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The authors are longtimestaff for TRB’s IDEA orInnovations DeservingExploratory Analysisprograms: Berlin andJawed are SeniorProgram Officers; Masonis CommunicationsOfficer; and Williams isProgram Director.

Gary Rayner was driving his car on a sunnyday in California when half a brick lobbedfrom a passing car dented his hood and

cracked his windshield; the consequences, of course,could have been much more serious. Rayner wishedhe had evidence to prosecute those responsible forthe road rage and to recover the costs of the damage.An inventor, he thought of the onboard black boxesthat record events leading up to airliner crashes. Per-haps he could develop a similar technology for motorvehicles—more than 30,000 people die in highwaycrashes each year in the United States.

Rayner started to work in his spare time towarddeveloping a video event recorder for motor vehicles.The goal was to monitor driving activity by contin-uously recording a video of the roadway, audio, anddirectional g-forces into a digital looping memory.Activities such as hard braking, acceleration, harshcornering, or collisions generate g-forces that couldtrigger the device to save a recording of the event.

Rayner needed more resources to develop a pro-totype for the DriveCam. In 1999, fellow inventorsadvised him to apply for financial assistance from aTransportation Research Board (TRB) program,Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA).IDEA accepted Rayner’s proposal and provided

$100,000 to build several units to prove the viabilityand effectiveness of the technology; California’s tech-nology investment program supplied another$66,000 in cost sharing. According to Rayner,

The timing of the IDEA award was of paramountimportance. It was a major vote of confidenceand a key catalyst in being taken seriously dur-ing our first funding round. The core of the IDEAproposal became the basis of our official businessplan, which helped to get that process started intime for approaching investors. We also foundthat the contacts we made within the U.S.Department of Transportation (DOT), theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration,and the transportation industry because of theIDEA award were almost as valuable as the fund-ing itself.

Today, many vendors worldwide offer enhancedversions of the DriveCam video event recorder. Forfleets, the device can communicate with a centraldatabase in conjunction with a company driver train-ing program. Fleet owners who regularly review theevent recording with their drivers typically report a40 percent to 70 percent reduction in incidents.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrationrecently sponsored a study by the Virginia TechTransportation Institute on the use of video eventrecorders in driver training for two fleets of com-mercial trucks. The study found that risky drivingincidents fell by 52 percent in the first fleet and by34 percent in the second fleet during a 17-weekperiod. For truck fleets, other benefits includedreductions in insurance costs, in vehicle damage, inworkers’ compensation claims, and in personalinjury costs.

Public transportation operators also have adoptedvideo event recorders. Bus fleets in Washington,D.C., Los Angeles County, and San Francisco Countyare equipped with the recorders.

This example epitomizes the IDEA process—pro-pelling high-risk, high-payoff innovation from con-cept into adopted practice for the benefit of thetraveling public.

TRB’s IDEA Programs Turn 20Sparking Innovation Through High-Risk, High-Payoff ResearchH A R V E Y B E R L I N , I N A M J A W E D , L I N D A M A S O N , A N D J O N W I L L I A M S

From Concept to Proof to Practice

A technician installs aDriveCam on aWashingtonMetropolitan AreaTransit Authority bus.DriveCam was developedin 1999 with assistancefrom TRB’s IDEA programand has come into use bybus and truck fleetsacross the country.

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What Is IDEA? From 1987 to 1992, the National Research Councilconducted the first Strategic Highway Research Pro-gram (SHRP) on behalf of state transportation agen-cies. In guiding the program’s planned research, theSHRP Executive Committee identified a need to spurinnovation. They recognized that innovation, likeinspiration, cannot be programmed in a structuredresearch plan with specific projects and tasks.

The SHRP Executive Committee therefore allo-cated 2 percent of all SHRP funds to innovative, high-risk, high-payoff research. The first IDEA programproved viable and successful; Dean Carlson, thenExecutive Director of the Federal Highway Admin-istration (FHWA), and Frank Francois, then Execu-tive Director of the American Association of StateHighway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO),among others, strongly advocated for the continua-tion of IDEA after the conclusion of SHRP in 1992.At the recommendation of the Executive Committee,the SHRP IDEA program moved to TRB as theNational Cooperative Highway Research Program(NCHRP) IDEA.

At first, FHWA and AASHTO jointly funded theNCHRP IDEA program. FHWA gradually had toreduce its contribution, but the AASHTO leadership,

recognizing the value of the program, decided topick up the deficit. In 1999, when FHWA was unableto continue its support, AASHTO assumed the fund-ing responsibility through NCHRP.

