Historically, concrete strength has been one of the primary properties specified to ensure concrete quality. As the construction industry advances, owners and major stakeholders are increasingly desiring longer lasting, durable concrete pavements and structures. Durable, sustainable concrete is considered to be long-lasting and low maintenance over its service life. For many years, concrete specifications have focused on mechanical properties such as slump, air content, and strength, but there is a need for performance specifications that are geared towards concrete durability. Performance Engineered Mixtures (PEMs) have sparked interest amongst owners due to the fact that these mixtures tend to outperform mixtures specified using conventional, prescriptive, strength-focused means. Often PEMs contain Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) such as fly ash. SCMs tend to provide several benefits to concrete mixtures including increased workability and reduced permeability but also tend to slow early strength gain. To prevent cracking, properties such as shrinkage resistance have been targeted as a durable characteristic of concrete, and PEM guidance recommends shrinkage specifications for appropriate applications. However, very few State Highway Agencies (SHAs) currently utilize specifications for shrinkage limits. The goals of this research were to evaluate the impact of fly ash on compressive strength, flexural strength, and unrestrained shrinkage resistance using North Carolina pavement and structural concrete mixtures. Utilizing current and historical test data, along with a review of federal recommendations and current SHA specifications for strength and shrinkage, this research identifies early-age strength and shrinkage resistance targets and suggests specifications for use by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). These specification provisions are specifically developed to ensure PEMs containing SCMs and other sustainable materials such as portland limestone cement (PLC) are not unintentionally precluded from use.Twenty-four concrete mixtures were developed using typical materials specified by NCDOT for concrete bridges and pavements. Various water/cement ratios (w/cm), cementitious material contents, fly ash replacement rates, and PLC substitutions were used. In addition, the mixture matrix was designed to include mixtures with proportions providing a range of higher than typical, typical, and less than typical mixture characteristics. Fresh and hardened concrete properties were tested to support the identification of performance targets for early-age strength and shrinkage, as well as specifications recommendations. It was found that NCDOT’s recent decision to increase the allowable replacement rate of fly ash from 20% to 30% should not adversely impact long-term strength, but should provide durability and sustainability benefits. Test results for PLC mixtures were comparable to those for ordinary portland cement mixtures, indicating that different performance specification provisions for these types of mixtures are likely not necessary. The findings of this research supported suggested modifications of existing NCDOT targets and specifications for early-age strength for opening concrete structures and pavements to traffic. Additionally, this research supported development of a suggested shrinkage specification that includes potential performance targets for use by NCDOT. An analysis of results indicated that the specification targets identified should be readily achievable for contractors producing quality concrete and could be readily implemented. Implementation of these performance targets and specification provisions could allow NCDOT to move towards increased use of PEMs for more durable, sustainable infrastructure.