Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-08-007
Date: October 2007

Seeking the Best Solutions with Highways for LIFE

"Seeking the Best Solutions" is the goal of a new workshop available from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highways for LIFE (HfL) program. The workshop is designed to give States the tools to develop a process for setting customer-focused performance goals and incorporating innovations into highway projects.

The new HfL workshop is modeled after FHWA's Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) workshop, in which participants identify strategies for saving time and money on highway projects, while increasing quality and safety. The HfL workshop can be presented on its own or can serve as a precursor to an ACTT workshop or FHWA's Performance Contracting Framework workshop.

"The HfL workshop is designed to support the program's mission to improve the American driving experience," says Mary Huie of FHWA. Sessions can focus on general, program-level project delivery or specific projects, including those for which a State is considering seeking HfL funding. The workshop can be tailored to one State's needs or include participants from several States in a region.

At a typical workshop, participants will be given the opportunity to identify and evaluate innovations that enhance quality and safety and reduce construction congestion to determine the best solutions for projects. They will also discuss why and how to use performance contracting and other innovative contracting techniques. "The primary goal of the workshop is to explore setting measurable, customer-focused project goals that inspire and motivate the highway agency to use innovations that benefit taxpayers and motorists," says Huie.

Workshop participants will typically include representatives from State agencies involved in project planning and construction and FHWA division offices. The workshop can be scheduled as 2 half-day sessions or 1 full day. There is no cost for the workshop. The host State is only asked to provide the facility.

For more information on scheduling the "Seeking the Best Solutions" workshop, contact Mary Huie at FHWA, 202-366-3039 (email: mary.huie@fhwa.dot.gov). Additional information on HfL is available online at www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl.

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