Three new programs soon were added, followingthe NCHRP IDEA model: Transit CooperativeResearch Program (TCRP) IDEA, funded by the Fed-eral Transit Administration; High-Speed Rail IDEA,which is no longer active; and railroad Safety IDEA,funded by the Federal Railroad Administration.

How Does IDEA Work? IDEA offers early-stage funding for promising butunproven innovations for highways, transit, and rail-road safety and performance. The program is inde-pendent of the immediate mission concerns of publicagencies and of the short-term financial imperativesof the private sector. Government research programscan refer any innovative, high-risk, unsolicited pro-posals that otherwise might not be funded to theIDEA programs for consideration.

Although the IDEA programs announce generalareas of research interest, the projects are investiga-tor driven. The goal is to promote innovations thatcan progress to next-generation technologies andmethods.

Three IDEA programs currently solicit propos-als: NCHRP IDEA for highways, TCRP IDEA fortransit, and Safety IDEA for railroads. Each IDEAprogram follows a similar administrative model,adapted for sponsorship arrangements and target

Poster sessions presenting and demonstrating IDEAprojects are a regular and well-attended feature atTRB Annual Meetings.

At the 2006 TRB AnnualMeeting, Jean-LouisBriaud (right)demonstrates the BriaudCompaction Device—developed under theNCHRP IDEA program—to measure soil modulusat the surface of acompacted layer.

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audiences. Each program operates through a com-mittee or panel of volunteer transportation expertswho solicit, review, and select proposals that meritresearch contracts.

Anyone can apply for IDEA funds. The focus is onearly-stage projects, not on proven technologies. Twotypes of projects are eligible:

u Proof-of-concept projects, which investigatethe feasibility of a concept and its potential for appli-cation to transportation; and

u Prototype projects, which develop conceptsthat show particular promise.

Cost sharing is a recommended approach,demonstrating to the oversight panels that othersbelieve in the technology enough to commit funds.

Rarely does a product emerge ready-to-go from anIDEA project. Usually further development, evalua-tion, commercialization, marketing, and deploymentmust occur before an innovation is implemented.The trek from concept to application can take yearsand can be costly.

Benefits for Inventors and the PublicIDEA awards up to $150,000 for NCHRP IDEA proj-ects, and up to $100,000 for Transit IDEA and SafetyIDEA projects. The benefits for inventors are morethan monetary, however, and include the following:

u Introduction to potential public agency userswho can test the innovation;

u Assistance and peer review by an expert com-mittee and review panel;

u Exposure through TRB’s website, publications,and poster sessions at TRB’s Annual Meeting; and

u Assistance from TRB staff.

Other programs that can help in later develop-ment for commercialization also review IDEA proj-ects for possible candidates. Examples includeFHWA’s Highways for Life and Every Day Countsinitiatives, the Exploratory Advanced Research Pro-gram, the Small Business Innovation Research, andAASHTO’s Technology Implementation Group.

By nurturing innovation, the programs also ben-efit the public. In addition to demonstrating valuableproducts, the programs attract cost-sharing arrange-ments that boost the value of the public investment.When cost-sharing arrangements augment IDEAfunds, the amount of research that the IDEA pro-grams can support is nearly doubled.

John Hillman, inventor of the hybrid compositebeam (HCB), summarized his experience with IDEA:

The IDEA program has been an invaluable asset.The funding is no doubt critical, in that there justaren’t many avenues for an independent inventoror small company to gain access to that kind ofseed money to pursue the initial stages ofresearch and development. However, beyond thefunding, the IDEA program provides a level ofcredibility that helps gain access to individualswho can help make or break the success of theproject. Whether it is potential customers,investors, or panel members who can providevaluable input, the reputation of the IDEA pro-gram is highly regarded in the transportationindustry and needs no introduction.

Following are several notable success stories fromthe IDEA programs, starting with Hillman’s HCB.

Hybrid Composite Beam for BridgesDeveloped under NCHRP IDEA Project 60, the HCBis a high-strength, lightweight, corrosion-resistantbeam for bridge construction. The HCB comprises

Performance of IDEA Programs

NCHRP TCRP Safety1993–2012 1993–2012 2002–2012

Proposals received 1580 540 225

Awards 171 (11%) 70 (13%) 22 (10)%

Projects completed 147 60 19

Products being used in practice 15% 20% 12%

Great promise for practice 15% 15% 24%

John Hillman (left),inventor of the hybridcomposite beam (HCB),describes the innovativetechnology to a TRBAnnual Meetingattendee in 2004.

