Appendix C - Research Topics.pdf

Appendix C – Research Topics

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

Office of Acquisition and Grants Management

Federal Highway Administration

Research Initiatives in Support of FHWA’s Office of Infrastructure Research and Development (HRDI)

Note: Concept papers may be submitted at any time up to the closing date of the research topic.

Advanced Digital Construction (ADC)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note

Below Table

HRDI-ADC-01

Case Studies with BIM/Digital Twin Return on

Investment

TBA

HRDI-ADC-02

Research with Model and Operational Digital

Twins

TBA

HRDI-ADC-03

Automated Vehicle Impacts and Interactions with Physical Infrastructure

TBA

HRDI-ADC-04

Using Automated Vehicle Operational Data with

Digital Twins

TBA

HRDI-ADC-05

Maintenance Equipment Fleet Electrification

Infrastructure

TBA

HRDI-ADC-06

Integrating Maintenance and Preservation Asset

Management with Digital Twins

TBA

HRDI-ADC-07

Enhance Digital As-Builts with Materials

Quality Assurance Data October 30, 2023 G

HRDI-ADC-08

Advanced Data Analytics for Construction

Contracting and Administration

October 30, 2023 C

HRDI-ADC-09

Leveraging Handheld “pocket” lidar for Digital

Construction Inspection and As-Builts

October 30, 2023

D

HRDI-ADC-10 Digital Delivery Stakeholder Group October 30, 2023

B

HRDI-ADC-11

Digital Infrastructure Enablers – Data

Transformation and Governance Options

October 30, 2023 H

Transportation Resilience and Safety (TRS)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note Below

Table

HRDI-TRS-01

Dissemination of Available Knowledge on

Pavement Resilience October 30, 2023 A

HRDI-TRS-02

Impact of Environmental Factors on Pavement

Infrastructure

TBA

HRDI-TRS-03

Long Term Friction Performance for Concrete

Pavements

TBA

HRDI-TRS-04

Risk Assessment for Bridge

Preservation/Management Decision Making and

Resilience Enhancement

TBA

Enhanced Pavement Management (EPM)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note Below

Table

HRDI-EPM-01

Enhanced Pavement Data Collection and

Performance Modeling to Incorporate

Effect of Pavement-Vehicle Interaction as

Part of Use Phase Life-Cycle Assessment -

October 30, 2023 E

HRDI-EPM-02

Life-Cycle Assessment to Inform the

Pavement Treatment Selection Process

TBA

HRDI-EPM-03

Supplemental Performance Testing and

BMD Threshold Validation Using Well

Documented Field Projects

October 30, 2023 F

Bridge Preservation and Management (BPM)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note Below

Table

HRDI-BPM-01

Automated Data Collection and Automated

Decision Making for Bridge Performance

Evaluation and Preservation/Management

Decision Making

TBA

HRDI-BPM-02 Bridge Preservation Technology Evaluation

TBA

HRDI-BPM-03

Bridge Preservation and Management

Enhancement with Digital Twins

TBA

HRDI-BPM-04

A Holistic Approach: Integration of NDE with

Bridge Preservation and Asset Management

Practice

TBA

Highway Construction Safety (HCS)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note Below

Table

HRDI-HCS-01

Assess Priorities for Highway

Construction Worker Fatigue and

Distraction

October 30, 2023 C

Pavement Modeling and Performance (PMP)

Topic Number Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

See Note Below

Table

HRDI20-PMP-01

Electric Road System: Investigation of

Inductive Charging Research Gaps and

Implementation Challenges

October 30, 2023 D

HRDI20-PMP-02

PEM Durability Test Thresholds and Design

Adjustment

TBA

As specified by note in the table above, the following are the expected funding ranges for the corresponding research topics and should be considered in the preparation of concept papers and proposals accordingly. Innovative concept papers and proposals with high technical merit and high value that exceed expected funding ranges must clearly identify items that exceed the range.

The Government reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. The Government will consider the overall availability of funding for allocations or awards selected.

Note A: $50,000 - $75,000

Note B: $150,000 - $200,000 per year

Note C: $200,000 - $300,000

Note D: $250,000 - $350,000

Note E: $350,000 - $500,000

Note F: $450,000 - $650,000

Note G: $550,000 - $700,000

Note H: $650,000 - $750,000

Advanced Digital Construction

Topic: HRDI-ADC-01

Title: Case Studies with BIM/Digital Twin Return on Investment (ROI)

Transportation agencies (DOTs) are interested in the concepts of Building Information

Management (BIM) for Infrastructure and Digital Twins, how they apply to capital and network-level projects, and if the cost of transforming their business processes is worth the investment.

To-date, limited research has been completed that looks at the business case, or return on investment (ROI), of adopting BIM and Digital Twin processes into an agency’s workflow.

