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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25757.
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25757.
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Page 2
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25757.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25757.
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1 National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20­83(03)A, “Long­ Range Strategic Issues Affecting Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infra­ structure,” focused on providing technical guidance for transportation leaders and practitioners to address long­range preservation, maintenance, and renewal (PMR) needs of highway infra­ structure. In doing so, the research team recognized a wide range of plausible futures regarding both drivers that could bring change and PMR practices that could emerge over the next 30 to 50 years, and identified several such emerging and innovative practices. The range of plausible futures over such a long­term period is very broad, making a focused prediction of the implica­ tions for highway infrastructure PMR 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 research team emphasized the following overarching dual realities for highway infrastructure PMR: • A robust and increasingly resilient and adaptive network of streets and highways—including pavements, bridges, tunnels, drainage systems, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and other ancillary and potentially new components of highway infrastructure—will continue to be needed over the next half­century. However, some form of communications infrastructure will enter the mix alongside traditional highway infrastructure to support connected and automated vehicle operations as well as other forms of information connectivity. • The ways in which highway agencies maintain, preserve, and renew highway infrastructure will change significantly over the next 3 to 5 decades. These changes will occur in response to inevitable changes in the level and patterns of usage of the system; the availability of resources— both financial and human; institutional and regulatory changes; resiliency and conservation needs; innovations in materials, tools, technologies, and approaches; and changes in vehicle characteristics. In this context, it is important for highway agencies to prepare for a changing future by period­ ically assessing, identifying, and advancing beneficial and emerging PMR practices recognizing that some of the existing practices will continue to evolve alongside more inno vative materials, tools, approaches, and technologies. Research Performed The research team identified a set of drivers of long­term change and likely scenarios that may evolve because of those changes. These drivers were categorized into eight basic, non­ overlapping categories; their specific implications were dissected into approximately 40 individual “scenario S U M M A R Y Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure

2 Strategic Issues Facing Transportation elements” that were clearly defined to easily identify the implications of each scenario element on highway infrastructure PMR activities. The research team used the eight driver categories and scenario elements as fundamental map­ ping units to derive key implications for PMR. These implications, totalling 75 in number, were termed “scenario lenses” as they provide the focus needed to move from drivers and resulting scenarios to prospective and promising materials, tools, technologies, and approaches. The set of driver categories, scenario elements, and scenario lenses, which lend themselves to future PMR needs, provided a framework for an easy­to­follow pathway to identifying, researching, evaluat­ ing, promoting, and implementing promising materials, tools, technologies, and approaches. The research team adopted a three­pronged approach to develop 60­plus candidate materials, tools, technologies, and approaches. The set of drivers, scenario elements, and scenario lenses helped to formulate potential innovative practices for future needs. Then, the research team identified emerging practices and practice areas that were receiving widespread attention based on their knowledge and experience. The research team also reviewed the work performed under NCHRP Project 20­83(03) (published as NCHRP Report 750, Volumes 1–6) to identify potential innovative practices that were not otherwise identified. With many potential emerging and innovative practices in materials, tools, technologies, and approaches to consider, emerging PMR practices were arranged in a logical and orderly manner using two types of taxonomies—functional purpose and PMR practice type—based on the “why” and “what,” respectively. This classification helped consolidating comparable and parallel practices into PMR practice areas. More than 60 PMR practices were identified and then evaluated and prioritized—first using screening criteria by the research team and then using an outreach process with practitioners— to develop a manageable list of 16 emerging materials, tools, technologies, and approach­related practice areas that was deemed most responsive to drivers and of great interest to agencies. Most of these PMR practices cover broad topical areas that encompass a multitude of constitu­ ent materials, methods, and technologies as well as a plethora of application ideas that may be regarded as emerging practice areas. These practices span different disciplines and various func­ tions. Because these practices were derived from the future PMR needs of the entire highway system, they are applicable to a variety of contexts, including urban and rural highways. These 16 PMR practices are not intended to be viewed as a definitive list but as an illustration of virtu­ ally limitless emerging PMR possibilities looking toward a 50­year horizon—practices beyond those identified will almost certainly emerge over time. Research Products The research team developed supporting narratives for each of 16 PMR practices and a data­ base of pertinent information organized by seven key disciplines associated with highways: pave­ ments, structures, drainage and roadside, equipment, transportation system maintenance and operations, connected and automated vehicles, and information technology. This information is presented as the Emerging and Innovative PMR Practice Database (available as part of NCHRP Web-Only Document 272: Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Mainte- nance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios from trb.org by searching for “NCHRP Report 750, Volume 7”). The database allows an examina tion of the information to help iden­ tify the anticipated impacts of a specific PMR practice on the seven key highway disciplines or identify those emerging PMR practices that impact specific disciplines as well as the type of such impact. This information allows PMR professionals to build awareness, initiate evaluations of these emerging practices, and eventually support advancing them. The process for identifying

Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure 3 and applying those emerging PMR practices most responsive to agency needs is applicable to any of these PMR practices. The research team developed a process to guide transportation agencies in advancing desir­ able PMR practices toward implementation. The process proposes a successive, yet iterative, series of actions: awareness, advocacy, assessment, adoption, and action plan. It lays out a path forward even when the implementation requirements exceed the agency capabilities. While the emerging PMR practice database and supporting narratives help build awareness and advocacy to emerging PMR practices, the research team has identified seven “Critical Success Factors” deemed essential to fostering a forward­looking culture for advancing specific emerging prac­ tices. Recognizing that several emerging/innovative PMR practices are expected to meet future needs, an understanding of the factors that promote such practices in an agency is essential for meeting future PMR needs. In addition, the research team has developed two guides to help both leadership and practi­ tioners navigate the understanding, identification, application, and implementation of emerging and innovative practices to highway PMR: A practitioner’s guide (Part B of this report) and a leadership’s guide (Part C of this report). The Part B Practitioner’s Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices examines the capability to advance specific emerging and innovative practices that re­ spond to future PMR business needs and assists with making a go/no­go decision for their adop­ tion, and then developing an initial implementa tion plan for advancement. The audience for this guide are the practitioners— technical or discipline managers or specialists directly involved in highway PMR activity and performance. The Part C Leadership’s Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices reviews agency capability to foster an organizational and cultural environment that en­ courages innovative practices and recommends strategic actions for improvement. The audience focus for this guide is agency leader ship, which includes the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and those who directly report to the CEO and affect the direction, decisions, and collective day­to­ day activities of the organization (often collectively referred to as “senior management”). The guides feature Capability Maturity Framework (CMF)­based assessment tools for leader­ ship and practitioners to facilitate the assessment of (1) agencies’ (and individual units’) capa­ bilities to foster a culture of innovation and (2) practitioners’ capabilities for advancing specific emerging PMR practices. These tools perform such capability assessments across each of the seven Critical Success Factors (CSFs). These CMF tools helps practitioners evaluate a particu­ lar emerging PMR material, tool, technology, or approach, while the Organization CMF tool helps agency leadership or unit managers evaluate their ability to foster innovations in general. High­level action plans in the form of a PMR Required Actions Framework (RAF) and an Orga­ nization Improvement Framework (OIF) were also developed for practitioners and leadership, respectively, to fill essential gaps identified from the capabilities assessment and to move forward to advance a specific PMR practice. Together the CMF and the RAF should provide the infor­ mation needed for making a go/no­go decision on whether or not to advance a PMR practice toward implementation. Key Guidance The research yielded six specific suggestions: three for transportation leaders and three for PMR practitioners.

4 Strategic Issues Facing Transportation Guidance for Transportation Leaders • Recognizing that PMR activities reflect the agency’s ability to meet customer expectations for a safe, reliable, and efficient highway system, agency leaders should foster emerging and innovative PMR practices that have the potential for achieving performance targets in a more cost­effective manner. • Transportation leaders should initiate agency­wide strategic and periodic self­assessment processes and action plans in key PMR areas to help assess how well agencies are doing in anticipating future changes, encouraging a culture of improvement and learning, and tackling barriers to constructive change and advancements in the state of the practice. • Transportation leaders should collaborate with their peers in other agencies and private industry to share information on the risks in advancing emerging PMR practices, and making the case to stakeholders and elected officials that advancing the state of the practice requires up­front investments but offers life­cycle returns. Guidance for PMR Practitioners • PMR practitioners must find ways to sustain ongoing awareness of emerging and innovative PMR practices by initiating periodic, strategic planning exercises to understand the context changes to PMR needs and emerging practices, and plan ahead to maximize efficiencies. • PMR practitioners must identify those emerging practices that are appropriate for the agency, assess capabilities for their advancement, define actions to establish a threshold of sufficient capability, and cultivate champions who will advocate them. • PMR champions must build collaborative teams from within and outside the agency, antici­ pate barriers and formulate strategies for addressing them, and make the case for advance­ ment in ways that will resonate with agency decision makers. To facilitate the implementation of the research products, the research team suggests the following: • Holding pilot workshops with transportation stakeholders to demonstrate capability assess­ ment and action plan development for implementing emerging PMR practices; • Developing a “Facilitator Guide” for future workshops; and • Conducting surveys of state departments of transportation (DOTs), industry groups, and other organizations to assess how these products can be integrated with existing, emerging, and future PMR practices.

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The transportation industry faces a wide range of plausible future drivers and scenarios that could affect standard practices over the next 30 to 50 years. Because the range of plausible futures over such a long-term period is very broad, making a focused prediction of the implications for highway infrastructure preservation, maintenance, and renewal (PMR) is quite challenging.

The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal of Highway Infrastructure focuses on the issues affecting the PMR of highway infrastructure. The study places emphasis on preparing for plausible future scenarios and develops a pathway to guide transportation agencies in advancing the implementation of emerging PMR practices through a process involving awareness, advocacy, assessment, adoption, and action planning.

The appendices to Parts A and B of this report are available as part of NCHRP Web-Only Document 272: Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios.

In addition, there are two guides included within the report that help with the understanding, identification, application, and implementation of emerging PMR practices. They are also available as standalone guides:

Practitioner's Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices

Leadership's Guide to Emerging Highway Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Practices

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