Category Archives: Infrastructure Insight

U.S. Economy Continues to be Snake Bitten by Infrastructure

Posted on by
Reply

Infrastructure Insight -

If it was a snake, it would have bitten us by now.

  • A power outage at this year’s Super Bowl delays one of the world’s biggest sporting and most-viewed televised events
  • U.S.ports are bypassed for Canada because the nation’s ports lack ability to handle “new breed mega ships”
  • Mississippi River barge traffic is routinely halted by shallow water levels and lock/dam failures
  • I-35 West Minneapolis bridge collapses
  • One third of air travelers experience late arrivals/departures or diverted/canceled flights

U.S.infrastructure failures are occurring right under our nose, but for some reason leaders aren’t taking notice. The result is an economy more and more snake bitten. Two separate reports – one by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the other by Building America’s Future – released two days apart in January shed light on the dimming conditions.

Calling infrastructure the “lifeblood of our economy” and the “foundation for assuring a high quality of life for all Americans,” ASCE President Gregory E. DiLoreto’s group said if the U.S. increases its infrastructure spending by $1.25 trillion over the next eight years it would save $3.1 trillion in gross domestic product, $1.1 trillion in trade and 3.5 million jobs. The $157 billion more a year over the next eight years in infrastructure spending would be in addition to the $207 billion a year the nation is expected to pay for infrastructure through 2020.

According to the ASCE, current U.S. policies will under fund surface transportation, waterways, the electrical grid and sewers by about $1.1 trillion over the next eight years. By not increasing infrastructure spending, American households and businesses will suffer $611 billion and $1.2 trillion in costs, respectively.

This continued neglect of the nation’s infrastructure has already cost the U.S.on the world level. A bipartisan report by Building America’s Future states: “Our competitors tore a page out of America’s success story, applied the lessons to their own systems and challenges, and now they’re sprinting ahead of us.”

Once heralded for its world-class infrastructure, the U.S.’s current “striking lack of vision,” according to the Building America’s Future report, has it falling in the global ranks:

  • U.S. rail infrastructure ranks 18th by the Economic Forum
  • U.S. air transportation is 30th behind Malaysia and Panama
  • The eight largest U.S.ports, combined, handle less cargo containers a year than the Port of Shanghai
  • With only two East Coast ports able to serve the modern-day larger ships, cargo from China heads to Canada instead

What makes the nation’s worsening infrastructure even more incredulous is that as much as 60 percent of U.S.-made products are exported. The U.S.economy is based on exporting products and it can’t do it.

“Other countries are building their ports and modernizing their ports, and making it so that once you get (goods) into port you’re able to move things around the country,” said Building America’s Future President Marcia L. Hale. “We can’t export unless we find a way to move these goods that are made in the United States to our trading partners.”

While countries are investing in infrastructure even in hard economic times – because they’re looking at the long-term benefits – the U.S. is spending about what it did on infrastructure in 1968 when adjusted for inflation.

Building America’s Future recommends greater infrastructure investment, utilizing federal funds on projects designed to ease bottlenecks and expand capacity at ports and key junctures, forming an infrastructure bank and encouraging innovative approaches that will bring more private financing to public works projects.

Two reports released in the same week in January pointed out the nation’s infrastructure failings at the domestic and global levels, a third report released in February, two days after a championship game power outage, shows each American driver losing $818 annually due to wasted time and fuel sitting in congested traffic. Things are occurring right under our noses when it comes to the nation’s infrastructure – and economically it has already bitten us.

 

For more information on the ASCE and Building America’s Future reports visit www.asce.org/failuretoact/ and www.bafuture.org/report.

‘Right-foot’ Voters & the 2012 Presidential Election

Posted on by
Reply

Infrastructure Insight - A Look at the Democratic & Republican Parties’ Transportation Platforms

The presidential debates have concluded; the polls for the 2012 Election are nearing their end – thankfully; and after an early Tuesday in November, Americans will return to their daily lives hoping they made the correct decision.

