For Immediate Release

News Advisory

Date: December 22, 2003

Contact: Russell Houston
(202) 334-3252

rhouston@nas.edu

Soil Mechanics

TRB 83rd Annual Meeting Session Highlights

January 11-15, 2004 Washington, DC
Workshops and sessions in this major topic area will provide a forum for discussion of research
results and technology transfer. Among the emerging topics that will be covered include
geotechnical aspects of load and resistance factor design, intelligent compaction systems, deep
mixing technology, United States and foreign experience in the use of auger cast-in-place piles,
advances in real-time geo-instrumentation, and nontraditional computing techniques such as
neural networks. In addition to drawing attention to emerging topics, Annual Meeting
participants will be exposed to traditional issues such as soil stabilization, the use of geosythetics
in transportation facilities, seasonal effects on roads, pavement drainage, and unsaturated soil
mechanics.
Some 9,000 policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of
government, industry, and academic institutions are expected to attend the Transportation
Research Board (TRB) 83rd Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC, January 11-15, 2004. The
meeting, held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Omni Shoreham, and Hilton Washington hotels,
includes more than 2,200 presentations in 500 sessions, 40 workshops, and 350 TRB committee
meetings covering all aspects of transportation.
TRB's mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an
objective and interdisciplinary setting, TRB facilitates the sharing of information on
transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers
research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on
transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages
their implementation. A major focal point of TRB's activities, the Annual Meeting provides an
opportunity for transportation professionals from all over the world to exchange information of
common interest.
Organized in 1920, TRB is a division of the National Academies, which include the National
Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National
Research Council. The nation turns to the National Academies for independent, objective advice
on issues that affect people's lives worldwide.

Highlighted Soil Mechanics Sessions

Workshop 135: Deep Mixing Technology for Embankment Support
This workshop, coordinated by the National Deep Mixing (NDM) research program, presents the
latest developments in the application of deep-mixing technology for support of highway and
railway embankments. Deep mixing is an innovative construction technology that has a wide
range of applications for construction of highway infrastructure systems. It has been used for
construction of new embankments on soft soils, rehabilitation of existing embankments,
widening and elevating of existing embankments, reduction of settlement for bridge abutments,
mitigation of liquefaction, reduction of seepage from levees, and excavation support of depressed
highway sections. Topics include the state of the practice in design, construction, quality
assurance, and case histories of embankments on deep-mixed columns. The NDM program,
sponsored by 10 states, the Federal Highway Administration, and the private sector, coordinates
deep-mixing research in the United States.
Session 251: Practical Application of Load and Resistance Factor Design for Foundation and
Earth Retaining System Design and Construction
This session will bring together representatives from the engineering, contractor, and owner
communities to discuss barriers and identify workable recommendations for the implementation
of load and resistance factor design (LRFD) into the geotechnical engineering practice. LRFD
must be implemented for all federally funded projects by 2007. LRFD specifications have been
available through the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO) since 1994; however, the use of the LRFD specifications is not wide spread. This
session will attempt to kick-start the LRFD implementation process by highlighting the need for
increased interaction between the structural and geotechnical designer in the application of
LRFD, identifying the types of geotechnical structures not currently covered in the LRFD
specifications, discussing load and resistance factor calibration, examining the selection of
design parameters, and debating application of engineering judgment. Session proceedings will
be used in recommendations to AASHTO and the new National Highway Institute LRFD
technical working group.
Session 414: Intelligent Compaction System
Intelligent Compaction was touted to the 2002 American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officers and Federal Highway Administration sponsored International Scanning
Tour on Accelerated Methods for Construction of Bridge and Embankments Foundations as the
next generation of compaction systems. Intelligent Compaction varies the compaction energy
real time to ensure uniformity laterally, longitudinally, and vertically, as well as to eliminate
wasted time and quality damage from overcompaction and/or aggregate crushing. The
identification of new compacting methods is needed as implementation of warrantees and
guarantees for earthworks and pavements combine with changing procurement methods to
expose significant drawbacks to current quality assurance and quality control techniques. This
session will build on the knowledge gained during the 2002 scanning tour through presentations
by Swedish, German, and Swiss experts about intelligent systems for quality assurance and
quality control in soil compaction; intelligent VARIOCONTROL rollers with an integrated
quality control system for soil compaction; and intelligent compaction with vibratory rollers.
2

