What's New?...EDC 2!

FHWA Announces Next Wave of Highway Innovations Under its Every Day Counts Initiative

July 25, 2012

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has rolled out a second wave of innovations for its Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative, an effort focused on shortening the time needed to complete highway projects through the use of new technologies and innovative processes.

FHWA will promote 13 innovations to state, local and regional transportation agencies, as well as to the design and construction industries. These initiatives range from innovative construction management techniques to paving machinery designed to use global positioning systems (GPS) to achieve higher quality, longer-lasting roadways.

The Every Day Counts initiative supports the deployment of innovations with proven benefits in getting highway and bridge projects built faster, which includes planning, permitting, and design phases as well as construction. Many of these innovations offer other benefits such as enhanced safety during construction and throughout the life of the project; better quality, so that highways and bridges last longer and require less maintenance; and less impact on the driving public during construction.

The agency will promote these particular initiatives for two years, and teams of specialists will explain the benefits to stakeholders across the country.

FHWA launched the EDC initiative in 2010 and has already seen dramatic results from the first round of technologies. Every state transportation agency has applied one or more of the technologies and many of those initatives are now widely used. The Safety Edge^SM, for example, a construction method that tapers the edge of the roadway to allow drivers who drift off highways to return to the pavement safely, has been applied to pavements in more than 40 states.

FHWA looks forward to turning attention to this new set of technologies during the next two years and working with our state and local partners to deliver better, faster and safer roads and bridges!