Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) pavement and materials research and development (R&D) is concerned with all aspects of highway pavement engineering and management, including: long-term performance; structural design; material testing, evaluation, specification; mixture design and optimization for both traditional and innovative materials; performance evaluation and prediction; construction; life-cycle cost analysis; and the environmental and sustainability aspects and implications of highway pavements.

FHWA's pavement and materials R&D provides technologies and solutions to advance the state of the practice in highway pavement engineering. FHWA's pavement and materials research is carried out as an integral part of FHWA's broader Infrastructure Research and Technology (R&T) Program. Accordingly, it contributes to agency-wide efforts to achieve Infrastructure R&T goals and strategic objectives.

To achieve these goals and objectives, the Office of Infrastructure R&D's three pavement teams conduct and manage research encompassing the elements needed to enable an integrated, comprehensive, performance-based approach to managing highway pavement infrastructure. This includes: structural design and performance analysis; material testing, evaluation and specification for traditional, recycled/reused, and innovative materials; long-term performance; construction technologies; monitoring and assessment of both structural and functional performance; preservation and life-cycle cost analysis.