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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
    <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
    <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>
    <image>
      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
      <url>https://rip.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle-RIP.jpg</url>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Synthesis: Assess Hazard and Vulnerability Prioritization for Texas Bridges and Tunnels</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2604498</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Recent state and national incidents have underscored the need for a comprehensive assessment of hazards and vulnerabilities affecting Texas bridges and tunnels. Accidental and intentional bridge fires, vessel allisions, and other threats pose significant risks to structural integrity, safety, and functionality, leading to costly repairs and potential service disruptions. This research aims to develop a systematic approach to measure and quantify vulnerabilities in existing bridges across the state. The study will begin with a literature review and data collection on past bridge incidents, analysing causes, effects, and current mitigation strategies, including best practices from other states. Recommendations for updates to Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) manuals regarding hazard mitigation in bridge design, maintenance, and management will be developed. A risk assessment and vulnerability evaluation procedure will be created to quantify and prioritize at-risk bridges and tunnels. Using this procedure, high-risk structures will be identified and ranked based on their importance and criticality. The final phase will incorporate these findings into draft language for potential inclusion in TxDOT manuals.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:02:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2604498</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Radiation Exposure (Sec 322)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2518971</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to assess the health risks caused by radiation exposure among crewmembers operating under Part 121. This study was directed in Section 322 of the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act, with the study commencing not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the Act. 
SEC. 322. STUDY ON RADIATION EXPOSURE.
(a) STUDY.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall seek to enter into appropriate arrangements with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under which the National Research Council of the National Academies shall conduct a study on radiation exposure to crewmembers onboard various aircraft types operated under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) SCOPE OF STUDY.—In conducting the study under subsection (a), the National Research Council shall assess—
(1) radiation concentrations in such aircraft at takeoff, in-flight at high altitudes, and upon landing;
(2) the health risks and impact of radiation exposure to crewmembers onboard aircraft operating at high altitudes; and
(3) mitigation measures to prevent and reduce the health and safety impacts of radiation exposure to crewmembers.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 16 months after the initiation of the study required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress the study conducted by the National Research Council pursuant to this section.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2025 14:48:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2518971</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Improving Post-Disaster Access to Critical Facilities for Coastal Communities </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2437900</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The increased frequency of acute coastal hazards (tsunamis and hurricanes) in conjunction with induced chronic hazards (coastal erosion) could result in the occurrence of unprecedented combinations of these hazards that can cause tremendous damage to the coastal transportation network. These disruptions combined with the prevailing lack of adequate redundancies in the transportation network can severely impact connectivity from coastal communities to critical facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, and other areas for post-disaster aid. Thus, this proposal will first quantify the impact of unprecedented combinations of coastal hazards on the connectivity of rural communities to critical hazards. Additionally, this project seeks identify appropriate post-disaster response and recovery strategies to minimize differential impacts on coastal populations by improving their access to critical facilities after unprecedented disasters. These strategies include the identification of appropriate operations based on the region and the hazard for recovery and creation of discrete event simulation models to enable quantification of their performance. These will also enable a large-scale optimization in the allocation of resources considering a region’s hazard exposure and the type of operations enabled.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 07 Oct 2024 17:09:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2437900</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Quantitative Risk Assessment of Concrete Infrastructure Assets</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2344526</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The overall objective of this research is to develop quantitative risk assessment techniques to determine the vulnerabilities of critical concrete infrastructure assets to natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes) and integrate them with asset management programs, life-cycle analysis, resource allocation, and planning efforts. The research team will (1) characterize uncertainties, including natural hazards and aging assets, (2) develop statistical and physics-based simulation models to calculate changes to the functionality of concrete infrastructure assets due to natural hazards, (3) propagate uncertainties into the risk-based simulation models and characterize impacts (i.e., vulnerabilities) probabilistically, and (4) integrate the quantified risks with asset management programs, life-cycle analysis, resource allocation, and planning efforts. The project will span over four (4) years. Work in Year 1: Various existing probability and possibility functions will be identified and thoroughly assessed to represent concrete assets’ performance uncertainties arising from natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, avalanches, tornadoes, flooding), and aging concrete assets (considering both structural and operational failure).