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Federal Highway Administration / Publications / Focus / May 2006

Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-06-025
Date: May 2006

Articles in this Issue

FHWA Launches Bridge and Tunnel Security Workshops

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, protecting the security of the Nation's bridges and tunnels against possible attacks has been a new and critical challenge for State and local departments of transportation. Two new workshops available from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provide guidance and best practices to State and local transportation departments as they confront this challenge and work to strengthen the security of their transportation assets.

Save Time and Money with Two-Coat Painting Systems for Steel Bridges

Paint steel bridges faster and more cost-effectively using fast-dry two-coat systems. Traditionally, zinc-rich epoxy/polyurethane systems that require three coats have been considered the best coating systems for protecting steel bridges from corrosion. However, applying three coats, including the spraying and drying time for each coat, is time consuming. The new two-coat system consists of a zinc-rich primer with a topcoat of fast-dry polyaspartics, polyurethane, and polysiloxane. "This is an attractive coating system for protecting steel bridges since the intermediate layer is eliminated," says Shuang-Ling Chong of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Using the two-coat system saves time, decreases overall labor and material costs, and minimizes the impact of lane closures on the traveling public.

Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation 2006

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) inaugural 2006 Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation Awards Program honors the best in utility innovations nationwide. The awards recognize those that excel in improving the utility relocation and accommodation process while protecting the rights of property owners and other stakeholders. Awards are given for the categories of Innovation, Leadership, Relocation, and Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE). Each category recognizes projects costing $100 million or less and projects costing over $100 million. Award winners were announced at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Right-of-Way and Utilities Subcommittee Meeting on May 1, 2006, in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information about the awards program, contact Donald Jackson in FHWA's Office of Program Administration, 202-366-4630 (email: donald.jackson@fhwa.dot.gov).

New NHI Course Promotes Effective Use of Maintenance Management Systems

Faced with the challenges of improving services and meeting increasing customer expectations with limited funding, transportation departments are turning to enhanced maintenance management systems (MMS) to better manage routine highway maintenance and operations. "An MMS provides managers with the business processes, management tools, and technologies to maintain a safe and efficient transportation system over the life of the highway," says Celso Gatchalian of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Asset Management. To promote the effective use of an MMS, FHWA's National Highway Institute (NHI) is offering a new 2.5-day course, Principles and Practices for Enhanced Maintenance Management Systems (Course No. FHWA-NHI-131107). The course was developed in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Highway Subcommittee on Maintenance.

In Brief

Presentations from the Sixth National Conference on Transportation Asset Management, held in November 2005 in Kansas City, Missouri, can now be found online at www.trb.org/Conferences/Preservation-Asset/Program.pdf. Featuring the theme of "Making Asset Management Work in Your organization," the conference highlighted such topics as asset management resources and tools, establishing and using performance measures, and best practices in transportation asset management. The event was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Midwest Transportation Consortium, and the National Association of County Engineers.

Highway Technology Calendar

Updated: 06/27/2017
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000