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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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      <title>Assessment of Wave Impacts on Highway Embankments due to Hurricanes/Tropical Storms in Coastal Louisiana</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2291284</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Geosynthetic-reinforced highway embankments are often built on expansive clays along the Louisiana shorelines. An embankment is often reinforced using articulating concrete mats and geosynthetic separator fabrics, consisting of planar reinforcements arranged in horizontal planes in the fill to resist outward movements of the fill. Facing treatments ranging from vegetation to flexible armor systems are applied to prevent unraveling and sloughing of the face. These embankments are different from regular levees or embankments in the sense that they are subjected to high current and large wave pressures, as well as pore water pressure conditions, especially under extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms. This one-year study will only focus on the analysis of wave pressure analyses and the development of wave pressure envelopes that can be used for the design of coastal embankments as well as for assessing the vulnerability of existing embankments to hurricanes. 
The PI and his graduate students have been collaborating with the Coastal Protection and Recovery Authorities of Louisiana (CPRA) on research projects funded by the Louisiana Sea Grant for more than ten years. In this project, long-term measurements provided by the CPRA on wave behavior and design parameters for containment dikes will be examined and applied to the present study on coastal highway embankments. The goal is to quantify the impact of wave pressure on highway embankments using innovative data analysis. The following commonly employed methods will be taken in these analyses: Goda Design Method, Minikin Design Method, and Blackmore and Hewson Design Method. Based on these analyses, a practical method for the distribution of wave pressure on embankments will be developed. These distributions will then be combined to produce wave pressure envelopes, which reflect the worst wave pressure conditions for selected hurricanes and tropical storms of different categories, experienced within the last 20 years. This research project will lead to a more accurate and reliable design approach for geosynthetic-reinforced embankments subjected to wave pressures from hurricanes or tropical storms.
 The following tasks will be carried out in the one-year duration of this project: (1) Collect and review the integrated field observations and modeling data from ADV and wave gauges (e.g., wind wave, velocity, and water levels, etc.) at the specific sites in coastal Louisiana experienced during specific hurricanes, such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ida; (2) Compute the time-dependent dynamic wave/current pressure distributions on the faces of selected highway embankments based on the measured data from specific hurricanes, following the three methods noted above; (3) Find the maximum wave pressure at each point on the surface of the embankment based on the analyses in Task 2. Use these maximum wave pressure values to generate a wave envelope; (4) Develop two or three wave pressure envelopes corresponding to the hurricanes and tropical storms of different categories, which were recorded in coastal Louisiana during the past 20 years; (5) Recommend the developed wave pressure envelops to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD) as standardized wave pressure loads for different categories of hurricanes, for future designs of coastal highway embankments as well as for vulnerability of existing embankments under future extreme events. 

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Nov 2023 18:05:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2291284</guid>
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      <title>SEAHIVE – Sustainable Estuarine and Marine Revetment</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1599220</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Storm surge and wave action induce destructive forces to coastal communities that can result in loss of life, shoreline erosion, as well as structural damages to the built environment and infrastructure such as the transportation network. Therefore, this project focused on the research and development of a novel efficient and ecofriendly revetment system, called SEAHIVE, through physical testing at the University of Miami Surge STructure Atmospheric INteraction (SUSTAIN) Facility. SEAHIVE prototype elements of the three different cross-sectional profiles (square, circular and hexagonal) with varying perforation configurations were fabricated and tested experimentally at the SUSTAIN Facility under different water/waves conditions. Considering the interlocking of hexagonal units and that they maximize the volume for a given amount of material similar to a beehive, hexagonal units were selected for the system design. System-design testing focused on the hydrodynamic performance of a cluster of hexagonal SEAHIVE units starting with the testing of a vertical SEAHIVE wall section in the SUSTAIN wind/wave tank. The performance was evaluated on the basis of the water-level measurements with the comparison of the reflection coefficient between the SEAHIVE model and a solid vertical wall model revealing that the SEAHIVE model decreases significantly wave reflection while also dissipating more energy. Tests conducted on horizontal SEAHIVE system configurations revealed that the system performs also well in other contexts from riprap to submerged breakwater/reef applications. Three pilot installations were thus secured in Southeast Florida. The first one is a riprap installation in collaboration with the City of North Bay Village. The second one is in partnership with the City of Miami Beach and in the context of a University of Miami Laboratory for INtegrative Knowledge (U-LINK) project where SEAHIVE will be used as a hybrid coral reef. The third application is a seawall/mangrove planter in collaboration with Shipwreck Park (a non-profit organization), the City of Pompano Beach, and Broward County. All installations are underway and will be monitored to assess the ecological and engineering performance of the system, as well as to acquire important techno-economic data for further developments. Considering its better performance, its adaptive features for various applications and topography, as well as its potential for habitat creation provided by its structural complexity and the use of biophilic concrete mixtures and non-corrosive reinforcements, the SEAHIVE system provides an efficient eco-engineering alternative for the protection of the transportation network and the built environment in coastal communities. With the cost of coastal protection in the United States projected to skyrocket to $400 billion by 2040 according to the Center for Climate Integrity, the SEAHIVE system presents thus a great payoff potential.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2019 22:16:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1599220</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Highway Rockfall Measurements Using LIDAR</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1318016</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project plans to advance our measurement technologies of rockfall on 1 or moreclocal highway rock cuts using the laser radar (LIDAR) techniques that have developed. Previous research has shown a tentative relationship between rockfall and rainfall. This time used on installing nested piezometers to measure groundwater pressures behind the rock face so that the Principal Investigator (PI) can correlate not only rainfall and freeze-thaw cycles with the rock fall quantities, but also the cumulate buildup of water pressure behind the face. As a result the project hopes to be able to determine why some rainfalls cause rockfalls while others do not. Anticipated benefits include the advancement of a modeling capability, as well as some insight as to whether installing passive drainage in highway rock cuts would serve to decrease rockfall.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 01 Aug 2014 01:15:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1318016</guid>
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      <title>Efficient Repair of CIDH Bridge Foundations: Phase 1 - Effectiveness of Water Jetting for Removal of Anomalies</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234476</link>
      <description><![CDATA[What is the most efficient and effective means of repairing defects in Bridge Foundation Piles? The first phase of this task specifically investigates water jetting as part of grouting repairs for Cast-in-Drilled Hole (CIDH) Piles. Phase I seeks to answer: How effective is high-pressure water jetting to remove competent concrete, anomalous concrete, and concrete that is contaminated with soil or foreign matter? Bridge Foundations, especially CIDH piles installed under slurry, are highly-loaded critical structural elements constructed under very adverse conditions. Naturally, these elements are very likely to contain defects that necessitate repair in the field. Methods employed for repair are often unverified solutions based upon past practice, and recent investigations has shown that some previously-accepted practices were much less effective in mitigating defects that believed. The question emerges, what methods of repair are both efficient and effective to repair these defects? To answer this question, this research task is conducted in four-phases so that the information gathered in each phase will be rapidly incorporated into practice. The research phases are: Phase-I: Water Jetting of CIDH Pile Anomalies in the Laboratory Phase-II: Effectiveness of Permeation Grouting Method for CIDH Pile Repair Phase-III: Analysis of Innovative (non-grouting) Repair Techniques for CIDH Pile Mitigation Phase-IV: Post-Repair Evaluation Methods Phase I limits itself to answering the first part of this multifaceted question. Since grouting repair is the most common repair method currently, and water jetting is the first step in this process, how effective is water jetting? Future Phases of this project will investigate other aspects of grouting repairs and the effectiveness of other means utilized by the Contractor.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:13:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1234476</guid>
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