U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Focus
Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-06-027
Date: July 2006
Get to Know the New M-E Pavement Design Guide
An ongoing series of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) workshops is introducing State pavement design, traffic, and materials engineers and others across the country to the new Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) Pavement Design Guide and its accompanying software. 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 M-E approaches that more realistically characterize inservice pavements and improve the reliability of designs.
FHWA Introduces Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment Program
Building better bridges today for a stronger transportation future is the goal of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) new Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment (IBRD) program. The IBRD program is an expansion of FHWA's previous Innovative Bridge Research and Construction program, which was established under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. As defined by Congress in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the focus of the IBRD program is to promote, demonstrate, evaluate, and document the application of innovative designs, materials, and construction methods in constructing, repairing, and rehabilitating bridges and other highway structures. "The intent is to promote and demonstrate innovation in its broadest sense to move market-ready technologies into conventional practice," says Benjamin Tang of FHWA's Office of Bridge Technology. FHWA is now soliciting applications from States for candidate IBRD projects.
FHWA To Host Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Peer Exchange
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will host a peer exchange on life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) in early November in Kansas City, Missouri. As transportation agencies are faced with reduced funding streams, many agencies are now investigating economic tools that will help them choose the most cost-effective project alternatives. LCCA is a tool available to assist transportation agencies in assessing their investment choices.
Visit the New LTPP Community of Practice
To assist users of the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program's Standard Data Release (SDR), the LTPP program has introduced a new Community of Practice Web site. The Community of Practice provides SDR users with a forum to post questions and share experiences in using the LTPP database, which contains millions of records of data collected by the LTPP program. The latest edition of the database available is SDR 20, which can be obtained as a six-CD set or as a single DVD and one CD. The SDR is in Microsoft Access(r) format. New features on the latest release include a Reference Library CD, which gives users the capability to search for software utilities, resource documents, and research reports that support the database.
New NHI Course Presents Strategies for Managing Construction Workmanship
The many factors involved in constructing and inspecting a highway project to ensure the desired quality of the finished product, including legal liability, risk, and quality assurance issues, are the focus of a new 2-day course now available from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Highway Institute (NHI). Using real-life examples, "Managing Construction Workmanship" (Course No. FHWA-NHI-134055) looks at approaches that will help improve the quality of field decisions, with the goal of enhancing overall product quality and improving long-term system performance.