On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded $7.6 million in grants to promote technology in new standards and construction to accelerate construction. Innovative grants were awarded on nine projects in eight States across the country.
The grants fund innovations like debris removal, enhanced work zone safety, integrating technology to support emergency responders, using drones to conduct infrastructure inspections and improving bridge design and developing more sustainable materials.
The Accelerated Innovation Demonstration Program was funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to help de-risk government innovation and provide resources to use new technology in construction and project delivery. The discretionary grants support tribal governments, state departments of transportation (DOTs), federal land management agencies, and local governments to deploy technology and innovative processes in construction programs including to help reduce project delivery timelines.
The funding opportunity received 16 applications and was oversubscribed by $2.9 million. Since the program was launched in February 2014, FHWA has awarded more than $103.4 million for 136 grants.
The following round of recent grants solicited on a rolling basis through a multi-year Notice of Funding Opportunity that closed on January 23, 2024:
- Arizona Department of Transportation will receive $1 million for the statewide implementation of a data portal to analyze transportation systems and new innovative performance measures related to asset degradation, resiliency and sustainability and pedestrian and bicycle volume.
- Arkansas Department of Transportation will receive $1 million to purchase truck-mounted debris removal devices that improve the safety of maintenance crews and the traveling public during debris removal on highways and roads.
- Indiana Department of Transportation will receive $1 million to advance work zone safety and combat high speeds by deploying a worksite speed control system to monitor up to four concurrently active construction work zones.
- Massachusetts Department of Transportation will receive $1 million to further develop and expand the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to translate data into actionable information that will optimize the management and operations of the MassDOT Highway Division.
- Michigan Department of Transportation will receive $815,000 to replace the Lafayette Bridge, a moveable bridge and important transportation link in the Michigan Bay Region nearing the end of its service life.
- Michigan Department of Transportation / St. Clair County Road Commission will receive $704,700 to reconstruct the severely deteriorated bridge on Rattle Run Road over the Sheldon Drain in St. Clair Township.
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will receive $760,000 to integrate “cleaned” Computer Aided Dispatch data feeds from partners, such as Pennsylvania State Police and 911 Centers, into PennDOT’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) Operations software.
- West Virginia Department of Transportation - Division of Highways will receive $985,000 to use Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) technology to replace and restore the Purgitsville Bridge.
- Wyoming Department of Transportation will receive $378,000 to install a radar-based avalanche detection system for US 191/189, a vital transportation route for residents and visitors in Jackson.
Source: The U.S. Department of Transportation
