1604995 - Construction Materials Digitization in the United States and the Future of the Connected Jobsite

The horizontal construction industry finds itself in a unique convergence of circumstances: an urgent need to innovate, a looming workforce gap that will require technology to meet future demands, and an unprecedented investment in our national infrastructure. More than ever before, transportation agencies are looking to enhance workzone safety, understand carbon emissions, and move away from paper based operations. 

This presentation will discuss the rapid efforts currently underway in states across the nation where all project stakeholders are embracing e-Ticketing to unlock the future of the connected jobsite and workzone. Through the Every Day Counts 6 Initiative by the Federal Highway Administration, e-Ticketing showcased the power of moving away from paper based operations, and by keeping it simple and extracting the data on the paper ticket, safety and jobsite efficiency is enhanced and sharing project data to all stakeholders streamline project delivery. With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems (ADCMS) grants also being released, state officials are able to rapidly accelerate the deployment of digital tools on the construction jobsite. 

With the data gateway now opened, all project stakeholders are viewing previously unavailable data streams, future technology deployment is easily scalable. Attendees will understand how state construction materials and traffic safety officials are able to layer in machine data, environmental product declarations, and digital as-builts to achieve an interoperable digital ecosystem. When these building blocks are strung together, the entire supply chain, more easily than ever before, communicates to the traveling public that construction is under way, understand real-time carbon emissions tracking at the jobsite, and be able to move towards digital inspection of material delivery. 

These collections of federal programs and generational funding efforts enable our industry to answer the call to reimagine the future of transportation construction, utilizing today's digital tools to build tomorrow's roads. By embracing easily accessible, scalable, and simple jobsite tools, the United States can remain globally competitive by ensuring that our workzones are safer, more sustainable, and resilient to the already encroaching climate challenges impacting our nation’s infrastructure.