Infrastructure for the 21st Century
The opportunity to envision the future of the Federal
Highway Administration's (FHWA) Infrastructure Research and Technology
(R&T) program brought nearly 60 representatives from highway agencies,
AASHTO, industry, academia, and the Transportation Research Board (TRB)
to Chicago in October for the FHWA Infrastructure R&T Stakeholder
workshop. The workshop's goal was to share FHWA's vision for Infrastructure
for the 21st Century, listen to stakeholders in order to refine the
vision, and build stakeholder commitment to achieving infrastructure
innovations. "In the next 10 to 20 years, we have a huge job as
a highway community in replacing bridges and pavements. This is our
window of opportunity to introduce the next generation of technology,"
said King Gee of FHWA.
The goals of FHWA's Infrastructure R&T program are
to enhance mobility and productivity, extend the life of pavements and
bridges, and improve safety and performance. Achieving these goals involves
investing in:
Information-Provide reliable information to support
transportation investment decisions and the development and deployment
of new technologies.
People-Provide and equip those persons working
in both the public and private sectors.
Technology-Provide advanced technology to design,
construct, operate, preserve, and manage infrastructure.
Deployment-Support and promote deployment of advanced
technology and innovative practices.
FHWA's role includes providing leadership and national
coordination; addressing longer term, higher risk research; filling
critical research and technology gaps; and providing technology delivery,
deployment, and technical assistance.
Workshop participants assessed FHWA Infrastructure program
proposals in the areas of asset management, bridges and structures,
and pavements. The vision for FHWA's asset management program is to
create a decision-making paradigm that is holistic, based on fact, and
driven by return on investment. Proposals include:
- Establishing data collection protocols.
- Assessing the costs and benefits of implementing alternative data
collection and integration strategies.
- Continuing to increase general awareness of asset management through
such means as training and distributing educational material.
- Working with universities to educate students.
- Developing next generation breakthrough management systems.
- Identifying innovative ways of using management systems to track
the real-life performance of assets.
- Continuing efforts to develop benefit-cost applications.
FHWA also proposed that deployment of asset management tools and technologies
be accomplished through pilot testing in State laboratories and the
establishment of a Lead State program.
The vision for FHWA's structures program is to get out in front of
the bridge deterioration curve and stay there. FHWA's structures proposals
are aimed at reducing the number of deficient bridges and implementing
more durable bridges. Actions outlined include:
- Establishing a long-term bridge performance program.
- Continuing to emphasize the development and use of nondestructive
evaluation technologies and methods.
- Developing new generations of bridge systems that employ high-performance
materials to achieve long-term use.
- Developing and providing comprehensive life-cycle decision support
systems.
- Developing technologies to guard against national security threats.
- Broadening the Innovative Bridge Research and Construction Program
to serve as an important mechanism to promote new technology.
The vision for FHWA's pavements program is pavements that meet our
customers' needs and are safe, cost-effective, long lasting, and can
be effectively maintained. Activities proposed include:
- Updating college engineering curricula to include the state of
the practice, as well as state-of-the-art and developing technologies.
- Further improving design approaches, including moving toward a
fully mechanistically-based design procedure.
- Continuing to enhance and implement the Superpave design system.
- Further developing and implementing performance-related specifications.
- Developing tools and techniques for the use of warranty contracts.
- Minimizing traffic disruptions due to road construction and rehabilitation.
- Adopting tools to ensure smoother pavements.
- Providing test and evaluation projects, as well as demonstration
projects.
What did the stakeholders represented at the workshop say? In the asset
management area, stakeholders stressed the importance of integrating
disparate databases; developing predictability models; and estimating
highway user costs. Other suggestions included establishing an Asset
Management Institute and incorporating the use of tools that specifically
link individual management systems to asset management.
Suggestions for bridge and structures R&T included setting short-
and long-term objectives for achieving the bridge of the future; expanding
the R&T vision to include rehabilitation methods; and emphasizing
the importance of minimizing the impact on the traveling public. Mal
Kerley of the Virginia Department of Transportation noted that, "FHWA
must continue and emphasize its role in training." It was also
suggested that FHWA take a leadership role in collecting and disseminating
research in progress and research results from all sources.
Pavements stakeholders emphasized that specific outcomes for the R&T
program should be defined. Emphasis areas should include pavement system
design, performance prediction models, traffic prediction, and maintenance
and rehabilitation. The Long Term Pavement Performance program data
gaps should also be filled in.
Participants also examined the process for stakeholder involvement
in FHWA's Infrastructure R&T program. "Stakeholders implement
results and generate program support," noted Byron Lord of FHWA.
Three levels of stakeholder involvement were recommended: strategic,
programmatic, and project. These levels would encompass such roles as
providing merit review of research and technologies at the project level,
establishing criteria for creating R&T program areas at the programmatic
level, and serving as a form of a steering committee at the strategic
level.
FHWA is currently examining its Infrastructure R&T proposals and
clarifying and refocusing them as necessary to reflect the feedback
provided at the workshop. A report on the workshop is forthcoming. You
can learn more about the Infrastructure R&T program at TRB Annual
Meeting Session No. 284, which is scheduled for January 13 at 1:30 p.m.
at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. For more information, contact FHWA at 202-366-8027
(email: irtplan@fhwa.dot.gov).
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Articles in this issue:
Internet Bidding: Get the Facts
Infrastructure for the 21st Century
NPHQ Awards Honor Highway Best Practices
Infrastructure Technologies Featured at TRB Annual
Meeting
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