Further, the work that has been done has been limited to higher-value capital projects. This research topic seeks to address:

1. Identify and develop good case study subject projects that encompass a range of project values.

2. Tools to help DOTs ease into taking on BIM/Digital Twin projects.

3. Identify and develop a range of ROI tools and methodologies that are applicable to the value range of DOT highway projects.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-02

Title: Research with Model and Operational Digital Twins

The term Digital Twin encompasses many different forms and concepts, and can look very different from application to application, depending on the context and implementation. Some digital twins are entirely physical model-based, where limited or no operational information is managed in the business process. There are also digital twins that are only operational, such as public transit systems or traffic control networks. Research is needed to study the interaction of model-based and operational digital twins and look toward the goal of a transportation system integrating both physical and operational elements to have a true real world-representative digital twin.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-03

Title: Automated Vehicle Impacts and Interactions with Physical Infrastructure

As Automated Vehicle (AV) use is expected to increase and contribute to a significant percentage of highway use, it is imperative to understand the interaction between the vehicles and highway infrastructure. There are many unknowns associated with the deployment of SAE

Automation Level 4 and 5 vehicles; being proactive as to their use from a highway design and maintenance perspective will serve to contribute to the readiness of DOTs for their use. This topic will address research needs that include:

Optimum pavement marking design, maintenance, and reflectivity.

Highway design that is conducive to both AV and non-AV use.

Steps that may be taken now to be best positioned for future AV use.

Impacts unique to AV deployment.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-04

Title: Using Automated Vehicle Operational Data with Digital Twins

Assistive (SAE Levels 1-3) and fully automated (SAE Levels 4-5) driving technology relies on a cadre of sensing and image processing equipment coupled with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to accomplish automation tasks. Along with capturing situational data for the vehicle’s own uses, such data could be beneficial to provide operational information in near real-time, feeding into a digital twin. This data might include traffic, infrastructure condition, and information about non-motorized modes such as bikes and pedestrians. This topic would explore such applications and look at the feasibility and applicability of AV information being used toward supplying information to digital twins.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-05

Title: Maintenance Fleet Equipment Electrification Infrastructure

As some states move toward mandating DOT vehicles and equipment be powered with energy sources other than gasoline and diesel, DOT equipment fleet operators are looking ahead to modify their existing servicing, fueling, and storage facilities to accommodate this paradigm shift. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will need sufficient charging infrastructure to keep them ready for the demands of heavy DOT use, and an accompanying technical staff well-trained in the maintenance and repair of electric vehicles. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides for an aggressive increase in the number of highway charging stations for the travelling public but is generally silent on the topic of DOT equipment and vehicle electrification infrastructure. FHWA has identified, via input from the national maintenance equipment fleet stakeholders, a need for research in this general area. Focus on this topic may include:

Changes to DOT equipment fleet operational, storage, and maintenance facilities in an environment where the DOT will transition away from petroleum-powered vehicles to other power sources such as BEVs, hydrogen fuel cells, and hybrid technologies.

Sourcing, training, and retaining qualified vehicle technicians that are well positioned to provide traditional in-house maintenance and repair of mixed-fleet, BEV, and other alternative-fueled vehicles.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-06

Title: Integrating Maintenance and Preservation Asset Management with Digital Twins

As DOTs move toward the adoption of lifecycle-based business processes such as BIM for

Infrastructure/Digital Twins, it will be important to incorporate infrastructure maintenance and preservation activities into the overall process. Such activities generally fall within the operations and maintenance part of the lifecycle spectrum. Although some states and a few international cases have been successful in starting to accomplish this, there is still an overall need for research into how to best incorporate maintenance processes and the accompanying data into the lifecycle model or digital twin. This research topic aims to explore operations and maintenance/preservation activities and data into DOT lifecycle business processes.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-07

Title: Enhance Digital As-Builts with Materials Quality Assurance Data and Develop

Pavement and Materials BIM Data Schema

Analysis, visualization, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robust data analytics are increasingly being used across many industries to leverage electronic data assets, create workflows, and improve the efficiency of data utilization to make informed data driven decisions. In the highway construction field, there is increasing use and need for linking data sources together to leverage use in many different areas such as design models, intelligent construction, e-Ticketing, materials testing, digital as-builts, pavement management systems

(PMS), and BIM for Infrastructure applications. Although materials testing and electronic data associated with quality assurance efforts have long been the basis of highway construction, it is the least mature in ability to analyze and leverage the results and data assets; and provide additional value beyond simply storing test results in hard copy inspection records or a database.

Many agencies are interested in these technologies and want to maximize the use of their electronic data but are challenged by the associated analysis and integration. Agencies are trained to use the test equipment and produce quality data but are then left on their own to figure out how to analyze, interpret, leverage, and integrate the data into their workflows and other systems to maximize efficiency and use.

