The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has given a total of $484m in grants to 40 projects through the eighth round of its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) programme.

The new group of winners to receive the grants were selected following a tough competition.

DOT received 585 applications seeking over $9.3bn.

"A great TIGER programme doesn’t just improve transportation; it expands economic opportunity and transforms a community."

Of the $484m, the DOT awarded $193m to applicants of highway and bridge projects, $97m for pedestrian and bicycle paths, $93m for transit projects, $54m for maritime infrastructure and $47m to freight and passenger rail projects, reported Engineering News-Record.

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said: “For the eighth year running, TIGER will inject critical infrastructure dollars into communities across the country.

“This unique programme rewards innovative thinking and collaborative solutions to difficult and sometimes dangerous transportation problems.

“A great TIGER programme doesn’t just improve transportation; it expands economic opportunity and transforms a community.”

The TIGER grant programme has been created to support projects such as multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects, which are difficult to fund through traditional federal programmes.

Since 2009, the programme has provided a total of $5.1bn to 421 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and tribal communities.