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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>Rural Road Infrastructure Assessment and Enhancement for Autonomous Vehicle Deployment</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2526753</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project aims to accelerate the deployment of automated vehicle (AV) technologies by assessing rural road infrastructure readiness. The project will utilize commercial AV with advanced driver assistance systems and lab AV with automated driving systems to collect data on physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure under varying conditions such as diverse road types, weather, and lighting. Sensors such as cameras, GPS, and 5G communication modules will be used for data collection in selected testing facilities and public roads in Georgia and North Carolina. The project will also develop a software tool that processes collected data using traditional algorithms and machine learning techniques. This tool will generate detailed summary reports and visualizations, enabling stakeholders to quantify infrastructure readiness, understand deficiencies, and prioritize areas for improvement. The goal is to identify specific infrastructure challenges limiting automated vehicle performance and propose guidelines and actionable strategies to enhance compatibility. This project will inform investment and policy decisions by delivering findings from targeted rural areas. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 22 Mar 2025 12:20:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2526753</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Establishing Design Loads, Load Combinations, and Structural Design Methodology for OCS Poles and Foundations

</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2464331</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Overhead Contact System (OCS) is a foundational component of rail transit electrification, delivering power to vehicles via a suspended system of contact and messenger wires. These wires are supported by poles, cantilevers, portals, and related infrastructure that must meet rigorous structural demands under varying environmental, mechanical, and operational conditions.

Despite the widespread use of the OCS across U.S. transit systems, there is currently no nationally adopted structural design specification, standard, or code for OCS poles and foundations. Designers currently rely on a mix of partially applicable documents, including:
IEEE 1630-2012, IEEE Standard for Supporting Structures for Overhead Contact Systems for Transit Systems, which provides general structural support guidelines but lacks prescriptive design load definitions or serviceability criteria; ASCE 48, Design of Steel Transmission Pole Structures, which offers useful structural insights but is not tailored to transit OCS systems; and IEEE C2-2023, 2023 National Electric Safety Code(R) (NESC(R)), which is commonly referenced for load calculations but primarily developed for electric utility transmission and distribution, not for rail OCS.

This fragmented approach leads to inconsistency across transit agencies and among engineering professionals in how structural design specifications, standards, or codes are interpreted and applied. The absence of consistent standards becomes even more critical as agencies pursue system expansions, high-speed rail corridors, and unconventional OCS configurations in constrained and urban environments.