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:29:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2344526</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluate Safety End Treatments for Roadside Drainage Structures</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2255824</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Drainage is a critical element of roadside design and often calls for the use of cross-drainage and parallel-drainage culverts. If untreated, the ends of the drainage structures can become roadside hazards that can result in serious injury when an errant vehicle leaves the roadway. The most cost-effective strategy is often to make the culvert end traversable using grates comprised of pipe runners across the culvert end. The research team will investigate the safety performance of traversable cross-drainage and parallel-drainage culvert end treatments installed on roadside slopes. The research team will address the various design variations of safety end treatments supported by current standards to investigate the safety performance. The research team will develop design guidance to recommend slopes and size, length, and spacing of the pipe runners for both cross-drainage and parallel-drainage culverts that comply with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The research team will use full-scale crash testing to aid with validating the design guidance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:29:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2255824</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Multi-Hazard Design of Highway Bridges</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2241392</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research report provides framework and recommendations for guidelines for designing and maintaining New Jersey bridges to resist multiple hazards, based om literature reviews, input of subject matter experts (SMEs), and researchers’ findings and studies. It identifies various hazards such as earthquakes, flooding, storm surge, scour, wind, collisions, fire, blast, and site-specific risks for structural system guidance covering superstructures, substructures, connections, and energy dissipation measures. Individual hazards in accordance with AASHTO, NJDOT, and NJDEP requirements was described to explain how to address multi-hazard interactions through appropriate load combinations. Implementation guidelines are proposed for integration with NJDOT design procedures.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Sep 2023 17:27:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2241392</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Vision-based Navigation of Autonomous Vehicle In Roadway Environments With Unexpected Hazards</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2196817</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Vision-based navigation of autonomous vehicles primarily depends on the Deep Neural Network (DNN) based systems in which the controller obtains input from sensors/detectors, such as cameras and produces a vehicle control output, such as a steering wheel angle to navigate the vehicle safely in a roadway traffic environment. Typically, these DNN-based systems of the autonomous vehicle are trained through supervised learning; however, recent studies show that a trained DNN-based system can be compromised by perturbation or adversarial inputs. Similarly, this perturbation can be introduced into the DNN-based systems of autonomous vehicle by unexpected roadway hazards, such as debris and roadblocks. In this study, the research team first introduces a roadway hazardous environment (both intentional and unintentional roadway hazards) that can compromise the DNN-based navigational system of an autonomous vehicle, and produces an incorrect steering wheel angle, which can cause crashes resulting in fatality and injury. Then, the team develops a DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system using object detection and semantic segmentation to mitigate the adverse effect of this type of hazardous environment, which helps the autonomous vehicle to navigate safely around such hazards. The team finds that their developed DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system including hazardous object detection and semantic segmentation improves the navigational ability of an autonomous vehicle to avoid a potential hazard by 21% compared to the traditional DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 14 Jun 2023 15:20:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2196817</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Develop an Evaluation Protocol for Non-LNG Release Hazards - Modeling</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2093140</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will provide regulatory agencies with the means to properly evaluate modeling tools for any of the hazards that are required to be evaluated, thereby  providing clarity to LNG plant developers and their safety consultants regarding which models may be used and which safety factors must be applied.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2023 13:53:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2093140</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Further Development of AI Tool for Extraction of Road Hazards from Videolog Data and LIDAR</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021867</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The UNC Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC), the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), and potentially the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) are proposing to develop the NCDOT Safety Data Initiative (SDI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tool, the feasibility of which has been established in the one-year project funded by the USDOT SDI State and Local Government Data Analysis
Tools for Roadway Safety grant (to be completed in November 2021). In the initial implementation of the tool, the research team, in close partnership of NCDOT Traffic Safety, Operations Program Management, and Research and Development units, achieved a prediction accuracy of 90% for guardrails and 88% for the utility poles in collected video log data in 2018 and 2019 by NCDOT for all secondary roads. To further meet NCDOT needs, the research team is proposing to extend the approaches implemented in the initial version of the tool to assign geometric locations to safety-related features. The research team will further integrate
LIDAR and videolog data. These two extensions will provide a greater range of features including topographical features and provide the geometric information necessary to make use of the identified features in a safety context. The proposed work will use a combination of AI, classical computer vision and imaging algorithms to add geometry to the predictions so that every point or extended object will have a real-world location extracted from the data. NCDOT has acquired aerial LIDAR data for the whole state of North Carolina. In collaboration with the NCDOT Photogrammetry unit, the research team will use NCDOT LIDAR data to compute roadway geometry derivatives, such as side slope, lane width, centerline of the road, edge of the road, density of trees, and surface curvature. In this proposed upgrade of the tool, the fusion of LIDAR with videolog data will allow combined analysis of these sources, using the best properties of each to enhance the results.
With these upgrades to the NCDOT SDI tool, the research team will use the fused LIDAR/videolog dataset to extract a set of point features such as poles and mailboxes, extended features such as guardrails, and topographical elements such as side slope and cliff faces.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 13 Sep 2022 12:04:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2021867</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Roadside Safety Pooled Fund - Phase 3</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2020228</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this Pooled Fund is to assist transportation agencies in achieving their Roadway Departure (RwD) related  all state Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs) goals through development, evaluation and deployment of life-saving roadside safety devices and countermeasures in accordance with AASHTO and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) adopted standards such as the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). It will also support continuation of MASH implementation in roadside hardware categories that have lagged in achieving MASH compliance (special barrier applications, sign supports, work zone traffic control devices, luminaire poles, etc.) due to various design and performance challenges and other related factors. These activities will directly support and impact state efforts to achieve Target Zero by helping reduce the frequency and severity of roadway departure crashes.

