105th annual T.H.E. Conference

Nearly 1,300 transportation industry professionals participated in the 105^th annual Illinois Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to discuss safe and economical movement of people and goods across Illinois, the U.S., and North America. 

Engineers, transportation officials, technicians, faculty, and students met at the Illini Union, with pre-conference activities kicking off Feb. 25. The conference featured technical presentations, agency and industry updates, interactive exhibits, and short courses. Attendees also mingled at the Colonades Club networking mixer at Memorial Stadium Feb. 26.

“(This was) a highlight for me,” said Brian Umbright, EXP vice president of transportation. “It was the first time I had been. I think it was a neat venue and would recommend doing it moving forward.”

Presentations included transportation safety, multi-modal case studies, connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, and policy. Joe Tantarelli, public speaker with SafeStart, delivered his harrowing tale as the survivor of a near-fatal trench collapse.

“(It) was appreciated by our participants and a great reminder of the importance of safety of the travelling public and construction workers for infrastructure projects,” said Jeff Roesler, T.H.E. conference director and UIUC Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering professor, of Tantarelli’s presentation.

Kristi Anderson, ICT senior financial operations manager, presented an overview of ICT’s vision and mission — providing statistics related to past and active joint ICT and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) research projects, project partners, and the impact of such research.

Imad Al-Qadi, ICT director, shared the Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative. He also spoke about truck platooning as it pertains to autonomous transportation relating to information that Stephen Boyd conveyed during the general session.

“It (is) a great example of technology being leveraged in a practical and safe manner to allow for efficient movement of goods and services,” said Manar Nashif, T.H.E. planning committee member and State Toll Highway Authority senior project engineer.

Former IDOT Acting Secretary Matt Magalis said emphasis will be on safety, diversity, innovation, collaboration, and asset management. IDOT plans to continue to rebuild by supporting employees who can lead IDOT into the future. Magalis highlighted the importance of safety as it relates to transportation. This was a particularly strong tie-in with regard to Tantarelli’s first-person narrative.

The main conference included general sessions in the morning followed by afternoon breakout sessions on topics including Bridges and Structures; Design, Construction, and Environment; Traffic, Operations, and Safety; and Local Roads and Streets. Highlights included project improvement presentations in particular short courses, which emphasized minimizing inconvenience to motorists, exploding options for advancing projects, and working toward timely and cost-effective information in the transportation industry.

“The program committee and I were thrilled with the participation in this year’s conference from a broad range of transportation and infrastructure stakeholders,” Roesler said. “It demonstrates the great need and interest in transportation for the state of Illinois. Technological advances in various modes of transportations will continue to provide enhanced safety and drive greater mobility of people, freight, and services.”

The 106th annual T.H.E. Conference will take place Feb. 25–27, 2020, with pre-conference activities beginning Feb. 24.