FHWA-allied pavement interests form Reduced Carbon Concrete Consortium 

Sources: American Concrete Pavement Association, Rosemont, Ill.; CP staff The American Concrete Pavement Association, Iowa State University-hosted National Concrete Pavement Technology Center and allies have formed the Reduced Carbon Concrete Consortium (RC3) to assist state departments of transportation and other qualifying entities eyeing grants under the just-announced Federal Highway Administration Low-Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) program. RC3 will provide DOTs technical…

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Materials, manufactured concrete groups challenge FHWA GHG yardstick

Sources: National Precast Concrete Association, Carmel, Ind.; CP staff In a letter to U.S. House and Senate members, 14 associations representing construction materials, products and downstream interests question the Federal Highway Administration’s authority to proceed with a greenhouse gas performance measure on projects the agency funds. Their argument traces the absence of a legal basis for a November 2023 FHWA…

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FHWA publishes portland limestone cement benchmark

The Federal Highway Administration’s new TechNote on Portland Limestone Cement (FHWA-HRT-23-104) provides state highway agencies, contractors and concrete practitioners information enabling broader adoption of a blended binder to which cement plants across North America are migrating. The 12-page document reviews the history of PLC in the U.S.; chemical and physical requirements for a binder combining portland cement + 5-15 percent…

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FHWA states case for portland limestone cement specifications

Sources: Federal Highway Administration; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.: CP staff The Federal Highway Administration’s new TechNote on Portland Limestone Cement (FHWA-HRT-23-104) provides state highway agencies, contractors and concrete practitioners information enabling broader adoption of a blended binder to which cement plants across North America are migrating. The 12-page document reviews the history of PLC in the U.S.;…

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EPA, Commerce, Energy, FHWA officials empower Carbon Neutral Summit

  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Federal Highway Administration and National Institute of Standards and Technology representatives offered and compiled takeaways as participants in the first Summit on Accelerating Carbon Neutral Concrete Materials and Technologies. NEU: An American Concrete Institute Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete hosted the early-fall event to engage public and private construction stakeholders…

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FHWA: Most states endorse EPD for Sustainable Project Delivery

Federal Highway Administration Sustainable Pavements Program team members are engaging with representatives of the 40 state departments of transportation implementing Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for Sustainable Project Delivery. The initiative is part of the 2023-2024 round of Every Day Counts, an FHWA program launched in 2009 “to advance a culture of innovation in the transportation community with public and private…

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U.S. DOT announces $7 million in grants to promote LCA, EPD adoption

The Federal Highway Administration has awarded $204,000-$312,000 grants to support sustainable pavement, materials emissions tracking and related initiatives at more than 20 state departments of transportation. Many of the initiatives are centered on developing, adopting or advancing the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and environmental product declarations (EPD). The latter encompass LCA data and are the most widely…

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FHWA outlines $7 million in grants to promote LCA, EPD adoption

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation; CP staff The Federal Highway Administration has announced $204,000-$312,000 grants to support sustainable pavement, materials emissions tracking and related initiatives at more than 20 state departments of transportation. Many of the initiatives are centered on developing, adopting or advancing the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and environmental product declarations (EPD). The latter encompass…

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Agency eclipses typical government pace with embodied carbon action

The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration were set for center stage this year thanks to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and contract activity. Yet a sister agency with its $75 billion building and pavement contracting budget is stealing some of the thunder.  The General Services Administration is capturing attention with its Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Standards…

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FHWA quantifies FY2022 Infrastructure Investment windfall

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation; CP staff The Federal Highway Administration confirms a 20 percent increase in funding apportioned to the 50 states and District of Columbia: $52.5 billion for fiscal year 2022, versus $42 billion for 2021 (October 2020-September 2021). Annual funding the agency disburses for the Federal-aid Highway Program is based on a statutory formula contained in the…

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