Welcome

to theTurner-Fairbank

Center Highway Research

Welcome to the Turner-Fairbank 

Highway Research Center 

(TFHRC) in McLean, Virginia, the 

Nation’s premier highway research 

and development facility. As the 

research center for the Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA), 

TFHRC coordinates and conducts 

an ambitious program of innovative 

highway research and development 

to address critical needs of the 

national highway system. FHWA’s 

leadership role in research and 

technology begins with the agency’s 

mission to “improve mobility on our 

Nation’s highways through national 

leadership, innovation, and program 

delivery” and grows from the role 

that FHWA has defined for itself to 

be “innovators for a better future.”

As a national leader in 

transportation research, FHWA 

works with the U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT), partners in 

State and local governments, 

industry, and professional 

organizations to develop and deliver 

a comprehensive nationally 

coordinated research and 

technology program. FHWA also 

collaborates with other institutions, 

such as the National Academy of 

Science, University Transportation 

Centers, national laboratories, and 

international highway research 

laboratories and communities to 

support this national transportation research program.

FHWA’s engineers, scientists, and 

psychologists conduct advanced and 

applied research to create 

innovative solutions that improve 

our national quality of life. By 

developing advanced technology 

and techniques and implementing 

systems and simulation tools, the 

focus is on preventing congestion, 

improving mobility, improving 

roadway safety, reducing highway 

crashes and related fatalities, 

and improving infrastructure 

performance.

Through its three research and 

development (R&D) offices—

Infrastructure, Safety, and 

Operations—along with the 

Exploratory Advanced Research 

Program, FHWA is meeting the 

transportation challenges of today 

and those over the horizon.
The beginning of World War II 

interrupted building construction 

at the research facility.

Congress responded to 

a growing public need 

for dedicated highway 

research by acquiring 235.3 hectares 

(581 acres) of land in McLean, VA, 

for a roadway research facility.

Infrastructure Infrastructure

 

1941

 

1941

1938

The H i s t ory of T FHR C

The Office of Infrastructure R&D 

conducts and administers infrastructure R&D programs and 

projects for the FHWA that address 

problems of national priority within 

the U.S. highway system. The 

programs’ approach to highway 

infrastructure R&D emphasizes 

interdisciplinary collaboration and 

strong stakeholder 

involvement. As a 

result, these 

programs recognize that pavements and bridges 

are integral and 

interrelated 

components of a 

highway system and do not 

function as distinct elements. 

Although the fundamental structure and components of pavements 

and bridges are quite distinct, 

some research and development 

needs are common to both. Only 

by using all facilities and assets 

available within the Office of 

Infrastructure R&D and working 

collaboratively with counterparts 

in other FHWA offices and with 

stakeholders throughout the 

highway community will U.S. 

highway needs and issues in the 

near and long term be addressed.

The Office of Infrastructure R&D 

focuses on the needed research and 

development where there is an 

appropriate Federal role 

by virtue of national 

needs, scope, duration, or risk. This 

role is reflected in 

the following six 

overarching strategies: (1) Long-Term 

Infrastructure 

Performance, (2) Durable 

Infrastructure Systems, 

(3) Accelerated Highway 

Construction, (4) Environmentally 

Sensitive Highway Infrastructure, 

(5) Performance-Based 

Specifications, and (6) Comprehensive and Integrated 

Infrastructure Asset Management.
In 1963, the site was renamed the Fairbank Highway Research Station, 

honoring Herbert S. Fairbank, the former Deputy Commissioner of Research 

for the Bureau of Public Roads (1944 to 1955). Land from the original site 

was transferred to the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Park 

Service, and the State of Virginia. Extensive modifications 

over the years improved the facilities but could not meet 

the growing needs of the national highway research and 

development program. Plans for expansion began in 1967.

Safety

1960s

1960s

After the war, funding was limited, and it 

was not until 1950 that the two original 

buildings, built on 17.8 hectares (44 acres) 

of the original purchase, were ready for occupancy. 