Given their common interest in SHSP implementation, all states would benefit from participation in this Pooled Fund program.  However, the FHWA Roadway Departure Focus States may particularly benefit from the roadside safety research, collaboration, and information sharing that will constitute the framework of the program.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 09 Sep 2022 18:37:12 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2020228</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Proposed Guidance for Fixed Objects in the Roadside Design Guide</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1909908</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Each year, roadway departure crashes in the United States result in serious injuries and fatalities. Between 2012-2014, the average number of fatalities per year resulting from roadway departure crashes was 18,355. Of that number, 7,349 fatalities resulted from impacts with fixed objects such as trees, shrubbery, utility poles, luminaire poles, sign supports, and traffic signals—all classified as the most harmful events. (Source: Fatal Analysis Reporting System, NHTSA).
Current guidance directs transportation agencies to remove or avoid placing fixed objects within regions close to the traveled way. However, agencies must often consider numerous competing interests. For example, roadside trees are noted to provide environmental and aesthetic benefits. In addition, discussion of tree removal can become a contentious issue for the general public as well as specific interest groups. Overhead utilities located along the right-of-way provide essential services to residential and commercial customers, but relocation of those utilities is often costly.
 
As transportation agencies continue to expand the use of data-driven decision-making processes and performance-based design decisions, the need to quantitatively evaluate the safety risks posed by fixed objects located near the traveled way as well as the benefits of implementing various safety treatments within the clear zone is necessary. With recent concepts such as context-sensitive solutions, complete streets, and practical design evolving into more mainstream practices, there are many factors that must be considered and balanced in the development of the roadside environment. Transportation practitioners need a risk-based, technical approach to help mitigate fatal and serious injury crashes with fixed objects with in the right-of-way. This alternative approach will allow engineers to quantitatively and impartially balance safety with other factors as well as better communicate to decision makers and the public the safety risks posed by fixed objects placed in close proximity to the roadway.
 
Results of this research will enable transportation agencies to set and evaluate their level of safety risk and use quantitative information in the decision-making process. This is consistent with the approach for other guidance being developed for the next version of the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide (RDG).

The objectives of this research were to develop an evaluation methodology and guidance for use by the transportation engineering practitioner to quantify the relative risk of collisions with roadside fixed objects. The research results are intended for inclusion as a new chapter or supplement in a future edition of the Roadside Design Guide.

