Project Title: Evaluation of Environmentally Friendly De-icing Salts (ECO-STs) for Canada
Funding/Research Supports
STAR鈥檚 TECH
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Research highlights winter road maintenance as a critical challenge in Canada, where large quantities of conventional road salts are used annually to maintain safe mobility during snow and ice events. While effective for de-icing, traditional salts contribute significantly to environmental degradation, infrastructure corrosion, and increased maintenance costs. Existing alternative….view more
Project Title: Climate Change Impact and Sustainable Pavement Maintenance Management Framework for Niagara Region
Funding/Research Supports
Regional Municipality of Niagara
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Canada has been significantly impacted by climate change, experiencing rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events. Pavements, especially asphalt and flexible types, are vulnerable to climate stressors like temperature variations, precipitation, wind speed, and water table changes, leading to rutting, cracking, and roughness. Freeze-thaw cycles further exacerbate pavement distress….view more
Project Title:聽Evaluations of Environmentally Friendly De-icing Salts Through Laboratory and Field Tests
Funding/Research Supports
Ontario Ministry of Transportation/ Minist猫re des Transports de l鈥橭ntario
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Safety and efficiency of Ontario highways may be greatly compromised in winter seasons due to dramatically deteriorated driving conditions caused by snowfall and ice formation. The objective of this research is to continue our previous efforts in evaluating alternative winter maintenance materials, equipment, and application methods. The project is motivated by the need to seek the most sustainable ways to maintain the safety….view more
Project Title: Performance Assessment and Improvement of Flexible Pavement under Climate Change
Funding/Research Supports
National Research Council Canada (NRC)
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
This research focuses on improving the reliability and climate adaptability of flexible pavement design in Canada through the local calibration of the AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Design (PMED) tool. While PMED represents a significant advancement over traditional design methods by incorporating climatic, traffic, and material factors, its current distress….view more
Project Title: Investigation of Concrete Moisture and Drying Period on the Performance of Hot Rubberized Asphalt (HRA) Waterproofing
Funding/Research Supports
Ontario Ministry of Transportation/ Minist猫re des Transports de l鈥橭ntario
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Research identifies environmental conditions, particularly temperature and relative humidity, as key factors affecting concrete drying and waterproofing performance. High temperatures accelerate moisture loss and shrinkage, while low temperatures delay drying, making it difficult to achieve optimal bonding conditions. Moisture gradients within concrete further influence….view more
Project Title: Sustainable Pothole Repair Solutions for Ontario鈥檚 Road Infrastructure
Funding/Research Supports
- Mitacs (Accelerate Program)
- Industry partner: Last20 Incorporated
Project Status
Completed
Project Overview
This research identifies pothole formation as a critical pavement distress issue in cold regions, driven largely by freeze鈥搕haw cycles, moisture infiltration, and repeated traffic loading. In Ontario, fluctuating winter temperatures allow water to penetrate pavement layers, freeze and expand, and subsequently weaken the structure during thawing periods. These processes accelerate surface deterioration, leading to potholes that compromise road….view more
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Project Title: Climate Resilient Asphalt Pavements for Canada
Funding/Research Supports
NSERC and DND Project
Project Status
Complete
Project Overview
Research highlights climate change as a key factor in pavement distress, with temperature and precipitation being critical. High temperatures cause asphalt softening and rutting, while extreme cold leads to thermal cracking. Heavy precipitation and freeze-thaw cycles accelerate degradation….view more
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Project Title: Upcycling Waste Plastic in Asphalt Road Construction
Funding/Research Supports
TBD
Project Status
Incoming
Project Overview
Recently waste materials are increasingly being incorporated into asphalt blends during the production of asphalt mixture for use in pavement construction while maintaining the pavement鈥檚 quality due to its economic and environmental advantages. Every year, enormous amounts of plastic are thrown away globally, causing a significant amount of waste being ended up in landfills which…..view more
Project Title: Improved Asphalt Mixture for City of St. John鈥檚
Funding/Research Supports
City of St. John’s
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
The goal of this research project is to enhance rutting and moisture-induced damage resistance in asphalt mixture, while the project鈥檚 objectives are as follows: review the current asphalt binder and mixture specifications of the City of St. John鈥檚; investigate the performance of asphalt binder additives and modifiers in binder and mastic levels for improving rut and moisture damage resistance…..view more
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Project Title: Climate Change Impact on Pavement Infrastructure
Funding/Research Supports
President鈥檚 Doctoral Student Investment Fund (PDSIF) and FEAS Start-up Funding Program
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Earth鈥檚 climate has been changing from last 650,000 years, but from 1950 there is a drastic change in climate due to an increased emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Many of the researchers…..view more
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Project Title: Sustainable Road Pavements for Harsh Climates
Funding/Research Supports
NSERC Discovery Grant
Project Status
Active
Project Overview
Across the country, Canada has more than a million kilometers of paved roads. Although Canada has rich natural beauty and geography, it also has a unique and harsh climate. Since the country is significantly large, the climate varies between regions. Weather factors such as rain, temperature, and snow with their…..view more
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Project Title: Investigation on De-lamination of Pavement Layer and Development of Improved Construction Specification
Funding/Research Supports
FEAS Start-up Funding Program
Project Status
Complete
Project Overview
In the recent years, transportation agencies have shifted their focus from the construction of new roads to the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing highways. Therefore, hundreds of kilometers of road are rehabilitated/upgraded in Canada.聽 Appropriate strategies are needed to effectively maintain…..view more
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Project Title: Application of Waste Cooking Oil in Construction of Asphalt Pavements
Funding/Research Supports
Harris Center, Multi-Materials Stewardship Board of Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,聽 Stantec Inc., Pardy鈥檚 Waste Management
Project Status
Complete
Project Overview
A large portion of the oils used for cooking will end up as waste-cooking-oil (WCO). WCO contains many harmful chemical by-products (palmitic acids), and improper disposal in the wastewater system taxes sewage lines and increases the organic load on the sewage treatment plant significantly. WCO does not need to be discarded, however, and there are…..view more
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Project Title: Damage Analysis for Various Pavement Design Variables for Canadian Roads
Funding/Research Supports
FEAS Start-up Funding Program
Project Status
Complete
Project Overview
Fatigue cracking is a major structural failure for asphalt concrete (AC) pavement, that occurs due to repeated loading. Maintaining the structural integrity of the AC pavement has been a challenge for the transportation industry. Application of new generation wide-base tire in heavy truck is…..view more
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Project Title: Field Inspection of Pavement Distresses of City of St John鈥檚, Newfoundland, Canada
Funding/Research Supports
FEAS Start-up Funding Program and TotalPave.Com
Project Status
Complete
Project Overview
St. John鈥檚, Newfoundland has a unique weather climate, i.e., a very high amount of precipitation year-round, temperate summer and moderate winter temperature. The pavement foundation (subgrade) layer in this region mainly consists of metamorphic strong rock. Since the city is located in an island and has small size of population, the road pavements of this city also experience…..view more