AID Demonstration Grants Awarded

FHWA has announced recipients of $8.8 million in AID Demonstration grants for 10 projects in eight States plus the District of Columbia employing transportation innovations that will enhance safety and save time, money, and resources.

Next Generation Freeway and Arterial Work Zones

This project, sponsored by the Arizona Department of Transportation (DOT) and Maricopa County, will implement the use of smart work zone technologies to share real-time data from active construction areas that can improve agency monitoring processes, enhance safety for workers, and improve traveler information tools.

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC)

The District of Columbia DOT will use UHPC to prolong the life of Bridge 0070, which is located on Southern Avenue over Suitland Parkway in Anacostia, while reducing the environmental and social impacts associated with future major repairs or reconstruction.

The Oklahoma DOT will use UHPC to repair and replace expansion joints and fixed joints on the Northbound and Southbound I-35 Cimarron Overflow bridges. The project minimizes environmental impacts by reducing construction time and making more durable repair.

Validated Intelligent Compaction and Geospatial Data Collaboration

The Iowa DOT and Buena Vista County will use these technologies to map and identify Iowa’s gravel road network. This will develop an asset management tool for county engineers across the State and be used to calculate performance indicators and identify roadway service life.

Asset Management

Iowa DOT will also conduct an asset management pilot project designed to schedule timely and critical repairs. The project will use e-Ticketing and digital as-builts and other technologies and feature a digital delivery workflow to transition Iowa’s project delivery to a three-dimensional environment encompassing a digital twin of the infrastructure.

With its award, the Montana DOT (MDT) will develop and deploy an asset management program for retaining walls along the nearly 13,000 miles of MDT routes that are currently undocumented. MDT will establish a comprehensive database for tracking, inspecting, and rating the walls and develop a planning tool to guide MDT decision-making, improve infrastructure resilience in response to climate change, and minimize adverse effects on low-income and minority populations caused by future detours and road closures.

Crowdsourcing

In Maine, the DOT will embark on an operations journey to enhance real-time roadway operational awareness by establishing an enhanced and scalable process for management, analysis, integration, and display of crowdsourced datasets. The project will use an artificial intelligence platform in coordination with an existing tri-State advanced transportation management system.

Oversized Vehicle Measuring System

North Dakota will address issues associated with vehicles striking bridges due to incorrect routing based on the vehicle’s size, inaccurate measurements, or incorrect permitting. The DOT will deploy an oversized vehicle measuring system technology pilot in Minot and near Mooreton.

Targeted Overlay Pavement Solutions

In Pennsylvania, the DOT will deploy stone matrix asphalt and highly modified asphalt on projects in five different districts. These targeted solutions will enhance overlay performance for both asphalt and concrete pavements, reduce maintenance, maximize previous investments through extended service life of pavement structures, reduce congestion through the need for less work zones, increase skid resistance, improve resiliency in flood-prone areas, and reduce noise.

Traffic Speed Deflection Devices

The Texas DOT (TxDOT) will use this technology to evaluate pavement condition and to plan at the network level in select TxDOT districts. This project will use a non-contact Doppler laser to collect data on the structural condition of pavements with no need for traffic control. Project data is also expected to improve TxDOT’s annual treatment planning program.