The Resilient Roads Roundtable selected Jeb S. Tingle, senior scientific technical manager in the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, as a Top Innovator and Influencer for 2022.

The Resilient Roads Roundtable is a partnership of key transportation infrastructure industry organizations formed to promote the development of more resilient roads in the United States. Roundtable members include leaders of major transportation construction and engineering associations, executives from national road contractors and road product manufacturers as well as state transportation officials.

The goals of the Resilient Roads Roundtable include educating three key groups — motorists, contractors/engineers and officials leading departments of transportation — on the impact of longer-lasting roads. The group seeks to accelerate innovation in design materials and methods within the contracting and engineering communities and increase their adoption for the sake of safety, sustainability, lower upfront cost and greater lifetime return on investment. Through education and collaboration, the group seeks to encourage policymakers and those who authorize road-building funds to require and specify performance-driven procurement standards linked to resilience and longevity.

Tingle has been at the forefront of transportation infrastructure research and development for more than two decades. He has led the ERDC team in the discovery, development and delivery of new geosynthetic material solutions that help reduce the quantities of materials required for the construction of road systems which helps preserve the nation’s national resources.

In addition, Tingle and his teams have developed new repair material technologies including rapid setting cementitious materials and pavement preservation materials that extend the service life of roads, getting more benefit out of the precious resources available. Finally, Tingle’s research in dust palliatives has helped provide practical solutions for mitigating the dust on unpaved roads, reducing particulate matter emissions and reducing erosion. Through Tingle’s and others’ efforts, ERDC is a world leader in the design, construction and preservation of resilient road infrastructure.

“Being named a top innovator and influencer by peers among industry and academia is a great honor,” Tingle said. “I’ve spent my entire career in research and development of new technologies to improve the way we design, construct and repair pavements. This award recognizes the ERDC’s emphasis on innovation, trying new things with the hope to improve the state-of-the-practice.”