FHWA R&T Now

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FHWA Solicits Small Business Proposals

Beginning February 6, 2020

Open solicitation for the FHWA 2020 fiscal year (FY) Small 

Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program begins February 

6, 2020, with new elements and a streamlined solicitation and review process. The goal of the new 

process is to reduce the review time and to provide a new mechanism to draw attention to truly 

innovative solutions. The SBIR Program will reduce the maximum length of the technical proposal, 

allowing for a shorter review period. After review and selection of promising technologies and 

innovations, selectees will be invited to make a live pitch in front of a selection panel at “Pitch Day” 

in May 2020. The panel will make final award decisions at the Pitch Day. These changes should lead 

to greater process efficiencies and result in the selection of the most innovative solutions. The 

FHWA FY20 SBIR topics included in the solicitation are the following: 

• 20-FH1: Physical Intervention System for Wrong-Way Driving on Ramps.

• 20-FH2: Innovative Layered Composite Metal Deck System.

• 20-FH3: Real-Time Monitoring and Modeling of Scour.

The USDOT posted a presolicitation notice for opportunities within the FY20 SBIR Phase I solicitation, 

including three topics from FHWA. Small businesses were invited to participate in individual 

conversations with the FY20 Phase I topic authors at the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB)

Annual Meeting in January 2020 in Washington, DC. Businesses were able to ask technical questions 

about the topic solicitation and gain a better understanding of FHWA’s priorities in pursuing these 

topics. More details are available on the USDOT SBIR website. 

For more information about the program, contact Craig Thor at craig.thor@dot.gov. 

Exploratory Advanced Research Program Accepts Proposals – Due: 

March 20, 2020 

The FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program issued a Broad Agency Announcement 

(BAA) soliciting proposals in three topics that could lead to transformational changes and truly 

revolutionary advances in highway engineering and intermodal surface transportation in the United 

States. The topics for the BAA include: (1) Blockchain technology for transportation, (2) Artificial 

intelligence for highway transportation, and (3) Ability of waste plastic to enhance mechanical 

properties of asphalt cement. Proposals are due March 20, 2020. 

FHWA anticipates making three to six awards totaling around $4 million in Federal funds. The agency 

worked with subject matter experts from across FHWA, other modal transportation agencies, 

Federal agencies, and external stakeholders to develop the topics and to build expert panels for the 

proposal review process. More details are available at 

https://beta.sam.gov/opp/62356eb9e52a4ae59174cb0aac8f0eda/view. 

For more information about the program, contact David Kuehn at david.kuehn@dot.gov. 

January/February 2020

A news update of research, technology, and development from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

FHWA R&T Now 

A news update of research, technology, and development from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). 
 FHWA R&T Now

2 

OPERATIONS

Tool Helps Utah and California Predict Mudslides 

and Debris Flows After Wildfires 

In addition to using weather-responsive 

management strategies (WRMS) to manage 

flooding and predict and respond to dust storms, 

States can use WRMS to effectively manage burn 

scars after wildfires are contained. When burn 

scars happen, rainfall creates erosion, debris flows, 

or mudslides, resulting in extremely dangerous 

conditions for motorists.

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) 

and the California Department of Transportation 

(Caltrans) have both used WRMS to successfully 

manage burn scars. Using a geographic information 

system map to indicate the location of burn scar 

boundaries, UDOT works with the Forest Service 

and National Weather Service (NWS) to determine 

rainfall rates for each burn scar area that would 

cause flooding and debris flows. NWS and UDOT 

use a dozen mobile weather stations to help 

monitor conditions in these areas.

Source: UDOT. 

After wildfires, roadways in burn scars are 

susceptible to damage from mudslides and debris 

flows. 

Caltrans, in collaboration with the California 

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, uses 

rainfall-rate briefings from the NWS to make better 

decisions for managing high-risk areas and shutting 

down highways prior to events occurring. This 

coordination and information allows Caltrans to 

take a proactive approach, resulting in an 

estimated $22 million in savings within the first 

year. The enhanced information also reduces the 

risk to travelers of any crashes or injury resulting 

from a debris flow.

Caltrans is expanding these efforts by using new 

road weather information systems (RWIS) to 

collaborate with the NWS to assemble forecast 

information for local agencies and law 

enforcement to proactively close highways when 

they predict mudslides and debris flows. The goal is 

to close roadways ahead of time, which allows

roads to be cleaned faster and saves roads. 

To learn more about how WRMS can help your 

agency respond to dangerous conditions created 

after wildfires or other unique weather events, 

contact David Johnson at david.johnson@dot.gov. 

