Nation's top highway official awards $5.3 million to encourage bridge innovations

Nearly $5.3 million in grants will be awarded to bridge projects in 25 states to help develop new technologies to speed bridge construction and make them safer, Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka announced today.

"Bridges are critical links in the highway system and lifelines for communities," Capka said. "These grants will help researchers to enhance the quality and durability of bridges, and even the speed with which they are built."

Twenty-nine applications representing 25 states were chosen from among 96 applications received. The grants, from FHWA's Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment (IBRD) program, will be awarded for improvements to the quality of materials and design, construction and repair methods which lower construction costs and enhance bridge safety.

The IBRD program, created in the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (SAFETEA-LU) in 2005, is the successor to the FHWA's Innovative Bridge Research and Construction program which expired at the end of the "Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century" (TEA-21).

"Building better bridges results in less time spent on maintenance which reduces work zone congestion," Capka added. "This program is one of many that are helping to keep America moving."