Alabama Department Of Transportation

Alabama Department Of Transportation, Office Engineer Division, a child division of the Alabama Department of Transportation (itself a child of the Alabama Department of Public Health), operates as a state government entity and recipient of federal highway and transportation infrastructure grants from the Federal Highway Administration. The Office Engineer Division does not compete for federal contracts; it receives formula grants and project grants directly from FHWA under federal grant programs, functioning as Alabama's primary recipient for federal highway infrastructure funding.

The Office Engineer Division's federal portfolio is dominated by FHWA formula and project grants supporting pavement resurfacing, bridge replacement, safety improvements, pedestrian infrastructure, traffic signal upgrades, and research initiatives across Alabama's state and local road networks. Representative work includes a $800 thousand Rural Surface Transportation Grant (CFDA 20.938) awarded August 31, 2026, to replace a bridge over Eight Mile Creek and add lanes on SR-69 (US-278) in rural Alabama, performance extending through September 30, 2031; a $500 thousand Carbon Reduction Program Cooperative Agreement (CFDA 20.265) awarded August 25, 2026, to design and install traffic signal upgrades on ten named roads throughout Jefferson County; a $3.125 million Highway Planning and Construction grant (CFDA 20.205) awarded August 21, 2026, for feasibility studies for an I-22 connector highway project linking Muscle Shoals and Florence to I-22; and a $18.717 million Surface Transportation Block Grant Program formula grant (CFDA 20.287) awarded March 16, 2026, for rest area site construction on northbound Interstate 65 near Greenville. The division also manages research grants under the State, Planning and Research Program (CFDA 20.258), including cooperative agreements with Auburn University and the University of South Alabama for concrete testing methodology, asphalt technology, traffic safety analysis, and pollinator habitat assessment.

The Federal Highway Administration is the sole meaningful funding source, accounting for 99% of the Office Engineer Division's 25,239 recent awards across all sources. Within FHWA's portfolio, the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration supplies 24,994 awards (98.9% of the count), followed by FHWA's Federal Transit Administration (136 awards) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (49 awards). Combined obligated dollars across all awards reach $27.16 billion, reflecting Alabama's substantial FHWA formula grant allocation across multiple programs: Highway Planning and Construction (CFDA 20.205), Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (CFDA 20.287), Highway Safety Improvement Program (CFDA 20.272), State Planning and Research (CFDA 20.258), Carbon Reduction Program (CFDA 20.265), Railway-Highway Crossings Program (CFDA 20.285), Federal Lands Access Program (CFDA 20.224), and Rural Surface Transportation (CFDA 20.938). Activity has declined modestly year over year—from 1,050 awards in 2022 to 238 in 2026 (year-to-date)—consistent with FHWA's shift toward larger, multi-year project awards rather than high-volume small task orders.

The Office Engineer Division holds no federal contract vehicles and executes all work directly through in-house capabilities rather than through subcontracting or prime-contractor relationships. All awards are full-and-open, non-set-aside formula and project grants typical of state transportation agencies, with no 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, or other SBA set-aside participation. The division's geographic scope spans Alabama statewide; place of performance for all work is Alabama. With 530 awards carrying ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, the division faces substantial recompete activity as current grants move through closeout and new FHWA allocations arrive.