Benefits

The report analyzes four cities, Albany, N.Y.; Chicago; Los Angeles; and Orlando, which represent metropolitan areas impacted by planned HSR.  According to the report, HSR will add roughly $1.125 billion combined annual revenue by 2035.  The annual revenues referred to in the report encapsulate, job creation, improved market access, connectivity; travel time savings; and income and business sales in each of the subject cities.

In addition the economic benefits, the report also touts the following benefits associated with HSR:

• improved access to labor markets;
• driving higher-density, mixed-use development at train stations;
• gains in travel efficiency;
• expanded visitor markets; and
• supporting the growth of technology clusters;

Recommendations

This report clearly provides a compelling case for added financial involvement by the Federal government.   This impetus will not only enhance America’s infrastructure to match that of Japan et al, but might also spur economic development as estimated in the report.  However, is the report overly ambitious in its analysis of the potential economic benefits considering that high speed rail carries obstacles that might take years to address?  If that is the case, are we not better off analyzing proven competing modes and optimizing those existing modes to serve us better?

What are your thoughts on the economic potential of high-speed rail?

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According to the fourth quarter (Q4) report released by AWEA, these new projects place wind power in close competition with natural gas as the leading source of new electricity generation in the country. Together, the two sources account for about 80 percent of the new capacity added in the country in 2009.  

The report points out that the increase is a result of the clear commitment by the president to create clean energy jobs and the swift implementation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) incentives by the administration. ARRA incentives spurred the growth of construction, operations and maintenance, and management jobs, helping the industry to save and create jobs in those sectors.

At the same time, the continuing lack of a long-term policy and market signal allowed investment in the manufacturing sector to drop compared with 2008, with one-third fewer wind power manufacturing facilities online, announced, and expanded in 2009. The result was net job losses in the manufacturing sector, which were compounded by low orders and high inventory. Looking forward, the critical ARRA manufacturing incentives that were announced only at the start of this year will also need to be supplemented with the hard targets of a national Renewable Electricity Standard, AWEA said.  

A copy of the Q4 report is available for download through this link.

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The Obama Administration recently laid out their plan for investment in a national network of High Speed Rail lines across the United States. This investment includes $8B to be generated from the $787B stimulus plan along with a proposed $5B coming from his proposed 2010 fiscal budget. On the grand scheme of things this is a drop in the bucket, and seemingly light years away from China’s initiative, but I guess you need to start somewhere, right?

According to a recent article in the China Daily, China is “poised to become the world’s High Speed Rail leader.” They are set to build 42 new high speed lines spanning a total of 13,000 km over the next three years. And while our current administration is contemplating how to spend $13B in high speed rail, China is investing $300B in their high speed rail initiative by the year 2020. If a country as smart and as talented as China is blazing this trail, shouldn’t we be more aggressively following their lead?

The way I see it, the positive impacts of building out High Speed Rail lines are good & plenty, here are just a few:

• A reduction in highway traffic
• A decreased dependency on oil
• Minimized pollution
• Increased employment options for commuters who would not normally drive to certain locations
• Newly created jobs for planning, design and construction professionals, among MANY others
• A reduction of air traffic
• Increased property value for those outlying areas that would otherwise have limited options in getting to “the city.”

And these are just a few. I recently listened to a debate on the High Speed Rail topic between Richard Harnish, Executive Director-Midwest High Speed Rail Association and Randall O’Toole, Sr. Fellow with the CATO Institute. Grab a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun…or two…and take a listen:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/03/midmorning1/

The information available on this topic is endless. I believe High Speed Rail to be a great and necessary alternative, but like everything else, it boils down to money and acceptance. The proposed $13B investment is a nice start, but where will we get the funds to finish? And once these High Speed Rail lines are up and running, will there be enough funds from rider revenue, taxes, and government subsidies to keep up with the cost of operations and maintenance?

I believe that one day High Speed Rail will be a mainstay in our country, it’s just a matter of when. What do you think?

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Obama signed the measure on Aug. 7, the day the Senate began a four-week recess. The House’s break began on July 31.

When lawmakers return after Labor Day, debate is expected to heat up over how to reauthorize the federal highway and transit programs. The current authorization statute–the Safe, Affordable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users–is due to expire Sept. 30.

