Enhancing Chain-Up Infrastructure and Compliance in Utah’s Mountain Corridors: A Data-Driven Evaluation

This project evaluates chain-up infrastructure and traction-device compliance in Utah’s mountain corridors, focusing on how roadway geometry, winter operations, and driver behavior affect chain-up performance during storm events. Using geospatial analysis, operational data, and field-informed insights, the study identifies locations where existing chain-up facilities may be undersized, poorly situated, or constrained by topography. The project also develops artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos that explain operational challenges, noncompliance impacts, and potential improvement strategies to both practitioners and the traveling public. Project findings will inform infrastructure upgrades, policy refinements, and improved communication practices, with methods and products readily transferable to mountain corridors in other western states.

Language

  • English

Project

  • Status: Proposed
  • Funding: $110,000.00
  • Contract Numbers:

    69A3552348308

  • Sponsor Organizations:

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

    University Transportation Centers Program
    Department of Transportation
    Washington, DC  United States  20590
  • Managing Organizations:

    Center for Transformative Infrastructure Preservation and Sustainability

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota  United States  58108-6050
  • Project Managers:

    Tolliver, Denver

  • Performing Organizations:

    University of Utah

    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
    110 Central Campus Drive Suite 2000
    Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84112
  • Principal Investigators:

    Markovic, Nikola

  • Start Date: 20251213
  • Expected Completion Date: 20271212
  • Actual Completion Date: 0
  • USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
  • Source Data: CTIPS-062

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01976558
  • Record Type: Research project
  • Source Agency: Center for Transformative Infrastructure Preservation and Sustainability
  • Contract Numbers: 69A3552348308
  • Files: UTC, RIP
  • Created Date: Jan 19 2026 5:04PM