Research is needed to develop a comprehensive structural design guide for OCS poles and foundations that consolidates best practices, defines consistent load and serviceability criteria, and establishes a framework for applying U.S. structural design specifications to OCS systems.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a structural design guide for OCS poles and foundations applicable across standard and nonstandard transit environments.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2024 05:33:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2464331</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Use of MnCORS to Support AV Operations in Rural Minnesota</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2397999</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Minnesota Continually Operating Reference Station (MnCORS) network is a service operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation that consists of a network of base stations across the state which provide global navigation satellite system (GNSS) correction signals to real-time kinematic (RTK)-capable GNSS receivers. The objectives of this project are to use localization measurements from the MnCORS GNSS system to demonstrate key autonomous vehicle (AV) operations on all types of roads in rural Minnesota (highways, unmarked paved roads, and gravel roads). Further, the project will demonstrate and characterize the limitations of localization using this network when it comes to AV autonomous operations in urban locations.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) typically perform steering control using lateral distance to lane markers measured by cameras. Since low-volume rural roads may not have lane lines, may not even have center lines, may consist of gravel or unpaved portions, and may not be plowed for snow removal, AVs have great challenges in operating on such roads. Further, rural intersections may be missing signs that are critical for AV navigation and control. This project will conduct an experimental study on localization using the MnCORS GNSS network to compensate for the lack of lane markers and intersection signs on all types of rural roads. The use of GNSS is motivated by the fact that rural locations have open skies and low-multipath environments that can provide reliable connectivity for RTK-capable GNSS receivers. MnCORS corrections and sensor fusion with low-cost inertial sensors will be used to obtain cm-level accuracy for steering control.
A related previous project at the University of Minnesota has developed a snowplow driver assistance system in which GNSS-based position measurement is used to display the snowplow's lateral position inside the lane. This is being used to provide guidance to the driver in poor visibility conditions and has been very popular with MnDOT snowplow operators. The lateral position guidance to the operator is provided in one-foot increments, and its usage is restricted to times when an RTK fixed-integer solution is achieved, which is a function of cellular access to the MnCORS network. This project plans to build on the previous project, demonstrate the capability to achieve continuous cm-level accuracy using a combination of MnCORS GNSS and inertial sensor measurements, and utilize this estimated position for reliable automatic steering control. The technology will also provide accurate localization with respect to intersections and enable autonomous operation at intersections, including turns.
The project will conduct a pilot study that demonstrates automatic steering control at two locations using the MnCORS GNSS system on the MnCAV autonomous vehicle. The locations for the demonstration will be chosen in consultation with the project's technical assistance program (TAP). The demonstration will show automatic steering control on rural paved and unpaved roads lacking lane boundaries. Additionally, the project will also conduct a winter driving demonstration using the same technology to show driving on snow-covered roads when lane boundaries are not visible.
In addition to demonstrating autonomous mode operation in rural locations, the project will also characterize the overall capabilities and limitations of localization using the MnCORS network and the RTK-capable GNSS receivers on the MnCAV vehicle. This characterization will include metrics of accuracy, real-time update rates, convergence times, network availability, and sources of failure both in rural and various types of urban locations. The urban/suburban locations taken up for characterization will include downtown Minneapolis, downtown Saint Paul, urban locations without tall buildings, suburbs, and underneath overpasses/tunnels.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 26 Jun 2024 09:33:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2397999</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of Indented Prestressing Wires for KDOT Bridge Members</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2026341</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Most pretensioned concrete members in the United States utilize 7-wire prestressing strands that are at least 3/8-inch diameter. However, individual indented prestressing wires have been commonly used in Europe and Asia for more than 20 years and are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. In the past 11 years, Kansas State University has conducted over $3.5 million of USDOT/Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) funded research aimed at understanding the bonding and structural performance of these reinforcements, so that they can now be utilized correctly in their intended application. This research had led to the development of a new ASTM standard to evaluate the bond of these wires (ASTM A1096), an automated non-contact transfer length measurement device, a non-contact wire indent profiler, and a new Splitting Resistance Test (SRT) that was officially adopted into the AREMA Design manual in 2021. 

The objective of this research is to: Investigate opportunities to utilize indented prestressing wires in KDOT bridge members to optimize designs efficiency and safety. A secondary benefit of using these wires is to establish alternate suppliers of prestressing steel to protect against disruptions in the supply chain.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Sep 2022 11:08:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2026341</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Virtual Reality Simulation to Evaluate Drivers’ Mental Models of Advanced Vehicle Technologies</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1853633</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Auto manufacturers are making advanced vehicle technologies readily available to drivers - from current Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to promises of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) (SAE 2018) in the near future. These technologies are designed to improve convenience and safety. To reap these benefits, it is paramount that drivers use the systems as intended, during appropriate situations, in appropriate environments, and with clear and accurate knowledge about what the systems can and cannot do. However, users are not well aware of systems’ capabilities, limitations, and Operational Design Domain, perhaps due to limited exposure to information (Singer & Jenness, 2020), resulting in weak initial mental models (Larsson, 2012), introducing misconceptions about system capabilities.
This research will conceptualize and prototype a head-mounted Virtual Reality (VR) simulation as a platform for measuring drivers’ interactions with vehicle technologies. The research team proposes using VR simulation as the platform for presenting system interfaces and for measuring outcomes. Driving simulation is an important tool in human factors and transportation research and VR-headset based simulation is popular given advantages in cost, portability, image quality, and immersion (Johnston et al, 2018). Visualization of complex systems also benefits from these. VR can be used to provide visualization of vehicle features and to provide realistic use cases, including ‘edge case’ scenarios, for accessing these systems during an immersive driving task. VR simulators can also be used to observe and record driver behaviors during interactions with these vehicle technologies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 24 May 2021 11:46:07 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1853633</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Rotorcraft Wire Strike</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1714474</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rotorcraft operate at low altitudes which put them at risk to strike wires from many sources.  Rotorcraft accidents tied to wire strikes have shown that the aircraft is damaged significantly and the accident often is fatal.  The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA’s)  Rotorcraft Directorate has approved research to attempt to reduce the wire strike accidents for rotorcraft.  Wire strikes often occur in VFR conditions with clear, sunny days, in these conditions, wire can be difficult to see.   There are wire cutters on larger rotorcraft but not on smaller, lighter rotorcraft because they often are flying to slow to allow the cutters to work effectively.  

