WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced $7.6 million in grants to promote state-of-the-art 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 innovative 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. FHWA’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment Demonstration program supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda to strengthen our nation’s infrastructure, supporting a manufacturing boom, and creating American jobs.
“FHWA is proud to support innovative partners to harness innovation, and use technology to invest in new and proven ideas to bring our construction and project delivery programs into the future,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White. “These innovative projects are helping us scale state-of-the-art technology and processes to advance safety and accelerate project delivery and construction to save time and valuable resources.”
The Accelerated Innovation Demonstration Program was funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 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, showing a strong desire for federal funding to innovate in this space.
Since the program was launched in February 2014, FHWA has awarded more than $103.4 million for 136 grants. This program is also supported under FHWA’s Every Day Counts program, a program that helps states innovate their transportation systems to be more adaptable, sustainable, equitable, and safer for all.
The following grants, announced today, were solicited on a rolling basis through a multi-year Notice of Funding Opportunity that closed on January 23, 2024.
| FY23 Accelerated Innovation Deployment Demonstration Program Awards | |||
| State | Applicant | Project Description | Amount |
| AZ | Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) | ADOT 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. This project will provide agencies statewide with the tools to help their policymakers make data-driven, well informed, decisions about transportation funding. Through the implementation of this project, every agency in the state will be able to quickly complete important analyses and dramatically shift their capabilities and sophistication. | $1,000,000 |
| AR | Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) | ARDOT 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. The grant will provide enough devices to crews reducing response times to traffic incidents, reducing delays caused by roadway blockages, and ultimately expanding service beyond freeways to other high-volume routes. | $1,000,000 |
| IN | Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) | INDOT 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. The revenues generated from enforcement activity will be directed to the State’s General Fund and solely focused on improving safety outcomes in work zones. | $1,000,000 |
| MA | Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) | MassDOT Aeronautics Division 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. MassDOT Aeronautics’ UAS-based solutions provide services such as assessing the condition of critical infrastructure with a unique level of precision, efficiency, and safety. This project is a critical step toward a future where UAS technology plays a central role in maintaining and improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure. | $1,000,000 |
| MI | Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) | MDOT 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. The grant will support the first use in Michigan of an ‘Exodermic’ bridge deck, an efficient and economical alternative to traditional bridge decks, that increases structural efficiency while reducing project costs and environmental impacts. | $ 815,404 |
| MI | Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) / St. Clair County Road Commission (SCCRC) | The MDOT and the SCCRC will receive $704,700 to reconstruct the severely deteriorated bridge on Rattle Run Road over the Sheldon Drain in St. Clair Township. The reconstruction will use superior long lasting concrete materials to provide a longer lasting bridge that requires minimal maintenance and will accelerate project completion. | $ 704,700 |
| PA | Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) | PennDOT 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. The cleaned feeds would remove any personally identifiable information, and anything related to potential criminal investigation, and provide information directly to the TMCs. By concurrently providing incident information to the TMCs, the project will improve intra-agency coordination, enhance incident management, and reduce incident response time. | $ 759,600 |
| WV | West Virginia Department of Transportation – Division of Highways (WVDOT) | The WVDOT will receive $985,000 to use Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) technology to replace and restore the Purgitsville Bridge – a heavily used bridge in a rural portion of Hampshire County that has significant deficiencies requiring bridge deck replacement. Using OSD technology for this replacement offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that extends the bridge service life, improves safety and traffic mobility during construction. | $ 985,320 |
| WY | Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) | The WYDOT 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, Wyoming. The first US installation of this radar detection This system will greatly improve WYDOT’s avalanche warning accuracy, mitigation measures, and decision-making process to better protect the traveling public, WYDOT maintenance personnel, and the transportation system. | $ 377,960 |
For more information about AID Demonstration projects, visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/grants/projects/.
The post INVESTING IN AMERICA: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $7.6 Million in Grants to Accelerate Innovation in Highway Projects first appeared on Informed Infrastructure.