Elie Hajj
Professor, Associate Director of the Western Regional Superpave Center
- Phone: (775) 784-1180
- Email: elieh@unr.edu
- Building: SEM
- Room: 320A
- Mailstop: 0258
- Website: Western Regional Superpave Center website
- Website: Dr. Hajj's Google Scholar Profile
- Website: Dr. Hajj's LinkedIn Profile
Dr. Elie Hajj is a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and an associate director of the Western Regional Superpave Center (WRSC) at University of Nevada, Reno. He has over 18 years of experience in academia and industry with an emphasis on sustainability of pavement systems, dynamic response of pavement structures, and full-scale testing of pavement systems. Dr. Hajj authored over 100 publications in journals, national and international conferences, and technical reports. He made more than 100 presentations in professional meetings, conferences, seminars, and workshops. He served as a principal investigator on multiple projects for FHWA, FAA, State DOTs, local governments, private industry, etc.
Dr. Hajj is currently chairing TRB AFK50 committee and a member of the ASCE, Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists, and the International Society for Asphalt Pavements. He is a founding member and an elected officer (since 2017) for the Academy of Pavement Science & Engineering (APSE). Dr. Hajj is also an associate editor for the International Journal of Pavement Engineering-IJPE.
- Ph.D., 2005, Civil Engineering, University of Nevada
- M.S.C.E, 2002, Civil Engineering, University of Nevada
- B.S.C.E, 1999, Civil Engineering, Lebanese University (5-Years Program), Lebanon
- Chair, Transportation Research Board (TRB) National Committee AFK50: Structural Requirements of Asphalt Mixtures. (April 15, 2014–April 14, 2020).
- Founding Member, Academy of Pavement Science and Engineering (APSE). (April 2017–Present).
- Executive Officer, Treasurer (Elected), Academy of Pavement Science and Engineering (APSE). (April 2017–Present).
- Member, Board of Advisors, Advances in Materials and Pavement Performance Prediction (AM3P). (2018–Present).
- Aff. Member, American Society of Civil Engineers. (2017–Present).
- Member, International Society for Asphalt Pavements (ISAP). (2012–Present).
- Committee Member, TRB National Committee AFK50: Structural Requirements of Asphalt Mixtures. (2011–Present).
- Member, Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT). (2009–Present).
- Committee Member, TRB National Committee AFD80: Pavement Structural Modeling and Evaluation. (April 15, 2006–Present).
- Committee Member, TRB National Committee AFK30: Non-Binder Components of Asphalt Mixtures. (April 15, 2010–April 14, 2018).
- Associate Editor, IJPE, International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 2017 Impact Factor 2.322. (January 1, 2015–Present).
Prospective graduate students
Dr. Hajj is always looking for talented and hard-working students.
Research interests
- Characterization and advanced testing of engineered & sustainable paving materials
- Numerical modeling of asphalt pavement responses to moving dynamic loads
- Analysis procedures for evaluation of Superheavy load movements on flexible pavements
- Full-scale pavement structure instrumentation, testing, and evaluation
- Influence of pavement roughness & roadway characteristics on Fuel and non-fuel vehicle operating costs
In the news
- 2016 Award for Outstanding Article in Advances in Civil Engineering Materials from ASTM International for outstanding manuscript ACEM20160025, Laboratory and Economic Evaluations of Thin Lift Asphalt Overlay for Pavement Preservation.
- Increased Life Cycles And Improved Performance Are Driving Today’s Pavement Innovation. Engineering News-Record (ENR), April 29–May 6, 2019.
- Where does your recycled plastic go? Perhaps into future highways. Ashley Halsey III, The Washington Post, published 3:00 pm PDT, Sunday, October 28, 2018.
- Asphalt Academic – Elie Y. Hajj, Asphalt: the Magazine of the Asphalt Institute, October 22, 2015.
Selected publications
- Habbouche, J., Hajj, E. Y., Piratheepan, M., Sebaaly, P. E., & Morian, N. E. (2019). Field Performance and Economic Analysis of Rehabilitated Pavement Sections with Engineered Stress Relief Course Interlayers. Transportation Research Record.
- Pournoman, S., Hajj, E. Y., Morian, N., & Martin, A. E. (2018). Impact of Recycled Materials and Recycling Agents on Asphalt Binder Oxidative Aging Predictions. Transportation Research Record, 2672(28), 277–289.
- Batioja-Alvarez, D., Kazemi, S.-F., Hajj, E. Y., Siddharthan, R. V., & Hand, A. J. T. (2018). Statistical Distributions of Pavement Damage Associated with Overweight Vehicles: Methodology and Case Study. Transportation Research Record, 2672(9), 229–241.
- Habbouche, J., Hajj, E. Y., Sebaaly, P. E., & Piratheepan, M. (2018). A critical review of high polymer-modified asphalt binders and mixtures. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 1–17.
- Habbouche, J., Hajj, E. Y., Sebaaly, P. E., & Morian, N. E. (2018). Damage Assessment for ME Rehabilitation Design of Modified Asphalt Pavements: Challenges and Findings. Transportation Research Record, 2672(40), 228–241.
- Bazi, G., Hajj, E. Y., Ulloa-Calderon, A., & Ullidtz, P. (2018). Finite element modelling of the rolling resistance due to pavement deformation. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 1–11.