Sessions 481 and 522: Recent Experiences and Advancements in United States and Abroad on
the Use of Auger Cast-in-Place Piles, Part 1 and 2
Auger Cast-in-Place (ACIP) piles have been a popular foundation choice for several years for the
private sector in the United States and for both the private and public sector internationally.
Recently, a number of state departments of transportation began to approve project-specific
ACIP piles based on technical feasibility, project conditions, performance requirements, quality
control and assurance procedures, and cost. In 2002 American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officers and the Federal Highway Administration sponsored International
Scanning Tour on Accelerated Methods for Construction of Bridge and Embankments
Foundations observed that ACIP systems had the potential to be significantly faster and less
expensive for certain applications than current deep foundation alternatives. This two-part
session will examine design procedures, along with enhanced quality assurance and quality
control techniques necessary for ACIP to gain greater acceptance in the United States. The
sessions will address recent experiences and advancements in ACIP piles by examining the
development and use of automated monitoring equipment for installation control, the monitoring
of drilling resistance for quality control, the field performance of ACIP system compared to
conventional deep foundation elements, and the nondestructive testing procedures for ACIP
piles. The sessions also will evaluate design procedures and advancements in installation
monitoring.

All Soil Mechanics Sessions

Sunday
No.

Function Title

Hotel

Time

105

Stabilization of Sulfate-Bearing Soils: Experiences, Problems,

and Solutions

8:30 AM12:00 PM

135

Deep Mixing Technology for Embankment Support

2:00 PM5:30 PM

136

Doctoral Student Research in Transportation Geotechnics

2:00 PM5:30 PM

Hotel

Time

Monday
No.

Function Title

210

Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Stabilized Soils

8:00 AM9:45 AM

211

Heating or Freezing Soil for Remediation of Environmental

Contaminants

8:00 AM9:45 AM

250

Cementitious Stabilization of Soils

10:15 AM12:00 PM

251

Practical Applications of Load and Resistance Factor Design

for Foundation and Earth Retaining System Design and
Construction

10:15 AM12:00 PM

283

Advances in Slope and Embankment Engineering

1:30 PM3:15 PM

284

Materials Characterization

1:30 PM3:15 PM

325

Foam, Fiber, and Polymer Stabilization

3:45 PM5:30 PM

358

Numerical Models in Tunnel Design

7:30 PM9:30 PM

359

Lessons Learned from Case Studies in Pavement Drainage

7:30 PM9:30 PM

360

Tools to Assess Properties of Compacted Soils

7:30 PM9:30 PM

Tuesday
No.

Function Title

Hotel

Time

410

Practical Uses of Soil Suction in Transportation Engineering

8:00 AM9:45 AM

411

Use of Contaminated, Waste, and Recycled Material in

Transportation Applications

8:00 AM9:45 AM

414

Intelligent Compaction Systems

8:00 AM9:45 AM

452

Applications of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Transportation

Projects

10:15 AM12:00 PM

453

Condition Assessment of Buried Metal Tensioned Elements

10:15 AM12:00 PM

481

Recent Experiences and Advancements in the United States and

Abroad on Use of Auger Cast-in-Place Piles, Part 1 (Part 2,
Session 522)

1:30 PM3:15 PM

487

Geologic Characterization for Structures

1:30 PM3:15 PM

522

Recent Experiences and Advancements in the United States and

Abroad on Use of Auger Cast-in-Place Piles, Part 2 (Part 1,
Session 481)

3:45 PM5:30 PM

562

Practical Applications of Nontraditional Computing Tools

7:30 PM9:30 PM

Hotel

Time

Wednesday
No.

Function Title

603

Seasonal Variations and Spring Load Restrictions on LowVolume Roads, Part 1 (Part 2, Session 647)

8:00 AM9:45 AM

647

Seasonal Variations and Spring Load Restrictions on LowVolume Roads, Part 2 (Part 1, Session 603)

10:15 AM12:00 PM

680

Culvert Design

2:30 PM4:00 PM

684

Micromechanics Applied to Pavement Design

2:30 PM4:00 PM

716

Modeling of Bridge and Foundation Response to Lateral

Loading

4:30 PM6:00 PM

720

Applications of Nontraditional Computing

4:30 PM6:00 PM

Hotel

Time

Thursday
No.

Function Title

802

Advances in Real-Time Geoinstrumentation, Part 1 (Part 2,

Session 824)

8:00 AM9:45 AM

807

Geosythetics: Pavement Design and Stress and Strain Transfer

Monitoring in the Field

8:00 AM9:45 AM

808

Properties of Compacted and Stabilized Soils

8:00 AM9:45 AM

824

Advances in Real-Time Geoinstrumentation, Part 2 (Part 1,

Session 802)

10:15 AM12:00 PM

Hotels: Marriott (M), Hilton (H), Shoreham (S)

Additional Sessions Information: http://www.trb.org/am/ip/