Appendix C
Descriptions of Selected FHWA Technology Transfer Areas and Related Technology Transfer Activities
Technology Area |
Technology Transfer Activities |
Scour Monitoring and Instrumentation Products or processes that promote the prevention of hydraulic-related failures of highway bridges and provide countermeasures for the effects of stream stability, scour, erosion, and sediment deposits. |
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Geotextile Engineering Applications Products or processes that incorporate the use of geotextiles in highway design, construction/rehabilitation, and maintenance applications, as well as geotextile concepts for earthfill and embankment projects. |
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Pavement Management Systems Products or processes that constitute a comprehensive pavement management system (PMS) as required by ISTEA. This technology area also incorporates the effects of having implemented a comprehensive PMS on such items as information availability and reliability; decision making for maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of pavements, and prioritization, scheduling, and funding for those activities; and computerized tools to accomplish the required analysis. |
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Bridge Management Systems Products or processes that constitute a comprehensive bridge management system (BMS), required by ISTEA. This technology area also incorporates the effects of having implemented a comprehensive BMS on such items as information availability and reliability; decision making for maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of bridges, and prioritization, scheduling, and funding for those activities; and the computerized tools needed to accomplish the required analysis. |
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Protective Coatings Processes that encompass environmentally acceptable coatings and corrosion-control alternatives to effectively protect highway structures and components; examples include cost-effective corrosion methods and control, protective coating systems, bridge paint removal and containment/recovery, and life extension of structures protected by lead-containing paint systems. |
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Seismic Design of Highway Bridges Products or processes that contribute to improved earthquake protection of new and existing bridges. This technology encompasses the FHWA program that sponsored R&D building upon the State of California’s earthquake design criteria for bridges, and culminating in a comprehensive guide specification adopted by AASHTO in 1982. Items included in this technology area are seismic design of bridges, foundations, and substructures, and retrofitting of existing structures. |
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Work Zone Traffic Control Products or processes that incorporate all aspects of work zone traffic management and control, such as design, installation, and maintenance of controls in construction, maintenance, and utility operations; traffic control planning and monitoring; traffic control devices; and legal and other operational aspects. |
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Bridge Inspection Techniques Products or processes that incorporate all aspects of bridge inspection, such as inspection concepts, safety, inspection documentation, and inspection and evaluation of bridge decks, sub-and superstructures, and fracture-critical bridge members; and solutions provided by appropriate inspection methods to prevent material distress and ultimately failure. |
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Highway Drainage Design Products or processes that incorporate guidance and procedures for highway drainage design, such as hydraulic analysis, culvert design, roadway drainage design, energy dissipater design, and channel design, including associated computer programs for hydraulic and hydrologic design. |
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Driven Piles/Pile Foundations Products or processes that encompass design and construction of all aspects of driven pile technology, such as subsurface investigation, pile types, static design and analysis and data interpretation, specifications and contracting, construction monitoring, load testing, and driven pile installation equipment and accessories. |
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Avoidance/Handling of Construction Contract Claims Products or processes that minimize future construction contract claims. This area also incorporates a systematic approach to reducing claims and valuing appropriate documents, and documentation that enables claims avoidance, effective negotiation and dispute resolution, reduction of legal actions, and increased quality of construction performance. |
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Computer Models for Traffic Engineering and Operations Products or processes that encompass the broad range of computerized tools used for traffic engineering and operations. This technology area also incorporates the impacts of computer systems on data analysis and decision making; the value of increasingly more accurate data and its availability; the significantly enhanced ability to perform traffic signal timing optimization; and other traffic engineering or operations applications, including such items as developing incident management alternatives. |
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SOURCE: Harder (1995). |
REFERENCE
Harder, B. T. 1995. Stewardship Report Documenting Benefits of Research Technology Efforts. FHWA-SA-96-044. Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Dec.