Transportation infrastructures, including roads, railways, and airports, play a crucial role in economic development, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. They facilitate the efficient movement of people and goods, connecting societies and driving progress. This course focuses on the construction of transportation infrastructures, with an emphasis on materials and testing methods. It covers traditional and recycled materials, manufacturing and installation processes, and the prediction of their performance. The course also explores sustainability assessments, innovative design systems, and advanced modelling approaches. Practical exercises enable students to grasp essential aspects of design and construction decisions.

Students will learn about the fundamental concepts, principles, and techniques involved in the construction of roads, railways, and airports with an emphasis on material selection, maintenance processes, quality control, and testing methods. Through lectures and practical exercises, students will gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the techniques used in the construction of transportation infrastructures. By the end of the course, students will be able to: • understand engineering principles for the construction of roads, railways, and airports (earthworks, pavements, surface treatments, railways, etc.); • interpret and understand the properties of different materials such as soil, aggregates, bitumen, bituminous mixtures, and concrete, recognising their significance in the construction process; • become familiar with the construction techniques and equipment, including project planning and scheduling processes; • gain knowledge of the various tests and quality assurance procedures used for construction materials in transportation infrastructures; • critically analyse technical specifications, standards, and design documents. These expected learning outcomes have significant professional value for students who will provide their services to any of the stakeholders involved in the design, construction, maintenance, and management of transportation infrastructures (e.g., engineering consultants, contractors, administration, third party laboratories).

Students should have a solid background in mathematics, physics, structural mechanics, and geotechnics.

1. General overview of transportation infrastructures and related design and construction processes. 2. Principles of quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). 3. Soils: classification, compaction, mechanical properties. 4. Earthworks: embankment construction, equipment, advanced testing and modelling, soil stabilization. 5. Materials for the construction of transportation infrastructures: • aggregates (classification, physical and mechanical properties); • granular mixtures (unbound and cement-stabilized mixtures); • bituminous binders (classification, empirical tests, rational tests, viscoelasticity, bituminous emulsion); • bituminous and cementitious mixtures (volumetrics, compaction, types of mixtures, mix-design); • recycled and innovative materials for transportation infrastructures. 6. Road and airport pavements: types, structural response, design principles, distress phenomena, surface characteristics, construction techniques, field tests, maintenance. 7. Railway tracks: components, equipment and construction, thermal behaviour.

The course includes lectures and exercises divided as follows: 57 hours of theoretical lectures, 20 hours of numerical exercises, 3 hours of laboratory exercises. The lectures will provide the students with the technical and scientific knowledge. The exercises will train the students to solve practical problems related to the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructures. Students will be guided by an instructor in solving the exercises in class.

All lecture and exercise presentations will be available on the course webpage. Suggested readings include: • Santagata F. A. et al. (2016). Strade - Teoria e tecnica delle costruzioni stradali. Vol 1. Pearson (in Italian) • Mallick, R. B. & El-Korchi, T. (2013). Pavement engineering: principles and practice. Second Edition. CRC Press.

Slides; Esercizi; Esercizi risolti;

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova orale obbligatoria;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam;

... Written exam The written exam covers all lecture and tutorial topics and consists of 5 multiple-choice questions, 3 short exercises, and 1 extended exercise. No reference material (e.g., notes, manuals, and books) is allowed. Students may use a scientific calculator, but all multimedia devices with web access (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets) are prohibited. Students are required to submit a Final Report (Exercise Booklet) prior to the examination. Oral exam Students who achieve a sufficient score in the written test will proceed to the oral examination. It will last approximately 30 minutes (per student) and will consist of a discussion of the written test and answering questions on all course topics. The final grade will be the weighted average of the marks obtained in the written and oral exams.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.