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three main subcomponents: a shell, compressionreinforcement, and tension reinforcement.

The shell is a fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) boxbeam. The compression reinforcement consists ofconcrete, pumped into a profiled conduit—generallyan arch—within the beam shell. The tension rein-forcement consists of carbon, glass, or steel fibersanchored at the ends of the compression reinforce-ment. The HCB combines the strength and stiffnessof conventional concrete and steel with the lightweight and corrosion resistance of advanced com-posite materials.

The HCB improves the speed of construction andis well suited to accelerated bridge construction proj-ects. Its service life is estimated at more than 100 years.

An HCB weighs approximately one-tenth of a typ-ical precast concrete beam of the same span length.The lighter weight reduces shipping and erectioncosts—for example, six HCBs can be shipped on atruck that would carry one beam of precast concrete.HCBs require a 30-ton crane instead of the large 150-to 200-ton cranes for precast concrete beams.

The first cost of construction with HCBs—whichincludes transportation, installation, preparation forservice, and other initial capital expenditures—iscompetitive with that for conventional methodsusing prestressed concrete beams. Costs willdecrease, however, as demand for HCBs increases,creating economies of scale. With its longer servicelife, HCB is superior in terms of life-cycle costs.AASHTO’s Technology Implementation Groupselected the HCB as a focus technology for imple-mentation in 2011.

Examples of structures with HCBs include theLockport Township High Road Bridge over Long RunCreek in Illinois, the Route 23 Bridge over Peck-man’s Brook in Cedar Grove, New Jersey—both con-structed in 2009—and the Knickerbocker Bridgebuilt in 2011 over Back River in Boothbay, Maine.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently usedHCBs in Bridge No. 4 at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Vir-ginia DOT is installing HCBs to replace Tide MillBridge in Fredericksburg. Missouri’s “Safe and SoundProject” is building three HCB bridges with a grantfrom FHWA Highways for LIFE.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) is con-ducting live load tests of a full-scale HCB rail bridgeat the Transportation Technology Center, Inc., nearPueblo, Colorado. If the tests prove successful, BNSFmay install the span on a structure in revenue service.

For his invention of the HCB, Hillman hasreceived the Engineering News Record 2010 Award ofExcellence and recently was named recipient of the2013 Charles Pankow Award for innovation fromthe American Society of Civil Engineers. Otherrecognitions include the American Council of Engi-neering Companies’ 2009 Grand Award for the Lock-port Township High Road Bridge and the 2010NOVA Award from the Construction InnovationForum.

Admixture for Improved CorrosionResistance of Concrete The corrosion of reinforcing steel undermines thedurability of concrete structures exposed to deicingchemicals or to the marine environment. ThroughNCHRP IDEA Project 13, inventors–investigatorsJack Stephens and James Mahoney, working at theUniversity of Connecticut in collaboration with Con-necticut DOT, developed an additive that inhibitsthe corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete. Theadditive is based on highly hydrophobic dipolaralkenyl dicarboxylic acid diammonium salts.

The HCB undergoestesting under a projectfunded by NCHRP IDEAand High-Speed RailIDEA.

Several transportation agencies are using HCBs inconstruction and replacement of bridges, as in thereplacement of Knickerbocker Bridge in Boothbay,Maine.

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The New England Transportation Consortiumevaluated the IDEA product and has established theadditive’s performance and its effect on concrete prop-erties. The product is now being marketed as Hycrete,a corrosion inhibitor, by Hycrete Technologies, Inc., ofCarlstadt, New Jersey. The IDEA product forms thebasis of a suite of trademarked Hycrete products forinhibiting corrosion and for waterproofing.

The admixture reduces the permeability of con-crete to water and chloride, as well as the corrosionof reinforcing steel bars in cracked concrete. Thehydrophobic quality of the admixture makes the con-crete waterproof and eliminates the need—and theassociated costs—of adding a waterproofing mem-brane.

Hycrete increases the cost per cubic yard of con-crete by approximately 25 to 30 percent. Nonethe-less, the advantages outweigh the increase in materialcosts: superior corrosion resistance, reduced main-tenance, and longer service life. A life-cycle costanalysis by Virginia DOT for the 2007 constructionseason estimated that Hycrete would save $1.5 mil-lion each year in net costs and would increase servicelife by 10 percent.1

New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Kansas,the six New England states, and the U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers have experimented with Hycrete forthe past several years, focusing on long-term perfor-mance. Virginia DOT and Ohio DOT already haveapproved Hycrete for construction projects. Despitethe slow rate of acceptance by state DOTs, the privatesector increasingly is using Hycrete for projects suchas parking garages and buildings.

