Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Update from Senator Ayotte
On August 5, Congress passed the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-27), that temporarily extends the FAA's authorization through September 16, 2011. This is the 21st temporary extension since 2007. Passage of this extension means that furloughed workers are back at work, officials are permitted to collect air travel taxes and fees, and construction projects financed by the Airport and Airway Trust Fund can be resumed.
Although Senator Ayotte acknowledges the short-term FAA extension is important, she understands it does not resolve long-standing issues such as ending federal subsidies for select small airports and ensuring that the implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation system is accelerated. As you may know, the Senate passed with the Senators support, a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill (S. 223) in February 2011. The bill currently awaits furthers consideration by a joint Senate-House conference. As Congress considers the FAA reauthorization, please be assured that I will be actively involved in ensuring that the FAA operates with a fiscally-responsible mandate.
On March 17, 2011, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Building and Upgrading Infrastructure for Long-Term Development Act (S. 652), which was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. If enacted, S. 652 would authorize $10 billion to create an American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) to facilitate investment and financing of infrastructure projects by initiating public-private partnerships. The "infrastructure bank" would issue loans and loan guarantees to incentivize private investment in infrastructure projects. The bill would limit government loan totals to 50 percent of a project's cost, as well as require that projects have a revenue stream, such as tolls, to generate money to repay loans.
It is clear that Congress must craft a surface transportation bill with significant reforms to create a more efficient, affordable, and sustainable system. A full reauthorization of our current funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure is long overdue. However, given our fiscal situation, Senator Ayotte is deeply concerned that the proposal for an infrastructure bank would create a new federal corporation without addressing or reforming current law. This would result in additional burdens being placed on taxpayers without guaranteeing a return on their investment. For example, because private investment is likely to flow only to large-scale projects, smaller states or regions with lower population densities-such as New Hampshire-could potentially be disadvantaged in competing for infrastructure funds. Several unanswered questions remain, including how infrastructure projects would be selected under the AIFA and whether there would be enough private sector investment to complete such projects.
As a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Ayotte will carefully review infrastructure improvement proposals to ensure that we focus on our nation's most urgent transportation priorities in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner.
This report is excerpted from an e-mail response concerning the aviation bill, surface transportation bill, and infrastructure bank proposal. With appreciation to Senator Ayotte and her staff for keeping our State informed on the current legislative issues.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
UNDOING IRENE’S DAMAGE: Slowly, power is restored to state and region residents - SentinelSource.com: Local News
UNDOING IRENE’S DAMAGE: Slowly, power is restored to state and region residents - SentinelSource.com: Local News: More than 120 power crews worked through Monday night to restore
electricity to tens of thousands of customers in the state whose
lights have …
electricity to tens of thousands of customers in the state whose
lights have …
Republicans on Infrastructure
Tonight I sent messages to each of the Republican presidential candidates the following question:
"The American Society of Engineers has rated the Country's Infrastructure a grade of "D" with an estimated $2.2 Trillion dollars of investment needed. Leadership from the President is needed. Next month the Aviation and Surface Transportation bills will expire. What would be your recommendation to congress on the reauthorizations of these bills and how would you fund future repairs to the infrastructure?"
I will report back what if anything I receive for replies, but encourage others as candidates visit the State to ask similar questions.
Monday, August 29, 2011
A Visit to the Minuteman Trail
This morning my wife and I headed down to Bedford, MA to spend some time on the Minuteman Trail. We rented a couple of bikes and helmets at the Bikeway Source and started east toward Lexington. Today we had some time constraints so we only rode for about ten miles round trip.These trails are amazing assets for their respective regions. At the start of the Bedford segment the bike shop was busy renting, selling and maintaining bikes and providing other supplemental necessities. Across the street was an old train station that contained public bathrooms an ice cream shop. Along the trail we met families running, biking, rollerblading, and walking. Every age demographic was included. Some went by with blinding speed others we passed strolled along or even waited by the side of the trail. Some greeted us warmly and engaged us in conversation while others were oblivious to anyone else on the trail. Although there were many along the trail each abided by an informal set of rules while bringing their own personalities and style to the trail.
We brought to the trail our enjoyment of riding and the appreciation that the excercise earned us an ice cream at the end of the ride.
We brought to the trail our enjoyment of riding and the appreciation that the excercise earned us an ice cream at the end of the ride.
The 112th Congress Critical For Dam Safety
The Fourth of July weekend is the perfect time to talk about our dam infrastructure as summer temperatures and a long weekend entice our families to the lakes and ponds strategically located throughout our great state. On one of the trips around the lake, many that explore the outlet are likely to find a dam used to maintain the summer surface elevations. New Hampshire's surface waters provide up to $1.5 billion dollars of annual economic benefit.
