Leading Texas toward sustainable infrastructure

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) continues to play a critical role in maintaining and improving Texas infrastructure as more people move to the Lone Star State than ever before.  

Several UTA researchers are currently working on state- and federally funded projects that promise to shape a more sustainable future for Texas and beyond. These projects include fixing and improving roads using plastic-infused asphalt, making concrete “greener,” developing ways to make highway bridges last longer and helping the state maximize road projects.  

These projects are a testament to UTA’s high-quality faculty and the University’s commitment to finding innovative solutions for the state’s most significant infrastructure issues.  

Plastic roads 

Sahadat Hossain, director of UTA’s Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability (SWIS) and a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is passionate about eliminating waste. That passion led to the creation of plastic-infused asphalt that could offer a sustainable solution to road repair. 

This project began five years ago with a $342,588 grant from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to study the feasibility of plastic roads. Three years later, he received more than $1.5 million grants from the Dallas and Fort Worth districts of TxDOT. The Dallas project aims to implement the “plastic road” material on Texas highways and the Fort Worth project aims to improve the durability of highway pavement and shoulders. Such projects were a first in Texas. 

“We are taking one problem, which is plastic pollution, and we’re using it to fix another problem: deteriorating roads,” Hossain said. “This is the perfect example of sustainable engineering solutions.” 

Last year, his plastic material was used to repair sections of UTA parking lots. But he hasn’t stopped there. Hossain’s plastic-infused asphalt was laid on the road in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hossain said that road has provided results that bode well for Texas, as it has been able to withstand extreme heat.  

Concrete research 

UTA is tackling the challenge of more eco-friendly concrete from another angle. 

Maria Konsta-Gdoutos, a civil engineering professor and the associate director for the Center for Advanced Construction Materials, received a $10 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to create the Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) for Durable and Resilient Transportation Infrastructure (DuRe-Transp).  

With this grant, Konsta-Gdoutos aims to develop a new age of greener and more energy-efficient concrete with 30% lower manufacturing, operational and maintenance costs. It targets a 50% extended lifetime and a significant reduction in harmful net greenhouse gas emissions in transportation infrastructure. 

“We will improve the durability, extend the life and make for cleaner transportation infrastructure,” Konsta-Gdoutos said. “This research will spearhead a holistic program to revitalize the nation’s transportation infrastructure and drive the development of standard guidelines for the formulation and deployment of the next generation of resilient and durable construction materials.” 

Roads and bridges 

Texas has the second-most bridges in the United States after California, 30% of which do not have sufficient height, width or capacity to handle the increasing volume and type of traffic using them. 

That’s why Nur Yazdani, a civil engineering professor at The University of Texas at Arlington, received a three-year, $997,275 grant from TxDOT to evaluate the performance of selected deteriorating and aging highway bridges. His approach includes non-destructive evaluation (NDE), on-site load testing and computer simulation to help engineers determine the current condition of bridges and decide which need repair and how best to accomplish that. 

This project could have far-reaching effects on bridge infrastructure nationwide. 

Another project in the works could potentially touch all corners of Texas. Mohsen Shahandashti, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, received a $200,000 grant from TxDOT last year to develop a price estimation and visualization tool for the state agency. 

This tool will aid TxDOT in assessing and pricing contracts for major infrastructure works. 

“The unit price will be different in Amarillo than in the Rio Grande Valley or in Houston or in North Texas,” Shahandashti said. “How much a cubic foot of concrete costs in those different locales varies greatly. This tool will help TxDOT issue the right costs for a certain project in a certain part of Texas.” 

Peter Crouch, dean of UTA’s College of Engineering, said the University is a hub of infrastructure research in Texas. 

“It isn’t just the individual motorist who will benefit from these projects, it is the overall taxpayer,” Crouch said. “If we can dedicate a portion of the savings on roads to higher education or secondary schools or parks, everybody benefits.” 

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