The Exploratory Advanced Research Program 

Mechanisms of 

Hydration and Setting 

of Ordinary Portland 

Cement in Simple and 

Complex Systems 

RESEARCH SUMMARY REPORT 
EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM 

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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM 

Technical Report

Documentation Page 

1. Report No.

FHWA-HRT-17-102 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

Mechanisms of Hydration and Setting of Ordinary Portland Cement in Simple and 

Complex Systems 

5. Report Date

April 2019

7. Author(s)

Rolf Arvidson, Jeffrey Bullard, Josephine Cheung, Brad Chmelka, Tyler Ley, Larry

Roberts, George Scherer, Denise Silva, Patrick Zickler

6. Performing Organization Code

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Princeton University

4 New South

Princeton, NJ 08544-0036;

National Institute of Standards and Technology

100 Bureau Drive

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

TMNcorp

131 Rollins Ave., Unit 4A

Rockville, MD 20852

8. Performing Organization Report No.

10. Work Unit No.

11. Contract or Grant No.

DTFH61-12-H-00003, DTFH61-13-X-30003, 

DTFH61-15-A-00003

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

Office of Corporate Research, Technology, and Innovation Management

Federal Highway Administration

6300 Georgetown Pike

McLean, VA 22101-2296

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

Research Summary Report

July 2012 – June 2017

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. Supplementary Notes:

Contracting Officer’s Representative: Richard Meininger, HRDI-10

Technical Contact: David Kuehn, HRTM-30

16. Abstract

This research summary report provides a description of research carried out to improve the understanding of the mechanisms of

hydration of portland cement in complex and simple mixtures; develop analytical methods to directly observe hydration processes 

in real time; and develop and validate improved computer models to design optimal concrete composition, curing methods, 

performance, and durability.

The project resulted in innovative analytical techniques that made it possible to perform direct micro- and nanoscale observation 

of reactions. This new perspective allowed researchers to develop a new and clearer hypothesis to understand the mechanisms of

cement hydration. Computer models based on the new hypothesis will provide engineers and practitioners with tools to produce 

more efficient, durable, and cost-effective concrete products and structures.

17. Key Words

Concrete, portland cement, hydration, ordinary portland 

cement, cement hydration kinetics and modeling, advanced 

research, hydration mechanisms, setting of ordinary portland 

cement, hydration process, concrete performance, hydration 

breakthroughs, concrete composition.

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions. This document is available through the National 

Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

http://www.ntis.gov

19. Security Classif. (of this 

report) Unclassified

20. Security Classif. (of this page)

Unclassified

21. No. of Pages

20

22. Price

N/A

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized.
ii

EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM 

SI* (Modern Metric)

Conversion Factors 
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM 

Table of Contents 

Introduction 1

Case Study: Using Advanced Analytical Techniques

to Study Cement Hydration 3 

Case Study: A Clearer, More Comprehensive Understanding

of Hydration Mechanisms 5 

Case Study: New Models to Predict Concrete Performance 7 

Conclusion 9

References 11

Bibliography 12

List of Figures

Figure 1. Illustration: Experimentally acquired tomographs. 3

Figure 2. Illustration/Photo: The nano-computed x-ray tomography experimental setup. 4

Figure 3. Photo: A researcher determines the mass of a specimen on a laboratory balance. 5

Figure 4. Photo: Workers place concrete with a slip form concrete paver. 6

Figure 5. Illustration: Results of a HydratiCA run using the best available material and reaction data. 7

Figure 6. Photo: Laboratory research methods include dynamic modulus of concrete with the measurement of fundamental 

resonant frequency. 8
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Introduction 

Concrete is the world’s most commonly used manmade construction material and second only to water as the most consumed substance on Earth.1 

Concrete can be produced in a wide variety of shapes and 

textures and is extremely durable, with a service life of 50 

years or more in many common applications. Importantly, 

concrete can be made on demand and on site using 

portland cement, water, and aggregate materials, such as 

sand, gravel, crushed stone, and recycled crushed blast 

furnace slag. When mixed with water, portland cement 

forms a slurry that stays in a fluid state for several hours. 

