<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="https://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
    <link>https://trid.trb.org/</link>
    <atom:link href="https://trid.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <description></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <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>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
      <url>https://trid.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle.jpg</url>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/</link>
    </image>
    <item>
      <title>Mechanical properties of Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway built on permafrost over the years of operation from 2019 to 2024</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2666919</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Road infrastructure built over permafrost is increasingly vulnerable to climate change, with seasonal thawing causing significant degradation in mechanical performance. Variations in moisture content, active layer thickness, and freeze-thaw cycles can compromise structural integrity, especially in granular embankments without asphalt surfacing. Understanding how these environmental changes affect stress distribution and stiffness is critical for maintaining long-term road stability in northern regions. This study monitored the mechanical response of a granular road embankment along a permafrost-affected corridor during the thawing seasons of 2022 and 2024. Field instrumentation, including pressure cells and strain gauges installed in site, captured stress and deformation data under controlled truck loading at multiple speeds. Seasonal site visits were conducted in June, August, and September each year. Elastic modulus was calculated from stress–strain relationships and interpreted alongside temperature and moisture content profiles obtained during testing. The results revealed strong seasonal trends: in 2022, the modulus increased from 86.3 MPa in June to over 300 MPa in September, indicating progressive stiffening as the embankment dried. In 2024, modulus values were significantly lower across all months, suggesting deeper thaw penetration and a weaker subgrade layer. Higher stress magnitudes and pulse widths in August reflected dry, compacted conditions, while June responses showed energy dissipation in wetter, softer soils. These findings demonstrate the impact of permafrost degradation on embankment stiffness and stress transmission, emphasizing the need for improved monitoring and design adaptations in cold regions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 08:50:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2666919</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Vertical load on embankment-installed rigid culvert buried by cohesionless fill</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2652813</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Researchers had presumed different failure mechanisms for calculating the load on culverts, but the research on summarizing, comparing, and evaluating these failure mechanisms was limited. This paper estimates the failure surface and shear stress along the failure surface by numerical analysis, following a brief summary of the methods for calculating the load on the culvert. From the simulation, three types of failure surfaces, i.e., internal, vertical, and external failure surfaces, were observed in the fill. Among them, the dominant surface depended on the friction angle and height. In addition, the lateral earth pressure coefficient at the vertical and dominant failure surface decreased with the fill height and friction angle, contrary to the assumption that the lateral earth pressure coefficient was only influenced by the fill friction angle. Furthermore, when the external and dominant failure surface was simplified as the vertical failure surface with an equivalent settlement surface (ESS), the vertical earth pressure in the interior fill could be accurately calculated if an appropriate value for the ESS height was chosen.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:30:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2652813</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Comparative evaluation of high-RAP bituminous and granular sub-ballast mixtures for railway infrastructure</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2655883</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research presents an experimental evaluation of diverse bituminous materials for high-performance sub-ballast in railway tracks, produced through various manufacturing technologies including hot, warm, and cold mix asphalt, focusing on mixtures with 100% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). The research addresses a strategic line toward more sustainable materials for railway tracks, while covering key gaps in understanding the mechanical and vibrational behavior of bituminous sub-ballast specifically used in railway applications. A comprehensive testing program was designed to evaluate crucial characteristics of these materials validating their functionality and suitability, like indirect tensile strength and stiffness, permanent deformation, vibration-damping capacity, permeability, and bearing capacity. Among the findings, RAP-based hot and warm mix asphalt (HMA-R and WMA-R) showed superior mechanical performance, with increases of up to 73% in strength and 84% in stiffness compared to conventional HMA. However, HMA-R exhibited increased brittleness due to excessive stiffening. In contrast, the temperature reduction in WMA-R helped restore mixture ductility and toughness, offering a more balanced behavior despite its high RAP content. In terms of vibration mitigation, WMA-R achieved a 31% reduction in acceleration and maintained a damping performance comparable to conventional granular references. Bituminous RAP mixtures also exhibited appropriate subgrade protection, with up to 70% lower infiltration rates, water sensitivity ratios exceeding 90%, and excellent bearing capacity. To facilitate performance comparison, a multi-criteria framework was developed, integrating weighted improvement indicators across four behavioral categories. WMA-R emerged as the most technically balanced solution, offering a favorable compromise between structural performance and vibration control for modern, sustainable railway infrastructures.