Low-volume and rural roads make up the largest share of transportation infrastructure in nearly every country, including the United States, and they are often vulnerable to extreme weather events and sudden increases in heavy traffic. Technological advancements and engineering techniques offer practical solutions to improve the functionality, structural capacity, and resilience of these critical networks. TRB will host a webinar on Thursday, April 16, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM Eastern that will highlight graduate research focused on engineered and technology-driven solutions for low-volume and rural roads. Presenters will provide findings from a road embankment case study in permafrost areas, discuss the use of digital twins to support safer and smarter low-volume road networks, and share lessons learned from implementing an innovative engineered solution to enhance slope stability.
This webinar is the second part of a webinar series for graduate students to showcase their research work on low volume and rural roads. The first part, Advancing Unpaved Roads and Airfields Through Graduate Research, was held on September 29, 2025.
This webinar is sponsored by TRB’s Standing Technical Committee on Low Volume and Rural Roads.
There is no fee to attend this webinar. Registration is required.
A recording will be sent to all registrants after the webinar.
 
Webinar agenda and presenters

• Mechanical response of road embankments built on permafrost located at Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway – Farshad Kamran, Universite Laval
• Digital twins for safer and smarter rural road networks – Nutvara Jantarathaneewat, University of Washington
• Nature-based slope repair technique using vetiver grass for low-volume roads – Fariha Rahman, Jackson State University
• Question and answer session moderated by Laura Fay, Western Transportation Institute

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.
 
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify key embankment factors that influence low-volume road performance
• Apply new technology, such as digital twins, to ensure access to safe and smart low volume road networks
• Improve the performance of road slopes with nature-based repair technique

 
Credit Information
There are no continuing education credits associated with this webinar.
 
Pre-registration is required. Once the webinar starts, you will be unable to register. Individuals that are registered for a webinar but do not receive their confirmation emails due to their organization’s internal firewalls should contact TRB Helpdesk for assistance in signing in.
View our FAQ page for more information.
Registration questions? Contact TRB webinar program.