Webinars - ARA

Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) continues to offer the successful Webinar Wednesday series of complimentary interactive webinars. ARA transportation and infrastructure experts will share their experience and answer your questions.

For more information, or if you would like to receive a past presentation, email ARAWebinars@ara.com.

Upcoming Webinars

to register for an upcoming webinar, Click on an individual event listing below and Follow the register link

Earth Retaining Structures: the Forgotten Infrastructure Feature

May 24, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Research Supporting Safe Transportation of Hazardous Materials by Rail

June 28, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

PAVEAIR: FAA’s Free Pavement Management Software

July 19, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Knowledge-Guided Machine Learning for Geotechnical Resilience

August 16, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Past Webinars Archive

Evaluating the Renewed Nuclear Explosive Threat

APRIL 26, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

This webinar evaluates nuclear explosive threat types, deployment options, and objectives; the differences in damage mechanisms between nuclear and conventional explosive threats; and broader-scale consequences and how these may impact modern society in terms of damage effects, resilience, response, and recovery for such an event.

SPEAKER – KEN HERRLE

Communication Roadblocks and How to Break Through Them

MARCH 8, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Effective communication is more important than ever. However, there are several common roadblocks to communication that slow us down, frustrate us, and keep us from getting our messages across. This can hurt your organization’s operations, morale, and interactions with the public. The great news is, you can overcome these roadblocks!

SPEAKER – KEVIN ELLIOTT

Tracking and Bonding Performance of Commonly Used Tack Coat Materials in Asphalt Pavement

FEBRUARY 22, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Asphalt emulsion is the most widely used tack (bond) coat material in the United States. The effectiveness of this critical bonding material is significantly dependent on limiting tracking by construction traffic and on the stiffness of residue from emulsions. The main objective of this presentation is to discuss the factors that may affect the tracking performance and bond shear strength of asphalt emulsion tack coats.

SPEAKER – ABU SUFIAN, PH.D.

GPR: What can squiggly lines really tell us?

JANUARY 25, 2023 | 12-1 PM EDT

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been in use for answering transportation industry’s questions about subsurface for decades. This presentation is intended for a general audience who want to know about the general use cases of GPR and to expand their knowledge on the advanced capabilities of GPR and how that information can help make better decisions.

SPEAKER – MERT SU, PH.D.

Experimental and Numerical Performance of Cement Bonded Geomaterials Stabilized with Plastic Waste

DECEMBER 14, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

This webinar presentation highlights the use of waste plastic as an effective material to lower the thermal conductivity of soil material and their potential use as a pavement subgrade and backfill material in geotechnical infrastructure construction.

SPEAKER – TANZILA TABASSUM, PH.D.

Risk Based Asset Management for Geotechnical Features - GAM

NOVEMBER 30, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Geotechnical assets have typically been considered as permanent assets with infinite service life. Yet it is well documented and understood that these assets degrade overtime leading to failures that can result in major injuries, and significant property loss, service interruption, and economic burdens on agencies. This webinar discusses the fundamentals of risk-based geotechnical asset management (GAM) and their benefits and limitations.

SPEAKER – DR. AHMAD ALHASAN

Strategies to Improve Transportation Operations at State DOTs

Transportation Systems Management and Operations - Reclaiming Capacity on Our Congested Roadways

OCTOBER 26, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) strategies and applications can address issues with high-impact, low-cost, and comparatively quick to implement solutions. In this webinar, attendees will learn why agencies are focusing on advancing their operations programs, how agencies are institutionalizing and maturing TSMO, and the benefits to robust TSMO programs within agencies.

SPEAKER - ERIN FLANIGAN, P.E., PMP

Nondestructive Evaluation Technologies for Detecting Utilities

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

This presentation walks through current and emerging nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies that could improve the detection and location of underground utilities across four geophysical domains: magnetic technologies, electromagnetic technologies, acoustic technologies, and seismic technologies.