The final congressional action on the short-term trust-fund rescue came July 30, when the Senate approved the ‘fix’ by a 79-17 vote. That followed House passage of the measure the previous day, on a 363-68 tally.
Source: ENR.com

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Immediately following the collapse, federal officials ordered an inspection of all steel deck truss bridges like the I-35W bridge.  Investigative reporter, Bill Dedman reported the following:
“At first, officials thought there were 756 steel deck truss bridges like the one that fell. That’s how many they found in the official federal database of bridges, the National Bridge Inventory, which gets its records from the states. Then state engineers found 32 more to add to the list. But when states started the inspections, they found that 280 of the bridges weren’t steel deck trusses at all — including 13 bridges made of wood timbers. Another 16 no longer existed; a bridge in Pennsylvania had been closed in 1982. Another 11 were private bridges, not subject to federal inspection. One in New Mexico was a pedestrian bridge. And a bridge in Pennsylvania had been double counted; federal officials had placed an identical ghost bridge in Maryland. By the time the survey was finished, the count of bridges of the same type as the Minneapolis span was down to 479, or 277 fewer than initially reported, according to internal e-mails from the Federal Highway Administration received Thursday by msnbc.com under the Freedom of Information Act.”

The Federal Highway Administration recommended framework for a bridge inspection QA/QC program is comprehensive.  In 2008, they cite six (6) state DOTs that have “existing QC/QA procedures that address specific aspects of the “Recommended Framework” in a manner the FHWA considers commendable.”  Six? Out of all of the DOTs in the US? I do realize that all states must have existing QC/QA procedures.  But only six are “commendable?” What is the status of the remaining state inspection programs? Adequate? Average? Acceptable?

We know that bridge construction has changed over the years.  Improvements in technology for use in bridge design, materials and construction have allowed engineers to project increased longevity of bridges. Structural engineers now describe bridge lifespan in terms of 100 years, instead of 20-50 years. Building new “improved” bridges, are we going to have 50 DOTs with commendable QA/QC inspection programs?

With the ability to build with an eye to sustainability, how do we fix what we have? Where does this leave us with our decaying bridges?  Many of those bridges now require billions of dollars for rehabilitation or replacement. How can we financially repair them if we don’t even have an accurate count of where they are and what type of bridge they are? What do you think?

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

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1. When it comes to the transportation sector, has the stimulus made good on its promise or fallen short?
2. What is the most appropriate way to measure its success or failure?
3. How much time should we give it?

Similarly, how would you answer the same questions?

It has been six months since

Congress enacted a $787 billion stimulus package with the promise that it would boost the sagging economy, save and create jobs, and in the case of the $48 billion in transportation funding, jump-start the construction of “shovel-ready,” worthwhile projects. To date, the Department of Transportation says it has made more than $22 billion available to the states and approved more than 6,600 projects, with more than 3,200 of those projects already begun.

If you work in the transportation sector, we would love to hear your views on the subject.

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Please contact your senators in support of the Water Infrastructure Financing Act of 2009. http://capwiz.com/asce/issues/alert/?alertid=12905091

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Authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration expired in September 2007. Since then, the FAA – including aviation infrastructure programs – has been operating under a series of short-term extensions. The House is tentatively scheduled to vote on reauthorization legislation (H.R. 915) Thursday, May 21.

Contact your Representative and ask him or her to support passage of H.R. 915, legislation to reauthorize the FAA and allow for long-term infrastructure planning and investment.

Background

ASCE 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave aviation a grade of D, down from the D+ it received in 2005. This grade drop was due in part to the delay in reauthorization. For more details, visit http://www.asce.org/reportcard

Reauthorization legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives. H.R. 915 was introduced on February 9, 2009 by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) and was approved by the Committee on March 5.

Action Requested

Contact your Representative and ask him or her to support passage of H.R. 915. Visit http://capwiz.com/ascereportcard/home/

In your messages to lawmakers, be sure to include any information you can on conditions of local aviation facilities and how these might be benefited by reauthorization that would allow for better infrastructure investment planning. Personal stories will get the most attention from your lawmakers’ offices.

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Read more of this article

More on infrastructure

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See the actual letter

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood requests action by the Nation’s Governors to make certifications and other assurances that the funding made available under the Recovery Act will be spent for worthy infrastructure projects. Certification is necessary to permit the timely release of funds.

Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.

Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Transportation is a great enabler of economic growth, the lifeblood of commerce.  It moves people to jobs and goods to the marketplace.  Without strong transportation arteries, economies stagnate.  We will use the transportation funding in the Act to deliver jobs and restore our nation’s economy.  We will emphasize sustainable investment and focus our policies on the people, businesses and communities who use the transportation systems.  And, we will focus on the quality of our environment.  We will invest in jobs to expand transit capacity and modernize transit systems.  We will invest in jobs to allow Amtrak to add and modernize cars and engines and upgrade its tracks.  We will invest in jobs to expand airport capacity and make safety improvements.  We will invest in jobs to build and rehabilitate and make safer roads, highways, bridges and ports.  And we will invest in jobs to launch high-speed rail in America.