For example, results from a recently completed research study on Quality Assurance Data

Analysis as a Leading Indicator for Infrastructure Condition Performance Management (FHWA-

HRT-22-027) found that “traditional QA data elements are correlated to performance and show promise for use in PMS forecasting. Data from innovative QA test methods and construction technologies demonstrate direct or indirect correlation to performance. However, for use in PMS, agencies need to establish systematic procedures for data collection, storage, and access.” There is an urgent need for robust systems that allow for agencies to integrate quality assurance and construction data as leading indicators of performance into their PMS.

At the same time, under Every Day Counts, round 6 (EDC6), FHWA is currently engaging with state agencies to develop digital as-builts that allow easier access to project level information from design and construction later in the life cycle. As part of these efforts, Materials QA has been identified as a missing link in digital project records and an area ripe for increased attention and increased data integration.

Many agency and contractor efforts have been made to develop various laboratory information management systems to store, analyze, and make use of their testing and QA data. Their experience is often less than ideal due to an excessive amount of handholding and the detailed construction and QA experience required in reviewing and guiding vendors and technology solution providers. There are many vendors that can provide systems to store data but do not have highway construction, testing, or QA expertise and experience to understand how the data is used; nor it’s potential for future use. This experience is typical across the U.S. due to a lack of robust off the shelf systems available to address this integrated QA need domestically. Some contractors have sought solutions internationally due to the lack of robust domestically available solutions; or they have invested significant resources and funds in developing a custom solution.

Agencies are progressing toward BIM for Infrastructure as the successor to the standard plan set for highway infrastructure projects and are utilizing a variety of tools and equipment from multiple vendors and manufacturers to gather, display, and work with the data necessary for infrastructure project development, and interoperability of the models is a critical feature so that the agencies have the ability to transfer data seamlessly across BIM platforms. Data transfer necessitates a single data schema that is recognized as the industry standard, otherwise there is a potential loss of data when translated from one device or one application to another; however, there has been a lack of consensus for adoption of pavement and materials data schema.

Goals of this research are to assess the beneficial uses for electronic QA data and gain knowledge to inform FHWA on its capabilities, limitations, and implications for use in advanced digital construction management systems and lifecycle asset management decisions and develop a materials QA data and pavement and materials data schema. It will result in an awareness of stakeholder QA data analytics and integration needs that are required to leverage QA data assets, integrate QA test data into advanced digital construction management systems and use for digital as-builts, and BIM for Infrastructure, and associated technology gaps.

Efforts may lead to follow on activities based on findings and technologies; including commercial interest to provide robust solutions and fill in the identified gaps to current systems and technologies. The successful completion of this project will provide a strong foundation and data driven approach for specific follow up activities and initiatives for emphasis, development, and deployment of advanced digital construction management systems.

Assess the current state of knowledge and practice of electronic QA data use, potential, and integration; its capabilities, limitations, and implications for use in advanced digital construction management systems and lifecycle asset management decisions. Assess the prevalence of geospatial location information and current available QA data schemas and standards.

Investigate, assess, document, and prioritize electronic QA data and gain knowledge thru:

1. A comprehensive review to collect, assess, and document current state of practice and future potential uses.

2. Develop state of the knowledge & assessment report and provide recommendations, priority, and rational for which electronic QA data needs or gaps are most urgent to enable widespread adoption and use for digital as-builts and BIM for Infrastructure.

3. Assess the beneficial uses for electronic QA data and gain knowledge to inform FHWA on its capabilities, limitations, and implications for use in advanced digital construction management systems and lifecycle asset management decisions. Research of interest include but not limited to:

Assess and document uses for electronic QA data based on stakeholder interests and potential future opportunities.

Assess and document their data storage, data analytics, and data integration needs to leverage their QA data assets to support broader agency business objectives.

Assess availability of off the shelf systems, and document their analytics, robustness, and integration abilities (including commercial systems and AASHTOWare systems).

Assess their capabilities and limitations.

Assess and document pros and cons.

Assess and document use for digital as-built data collection and BIM for

Infrastructure initiatives.

Assess and document gaps in available systems based on stakeholder needs.

Assess and document recommended analytics, data visualization, and integration strategies for electronic QA data.

Assess and document data standards that exist, are required, or needed.

Assess and document enabling technologies and systems required.

Assess and document complimentary technologies and systems which enhance use, functionality, or accuracy.

Assess the prevalence of geospatial location information of QA and pavement and materials data.

Assess current available materials QA and pavement and materials data schemas and standards.

Building on the assessment, develop a materials QA data and pavement and materials data schema that is open source and in alignment with existing BIM for Infrastructure and ISO efforts and standards. The data schema must be in compliance with ISO

19650, Topic: HRDI-ADC-08

Title: Advanced Data Analytics for Construction Contracting and Administration

Data science, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) have been proven valuable in supporting project bundling decisions by Indiana DOT to maximize cost saving and significantly reduce the time it takes to create bundles from a week to minutes.

