PEER has two continuing funding sources: Transportation Systems Research Program (TSRP) from the State of California, and PEER-Bridge Research program from California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The purpose of the TSRP program is to lessen the impacts of earthquakes on the transportation systems of California, including highways and bridges, port facilities, high-speed rail, airports, and other related structures. The PEER-Bridge program is a streamlined framework of the Caltrans bridge research program, supporting innovative work on a wide range of topics such as new materials, accelerated bridge construction, maintenance, sustainability, design and analysis. TSRP program is open to researchers from all PEER core institutions, where as PEER-Bridge program is open to researchers from all public core institutions.
In Fall 2021, there were four (4) RFPs issued from these two programs. RFP 21-01 solicited proposals on the topic of regional-scale simulation of networks. Supplementing PEER’s efforts on a wide range of topics, RFP 21-02 sought proposals on workshops. RFP 21-03 was focused on design hazard levels for temporary bridges, and RFP 21-04 was to develop heuristics to identify recovery bridges in a transportation network.
A total of 22 proposals were received in response to these RFPs. Each of the TSRP proposals received three independent reviews from the pool of reviewers, and PEER-Bridge proposals received review from the Caltrans Technical Advisory Committee. Based on pre-defined evaluation criteria specified in the RFPs and factors such as the level of engagement with the PEER core institutions, 10 new projects were awarded, comprising a total funding of $840,000.
PEER thanks all the PIs who submitted proposals, and the efforts and detailed feedback from the reviewers. Details of the funded projects and workshops are provided below.
Project Title: Liquefaction-Induced Ground Settlement Procedure