DOT Plans and Reports

The Recovery Act and related guidance include several provisions that require DOT to take steps beyond standard practice, including reporting, information collection, budget execution, risk management, and specific action related to award type.

DOT Reporting and Plans will include the following:

• Major Communications
• Formula Block Grant Allocation Reports
• Weekly Updates – starting March 3rd; provides a breakdown of funding, major actions taken to date, and major planned actions
• Monthly Financial Reports – starting May 8th; provides obligations, expenditures, and other financial data by Treasury Account, vendor, and award number, as well as information on allocations of mandatory and entitlement programs by State, county or other appropriate geographical unit
• Agency Transaction Data Feeds – starting May 5th; provides all Recovery Act assistance transactions (primarily grants, loans, and loan guarantees)
• Agency Recovery Plan – no later than May 1st; provides both broad recovery goals and the agency’s coordinating efforts
• Recovery Program Plans – no later than May 1st; provides a separate plan for each Recovery Act program named in the legislation

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On January 28th, 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), released its newest Report Card for Americas Infrastructure, the first update since 2005. ASCE released its very first report in 1998, and unfortunately the nations infrastructure GPA has only continued to worsen. This newest report covers 15 categories of infrastructure, including: roads, bridges, inland waterways, aviation, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, rail, schools, solid waste, transit, wastewater, public parks and recreation, dams and levees. While the full report will not be released until March 25th, this initial release includes letter grades for each the categories, solutions for improvement and the overall investment needed to improve the nations infrastructure. Wayne Klotz, President of ASCE, explains the grades and give them context in light of the current economic stimulus plan, outlines solutions including the need for a significant investment, outlines guidelines for successful investment of the stimulus infrastructure funds and provides insight into local issues.
Talent/Guest: Dr. Wayne Klotz, President of the ASCE
Source: ASCE.org

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The waiting went on and on as anxious construction industry and state officials watched for months for glimmers of progress in Washington on a bill that they hoped would ease the recession’s tightening grip. On Feb. 17, the long wait ended as President Obama traveled to Denver and signed what he called “the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history,” the $787.2-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It was good news for construction, because the measure contains about $130 billion for highways, buildings and other public works. “How can you not be happy?” asks Stephen E. Sandherr, the Associated General Contractors’ CEO. “This is the most significant investment in infrastructure in my lifetime.”

As industry officials scrutinize the voluminous bill, they are looking for how much money it allocates for key programs and for details on how and when the funds will be disbursed…See the rest of the original story

Here is the part I found most applicable to your industry, 

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The entire copy of the article can be found on the ASCE’s website.

American_Crumbling_Infrastructure

Because decades of underfunding and inattention have endangered our nation’s infrastructure, $2.2 trillion in repairs and upgrades is needed over the next five years to meet adequate conditions. That’s the conclusion of ASCE’s new 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which assigns an overall grade of D to the nation as well as individual grades in 15 infrastructure categories. Since ASCE’s last assessment in 2005, there has been little change in the condition of America’s roads, bridges, drinking water systems, and other public works. With the nation’s infrastructure receiving renewed attention from the White House, Congress, and the public as a vital part of an economic stimulus package, the Report Card offers informed guidance from professional engineers on where funds would best be spent.

• Your voice is still needed in Congress — now more than ever! As the Senate and House work to iron out the differences between each chamber’s economic stimulus plans, let them know that the final package should contain more investment in infrastructure. Contact your legislators today via ASCE’s online tool here.
• Details of the new Report Card, including grades in the 15 categories, suggestions for solutions, and more, are available here.
• Share your comments and track the progress of action in Washington in ASCE’s blog, Our Failing Infrastructure.
• ASCE has issued a series of Principles for Infrastructure Stimulus Investment to guide Congress and the White House in developing an effective economic recovery package. Read the criteria here.
• ASCE President Wayne Klotz discusses the Report Card findings in a video interview with Environment & Energy’s E&ETV; watch it here. Klotz also explains why more infrastructure funding in the economic recovery package would make it a stronger stimulus. Read his op-ed piece in the Houston Chronicle here.

Additional Reading:

1. New York Times Article on January 27, 2009
2. CNN’s Report on the story

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