Emergency Vehicles Change Lights to Green 

When emergency vehicles are involved in any 

situation, response time and travel time to the final 

destination is vital—and can make the difference 

between life and death.

At TRB’s 2020 annual meeting, researchers from 

FHWA’s Saxton Transportation Operations 

Laboratory presented an emergency-vehicle, 

signal-preemption application for installation on 

vehicles. The application allows for emergency 

vehicles to request that the lights at intersections 

along their routes change so that it is easier for the 

emergency vehicle to move through traffic in an 

emergency situation. 

Source: FHWA. 

FHWA’s traffic-incident-management research 

vehicle displayed at TRB exhibiting emergency 

vehicle preemption.
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Researchers created the application on the 

Vehicle-to-Everything Hub (V2X Hub) with a plugin 

that uses basic safety messages (BSMs) over 

dedicated short-range communications (DSRC). 

When the emergency lights are activated inside the 

vehicle, the vehicle sends BSMs that tell the 

roadside unit (RSU), V2X Hub, and the signal 

controller of the request for the light change. 

For demonstration purposes at TRB, the light 

turned red and then immediately started flashing 

yellow. In a real-life scenario, when an emergencyvehicle driver turns on the emergency lights, the 

traffic signals would turn red at the opposing 

intersection approaches, and the signal would turn 

green for the emergency vehicle to travel safely 

through the intersection.

For more information, contact Deborah Curtis at 

deborah.curtis@dot.gov.

SAFETY

Navigating Drivers Safely Through Complex 

Freeway Interchanges 

Complex freeway interchanges can be difficult to 

navigate for drivers and they rely on road signage 

to guide them. Transportation agencies are 

urgently in need of detailed and performancebased guidelines for guide-sign design at freeway 

interchanges. 

The Office of Safety Research and Development 

(R&D) will award a project to the Virginia Tech 

Transportation Institute (VTTI) for “Freeway Guide 

Sign Performance at Complex Interchanges: 

Reducing Information Overload.” This new 24-

month project will be conducted through the 

Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) Pooled Fund 

program and will enable researchers to apply the 

Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) 

safety data resource in innovative ways.

Previous studies of sign performance at 

interchanges have limited applicability because 

they are based mostly on simulations and 

laboratory tests, and involve limited sign scenarios 

and field data due to data availability and cost.

Previous studies also involved only participants 

with either no destination or hypothetical 

destinations during experiments. They could not 

realistically incorporate traffic, environmental, and 

roadway conditions or link sign scenarios with 

quantitative driver-behavior measures relevant to 

safety. 

This new study will fully demonstrate the SHRP2 

NDS data’s power to solve problems. The study will 

provide guidelines to reduce information overload 

and improve sign spreading and recommendations 

for changes to existing freeway-signing standards 

and manuals.

© VTTI. 

Complex interchange between IH 10 and Highway 

57 (Orange Freeway) in Los Angeles County, CA. 

The findings of this project will provide practical 

and field data-supported, sign-performance 

metrics at complex freeway interchanges that may 

significantly improve existing signing guidelines 

and tools.

For more information, contact James Pol at 

james.pol@dot.gov.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Profilers Smooth Out Bridge Bumps

Experts from across the transportation industry 

continue to identify the roughness experienced at 

bridge approaches, termed the bump at the end of 

the bridge (BEB), as one of the most prevalent 

substructure factors affecting bridge performance. 

BEB is usually reported by road users, and is 

followed by maintenance to improve ride quality. 

BEB is not just an annoyance for the traveling 

public though; vehicle impact resulting from the 

bump can cause distress, fatigue, and long-term 

damage to the bridge deck, potentially resulting in 

decreased service life. 

The FHWA Geotechnical Research Program is 

identifying methods to improve ride quality and 

the bumps at bridge approaches using inertial 

profilers. Pavement profilers are not new to 

transportation agencies, who routinely use them to 

evaluate pavement performance. 
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Source: FHWA.

Inertial profiler used to collect bridge approach 

profiles.

In 2016, the Long-Term Pavement Performance 

Program released guidelines for measuring bridge 

approach transitions using inertial profilers. 

Research is currently underway to evaluate these 

pavement profiles and the resulting BEB. 

Long-term objectives of this research effort include 

developing performance metrics for the BEB, 

evaluating the impact on long-term bridge 

performance, and identifying mitigation measures 

to prevent or alleviate the BEB.

For more information, contact Dr. Jennifer Nicks at 

202–493–3075, or jennifer.nicks@dot.gov. 

Construction Specifications Maximize Project 

Delivery Quality

How can a construction engineer minimize risk in 

project delivery and increase the likelihood that 

the project will be of high quality and on track? 

