Connecticut TRAC
TRAC
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A Transportation & Civil Engineering Program      
Roadway Design and Construction
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On the Road to Learning

What do mathematics, social studies, and technology have in common?  They are featured in the TRAC PAC 2 Roadway Design and Construction module.  Throughout these activities, students learn data visualization, law of sines, societal impact of transportation systems, and computer algorithms.  The topics covered showcase the wide range of professional disciplines involved in taking a road from design to construction, and give students an edge in learning.

Using roadway design as the vehicle for learning, students apply important classroom theory to transportation issues that impact their own lives every day:
  • Road capacity, design consequences, budgets, and environmental impact all must be considered when students are asked to design and build a new roadway.
  • Using spreadsheets and computer-based modeling, students estimate real estate prices for the land that must be bought for the roadway.
  • Students delve into the underlying mathematics of road design using High Roads CAD software to create a road and explore curves.
  • Students are introduced to the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) concepts of sensors, traffic management systems, and software engineering through a computer programming exercise in Visual Basic for
Road Design and Construction Manual (pdf 3.6mbs)