Guidance for the technical evaluation of earth retention systems is provided in the Innovations, Developments, Enhancement and Advancements (IDEA) protocol. The protocol is overseen by the IDEA Evaluation Review Panel (ERP), which reviews, develops, and approves modifications to the protocol. At the recent ERP meeting, approval was granted to revise the provision on Technical Evaluation Updates. The IDEA evaluation report has a five-year term, after which wall suppliers are required to renew or update their ERS evaluation.

IDEA technical reviewers will consider the following evaluation items during the update of technical reports: modifications to system components, changes to the design method used in the original system evaluation, changes to construction procedures, and other modifications to system components. Upon approval, the evaluation report is awarded a new five-year term and published on the IDEA webpage.

IDEA evaluation reports are available to DOTs/Owners to incorporate IDEA as the system approval tool for public owners. The owner may require supplemental information beyond what the standard IDEA evaluation covers. The owner would modify their current approval requirements to include an IDEA evaluation and outline the supplemental information.

Learn more about the IDEA program