During this induction phase of hydration, concrete can 

be transported and poured, even though the mixture is 

undergoing chemical and structural changes. Following 

the induction phase, the concrete mixture stiffens and 

generates heat during an acceleration phase marked by

nucleation and growth of calcium hydroxide (CH) and 

calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H; the dashes indicate 

that the compounds do not have a fixed ratio of silicon 

to calcium). Following this phase, heat generation drops 

off, but concrete continues to cure and harden. Mixtures 

containing high percentages of portland cement reach 

maximum strength within a few months. More complex 

mixtures with pozzolans or slag cement may continue to 

strengthen slowly for several years. 

Although the basic concrete recipe—a combination of

water, cement, and aggregate—has been in use since the 

early 19th century, scientists and engineers do not fully

understand the chemical reactions that drive hydration 

and are responsible for the hardening, strength, and 

durability of concrete. Because of the uncertainties 

associated with hydration, it has not been possible to 

develop computer models that accurately predict the 

properties of the final product or explain the specific 

contribution of the binding agents, alternative aggregate 

components, or other additives. As a result, concrete is 

typically overdesigned by at least 10 percent to ensure 

that the final product meets its design performance. A

better understanding of hydration would allow engineers 

to lower the strength overdesign “cushion” by reducing 

the portland cement content and thereby decreasing 

material costs by as much as 10 percent, without 

sacrificing performance, and potentially reducing volume 

change and cracking related to high cement content. 

Better computer models of hydration would also lessen 

concrete’s environmental impact. Reduction in portland 

cement content will decrease the carbon dioxide (CO2) 

footprint of concrete, since portland cement production 

releases a high amount of CO2. Compared with other

construction materials, concrete has a very low embodied 

CO2 content—a measure of greenhouse gas associated 

with production. However, because so much concrete is 

used each year, it is responsible for about 8 percent of

industrial CO2 production in the United States.1 

The goal of the Federal Highway Administration’s 

(FHWA) project, “Mechanisms of Hydration and Setting 

of Ordinary Portland Cement in Simple and Complex 

Systems,” was to develop more efficient and effective 

ways to use concrete. Project scientists developed 

innovative analytical technologies to observe the 

mechanisms of hydration in three dimensions at 

the nano-, micro-, and macroscopic scales. These 

unprecedented observations have provided a depth 

of understanding of hydration mechanisms that was 

never before possible. Researchers used this improved 

understanding of hydration mechanisms to develop and 

validate computer models that will improve concrete 

composition and performance. The project was funded 

through FHWA’s Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) 

Program. Princeton University conducted the research 

in collaboration with research partners at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Oklahoma 

State University (OSU); Rice University; University of

California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); and GCP Applied 

Technologies, formerly W.R. Grace and Company.
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

In 2009, the concrete research 

community held an international 

conference—the Summit on 

Cement Hydration Kinetics and 

Modeling—in Quebec, Canada, to 

discuss research needs related to 

cement hydration. U.S. sponsors 

of the summit included FHWA, 

NIST, and the National Science 

Foundation. Following the 

summit, NIST and FHWA issued 

a joint publication outlining their

vision for needed research, NIST 

Special Publication 1138: Paving 

the Way for a More Sustainable 

Concrete Infrastructure: AVision 

for Developing a Comprehensive 

Description of Cement Hydration 

Kinetics.

2 The EAR Program 

project, “Mechanisms of

Hydration and Setting of Ordinary

Portland Cement in Simple and 

Complex Systems,” advances the 

joint research vision identified 

at the summit and expressed in 

the joint publication: “... focused 

experimental and computational 

modeling research that will 

provide the knowledge and 

translate it to industry tools 

for improved cements, mixture 

design, and service life prediction 

of concrete in service.”
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Figure 1. Illustration: Experimentally acquired tomographs. ((a) Initial particle confguration on a tungsten needle. (b) After 7 

hours of reaction in an aqueous solution with initial CH concentration of 15 mmol L−1. C3S particles are dark gray, the tungsten 

needle is light gray, and the hydration products are shown as transparent.) ©The American Ceramic Society.3 

