Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-04-029
Date: September 2004

Articles in this Issue

New Pavement Design Guide Available for Testing

The new Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) Pavement Design Guide and accompanying software are now available in a review version for testing and evaluation by highway agencies and others worldwide. Developed under National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 1-37A, the Guide provides a uniform basis for the design of flexible, rigid, and composite pavements, using mechanistic-empirical approaches that more realistically characterize inservice pavements and improve the reliability of designs.

Scanning Tour Showcases a Prefabricated Future

From whole bridges that can be completely built off site and moved into place to full-depth prefabricated concrete bridge decks, participants in a recent international scanning tour got a glimpse of a future that not only looks prefabricated, but delivers projects at significantly accelerated speed.

A New Support System for Winter Maintenance

Keeping roads clear of snow and ice is a complex and demanding task for highway agencies, particularly in an era of tight budgets, increased traffic volume, and high customer expectations. Forecasting and meteorological information aids in this task, but there is often not enough of a link between the weather information available and the decisions made by winter maintenance managers.

Advancing Seismic Engineering the Virtual Way

Keeping the Nation's bridges durable and safe is the goal of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Seismic "Virtual" Team (SVT). Composed of the country's top seismic engineering experts, the team provides guidance and recommendations to FHWA, State highway agencies, and others on designing and constructing bridges to withstand earthquake-induced forces, displacements, and ground liquefaction. The team also investigates new technologies for building seismically safe bridges and retrofitting existing bridges that were not designed to resist earthquakes.

Excellence in Highway Design 2004

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Excellence in Highway Design Awards Program recognizes outstanding examples of highways, bridges, pedestrian facilities, roadside facilities, and other facets of roadway design. The 2004 honorees encompass everything from historic bridges to stunning modern structures to urban greenways, all contributing not only to safety and mobility but to the aesthetics of the natural world around them.

Highway Technology Calendar