Caution: Road Construction Design Ahead
In the “2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” by the American Society of Civil Engineers, it was noted that only 42% of America’s public roads are in good condition [1]. For any drivers tired of constant road construction, this news is far from reassuring. In an era of booming technological development, it seems especially frustrating that road construction innovation does not follow some construction equivalent to Moore’s Law. Fortunately, recent breakthroughs in nanotechnology offer lasting solutions to this challenge and, furthermore, offer insightful perspectives into the world of design.
Road construction on Indiana’s interstate highways [2]. Whether one is driving in sprawling urban centers or in vast ranges far away from cities, it seems road construction is everywhere.
Not only is road construction irritatingly continuous, it seems profligate: in 2022, the federal government allocated $128 billion for highway construction [3]. That massive amount is larger than every state budget besides New York, Texas, and California [4]. However, road construction is just a snippet of a much larger picture. Fixing bridges across the United States, for example, could cost up to $400 billion if all the necessary repairs were made [5]. Concrete, one of the key materials in road and bridge construction (along with asphalt and steel), is used in virtually all construction projects. Worldwide, only water is used in more excess than concrete [6].
Concrete is critical to modern infrastructure, but it is expensive to produce and must be replaced when it is damaged. In America, concrete upkeep requires $12 billion in expenditures every year, and much of this is road repair [6]. Concrete restoration, which includes aesthetic repair to concrete, is projected to have, globally, a $17.9 billion market share in 2025 [7]. In one study discussing innovation in various industries, it was noted that construction outranks only hunting and agriculture in terms of its technological progress [8].
While many have been swept up in the fervor of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), scientists and engineers recognize that developments in a material so basic, and yet so crucial, as concrete may be even more impactful. For this reason, novel self-healing concrete is being investigated, and AI is even helping. One concrete mixture uses water-activated bacteria to seal cracks, which lengthens the lifespan of concrete more than 15 years and decreases upkeep costs [9]. Although this material is not widely used, this technology could revolutionize the commercial concrete industry, and, in turn, change the world.
This graphic illustrates the process of healing cracks in concrete. Bacteria mixed into the concrete as an aggregate imparts this self-healing ability [9]. The above concrete, Sensicrete, is sold by a UK-based company that is pioneering new concrete development [10].
This technology employs a classic design principle: improving upon good design. Concrete has been used extensively since Roman times and has been gradually improved upon. Self-healing concrete represents the next iteration in continuing to improve the time-proven design of concrete for building structures. Often, good designs are made by synthesizing tried-and-true techniques with cutting edge technology. Dr. John Salmon calls it “design for the ordinary.”
For many of us, the products used in routine, daily living may be overlooked possibilities of innovation when compared to more glamorous alternatives. We almost come to love older designs that could be improved simply because of the nostalgia - like basketballs, roundabouts, or window blinds. Opportunities for innovation are literally lying around us.
When we envision the future, we need materials that can bear the requisite loads and last long enough to allow resources to be used elsewhere. New concrete design, when fully embraced by the construction industry, will be a foundation for the buildings and structures of tomorrow’s world. For the rest of us, looking for ways to innovate and design, sometimes the place to begin is right under our feet.
[1] American Society of Civil Engineers, “2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure: Roads,” https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/roads-infrastructure/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20the%20growing%20wear%20and,over%20the%20past%20several%20years
[2] IndyStar, “How planned work on I-465 and I-69 compares to recent projects,” https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/transportation/2020/11/25/indianapolis-road-construction-i-465-69-projects-over-since-2010/3694604001/
[3] Slate, “How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction,” https://slate.com/business/2024/08/construction-traffic-cars-driving-transportation-highway.html
[4] Wikipedia, “List of U.S. state budgets,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_budgets
[5] Roads & Bridges, “Federal Data Shows Progress in Repairing America’s Bridges,” https://www.roadsbridges.com/iija/news/55138223/federal-data-shows-progress-in-repairing-americas-bridges
[6] Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, “Self Healing-Cement,” https://www.pnnl.gov/available-technologies/self-healing-cement
[7] The Business Research Company, “Concrete Restoration Global Market Report 2025,” https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/concrete-restoration-global-market-report
[8] L. Cook, C. Wantenaar, and B. Wise, “An Exploratory Study of the Cutting-Edge Development of Nanotechnology Pertaining to the Construction Industry,” Materials Science Forum, vol. 1046, pp. 95–103, Sep. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.1046.95.
[9] Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, “Building a sustainable future: the incredible potential of self-healing concrete,” https://www.rics.org/news-insights/building-a-sustainable-future-the-incredible-potential-of-self-healing-concrete
[10] Sensicon, “Self-healing concrete,” https://www.sensicon.co.uk/sensicrete-self-healing-concrete/
To cite this article:
Conover, Dylan. “Caution: Road Construction Design Ahead.” The BYU Design Review, 17 Mar. 2025, https://www.designreview.byu.edu/collections/caution-road-construction-design-ahead.
