2025 CGS-SOS Christmas Dinner - Geotechnical Aspects in Pavement Design

Event Program:

• 4:30 PM – Cocktails and Socializing
• 5:00 PM - Student Posters on Display
• 6:00 PM – Dinner
• 7:00 PM - Awards Followed By Lecture

Geotechnical Aspects in Pavement Design: From Correction to Prevention

Road infrastructure is essential for any country, but its rehabilitation and maintenance represent significant costs. Despite this, in the United States empirical models are still used to predict the behavior of materials employed in road infrastructure.

This presentation addresses recent advances in incorporating unsaturated soil mechanics to improve the prediction of the behavior of granular materials and subgrade in pavement systems, using the resilient modulus as a key indicator. The models are developed within a mechanistic–empirical framework, which combines the best of both approaches to provide practical and accessible tools. In addition, an implementation system is proposed that can be adapted to available resources, including laboratory testing, hybrid mechanistic models with local calibration, and purely empirical models. This approach makes it possible to optimize pavement analysis and design in diverse contexts.

Bio: Claudia E. Zapata, M.S., Ph.D. Short Vitae

National Center for Infrastructure Transformation (NCIT) under the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), and former Deputy Director of the Engineering Research Center for Bio-Mediated and Bio-Inspired Geotechnics, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Zapata is the author of more than 90 technical publications related to research on the behavior of unsaturated soils, characterization of expansive soils, thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of soils under static and repeated loads, empirical modeling of fluid flow, shear strength and soil volume change applied to pavement structures and residential foundation systems; environmental effects on soil behavior; and soil improvement induced by microbes and biological enzymes, as well as geotextiles. Her consulting expertise in the past 25 years include the evaluation of airfield design procedures, forensic investigations of pavement failures, and the assessment of environmental effects on pavement design; for several large companies and agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana DOT, ARA, AMEC, Parsons and ZW Consultants.

Career Highlights include her active participation in the development of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide climatic models; the development of models to incorporate environmental effects and problematic soil behavior into current pavement design practices; and the production of a database containing properties of over 35,000 unsaturated soils across the United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Zapata has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Carl Monismith Award 2025 from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for her outstanding contributions to research in Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering; the 2025 James M. Hoover Distinguished Lecture Award presented by Iowa State University in 2025, the 2021 Victoria Foundation Award, honoring Latino faculty working to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in engineering; and the Community Service Award 2011 for her significant contributions to advancing pavement and materials programs and technology in Arizona, presented by Arizona State University and Arizona Department of Transportation.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Notes:

• Tickets are sold based on first come first served.
• No refund is possible from 48 hours to the start of the event.

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