The Bureau of Public Roads moved to the McLean 

site, which was named the Langley Research Station.

1950 

The Office of Safety R&D aims to 

reduce highway crashes and 

related fatalities and injuries by 

researching, developing, and 

implementing safety innovations. 

The focus is on FHWA’s priority 

objectives of strategically 

managing safety, preventing and 

mitigating roadway departures, 

improving intersections, protecting 

pedestrians, and managing speeds. 

Safety R&D provides transportation practitioners with 

improved safety assessment and 

decision-support tools, new 

technologies and designs, and 

enhanced understanding of the 

human-behavioral and safety 

impacts of highway improvements. 

Examples of safetyassessment and 

decision-support 

tools include 

SafetyAnalyst, the 

Surrogate Safety 

Assessment Model, 

Interchange Safety 

Analysis Tool, 

Pedestrian-Bicycle Crash Analysis 

Tool, and the Interactive Highway 

Safety Design Model. Technologies 

that support highway 

safety management 

and design include 

the Digital 

Highway 

Measurement 

System, 

advanced crash 

analysis and 

simulation, and 

highway driving simulation. 

Safety features studied include 

roadside hardware and slopes, 

innovative intersection designs, 

lighting designs for midblock 

pedestrian crosswalks, speed 

reduction treatments approaching 

high-speed rural intersections, and 

the Safety Edge. 

Advanced research is focused on 

human factors and visibility, 

advanced sensing and communication between the vehicle and the 

road, and the feasibility of an integrated active transportation system.
In 1980, construction began on a third building. 

Completed in 1983, this building was dedicated to 

Francis C. Turner, the first Administrator of the Federal 

Highway Administration to serve his entire career with the agency, and 

the research station was renamed the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research 

Center. The Turner Building provides 7,432 square meters (80,000 square 

feet) of state-of-the-art laboratory, office, and support service space.

Operations Operations

1980s

TFHRC now has more than 24 indoor and outdoor 

laboratories and support facilities. Approximately 

300 Federal employees, onsite contract employees, 

and students are currently engaged in or supporting 

transportation research at TFHRC.

 A New Millennium

1980s

The Office of Operations R&D 

conducts research on the 

application of Intelligent 

Transportation Systems (ITS) 

and other cutting-edge technologies to move people and goods 

more efficiently, quickly, and 

safely. Research focuses on two 

key areas: enabling technologies 

and travel management.

Enabling technologies are 

fundamental technologies that 

facilitate the operation of other 

applications. For example, 

advanced sensors measure 

traffic flow so that adaptive 

control systems can adjust to 

changing traffic patterns. 

Global positioning systems 

provide accurate location 

information that is 

necessary for automatic collision 

notification 

systems. 

Our researchers are conceiving 

new systems that will incorporate sensors and positioning 

systems to support vehicleinfrastructure integration and 

advanced safety and mobility 

enhancing services. 

Travel management research 

uses advanced technologies and 

techniques to estimate and 

predict the flow of traffic and to 

adjust signal timing to prevent 

congestion. FHWA and its 

partners in the Exploratory 

Advanced Research Program 

are exploring current research 

on how vehicle-infrastructure 

integration technologies can 

significantly improve 

traffic signal 

control 

systems. 
6300 Georgetown Pike • McLean, VA 22101

www.tfhrc.gov

This RD&T marketing brochure communicates the benefits and developments of our research and services.

FHWA-HRT-08-066

HRTM-03/2-09(2M)E

Come See Us Come See Us

Each year, hundreds of people in scheduled groups visit the center and 

participate in tours of our laboratories. If you would like to know more 

about TFHRC’s research and other activities, visit our Web site at 

www.tfhrc.gov. Whether you visit us in person or via the Internet, you 

will see FHWA’s commitment to an exciting, vital research and service 

program that is essential, indispensable, and connected to America’s 

growing transportation needs.