from other DOTs for various soil and loading conditions, (d) develop new LRFD design criteria for updates to the applicable standards, and (e) prepare design examples using the new LRFD design criteria.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:10:40 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Instrumentation and Data Management/Analyses for Measurement While Drilling Technology</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2325919</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The design and construction of any foundation require sufficient and reliable information about subsurface conditions. Availability and accuracy of such information are key parameters for the successful planning, design, construction, and operation of many engineering projects including transportation infrastructure. Obtaining such sufficient and reliable in-situ geologic substrate data and characterizing the subsurface conditions for engineering design purposes, however, has always been a challenge to the natural resources and civil engineering industries. Recently, Measurement While Drilling (MWD) technology has shown a lot of potential for improving subsurface characterization. Therefore, obtaining, organizing, and interpreting the MWD data is of huge importance and urgency to DOTs as it can benefit the organization in several ways. For example, by improving the accuracy and consistency of subsurface data, MWD could significantly improve the design of transportation structures’ foundations, reduce the number of required subsurface exploration locations, and minimize delays and the number of change order requests, all of which leads to considerable cost savings. This project, therefore, aims to address the need for instrumentation as well as organization and interpretation of Measurement While Drilling (MWD) data for National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) State Members. To achieve these goals, Nebraska DOT's Geoprobe 3230DT drill rig will be equipped with MWD sensors and a data acquisition system and only Nebraska DOT projects will be investigated at this stage. Drillers will be trained to collect MWD data during their projects. A web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) will be developed for efficient storage, preprocessing, and visualization of MWD data. The collected MWD data on NDOT’s projects over the duration of this project will be analyzed to establish correlations and predictive models linking MWD data to key geotechnical properties of subsurface layers.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2024 14:29:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2325919</guid>
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      <title>Improved Geotechnical Correlations for Lateral Pile Analysis</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2270164</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research project scope includes the following: collect a database of lateral pile load tests and in-situ test results from available literature and in-house files; develop improved correlations between lateral soil resistance parameters and in-situ penetration resistance in cohesionless soils that quantify uncertainty; and develop improved correlations between lateral soil resistance parameters and undrained shear strength and CPT qc in cohesive soils.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:12:12 GMT</pubDate>
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