INDOT’s use of data analytics for transportation project bundling is the first of its kind, but it’s highly replicable.

Transportation engineers typically group infrastructure construction projects into bundles to gain efficiencies in contracting and project management, minimize infrastructure disruption and achieve economies of scale. Bundles are created from similar projects – bridge projects, freeway lighting installations or safety improvements – or from a variety of types of work in a specific location. Bundling is complex, manual, subjective process, with engineers usually working from maps and spreadsheets.

INDOT has done manual project bundling for about five years and used that data to test benefits of data analytics enabled bundling, in which an algorithm that had been trained on historic data makes bundling suggestions. Using the technology has increased savings from bundling by 40% and could save INDOT $108 million in the next four years. But the real advantage is speed;

instead of having to sit down and create maps and drawing everything by hand, data analytics speeds the process.

AI and ML can quickly evaluate large volumes of data to identify and combine project to provide a better return on investment for Indiana DOT. There are other large construction and contract related data sets that could benefit from more advanced data analytics. For example: project estimates, bid reviews and unbalanced bids, change order analysis, claim evaluations, and impacts of bid and market competition.

Goals of this research are to assess the current state of knowledge and state of practice for using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics; and it’s potential to bring solutions to highway construction contracting and management business practices and decision making. This assessment will result in an awareness of stakeholder data analytics and integration needs that are required to leverage existing data assets and bring efficiencies, time and cost savings, and improvements to highway construction contracting and administration business practices and workflows. The result would provide a guide for State agencies to enhance their analytic capabilities and support targeted pilot projects.

Efforts may lead to follow on activities based on findings and technologies; including commercial interest to provide robust solutions and fill in the identified gaps to current systems and technologies. The successful completion of this project will provide a strong foundation and data driven approach for specific follow up activities and initiatives for FHWA emphasis, development, and deployment of data analytics for construction contracting and administration.

Assess the current state of knowledge and practice of data analytics for construction contracting and administration. Review, investigate, assess, and document data analytics for construction contracting and administration and gain knowledge thru:

1. A comprehensive review to collect, assess, and document current state of practice and future potential uses.

2. Develop state of the knowledge & assessment report and provide recommendations, priority, and rational for which data analytics needs or gaps are most urgent to enable widespread adoption and use in construction contracting and administration.

3. Assess the beneficial uses for data analytics for construction contracting and administration and gain knowledge to inform FHWA on its capabilities, limitations, and implications for use in agency business practices and workflows. Research of interest include but not limited to:

Assess and document uses for data analytics for construction contracting and administration based on stakeholder interests and potential future opportunities.

Assess and document their data storage, data analytics, and data integration needs to leverage their data assets to support broader agency business objectives.

Assess availability of off the shelf systems, and document their analytics, robustness, and integration abilities.

Assess their capabilities and limitations.

Assess and document pros and cons.

Assess and document data analytics use for construction contracting and administration initiatives.

Assess and document gaps in available systems based on stakeholder needs.

Assess and document recommended analytics, data visualization, and integration strategies.

Assess and document data standards that exist, are required, or needed.

Assess and document enabling technologies and systems required.

Assess and document complimentary technologies and systems which enhance use, functionality, or accuracy.

4. Provide direct support and subject matter expertise related to efforts on data analytics for construction contracting and administration.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-09

Title: Leveraging Handheld “pocket” lidar for Digital Construction Inspection and As-

Builts

Investigate applicability and limitations of new handheld consumer pocket lidar technologies for field use in construction inspection and developing digital as-builts. FHWA awarded a research contract for Phase 1 to evaluate Apple Inc’s pocket lidar sensor capabilities and accuracy in Sept

2021. Results to date are promising as testing and evaluation of the sensor included in both iPad

Pro and iPhone 13 Pro have indicated capabilities to scan and document point cloud data for highway construction projects.

One dependency of data accuracy collected is which application (app) is utilized for scanning and capturing the point cloud data. Current budget limited the number of apps that can be assessed as part of the Phase 1 efforts; and construction inspection focused apps have just recently emerged that are utilizing the pocket lidar sensor data. Another dependency is tied to the camera sensor quality and associated photogrammetry data generated by the cameras.

The project has significant interest by the community. The efforts were highlighted in FHWA’s

Innovation in Project Delivery May e-News and resulting in several inquiries from readers and

State agencies and how they can get involved with any case study efforts or technology deployment. The AASHTO COC specifically requested a presentation on the technology and research efforts at their 2022 annual meeting in August.

