Highlights from the 2026 Transportation Infrastructure Precast Workshop
On April 14, nearly 70 precast concrete researchers, industry leaders, and students gathered for the Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center’s (TRANS-IPIC) third annual Transportation Infrastructure Precast (TIP) Workshop. Held in collaboration with co-sponsors the American Concrete Institute and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute of Illinois and Wisconsin (PCI), the workshop aimed to focus on innovative applications of new materials and technologies, construction methodologies, management, condition monitoring, remote sensing, and more.
According to TRANS-IPIC director and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign structural engineering professor Bassem Andrawes, the TIP workshop provides a unique opportunity to advance TRANS-IPIC’S goals through collaborations with research and industry.
“You’ll see a group of speakers today from industry who can tell us about the real world so that our students can benefit from their expertise,” he said. “But also you’ll see our researchers and students looking to the future and how we can change and transform transportation infrastructure.”
Talks featured researchers from five universities - the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, Louisiana State University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and University at Buffalo. The research highlighted ranged in topics from 3D printing and smart sensing in precast concrete, to advanced curing methods and nanomodification, to continuous inspection of bridges using connected automated vehicles, and more.
One presentation by Louisiana State University (LSU) department of civil and environmental engineering PhD student Khalilullah Taj, highlighted the stakes for his research with LSU Professor Yen Fang Su on 3D printing and smart sensing into as well as the work of the rest of the industry and research leaders in attendance.
“One out of three bridges in the United States requires either total replacement or repairs, and this is a big challenge that we as civil engineers are facing,” he said.
Industry leaders from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, HNTB, WJE, the Texas Department of Transportation, and Systra also presented on current uses of precast concrete in bridges and urban transit. In addition, leaders from Dukane Precast and County Prestress and Precast came together for a precast manufacturer panel, sharing their decades of experience in the industry.
“Events like this push the industry forward by bringing together practical field experience, production insight, and new ideas that can improve how projects are designed, built, and delivered,” Dukane Precast said in a post about the workshop.
In addition, the workshop also included a poster session and competition featuring the work of 17 students. The winner of the poster competition was Mohsen Navazani, a PhD student at the University of Texas at San Antonio, for his poster on AI-based Lift Path Planning for Robotic Installation of Precast Bridge Components.
The presentations and work highlighted at the TIP workshop reflected the vital work of TRANS-IPIC research and industry support in its third year of existence, funding over 50 projects by its 39 research faculty members, 101 student researchers, and over 40 industry partners.
Workshop Proceedings can accessed on the Zenodo event page, found HERE.
TRANS-IPIC is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) funded by the USDOT and is working to develop solutions for the transportation infrastructure challenges by innovating precast concrete related technologies that are durable, safe, and economic.
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