An AI-enabled pavement assessment tool, digital twins, flood resilience tools and new low-carbon and recycled road materials are among the recent innovations from the Road Research Alliance (RRA).

Originally formed in 2022, the RRA is a collaboration between National Highways and the University of Cambridge designed to tackle ‘some of the sector's biggest challenges' by drawing on ‘global expertise' from across engineering, digital technology, and academia. 

The latest update on its £6.4m Future Roads programme reveals 'significant progress' in tackling issues such as 'decarbonisation, climate resilience, digital transformation and network productivity'.

This includes the installation of sensor technology on the M25 Junction 10 Wisley Interchange overbridge by a consortium of alliance partners and an ‘initial optimisation' of East Midlands winter gritting routes.

The RRA also explored the use of AI for studying how traffic, natural hazards and microclimates impact pavement deterioration and developed a standalone software prototype for rapid AI-enabled interpretation of traffic speed deflectometer data, which reduces processing time ‘from hours to seconds'.

RRA researchers also worked on developing ‘digital twins' - described as real-time digital models of a road or asset that can be used to help ‘predict problems before they happen'. Its Roads Research Alliance Progress Report 2025/26 highlights that it has 'successfully tested' digital twins on live routes, including the A55 and M11, helping asset managers to ‘spot failures earlier, target maintenance only where needed, minimise disruption and extend asset life'.

Some of the other projects undertaken by the alliance, which features 22 industry partners, include the development of low-carbon construction materials and tools to assess network resilience to extreme weather.

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.'

With 26 projects covered by the Future Roads programme, the RRA stated that over half of these are expected to deliver ‘outputs at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3-6, ranging from experimental proof of concept through to demonstration in relevant environments'.

The past year saw the completion of the first tranche of research (Cohort 1), with progress continuing across Cohorts 2 and 3. 

Professor Ioannis Brilakis from the University of Cambridge added: ‘The 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 set up 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.'