Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure (2020)

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107 C H A P T E R 8 Summary and Guidance Summary This study identified and described emerging and innovative practices that could influence long­range PMR needs of highway infrastructure and provided technical guidance for transpor­ tation leaders and practitioners on assessing their application. The research recognized a wide range of plausible futures in terms of drivers that could bring change and practices that could emerge over the next 30 to 50 years. Because the range of plausible futures over such a long­term period is very broad, making a focused prediction of the implications for highway infrastructure PMR is quite challenging. The vision becomes more blurred as the planning horizon extends decades further into the future. For this reason, this study emphasized the need for preparation for plausible futures rather than on their prediction with any degree of precision. Nonetheless, the following overarching dual realities for highway infrastructure PMR were recognized: • A robust and increasingly resilient and adaptive network of streets and highways— including pavements, bridges, tunnels, drainage systems, ITS, and other ancillary and potentially new components of highway infrastructure—will continue to be needed over the next half­century under any plausible set of circumstances. Also, some sort of communications infrastructure is expected to emerge to support CAV operations and other forms of information connectivity desired by the populations of the future. • The ways in which highway agencies maintain, preserve, and renew highway infrastructure will change significantly over the next three to five decades. These changes will occur in response to inevitable changes in the level and patterns of usage of the system; the availability of both financial and human resources; institutional and regulatory changes; resiliency and conservation needs; emergence of innovative materials, tools, technologies, and approaches; and changes in vehicle characteristics. In this context, the research suggests that highway agencies need to position themselves to adapt to a changing future by periodically assessing, identifying, and advancing beneficial and potentially emerging and innovative PMR practices, recognizing that some of the existing prac­ tices will continue to evolve alongside practices involving innovative materials, tools, approaches, and technologies. The research team identified a set of drivers of long­term change and likely scenarios that may evolve because of those changes, presented in eight basic, non­overlapping categories with specific implications. These eight broad­based driver categories were dissected into approxi­ mately 40 individual “scenario elements.” Each scenario element was defined with sufficient

108 Strategic Issues Facing Transportation specificity to clarify its implications concerning PMR highway infrastructure activities and facilitate the formulation of potential future PMR practices. The eight driver categories and scenario elements were used as fundamental mapping units to derive 75 key implications for PMR (referred to as scenario lenses) that provide the focus needed for moving the drivers and resulting scenarios to prospective and promising materials, tools, technologies, and approaches. The set of driver categories, scenario elements, and scenario lenses provided a framework for identifying, researching, evaluating, promoting, and implementing promising materials, tools, technologies, and approaches. After a comprehensive review, a “long list” of 60­plus candidate materials, tools, technologies, and approaches was developed. The type and functional purpose of each emerging practice was described and the PMR practices were arranged in a manner that helped consolidate comparable and parallel practices into broader practice areas. A list of more than 60 PMR practices was identified and prioritized and a list of the 16 PMR practices involving emerging/innovative materials, tools, technologies, and approaches that were deemed most responsive to drivers and the most interest to agencies was developed. These practices span different disciplines and various functions within those disciplines, and they are applicable to a variety of contexts, including urban and rural highways. Most of these practices cover broad areas to encompass a multitude of constituent materials, methods, and technologies and a plethora of application ideas. This set of 16 emerging PMR practices is an illustration of the virtually limitless emerging/innovative PMR practice possibilities—other innovative prac­ tices almost certainly will emerge over time. Narratives for each emerging PMR practice and a database that includes pertinent information organized by seven key disciplines associated with highways—pavements, structures, drainage and roadside, equipment, transportation system maintenance and operations, CAVs, and IT were prepared. This material would allow PMR pro­ fessionals to build awareness, initiate evaluations of the emerging materials, tools, technologies, and approaches, and eventually move toward advancing them. The research developed a pathway to guide transportation agencies in advancing those emerg­ ing PMR practices desirable for their situation toward implementation. The pathway proposes a successive, yet iterative, series of actions: awareness, advocacy, assessment, adoption, and action plan. The pathway lays out a path forward even when the implementation requirements exceed the agency capabilities. While the database and supporting narratives help build awareness and advocacy, seven CSFs deemed essential for fostering innovative practices in general within the agency and to advancing promising PMR practices are discussed. In addition, the research developed two capability maturity framework (CMF)­based assess­ ment tools for both leadership and practitioners to (1) facilitate the assessment of the agency’s (as well as an individual unit’s) capabilities to foster innovative practices in general, and (2) assess the practitioners’ capabilities for advancing specific emerging PMR practices. Both tools perform such assessments across each of the seven CSFs. The capability assessment tool (Practice CMF) helps practitioners evaluate a particular emerging/innovative material, tool, technology, or approach, and the Organization CMF tool helps agency leadership or unit managers evaluate their ability to foster innovative practices in general. High­level action plans in the form of the RAF and OIF were also developed for prac­ titioners and leadership, respectively, to fill the gaps identified from the capabilities assessment and move forward toward advancing a specific PMR practice. Together, the CMF and the RAF should provide the information needed for making a go/no­go decision on whether to proceed with advancing a specific practice from awareness to action.

Summary and Guidance 109 Guidance for Transportation Leaders and Practitioners Guidance for Transportation Leaders • To foster emerging/innovative PMR practices that have the potential for achieving PMR­ related performance targets more cost­effectively. • To initiate strategic and periodic self­assessment processes and action plans both agency­ wide and in key PMR areas to assess how well the agency is doing in anticipating change and encouraging innovation. • To look beyond their agencies in collaborating with peers and private industry to share infor­ mation and risks in advancing PMR innovative practices, and in making the case to stake­ holders and elected officials for related funding needs. Guidance for PMR Practitioners • To ensure awareness of leading edge and emerging practices through periodic, strategic plan­ ning exercises to understand PMR needs and emerging practices. • To identify emerging practices that are most appropriate for the agency, assess capabilities for advancing these practices, and define actions to support their advancement. • To build collaborative teams from within and outside the agency to identify and anticipate barriers and to make the case for their advancement to decision makers. Recommendations for Future Research The research has identified a number of emerging/innovative practices; others will clearly emerge over time. There is a need to periodically broaden the list as well as to deepen the findings of this work to document the advancements in these practices. Developing an implementation plan for each promising PMR practice could help transporta­ tion agencies evaluate their readiness periodically, understand maturity concerns, and identify R&D needs. This information will help assess cost and schedule implications and facilitate the steps required for implementation.