(Press-News.org) Texas is a huge state. And with that size comes soil diversity, supply chain delays, climate differences, material and labor costs and many other things to consider when evaluating the budget for a highway project.
To account for all of these variables, a University of Texas at Arlington researcher is building a price estimation and visualization tool for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) through a $200,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant. Mohsen Shandashti, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is leading a team to develop that tool, which will aid TxDOT in assessing and pricing contracts for major infrastructure works.
“The unit price will be different in Amarillo than in the Rio Grande Valley or in Houston or in North Texas,” Shahandashti said. “How much a cubic foot of concrete costs in those different locales varies greatly. This tool will help TxDOT issue the right costs for a certain project in a certain part of Texas.”
Shahandashti said soil is a notable example of how different Texas is.
“The amount of clay in the soil in northeast Texas is much greater than in some coastal areas, where there is mostly sandy soil,” Shahandashti said. “How to build in that soil has an impact on the overall cost of a project, especially when the huge diversity in precipitation levels is also considered. Accurate cost estimations lead to accurate planning and on-budget construction.”
Shahandashti said he will use historical data, then integrate those with some factors affecting unit prices to provide estimates.
“Then we’ll make geographic information system applications and visualizations,” Shahandashti said. “From that, we’ll visualize estimates.”
Mahmut Yasar, a UT Arlington professor of economics, is co-principal investigator on the project.
“Specifying and using appropriate econometric models is important for accurate unit price estimates,” said Yasar, who is also a Goolsby-Jacqualyn A. Fouse Endowed Chair and Distinguished Teaching Professor. Econometrics is the branch of economics that uses economic theory and statistical and mathematical methods to analyze real-world data. “Applying these methods to estimate prices can help improve project cost assessments and investment decisions.”
Melanie Sattler, chair and professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, said Shahandashti’s grant has the opportunity to make Texas highway projects more efficient.
“It is a far-reaching grant that could touch all corners of Texas,” Sattler said. “Not only can it ease TxDOT’s burden, but also avoid projects’ cost overruns and decrease their duration in the future.”
END
A project that could touch all corners of Texas
Civil engineer assisting TxDOT with tool to help estimate costs of road projects
2023-11-03
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Aston University 3D printing engineer wins Female Innovator of 2023 award
2023-11-03
Renia Gkountiou won the title of Female Innovator for 2023
She was nominated for her role in helping SMEs use and develop 3D printing
She is based at the Advanced Prototyping Facility which increases businesses’ awareness of 3D printing opportunities.
An Aston University engineer has been recognised at the 2023 Innovation Awards.
Renia Gkountiou who is as an engineer and technician within the University’s Advanced Prototyping Facility project won the title of Female Innovator for 2023.
She was nominated by professionals in her field for her role helping small to medium size businesses use ...
Aston University celebrates official opening of new city center HQ and launch of 2030 strategy
2023-11-03
The reception at John Cadbury House brought together more than 70 business leaders and other senior figures from across the city and region
The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, was guest speaker at the event
Professor Aleks Subic shared the University’s vision and ambitions for the future.
Aston University celebrated the official opening of its new Birmingham city centre headquarters and the launch of its 2030 strategy at a reception at John Cadbury House on Thursday 2 November.
The event, hosted by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Aleks Subic, brought together more ...
Mother Nature knows best when it comes to climate solutions, social media users say
2023-11-03
People feel more positive about planting trees and protecting rainforests as a means of combating climate change than they do about employing technological solutions, according to a new research paper in Global Environmental Change.
A survey of more than a million social media posts suggests that people feel more positive about Nature's ability to solve climate change than human technology, according to new research published in the journal Global Environmental Change.
Researchers analysing 1.5 million posts on X (formerly Twitter) using the latest artificial intelligence-driven language models found expressions of “disgust” ...
Texas A&M physicists play key role in milestone moment toward development of nuclear clock
2023-11-03
An international research team involving Dr. Olga Kocharovskaya , a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, has taken a major step toward development of a new generation of atomic clocks with mind-blowing potential affecting fundamental science and various industries, from nuclear physics to satellite navigation and telecommunications.
The team’s work, led by Argonne National Laboratory senior physicist Dr. Yuri Shvyd'ko, for the first time resonantly excited the scandium-45 nuclear isomer with the world's brightest X-ray pulses at the European XFEl (EuXFEL) X-ray ...
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program
2023-11-03
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – November 3, 2023 - The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is thrilled to announce the successful renewal of its Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant, titled "Enabling Technologies and New REU Approaches to Engineer Complex Tissues" will continue to offer diverse cohorts of undergraduate students unique research, education, and professional development opportunities in the multidisciplinary field of regenerative medicine (RM) over ...