SPEAKER - VANESSA NAPOLI

Geostatistical Methods for Estimating Values of Interest at Unsampled Locations

AUGUST 31, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Geostatistics is a collection of numerical techniques used to study spatial phenomena and capitalizes on spatial relationships to statistically estimate possible values of variables at unsampled locations. Geostatistical analysis also quantifies the uncertainties of the estimated values associated with variability across the site being analyzed. Geostatistics differs from classical statistics in that it uses the sampling location of every measured value to drive the estimate at each unsampled location of interest.

SPEAKER - BRANDON ARTIS, SENIOR CIVIL ENGINEER

Mechanistic Analysis of Asphalt Rutting in Airfield Pavements using the Viscoplastic Shift Model

JULY 20, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

This webinar presents a mechanistic modeling approach to predict asphalt rutting in airfield pavements. The Viscoplastic Shift model using Flexpave™ is utilized to determine the critical factors affecting selection of asphalt materials for airfield pavement structures such as mix type, temperature, gear configuration, and speed of the aircraft. Analysis reveals the importance of bumping the high temperature PG grade of the asphalt binder to obtain higher mix stiffnesses not only for the surface layer, but also for the intermediate and base layers.

SPEAKER - GHASSAN CHEHAB, PH.D., PRINCIPAL CIVIL ENGINEER

Pavement Dynamics: How Important is Pavement Dynamics under different Dynamic Loads?

JUNE 29, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

This presentation discusses the importance of pavement dynamics under different dynamic loads such as those from Falling Weight Deflectometer (Impact) and Vehicle (i.e., Moving) dynamic loads. The presentation reviews the characteristics of different dynamic loads applied to flexible pavements and the difference between Transient and Steady State pavement responses. The presentation also discusses when these respective responses become more important.

SPEAKER - HYUNG S. LEE, PH.D.

Prediction and Design for Extreme Load Events Using Digital Twins

MAY 25, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Digital twins are being developed for broad range of applications across many disparate fields, including design and modifications of tested and certified systems and products. This presentation focuses on design and optimization of physical structural systems and provide some case studies where digital twins have proved useful in predicting structural performance and design modifications under extreme load events.

SPEAKER - ROBERT LUNCEFORD

Enhancing Design through Value Engineering

APRIL 27, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

When performed correctly–with a focus on function, alternatives, and team dynamics–Value Engineering can help maximize a design so it meets required functions without sacrificing quality and does so at a minimal cost.

SPEAKERS – J. MIKHAEL (MIKE) EREKSON, PE and KENNETH HERRLE, PE, CPP, PMP

Probabilistic Deterioration Modeling of Concrete Culverts

MARCH 30, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

This presentation discusses the data preprocessing procedures (including handling missing data and data uncertainty), the statistical concepts of Markovian deterioration process and the Weibull survival analysis, the procedures used to fit the inspection data to these models, and the statistical inference of these models when it comes to diagnostics and forecasting.

SPEAKER – DR. AHMAD ALHASAN

Missouri's Experience with High Friction Surface Treatments

FEBRUARY 23, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Safety has become a primary focus of each and every project developed by the Missouri Department of Transportation. After the successful application of High Friction Surface Treatments (HFST) as part of a Highways for Life demonstration project, MoDOT continued the use of these treatments. However, the cost of HFST required the agency to investigate methods to evaluate the effectiveness of existing surfaces and to predict the safety benefit of potential locations.

SPEAKER – JAY BLEDSOE

Innovation Deployment: Strategies and Building Blocks to Adopt Innovations

JANUARY 26, 2022 | 12-1 PM EDT

Have you seen a new innovation that you would like to implement in your organization or agency? Would you like to push your organization to have an innovation culture? This presentation covers the innovation implementation process, personal strategies to be a successful innovator, and cultural characteristics for an innovative organization,

SPEAKER – DR. BILL VAVRIK

Pavement Marking Mobile Retroreflectivity Data Collection: Applications and Return on Investment

