Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure
About CSTI
In 2006, the Roadway Infrastructure Group (RIG) became the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure. This Center is organized in two groups: Infrastructure Management and Sensing, Modeling and Simulation and focuses its research efforts in the areas of pavement design, analysis, rehabilitation and safety, infrastructure management, civil engineering materials, nondestructive testing, and life-cycle cost analysis.
About the Director
Dr. Gerardo F. Flintsch is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure at VTTI and an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Since the mid 1980s, he has worked in the areas of asset management and pavement engineering.
Dr. Flintsch's main areas of technical experience are pavement design, construction, evaluation and management, and infrastructure management. He has taught classes and workshops on pavement and infrastructure design, evaluation, and management in eleven countries and has more than 100 publications. Dr. Flintsch has also served as a consultant to several national and international organizations and has recently been inducted as a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Uruguay (NAE).
The NAE of Uruguay is a part of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences, whose founders and active members include the National Academy of Engineering and the Royal Academy of Engineering of the United Kingdom. The NAE of Uruguay follows the same standards that its peers and its mission is to promote the technological welfare of the nation by marshaling the knowledge and insights of eminent members of the engineering profession.
Current Work
Asphalt Materials Characterization in Support Of Implementation of the Proposed Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design
Guide
The primary objective of this project is to perform a full hot-mix asphalt (HMA) characterization to support the implementation of mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedures in Virginia.
Pavement Surface Properties Consortium - A Research Program at the Virginia Smart Road
The main objective of this pooled-fund project is to establish a research program focused on enhancing the level of service provided by the roadway transportation system by optimizing pavement surface texture characteristics.
NCHRP Project 04-34 - Application of LADAR in the Analysis of Aggregate Character
The objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a LADAR system capable of precise and accurate measurement of the aggregate characteristics of shape, volume, angularity, surface texture, specific surface area, and volumetric gradation.
More Current Research Examples:
- Field Aggregate Characterization Using Pocket Computer Camera System
- Virginia Cooperative Pavement Engineering and Research Program
Previous Work
Asset Management Data Collection for Supporting Business Decisions
This project investigated how state DOTs are linking their data collection policies, standards, and practices to their Asset Management decision-making processes (especially for project selection) which will eventually help transportation agencies tailor their data collection activities according to their real decision-making needs.
Validation of the Mechanistic-Empirical Analysis Procedure to Determine In-Place HMA Layer Modulus for Rehabilitation Projects
This project evaluated various methods for characterizing existing HMA layers for rehabilitation purposes and provided a recommendation on which one to use in the Commonwealth.
Ground Penetrating Radar for Moisture Measurements in Pavement Structural Layers-Pilot Demonstration Project
The objective of this project was to demonstrate a methodology for non-destructive evaluation of moisture in pavement structural layers in order to determine areas where under-drain pipes might be non-functional.