News
Coverage of the research, projects, and people of the group in university, professional, and trade press.
Press coverage
Fiber-reinforced concrete cuts time, cost on light-rail project
Article authored by Prof. Mobasher on how substituting FRC for steel-reinforced track slabs on the Valley Metro expansion cut construction time by nearly 60%. Valley Metro
ASU-designed fiber-reinforced concrete speeds up Phoenix rapid transit construction
The collaboration with Valley Metro and Kiewit-McCarthy that replaced double-layer rebar with steel FRC track slabs on the light rail northwest extension. Valley Metro
Rebar is out, fiber is in: Valley Metro finishes light rail slabs for the latest extension
Radio feature quoting Prof. Mobasher on FRC maturity, cost, carbon, and worker safety benefits. Valley Metro
A 6-month road repair that only takes 10 days, at a fraction of the cost?
UHPC developed with ADOT and Maricopa County DOT compresses a six-month bridge repair into ten days. UHPC bridges
ASU is Redefining Concrete Infrastructure in Arizona
Industry piece on ASU UHPC and FRC work with ADOT, including repairing ten bridges for the time and budget one used to require. Infrastructure
Innovations in light rail expansion: How fiber-reinforced concrete enters the mix
Student press feature on the FRC design used in the Valley Metro light rail expansion and the two-million-cycle fatigue validation. Valley Metro
Fibre-reinforced Concrete speeds up Metro Phoenix Light Rail Extension Construction
Trade press pickup crediting the materials upgrade proposal from the group for the rebar-free FRC track slabs. Valley Metro
Engineering low-carbon building materials
ASU work on lower-carbon concrete, featuring research from the group on reducing cement use and the carbon footprint of infrastructure. Sustainability
Speeding up construction
Fiber reinforced concrete research aimed at saving time and money on construction, after three decades studying composite concrete materials. FRC research
Engineering students still learning from collapse of World Trade Center
How Prof. Mobasher uses the World Trade Center collapse as a case study in his steel structures design course. Teaching
Italian highway collapse spurs closer look at other bridge systems
Expert commentary on the Genoa Morandi bridge collapse and what it means for inspection and maintenance of aging bridges. Commentary
Building a foundation for a better world
Profile of the fiber and textile reinforced concrete research program and its work through ACI committees. Profile
Materials research builds foundation for a better world
Fulton Schools faculty feature on taking concrete research from the lab into ACI working groups. Profile
Mobasher becomes Fellow of American Concrete Institute
Announcement of his selection as ACI Fellow for contributions to concrete materials education, research, and design. Awards
Group updates
HRC Designer 4.3
Version 4.3 is out as a free Windows installer. It runs on the MATLAB Runtime, so no MATLAB license is needed, and the user manual is at hrcdesigner.com.
Limit-state design of hybrid reinforced UHPC beams
Published in Engineering Structures 357, 122353, together with the companion Python package parametric-uhpc.
RILEM Spring Convention and the UHPC Symposium
Two papers on the design of textile reinforced concrete at the RILEM Spring Convention 2026, and two on reinforced UHPC beams and rural bridge decks at the Fourth International Interactive Symposium on UHPC.