Small and rural transportation agencies are responsible for building or maintaining nearly 3 million miles of roadways and more than 29,000 bridges in the U.S. Ensuring that these local agencies have access to the knowledge and tools they need to do their jobs effectively depends on getting information about proven, new technologies and processes from the research centers into the hands of the transportation professionals who can implement them in the field. This article provides an overview of the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), introduced in the 1980s by the Federal Highway Administration to facilitate information exchange in support of local road and bridge agencies. The focus is on LTAP's Product Demonstration Showcase Program, unveiled in 1995 with the goal of reducing the timeline for moving new technologies from state-of-the-art status to state-of-the-practice at the local level.
Samenvatting