A Phase 2 project will expand on the current project and will provide resources to further leverage the technology and assist construction inspectors via the below listed activities:

Identify and evaluate additional apps and their ability to accurately capture point cloud and photogrammetry data of highway construction project assets.

Evaluate improved camera and pocket lidar sensors in the next version of consumer grade electronics released by Apple Inc.

Investigate the ability to integrate the pocket lidar data with augmented reality, and reality capture via Apple’s AR-KIT to further supplement highway construction inspector duties and assist visualization of project features and design models.

Investigate the ability to leverage Apple’s new RoomPlan to enable Scan-to-BIM of as constructed or installed features.

Identify, exhibit, and document additional use cases with State agency and Federal Lands

Highway Divisions

Topic: HRDI-ADC-10

Title: Digital Delivery Stakeholder Group

Digital technology has brought about the ability to integrate and manage an agency’s enterprise data throughout an asset’s lifecycle, as well as for operations (e.g. structural health and

ITS/connected vehicles). This transformation within the highway community towards leveraging agency-wide data has gained great momentum and there are a number of strategic efforts underway that should be coordinated to ensure they are complementary and not duplicative. For example:

FHWA has been actively advancing awareness and resources to help bring about this digital transformation via its Every Day Counts and other BIM (Building Information

Models, or more aptly, Better Information Management) efforts, including multiple pooled fund projects with 20+ State participants.

The new Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems (ADCMS) program in

BIL will significantly fund promising agency projects that are expected to move the digital transformation needle for the infrastructure industry.

Concurrently, AASHTO has established joint committees and become members of buildingSMART International in order assist the State DOTs in moving towards better data integration.

The FHWA Planning Office is also working on GIS initiatives that support lifecycle asset management, as well as reporting to FHWA (e.g. HPMS, NBIS, MIRE).

The FHWA Operations office is working on a digital infrastructure initiative that is expected to advance the next wave of intelligent transportation systems and connected vehicle operations support.

NCHRP has a number of research projects underway to fill gaps related to U.S. BIM for infrastructure implementation.

Looking beyond infrastructure, the National Institute on Building Sciences (NIBS) has developed a national strategic plan for BIM that encompasses both the vertical and horizonal construction industry.

With all this and other activities ongoing, there is a need to ensure efforts are coordinated and that various parties are aware of what all these groups are doing. This helps to avoid the duplication of effort and allows for individual efforts to be optimally leveraged for the greater good of the highway community. FHWA is in a unique position to provide national leadership and resources to facilitate a more concerted and productive effort to realize the benefits of digital delivery, much as we are seeing national transportation agencies do in other leading countries

(e.g. Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, UK, Korea, China)

The objective of this task is to assist the FHWA in the preparation, execution, and documentation of the Digital Delivery Stakeholder Group (DDSG) meetings. These meetings will be a mix of in person hybrid meetings and virtual via conference call or video conference, or other means. It is expected that the DDSG will have 1 to 2 in person meetings a year and 1 to 3 virtual meetings per year. The Contractor shall be responsible for all tasks associated with the meetings including but not limited to scheduling, arranging for meeting facilities or virtual platform, invitational travel for State DOT, Local Public Agency, and Academic members, taking notes and providing minutes. All activities related to the DDSG meetings shall be coordinated with the task manager.

It is expected that two contract staff employees will participate in the DDSG meetings. The

Contractor shall notify and obtain FHWA approval if additional contract personnel are required to meet the needs of the program.

Results/Action oriented Agenda

A formal agenda shall be established for each meeting with input from the task manager and anyone deemed necessary. The agenda should be designed for getting to results; having the right people attend that can make critical decisions and develop/execute follow-up actions (i.e.

meeting should aim for specific action items and communications that advance the coordination of various digital delivery initiatives). The task manager is required to obtain formal approvals from the FHWA CFO’s office for each in person meeting. These approvals may take up to 90 to

120 days to complete and the Contractor shall plan accordingly. Site visits may be included in the meeting agenda. The Contractor shall help facilitate the meetings. Notes, recordings and minutes of the meeting will be provided by the Contractor.

Retain Meeting Facility

The Contractor shall be responsible for all activities associated with retaining a facility for each

DDSG meeting. Up to two in person meetings per year are anticipated in this task order. Each meeting is estimated to last up to two days.

The meeting location and facility shall meet the following criteria:

Preference for the meeting room shall be in a government owned facility (Federal, State or Local) when available and cost effective.

Hotel rooms shall be available for members and reserved as a block at Government per diem rate (see GSA Schedule at https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates)

The meeting location shall have a meeting room that can comfortably accommodate all meeting participants and allows for virtual participation. For planning purposes, the meeting room must be designed to hold at least 35 persons.

Room arrangements shall include all associated costs, as well as projection screen, digital projector, laptop, appropriate microphone and audio capabilities, flip chart, and connections for Internet and Telephone.