U of M Medical School research team finds novel drug improves outcomes for patients with rare kidney disorder
2023-11-03
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (11/03/2023) — Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare kidney disorder that affects children and adults, and can lead to kidney failure. New findings from a team led by the University of Minnesota Medical School show patients with FSGS who were treated with the medication sparsentan experienced improved kidney function—making it a potential new treatment option for the disorder.
The research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests sparsentan may provide kidney protection by significantly reducing excess protein in urine — known as proteinuria, a proven indicator of kidney damage.
“FSGS ...
Opioid disorder treatment: first three weeks forecast success
2023-11-03
NEW YORK, NY--A newly developed prediction model may be able to calculate the risk of opioid relapse among individuals in the early stages of medication treatment—as early as three weeks into therapy.
“Medication treatment for opioid use disorder, contrary to popular belief, is very effective and likely to succeed if patients achieve early treatment success,” says Sean X. Luo, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who ...
Study links childhood trauma to COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations
2023-11-03
People who endured childhood adversity, like abuse or neglect, were more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 in adulthood, a new University of Pittsburgh study found. Specifically, higher self-reported childhood adversity was linked to 12-25% higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality.
While age, sex, ethnicity, health, and sociodemographic factors have been related to such outcomes throughout the pandemic, this was the first study finding a link between these COVID-19 outcomes ...
America’s low-carbon transition could improve employment opportunities for all
2023-11-03
The USA is likely to see consistent job growth from the transition to net zero, but the gains will be unevenly distributed, shows a new analysis.
The analysis, conducted by Imperial College London researchers and published today in Nature Climate Change, shows that some states will need new policies to ensure a ‘just’ transition.
The USA, alongside many countries, is planning for a low-carbon future, where energy production releases little to no carbon dioxide and what is released is removed from the atmosphere, creating net-zero carbon emissions. This has been backed by new policies, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes large investment ...
Expanding pharmacists’ role for patients with hypertension could prevent 15 million heart attacks and save $1.1 trillion over 30 years, VCU-led study finds
2023-11-03
RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 3, 2023) — If pharmacists had a larger role in prescribing medications to control blood pressure, they could prevent more than 15 million heart attacks, nearly 8 million strokes and more than 4 million cases each of angina and heart failure in the U.S. over 30 years, according to a new Virginia Commonwealth University-led study.
The study, “Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacist Prescribing for Managing Hypertension in the United States,” which published Friday in JAMA Network Open, details how ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Recent advances in dynamic biomacromolecular modifications and chemical interventions: Perspective from a Chinese chemical biology consortium
CRF and the Jon DeHaan Foundation to launch TCT AI Lab at TCT 2025
Canada’s fastest academic supercomputer is now online at SFU after $80m upgrades
Architecture’s past holds the key to sustainable future
Laser correction for short-sightedness is safe and effective for older teenagers
About one in five people taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro say food tastes saltier or sweeter than before
Taking semaglutide turns down food noise, research suggests
Type 2 diabetes may double risk of sepsis, large community-based study suggests
New quantum sensors can withstand extreme pressure
Tirzepatide more cost-effective than semaglutide in patients with knee osteoarthritis and obesity
GLP-1 drugs shown cost-effective for knee osteoarthritis and obesity
Interactive apps, AI chatbots promote playfulness, reduce privacy concerns
How NIL boosts college football’s competitive balance
Moffitt researchers develop machine learning model to predict urgent care visits for lung cancer patients
Construction secrets of honeybees: Study reveals how bees build hives in tricky spots
Wheat disease losses total $2.9 billion across the United States and Canada between 2018 and 2021
New funding fuels development of first potentially regenerative treatment for multiple sclerosis
NJIT student–faculty team wins best presentation award for ant swarm simulation
Ants defend plants from herbivores but can hinder pollination
When the wireless data runs dry
Inquiry into the history of science shows an early “inherence” bias
Picky eaters endure: Ecologists use DNA to explore diet breadth of wild herbivores
Study suggests most Americans would be healthier without daylight saving time
Increasing the level of the protein PI31 demonstrates neuroprotective effects in mice
Multi-energy X-ray curved surface imaging-with multi-layer in-situ grown scintillators
Metasurface enables compact and high-sensitivity atomic magnetometer
PFAS presence confirmed in the blood of children in Gipuzkoa
Why do people believe lies?
SwRI installs private 5G network for research, development, testing and evaluation
A new perspective in bone metabolism: Targeting the lysosome–iron–mitochondria axis for osteoclast regulation
[Press-News.org] A project that could touch all corners of TexasCivil engineer assisting TxDOT with tool to help estimate costs of road projects