The FAA has developed a research program that looks at several areas that could potentially reduce wire strikes on rotorcraft and is currently Phase 1 with PEGASAS.  The first is to develop a mechanical wire cutter for the lighter aircraft that would assist in the cutting of cables.  The second is to determine the feasibility of developing a sensor package capable of detecting all potential wires and alerting the pilot of a pending strike.  The third is to determine the feasibility of working with an Electronic Flight Bag manufacturer to include a wire database that could alert a pilot of a pending wire strike. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2020 16:15:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1714474</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Practices. Topic 52-18. Design Practices for Rock Slopes and Rockfall Management</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1707178</link>
      <description><![CDATA[While there are no national standards for rock slope design and rockfall management, many state departments of transportation (DOTs) have developed their own design goals and objectives.

The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 588: Design Practices for Rock Slopes and Rockfall Management documents DOT practices for the design of rock slopes and rockfall mitigation systems.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2020 10:45:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1707178</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Stainless Steel Strands for Prestressed Concrete Bridge Elements</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1628607</link>
      <description><![CDATA[National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 1161: Stainless Steel Strands for Prestressed Concrete Bridge Elements presents state-of-the-art guidelines to assist state departments of transportation (DOTs) in the applications of stainless steel strands for prestressed concrete bridge elements. The guidelines were developed based on extensive analytical and testing programs and review and study of the state of practice. In addition to the guidelines and design examples, modifications to the current Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) bridge design and construction specifications were identified. The findings will serve as a valuable resource for bridge owners, consultants, fabricators, and contractors.

The majority of bridges built in the United States utilize concrete bridge elements with prestressed uncoated steel strands that are susceptible to corrosion leading to structure deterioration. Delaying strand corrosion will reduce maintenance needs, extend the bridge service life, and enhance safety. Therefore, DOTs have been investigating alternative strand materials such as stainless steel to address steel strand corrosions. However, there are no national standards or specifications to support bridge owners in using stainless steel strands. Research was needed to develop requirements and guidelines for the applications of stainless steel strands for prestressed concrete bridge elements. 

Under NCHRP Project 12-120, “Stainless Steel Strands for Prestressed Concrete Bridge Elements,” the University of Houston was asked to develop guidelines for the applications of stainless steel strands for prestressed concrete bridge elements and recommend modifications to the current LRFD bridge design and construction specifications for consideration by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. To demonstrate the application of the new guidelines and the proposed modifications, the research team developed supporting design examples.



]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Jun 2019 10:02:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1628607</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Impact of Driver’s Mental Models of Advanced Vehicle Technologies on Safety and Performance
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1597472</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Previous research by the Foundation has helped identify gaps in users’ knowledge and understanding of currently available advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). More complex automated systems stand to further increase these gaps. This project will address the how errors in drivers’ understanding of automated systems impact their in-vehicle behaviors, safety, and performance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 2019 17:07:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1597472</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Prevention of Stress-Induced Failures of Prestressed Concrete Crossties of the Railroad Track Structure (3.5)</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1590592</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The problem the research team is trying to solve is to understand and mitigate premature failures of prestressed concrete crossties (PSCCs), which are an essential structural component of a railroad track structure. The objectives of the project are to identify the main mechanisms of horizontal cracks upon de-tensioning prestressing wires with respect to various geometrical/mechanical parameters and to develop more durable bonding mechanism between concrete and prestressing wires using engineered cementitious materials. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 05 Mar 2019 04:29:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1590592</guid>
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