Umar Firman, B.S.
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering
Kansas University

Project: Estimating Highway Pavement Damage Costs Attributed to Truck Traffic

Mr. Firman, an undergraduate student, assisted in the literature review and the collection of pavement cost data.

Sharmin Sultana, M.S.
Graduate Research Assistant, Civil Engineering
Kansas State University

Project: Extending Asphalt Pavement Life Using Thin Whitetopping

Sharmin Sultana is a graduate research assistant working under the supervision of Dr. Mustaque Hossain. She is modeling thin whitetopping overlays over existing asphalt concrete pavements using the finite element software ANSYS. She is also comparing results obtained from the finite element analysis with the test data generated in an Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) of a whitetopping project at Kansas State University. Her work is expected to result in a design catalog for thin whitetopping.

Ling Zhu, Ph.D.
Graduate Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Project: Design of High Tension Cable Post Bases

Progress was achieved in the project of the new design of the high-tension cable post footing. An initial footing design was proposed based on the worst-case impact scenario from the analytical calculation. In order to evaluate the design's strength and deflection performances upon impact, bogie tests were conducted. Three different embedment depths (24 in., 36 in., and 60 in) were tested in the weak soil. The 24-in. and 36-in. footings were rocked over without significant damages as expected, while the 60-inch footing was severely damaged upon impact. Though the design is already much stronger than all of the currently available designs, the longitudinal rebar and the stirrups in the 60-inch footing were torn by the bogie impact. The bogie test results revealed that most of the current designs were insufficient to sustain the worst-case impact. The damage of the insufficient footing in these designs actually results in more maintenance cost instead of savings. Meanwhile, the impact load measured from the bogie tests appeared to be higher than what we expected. According to the measured load, a revised footing design has been completed, and more bogie tests are scheduled to evaluate the revised design. If the revised design passes the strength test, the cost will be evaluated to find out whether it is more economical to use the concrete footing in certain circumstances.