The results should address a broad range of roadside safety issues considering but not limited to: traffic volume; speed; crash severity; urban and rural land use; horizontal curvature; roadway geometrics; fixed-object type, size, and offset; and fixed-object density. The effectiveness of various mitigation strategies in lieu of removal or relocation should also be considered or evaluated.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 08 Feb 2022 17:33:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1909908</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Guidance for Small Airports on Safe Maintenance of Airfield Electrical Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1902743</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Nonqualified or improperly trained airport staff may not be able to recognize airfield electrical systems hazards that may lead to serious injury or loss of life. Airport sponsors of many of the country’s smallest airports may not have qualified onsite management or staff familiar with the operational needs and risks to appropriately manage an airfield electrical system. The maintenance of airfield electrical systems may be left to general airport staff, airport sponsor staff, or outside individuals, all of whom may lack proper training. The unintended consequences of improper routine maintenance or catastrophic failure is not only dangerous, but will disrupt safe airfield operations. It appears that there is no cost-effective training on basic airfield electrical system maintenance available for small-hub, non-hub, reliever, and general aviation (GA) airports. 

Airport sponsors could benefit from assistance in understanding how to appropriately train, select, and assign individuals and/or resources to safely maintain the airfield electrical systems, including the means to identify qualified local or regional resources. 

The objective of this research is to provide guidance and best practices for safely maintaining airfield electrical systems that are accessible and practical for small-hub, non-hub, reliever, and GA airports. The guidance should include tools; compile means and methods for recognizing hazards and mitigating risks; and provide curriculum outlines and job aids that sponsors can use to ensure that individuals are fully qualified to perform tasks assigned. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2022 15:14:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1902743</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Testing Improved Transportation System Hazard Warnings</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1758941</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research will identify existing and other technologies beyond transportation and
infrastructure that may have potential applications to addressing reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities. These technologies will help to collect data, make better informed transportation and traffic safety planning and policy, develop program strategies, and help decrease fatal behavioral decisions.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2020 15:31:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1758941</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Efficient and Safe Removal &amp; Debris Disposal of Ash Trees Killed by Emerald Ash Borer </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1749089</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Over the past several years the full affects of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) have been felt across the entire state.  Rather than only a few trees dying along a roadway per year, the infestation of EAB has caused many Ash trees to die in only a couple of years.  This greatly increases the amount of work that must be done in a short time.  The EAB feeds on the soft tissues just beneath the bark of the Ash.  The feeding cuts off the circulatory system of the tree causing the tree to die.  As a result, the tree dies very quickly and becomes brittle.  Due to the structure of the dead Ash tree, it is difficult to determine how the tree will fall when cut.  Another danger is falling dead limbs.  Because the trees are very brittle, limbs will break and separate from the tree rather than bend when the tree is being removed resulting in falling hazards.  Unlike a living tree, when a dead Ash tree is cut and hits the ground it shatters and debris from the tree flies in all directions.  The flying debris cannot only cause damage to equipment, but also injuries to workers.  Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has thousands of dead Ash trees along its rights-of-way that must be removed.
The goal of this research is to develop a solution for efficient and safe dead Ash tree removal and handling of generated debris.  The results of this research will increase safety for the motoring public by allowing ODOT to more quickly remove the hazards from the roadway. It should also increase the safety and an efficiency for the tree removal crew. Increasing efficiency may also save the department money.  
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2020 15:18:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1749089</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Resilience of Rural Communities and Transportation Networks to Hazards</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1741193</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Despite the importance of rural areas to the national transportation
network and the national economy, rural transportation has several unique
challenges hypothesized to lower resilience to future hazards compared to its
urban counterparts. The resilience of a transportation network is a function of
its ability to initially withstand an adverse event and to recover over time. While
the initial damage to a bridge or roadway is rooted in the structure itself and
the intensity of the event, the ability to recover over time is a complex function
of various structural, transportation, social, and economic contributors.
Recovery, or functionality, relationships are currently limited to state-operated
transportation networks and select natural hazards. Given the unique social,
economic, and transportation factors associated with county-level and rural
transportation components, enhanced functionality relationships are critical to
rural transportation resilience. Therefore, the primary objective of this project is
to quantify the functionality restoration of bridges and roadways in rural areas
in the aftermath of non-natural and other hazards, such that the resilience of
rural transportation networks can be studied and ultimately enhanced.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2020 22:21:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1741193</guid>
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