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Focus

Federal Highway Administration / Publications / Focus / March 2009

Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-09-011
Date: March 2009

Articles in this Issue

The Online Connection to Highway Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management Resources

Information on training and tools for highway security and emergency management is now easily accessible online at the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) new Highway Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management Professional Capacity Building Web site (www.fhwa.dot.gov/security/emergencymgmt/profcapacitybldg).

FHWA Launches Economic Recovery Web Site

To assist its State and local partners and other stakeholders in implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which provides significant new funding for transportation infrastructure, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has launched an ARRA Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/economicrecovery.

Drive to Survive-Our Future is Riding on It

In 2007, 835 workers and motorists were killed in highway work zones and more than 40,000 were injured. Eighty-five percent of those killed in work zones are drivers or their passengers. The message for motorists during National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) 2009, scheduled for April 6-10, is "Drive to Survive-Our Future is Riding on It!"

Accelerating Innovation Implementation

A new monthly Web conference series sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highways for LIFE (HfL) program and the National Highway Institute (NHI) brings you up-to-the-minute information on today's highway technology advances. Topics featured in the free NHI Innovations series to date include Road Safety Audits, Performance Contracting for Construction, Self-Consolidating Concrete, Roundabouts, and Bridge Inspection. Upcoming Web conferences include one on FHWA's Connections Manual for Prefabricated Bridges (April 8, 2009).

A Portable Field Guide for Bridge Inspectors

Both convenient and easy to use, a new pocket guide available from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Resource Center offers a portable reference for bridge inspectors. Stream Instability, Bridge Scour, and Countermeasures: A Field Guide for Bridge Inspectors provides tips and guidance on what to look for with regard to both stream instability, including lateral instability, degradation, and aggradation, and scour at bridges, including contraction scour, pier scour, and abutment scour. Also covered are plans of action and countermeasures, such as monitoring, flood watches, bridge closures, and river training countermeasures.

SHRP 2 Issues New Requests for Proposals

The next round of requests for proposals (RFPs) for Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) 2 projects was scheduled to be released March 10, 2009. As authorized under the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), SHRP 2's goal is to develop recommended procedures, practices, and applications to advance the Nation's highway system in the key focus areas of safety, renewal, reliability, and capacity. The new RFPs will be issued in all four focus areas. Projects in the renewal area will include "Innovation in the Location of Deep Utilities," "Project Management Strategies for Complex Projects," "Nondestructive Testing for Tunnels," and "Strategic Approaches at the Corridor and Network Level to Minimize Disruption from the Renewal Process."

Highway Technology Calendar

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