various images of LTAP work throughout the state

FHWA recognizes local innovations through BABM Booklet

Ouachita, Terrebonne featured as honorable mentions in 2019 booklet

Photo of article on BABM innovations in FHWA bookletPhoto of article on BABM innovations in FHWA booklet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) annually recognizes innovation among local agencies and tribes through the Build a Better Mousetrap (BABM) national competition. BABM shines a spotlight on those frontline workers who use their expertise and creativity to solve everyday problems that improve safety, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.

In the 2019 BABM booklet, Ouachita’s catch basin lid assist tool and Terrebonne’s in-a-pinch salt spreader were featured as among the Honorable Mentions in local transportation innovations across the country. See pages 18-19 of the booklet.

The FHWA Office of Innovative Program Delivery’s Center for Local Aid Support administers the Build a Better Mousetrap national competition. Entrants are winners from competitions throughout the country.

This year’s winners were selected based on an innovation’s cost savings, benefits to the community or agency, ingenuity, and ease of transference to other agencies. FHWA also considered an innovation’s effectiveness in three categories: Facilities Improvements, Inspection and Data Collection, and Maintenance Tools and Methods. The competition’s fourth category, Asset Management Techniques, had no entrants in 2019.

Return to BABM section.