DECEMBER 8, 2021 | 12-1 PM EST

Pavement markings provide essential roadway lane location information to both human drivers and the machine vision technology in advanced driver assistance systems. Their safety function is particularly important at night when they are often the only lane guidance to roadway users. To ensure that markings are meeting the needs of roadway users their visibility level should be monitored. The standard metric for assessing marking nighttime visibility is retroreflectivity, and the mobile measurement of retroreflectivity at posted speed limits is an effective method for monitoring marking performance. The two primary applications of mobile retroreflectivity data are timely identification of maintenance striping needs and quality assurance after marking installation. This webinar explains what a mobile retroreflectometer unit (MRU) is, provides specific examples of transportation agencies using MRU data, and defines the agencies’ return on investment.

SPEAKER – CARMINE DWYER

Communication Tips for Engineers and Scientists

NOVEMBER 10, 2021 | 12-1 PM EST

It has never been more important for engineers and scientists to communicate their work. That said, communicating technical topics is tough, especially to non-technical audiences. But you can do it! Join Kevin Elliott for this free webinar “Communication Tips for Engineers and Scientists” to learn practical methods for connecting with non-technical audiences, explaining your amazing work, and moving them to action.

SPEAKER – KEVIN ELLIOTT

Risk Management for Infrastructure Geotechnical Features

OCTOBER 27, 2021 | 12-1 PM EDT

This webinar addresses the basics of Risk Management with a focus on its application for Infrastructure Geotechnical features: structural foundations, earth retaining structures, engineered earthworks, geotechnical aspects of pavements and ground improvement methods. The information in this webinar applies to all infrastructure sectors: buildings, airports, pipelines, roadways, railroads, transit, ports and dams.

SPEAKER – JERRY A. DIMAGGIO, P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE, ARA-ASSOCIATE

Improving Human Driver Performance with Feedback

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

While learning to perform any task, humans require feedback from the environment in order to learn, prioritize, make decisions, and ultimately alter their behavior and performance. Family members, peers, the education system, training systems, and the surrounding environment all play a part in providing valuable feedback.

SPEAKER - hannah silber

Mitigating Explosive Threats at U.S. Airports

AUGUST 25, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

Airports serve a critical role in modern society on many fronts. Unfortunately, due to their prominent visibility and openness, airports are also a rich target for mass casualty explosive attack. Beyond the immediate human and economic consequence of such an attack, the potential also exists for triggering a cascading impact across the National Airspace System (NAS). Since the attacks of September 11th nearly 20 years ago, much has been done at the federal, state, and local levels to help provide a safer environment at airports for passengers, visitors, and staff. This presentation will go back through a brief history of requirements enacted at U.S. airports for mitigating explosive attack over the last 20 years and will also explore engineering-level approaches to implementing these requirements. The differences between implementing such countermeasures at existing facilities versus new facilities will also be discussed.

SPEAKER - Kenneth herrle

Florida Statewide Pavement Marking Data Collection and Management System

JULY 28, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

The visibility of pavement markings is an important aspect of a safe transportation system as they convey vital roadway warnings and guidance information to the traveling public. Therefore, it is beneficial to maintain acceptable visibility levels of markings on pavements under all weather and lighting conditions. To ensure the intended in-service visibility level is adequately maintained, the reflectivity must be monitored and quantified accordingly. This presentation will provide a description of the Florida Pavement Markings Management system and its subsequent implementation including FDOT’s effort to ensure the quality, consistency, repeatability, and accessibility of statewide pavement marking retroreflectivity data.

SPEAKER - EDWARD OFFEI

Modern Pavement Management with the United States Forest Service

JUNE 30, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

With the goal of updating their pavement management program, the US Forest Service contracted ARA to conduct PCI surveys, PASER surveys, high-def imagery and video, and ride quality data in Regions 5 and 6 of their national network of forests. Region 5 includes all National Forests in the state of California and Region 6 includes all of Oregon and Washington. With approximately 15,000 miles of dead heading between all of the routes, a tremendous amount of planning and coordination, along with a modern approach to pavement management made this project a success.

