Friday, February 22, 2008, 2 PM
Olsson Hall 120

Bridging the Gap: Innovation to Application in Pavements Research

Brian Diefenderfer, Ph.D., P.E.

Abstract

Historically, designs for new pavement structures have been based on either anecdotal knowledge or on full-scale test roads. While these design philosophies served the traveling public well from the late 1950s through the 1990s, pavement researchers around the country understood that designs could be more efficient and reliable if the interaction between vehicular and environmental loading were accounted for mechanistically. For the past 15 to 20 years, researchers have been investigating methods for including mechanistic pavement design principles into everyday practice.

This presentation will offer a background on pavement material properties, current pavement design methodologies, future research activities, and tools that are utilized to assess the structural condition of in-place pavements so that rehabilitation treatments can be designed more effectively.

Biography

Brian Diefenderfer is a Research Scientist at the Virginia Transportation Research Council and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia. Dr. Diefenderfer received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1996, 1998, and 2002, respectively. While at Virginia Tech, he concentrated his studies on civil engineering materials, nondestructive evaluation, and infrastructure condition assessment. Prior to coming to VTRC, Brian was employed with a research/consulting engineering firm where he worked on evaluating the condition and predicting the service life of deteriorating reinforced concrete structures. Dr. Diefenderfer is a registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Civil Engineering seminar series is open to the University community.
Civil Engineering undergraduate students are especially invited to attend.