Eligibility

Funds are available for bridge project/s on any public roadway that meet one or more of the following eight program goals as listed in Section 5202 (b)(2) of SAFETEA-LU, Public Law 109-59:

1. The development of new, cost-effective, innovative highway bridge applications;
2. The development of construction techniques to increase safety and reduce construction time and traffic congestion;
3. The development of engineering design criteria for innovative products, materials, and structural systems for use in highway bridges and structures;
4. The reduction of maintenance costs and life-cycle costs of bridges, including costs of new construction, replacement or rehabilitation of deficient bridges;
5. The development of highway bridges and structures that will withstand natural disasters:
6. The documentation and wide dissemination of objective evaluations of the performance and benefits of these innovative designs, materials, and construction methods;
7. The effective transfer of resulting information and technology; and
8. The development of improved methods to detect bridge scour and economical bridge foundation designs that will withstand bridge scour.

Funds may be used for costs of preliminary engineering, repair, rehabilitation, or construction of bridges or other highway structures, and costs of project performance evaluation and performance monitoring of the structure following construction.

Selection Criteria

The selection criteria are listed in the annual solicitations and generally use the following to evaluate the submitted candidates for selection:

1. Project/s that will meet one or more of the goals of the program as listed in the Eligibility Section;
2. Project/s that will incorporate innovative materials and/or products that are readily available;
3. Project/s that have been funded for design, construction or rehabilitation and are ready for construction;
4. Project/s with designs, materials, and construction methods that have broad application;

In addition, the FHWA may consider:

1. State priorities - For States that submit more than one project application, consideration is also given to the individual State's priorities if specified.
2. Expeditious completion of project in a timely manner. For large-scale projects, consideration is given to the State's total funding plan to expedite the completion of the project.
3. Leveraging of private or other public funding - Because the annual requests for funding far exceed the available IBRD funds, commitment of other funding sources to complement the requested IBRD funding is also a consideration.