Terry D. Halkyard, Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration’s High Performance Concrete (HPC) Technology Delivery Team (TDT), through funding in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), produced positive results in helping state departments of transportation (DOTs) implement HPC in their highway bridges. The TDT, created in 1997, helped 13 states build HPC bridges and host or participate in technology transfer activities such as showcases and workshops. Working with the AASHTO Lead States Team for HPC Implementation, the TDT influenced many additional state DOTs to try HPC in their highway bridges.
When the ISTEA ended, about 25 states had used HPC. Though lacking a direct funding mechanism, the TDT continued to promote HPC and encouraged states to build HPC bridges through a new program created under legislation following the ISTEA. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) included a new program for constructing bridges utilizing innovative materials—the Innovative Bridge Research and Construction (IBRC) program.* HPC is considered an innovative material under the guidelines of the IBRC program. This is the primary source of the FHWA funding for states wanting to implement HPC today.
In 1998, the FHWA created resource centers in Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, and Atlanta. These centers are staffed to bring technical expertise and technology transfer agents closer to state and local highway agencies. In addition, the TDT is being renewed with a focus on field delivery of HPC technology. The TDT members represent the four Resource Centers; the Offices of Bridge Technology, Pavement Technology, and Infrastructure Research and Development; Division Bridge Offices; the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Office; and state DOTs. Recognizing that the successes of earlier HPC technology transfer efforts were the result of cooperation and coordination between the FHWA, academia, state DOTs, and industry, the new TDT includes representatives from academia and industry.
The TDT is formulating a business plan that will include statements of the team’s vision, mission, and goals. The emphasis of these statements will be to provide leadership in advancing HPC technology and in implementing HPC for increased structural efficiency and durability, thereby leading to reduced life-cycle costs for bridges and pavements.
The TDT will also work to increase its presence on the World Wide Web. A new HPC web site will allow easier and more frequent updating of the web pages. A new Community of Practice web site is being developed for HPC. It will allow users to post questions, participate in discussions, share documents, and review works in progress. Users will have the option to subscribe to an e-mail notification system where they will receive a summary of postings to the Community of Practice site for the subject areas that they choose.
More Information
More information about the TDT may be obtained by contacting the author at 202-366-6765 or e-mail at [email protected]
*See HPC Bridge Views, Issue No. 14, March/April 2001.