While the turnout for the 2012 Election is expected to surpass the more than 132 million Americans who voted in the 2008 Election, the voter turnout will no doubt pale in comparison to the 211 million licensed drivers in theU.S.– of which nearly 207 million are of voting age.

But will the “right-foot” voters – the ones who press the accelerators of their vehicles to get to and from work, make it to appointments and travel for errands 1.1 billion times a day – according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics – be heard on November 6?

A better question yet might be: What are the Democratic and Republican parties’ platforms when it comes to transportation infrastructure?

Democratic DonkeyDemocratic Platform 

“(Long-term infrastructure) investments are critical for putting Americans back to work and strengthening America’s transportation system to grow our economy.”

The Democratic Platform calls for immediate transportation investment and creation of an infrastructure bank. The federal infrastructure bank, which was proposed to be funded with $10 billion but was voted down by the Senate during President Obama’s first term, would be used for projects thought to have the greatest return on investment.

The party’s platform continues its support of “livability” programs, stating, “We will continue to partner with local communities to support their sustainable developments, such as passenger rail, bicycle and pedestrian paths, and other projects to support livable cities.”

The Democratic Party suggests the financing of transportation infrastructure would be through the savings that will be accrued through the ending of wars inIraqandAfghanistan. In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama said, “Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.”

The word game: The number of times the Democratic Party’s platform used the following words in the context of the nation’s transportation infrastructure:
“infrastructure” 22 times; “transportation” 4; “highways” 1; “roads” 6; “bridges” 4

Republican ElephantRepublican Platform

“America’s infrastructure networks are critical for economic growth, international competitiveness and national security.”

The GOP Platform calls for a renewed federal-state partnership in improving the nation’s interstate infrastructure through the use of public-private partnerships. These partnerships “are urgently needed to maintain and modernize our country’s travel lifelines to facilitate economic growth and job creation.”

While the Republican Party doesn’t provide ways to address the pending Highway Trust Fund shortfalls, it opposes any funding mechanisms – such as vehicle-miles-traveled systems – that would involve governmental monitoring of every car and truck.

The Republican platform favors opening private competition to operate Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, reforming National Environmental Policy Act, and ending highway fund diversions at the state level.

In an effort to rein in government spending and over-regulations, the party supports a three-step test for federal investment decisions: Is it within federal government’s constitutional role? Is it effective/absolutely necessary? Does it justify borrowing (especially foreign borrowing) to fund it?

The word game: The number of times the Republican Party’s platform used the following words in the context of the nation’s transportation infrastructure:
“infrastructure” 12 times; “transportation” 5; “highways” 0; “roads” 6; “bridges” 2

Unfortunately for the American motorists who combine to travel 4 trillion miles annually and the nation’s economy that is so dependent on the transportation system, neither political party has announced a long-term funding solution. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Highway Trust Fund’s Highway and Mass Transit accounts – which fund and support the nation’s transportation programs – will be insolvent in FY 2015.

“Both parties have indicated that there should be a federal role in infrastructure investment,” said Joshua Schank, president of the nonprofitEnoCenterfor Transportation inWashington,D.C.“Neither of them have proposed a way to pay for it that’s realistic. A real strategy is either (to) raise the gas tax or cut spending, and neither party is divulging that.

To find out more about the major parties’ platforms, visit www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform and www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/

 

Developers Cross Legs While ODOT Crosses Fingers
Private Sector Showing no Early Interest in Rest Area Development

Posted on by
Reply

Infrastructure Insight

If early indications are true in the state’s attempt to sell sponsorships for its highway assets, rest stops in Ohio seem to be more for the weary traveler than the wary developer.

In July, it was reported there were no takers (i.e. potential developers) to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) offer for private-sector groups to develop, operate and maintain five rest areas across the south central and southeastern parts of the state. It was the first deadline of the state’s Rest Area SMART Program, which stands for Sponsorship, Maintenance, Advertising and Revenue Targeted, to raise road funding through private-sector money by allowing restaurants, gas stations and other commercial groups to take over select rest areas along Ohio’s non-interstate rest areas. The commercial groups would pay ODOT for rights to set up shop at the rest areas.