- Garcia Cucalon, L., Kaseer, F., Arámbula-Mercado, E., Epps Martin, A., Morian, N., Pournoman, S., & Hajj, E. Y. (2018). The crossover temperature: significance and application towards engineering balanced recycled binder blends. Road Materials and Pavement Design, 1–22.
- Batioja-Alvarez, D. D., Kazemi, S.-F., Hajj, E. Y., Siddharthan, R. V., & Hand, A. J. T. (2018). Probabilistic Mechanistic-Based Pavement Damage Costs for Multitrip Overweight Vehicles. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B Pavements, ASCE, 144(2).
- Gu, F., Luo, X., Luo, R., Hajj, E. Y., & Lytton, R. L. (2017). A mechanistic-empirical approach to quantify the influence of geogrid on the performance of flexible pavement structures. Transportation Geotechnics, 13, 69–80.
- Alavi, M., Hajj, E. Y., & Sebaaly, P. E. (2017). A comprehensive model for predicting thermal cracking events in asphalt pavements. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 18(9), 871–885.
- Sebaaly, P. E., Hajj, E. Y., Sathanathan, T., & Shivakolunthar, S. (2017). A comprehensive evaluation of moisture damage of asphalt concrete mixtures. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 18(2), 169–182.
- Sun, Y., Xu, H., Wu, J., Hajj, E. Y., & Geng, X. (2017). Data Processing Framework for Development of Driving Cycles with Data from SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study. Transportation Research Record, 2645(1), 50–56.
- Siddharthan, R., Nasimifar, M., Tan, X., & Hajj, E. Y. (2017). Investigation of impact of wheel wander on pavement performance. Road Materials and Pavement Design, 18(2), 390–407.
- Habbouche, J., Hajj, E. Y., Morian, N., Sebaaly, P. E., & Piratheepan, M. (2017). Reflective Cracking Relief Interlayer for Asphalt Pavement Rehabilitation: From Development to Demonstration. Road Materials and Pavement Design, 18(sup4), 30–57.
- Hajj, E. Y., Batioja-Alvarez, D., & Siddharthan, R. (2016). Assessment of Pavement Damage from Bus Rapid Transit: Case Study for Nevada. Transportation Research Record, 2591(1), 70–79.
- Hajj, E. Y., Sanders, D. H., & Weitzel, N. D. (2016). Evaluation of Modified Engineered Cementitious Composite with Local Materials. Transportation Research Record, 2577(1), 78–87.
- Gu, F., Luo, X., Luo, R., Lytton, R. L., Hajj, E. Y., & Siddharthan, R. (2016). Numerical Modeling of Geogrid-Reinforced Flexible Pavement and Corresponding Validation using Large-Scale Tank Test. Construction and Building Materials, 122, 214–230.
- Lo Presti, D., del Barco Carrión, A. J., Airey, G., & Hajj, E. Y. (2016). Towards 100% recycling of reclaimed asphalt in road surface courses: binder design methodology and case studies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 131, 43–51.
- Habbouche, J., Hajj, E. Y., & Sebaaly, P. E. (2016). Laboratory and Economic Evaluations of Thin Lift Asphalt Overlay for Pavement Preservation. ASTM Journal Advances in Civil Engineering Materials, 5(1), 303–324.
Seminars, webinars and workshops
- Hajj, E., Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (ITS-Davis) Seminar, "New Relationship Models between Vehicle Speed Profile, Roadway Characteristics, Pavement Roughness, and Vehicle Operating Costs", Invited, Davis, California. (April 26, 2019).
- Hajj, E., Nabizadeh, H., Kazemi, S.-F., TRB Webinar, Non-Academic, "Evaluation of Superheavy Load Movement on Flexible Pavements", Accepted, Online. (April 23, 2019). (372 Attendees)
- Hajj, E., Seminar, Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology, University of Waterloo, "Thermal Cracking Resistance Index Threshold for Assessing Asphalt Mixture Brittleness with Field Validation", Invited, Waterloo, Canada. (April 17, 2019).
- Hajj, E., Kent Seminar Series, Illinois Center for Transportation, University of Illinois, Non-Academic, Seminar, "Analysis Procedures for Evaluating Superheavy Load Movement on Flexible Pavements: SuperPACK", Invited, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. (March 29, 2018).
- Hajj, E., Xu, H., Sime, M., TRB Webinar, Non-Academic, "Modeling the Relationship Between Vehicle Speed & Fuel Consumption", Accepted, Online. (March 14, 2018). (155 Attendees)
- Hajj, E., 2018 WRAPP Pavement Preservation Workshop, Non-Academic, Workshop, "Education & the Future of Pavement Preservation Round Table: PES Program at UNR", Invited, Concord, California. (February 7, 2018).
- Hajj, E., Hands-on Workshop on Modeling Tools to Evaluate Low Temperature Cracking in Asphalt Mixtures, Academic, Workshop, "UTSST Test, Theory, and Data Analysis", Invited, Reno, Nevada. (April 6, 2017).
Courses taught
- Construction Materials Engineering and Testing (Undergraduate)
- Pavement Design and Analysis (Undergraduate/Graduate)
- Advanced Pavement Design and Analysis (Graduate)
- Bituminous Materials and Mixtures (Graduate)
- Pavement Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, and Maintenance (Graduate)
- Pavement Management (Graduate)
- Advanced Topics in Pavement Engineering (Graduate)
- Advanced Modeling and Analysis of Bituminous Materials (Graduate)