This study was performed under the overall guidance of the NCHRP Project Committee SP 20-06. The Committee is chaired by MICHAEL E. TARDIF, Friemund, Jackson and Tardif, LLC. Members are JAMES R. “JIM” BAILEY, Consultant; RICHARD A. CHRISTOPHER, HDR Engineering; MARCELLE SATTIEWHITE JONES, Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.; SID SCOTT, III, HKA-Global; FRANCINE T. STEELMAN, Florida Department of Transportation.
ZOE GRANT provided liaison with the Federal Highway Administration, ROBERT J. SHEA provided liaison with TRB’s Technical Activities Division, and GWEN CHISHOLM SMITH represents the NCHRP staff.
Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing state departments of transportation (DOTs) administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research.
Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 initiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques—the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). NCHRP is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of AASHTO and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), United States Department of Transportation, under Agreement No. 693JJ31950003.
