New Federal Grant for Iowa, Minnesota and South Carolina to Help Cut by Half Construction Timeline for Projects

Federal Highway Administration
31 October 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Contact: Nancy Singer
(202) 366-0660
FHWA 12-06

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Iowa, Minnesota and South Carolina will be the first states to each receive a $1 million grant under the Federal Highway Administration's new "Highways for LIFE" program to help develop new approaches that can cut construction schedules in half, FHWA Administrator J. Richard Capka announced today.

The program encourages states to build roads faster, while making them longer lasting and less costly to maintain.

"The program is part of transportation legislation President Bush signed last year," Capka said. "Using new building methods and materials can improve travel, save money and make our roads safer."

Capka emphasized that the program's goal is to reduce work-zone congestion by cutting the time needed to build and repair highways. The program stresses innovation and promotes novel operational and contracting approaches that can shave time off construction projects. Capka noted that Iowa will use the grant to fund the reconstruction of an interchange in Council Bluffs using prefabricated bridge sections that can be made away from the roadway and installed overnight, sparing drivers months of onsite roadwork.

Minnesota will reconstruct a portion of Highway 36 in Minneapolis/St. Paul using a full-road closure for five months to complete the project faster.

South Carolina will use a "no excuses" clause in a construction contract for meeting the specified completion date for a bridge project in Kingstree.