For virtual meetings, the contractor is responsible to identify the meeting platform that supports the meeting needs. The virtual meeting platform shall meet the following criteria:

Video capability for participants and at a minimum for speakers

Breakout capability

Chat capability with participants and meeting hosts

Host as many as 300 participants

Recording ability (including 508 compliance and the ability to post recordings on

FHWA’s website)

Screenshare

Notification and Meeting Arrangements

The Contractor shall work with FHWA but will ultimately be responsible for all tasks associated with notifying DDSG participants of meetings logistics and other pertinent information relevant to the meeting. All meeting information shall be prepared by the Contractor, approved by

FHWA, and distributed in a timely fashion as directed by the task manager. Meeting announcements will need to clear FHWA’s editorial and Public Affairs review and approval processes which take at least 6 weeks. The in person hybrid meetings will also require FHWA conference approval which can take up to 90 days. Material distributed by the Contractor shall include confirmation letters, emails with meeting details, meeting agendas, and other meeting information. Meeting location details and invitational travel notification letters to participants shall be distributed not less than 60 days prior to the meeting date.

Travel Arrangements (In person hybrid meetings only)

The Contractor shall develop appropriate invitational travel reimbursement forms, make travel arrangements, and is responsible for reimbursing appropriate travel-related costs for DDSG members employed by State DOTs, Local Public agencies (i.e., municipalities) and academic institutions. For estimation purposes, assumes that reimbursement will be made for 15 people per meeting using GSA Per Diem rates and contract airfares. The cost per person attending each meeting is estimated to be approximately $1500. In addition to members whose travel is covered by FHWA, it is anticipated that the DDSG will also include members from industry, NIBS, bSI, AGC, ARTBA, TRB and others. Copies of all correspondence with DDSG participants shall be provided to FHWA. Reimbursements for travel will be considered as direct costs.

Facilitate/Conduct Meetings/Teambuilding

The Contractor shall be responsible for all coordination activities associated with the meetings.

The Contractor's personnel shall assist the FHWA to actively facilitate the meetings towards results and follow-up actions. The contractor shall provide activities that serve to build a strong coalition and team among the various stakeholders towards accomplishing the key objectives collaboratively. Activities associated with this task include but are not limited to designing effective polls, facilitation and team-building activities, coordination with local facility personnel, recording information and preparing minutes of meeting discussions. The Contractor shall provide copies of the agenda, all presentation material, and handouts associated with the meetings and distribute them to members and meeting friends, preferable at least 5 business days prior to the meetings. Contractor shall begin each subsequent meeting with a report and check in on the status of outstanding action items.

Site Visits (In person meetings only, Optional)

It is possible that site visits may be conducted as part of the DDSG meetings. Site visits are intended to be informative and provide DDSG members and friends with pertinent information related to ongoing ADCMS projects. The Government may exercise this option to include a site visit for all DDSG participants during any of the in-person meetings. The Contractor is responsible for coordination of site visits with the FHWA and for all necessary transportation and other arrangements. Minutes for these site visits will not be required. Costs for site visits

(e.g., transportation) will be considered as direct costs.

Post Meeting Activities

Meeting minutes documenting the meeting discussion and outcomes shall be submitted to the

FHWA within 10 calendar days after the meeting for review and approval. FHWA will return comments within two weeks of receipt of the minutes. The minutes, in addition to other pertinent information from the meeting, shall be distributed by the Contractor to the DDSG members and friends within 5 calendar days from receipt of the approved minutes from the Task Manager.

Deliverables: Confirmation letters to participants 60 days prior to meeting, travel arrangements completed for DDSG members 10 days prior to meeting, reimbursements to travelers within 30 days after the meeting, 1 Copy of draft minutes to Task Manager 10 days after DDSG meeting, electronic copy of final minutes to all DDSG participants 5 days after receipt of FHWA approval.

Topic: HRDI-ADC-11

Title: Digital Infrastructure Enablers – Data Transformation and Governance Options

Digital technology has brought about the ability to integrate agency enterprise data and has been the focus of FHWA's BIM (Better Information Management) efforts. This effort aims to investigate developments in edge computing and assess the feasibility of applying the real-time data analysis it enables to the broader goal of Digital Infrastructure. It will also work with stakeholders to extend the Data Governance Framework that FHWA has developed for BIM to

Digital Infrastructure. Project results will allow FHWA to address and promote optimal approaches for leveraging and managing data from disparate systems and help our transportation partners better understand edge computing within an objective highway agency context.

This topic is a result of the identification of key enablers at the March 2023 Digital Infrastructure

Strategic Focus workshop. The resulting project will be closely coordinated with Operations and

Safety, as these are the areas with the greatest need for real-time decision making. Discussions were held with HOP and HRSO staff who also participated in the workshop to develop this proposal. It is anticipated that these will be 12-month efforts and outreach will occur during and after the project.