Case Study: Using Advanced

Analytical Techniques to

Study Cement Hydration 

Researchers at OSU focused on the use of 

advanced tomography and fluorescence imaging 

to experimentally visualize cement hydration 

at the micro- and nanoscales. The OSU team used a 

combination of nano-computed tomography (nCT) to 

capture the three-dimensional (3D) structure and nano 

x-ray fluorescence to reveal the 3D chemistry of cement 

before, during, and after hydration. This technique 

allowed the researchers to see changes in density and 

chemistry caused by hydration. Similar to x-ray computed 

tomography commonly used in medical sciences for

nondestructive imaging of internal biological structures, 

nCT combines a series of images acquired at small angles 

of rotation around the target to produce a 3D model or

tomograph. The relatively low-energy-level x-rays used 

in nCT make it possible to construct 3D tomographs 

of cementitious and geologic materials. Interpretation 

of the images, and alignment of the images with the 

compositional data, required researchers to create the 

sophisticated software needed for analysis of huge 

quantities of data. 

Using nCT, the OSU researchers directly observed the 

changing microstructure of tricalcium silicate (C3S), a 

portland cement component that is primarily responsible 

for rapid hardening and plays an important role in the 

initial set and early strength of concrete. The research 

team used 3D microstructure imaging to make point-bypoint comparisons of observed particle reactions and 

computer simulations of particle reactions in an aqueous 
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Case Study: Using Advanced Analytical Techniques to 

Study Cement Hydration (Cont.) 

solution of CH at a resolution of 50 nm and sometimes as 

low as 15 nm depending on the experiment. The outputs 

of these analytical techniques developed at OSU have 

been used as a direct input in hydration models.

At UCSB, researchers focused on the development, 

demonstration, and use of new methods of nuclear

magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterize 

at a molecular level the compositions, structures, 

and properties of cementitious materials. This 

characterization relied on combinations of powerful 

solid-state NMR capabilities, such as dynamic-nuclearpolarization (DNP) enhancement techniques, to identify

and quantify surface species in hydrating cementitious 

materials with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. 

The work has led to new, significant, and molecularlevel insights into the detailed compositions, structures, 

and site-specific interactions of cementitious materials 

during hydration. Solid-state silicon-29 (29Si), hydrogen-1 

(

1H), calcium-43 (43Ca), and magnesium-25 (25Mg) 

NMR measurements were conducted on triclinic C3S, 

 

monoclinic C3S, tricalcium aluminate (C3A), and white 

portland cements to identify and quantify the molecular

species present, their transient formation or depletion 

under hydrating conditions, and estimated mean 

thicknesses of early hydration layers.

The DNP-NMR analyses examined the adsorption of

retarder species like saccharides or phosphonates. 

The results enabled the molecular origins of retarder

properties and the performances to be determined. 

This determination included the specific atomic-level 

interactions that account for competitive adsorption of

dilute retarder quantities versus water at silicate surfaces, 

which dramatically slow the hydration of low-surfacearea silicate particles. The UCSB researchers made key

advances, including the use of 2D and DNP-enhanced 

NMR measurements, to yield a new understanding of

the compositions and structures of hydrating 

cementitious materials for industrially relevant materials 

and formulations.

Figure 2. Illustration/Photo: The nano-computed x-ray tomography experimental setup. ((a) This is a diagram of the setup. 

(b) This setup has a cement C3S particle on a tungsten needle in a solution that allows the particle to hydrate during the 

experiment.) ©The American Ceramic Society.3 
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Figure 3. Photo: A researcher determines the mass of a specimen on a laboratory balance. Source: FHWA. 

Case Study: A Clearer, 

More Comprehensive 

Understanding of

Hydration Mechanisms 

The important analytical and imaging advances 

described above revealed features of the hydration 

process that had never before been directly

observed. The rapid reaction with water creates pits in 

the surface of C3S particles that quickly fill with hydration 

products having a high Ca/silicate ratio. One remarkable 

observation was that voids form in the paste after about 

1 hour of hydration. At the start of the acceleration 

period, when the solute concentration drops because 

of rapid precipitation of C-S-H, the quantity of voids 

decreases and their size distribution changes. These voids 

influence the strength of the hardened paste. 

