Please study the legend at the bottom of the tracking board.
On the tracking board, there are links to draft documents for all RNS and Synthesis topics. The draft docs are in the same format as provided in the FHWA PM Roadmap report, the format required for the AASHTO submission or for the TRB submission are different. Anyone who works on a topic would need to take care of adding more info in the required format.
The tracking board also includes some recent topics that the committee is currently working on (orange colors), topics that are already planned as an NCHRP project (light blue) and projects that have been completed (green). If any other planned, ongoing or recently completed projects are missing, please contact nima@nimaresearch.com to add it to the board.
The FHWA Pavement Management (PM) Roadmap was first developed by some of the AFD10 members back in 2010. The new FHWA Pavement Management Roadmap was published in September 2022. This roadmap includes some useful ideas to be considered by this committee when developing research needs statements. This roadmap also includes other action items that could be considered in committee activities in line with the Triennial Strategic Plan (TSP).
This committee has created a Tracking Board to track the progress of the pavement management community towards the FHWA PM Roadmap, and to coordinate the required activities among committee members, friends, and the community at large. There are two versions of the tracking board:
The PDF version (with preview)
The live tracking board below
There are 4 groups corresponding to the 4 Themes to work on topics:
Data
Analysis Tools
Workforce & Organizational
Emerging Technology
The current plan for our committee is to start the year with developing a list of Research Gap Statements (RGS) to be reviewed by the committee at the mid-year meeting, and then develop a list of Research Needs Statements (RNS) to be submitted to the TRB database by November 1, and discussed at the next TRB Annual Meeting, so that the committee can pursue funding for the highest priority RNS.
RGS is a simpler, more preliminary, and more general version of an RNS. The minimum required fields for entering an RGS include a title, background/description, objective, potential benefits, and related research. After identifying a high-priority RGS, a group will be assigned to develop an RNS, which needs other fields such as proposed tasks, implementation, estimated funding and period. There could be multiple RNSs developed for one RGS.
Please note that entering RNS into the TRB database does NOT submit the RNS to any funding programs. This is a separate process. However, it is helpful to identify potential funding sources before developing the RNS in order to ensure each RNS contains the information that will be required by that funding program. Funding programs can be identified at http://www.trb.org/ResearchFunding/ResearchPrograms.aspx and this link provides an overview of which programs fit best to your RNS: http://www.trb.org/ResearchFunding/Chapter3WhichProgramFits.aspx
Typical NCHRP Research Problem Statement (RPS) Due Date: October 15th to November 1. However, the exact due date is announced every year. This is the date that an AASHTO committee, a State DOT, or Federal employee shall submit RPS to NCHRP. However, we need to submit the RPS in June to relevant AASHTO committees to be considered and potentially selected for submittal.
If pursuing the NCHRP funding, the committee needs to identify advocates in State agencies who would campaign for the RPS in the annual meeting of the AASHTO Committee on Materials and Pavements (COMP) or the AASHTO Committee on Performance-Based Management (CPBM).
TRB Resources for Developing RNS:
Relevant NCHRP Websites:
Other Research Funding Sources:
USDOT Advanced Research Projects Agency - Infrastructure (ARPA-I)
USDOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
USDOT University Transportation Centers (UTC) program
FHWA Center for Accelerating Innovation (CAI)
Accelerated Market Readiness (AMR): earlier stage before a complete market-ready status
State Transportation Innovation Councils (STIC) incentive: standardizing innovative practices
Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) demonstration grants: proven technologies in actual projects
Every-Day-Counts (EDC): support implementation of proven yet underutilized innovations
Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) studies