Ernesto Urbaez, Research Associate
Center for Sustainable & Resilient Infrastructure
Accelerated Pavement Testing
Dr. Ernesto Urbaez is a Research Associate at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Center for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (CSRI). In this role, he contributes to the research, development, and deployment of innovations in infrastructure for the nation’s roadway system.
With more than 32 years of experience in non-destructive pavement evaluation, design, and rehabilitation techniques. Dr. Urbaez specializes in advancing non-destructive testing for pavement design, rehabilitation, and pavement asset management. He has conducted detailed investigations of pavement performance under a variety of traffic and climatic conditions. His work includes evaluating various pavement types, with a focus on identifying the root causes of performance issues and recommending targeted rehabilitation strategies.
His latest research focuses on the instrumentation of Laser Doppler Vibrometers (LDVs) in accelerated loading facilities. As part of this initiative, he has developed a methodology to verify pavement deflection velocities collected by Traffic Speed Deflectometers (TSD) using LDVs, supporting improved accuracy and efficiency in pavement condition assessment.