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:30:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2655883</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Optimized Gradient Boosting Model for Estimating Unconfined Compressive Strength of Pozzolanic Geopolymer-stabilized Granular Materials Using Pufferfish Algorithm</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2694386</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Numerous studies on predictive modeling methodologies have been conducted in order to evaluate the quality of treated granular materials as a consequence of the increased need for efficient soil stabilization solutions. The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not machine learning (ML) can be used to predict the unconfined compressive strength (qᵤ) of low-quality sand that has been saturated with natural pozzolanic geopolymer. Through the use of the Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR) approach, the link between these factors and qᵤ has been successfully identified. Both the Red Fox optimization (RFO) and the Pufferfish optimization (PuO) are examples of complex metaheuristic optimization procedures that are used for hyperparameter tweaking in order to increase the anticipated accuracy and stability of the GBR model. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of machine learning-driven approaches in determining the stability of granular materials and provide a valuable analysis for the improvement of geotechnical engineering techniques via the use of data-driven modeling application tools. According on the supplied data, it is likely that both GBR (Pu) and GBR (RF) will precisely compute qᵤ. The effectiveness of the GBR (Pu) model exceeds that of the GBR (RF) technique about the ultimate objective it aims to achieve.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:30:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2694386</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Enhancing Predictive Accuracy and Interpretability of Small Strain Shear Modulus for Granular Soils Using Machine Learning Models</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2672597</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study presented a hybrid machine learning (ML) approach for predicting the small-strain shear modulus (G[subscript max]) in granular soils that integrated AdaBoost, Decision Tree, and CatBoost models with the Gorilla Troops Optimization algorithm to improve predictive accuracy and model robustness. The approach addressed key limitations of conventional empirical models and standalone ML models in capturing complex parameter interactions across varying soil conditions. A database of 816 samples was compiled using four key soil parameters: void ratio, confining pressure, coefficient of uniformity, and particle shape descriptor. Among the developed models, CatBoost outperformed the other ML models and empirical correlations available in the literature for G[subscript max] estimation, achieving coefficient of determination (R²) values of 0.986 (training) and 0.994 (testing) with minimal associated errors. To enhance model interpretability and transparency, Shapley additive explanations, partial dependence plots, and individual conditional expectation analyses were applied. The results showed that confining pressure was the most influential predictor, while the particle shape descriptor had the least effect on G[subscript max]. The proposed approach provides a reliable, interpretable tool for engineers, supporting more accurate G[subscript max] estimation and reducing uncertainty in geotechnical design.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 11:44:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2672597</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Incorporation of a hypoplastic material model for sandy soils into a dynamic ALE formulation suitable for structures subjected to moving loads</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2647979</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Recent research has shown that an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation can be leveraged to improve the efficiency of simulating structures subjected to moving loads, such as pavements. However, when modeling pavements, subsoil characteristics are not given much importance recently, and the subsoil is often modeled by simple linear elasticity. In this work, a hypoplastic material model capable of accurately describing the behavior of cohesionless soils, is used to model the subsoil response. Additionally, the calibration of the hypoplastic model to obtain material parameters is described. Further, the logarithmic strain approach to extend this model to finite deformations is detailed, and the incorporation of this material model into a dynamic ALE formulation is explained. Finally, the results of a transient simulation of the pavement response, when subjected to a moving load, are provided.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:09:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2647979</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>GeoFlorida 2010: Advances in Analysis, Modeling &amp; Design</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2666814</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Proceedings of GeoFlorida 2010, Advances in Analysis, Modeling, and Design, held in West Palm Beach, Florida, February 20-24, 2010. Sponsored by the Geo-Institute of ASCE. This Geotechnical Special Publication contains 337 technical papers that represent the most current thinking on key issues such as: geotechnical modeling, microbehavior of soils and granular media, soil and geotechnical system characterization, foundation engineering design problems, reliability problems in geotechnical engineering, geotechnical engineering construction problems, pavement systems, geoenvironmental engineering problems, geohazard mitigation problems, and geotechnical engineering education.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:24:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2666814</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Plastic Deformation of Recycled Base Materials</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2191976</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Large-scale model experiments (LSME) simulating field conditions were conducted on prototype pavement structures to characterize the elastic and plastic deformation of three base course materials: recycled pavement material (RPM), road surface gravel (RSG), and Class 5 granular base. The RPM and RSG were evaluated with and without stabilization using cementitious fly ash. RPM and RSG accumulate permanent deformation more readily than conventional base course, and therefore flexible pavements constructed with RPM and RSG can be expected to experience greater rutting. In contrast, stabilization of RPM and RSG with cementitious fly ash reduces permanent deformations to very small amounts. Thus, flexible pavements constructed with stabilized RPM and RSG should not rut more than flexible pavements constructed with conventional base course. Relationships between plastic strain at 10,000 cycles and summary resilient modulus are presented for unstabilized and stabilized RPM and RSG.