Binational Relations Programs

Asia-Pacific Region

Republic of Korea

FHWA has had a long-standing and successful relationship with the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) engaging in annual workshops, exchange of technical experts and establishing a training program for Korean engineers. To date, there have been 19 workshops. During the workshops, participants share their respective country's best practices and state-of-the-art technology on a broad range of transportation-related topics. Both countries have benefited from the exchanges in several ways, such as benchmarking the respective agencies' transportation practices and technology; face-to-face collaboration on complex issues and field-tested solutions; in-person technical assistance and observation of each country's state-of-the-art technology; and hands-on learning through site visits that is not possible remotely. A wide variety of topics have been covered, including among others analysis and design of geohazard protection and stabilization; automated bridge inspection system; segmented bridge construction method; structural health monitoring (SHM) research and digitized maintenance practices; Unmanned Aerial Systems; truck platooning; robotic inspection of bridges; geohazards and resilience and pedestrian safety. A synthesis report was developed in 2019 which documents the success and value of this important relationship. An article summarizing the collaboration was published in the Summer 2019 issue of Public Roads.