A Nationwide Survey of Civil Engineering-Related R & D/Cerf Report No, 93-5006 December 1993

This report, "A Nationwide Survey of Civil Engineering-Related R&D (CERF Report No. 93-5006)", provides the first comprehensive data on the current level of civil engineering-related R&D investment, funding organizations, research performers, and areas of research emphasis. The report was co-sponsored by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), with the technical support of Aspen Systems Corporation. The central finding is that all civil engineering-related R&D funding amounted to $2.1 billion in 1992. The value of construction put in place in 1992 is estimated by the Commerce Department as $425.8 billion, indicating that the level of R&D investment by all sectors within the construction community is approximately 0.5 percent. The largest sponsor of civil engineering-related R&D is the Federal Government (62.9 percent), followed by industry (16.3 percent). Civil engineering-related R&D investment is expected to increase by approximately 6 percent in 1993. The report documents a substantial amount of under-reporting of civil engineering-related R&D investment by the construction industry, and notes that nearly three-fourths of all firms do not designate a budget line item for these expenditures. The study provides some comparisons with civil engineering-related R&D in other countries, especially Japan. The report concludes with specific recommendations for all sectors of the civil engineering community.