This project has two components:

1. Assess the applicability of edge computing to better enable Digital Infrastructure

Current data analysis approaches are primarily focused on sending data to cloud applications, conducting data analyses there and then transmitting results back for decision making. Edge technology presents an opportunity to establish a common data environment at a midpoint between individual sensors or data collection efforts and the cloud. This could allow for more efficient transfer and integration of data, especially for data where the real-time element is paramount. Edge computing supports real-time processing for near real time decision-making, avoiding the latency in sending large amount of data to cloud for processing. At the same time integration of data from distributed sources is needed on an as needed basis. This effort explores the feasibility of integrating edge computing that process large amount of sensor or real-time data at the source and serve it as data source for as needed data integration. This “near source” data transformation represents a paradigm shift in how data is managed and stored.

2. Applying BIM Data Governance Framework to Digital Infrastructure

Digital Infrastructure, and its related disciplines (digital twins, BIM for Infrastructure, Digital As-Builts, etc.), utilize very large amounts of data that are pulled from many disparate sources and systems. In order to work efficiently, their data flows must be governed by a set of rules, or structure, so that the information is readily useable and in a form that all systems understand. At present, such a structure does not exist; rather, systems within the digital world of infrastructure rely on a range of often incompatible data structures and formats that may not always be efficiently translatable to each other.

Of the many workshops and forums held with digital infrastructure stakeholders, along with FHWA research findings, a nearly universal need and request is the development of a data structure and governance framework that may be adapted by DOTs to form the basis for the particulars of their enterprise, while also adhering to a national, or even international, consistency.

This effort extends and leverages the Data Governance and Structure research work that was recently completed for BIM for Infrastructure, extending its scope to the larger field of Digital

Infrastructure. Since BIM for Infrastructure is essentially a specific discipline under the broader field of Digital Infrastructure, it is anticipated that the governance and structure developed for

BIM will apply well to digital infrastructure. This effort would necessarily be collaborative with national stakeholder outreach, and be discipline-crosscutting by nature, especially with infrastructure, operations, information technology, and others.

Transportation Resilience and Safety

Resilience is becoming an increasing critical consideration for highway and transportation engineers. It is time to incorporate resilience into the transportation design, management, and decision-making processes. A recent report summarizing feedback from state agency design engineers and industry stakeholders on pavement design identified resiliency as a factor to be incorporated into the design process (FHWA Summary Report).

According to FHWA Order 5520, resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions. As noted in that order, climate change and extreme weather events present significant and growing risks to the safety, reliability, effectiveness, and sustainability of the Nation’s transportation infrastructure.

Topic: HRDI-TRS-01

Title: Dissemination of Available Knowledge on Pavement Resilience

Pavement resilience is an urgent issue. Many States are looking for resources to address problems such as flooding or pavement blowups while others have expressed interest in resilience (e.g., Maryland, Delaware, Iowa, Texas, Florida, etc.). This project goal is to disseminate available information on pavement resilience and describe the state of knowledge, practice, and future needs based on (1) key national and international climate documents, (2) a

FHWA approach to resilience based on the Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation

Framework, (3) the results of a FHWA pavement resilience guidebook, (4) the findings from two

FHWA-sponsored Peer Exchanges on pavement resilience held in late 2020, and (5) FHWA

TEACR projects and other case studies.

Outcomes will be to provide a better understanding of the current definitions of resilience and vulnerabilities as it relates to pavements, identify strategies to incorporate resilience into pavement design, management, maintenance, and asset management, and highlight current state of practice, knowledge gaps and research needs.

The goal/purpose of this activity is to identify innovative approaches to incorporate resilience into pavement design procedures, management, and asset management for our stakeholders. The deliverables for this activity are webinars and workshops highlighting a comprehensive assessment of relevant climate stressors, hazards, and impacts for pavement assets, as well as recommendations for adaptation and engineering design at the project-level.

Topic: HRDI-TRS-02

Title: Impact of Environmental Factors on Pavement Infrastructure

This study offers the use of historical LTPP data (SPS-8 sections) and National Park Services’

PMS database (i.e., EFL manages the PMS for NPS) to develop a series of deterioration models for different family groups of pavements to select the appropriate time-based preservation/rehabilitation strategies for pavement sections in the absence of heavy loads. These sections will be evaluated to assess the impact of climate change and matched with test sections from other LTPP experiments that have normal truck traffic to compare and show the proportion of total damage caused by environmental effects.

The materials used for construction, however, are often selected on the assumption of a stationary climate. Anthropogenic climate change may therefore result in rapid infrastructure failure and, consequently, increased maintenance costs, particularly for paved roads where temperature and precipitation are key determinants for material selection. Failing to update engineering standards of practice in light of climate change therefore significantly threatens pavement infrastructure in the United States. For the purpose of this study, different pavement family groups will be identified in different climate zones, and comprehensive evaluation of existing pavements will be conducted through analysis of different datasets.

