Research

Office of Policy and Strategic Planning

• In July 2023, Connecticut was one of 16 states recognized as being a sponsor of an AASHTO “High-Value” Research project!  Connecticut’s winning project is (SPR-2313) “Repair of Steel Beam/Girder Ends with Ultra High-Strength Concrete (Phase III: Implementation and Training).”  Arash Esmaili Zaghi, PhD, P.E., S.E. Professor (UCONN) is the Principal Investigator of the Project.  The project implemented a cost effective, easy to implement repair for bridge beam ends with corrosion damage.  Check out a video explaining more about the project, design guidelines, a symposium paper, and a Sage Journal research article.

• Take a look at some local media coverage of our ongoing project, (SPR-2322) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Markov Process Based Data Mining on Predicting Bridge Operating Conditions on the Hartford Courant, Fox61, LinkedIn, and University of Hartford webpages.  The project is studying using artificial intelligence to evaluate and predict infrastructure needs of Connecticut’s more than 5,000 bridges.  Clara Fang, PhD, Professor (University of Hartford) is the Principal Investigator of the project.

• The U.S. Department of Transportation has unveiled the Strategic Plan for FY 2022-2026.  This Strategic Plan outlines the goals and objectives of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) from Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 to 2026, superseding the prior FHWA Strategic Plan. This Plan was developed to align FHWA efforts with the FY 2022 to 2026 U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Strategic Plan and reflects the priorities of Agency leadership.

• In May 2022, a study prepared by the University of Connecticut, in cooperation with the Connecticut  Department  of  Transportation  and  the  U.S. Department  of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration titled "Implementing and Testing a Real-Time Network Positioning System for Connecticut Department of Transportation Advanced Continuously Operating Reference Network (ACORN)" was honored with a AASHTO "High Value" Research Supplemental Award for both the "Safety, Security and Emergencies" and "Construction, Specification and Materials" Categories for Region 1.  The project explores the use of satellites to determine centimeter-accuracy positions in real time, to support Survey Operations and other position-dependent CTDOT engineering activities.