FACT SHEET

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center

Office of Infrastructure Research 

and Development (R&D)

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Infrastructure R&D conducts and 

oversees R&D programs and projects that address critical highway infrastructure needs and 

priorities of national importance. The Office of Infrastructure R&D’s research focuses on the 

design, materials, construction, operation, and preservation of highway pavements, bridges, 

culverts, tunnels, and other structures. In addition, the Office of Infrastructure R&D provides 

expert technical assistance to other FHWA offices and Federal agencies, State and local 

transportation organizations, industry, and academic institutions.

PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS

The Office of Infrastructure R&D focuses on important R&D activities 

where there is an appropriate Federal role by virtue of national need, 

scope, duration, or risk. Current priority research areas are as follows.

Designing Infrastructure 

for Safety, Durability, 

and Resiliency

Safe, durable, sustainable, and 

resilient highway infrastructure 

is essential to maintain the 

commercial and personal mobility 

that supports the U.S. economy and

way of life. Advances in materials, 

tools, technologies, test methods, 

specifications, and guidance are 

needed to support cost-effective 

designs for bridges, tunnels, 

pavements, and other structures. 

Specific challenges that need to be 

addressed include the following:

• Design innovations to better 

meet highway infrastructure 

needs, including accelerated 

project delivery.

• Prediction, prevention, and 

mitigation of damage due 

to climate conditions and 

natural hazards.

• Test methods and guidance 

to support performancerelated selection, design, and 

specification of infrastructure 

and infrastructure materials, 

whether new or recycled.

• Use of new and innovative 

materials to effectively 

address infrastructure design 

challenges and minimize 

environmental impacts.

• Integration of lifecycle 

engineering methodologies to 

consider both economic and 

environmental considerations 

in decisionmaking processes.

• Integration of infrastructure 

safety considerations into design, 

construction, maintenance, and 

assessment decisionmaking.

• Data, methods, and tools to 

assess and quantify the safety, 

durability, sustainability, and 

resiliency of infrastructure 

design decisions.

• Assessment of how autonomous 

vehicles and electric charging 

technologies may impact the 

Nation’s infrastructure.

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FACT SHEET

Office of Infrastructure Research and Development

Infrastructure Performance 

Management

Advancements in infrastructure 

performance management processes, 

tools, technologies, and guidance 

are needed to optimize performance 

management decisionmaking. 

Specific challenges to be addressed 

include the following:

• Understanding and prediction 

of long-term infrastructure 

performance, including, but 

not limited to, the impacts 

of both traffic loads and the 

environment through the 

Long-Term Pavement 

Performance and Long-Term 

Bridge Performance Programs 

as well as highway infrastructure 

engineering data on FHWA 

InfoHighwayTM portals.(1)

• Guidance, tools, and technologies 

to support sound characterization 

asset condition and safety for 

lifecycle planning and cross-asset 

tradeoff analysis.

• Methodologies, tools, and 

guidance to support risk-based 

asset management.

• Guidance and decision support 

tools to assist in target setting 

and achieving and sustaining 

desired state of good repair 

over the entire asset lifecycle 

at minimum practicable costs.

• Guidance and tools that enable 

more effective decisionmaking 

based on increased accessibility 

and integration of data from 

planning, design, construction, 

operation, and maintenance.

• Identification and development 

of next-generation performance 

measures.

Infrastructure Construction, 

Preservation, and 

Rehabilitation

As transportation agencies strive to 

maintain the Nation’s highways in 

a state of good repair, the need for 

improved construction, preservation, 

and rehabilitation practices that 

result in economical, long-lasting 

bridges, pavements, tunnels, and 

other structures has never been 

greater. Challenges and needs to 

be addressed include the following:

• Delivering projects more 

effectively and efficiently by 

advancing digital delivery 

approaches to project design, 

bidding, and construction.

• Overcoming impediments to 

efficient, rapid construction, 

preservation, and rehabilitation 

while achieving high quality.

• Guiding the selection, timing, 

and application of preservation 

treatments for maximum 

effectiveness.

• Balancing the risks appropriately 

among the public and private 

sector organizations involved in 

both traditional and innovative 

contracting processes.

APPLIED INFRASTRUCTURE 

RESEARCH

In addition the Office of Infrastructure 

R&D conducts applied research in 

its 10 laboratories housed within 

the TFHRC. Experimental and 

forensic research is performed 

on all highway infrastructure 

components, such as pavements, 

bridges, culverts, and geotechnical 

assets. The purpose of each of the 

10 laboratories is described in the 

TFHRC laboratories factsheet.

BENEFITS

The outcomes delivered through 

the Office of Infrastructure R&D’s 

research will benefit the American 

public by enabling improvements 

in the safety, performance, 

resilience, and sustainability of the 

Nation’s highway infrastructure 

while minimizing its impact on 

the environment. The results will 

reduce highway congestion, improve 

highway safety and resilience, and 

enhance the overall experience of 

all highway users.

The Office of Infrastructure R&D 

is uniquely positioned to address 

the continuum of highway 

infrastructure research from 

high-risk, exploratory, and 

advanced research to the applied, 

problem-specific research necessary to 

address current issues and immediate 

problems. This broad range of 

research capability provides a high 

likelihood of success that is critical 

for efficiently managing the Nation’s 

highway infrastructure assets.

REFERENCE

1. Federal Highway Administration. 

2023. “FHWA InfoHighway” 

(web page). https://infohighway.

fhwa.dot.gov/, last accessed 

September 12, 2023.

FHWA-HRT-24-014

HRTM-20/01-24(50)E

Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration, 

Office of Infrastructure Research and Development (R&D)

(Washington, DC: 2023) 

https://doi.org/10.21949/1521902