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| Vol. 18, No. 13 | Dec. 3, 1998 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 13 | Dec. 3, 1998 |
All I do is play in the mud!" Kevin J. Folliard, civil and environmental engineering, joked when asked how he became one of 15 faculty members nationwide to receive a 1998-99 Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Faculty Fellowship.
In fact, Folliard's research has focused mainly on concrete- particularly high-performance concrete for civil engineering infrastructure and such transportation structures as bridges and roads.
The Eisenhower Award, administered through the Federal Highway Administration, will cover selected academic travel costs for Folliard, who joined the UD faculty last year, after earning his Ph.D. at the University of California-Berkeley in 1995.
Concrete is a vitally important material, Folliard noted, since repairing or reinforcing all of the nation's concrete infrastructure costs an estimated $250 billion annually.
"Most of my work has been focused on doing concrete right the first time, by designing it to offer high-strength and improved durability," Folliard said. "High-performance concrete can dramatically extend the service-life of a structure, which reduces overall, life-cycle costs."
With Scott Sabol of the Delaware Transportation Institute at UD, departmental colleague Dov Leshchinsky and others, Folliard also is investigating a new type of concrete that "acts like dirt" but flows like a liquid.
This new material, known as a controlled, low-strength material (CLSM), is being used in place of conventional, compacted fill, Folliard explained. Because of its self-leveling properties, very little labor is needed during construction. In addition, the material typically makes use of byproduct materials such as coal ash or foundry sand and, thus, is an "environmentally friendly technology," Folliard said.
This research is being supported by a three-year, $315,000 research contract from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, and it is the largest research project ever undertaken on CLSM, Folliard said. The contract has allowed Folliard and his colleagues to investigate the low-strength concrete for use in bridge approaches and utility bedding, and for filling derelict tanks, old pipes or other voids.
The fast-settling concrete has been used over the past decade, Folliard said, but "nobody knows how to design for it yet." Research at UD will provide essential, national guidelines for using the material most efficiently.
At UC-Berkeley, Folliard's dissertation addressed the frost-resistance of high-performance concrete. More recently, he has published peer-reviewed articles on the impacts of concrete additives designed to prevent shrinkage. He has prepared book chapters on such topics as the applications for fiber-reinforced concrete.
His experience has included research for the W.R. Grace & Co. of Cambridge, Mass., where he received a 1996-97 Research Recognition Award. He also has worked for the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, UC-Berkeley and the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
"Kevin Folliard is an extremely promising faculty member with outstanding academic credentials, plus practical experience from his work in industry," Sabol said. "The University is lucky to have him."
For more information on the Eisenhower award, see the web site at <http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/ fellowships.html>.
-Ginger Pinholster
