Transport Research has a strong and energetic cluster in UCD with 11 academic staff, five post-doctoral researchers and about 25 PhD students.  Major funding from a number of sources has been awarded for research on Transport Infrastructure in particular. The group is part of the 7th Framework ASSET project, the largest transport research project in the world and we are European leaders of the €3.5 million Marie Curie training network, TEAM (Training in European Asset Management). The group has made considerable contributions in international understanding of bridge loading and dynamic vehicle/bridge interaction. There is also a great deal of activity in the group on railway embankments, piling and settlement due to tunnelling.

There is a considerable focus on field measurement and computer modelling to predict the behaviour of transport infrastructure in the field. Bridges over the River Liffey in Dublin have been monitored to test their response to pedestrian loading. Road bridges have also been monitored in Slovenia and in Sweden and used as weighing scales to weigh trucks in motion. Collaborations are ongoing with ZAG Slovenia, the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées and the Universities of Alabama and California. The group are world leaders in the process of bridge weigh-in-motion and have made several innovations including the concept of “measured” influence lines, an automatic self-calibration process, and weigh-in-motion where there are multiple vehicles present on the bridge simultaneously. Bridge assessment and repair strategies have been studied in depth and considerable progress has been made in understanding extreme loading events as a basis for site-specific bridge assessment. Chemical treatments and processes have been given particular attention with a focus on chloride induced corrosion mechanisms.

Rail investment strategies have been optimised and factors affecting rail choice among the travelling public. Rail infrastructure has also been studied and a new method developed for rail track bed assessment. The stability of cuttings and embankments has been given specific attention given the large number of older steep embankments in Ireland. Soft soil and peat have also been considered and new ground improvement systems developed.

The Transport, Infrastructure and Land Use group organise a colloquium in Ireland every two years. Plans are well advanced for the 2010 colloquium which will be in Cork.
This cluster is also linked to the Bridge and Transport Infrastructure Research group (BaTIR). The BaTIR brochure can be downloaded here.

Staff:

Key:

ALCE, UCD School of Architecture, Landscape and Civil Engineering  

ECON, UCD School of Economics  

Cluster Leader: Prof. Eugene OBrien