The use of alternative contracting methods (ACMs) has accelerated the delivery of highway design and construction projects. Led by documented successes on large, high-profile projects such as I-15 in Utah, the Intercounty Connector in Maryland, and the Sellwood Bridge in Oregon, ACMs have resulted in shorter project delivery times with less disruption to the traveling public. The use of ACMs is becoming commonplace in projects by state departments of transportation, but not just for large projects. The information in this document builds on the three-volume NCHRP Research Report 939: Guidebooks for Post-Award Contract Administration for Highway Projects Delivered Using Alternative Contracting Methods.
NCHRP Web-Only Document 421: Agency Implementation of Alternative Contracting Methods, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, aims to ensure agencies have the practical methods and tools to improve their ACM contract administration.
36 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73321-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28866
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Agency Implementation of Alternative Contracting Methods. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The theme of the 2023 annual meeting of the National Academy of Engineering, which was held in Washington, DC, on October 1-2, was "Engineering the Future for Sustainability." A highlight of the meeting was a plenary presentation entitled "Sustainability: The Defining Challenge and Opportunity of the 21st Century", which explored the vital contributions of engineers in the movement toward sustainability. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the plenary.
42 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72533-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28835
National Academy of Engineering. 2024. Engineering the Future for Sustainability: Measuring and Communicating Our Progress: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airports that have publicly accessible parks or other recreational use spaces on airport property have reported strengthening community relationships.
ACRP Synthesis 137: Parks and Other Recreational Uses on Airport Property, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, describes the experiences of airports that provide airport property for publicly accessible parks and other recreational uses. This effort includes documenting the development, management, and operation of existing airport programs; the perceived benefits and risks of utilizing airport property for parks and recreational uses; and how these uses can support community goals.
60 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73043-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73044-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28457
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Parks and Other Recreational Uses on Airport Property. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked widespread implementation of wastewater surveillance in communities across the United States to help track the spread of the disease. In contrast to clinical laboratory testing that tracks individual cases of infection, wastewater surveillance provides a way to measure the amount of DNA from pathogens coming from homes, businesses, and other institutions that share a sewer system. To help coordinate and centralize early efforts, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020, with pilot sites in eight states. As of April 2024, the NWSS is receiving data from more than 1,300 active sampling sites, covering a population of 130 million individuals.
A Phase 1 report released in early 2023 examined the usefulness of the NWSS during the COVID-19 pandemic, described the potential value of a robust national wastewater surveillance system beyond COVID-19, and provided recommendations to increase the public health impact of such a system. This Phase 2 report details the technical constraints and opportunities to improve wastewater surveillance for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the U.S. It recommends improvements in the consistency and quality of national wastewater sampling, testing, and data analysis, and identifies research and technology development needs for a national wastewater surveillance system that can serve ongoing and changing public health needs in the United States.
198 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71620-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72786-3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27516
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Increasing the Utility of Wastewater-based Disease Surveillance for Public Health Action: A Phase 2 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop
Over the past two decades, wildfires in western North America have greatly increased in frequency, magnitude and severity. Scientists have documented three main causes - a century of suppression and inadequate forest management that has led to overly dense, fuel-rich forests; climate change, turning woodlands and grasslands into hot, dry tinder boxes; and the spread of urbanization, increasing the probability of man-made ignitions. Less well known are the environmental and social implications associated with the acceleration of these trends.
To explore these concerns and to identify possible policy responses, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Board on Environmental Change and Society, in partnership with the Royal Society of Canada, convened a workshop in June 2024, "The Social and Ecological Consequences of Future Wildfire in the West". Over two days, two dozen wildfire experts and a hybrid audience of over 200 participants explored the history, current state, and anticipated future of wildfire science and policy across the western United States and Canada. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.
146 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72679-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72680-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27972
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Social-Ecological Consequences of Future Wildfires and Smoke in the West: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
Semiconductor chips power practically all electronic devices, from cellphones and vehicles to communications and defense systems essential for national security. The Department of Defense (DoD) uses a wide range of semiconductors for mission systems such as radars, sensors, and high-power-density electronics - but the U.S. is now strongly dependent on other nations for both commercial and defense semiconductor needs.
At the request of Congress, this study addresses the challenges that DoD is experiencing as it engages with the global microelectronics sector and explores ways to engage with public-private partnerships to support assured production and innovation in the semiconductor industry. The recommendations of Strategies to Enable Assured Access to Semiconductors for the Department of Defense focus on long-term strategic coordination, investment in emerging technologies, leveraging of commercial advancements, and a modernization strategy that is nimble enough to incorporate emerging technologies and be responsive to global competition.