SPEAKER - RUSSELL KNIERIEM

Progressing Towards Performance Specifications for Pavements

MAY 26, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

This presentation discusses performance specifications for pavements – specifications that describe how the finished product should perform over time. Advancements in performance tests and software tools provide highway agencies and the pavement community with a unique opportunity to use performance tests and mechanistic models for performance comparisons, mixture designs, and pavement designs, while integrating these different phases in pavement construction using similar test methods and mechanistic principles.

SPEAKER - SHREENATH RAO

Electrically Conductive Concrete Heated Pavement Systems

APRIL 28, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

Transportation agencies spend millions of dollars to remove accumulated ice and snow from paved surfaces by using deicing chemical agents, which can cause detrimental damage to bridges and pavements. The chloride in road salt flows into our lakes, streams, and groundwater, potentially harming roadside vegetation and our environment. Electrically conductive concrete (ECON) heated pavement system (HPS) has gained attention as a promising alternative technology for preventing snow and ice accumulation and mitigating the adverse effects of using traditional snow removal methods. This presentation demonstrates the world’s first full-scale ECON-based HPS construction and operation at Des Moines International Airport and how this system can be adapted for bridge and roadway applications.

SPEAKER - HESHAM ABDUALLA

FDOT’s Enhanced Hydroplaning Prediction Tool

MARCH 24, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

This webinar provides a brief description of FDOT’s Hydroplaning prediction tool. This tool was developed as part of the effort to reduce hydroplaning accidents and is being used during the roadway design phase to evaluate the hydroplaning potential of Florida’s roadways. The tool incorporates a total of four Water Film Thickness (WFT) models and three Hydroplaning Speed (HPS) models developed in the past, allowing for a total of twelve model combinations for the hydroplaning analysis. The tool also offers different analysis options that may be used to meet a variety of FDOT’s needs.

SPEAKER - MATEO CARVAJAL

Transportation Research Programs: Value Added, Success Stories and Program Management for Success

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

Transportation research centers often struggle to quantify the return on investment of their research and implementation efforts. They also recognize the need to market their efforts to increase implementation of projects and awareness of their research programs. This presentation highlights critical emerging strategies to develop measures for implementation efforts, tell better stories, and provides lessons from research program training activities.

SPEAKERS - JASON BITTNER AND KEVIN ELLIOTT

Paved Trail Management for Cyclists and Pedestrians

JANUARY 27, 2021 | 12-1PM EST

This webinar presents some innovative tools for trail network assessment, including data collection using mobile devices, cloud-based data analysis and web-based dashboard reporting and data visualization. Beyond pavement assessment, solutions for overall trail infrastructure management are presented, e.g. tools for evaluating traffic volumes, user speeds, urgent maintenance hazards and compliance with accessibility guidelines.

SPEAKERS - MIKE HARRELL AND ALEKS KIVI, MASC, P.ENG.

Masks and COVID-19: A Practical Perspective

DECEMBER 16, 2020 | 12-1PM EST

Understand the various types of RPDs available and the pros and cons for each type, obtain a practical understanding of the research that has been performed, understand why “source control” is important and how that relates to masks and be able to make an informed decision on the types of masks to be worn for your situation.

SPEAKER - BRIAN K. HEIMBUCH

Airport Pavement Management – Past, Present, and Future

November 18, 2020 | 12-1PM EST

This webinar provides a brief history of the origins of airport pavement management systems (APMS), focuses on the present state-of-the-practice, and discusses emerging technologies and FAA initiatives that will impact the future.

SPEAKER – Brian Aho

Pavement Response to Superheavy Load Movement

OCTOBER 21, 2020 | 12-1PM EST

This presentation summarizes the methodology and results of various scenarios predicted and pavement inspection results prior to and after a successful superheavy move.

SPEAKER – SHILA KHANAL

Probabilistic Safety Analysis and Friction Management

September 23, 2020 | 12-1PM EST

An overview of the statistical procedures and interpretations to develop and calibrate SPFs and an overview of the current practice and state of the art in pavement friction evaluation and its impact on highway safety performance.