Performance measures will be used to create the deterioration curves for each group of pavement family to fully characterize the condition of existing pavements, and damage factor determined from FWD data will be suggested as trigger factor to select rehabilitation candidates. Different levels of rehabilitation/preservation activities will be considered as potential alternatives for rehabilitation candidates. The deterioration curves will be employed to assess the impact of climate and obtain an estimate of environmental-induced damage as well as the performance of rehabilitation treatment and so extension in service lives of pavements. Also, an assessment output matrix will be developed, which can be served as a supplemental tool to help the decision-makers in the highway agencies with the climate related decision-making process.

This project will provide states with information related to the impact of climate change on pavement performance to improve planning for future renewal solutions.

Topic: HRDI-TRS-03

Title: Long Term Friction Performance for Concrete Pavements

Portland cement concrete production is around 200 million tons per annum into road pavements.

The microtexture and macrotexture of concrete pavement surfaces are largely controlled by the type of texturing used. There needs to be research done on how grinding procedures, aggregate quality, truck traffic impacts, concrete strength, and some other factors affect long-term friction performance. The impacts of Portland Cement Concrete mixture design materials and specifications, grooving and grinding processes, and truck traffic on friction values needs to be evaluated and documented.

This research will document the effects of Portland Cement Concrete mixture design materials and parameters, grooving and grinding methods, and truck traffic on friction values. Data from the LTPP Program database as well as DOT’s pavement friction management database could be used to establish the long-term friction performance for concrete pavements. This project is focused on both existing concrete pavements and new construction. This study aims to establish the friction performance of various materials and mix designs using different surface texturing techniques under various conditions (traffic load, climate, etc.).

This project will enhance the understanding of major factors impacting friction values and develop a friction toolbox to progress toward long-term friction performance for concrete pavements. Also, the objective is to establish a selection protocol for concrete pavement materials and texturing methods to provide suitable and sustainable friction performance.

Topic: HRDI-TRS-04

Title: Risk Assessment for Bridge Preservation/Management Decision Making and

Resilience Enhancement

Risk based bridge preservation/management decision making is needed for both action prioritization practice and after event repair/rebuild. Data requirements, methodologies, models, and tools are needed for bridge risk assessment and management. Research is needed to evaluate the risk caused by bridge deterioration, climate change, extreme events, etc. Certain level of validation, which may include inventory data analysis, lab testing, and field testing, is important for result acceptance.

Once a risk assessment/management tool is developed, it can be used to optimize decision making and recognize cost-effective actions to avoid damage or repair damage quickly.

Enhanced Pavement Management

Pavement management is a strategic approach to the optimal allocation of resources for the maintenance, preservation and upgrading of the pavement network. Pavement monitoring and data collection are an essential component of pavement management. Traditionally pavement management combined engineering and economic principles with sound business practices to support decision making at the strategic, network, and project levels. Consequently, current pavement monitoring and data collection and performance models developed were primarily focused on those two considerations – engineering and economic. In addition, the pavement management prioritizes treatment selection process based on engineering and economic considerations. However, with the increased awareness of the effect of climate change and the impact of the choices we make today on the society at present and future, a more encompassing consideration is the concept of sustainability that brings in the need to consider environmental and social consequences, in addition to engineering and economics, of our decisions. Pavement management data can also provide valuable information for improving pavement design, material selection, and optimization techniques for achieving construction quality, all of which contribute to improved sustainability. Data collection is a continuous process, starting with documentation of pavement construction and continuing throughout the pavement life.

Information that should be collected and stored over the pavement lifecycle needs to be reimagined to support the engineering, economic, environmental, and social aspects and will include data that are currently collected and new data items. In addition, network level pavement monitoring produces large amount of raw data, and this raw data is often converted to specific index or metric that are relevant to current decision making for ease of analysis and storage and performance models developed for those indices to support forward looking analyses. Additional such indices and performance models may be needed to support the incorporation of environmental and social considerations.

Topic: HRDI-EPM-01

Title: Enhanced Pavement Data Collection and Performance Modeling to Incorporate

Effect of Pavement-Vehicle Interaction as Part of Use Phase Life-Cycle Assessment

Pavement vehicle interaction (PVI) describes the effect of pavement condition on vehicle fuel consumption (VFC) and vehicle operating cost (VOC). PVI focuses on how pavement condition, both functional and structural, impacts VOC and VFC, induced by rolling resistance from pavement surface texture, roughness, and pavement structural responsiveness or deflection and deformation. It is part of the use-phase of pavement lifecycle and an important component of the overall pavement Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA).