FHWA Awards Grants for Iowa and North Dakota Infrastructure Projects

This article is taken from the September 28, 2023 USDA Grain Transportation Report.

Two projects in Iowa and one in North Dakota — all three, relevant to grain transportation — were among the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) newly awarded grants for infrastructure projects.

Funded by FHWA’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program, the projects leverage innovative transportation technologies to rebuild the Nation’s infrastructure. A $1 million project of the Iowa DOT and Buena Vista County will map and identify Iowa’s gravel road network and create an asset management tool.

Accessible to county engineers across Iowa, the tool will be used to calculate performance indicators and remaining service life of the gravel roads. A $1 million asset management pilot project of the Iowa DOT will use e-ticketing, digital as-builts, and other technologies to schedule timely and critical repairs.

Finally, a $532,500 project of the North Dakota DOT (NDDOT) aims to prevent vehicles from striking North Dakota bridges. NDDOT will address this issue by deploying oversize vehicle measuring system technology.