APPENDIX C

Description of Implementation Plans Reviewed

The EDC-3 e-Construction Implementation Plan, published in January 2015, was a joint effort by FHWA and AASHTO to facilitate the implementation of paperless systems for construction administration and delivery. The e-Construction concept focuses on a central document management system through which a state DOT can store all construction documentation; enable electronic submission, routing, and approval of documents; and ensure that the documents are stored in a secure environment that minimizes duplication while supporting access to data. The plan notes several technical and organizational challenges to adoption and presented a set of activities (including information exchanges, coordination between FHWA and AASHTO, and evaluation methods) to promote implementation across state DOTs.

The EDC-3 Smarter Work Zones Implementation Plan was published in February 2015 as a response to the large number of travel delays, injuries, and fatalities documented by the FHWA’s Work Zone Management Program in previous years. Thus, the main objective of the initiative is to increase the safety and operational efficiency of work zones through project coordination and an increased use of technology. Specific methods include queue and spend management that will aid in maintaining traffic flow in work zones and decrease driver apprehension.

The EDC-3 Stakeholder Partnering Implementation Plan was published in March 2015 and focuses on providing a mechanism for departments to establish active partnerships among stakeholders so that they can work together to improve the Local Public Agency (LPA) programs. LPA Programs sometimes use federal funds to maintain roads and bridges in their areas. This increase in available capital permits projects to be carried out more feasibly but necessitates adherence to many federal regulations and collaboration with the FHWA. Thus, the main objective of this initiative is to strengthen this partnership and identify opportunities for streamlining the collaboration processes.

The EDC-4 Weather Savvy Roads Implementation Plan was published in September 2016 with the goal of eliminating obstacles to accessible and precise information regarding weather and its impact on roads. The first innovation focuses on collecting this information and the second focuses on distributing it. The central output of this plan will be a mechanism to provide predictive and real-time precise, coordinated, and road-specific weather information to traffic managers and the public so that individuals in both groups can make informed decisions.

The EDC-4 Data-Driven Safety Analysis Implementation Plan was published in February 2017. The plan described two general methods of advanced data analysis for improving road safety: predictive analysis (i.e., identifying roads providing the best opportunity for safety improvement and the likely effect of such improvements) and systemic analysis (i.e., identifying roadway features that are highly correlated with specific types of crashes). The plan outlines the tools available for these forms of analysis, processes to follow for their implementation and use, and the benefits to be expected after using these approaches.

The EDC-4 Collaborative Hydraulics Implementation Plan was published in March 2017. The main objective of the initiative is to advocate for and promote the increased use of new hydraulic modeling tools in the transportation industry. Despite the development of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) modeling tools and the increased use of these tools in other industries, hydraulic designers in the industry commonly use one-dimensional tools. 2D and/or 3D modeling tools yield more detailed and accurate data, thus allowing for faster project delivery times.

The EDC-5 Advanced Geotechnical Methods in Exploration Implementation Plan, published in February 2019, introduces geotechnical tools that are underused in the transportation industry. Increased use of these tools will enhance the information available to engineers for characterizing the ground conditions for roads and thus enable more area-specific road construction.

The EDC-5 Value Capture Implementation Plan, published in February 2019, promotes value capture as a feasible method of acquiring funds for transportation departments. Value capture is a set of techniques that generally take advantage of the increase in property values, new transportation-related real estate opportunities, and/or the benefits of new transportation facilities to fund infrastructure improvements. Surface transportation investments often enhance the value of private land near the transportation infrastructure. Value capture encompasses policy measures (such as surtaxes or investment commitments) meant to ensure that the public can leverage some of those private gains.

The EDC-6 e-Ticketing and Digital As-Builts Implementation Plan, published in February 2021, integrates e-Ticketing—the digital exchange of product information across the construction process—with systems and procedures to store all historical and current records of infrastructure projects in a digital format. These Innovations increase construction efficiency, reduce loss or error from repeated data entry, and streamline data and document management. This plan provided a structured approach to scoping the implementation of these Innovations, foreseeing barriers and risks, developing work plans, and tracking progress toward full implementation.

The EDC-6 Targeted Overlay Pavement Systems Implementation Plan was published in February 2021. The goal of the project is to ensure safe, long-lasting, and reliable roadways through the use of overlay pavement procedures. This will result in safer work zones due to increased skid resistance, reduced hydroplaning and splay and spray, and extension of pavement life.