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Build America, Buy America Act
April 1st, 2025
This is a summary of the activities and involvement of the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) in the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) discussions over the past 2½ + years, since the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA aka BIL). The provisions of BABAA created difficult and unprecedented complications for the implementation […]
McMaster nominated as FHWA administrator
March 28th, 2025
The Trump administration has nominated Sean McMaster – an executive with the Boeing aerospace company and a former vice president with infrastructure consulting firm HNTB – to be the next administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Sean McMaster. Image courtesy of HNTB. McMaster – who holds a bachelor of science in finance from George Mason University […]
NOCoE celebrates 10th anniversary at TRB
January 20th, 2025
The National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its formation at the 2025 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of AASHTO. NOCoE – a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and the Intelligent Transportation Society […]
FHWA announces updates to Buy America requirements to promote domestic manufacturing in transportation projects
January 15th, 2025
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a new final rule to end FHWA’s longstanding waiver that allows manufactured products used in federal-aid highway projects not to comply with FHWA’s Buy America requirements. Since day one of the administration, President Biden and Vice President Harris have worked to make “Made in America” […]
FHWA issues ATIIP grants
January 15th, 2025
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently issued $44.5 million in grants to 14 projects in 13 states and Puerto Rico via its Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP). The agency noted in a statement that ATIIP grants aim to support the planning, design, and construction of connected networks that lead to destinations and make communities safer for […]
Biden administration rolls back manufactured products waiver
January 14th, 2025
In a long-expected policy change to be published Jan. 14, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will begin applying Buy America requirements to all manufactured products later this year. Since 1983, the agency has used its waiver authority to exempt this wide array of items used on federal-aid highway projects – including electronics, ITS hardware, electrical […]
Workshop – Virtual Delivery of Shear Load Rating Using MCFT – March 5-6
January 9th, 2025
The Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT) has been used for the past few decades to provide safe and consistent shear design of reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge members. While it has been used for new design, its use for shear load rating can be more challenging. Recommendations provided in recent reports and recently approved for […]
FHWA issues state DOTs Low Carbon Transportation Materials grants
November 20th, 2024
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded $1.2 billion to 39 state departments of transportation via its Low Carbon Transportation Materials discretionary grant program. That program, which received $2 billion in funding via the Inflation Reduction Act, provides states, tribes, metropolitan planning organizations or MPOs, and other agencies with reimbursement and incentive funding to purchase American-made low carbon […]
The role of a biaxial geogrid in subgrade stabilization
October 1st, 2024
FIGURE 1 Installation of TerraGrid® TXG-7 directly on top of high PI clay subgrade. In the civil engineering discipline, the challenge of constructing durable and cost-effective roadways over problematic soils is a common yet complex issue. High-plasticity clay subgrades, known for their susceptibility to moisture and subsequent weakening, pose significant hurdles. Traditional methods of soil […]
FHWA announces new details of Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Program
September 5th, 2024
The U.S. Department of Transportation is making available $800 million in funding under the Low Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) Program as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda and ongoing work to tackle the climate crisis. Administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), LCTM will support the use of low-carbon materials and products […]