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:24:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2191976</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>An Investigation of the Benefits of Recycled Glass Powder as a SCM and GUL Cement</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2663280</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A limited number of studies evaluated the suitability of recycled glass powder (GP) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in portland cement concrete (PCC) mixes, and there is a limited use of GP in PCC mixes in Canada. With a motivation to reduce waste, a laboratory testing program was undertaken by Manitoba in 2023-2024 constituting coarse aggregate from four sources, two types of portland cement and five different combinations of GP and fly ash for each cement and aggregate type. The test results indicated that GP has no beneficial impact on the compressive strength, modulus of rupture (MoR) and modulus of elasticity (MoE) of concrete containing General Use (GU) cement. The trends of a durability property of concrete containing GU cement were inconsistent between ages of concrete at the time of testing and among varied glass powder contents in the concrete mixes. For the concrete containing General Use Limestone (GUL) cement, 5% GP (and 15% fly ash) content has shown to provide some beneficial effects as compared to the concrete with no GP and 20% fly ash content (the reference mix). A gradual decrease in concrete quality was noted with further increase in GP (and decrease in fly ash) content in concrete mixes containing GUL cement. The quality of concrete mixes containing GUL cement were shown to be inferior to the concrete having GU cement. This result also confirms the previous findings by MTI that properties of PCC containing GU and GUL cements are not equivalent. Such findings raise question about the environmental benefit of GUL cement and suitability of recycled GP as a SCM. This paper presents the details of the testing, analyses and findings.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:52:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2663280</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>DEM investigation on granular soil arching with emphasis on particle size distribution effect</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2644134</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Soil arching is a common load transfer mechanism in geotechnical engineering, which is significantly influenced by soil particle size distribution (PSD). Existing studies have not fully understood the PSD effect, specifically the mean particle size (d50) and coefficient of uniformity (Cu), on the arching evolution and critical height. To this end, this study tries to investigate the PSD effect on the evolution of soil arching using the discrete element method. A series of two-dimensional trapdoor tests were simulated on eight specimens with varying d50 and Cu. The macroscopic responses and microscopic mechanisms were systematically analyzed. Simulations reveal that an increase in d50 or Cu leads to a reduction in the critical arching height. This indicates that coarser and better-graded granular soils promote a more rapid development of soil arching effect, thereby enhancing the initial load-transfer efficiency. At the microscopic level, specimens with larger d50 develop stronger yet sparser force chains and exhibit greater normal contact force anisotropy, while specimens with higher Cu form denser contact networks with larger coordination numbers, resulting in more stable force transmission. The findings of this study strongly suggest that PSD significantly controls the soil arching development process through its governing role in fabric formation and force chain structure. Besides, the implications of this study offer direct relevance for optimizing backfill material design in geotechnical practices, notably in pile-supported embankments and underground excavation projects.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:05:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2644134</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cone Penetration Test Correlations for Missouri Soils </title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2673279</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this research is to provide MoDOT with Missouri-specific guidance on the use of cone penetration test (CPT) measurements to estimate geotechnical parameters. This work will focus on two areas: (1) Development of Missouri-specific correlations to estimate undrained strengths of Missouri clays from CPT measurements. and (2) Investigation of inconsistencies between standard penetration test (SPT) and CPT derived values for granular soils in Missouri.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:30:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2673279</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A time-dependent hydration-driven bonded-particle model for simulating strength evolution in cement-stabilised granular soils: Experimental and DEM insights</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2640846</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study presents a time-dependent bonded-particle Discrete Element Method (DEM) model for simulating the mechanical behaviour of cement-stabilised granular soils, incorporating the coupled effects of cement content, water-to-cement (w/c) ratio, and curing duration. A comprehensive micromechanical experimental program was conducted to quantify the evolution of bond strength—including tensile, compressive, and shear components—under varying mix designs and curing ages. The experimentally derived bond strength functions (closed-form) were implemented into a custom-developed DEM contact model to represent particle bonding behaviour realistically under different curing times. The model was validated through a series of 90 unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests on cemented soil samples with varying cement contents (1 %, 2 %, and 3 %), w/c ratios ranging from 0.3 to 1.5, and curing periods of 3 to 90 days. The results revealed that bond strength increased exponentially with curing time, with the majority of strength gain occurring within the first 3–21 days. Numerical simulations closely matched experimental results, demonstrating agreement in peak strength, stress–strain behaviour, and failure modes. DEM simulations show 2.4× higher contact force and 48 % less particle displacement from curing (3–90 days) with increasing cement content. Coordination number rose with longer curing time and higher cement content, then dropped 8–13 % near peak and 3.3–4.5 post-peak, indicating bond breakage and cracking. Bond breakage ratio decreases with curing time due to cement hydration; a lower w/c ratio shows faster bond strength improvement over time. The proposed model reliably predicts cemented soil strength evolution, improving early-age and long-term analysis for geotechnical design.