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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>
      <url>https://rip.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle-RIP.jpg</url>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>SPR-5032: Moisture Damage Control and Mitigation in Pavement Foundations Using Innovative Geosynthetics</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2577102</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project is primarily about controlling water in pavement foundation layers for increased pavement performance. This study proposes to remove water out of the pavement systems via use of geotextile fabric (moisture management geotextile) as a separation layer in pavement foundation systems to mitigate the damage that occurs due to high moisture contents. The workplan consists of constructing sites with these innovative geosynthetics and conducting field tests and analyses. The field tests will include lightweight deflectometer, falling weight deflectometer, moisture and temperature monitoring through depth.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:57:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2577102</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Alternative Pavement Rehabilitation Strategy Using a Geogrid Interlayer</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2507238</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A common pavement rehabilitation strategy to address structural and functional deficiencies of the underlying pavement involves repairing the damaged Portland cement concrete (PCC) layer and placing a 4- to 6-inch asphalt concrete (AC) overlay. The AC-PCC composite pavements comprise a significant portion of roadway mileage in the U.S., representing over 91,000 centerline miles, including 9,500 centerline miles on the Interstate network alone. This process often requires costly and time-consuming concrete repairs before adding the asphalt layer, yet it does not guarantee the durability of the rehabilitated pavement section. According to the 2024 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report om Practices for Maintaining and Resurfacing Existing Composite Pavements, the performance of AC overlays on existing PCC pavements varies considerably. State departments of transportation (DOTs) reported performance lives of about 6 to 15 years for AC overlay. The major distress affecting the performance of AC-PCC composite pavements is reflective cracking - a phenomenon of propagation of cracks from an existing cracked pavement surface into and through the newly laid overlay due to traffic and/or temperature induced stresses. The distress due to reflective cracking can be retarded by the installation of different interlayer systems, which can improve the performance of the asphalt overlays by providing stress relief, reinforcement and moisture control.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2025 11:11:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2507238</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Phase-II: Addressing Durability Concerns in Binders with Interlayer Reinforcement for 3D Printed Elements</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2480350</link>
      <description><![CDATA[3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) is one of the fastest emerging technologies and involves layer by layer building of a binder material with additives without the use of formworks while enabling the design freedom to produce complex structural geometries. To enable this technology to reach end use applications in construction such as printing large scale fail-safe concrete structural elements, the low tensile strength of concrete is to be overcome. These structures are constantly subjected to environmental deterioration mechanisms affecting their durability and life. Moreover, lack of knowledge and data about durability of 3D printed reinforced concrete structures hinders the growth of this digital fabrication method to truly offer its advantages towards transportation. 
Phase-I of this project titled “Durability Assessment of Binders with Interlayer Reinforcement for 3D Printed Elements” is under investigation to understand the effect of deterioration mechanisms such as chloride ingress and freeze and thaw on the mechanical performance, and flexural strength capacities of (a) cementitious binders with successive layers representing 3D printed elements, and (b) cementitious binders with different types of reinforcement incorporated at the interface between successive layers. 
Phase-II proposes solutions to address the durability concerns assessed from preliminary investigations in Phase-I which are: (1) steel deterioration is higher when compared to deterioration in fiber reinforcement due to aggressive environments; (2) the reinforcement at the interface needs a protective barrier to prevent ingress; (3) a small portion of reinforcement extends out of the interface and is therefore exposed which needs additional protection. The objectives of Phase-II are to investigate two solutions that can potentially address the durability concerns of cementitious binders with different types of reinforcements incorporated at the interface between successive layers: (i) Investigate the suitability of polymer surface finishings for 3DCP with interlayer reinforcement, and (ii) Investigate the effect of a printed protective barrier using the same 3DCP mix around the reinforced 3DCP with sufficient design modification to create a strategic interface mismatch. 
Eight tasks have been curated to realize these objectives. Task 1: Coordinate with ACI 548 vice-chair Dr. Moneeb Genedy (Stakeholder) to identify which polymer resin and constituents may be ideal for a protective system against 3DCP to investigate objective (i). Task 2: Design outer layer external to 3DCP element using SolidWorks that enables interface mismatch and bonds with the fiber reinforcement to investigate objective (ii). Task 3: Acquire materials from Transpo and Euclid Chemicals who have actively donated materials for the PI’s ongoing work to investigate objective (i). Task 4: Develop a mix design for polymer surface protection for either spray-on or application technique to investigate objective (i). Task 5: Print 3DCP specimens with three types of interlayer reinforcement – steel, Glass Fiber (GF) and Carbon Fiber (CF). Task 6: Subject beam specimens (along with protective measures) to two types of deterioration mechanisms- freeze-thaw and chemical ingress exposure. Task 7: Perform flexure test on beam specimens. Task 8: Conduct post testing analysis and understand reinforcement behavior.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 16:01:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2480350</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Study of Geosynthetic Interlayers for Asphalt Overlays to Reduce Reflective Cracking</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1902224</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Due to temperature and/or moisture changes, freezing-thaw cycles, loss of subgrade support by erosion, and traffic loading, concrete pavements may develop different types of distresses during service life.  Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) overlays are commonly used to improve the serviceability of damaged concrete pavements.  Some HMA overlays prematurely exhibit a cracking pattern similar to what existed in the old, underlying concrete pavement, which is often referred to as reflective cracking.  The cracking in the overlays is often due to inability of the HMA overlays to endure tensile and shear strains.  Tensile and shear strains develop because of movement of jointed or cracked slabs of underlying old pavements resulting in stress concentrations around pre-existing cracks.  This movement is caused by a combination of traffic loading (differential deflections at cracks) and expansion and contraction of existing pavements due to change in temperature and/or moisture.  