There are two critical pieces of legislation anticipated in the current two year session. First is the reauthorization of the National Dam Safety Act. Last authorized near the close of the 109th congress in 2006, this act provides for federal leadership and assistance to the state-level programs including training and research. This Act will expire on September 30, 2011.
The next important piece of legislation is the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act. This would provide funding to the states for repair, rehabilitation, and removal of publicly-owned dams.By the year 2020, 85% of the dams nation-wide will be more than 50 years old. In New Hampshire 43 of the 274 state-owned dams have deficiencies that require major reconstruction or repair. Correcting these deficiencies would require about $15 million in investment.
Passage of these bills is only part of the solution. In New Hampshire there are a total of 1,964 privately-owned dams. Assuming a similar percentage of deficiencies as seen in the state-owned dams, approximately 314 dams privately-owned dams would require major reconstruction, with about $157 million of investment needed.
It will be important to track this critical legislation. We need to let our congressional delegation know how important dams are to our safety and quality of life, and be vigilant that the bills make steady progress through the federal process. In the last congress, versions of the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act progressed through both houses, but stalled in committee without the political will to move forward before the end of the session.
Roads, bridges closed near the Connecticut River - SentinelSource.com: Local News
Roads, bridges closed near the Connecticut River - SentinelSource.com: Local News: A flood warning remains in effect today through Tuesday morning
for residents bordering the Connecticut River, from Walpole to
Hinsdale.
for residents bordering the Connecticut River, from Walpole to
Hinsdale.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Hurricane Warning...Let's talk about the Budget!
During the recession businesses have been forced to trim out non-essential niceties and start making the tougher decisions where essential programs must be evaluated against other vital programs. At first the term "trimming the fat" was used to describe staff and resource adjustments, but now we are to the point of "cutting bone" where staff and resources must be carefully evaluated and tougher decisions made. The government instead of making some of these tough decisions on cutting programs often elect to make percentage cuts with less evaluation of what key programs are more important than others.
In the period of time when a natural disaster is impending to the critical days afterward when we are not able to return to our normal lives, is a time when we naturally focus on those things most important to us. It is during these periods of mental acuity that we need to talk about how to focus the budget.
During this time, we are thinking about the basics needed to keep our families safe. Realtors be damned, the value of our homes sky rockets when seen as protection for our family. We are making emergency contingencies to make up for the loss of our critical infrastructure.
Referring back to the thirteen critical infrastructure subjects studied in the 2011 NH infrastructure update, the critical infrastructure coincides with the way we think in times of crises. First is the safety of our family. So prior to the storm we make contingencies for the loss of power, safety either in our houses or in critical communal facilities such as schools where our families might be temporarily sheltered. As we become concerned with flooding, some may start to wonder whether dams and levies will work as designed and that bridges and culverts will effectively pass the storms without causing blockages that will overflow stream banks and impact our property.
In the aftermath of the storm, we start to focus on when the power will return. Often disasters are measured by how many people lose their power and for how long it is out. The return of power often brings the return of individual water and wastewater systems critical for normal life. Also closely tied to a return to normalcy is the return of the roads and bridges. As trees are cleared, flooding recedes, and professionals have been able to verify the safety of the infrastructure, the return to our routines soon follow.
It is interesting that during natural disasters our infrastructure is closely tied with the basic safety of our families, but it seems that at other times people seldom find time to prioritize infrastructure investment over the many other issues of daily life. Discussions about the funding of infrastructure investment at both the state and federal level routinely draw the comment that the American public will not stomach the costs (taxes, fees, etc.) needed to appropriately fund the investment.
When you consider what is most important to you today in the wake of the storm, write those things down to discuss with your legislators when things get back to normal. The old saying "when everything is important, then nothing is" has been our state of affairs for too long. It is in the clarity of natural disasters that what is most important rises to the surface. Those same things need to be raised to our priorities when we return to normal. As the storm is passing overhead, nobody will care if you are a democrat or a republican.
In the period of time when a natural disaster is impending to the critical days afterward when we are not able to return to our normal lives, is a time when we naturally focus on those things most important to us. It is during these periods of mental acuity that we need to talk about how to focus the budget.
During this time, we are thinking about the basics needed to keep our families safe. Realtors be damned, the value of our homes sky rockets when seen as protection for our family. We are making emergency contingencies to make up for the loss of our critical infrastructure.
Referring back to the thirteen critical infrastructure subjects studied in the 2011 NH infrastructure update, the critical infrastructure coincides with the way we think in times of crises. First is the safety of our family. So prior to the storm we make contingencies for the loss of power, safety either in our houses or in critical communal facilities such as schools where our families might be temporarily sheltered. As we become concerned with flooding, some may start to wonder whether dams and levies will work as designed and that bridges and culverts will effectively pass the storms without causing blockages that will overflow stream banks and impact our property.
