|
Items in cart [1] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 1988
SUMMARY OF PROGRESS
THROUGH ]9 8 8
OCR for page R2
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective
approach to the solution of many problems facing highway
administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of
local interest and can best be studied by highway departments
individually or in cooperation with their state universities and
others. More predominantly, however, the need for more effi-
cient, economical, and safer highway transportation and the
importance of meshing with other modes and other societal
concerns leads to national problems of increasing complexity.
A coordinated program of high-quality cooperative research
provides a highly effective approach to such problems.
In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research
program employing modern scientific techniques. AASHTO's
program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from par-
ticipating member states of the Association and receives the full
cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administra-
tion, United States Department of Transportation.
The Transportation Research Board of the National Research
Council was requested by the Association to administer
AASHTO's research program because of the Board's recognized
objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The
Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as: it maintains an
extensive committee structure from which authorities on any
highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses av
enues of communications and cooperation with federal, state,
and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its
relationship to its parent organization, the National Academy
of Sciences, a private, nonprofit institution, is an insurance of
objectivity; and it maintains a full-time research correlation staff
of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the
findings of research directly to those who are in a position to
use them.
Research programs are developed annually by AASHTO on the
basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the
highway and transportation departments, by committees of
AASHTO, and by the Federal Highway Administrator. The
programs are then referred for administration through the
Transportation Research Board, and research projects address-
ing the specific needs are defined by the Board on the basis of
the AASHTO problem statements. The projects are advertised
widely for proposals, and qualified agencies are selected on the
basis of research plans offering the greatest probabilities of suc-
cess. The research is carried out under contract, and adminis-
tration and surveillance are responsibilities of a Board-appointed
staff.
The needs for highway research are many, and the National
Cooperative Highway Research Program is an efficient mech-
anism for providing timely solutions to problems of mutual
concern to many responsible groups. The Program, however, is
intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate
other highway research programs.
. .
11
1