In 2009, President Barack Obama invited theCEO of Hycrete, Inc., to the White House for aroundtable of eight CEOs of clean technology–focused companies to share insights on the economicimpact of environmentally friendly technologies.

Corrosion-Resistant Steel forConcrete Reinforcement Gareth Thomas, inventor and investigator on

NCHRP IDEA Project 28, developed an improved,dual-phase ferritic martensitic (DFM) reinforcingsteel that has superior mechanical properties andcorrosion resistance.

The high-strength DFM steel is a low-alloy, low-carbon metal produced by quenching the alloy fromthe two-phase ferrite–austenite field, yielding a mix-ture of ferrite and martensite. The IDEA researchercontinued to work with DFM, developing MMFXsteel, which has approximately five times the corro-sion resistance and twice the strength of conven-tional steel. MMFX Steel Corporation of Americawas founded in 1998 in San Diego, California, tocommercialize and market the new product.

MMFX steel has superior mechanical propertiesbut is more expensive than regular steel. The manu-facturers note, however, that the yield strength ofMMFX steel is 100 to 120 ksi higher than that of con-ventional Grade 60 steel; construction projects there-fore can be completed with 20 percent to 50 percentless steel and at labor costs for placement and fabri-cation that are up to 60 percent lower.

In addition, the superior corrosion resistance addsyears to the service life of the structure. In 2007,Michigan DOT projected a higher service life for abridge with MMFX steel instead of with epoxy-coatedsteel and concluded that MMFX steel reinforcementwas worth the investment of approximately $12 moreper square yard.2

Several state DOTs and FHWA have evaluated themechanical performance and corrosion resistance ofMMFX steel, validating the superior corrosion resis-tance. MMFX rebar qualifies as ASTM A615 Grade75; ASTM A1035-04 low-carbon, chromium steel

An additive that inhibitsthe corrosion ofreinforcing steel inconcrete, developedthrough an NCHRP IDEAproject, now is marketedas Hycrete and has beenapproved forconstruction projects inat least two states.

1 Virginia Transportation Research Council Final Report07-R30; www.virginia.dot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/07-r30.pdf.

2 Michigan Department of Transportation Research ReportR-1499; www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Research_Report_R1499_209781_7.pdf.

MMFX steel was used in the construction of a bridgedeck in Gundy County, Iowa. The developer of thecorrosion-resistant and high-strength material beganexperimenting with dual-phase ferritic martensiticreinforcing steel under an NCHRP IDEA project.

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bars for concrete reinforcement at 100,000 psi; andAASHTO M31 Grade 75.

MMFX steel is now in use across North Americaon bridges, highways, parking structures, and resi-dential and commercial buildings. Applicationsinclude bridge decks in Connecticut, Delaware,Florida, Kentucky, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ver-mont, Texas, Puerto Rico, and Manitoba, Canada.Washington State DOT has used MMFX steel dowelbars on several pavement projects.

In 2011, a Pennsylvania DOT survey found anincreasing use of MMFX steels by state DOTS; 10states had used MMFX steel on a total of 27 bridges,with Maine’s 8 bridge projects and New Mexico’s 7leading the way. No state has reported major issues,although the oldest bridge using MMFX steel isabout 9 years old and the newest a little more than 1year old.

Virginia DOT allows the use of MMFX steel rebarsas an alternative to stainless steel or stainlesssteel–clad rebars. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineersused MMFX steel throughout the structure of theLake Tenkiller Spillway Channel Bridge in SequoyaCounty, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Navy has used it inhybrid modular piers in San Diego.

Thomas was named 2002 winner of the ASCECharles Pankow Award for innovation in design andconstruction and 2004 winner of the NOVA Awardfrom the Construction Innovation Forum, an inter-national nonprofit, for innovations that improve con-struction quality and reduce costs. The World ofConcrete Exposition recognized MMFX steel withthe 2004 Experts’ Choice Award.

Automated Rail Wheel Inspection SystemTransit IDEA Project 17 assisted inventor Zack Mianin the development of a system for the automatedinspection of rail wheel flanges to improve rail tracksafety. The New York State Energy Research andDevelopment Authority provided additional fund-ing for development of the system.

A series of 3-D laser scanners and cameras ismounted at trackside with a series of ultrasonic sen-sors to scan an entire cross section of a wheel. Theoutput is a digitized profile of the wheel that isprocessed through geometric algorithm software.The algorithm incorporates standard wheel mea-surement data with additional computations tocheck critical characteristics, such as wheel cracks,flange angle, and wheel diameter.

The product generates a complete profile of a railwheel and evaluates the wheel and flange for wear.The inspection system improves track performanceand safety with a faster and more accurate inspection

of wheels, enabling more efficient maintenance. CSX has purchased and installed five in-ground

wheel inspection systems for CSX yards. New JerseyTransit has purchased the system to inspect wheelson rail transit vehicles. The automated rail wheelinspection system has created jobs for U.S. work-ers—the U.S. company that developed the systemfrom the Transit IDEA project has sent U.S. employ-ees to build and install the system in Sydney, Aus-tralia, and Izmir, Turkey.

Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiationfor Transit BusesHouston Metro field-tested ultraviolet germicidalirradiation (UVGI) in transit bus air conditioningsystems and found significant reductions of mold,bacteria, fungi, and harmful viruses in the vehicles,providing health-related benefits to bus passengers,drivers, and employees. Developed under TransitIDEA Project 53 by inventor Lee Huston, the UVGI

A Transit IDEA projectassisted in thedevelopment of a systemfor automated inspectionof rail wheel flanges. Thesystem is now in use inseveral CSX rail yards andalso has been purchasedby New Jersey Transit.

Ultraviolet germicidalirradiation reduces thebuildup of mold,bacteria, fungi, andviruses on transit bus airconditioning systems. TheTransit IDEA product alsoincreases fuel efficiencyand can extend theservice life of thesystem’s evaporator.

also protects against bioterrorist contaminants;increases air flows, contributing to more efficientcooling and lower maintenance costs; and reducesfuel costs for transit buses.

Yet another benefit emerged when the UVGI sys-tem was used in conjunction with the newlydesigned, reusable electrostatic air filter. The systemwas found to improve particle size capture withoutreducing the air flow to the evaporator; the reducedcleaning time for the evaporator extended the com-ponent’s service life.

Transit agencies in Fort Worth, Texas, and in WestPalm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Jack-sonville, Florida, have purchased and installed UVGI

systems in transit bus air conditioning systems. TheChicago Transit Authority has included the UVGIsystem in specifications for purchasing new articu-lated buses. Dallas Area Rapid Transit also has written the UVGI system into its purchasing specifi-cations; 400 buses equipped with the system arescheduled for delivery.

Warning Rail Transit Personnel ofApproaching TrainsPeter Bartek invented a system to warn rail transitpersonnel that trains are approaching and developedthe product through Transit IDEA Project 55. Whenit detects an approaching train, the warning systemimmediately sends a protected signal that turns on aset of wireless safety lights and horns in the workzone and triggers personal arm band devices worn bytrack workers, flaggers, and trackwalkers. In addi-tion, a device installed in the train cab warns theoperator that transit track workers are ahead.

Staff of the National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB) demonstrated the technology at a publicmeeting in January 2008 and recommended theadoption of alert technology to prevent track-workerfatalities on rail transit systems (NTSB Report R-08-04). This Transit IDEA–developed product also hascreated jobs in the United States for the manufactureand installation of the component devices for theU.S. and export markets.

Rail transit operators implementing the technol-ogy include the Chicago Transit Authority; the Los Angeles County Metropolitan TransportationAuthority; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transporta-tion Authority; Santa Clara Valley Transit Authorityin California; the Greater Cleveland Regional TransitAuthority in Ohio; Sound Transit serving the Seattle,Washington, area; the Massachusetts Bay Trans-portation Authority serving Boston; and the Mary-land Transit Administration serving Baltimore. TheMetropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority inGeorgia and the Charlotte Area Transit System inNorth Carolina have purchased the devices for instal-lation on their rail transit systems. Queensland Railof Australia and Russian railways also have pur-chased the U.S.-manufactured devices.

Opportunities for InventorsThe TRB IDEA programs accept proposals from inven-tors year round. Oversight committees for each pro-gram select innovations for awards twice a year for thehighway and the transit IDEA, and annually for therailroad safety IDEA. Information on submitting pro-posals is posted on the TRB website at www.trb.org/IDEAProgram/IDEASubmitProposal.aspx, or call 202-334-3310 or e-mail dewilliams@nas.edu.

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Peter Bartekdemonstrates the railwarning system heinvented for increasedtrack worker safety withsupport of the TransitIDEA program.

Since 2002, Ignition, themagazine of TRB’s IDEAprograms, has exploredinitiatives and products.

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