In the aftermath of the storm, we start to focus on when the power will return. Often disasters are measured by how many people lose their power and for how long it is out. The return of power often brings the return of individual water and wastewater systems critical for normal life. Also closely tied to a return to normalcy is the return of the roads and bridges. As trees are cleared, flooding recedes, and professionals have been able to verify the safety of the infrastructure, the return to our routines soon follow.
It is interesting that during natural disasters our infrastructure is closely tied with the basic safety of our families, but it seems that at other times people seldom find time to prioritize infrastructure investment over the many other issues of daily life. Discussions about the funding of infrastructure investment at both the state and federal level routinely draw the comment that the American public will not stomach the costs (taxes, fees, etc.) needed to appropriately fund the investment.
When you consider what is most important to you today in the wake of the storm, write those things down to discuss with your legislators when things get back to normal. The old saying "when everything is important, then nothing is" has been our state of affairs for too long. It is in the clarity of natural disasters that what is most important rises to the surface. Those same things need to be raised to our priorities when we return to normal. As the storm is passing overhead, nobody will care if you are a democrat or a republican.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Statewide Comprehensive Study of School Infrastructure needed
Recognizing that readership is relatively modest, I feel confident that writing on this subject as the shadow of hurricane Irene slowly moves up the eastern coast will not be seen as irresponsible, but more a timely discussion between a select group of related professionals.
Last week I sat in my office in mild disbelief as what I thought to be a momentary loss of equilibrium was confirmed by the shout of a colleague, who had formerly lived in California, that we were in fact experiencing an earthquake. Since college many of us have heard of the potential for a devestating earthquake to strike the older, less-reinforced buildings of the east coast cities. Today we are preparing for the effects of a hurricane over the weekend. It's hard to call it a "tropical storm" in New England, but that is likely the classification of winds anticipated when it will go by.
These natural events and potential states-of-emergency lead me back to this year's report card update. School infrastructure has not been evaluated in more than a decade and even then it was a survey of school superintendents concerning their knowledge of the existing structure. At that time more than 50% of the schools had a major deficiency.
Schools provide a lot more to our communities than simply a building to house our children when they are being educated. With the growth of extra curricular activities, and use for town meetings and polling locations, I would even suggest that schools buildings have taken over many of the community functions formerly reserved for town halls and churches.
Emergency services have reached out to the towns to identify regional emergency shelters including space, capacity, bathrooms, showers, and kitchen facilities and have begun the process of verifying the locations. This effort is still more of an administrative role without the service of engineers to verify building codes, structural condition, air quality, and energy efficiency deficiencies.
There needs to be a comprehensive study of our existing community facility infrastructure including schools, fire stations, police stations and hospitals. This would include the need assessment for replacement, rehabilitation, modernization and upgrades. The status of these facilities needs to be known. This would help assist emergency services staff during times of crisis and help municipal and state leaders evaluate the needs of the state and best allocate the funding to meet our future needs.
Last week I sat in my office in mild disbelief as what I thought to be a momentary loss of equilibrium was confirmed by the shout of a colleague, who had formerly lived in California, that we were in fact experiencing an earthquake. Since college many of us have heard of the potential for a devestating earthquake to strike the older, less-reinforced buildings of the east coast cities. Today we are preparing for the effects of a hurricane over the weekend. It's hard to call it a "tropical storm" in New England, but that is likely the classification of winds anticipated when it will go by.
These natural events and potential states-of-emergency lead me back to this year's report card update. School infrastructure has not been evaluated in more than a decade and even then it was a survey of school superintendents concerning their knowledge of the existing structure. At that time more than 50% of the schools had a major deficiency.
Schools provide a lot more to our communities than simply a building to house our children when they are being educated. With the growth of extra curricular activities, and use for town meetings and polling locations, I would even suggest that schools buildings have taken over many of the community functions formerly reserved for town halls and churches.
Emergency services have reached out to the towns to identify regional emergency shelters including space, capacity, bathrooms, showers, and kitchen facilities and have begun the process of verifying the locations. This effort is still more of an administrative role without the service of engineers to verify building codes, structural condition, air quality, and energy efficiency deficiencies.
There needs to be a comprehensive study of our existing community facility infrastructure including schools, fire stations, police stations and hospitals. This would include the need assessment for replacement, rehabilitation, modernization and upgrades. The status of these facilities needs to be known. This would help assist emergency services staff during times of crisis and help municipal and state leaders evaluate the needs of the state and best allocate the funding to meet our future needs.
NHDOT Partner Survey
The NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) has adopted a strategic business approach that recognizes not only the travel trends and needs of today, but also transportation's effect on economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship, and quality of life. The department’s approach is a balanced scorecard built on four strategic goals: customer satisfaction, performance, effective resource management, and employee development.
