Through a first of its kind collaboration between National Highways, industry and the University of Cambridge, the Roads Research Alliance (RRA) is driving research and innovation across the roads sector. The Roads Research Alliance brings together global expertise from across engineering, digital technology, and academia to accelerate research into decarbonisation, climate resilience, digital transformation and network productivity.
Mike Wilson, Chief Engineer from National Highways, said:
“We’re facing significant challenges in the coming years, and we won’t meet them by standing still. The collaboration between industry and academia is key to ensuring we keep pace with a rapidly changing world. What makes the RRA distinctive is the quality of the partnerships – industry and academic partners aren’t just contributing funding, they’re bringing their people, their expertise and their real-world challenges. That’s what turns research into something the sector can actually use.”
Professor Ioannis Brilakis from the University of Cambridge added:
“The Roads Research Alliance (RRA) is a unique opportunity to establish a collaborative research and development mechanism to help advance innovations across the transport sector towards market readiness. The RRA has undertaken significant work to setup the foundations for this with support from the University of Cambridge led Future Roads Fellowships Programme. The latest developments continue to demonstrate the value innovation and collaboration have on the future of road infrastructure.”
England’s road network is entering a period of significant change, with traffic projected to grow by up to 54% by 2060*, putting increasing pressure on infrastructure and driving demand for practical innovation that delivers real results. In response, the RRA is evolving with a stronger outcomes-driven and adoption-focused approach, helping turn new ideas, technologies and research into solutions that can be rapidly adopted. The new model will also expand the RRA’s research network, bringing together universities and organisations best placed to deliver practical, real-world projects.
The alliance’s latest results show significant progress in tackling some of the roads sector’s biggest challenges, including decarbonisation, climate resilience, asset management and digital transformation.
Key developments include:
AI technology cuts road inspections from hours to seconds
The alliance has developed an AI-enabled pavement assessment tool capable of near- real time analysis of road condition data in seconds rather than hours, with the potential to help National Highways identify defects earlier, prioritise repairs more efficiently and reduce inspection and maintenance costs.
‘Digital twins’ could save millions in maintenance costs
Researchers developed a ‘digital twin’, a real-time digital model of a road or asset, that predicts problems before they happen to improve maintenance efficiency and reduce costs. Successfully tested through case studies on live routes including the A55 and M11, it uses real-time data to spot failures earlier, target maintenance only where needed, minimise disruption and extend asset life.
Flood resilience tools prepare network for climate change
New tools have been developed to assess how roads cope with flooding and extreme rainfall, identifying ulnerable areas before severe weather hits. The modelling predicts how flooding affects journey times, helping National Highways plan investment and reduce the economic impact of road closures.
New low-carbon and recycled road materials
The programme has developed lower-carbon construction materials, including pavements made with 100% reclaimed asphalt and concrete alternatives designed to reduce reliance on traditional carbon-intensive materials.
These innovations support National Highways’ target to decarbonise construction and maintenance by 2040 while helping reduce long-term material and operational costs.
(Picture: Roads Research Alliance)
