CREATE (Coastal REsearch And Transportation Education) is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, improving the durability and longevity of coastal multimodal transportation infrastructure. We work closely with state DOTs, municipalities, and coastal communities to address their research needs.
5 Universities
Our research consortium consists of five universities: Oregon State University, University of Miami, Texas A&M University, Texas State University, and The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.
30+ Research Projects
Since creation, we've completed 9 projects with many more on the way.
Four Areas of Research
Research is organized into four thrusts, each targeting a specific stage of coastal infrastructure resilience, from design and construction through evaluation, hazard response, and workforce development.
Coastal Transportation Infrastructure Construction
CREATE offers innovative methods for enhancing the durability of coastal transportation infrastructure, drawing on natural and nature-based features, advanced materials, and numerical modeling. Our research aims to provide actionable design and construction recommendations, improving upon the existing research with rigorous evaluation for long-term durability.
Coastal Infrastructure Evaluation and Damage Prevention
Research in this thrust evaluates the condition of existing infrastructure and predicts how it will perform under coastal stressors, helping agencies maintain and restore assets rather than replace them. This extends service life safely, easing the backlog of costly replacements. Projects apply data-driven monitoring and predictive technologies to catch deterioration early and prevent damage.
Coastal Hazards and Infrastructure Durability
Research in this thrust explores technologies and methods to keep multimodal transportation systems safe and functional before, during, and after coastal hazards. While significant work has addressed coastal resilience, a critical gap remains: integrating these efforts to identify the weak points where a single failure can cascade into system-wide collapse.
Coastal Transportation's Blue Economy Future
This thrust will develop practical, evidence-based frameworks to promote all levels of blue economy transportation careers. The research outcomes are anticipated to be adaptable to other transportation sectors.