When the induced tensile and shear stresses corresponding to the strains become higher than tensile and shear strengths of HMA, cracks develop in the overlay and propagate with the cycles of movement. Even though different techniques have been used to mitigate reflective cracking, they often do not yield satisfactory results and performance.  Geosynthetics have been placed as interlayers between jointed or damaged concrete pavements and HMA overlays to mitigate reflective cracking.  Laboratory and field data showed mixed performance results from success to failure.  Past KTRAN research by the investigators found: (1) the shear failure could be avoid if the shear deformation of the HMA overlay was less than 6% of the overlay thickness and (2) the cracking could be avoided if the tensile strain in the HMA overlay was less than 0.6%.  Proper geosynthetic interlayers should be selected to limit shear deformation and tensile strain of HMA overlays to tolerable values.  Geosynthetic stiffness is one of the important parameters that affect the performance of HMA overlays and it will be investigated in this study. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness and benefits of different geosynthetic interlayers to mitigate reflective cracking on overlays through large box tests under cyclic loading.  ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2022 13:17:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1902224</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>RES2020-12: Evaluating the Performance of Inverted Pavements in Tennessee</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716733</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Inverted pavement is an unconventional type of flexible pavement structure. In this pavement structure, an
unbound aggregate base (UAB) with a low initial modulus is sandwiched (layered) between two stiffer layers, a
thinner asphalt concrete layer (AC) and a cement-treated base layer (CTB). This type of pavement structure has
been a potential alternative to the conventional flexible pavement structure due to its cost-efficient usage of asphalt,
comparable performance and durability based on past studies. However, field investigations of inverted pavement
have not been widely conducted and are very limited in the USA. Therefore, the objective of this study is to present
a comprehensive investigation of the inverted pavement system including field and laboratory works. In this study,
the effect of nonlinear stress-dependent property of unbound aggregates on both the inverted and conventional
flexible pavement structures was first investigated. Second, through field investigation in Vulcan pavement, a
comparison study between the inverted and conventional pavements was conducted under the same traffic level
and environmental conditions. In addition, the nondestructive pavement testing method – falling weight
deflectometer (FWD) was applied to evaluate the structural conditions of the inverted pavement, contributing to
the effective maintenance and preservation of pavements. Finally, the accelerated pavement testing (APT) method
was used to evaluate the rutting performance of a full-scale inverted pavement constructed on the UT (University
of Tennessee) campus. Based on the results of the comprehensive investigation of both field (full-scale) and
numerical simulations, the inverted pavement structure can be regarded as an alternative to the conventional
flexible pavement. 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2020 18:17:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1716733</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Long-Term Field Monitoring of Paving Fabric Interlayer
Systems to Reduce Reflective Cracking</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1511077</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The formation of reflective cracking of pavement overlays has confronted highway engineers for many years. Stress-relieving interlayers, such as paving fabrics, have been used in an attempt to reduce or delay reflective cracking. The primary objective of this study was to conduct a long-term monitoring of the paving fabric interlayer systems to evaluate its effectiveness and performance. A comprehensive testing, monitoring, and analysis program was undertaken, where twelve 500-ft pavement sections of a two-lane highway were constructed, and then monitored for seven years. Particular attention was directed towards investigating the influence of several factors including overlay thickness on long-term performance. A comparison between the performance of paving fabric treatment systems for milled and non-milled surfaces, as well as a comparison between the performance of paving fabrics on sealed and non-sealed surfaces is reported.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2018 11:37:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1511077</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Mitigating Pavement Reflective Cracking Using A Ductile Concrete Interlayer</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1505414</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Overlays are constructed over existing pavement structures as a repair measure. When an overlay is placed on an existing pavement, under thermal, shrinkage or traffic induced loadings, cracking of the overlay often takes place at locations where there are joints or cracks in the underlying pavement due to stress concentration. This phenomenon is known as reflective cracking. Reflective cracking in the overlay allows water to penetrate the pavement structure and contributes to many forms of pavement deterioration, including increased roughness, spalling and decreased fatigue life. Therefore, to achieve an effective and durable pavement repair using overlay system, reflective cracking needs to be suppressed. 
A ductile high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (HPFRC) interlayer is proposed in this research to mitigate the reflective cracking problem in pavement overlays. It is hypothesized that by adding a thin layer of highly ductile HPFRC material between the existing pavement and overlay, reflective cracking can be arrested by the ductile interlayer.  
HPFRC mixtures will be selected for the proposed interlayer application and their mechanical properties will be characterized. HPFRC interlayer system will be designed and tested under static and fatigue loadings to evaluate their performance and effectiveness in suppressing reflective cracking. The outcome of this research will include design recommendations and guidelines for HPFRC interlayer systems. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Mar 2018 07:49:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1505414</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Mitigating Joint Reflective Cracks using Stone Interlayers: Case Study on Louisiana Highway 5, Desoto Parish</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1485788</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The purpose of this research is to monitor the effectiveness of stone interlayers in composite pavements, determine the depth of stone required to prevent reflective cracking at the joints, and measure the movement of the concrete joints under traffic loading.  Five test sections, 1000 ft. in length each, will be constructed with stone interlayers ranging in depth from 9 to 21 inches.  The control section has an average stone interlayer thickness of 5 inches.  
On this project, both transverse and longitudinal crack control will be of interest with the transverse cracks occurring due to movement at the joint and longitudinal cracks due to widening the existing Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) lanes with asphalt concrete.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Oct 2017 09:19:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1485788</guid>
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