The researchers have developed a new hypothesis to 

explain the induction and acceleration periods. This 

hypothesis is supported by numerous observations made 

at the nano- and microscale levels for this project:

1. Nanoscale measurements show that there are certain 

regions within C3S particles, probably associated with 

crystalline defects, that dissolve more rapidly than 

others. 
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Case Study: A Clearer, More Comprehensive 

Understanding of Hydration Mechanisms (Cont.) 

2. These regions form etch pits that are quickly

filled with C-S-H, perhaps because of the high ion 

concentration in the pit. 

3. As these fast-reacting regions continue to dissolve, 

the ions must diffuse through the newly formed 

C-S-H, so the ion concentration within the pores of

the C-S-H will increase at a much higher rate than in 

the rest of the liquid in the cement mixture. 

4. Soon, other solid products, such as portlandite, CH, 

begin forming within the pits. 

5. The solids forming within the pores of the C-S-H 

reduce ion transport, slowing the reaction and causing 

the induction period. Ion concentrations continue to 

build in the bulk solution until they start forming solid 

hydration products such as CH. 

6. Once these solid products begin to form, the 

concentration of ions in the solution drops and the 

nano-CH and sulfate from gypsum or hemihydrate 

(CaSO H O or CaSO H O) dissolve. 4.2 2 4/1.2 2

7. This opens the pores of the C-S-H and allows rapid 

reaction of the fast-reacting regions, resulting in the 

start of the acceleration period.

Figure 4. Photo: Workers place concrete with a slip form concrete paver. Source: FHWA. 
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Figure 5. Illustration: Results of a HydratiCA run using the best available material and reaction data. ((a) The initial sample before 

hydration, a coarse-grained replication, voxel-by-voxel, of the system observed by the OSU group. (b) Changes in the C3S particles 

after 7 hours of simulated hydration, with the hydration product indicated as a transparent shell form in comparison to fgure 1. 

(c) The simulated distribution of Ca(OH)2 [green] and C-S-H [transparent].) ©The American Ceramic Society.3 

Case Study: New Models 

to Predict Concrete 

Performance 

Researchers with the NIST model development 

group used observational findings to advance the 

state of cement hydration models and develop 

a validated, user-friendly engineering tool that could 

reliably predict the performance of concrete in the 

field and provide insights into how to manipulate that 

performance. The primary focus of the NIST research 

activities was to improve the simulation performance 

of HydratiCA, a kinetic cellular automaton model based 

on fundamental chemical reaction kinetic principles. 

HydratiCA is verified for some simple cementitious 

reactions but has historically lacked experimental 

measurement data needed for simulations of more 

complex hydration behavior. Potentially the most 

powerful model for predicting reaction rates and 

microstructure development, HydratiCA is also the 

most complex and computationally intensive. The NIST

researchers have managed important breakthroughs 

that make HydratiCA more robust and far more efficient. 

In addition to integrating the experimental findings 

generated by the UCSB and OSU research teams, the 

NIST team has parallelized the HydratiCA model to 

run on multiple central processing units at once and 

optimize communications among processors, resulting 

in an efficiency boost of 40 to 200 times. This allows 

HydratiCA to model cement hydration in real time: 

simulating 24 hours of hydration now takes 24 hours of

run time, rather than several weeks or months.
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

 

Case Study: New Models to Predict Concrete Performance 

(Cont.) 

In addition to enhancements to HydratiCA, the NIST

team incorporated experimental results into the 

VCCTL (virtual cement and concrete testing laboratory) 

website and THAMES (thermodynamic hydration 

and microstructure evolution simulator). VCCTL has 

a user-friendly interface, which is connected to a 

materials database that allows a user to model a 3D 

microstructure of a cement mix and the hydration of that 

mix. THAMES builds on the capabilities of VCCTL by

allowing small amounts of other materials to be added to 

the microstructure and determining the impact of these 

changes on hydration. Unlike VCCTL, THAMES is built 

with underlying thermodynamics data, which allows for

greater accuracy in modeling hydration. 