Construction specifications provide the 

requirements for construction on a project to help 

achieve a higher level of confidence in accepting 

quality materials with higher performance, longer 

life, and reduced lifecycle costs. 

FHWA recently released the second in a series of 

three animated videos focused on specifications 

for highway construction to help improve quality. 

The first video, Types and Uses of Construction 

Specifications, introduces viewers to various types 

of specifications, including quality assurance 

specifications, warranty specifications, 

performance-based specifications, and 

performance-related specifications. 

The second video, Quality Assurance Specifications, 

covers how quality assurance specifications work, 

and highlights key aspects of a well-written quality 

assurance specification. 

The third video in the series currently is in 

production.

Transportation agencies may want to consider 

using these videos as stand-alone training or within 

a broader training course. The videos, which can 

also be shared via social media, are available on 

the FHWA YouTube channel. 

Video 1: Types and Uses of Construction 

Specifications 

https://youtu.be/-FfOUfIbfF4

Video 2: Quality Assurance Specifications

https://youtu.be/VeicnhCzn2A

For more information, contact Matthew Corrigan 

at 202–493–3365, or matthew.corrigan@dot.gov. 

EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH

Applications Sought for Research Associates 

The FHWA EAR Program provides opportunities for 

post doctoral research associates to conduct 

cutting-edge research studies. 

Working with the National Academy of Sciences’ 

(formerly the National Research Council’s (NRC)) 

Research Associateship Program (RAP), FHWA is 

looking for researchers with appropriate 

backgrounds to investigate specific problems on a 

short-term basis (up to 3 years) across a range of 

topics and disciplines.

“The RAP has provided me with the opportunity to 

work with an experienced team at Turner-Fairbank 

Highway Research Center [TFHRC] to investigate 

ultra-high performance concrete [UHPC] structural 

performance and develop design guideline 

specifications,” said Dr. Alireza Mohebbi, one of 

the researchers in the program. 

The RAP program accepts applications on a 

continual basis and the agency reviews the 

applications every quarter to see if there is a good 

fit between an associate and one of FHWA’s 

researchers. 

See the latest summary about research conducted 

by the research associates at FHWA in the 
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Research Associates Program 2018 (FHWA-HRT-18-

061). 

More information about the RAP is available here

or by contacting Jim Shurbutt at 202‒493‒3420, 

jim.shurbutt@dot.gov. 

Concrete Hastens Construction and Increases 

Lifespan of Bridges

State agencies always look for ways to extend the 

life of pavement and bridges so their budgets go 

further. One particular concrete can help.

“Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been 

identified as a novel solution that not only can 

expedite the repair and construction process, but 

also can increase the service life of the bridge 

elements,” said EAR research associate Dr. Alireza 

Mohebbi. “In addition, the structural performance 

and long-term durability of bridge elements with 

UHPC far exceeds those of conventional concrete. 

UHPC provides the opportunity to build long-span 

bridges with refined cross sections and possibly 

reduces the number of substructure systems 

required for multi-span bridges.”

Mohebbi works in both the structural and concrete 

laboratories at FHWA’s TFHRC. His project, 

Development and Evaluation of Innovative 

Structural Systems with UHPC and Resilient 

Connections: From Analyses and Experiments to 

Design Guidelines, addresses major challenges 

facing our Nation’s crumbling bridge infrastructure. 

For more information, contact Alireza Mohebbi at 

202‒493‒3073 or alireza.mohebbi.ctr@dot.gov. 

Teaching Vehicles How to Recognize and Respond 

to their Complex Surroundings

Before vehicles can safely drive themselves, they 

need to understand their surroundings and the 

complexities of their operation within those 

surroundings. The road. Other vehicles. 

Pedestrians. Bicylces. Weather. Unexpected 

circumstances. And more....

The FHWA EAR Program supports two connected 

simulation research projects to help solve safety 

issues with using connected and automated vehicle 

(CAV) technology. The projects involve complex 

scenarios incorporating vehicles, pedestrians, and 

bicyclists. The research places multiple people in 

the same simulated environment at the same time. 

Connected simulation allows for safe and more 

cost-effective testing of CAV technology.

Researchers at the University of Iowa are 

connecting the National Advanced Driving 

Simulator (NADS) with pedestrian and bicycle 

simulators, allowing them to simulate multiple 

modes of transportation in real time. The project, 

Developing Connected Simulation to Study 

Interactions Between Drivers, Pedestrians, and 

© University of Iowa.

University of Iowa researchers are connecting 

NADS with pedestrian and bicycle simulators to 

allow simulation participants to share the same 

virtual world. 

© University of Iowa.

At Iowa State University, researchers have 

created InterchangeSE, which allows simulation 

participants working on different platforms to 

see each other.
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Bicyclists, includes the use of graphical avatars in 

the simulation to represent the live movements of 

drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. 

Researchers at Iowa State University’s Virtual 

Reality Applications Center and the Institute for 

Transportation are developing a system that lets 

multiple simulation systems work together. Their

research project, InterchangeSE: A Federated 

Multimodal Simulation Environment for Studying 

Interactions Between Different Modes of Travel, 

allows for traffic with a mix of different vehicles—

some highly automated and some with drivers 

controlling speed and direction—within one 

simulation. 

 

Iowa State’s researchers are studying the 

interactions among different travelers in a partially 

connected-automated transportation system using 

complex simulated scenarios with live and virtual 

participants. This project integrates virtual and 

augmented reality technologies with 

communications between hardware and software 

components. 

For more information about the Connected 

Simulation and InterchangeSE projects, contact 

Brian Philips at 202‒493‒3468 or 

brian.philips@dot.gov.

NOTES

ANB25 Paper Awarded

As part of the Highway Safety Information Team 

(HSIS), Safety R&D researchers, Drs. Ana Maria 

Eigen and Carol Tan, received the TRB Highway 

Safety Performance Committee (ANB25) “2019 

Ronald C. Pfefer Outstanding Paper Award.” The 

paper, Identification of Critical Intersection Angle 

Through Crash Modification Functions, described 

the process to develop the “CMFunctions” that 

could help identify intersection angles that have 

higher crashes. The paper awardees are as follow:

• Wesley Kumfer (University of North Carolina, 

Highway Safety Research Center (UNC-HSRC)) 

• David Harkey (Director of UNC-HSRC during 

research; currently Insurance Institute for 

Highway Safety president) 

• Bo Lan (UNC-HSRC) 

• Raghavan Srinivasan (UNC-HSRC) 

• Anusha Patel Nujjetty (Lendis, HSIS lab manager)

• Ana Maria Eigen 

• Carol Tan

RECENT RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

EAR Program 

EAR Research Associateship Program Highlights: 

Where Are They Now?

Infrastructure

• Challenges in Meeting Data Needs for Use of 

Environmental Product Declarations in Pavement 

Design and Construction: State of Practice and 

Future Scope

• Use of LTPP SMP Data to Quantify Moisture 

Impacts on Fatigue Cracking in Flexible 

Pavements

• Asphalt Analysis Tools

• Acceptance Testing of High-Speed Transverse 

Profile Measuring Systems Purchased for the 

Long-Term Pavement Performance Program

• Effective Use of Geospatial Tools in Highway 

Construction 

• Post-Hazard Engineering Assessment of Highway 

Structures using Remote Sensing Technologies

Safety 

• Potential Uses of Reduced Datasets from the 

Roadway Information Database: A White Paper

• Techbrief: Safety Evaluation of Pedestrian 

Countdown Signals

• Analysis of SHRP2 Data to Understand Normal 

and Abnormal Driving Behavior in Work Zones

• LTPP Newsletter, Fall 2019

RECENT PERIODICALS

Innovator January/February 2020

In this issue: Innovation Synergy: Crowdsourcing 

Improves Weather Response; Weather-Responsive 

Management Strategies; Filling in Data Gaps with 

Crowdsourcing; The Value of Peers; Using 

Accelerated Bridge Construction in Seismic 

Applications; States Innovate; Explore Innovation 

at the Transportation Research Board Meeting. 

The issue is available online.

Public Roads Winter 2020

This issue includes: Reaching New Heights; Coming 

Back from Disaster; Mainstreaming Transportation 

Systems Management and Operations; Showcasing 

Highway Research; What Does the Changing Face 

of Electricity Production Mean for Concrete?; 

CARMA: Driving Innovation; Saluting 50 Years of 

Transportation Training. 
 FHWA R&T Now

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For more information, contact Maria Romstedt at

maria.romstedt@dot.gov. 

LINKS

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center: 

https://highways.dot.gov/research/

Resource Center: 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter/

National Highway Institute: 

www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx

ABOUT FHWA R&T NOW

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information and updates about research, 

technology, and development from the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Federal Highway 

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Attention: Dawn Vanlandingham

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distribution is being made to the FHWA Divisions and Resource Center. 

Key Words—Infrastructure, Operations, Safety, Research, SBIR, TRB, vehicle-to-everything, weatherresponsive management systems, research associates program, UHPC, awards, EAR, SHRP2, connected 

vehicles, automated vehicles, connected and automated vehicles, automated driving systems, complex 

freeway interchanges, profilers, bridge bumps, National Advanced Driving, Simulator, CAV, AV, CV, 

specifications.

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