206 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71702-7
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71703-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27624
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Strategies to Enable Assured Access to Semiconductors for the Department of Defense. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop
Earth systems science aims to discover and integrate knowledge on the structure, nature, and scales of interactions among natural (e.g., physical, chemical, and biological) and social (e.g., cultural, socioeconomic, and geopolitical) processes. Climate-related migration can be temporary or permanent, can involve internal displacement within countries or crossing international borders, and can involve a broad array of other direct and indirect drivers. To explore how an Earth systems science approach may be used to address climate change impacts and the consequent influence on human migration, the National Academies hosted a workshop, Climate Change and Human Migration: An Earth Systems Science Perspective, on March 18-19, 2024. Workshop presentations focused on the data, methods, and research strategies relevant to understanding climate-related migration. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.
54 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72528-3
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72529-1
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27930
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Climate Change and Human Migration: An Earth Systems Science Perspective: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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TCRP Synthesis 177: Electronic Surveillance of Railroad-Highway Crossings for Collision Avoidance: State of the Practice, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, documents public transit agencies' current practices and lessons learned from rail service providers and others regarding the types, nature, implementations, successes, and failures of rail crossing electronic surveillance programs, particularly related to safety. This synthesis provides insights about the needs, decision criteria, measure of effectiveness, success factors, causes for failures, and selected implementations of rail crossing electronic surveillance programs, primarily for safety. The synthesis also discusses potential future advancements in rail crossing electronic surveillance.
110 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73029-5
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73030-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28291
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Electronic Surveillance of Railroad-Highway Crossings for Collision Avoidance: State of the Practice. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
On February 27-28, 2024, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources held a hybrid workshop entitled State of Knowledge and Research Needs Regarding Heritable Genomic Modification in Food Animals. The workshop aimed to examine the state of the science of the development of food animals with heritable GMs and their potential health risks, identify knowledge gaps in the ability to assess health risks, and explore potential approaches to address them.
12 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71675-6
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27591
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. The State of Knowledge and Research Needs Regarding Heritable Genomic Modification in Food Animals: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
Building and operating cutting-edge, custom-designed research facilities presents unique challenges, where prior designs and experience may not be a reliable guide and unprecedented modes of failure can never be fully anticipated. In 2020, the National Science Foundation's telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed, impacting the work of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse analyzes the causes of the collapse through extensive review of prior forensic investigations, information gathering from employees at Arecibo Observatory, study of relevant research, consultations with other experts, and examination of structural analyses, engineering plans, inspection reports, photographs, and repair proposals. This report presents lessons learned and makes recommendations to help ensure the safe operation of other unique, critical science facilities.
112 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70222-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70223-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26982
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
For nearly eight decades, the world has been navigating the dangers of the nuclear age. Despite Cold War tensions and the rise of global terrorism, nuclear weapons have not been used in conflict since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Efforts such as strategic deterrence, arms control and non-proliferation agreements, and the U.S.-led global counterterrorism have helped to keep nuclear incidents at bay. However, the nation's success to date in countering nuclear terrorism does not come with a guarantee, success often carries the risk that other challenges will siphon away attention and resources and can lead to the perception that the threat no longer exists.
This report found that U.S. efforts to counter nuclear or radiological terrorism are not keeping pace with the evolving threat landscape. The U.S. government should maintain a strategic focus and effort on combatting terrorism across the national security community in coordination with international partners, State, Local, Tribal and Territorial authorities, the National Laboratories, universities and colleges, and civil society. Developing and sustaining adequate nuclear incident response and recovery capabilities at the local and state levels will likely require significant new investments in resources and empowerment of local response from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and National Institutes of Health.
158 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70868-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72282-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27215
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Nuclear Terrorism: Assessment of U.S. Strategies to Prevent, Counter, and Respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Nam_special_pub
The U.S. biomedical research enterprise has played a vital role in advancing science, human health, and the economy. It has contributed significantly to fields such as agriculture, environmental remediation, job creation, and technological innovation. Over the past 80 years, landmark achievements include reducing cancer mortality, developing HIV/AIDS treatments, sequencing the human genome, and creating vaccines that mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The enterprise has grown remarkably in less than a century and holds even greater potential for future success. However, its progress is hindered by a lack of high-level national coordination, a fragmented funding system, and a declining workforce.