Researchers at Princeton University developed a computer

program called SimBNG that models boundary nucleation 

and growth (BNG) of C-S-H, the cement hydration product 

that is primarily responsible for strength in cured concrete. 

A key goal for SimBNG development in this project was 

to apply as many external constraints on the model as 

possible, while maintaining quick run times and accurate 

results. The group at Princeton developed a method 

for supercritical drying of cement paste that preserves 

the delicate microstructure of the material without the 

artifacts that usually result from the capillary pressure 

exerted during conventional drying.

Figure 6. Photo: Laboratory research methods include dynamic modulus of concrete with the measurement of fundamental resonant 

frequency. Source: FHWA. 
9 

EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Conclusion 

The EAR Program’s “Mechanisms of Hydration and 

Setting of Ordinary Portland Cement in Simple 

and Complex Systems” project has generated 

an extraordinary new understanding of the critical 

processes involved in cement hydration. The range of

accomplishments includes sensitive and innovative 

analytical methods and a deepened understanding of

fundamental chemical processes governing hydration; 

with this understanding, practitioners can plan concrete 

projects that use resources more efficiently and produce 

structures that are stronger and more durable.
EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

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References 

1 Choate, W.T. (2003). Energy and Emission Reduction 

Opportunities for the Cement Industry, Department of Energy, 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Columbia, 

MD. Available online: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/

manufacturing/industries_technologies/imf/pdfs/eeroci_

dec03a.pdf, last accessed April 28, 2019.

2 Bullard J.W., Biernacki J.J., Constantiner C., Meininger R., 

Juenger M., Cheung J.H., Hansen W., Hooten R.D., Luttge 

A., and Thomas J.J. (2013). “Paving the Way for a More 

Sustainable Concrete Infrastructure: A Vision for Developing 

a Comprehensive Description of Cement Hydration Kinetics.”

Special Publication Report - 1138, National Institute of

Standards and Technology Publications. Available online: 

https://www.nist.gov/publications/paving-way-moresustainable-concrete-infrastructure-vision-developingcomprehensive, last accessed May 10, 2019.

3 Bullard J.W., Hagedorn J., Ley M.T., Hu Q., Griffin W., and 

Terrill J.E. (2018). “A critical comparison of 3D experiments 

and simulations of tricalcium silicate hydration.” Journal of the 

American Ceramic Society, 101, pp. 1453-1470.
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

Bibliography 

Bellmann, R., and Scherer, G.W. (2018). “Analysis of C-S-H 

Growth Rates in Supersaturated Conditions.” Cement and 

Concrete Research, 103 (January), pp.236–244. Available online: 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2017.05.007, last 

accessed April 28, 2019.

Briese, L., Arvidson, R.S., and Luttge, A. (2017). “The Effect of

Crystal Size Variation on the Rate of Dissolution—A Kinetic 

Monte Carlo Study.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 

212 (September), pp.167–175. Available online: https://doi. 

org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.06.010, last accessed April 28, 2019.

Bullard J.W., Griffin W., Hagedorn J., Hu Q., Ley M.T., and 

Terrill J.E. (2018). “A critical comparison of 3D experiments 

and simulations of tricalcium silicate hydration.” Journal of the 

American Ceramic Society, 101, pp. 1453–1470. Available online: 

https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.15323, last accessed April 28, 2019.

Bullard, J.W., and Scherer, G.W. (2016). “Solid Solution Model 

for C-S-H.” Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 99 (12), 

pp.4137–4145. 

Bullard, J.W., Scherer, G.W., and Thomas, J.J. (2015). “Time 

Dependent Driving Forces and the Kinetics of Tricalcium Silicate 

Hydration.” Cement and Concrete Research, 74, pp.26–34. 

Feng, P., Brand, A.S., Chen, L., and Bullard, J.W. (2017). “In Situ 

Nanoscale Observations of Gypsum Dissolution by Digital 

Holographic Microscopy.” Chemical Geology, 460 (June), pp.25–

36. Available online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/

article/pii/S000925411730195X, last accessed April 28, 2019. 