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 13:12:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2640846</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Extension of the Boussinesq’s equation to reflect the actual changes in vertical stresses in geomaterials using LWD loading</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643518</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study evaluates soil stress distribution during lightweight deflectometer (LWD) testing and refines Boussinesq's equation to better reflect actual vertical stress changes considering material properties. It examines the effects of soil type, moisture content, plate size and applied stresses on LWD's influence depth. Vertical stress sensor arrays in two geomaterials: large-scale in-situ tests and field material characterisation support the analysis. Notably, the suggested equation achieves significant error reduction compared to the original Boussinesq equation. For clayey soil, the results showed that the influence depth aligns with Boussinesq’s theoretical predictions at about twice the LWD plate diameter. However, measured stress distribution in the field diverges from Boussinesq’s equation for granular base material. Discrepancies stem from factors like particle interlocking, compaction energy and local moisture content. Significantly, measured stresses surpass Boussinesq’s calculated values. To address these discrepancies, a modified Boussinesq-based model incorporates local water content and field density, significantly improving vertical stress prediction accuracy. This adjustment reduces errors by 69.5% for clayey soil and 94.4% for granular material, highlighting the importance of material-specific properties in modelling vertical-induced stresses, particularly for LWD-induced stresses. These findings enhance material behaviour prediction under dynamic loads, reinforcing mechanistic-empirical pavement design and enabling resilient, economical road infrastructure.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2026 17:07:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643518</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ANN-based optimization of single-stage triaxial tests for predicting permanent deformation in pavement granular layers</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643667</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Inadequate characterization of the behavior of granular materials under accumulated plastic deformation in flexible pavements can lead to excessive rutting, severely affecting the structural and functional performance of highways. Permanent deformation (PD) is normally measured using repeated triaxial load tests, as required by Brazilian standards, which specify single-stage tests with 150,000 cycles in nine stress states per soil. Although effective, especially for tropical soils that exhibit rapid initial PD accumulation followed by rutting stabilization, the procedure requires substantial time, personnel, and laboratory resources. This study proposes reducing the number of cycles required for this characterization through prediction models. Seven soil samples were tested at nine pairs of stresses: five samples for model development and two for validation. From this, Artificial Neural Networks were trained using the data, removing the first 1,000 cycles to avoid the effects of rapid initial growth. The models generated PD predictions similar to the results obtained in tests of 150,000 load cycles using only 30,000 cycles for these predictions, with errors below 0.09 mm under severe traffic. The results confirm that the proposed approach can reduce the time required for PD characterization by approximately 50%, while maintaining reliable performance estimates.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:02:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643667</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Experimental and Numerical Evaluation on Uplift Performance of Geotextile-Encased Granular Pile Anchor</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2652038</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study evaluated the uplift performance of granular pile anchors and geotextile-encased granular pile anchors in cohesionless soils through experimental testing and finite element modelling. The investigation focused on the influence of pile length, diameter, embedment ratio, and soil relative density on pullout load capacity. Results showed that an increase in pile length, diameter, embedment ratio, and relative density led to a significant improvement in pullout capacity for both systems. Geotextile encasement enhanced lateral confinement and reduced bulging, resulting in a 20–48% increase in pullout load compared with the unencased pile anchor. As the relative density of the soil increased from 40% to 80%, the pullout capacity of the geotextile-encased system improved by 25–72%, whereas the unencased pile showed a smaller increase of 27–33%. The benefit of encasement became more pronounced at higher embedment ratios, with the pullout load reaching up to 2.2 times that of the granular pile anchor at an embedment ratio of 15. The results indicated that geotextile encasement modified the failure mechanism and improved the efficiency of load transfer. Overall, the geotextile-encased granular pile anchor demonstrated greater stability and cost-effectiveness for resisting uplift forces in cohesionless soils.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:01:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2652038</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>