Dive Brief:
- The Federal Highway Administration has announced its 2017-2018 Every Day Counts initiatives, which include 11 "technologies and practices" intended to streamline and improve transportation agencies' project delivery systems.
- This fourth round of FHWA innovations, which range from advanced hydraulic modeling tools to pavement preservation, were culled from a much larger list of suggestions submitted by transportation industry stakeholders.
- The FHWA will hold regional summits, technical assistance and other training opportunities in order to assist transportation agencies and contractors in their adoption of these latest innovations.
Dive Insight
FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau told Construction Dive in May that bridge construction technologies and processes, as well as safety initiatives, usually top the list of what the agency looks for when it chooses which innovations to implement. "Efficiency in project delivery ... is kind of the core of EDC," he said. Although promoted by the FHWA, it is up to each state's transportation agency to decide whether or not to implement the initiatives.
The full list of the 2017-2018 EDC innovations includes:
- Accelerating traffic incident management (TIM) data collection
- Advanced hydraulic modeling tools
- Automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPMs)
- Community connections
- Data-driven safety analysis (DDSA)
- e-construction and partnering
- Integrating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and permitting
- Pavement preservation
- Road weather management and "weather-savvy" roads
- Safe transportation for every pedestrian (STEP)
- Ultra-high performance concrete for prefabricated bridge elements