The Rest Area SMART Program is one aspect of ODOT’s nine-part strategy to create funding for road infrastructure. It was reported earlier this year that Ohio has a $1.6 billion need for over-budgeted construction and $10 billion in projects in development. Because of declining funds from state and federal motor fuel taxes, ODOT earlier this year announced the delay of dozens of construction projects contained in its Major New Construction Program.

It’s hoped that selling sponsorships for its highway assets could generate more than $527 million annually, which would help overcome the decrease in revenue from motor fuel taxes. Part of the problem with Ohio’s and the nation’s motor fuel tax is that the rates are fixed and don’t increase with inflation and increasing infrastructure costs. According to a December 2011 report by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, because Ohio’s gasoline and diesel taxes are not indexed to inflation and have been at the fixed rates of 28 cents/gallon since 2005, the state is losing ground on the “real value” of its motor fuel taxes. This loss of potential funding is due to ongoing annual inflation and the increased motor-fuel efficiencies of the cars being driven. The nation’s federal gas tax of 18.4 cents/gallon was last increased in 1993 and has lost 40 percent of its “real value”– which relates to approximately $23 billion a year in lost value because it is not indexed.

Developers interested in participating in ODOT’s Rest Area SMART Program were asked to submit qualifications by mid-July for the two rest areas on U.S. Route 50 in Athens County, two on U.S. 33 in Hocking County and on U.S. 23 in Pickaway County. Although no one inquired before the initial deadline, ODOT isn’t deterred. ODOT plans to seek out developers showing previous interest to see if it’s the number of rest areas in the proposal, their locations or something else.

“This is a program that’s very new to Ohio,” said ODOT Spokesman Steve Faulkner. “We’re going to continue to pursue development of non-interstate rest areas.”

Ohio has been actively looking toward the private sector since the state legislature passed House Bill 114 in 2011. The law allows ODOT to enter into public-private partnerships (P3) to deliver transportation projects and services.

The Rest Area SMART Program is just one of the initiatives ODOT is exploring, as it is also looking at a Statewide Sponsorship & Naming Rights Program, leasing of the Ohio Turnpike, a Performance Based Operations and Maintenance Program and more.

“We have assets that have value,” said ODOT Deputy Director of the Division of Innovative Delivery Jim Riley. “They could be named; they could be sponsored. I always say, ‘If Progressive Field can be sponsored up in Cleveland, then why can’t you take the All-State Bridge to Progressive Field?’ We know there are a lot of assets out there that have value in them, that have impressions to the traveler…”

Riley, who brings more than 20 years of private-sector experience to ODOT, said, “You’ve got to think differently in order for (P3s) to be successful. ODOT has been delivering great projects and will continue to do design-bid-build and standards and specifications and 30, 60, 90 (year) reviews, and all these great things. But in order to deliver a P3 you have to think a little differently.”

If You’re Going to Fix It, Why Not Improve It?

Posted on by
Reply

Infrastructure Insight

When it comes to the nation’s drinking water, maybe we should throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Findings from a study by the American Water Works Association (AWWA)) dare to ask the question: If the U.S. needs to spend the $1 trillion in infrastructure costs to repair and expand its drinking water system – as the water association estimates and is also acknowledged by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – why do it with outdated thinking, materials and technology?

Bill for Ohio’s Drinking Water Needs: $9.68 B

According to a 2010 update of ASCE’s Ohio’s Infrastructure Report Card, Ohio’s drinking water is among the worst of the state’s 11 infrastructure systems. Ohio’s drinking water infrastructure earned a grade of “D+” – slightly better than the “D” earned by the road and transit systems.

The report states: “An estimated 99 percent of the burden for funding public water supply systems is borne by local government. It is estimated that Ohio has $9.68 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs.”

Source: OhioASCE.org

According to the ASCE, the nation’s drinking water received the worst grade (D-) of any infrastructure system in its most recent Report Card forAmerica’s Infrastructure.

