Department of Civil Engineering
4190 Bell Engineering Center
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (479) 575-4954
Fax: (479) 575-7168
Transportation Engineering
The field of transportation engineering encompasses all facets of the systems relating to the movement of people and goods. Specific areas include pavements and materials, pavements management systems, planning and land development, geometric design, traffic and signal design, and capacity analysis. These topics apply to the various modes of transportation such as highways, air, rail, and transit.
The transportation faculty at the University of Arkansas are very active in researching various transportation topics, and boasts comprehensive physical laboratory for pavements and materials research, as well as the latest computing technology and software applications for transportation design. In addition, University of Arkansas faculty have developed and patented digital media systems designed to manage transportation infrastructure. Coursework in the transportation area is designed to provide students with direct exposure to all facets of the transportation field, leading to successful careers in transportation research, design, and construction.
Andrew Braham, Ph.D.
Research focus: advanced characterization of pavement materials, pavement maintenance and rehabilitation products, and sustainability.
Kevin Hall, Ph.D.
Research focus: pavement design, materials, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation
Sarah Hernandez, Ph.D.
Research focus: transportation systems engineering; freight transportation data sources and needs; intelligent transportation systems
Stacy Williams, Ph.D.
Research focus: pavements and materials
Robert Bullis
Master's Candidate
BSCE – University of Arkansas
Elvis Castillo
Doctoral Candidate
Andrew Evans
Master's Candidate
BSME – Harding University
Minghua Miller
Master's Candidate
BSCE – University of Arkansas
Airam Morales Vega
Doctoral Candidate
BSCE – Universidad Tecnologica de Panama
Master's in Education – Universidad Tecnologica OTEIMA
Back-calculation of the Poisson’s Ratio of Asphalt Concrete Using Dynamic Modulus
Kenneth Pasley
Master's Candidate
BSCE – Universidad Arkansas
Benjamin Perea
Master's Candidate
Erica Yeung
Master's Candidate
BSCE – University of Arkansas
Shu Yang
Doctoral Candidate
BSCE – Southeast University in Nanjing, China
MS Highway and Railway Transportation – Southeast University in Nanjing, China
Characterizing the fracture resistance of the asphalt concrete from the perspective
of fracture mechanics instead of empirical methods
Locating Transload Facilities to Ease Highway Congestion and Safeguard the Environment
- Timeframe: January 2016
- Funded By: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (TRC-1608)
- Collaborators: Andrew Braham (PI), Sarah Hernandez(Co-PI), & John Kent(Co-PI, WCOB)
Performance of Asphalts Modified with Polyphosphoric Acid (PPA)
- Timeframe: November 2014 through October 2016.
- Funded By: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (TRC-1501)
- Collaborators: Andrew Braham (PI), Dr. Zahid Hossain (Co-PI, Arkansas State University)
Exploring Compaction Characteristics of CIR and FDR
- Timeframe: August 2015 through July 2017.
- Funded By: Private Industry
- Collaborators: Andrew Braham (PI)
Evaluating Asphalt Binder Modification’s Effect on Asphalt Concrete Testing
- Timeframe: October 2015 through May 2016.
- Funded By: Private Industry
- Collaborators: Andrew Braham (PI)
Undergraduate Courses
CVEG 3413 Transportation Engineering (Fa)
Introduction to highway and transportation engineering, planning, finance, economics, traffic, and geometric design of transportation facilities; theory and application of driver, vehicle and roadway characteristics as they relate to roadway and intersection design; safety, capacity, traffic operations, and environmental effects for highway engineering.
- Prerequisite: CVEG 2053.
CVEG 4413 Pavement Evaluation and Rehabilitation (Irregular)
Introduction of concepts and procedures for pavement condition surveys; evaluation by nondestructive and destructive testing; maintenance strategies; rehabilitation of pavement systems for highway and airfields; pavement management systems.
- Prerequisite: CVEG 4433.
CVEG 4423 Geometric Design (Sp)
The geometric design of streets and highways, based on theory and application of driver and vehicle characteristics.
- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413.
CVEG 4433 Transportation Pavements and Materials (Sp, Fa)
Study of the engineering properties and behavior of materials commonly used in transportation facilities as they relate to the design and performance of flexible and rigid pavement systems. Lecture 2 hours, laboratory 3 hours per week.
- Prerequisite: CVEG 3133, CVEG 3413, and INEG 3313.
CVEG 4841 Transportation Design Project (Fa)
Comprehensive engineering design project primarily related to transportation issues.
- Corequisite: CVEG 4433
CVEG 494VH Honors Studies in Transportation Engineering (Irregular) (1-6)
The study of advanced topics in the transportation engineering field. May include participation in transportation engineering courses normally available only to graduate students. Course may be repeated for up to 6 hours total credit with approval of the CVEG honors advisor.
- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413.
Graduate Courses
CVEG 5413 Transportation and Land Development (Irregular)
Study of interaction between land development and the transportation network. Application of planning, design, and operational techniques to manage land development impacts upon the transportation system, and to integrate land layout with transportation network layout.- Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
CVEG 5433 Traffic Engineering (Irregular)
A study of both the underlying theory and the use of traffic control devices (signs, traffic signals, pavement markings), and relationships to improved traffic flow and safety, driver and vehicle characteristics, geometric design, and societal concerns. Also includes methods to collect, analyze, and use traffic data.- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413 or graduate standing.
CVEG 5463 Transportation Modeling (Irregular)
The use of mathematical techniques and/or computer software to model significant transportation system attributes. May compare model results with actual measured traffic attributes, using existing data sources and/or collecting and analyzing field data.- Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
CVEG 5473 Transportation System Characteristics (Irregular)
Introduction to traffic flow theory, including traffic stream interactions and capacity. Applications for planning, design, operations.- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413 and graduate standing.
CVEG 5483 Transportation Management Systems (Irregular)
Six transportation management systems are explored: pavement, bridge, intermodal, public transportation, safety, and congestion. System approaches are presented. Techniques are introduced on how to optimally allocate resources. Pavement and bridge structure basics are discussed and their performance parameters are presented. Case studies are used to illustrate the interfaces among various modes of transportation. Safety and congestion problems in transportation are addressed.CVEG 5423 Structural Design of Pavement Systems (Irregular)
An introduction to the structural design of pavement systems including: survey of current design procedures; study of rigid pavement jointing and reinforcement practices; examination of the behavioral characteristics of pavement materials and of rigid and flexible pavement systems; introduction to structural analysis theories and to pavement management concepts.- Prerequisite: CVEG 4433.
CVEG 563V Transportation Planning
Theoretical foundations of transportation planning methods, Theory and application of aggregate and disaggregate models for trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and trip assignment. Focus of this course will be on passenger based travel demand models, but will also introduce state of the art models including activity based models as well as freight forecasting models. Students will be introduces to transportation planning software through lab materials.- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413 or graduate standing.
CVEG 563V Transportation Data Analysis
Provide students with a solid background in the application of common statistical/econometric analysis techniques for examining transportation systems data and performing related statistical modeling. This course emphasizes the empirical application of statistical techniques, but underlying theories and their limitations will also be discussed and simple derivations will be performed in class. Transportation systems data sets from regional, state, and national sources will be used as applications and case studies.- Prerequisite: CVEG 3413 or graduate standing.