FHWA Grants Support Digital Construction Techniques

June 30, 2023

The Federal Highway Administration has opened the application period for its news $85 million Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems or ADCMS grant program; a program designed to support efforts to promote “digital construction” techniques, such as computer modeling and three dimensional or 3D design systems for infrastructure projects.

[Above image by FHWA]

“Technology has transformed many facets of life in the modern era, and we want the transportation construction industry to take advantage of these advancements to deliver projects on time and on budget,” said FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt in a statement.

He noted that the ADCMS program is but one aspect of FHWA’s multifaceted Technology and Innovation Deployment Program or TIDP, which provides funding as an incentive for state departments of transportation to develop more meaningful, accurate, and easy-to-use construction data via enhanced software modeling tools and features.

FHWA noted that better and more consistent modeling allows the seamless sharing of design and construction plans as well. As a result, the goals of the ADCMS program include:

  • The accelerated adoption of advanced digital construction management systems to boost productivity and manage complex projects;
  • More timely and productive information-sharing;
  • The development and deployment of best practices; and,
  • Increased transparency as the result of the real-time sharing of information.

The ADCMS grant program will award up to $34 million in combined fiscal year 2022 and 2023 funding and then up to $17 million for each fiscal year thereafter through FY 2026.

The initial round of funding through this new program – created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA – focused on projects that promote information-sharing, reduce reliance on paper, improve productivity and savings during project delivery, and can serve as models for the adoption and deployment of digital construction technologies.

While state DOTs and the transportation departments of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are eligible to apply, they are encouraged to partner with local governments, tribes, and private industry in designing their proposed projects.

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