Lynn Broaddus, of The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, said spending the estimated $1 trillion needed to repair theUnited States’ existing water system and not use the latest technology, would be like “investing in room-sized mainframe computers running on punch cards rather than moving to laptops, tablets and cloud storage.” Broaddus, director of Environment Programs for the group that released a January 2012 report, “Charting New Waters, Financing Sustainable Water Infrastructure,” points out that much of the nation’s water infrastructure – millions of miles of pipes, treatment plants and pump stations – dates back to the 1901-1909 Theodore Roosevelt Administration.

While Broaddus notes that recent hearings in the U.S. House and Senate demonstrate that Congress is open to the idea of financing solutions for the nation’s water infrastructure system, she cautions to not just repair the current system – which loses 6 billion gallons of treated water daily because of leaky and aging pipes. She insists on the use of modern technology to improve the system.

“Most of our existing water systems were designed and engineered at a time when water and energy resources seemed limitless. As numerous water experts have noted, today’s technology is 20th century at best,” Broaddus said. “We need 21st and 22nd century technologies that can handle the challenges of water and energy shortages, systems that can harvest stormwater, recycle wastewater and capture nutrients embedded in the waste, all while using less or even no net energy.”

Broaddus and other “leading thinkers” believe replacing decades-old infrastructure without also replacing decades-old thinking and strategies for U.S.water systems would be an inefficient use of money. Utilizing 21st and 22nd century technology could mean a combination of “employing decentralized designs and options that better integrate with natural systems,” as well as an “institutional design of our water utilities so that drinking water, stormwater and wastewater are built, financed and operated as one interconnected system.”

Another aspect of 21st and 22nd century thinking is the ending of subsidies. According to Broaddus, in her article, “America’s Troubled Water Infrastructure,” which appeared in The Hill’s Congress Blog, “Most Americans have received water and sanitation at heavily subsidized rates, reinforcing the delusion that these services come cheap. Those days are over.”

CHANGING THE LINEUP

Posted on by
Reply

U.S. Needs To Re-Think How It Goes About Its Infrastructure PlanningInfrastructure Insight

Winter 2012 Infrastructure InsightIt’s winter; temperatures are in the teens; let’s talk baseball. While Ohio’s skies are filled with snowballs instead of baseballs this time of year, thoughts of perfect summer evenings at the ballpark will get us through current conditions. Talking baseball may even help improve the nation’s transportation conditions.

In baseball terms, the nation’s current transportation vision is south of the Mendoza line – the expression used to define incompetency. Ironically, the baseball slang “on the Interstate” denotes someone hitting so poorly – below .200 – that their batting average resembles an interstate highway marker, such as I-90, I-77 or I-70. According to the most-recent Country Infrastructure Capacity (CIC) survey, when it comes to the nation’s transportation leadership and vision, the U.S. is whiffing at the plate and shouldn’t even be traveling the interstate – perhaps a dusty, back road would be more like it.

In the annual survey of public- and private-sector executives involved in the country’s infrastructure market, the U.S. is headed to the minor leagues – as “it’s falling into a second-rate status in the infrastructure arena, becoming a country that does not attract top-flight expertise or resources to its infrastructure business.”

click here for the whole story…

Welcome to the OCIA Blog

Posted on by
Reply

The Ohio Construction Information Association is happy to announce the launch of our new blog. Over the years OCIA has become a valuable resource for contractors, legislators and Ohio residents – virtually anyone concerned about restoring and improving our highways, streets, bridges, and utilities. Keeping you informed has always been our goal and the new OCIA blog will help us do that faster than ever before.

We look forward to bringing you up-to-date information about Ohio’s infrastructure – the opportunities and initiatives that affect our state, your town, and ultimately you personally. Look for articles from Infrastructure Insight, our quarterly newsletter that’s been educating the public, government officials and the media about critical transportation and utility issues for more than 20 years. Fact-filled and straightforward as ever, Infrastructure Insight articles will now be published right here – still “black, white and ‘read’ all over”. You’ll also find digests of important stories drawn from the Ohio news media along with analysis and comment from transportation infrastructure organizations throughout the country.

We pledge to make this blog lively, information-rich and a good read that is worthy of your time. We invite you to join us and hope the OCIA blog becomes a scheduled visit during your busy week. Enjoy!