The Last Word: UTA’s Melanie Sattler on a $200K Grant for a Highway Price Estimation and Visualization Tool

“It’s a far-reaching grant that could touch all corners of Texas.”

Melanie Sattler
Chair and Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering
UT Arlington
.…on a UTA team’s price estimation and visualization tool for building Texas highways.

UTA researcher Mohsen Shahandashti, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is building a price estimation and visualization tool for the Texas Department of Transportation through a $200,000 U.S. DOT grant.

Shahandashti cited variations in soil as a notable example of how different land in Texas can be—from the hard clay soils of Northeast Texas to the sandy soil in coastal areas. And that’s just one variable his team’s pricing tool will take into account for TxDOT.

“Not only can it ease TxDOT’s burden, but also avoid projects’ cost overruns and decrease their duration in the future,” Sattler added in a statement.

Read our story about the cool tool here.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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R E A D   N E X T

  • How much will that highway project cost? Soil diversity, supply chain delays, climate differences, material and labor costs, and many other things can factor into the budget. A UT Arlington researcher aims to help solve the puzzle with a new price estimation and visualization tool.

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  • The new on-campus facility at the University of Arlington will be a major upgrade in research infrastructure for the Texas Tier One institution. A focus of the new center will be pressing issues in brain health.

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