December 19, 2024
Innovation of the Month- Strategic Workforce Development
Interstate 5 provides a critical connection between Oregon and Washington, supporting local jobs and families and serving as a vital trade route for regional, national, and international economies. The Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) program, a joint effort between the Oregon and Washington DOTs, will offer employment opportunities to help build a replacement Interstate Bridge that will serve generations of people in the area. Starting from its website’s front page, the IBR program promotes workforce opportunities for the local community and future trade workers.
The IBR program commissioned a workforce market study that found a five-year demand for 3,800 apprentices, 4,700 people of color, and 2,500 women construction workers, but the current workforce supply cannot meet the increasing need. To address this, the IBR program is developing a workforce equity program supporting apprenticeships, training, and hiring initiatives, including provisions for living wages, worksite safety, and support for small and disadvantaged businesses.
The IBR program also recognizes the importance of engaging local Tribal nations. The IBR program uses Oregon DOT's Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance (TERO) framework to engage tribes, ensuring equitable hiring and training for Tribal members. Focusing on a 60-mile radius from the program area, it includes tribes within this region for inclusive outreach. Through intergovernmental agreements, the program fosters collaborative partnerships, aiming to hire Tribal members and support Tribal businesses. Ongoing compliance and a commitment to diversity ensures Tribal members benefit from the work and business opportunities of the IBR.
For more information on IBR’s approach to workforce development, visit https://www.interstatebridge.org/. To learn more about Strategic Workforce Development, contact Chrisy Currier, FHWA Office of Infrastructure, Tina Hooper, FHWA Massachusetts Division, or Rhonda Motley, FHWA Nevada Division.
New Funding Opportunity to Accelerate Adoption of Emerging Technologies
The Federal Highway Administration’s Accelerating Market Readiness (AMR) Program builds a bridge between research and practice and provides resources to assess whether innovations emerging from research will perform as intended in their operational environment. FHWA issued a multi-year Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the AMR program on October 29, 2024. White papers under the first solicitation period are due January 15, 2025. White papers are due January 15, 2025. The purpose of this BAA is to solicit a variety of solutions that will support the strategic objectives of the AMR program. The AMR program will provide resources for the assessment of emerging innovations and for the objective-written documentation of these assessments. These activities are intended to help advance the innovations to a more complete market-ready status, which in turn should accelerate the adoption of the innovations by transportation agencies.
Call for Ideas Opens for Every Day Counts Round 8
FHWA is seeking suggestions for market-ready innovations to deploy in 2026 as part of the eighth round of Every Day Counts (EDC-8). The agency is encouraging State, local, Tribal, and industry partners, as well as the public, to submit innovative technologies or practices that can enhance safety for all road users and expedite the project delivery process. The deadline for submissions is February 4, 2025. Watch video here.Visit the EDC webpage for information on how to submit suggestions.
2024 Build a Better Mousetrap Winners
The FHWA’s Build a Better Mousetrap national competition celebrates innovative solutions for challenges that local and Tribal transportation workers encounter. These innovations can range from the development of tools and equipment modifications to the implementation of new processes that increase safety, reduce cost, and improve efficiency of our transportation system.
Recently, the winners for 2024 were announced and they include innovations such as modified speed cushions to slow traffic while not impeding emergency vehicles, an inexpensive retrofit that automated sidewalk sanding, a fleet modification to turn seasonal vehicles into year-round assets, and a method to transform old street sweepers into leaf vaccums. Download the 2024 Build a Better Mousetrap” book highlighting the four national winners and all 46 entries receiving honorable mentions. See how the four winning innovative solutions transformed transportation for communities in California, North Dakota, Connecticut, and Indiana in a short video.
Do you have an innovative solution that you would like to share for Build a Better Mousetrap 2025? Contact your state LTAP Center for details. You can also visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/clas/babm/ for more information on the FHWA’s Build a Better Mousetrap national competition.
Stay Up to Date on the EDC Innovations That Interest You Most
EDC teams are always on the move! If you blink, you could miss out on important webinars, case studies, tools, videos, and more. To never miss information for the EDC innovations that interest you most, visit the subscription page and select the topics you’d like to receive updates on directly from the teams that coordinate them.
Recent bulletins:
Next-Gen TIM 12/2/24
Strategic Workforce Development 12/11/24
Sustainable Pavements 12/9/24
EPIC2 (Internally Cured Concrete) 12/4/24
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About EDC
Every Day Counts, a State-based initiative of the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Innovation and Workforce Solutions, works with State, local, and privatesector partners to encourage the adoption of proven and underutilized technologies to deliver transportation projects more efficiently, enhance safety forall users, support a sustainable and resilient infrastructure, and incorporate equity inproject planning and delivery.
EDC News is a weekly publication highlighting successful EDC innovation deployments across the country.
EDC News is published weekly by the FHWA Center for Accelerating Innovation.
Disclaimer: The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this document only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document. They are included for informational purposes only and are not intended to reflect a preference, approval, or endorsement of any one product or entity.
Except for the statutes and regulations cited, the contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the States or the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide information regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
Recommended Citation:
U.S Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
EDC News; December 5, 2024
Washington, DC
