Assistant Professor presents asphalt pavement research at international conference

Assistant Professor Bongsuk Park presented, “Enhanced Approach to Develop the International Roughness Index (IRI) Prediction Model,” at the International Society for Asphalt Pavements (ISAP) conference in Montreal, Canada.

Park traveled to École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), a public research university, for the conference on June 2-7.

“The IRI is widely used as an indicator to quantify the pavement surface conditions, and it is one of the key parameters in determining the appropriate maintenance strategy,” Park said. “This study developed IRI prediction models using historical IRI data, and they were able to represent typical behavior of IRI over time. Furthermore, this study proposed an enhanced approach to analyze the big database of field measurements, which has been challenging in pavement management systems (PMS). Therefore, this study may contribute to PMS of government agencies to improve the functional conditions of in-service pavements. “

Park said feedback received was helpful.

“Other professionals provided very constructive comments on this study to improve the accuracy of IRI predictions,” Park said. “Specifically, they suggested incorporating traffic information into the developed model to provide more detailed information, and a three-tiered system was proposed to represent the level of accuracy for the predicted IRI values. I really appreciated their comments and learned a lot about the others’ perspectives.”

A tour of the asphalt pavement material lab facilities at ETS also inspired Park to consider what might be done at Montana Tech.

“I enjoyed this lab tour, since I am currently working on setting up our civil engineering department lab. I learned about new equipment and the safety policy of a civil engineering asphalt material lab,” Park said.

Overall, Park said the experience was good for networking.

“Attending the conference is always great for understanding other research work and skills, which helps me keep up with the recent trend in my research field,” Park said. “The conference also provided a good opportunity to meet old colleagues and new professional contacts. It was a great time to have conversations with other professionals to discuss future research directions and potential research collaborations.”

Park’s presentation was based on data gathered during post-doctoral work at Purdue University. Pavement management systems vary regionally based on conditions in distinct geographic areas. He is looking forward to learning more about Montana’s pavement management systems, and  currently has an opening in his laboratory for a graduate engineering student interested in pavement systems.

To reach Assistant Professor Park, reach out to bpark1@mtech.edu.