Institute for Transportation

Research end demonstration bridge projects to further develop the use of wood for transportation structures increased substantially in the United States (U.S.) in 1988 under a legislative action by the U.S. Congress known as the Timber bridge Initiative. This program, renamed the Wood in Transportation Program, continues today and is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service (FS). The U. S. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been involved in timber bridge research since 1990. The FHWA program increased substantially under the transportation bill known as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. ISTEA authorized significant funding from 1992 to 1997 for timber bridge research, technology transfer, and demonstration bridges. A large number of research projects have been initiated, and a number of demonstration bridges have been built under both programs. This paper will provide an overview of the research program as well as summarize the demonstration timber bridge programs.