Feng, P., Garboczi, E.J., Miao, C., and Bullard, J.W. (2015). 

“Microstructural Origins of Cement Paste Degradation by

External Sulfate Attack.” Construction and Building Materials, 96, 

pp.391–403. 

Fonseca, P.C., and Scherer, G.W. (2015). “An Image Analysis 

Procedure to Quantify the Air Void System of Mortar and 

Concrete.” Materials and Structures, 48 (10), pp.3087–3098. 

Hu, Q., Aboustait, M., Kim, T., Ley, M.T., Bullard, J.W., Scherer, 

G.W., Hanan, J.C., Rose, V., Winarski, R., and Gelb, J. (2016). 

“Direct Measurements of 3D Structure, Chemistry and Mass 

Density During the Induction Period of C3S Hydration.” Cement 

and Concrete Research, 89 (November), pp.14–26. Available 

online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.07.008,

last accessed April 28, 2019.

Hu, Q., Aboustait, M., Kim, T., Ley, M.T., Hanan, J.C., Bullard, 

J.W., Winarski, R., and Rose, V. (2016). “Direct ThreeDimensional Observation of the Microstructure and Chemistry

of C3S Hydration.” Cement and Concrete Research, 88 (October), 

pp.157–169. Available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.

cemconres.2016.07.006, last accessed April 28, 2019.

Hu, Q., Aboustait, M., Ley, M.T., Hanan, J.C., Rose, V., and 

Winarski, R. (2014). “Combined Three-Dimensional Structure 

and Chemistry Imaging with Nanoscale Resolution.” Acta 

Materialia, 77, pp.173–182.

Li, X., Grasley, Z.C., Bullard, J.W., and Garboczi, E.J. (2015). 

“Computing the Time Evolution of the Apparent Viscoelastic/

Viscoplastic Poisson’s Ratio of Hydrating Cement Paste.”

Cement and Concrete Composites, 56, pp.121–133. 

Pustovgar, E., Sangodkar, R.P., Andreev, A.S., Palacois, M., 

Chmelka, B.F., Flatt, R.J., and d’Espinose de Lacaillerie, 

J.-B. (2015). “Understanding Silicate Hydration from 

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Communications, 7, pp.10952. 

Sangodkar, R.P., Smith, B.J., Gajan, D., Rossini, A.J., Roberts, 

L.R., Funkhouser, G.P., Lesage, A., Emsley, L., and Chmelka, 

B.F. (2015). “Influences of Dilute Organic Adsorbates on 

the Hydration of Low-Surface-Area Silicates.” Journal of the 

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Scherer, G.W., and Bellmann, F. (2018). “Kinetic Analysis of

C-S-H Growth on Calcite.” Cement and Concrete Research, 

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2019.

Stoian, J., Oey, T., Bullard, J.W., Huang, J., Kumar, A., Balonis, 

M., Terrill, J., Neithalath, N., and Sant, G. (2015). “New Insights 

into the Prehydration of Cement and Its Mitigation.” Cement and 

Concrete Research, 70, pp.94–103. 

Zhang, Z., and Scherer, G.W. (2017). “Supercritical Drying of

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pp.137–154.
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

 

 

 

 

Getting Involved with the EAR Program

To take advantage of a broad variety of scientific and engineering discoveries, the EAR Program involves

bothtraditional stakeholders (State department oftransportation researchers, UniversityTransportation

Centerresearchers, and Transportation Research Board committee and panel members) and nontraditional

stakeholders (investigators from private industry, related disciplines in academia, and research

programs in other countries) throughout the research process.

Learn More

For more information, see the EAR Program website at https://highways.dot.gov/research/exploratoryadvanced-research. The site features information on research solicitations, updates on ongoing research,

links to published materials, summaries of past EAR Program events, and details on upcoming events.
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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM

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EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH

FHWA-HRT 17 102 

HRTM-30/06-19 (WEB)E 

EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH