Recognizing that the nation’s transportation infrastructure is in need of significant investment, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) launched its Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative. EDC is focused on sharing and promoting proven methods within the transportation industry that shorten project delivery, enhance roadway safety, and protect the environment.

The three pillars of EDC:

• Reduce carbon footprint. The FHWA has established an internal effort to become a greener agency.
• Accelerate technology and innovation deployment by supporting the use effective, proven and market-ready technologies such as warm mix asphalt, prefabricated bridge elements/systems, adaptive signal control technology, safety edge, and geosynthetic reinforced soil.
• Shorten project delivery. FHWA has created a toolkit with strategies to prevent duplicating efforts in the planning and environmental review process, as well as recommendations for innovative contracting practices.

If we can deliver projects faster, they cost less, and more funding is available for critical infrastructure improvements. Our communities will benefit from less congestion, safer roads, and cleaner air and water.

The EDC’s logo includes the words innovation, ingenuity, imagination, and invention. We entered this field because we are people who delight in developing strategies for positive change. The EDC program and its sense of urgency give the transportation industry a framework to advance our best and brightest solutions. With the genuine support of the FHWA, I see companies working faster, being more inclined to reward creativity, and, frankly, because of that, I envision we will all be attending a lot more ribbon cuttings in the near future.

Read more about Dewberry’s involvement with the “Planning and Environmental Linkages” aspect of EDC with the NJDOT I-295/I-76/Route 42 Interchange project.