Rhode Island Transportation Research Center

212 Bliss Hall, 1 Lippitt Road,
Kingston, RI 02881
Tel: (401) 874-2695 Fax: (401) 874-2786

Director: Associate Directors:

Prof. K. Wayne Lee Prof. Christopher Hunter and Prof. Natacha Thomas

Welcome to the Rhode Island Transportation Research Center

The Rhode Island Transportation Research Center (RITRC) was established in 1992, and received a $12 million University Transportation Center (UTC) grant under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) in 1998. New University of Rhode Island Transportation Center (URITC) was established to manage the grant in 1999.  RITRC supported more than 125 faculty and researchers from at least 6 colleges and 22 departments to build the transportation research capacity at URI from 1999 to 2003. Then, we have been carrying out various multi-disciplinary studies mainly in the areas of intelligent transportation infrastructure and system (ITIS). The research effort covers all modes of transportation including highway (roads and bridges), transit, rail, airport, ports, bike paths, and pipelines. We also will perform several intermodal transportation projects.

The URI research team has been strong in transportation materials, e.g., asphalts, concretes, composites, steel, soils, and pavement marking materials. The facility contains a complete set of equipment for mixing and testing bituminous materials including Marshall, Hveem and Superpave mix design sets, and soil characterization as well as aggregate testing. There is also equipment for mixing and testing portland cement concrete and evaluating corrosion of reinforced steel and paint adhesion. In addition, it contains the soil resilient modulus tester, the Superpave Indirect Tension Tester (IDT), SHRP binder test setup, Automatic Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA), portable Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and a 25 kip servohydraulic testing system which can be used for various static and dynamic loading modes, such as resilient modulus, dynamic modulus, fatigue, flexure and creep, and Simple Performance Test (SPT). This particular system is housed in the walk-in environmental chamber, which has temperature ranges from -12° to 60°C (10° to 140°F).

Recently, we have been working on establishing a Rhode Island Intelligence Road (RIIR)along RI Rte 138, and a Transportation System Analysis Lab (TSAL) in Bliss Hall. We are also working on Green Highway Initiatives, solar energy from the asphalt pavement, and cool pavement, etc. with various agencies including the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC).

The 24th Transportation Forum was held on Friday, October 28, 2011. The theme was "Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure and Systems".  There were three keynote speeches: (1) "Sustainable Green Transportation Infrastructure and System" Dr. Imad L. Al-Qadi, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Founder and Director of the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT); (2) "Environmental Considerations in Managing Transportation Infrastructure"  Professor Michael Sullivan, Former Director of RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM), College of Environmental Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island; (3)"Sustainable Transit and Public Transportation System" Mr. Charles Odimgbe, CEO of Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA).  More details can be found by following the 24th Forum Link in the sidebar.

For further information or details about RITRC activities, please e-mail Prof. K. Wayne Lee at leew@egr.uri.edu or the webmaster Andrew Correia at andrewcorreia1@gmail.com.

Rhode Island Transportation Research Center

212 Bliss Hall, 1 Lippitt Road,
Kingston, RI 02881
Tel: (401) 874-2695 Fax: (401) 874-2786

Director: Associate Directors:

Prof. K. Wayne Lee Prof. Christopher Hunter Prof. Natacha Thomas

Welcome to the Rhode Island Transportation Research Center (RITRC) Web site.

The Rhode Island Transportation Research Center (RITRC) was established in 1992, and received a $12 million University Transportation Center (UTC) grant under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) in 1998. RITRC supported more than 125 faculty and researchers from at least 6 colleges and 22 departments to build the transportation research capacity at URI from 1998 to 2002. Then, we have been carrying out various multi-disciplinary studies mainly in the areas of intelligent transportation infrastructure and system (ITIS). The research effort covers all modes of transportation including highway (roads and bridges), transit, rail, airport, ports, bike paths, and pipelines. We also have performed several intermodal transportation projects.

The URI research team has been strong in transportation materials, e.g., asphalts, concretes, composites, steel, soils, and pavement marking materials. The facility contains a complete set of equipment for mixing and testing bituminous materials including Marshall, Hveem and Superpave mix design sets, and soil characterization as well as aggregate testing. There is also equipment for mixing and testing portland cement concrete and evaluating corrosion of reinforced steel and paint adhesion. In addition, it contains the soil resilient modulus tester, the Superpave Indirect Tension Tester (IDT), SHRP binder test setup, Automatic Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA), portable Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and a 25 kip servohydraulic testing system which can be used for various static and dynamic loading modes, such as resilient modulus, dynamic modulus, fatigue, flexure and creep, and Simple Performance Test (SPT). This particular system is housed in the walk-in environmental chamber, which has temperature ranges from -12° to 60°C (10° to 140°F).

Recently, we have been working on establishing a Rhode Island Intelligence Road (RIIR)along RI Rte 138, and a Transportation System Analysis Lab (TSAL) in Bliss Hall. We are also working on Green Highway Initiatives, solar energy from the asphalt pavement, and cool pavement, etc.

The 23rd Transportation Forum will be on Friday, October 29, 2010. The theme will be "Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure and Systems for Globalization".  There were three keynote speeches: (1) Honorable US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse "Strategic Plan for National Transportation Infrastructure and System"; (2) "Characterizing and Monitoring Transportation and Geotechnical Infrastructure Using Nondestructive Testing" Prof. Kenneth H. Stokoe III Jennie C. Milton T. Graves Chair in Engineering Director, Geotechnical Engineering Center ,The University of Texas at Austin; (3)"Mechanistic Characterization of Sustainable Materials for Pavement Infrastructure" Irma-Louise Rush Stewart Prof. Louay Mohammad Director, Engineering Materials Characterization Research Facility Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC)

 The schedule can be found here.

For further information or details, please e-mail Prof. K. Wayne Lee at leew@egr.uri.edu.