The State of the U.S. Biomedical and Health Research Enterprise: Strategies for Achieving a Healthier America addresses these challenges in five key areas—strategic vision, funding, health equity, coordination and convergence science, and workforce development—offering a roadmap that could be used to sustain U.S. leadership in global health.
146 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71666-7
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71667-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27588
National Academy of Medicine. 2024. The State of the U.S. Biomedical and Health Research Enterprise: Strategies for Achieving a Healthier America. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
Domestic and foreign violent extremist organizations, or terrorist groups, have caused a greater amount of harm with chemical agents than with biological or radiological weapons. The United States capacity and capability to identify, prevent, counter, and respond adequately to chemical threats is established by the strategies, policies, and laws enacted across multiple levels of government. While the number of chemical terrorism incidents has risen and fallen over time, there is no empirical or analytical indication that the threat is disappearing. This report comes at a time when the nation's highest-level strategies have shifted from focusing primarily on violent extremist organizations to focusing more on Great Power Competition. This shift in relative perceived threat and consequent prioritization will impact efforts against chemical terrorism, and in turn, affect funding priorities. Revised risk assessments are needed to reprioritize risks guided by new strategies, so that strategy-aligned budgets can be created. The report recommends weapons of mass destruction budgets be aligned with evolving priorities and incentivize activities that transition promising research to operations.
186 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70678-5
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70676-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27159
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Chemical Terrorism: Assessment of U.S. Strategies in the Era of Great Power Competition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Planners, engineers, and designers who are implementing bikeways need additional information about the safety performance of intersection treatments when assessing trade-offs and making design decisions.
NCHRP Web-Only Document 408: Design Options to Reduce Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Conduct of Research Report, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, is supplemental to NCHRP Research Report 1125: Reducing Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Decision Tool and Design Guidelines.
366 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73022-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28289
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Design Options to Reduce Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Conduct of Research Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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One of the most common locations for fatal motor vehicle–bicyclist crashes is at intersections, which inherently have many conflicts related to turning. Reducing these conflicts is a key objective in improving intersection safety across all modes. Of particular concern for bicyclists' safety at intersections are the conflicts between bicyclists travelling straight through the intersection and motor vehicle drivers making right turns and opposing left turns.
NCHRP Research Report 1125: Reducing Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Decision Tool and Design Guidelines, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, presents a decision tool and design guidelines to help highway safety practitioners reduce turning motor vehicle–bicycle conflicts at intersections.
Supplemental to the report are NCHRP WOD 408: Design Options to Reduce Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Conduct of Research Report and an implementation memo.
48 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73018-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73019-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28288
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Reducing Conflicts Between Turning Motor Vehicles and Bicycles: Decision Tool and Design Guidelines. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Transportation systems are exposed to a diverse range of hazards, with flooding being one of the most common and consequential. State departments of transportation (DOTs) may use flood forecasts to inform actions such as issuing internal flood-level notifications, directing field staff to flood locations, and issuing road closures. A flood-forecasting capability can help inform a proactive approach to managing flood impacts by supporting preparation for events, fast response times, and efficient use of resources.
NCHRP Research Report 1131: Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, seeks to empower state DOTs with technical resources and organizational insights to better predict the timing and magnitude of flooding and enable advanced early warnings to help protect critical infrastructure and enhance roadway safety.
94 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72872-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72876-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28022
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
Predictive policing strategies are approaches that use data to attempt to predict either individuals who are likely to commit crime or places where crime is likely to be committed, to enable crime prevention. To explore law enforcement's use of person-based and place-based predictive policing strategies, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a two-day public workshop on June 24 and 25, 2024.
13 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72922-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28037
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Law Enforcement Use of Predictive Policing Approaches: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Consensus
Decades of research have shown that disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to integrate different kinds of health, social, environmental, and economic data to identify disadvantaged communities and to aid policy and investment decisions that address the pervasive, persistent, and largely unaddressed problems associated with environmental disparities in the United States.
Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice evaluates several EJ tools, including CEJST, and provides a conceptual framework and data strategy recommendations for developing the composite indicators that are the heart of geospatial EJ tools. An EJ tool that is transparent, legitimate, and has the trust of its users and the communities it represents is based on a structured iterative process that includes: a clear statement of tool objectives and definitions for the concepts being measured; the selection and integration of data and indicators; and assessment of robustness of the selected data and integration processes. Decisions regarding the tool should be iteratively informed by meaningful community engagement, validation to ensure tool results reflect real-world experiences, and careful and thorough documentation of all decision and data processes.
302 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71200-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71201-7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27317
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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