As part of the initiative NHDOT will be tracking performance measures that compare their actual performance to an annual target. One, three, and five year targets will be set by the Department for each performance measure to guide resource investment to accomplish the Department's Mission.
One of the key objectives supporting the department’s Performance Goal is to "Identify, communicate and collaborate with partners". To measure their progress in meeting this objective, NHDOT is partnering with several engineering societies to help get a useful response.
As these surveys reach your in boxes please take the time to fill out your responses. It only takes about 10 minutes, but it is a significant step in helping the Department best respond to the needs of our state.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
It’s pretty, but not wetland friendly - citizen.com: Laconia Region
It’s pretty, but not wetland friendly - citizen.com: Laconia Region: "LACONIA - The battle for control of the wetlands of the Lakes
Region is beginning with interest gelling around stopping an
attractive, but ins…"
Region is beginning with interest gelling around stopping an
attractive, but ins…"
Sunday, August 14, 2011
We need to put the “Dream” back in the “American Dream”!
I am often impressed by the amount of effort put in by the state legislators and our congressional delegation into understanding some of the engineering issues facing the country. Although I applaud their hard work, when legislators begin to discard ideas based upon their knowledge of technical impediments, then creativity and innovation will ultimately suffer when good ideas are discarded too early in the process. Without vision, goals, and dreams, infrastructure investment becomes another line item within the budget, often one without the political will to move forward or fully fund. Using our current world as a model, we try to construct a future for ourselves, but unfortunately the past is not an adequate model for our future, we need to envision an infrastructure best suited to future generations. That is where vision, goals, and dreams must take over.
What we need from our leaders is a dream of what can be, not just an underfunded budget to sustain what once was. Listening to a presentation given by Andy Herrmann, ASCE-National President elect, he spoke about the leadership of Roosevelt and the Civil Conservation Corps, Eisenhower and the construction of the Interstate Highway System, and Kennedy and the race to the moon. We need to again find our spirit to dream of great things. Leaders need to provide the framework and let engineers clarify the details. We need our leaders to dream and be more demanding. Challenging engineers to do the impossible is the best way to achieve amazing results.
A simple example has been the development of accelerated construction techniques. Projects such as the I-93 Exit 14 Bridge project in Concord , NH and the Fast 14 project on I-93 in Medford , MA
We need to re-examine our goals and visions for the country, independent of budgets and practicality. There will be plenty of time to define budgets and what we can accomplish later in the process. In today’s political environment this kind of statement is viewed as irreverent and simple-minded, but few ideas of merit take wings when an obsession on the budget and how things have been done in the past are present. We allow children to dream about traveling the world in a blink of an eye or going to medical school without once chastising them about the costs of tuition or airfare, but somewhere along the line we stop allowing the discussion needed to fully develop our dreams as adults.
When we set low expectations for ourselves, ultimately we can expect our services to be worth less. This will ultimately lower our competitiveness in the world market. If we are going to sustain our rightful place as leaders of creativity and innovation in the world, we need to dream big and demand more from our engineers. We also need to invest in those dreams and the businesses needed to make them a reality.
Our leaders must be more irrational at times. This can be in their visions in planning for the future or demanding more for the products they ultimately receive. There is no country that rivals the United States
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Dam Legislation Update
There are two critical pieces of legislation anticipated in the coming months. First is the reauthorization of the National Dam Safety Act. Last authorized near the close of the 109th congress in 2006, this act provides for federal leadership and assistance to the state-level programs including training and research. This Act will expire on September 30, 2011.
By the year 2020, 85% of the dams nation-wide will be more than 50 years old. In New Hampshire
ASCE has been working with Senator Akaka’s office to introduce both bills, however he would like to introduce them at the same time as the House counterparts. Introducing both dam bills in the House has been a bit of a challenge. These bills were anticipated to be introduced before Congress went home for August recess, but with the recent debt ceiling and aviation crises, they were delayed. Let your representatives know that the Dam Safety is important to New Hampshire
Passage of these bills is only part of the solution. In New Hampshire
It will be important to track this critical legislation. We need to let our congressional delegation know how important dams are to our safety and quality of life, and be vigilant that the bills make steady progress through the federal process. In the last congress, versions of the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act progressed through both houses, but stalled in committee without the political will to move forward before the end of the session.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Gov to nominate stimulus director for NH DOT head - citizen.com: State:
Gov to nominate stimulus director for NH DOT head - citizen.com: State:: "New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is nominating the director of the
state Office of Economic Stimulus to serve as the new head of the
Transportati…"
state Office of Economic Stimulus to serve as the new head of the
Transportati…"
Monday, August 8, 2011
Follow up to "Nasty Culverts"
As I write this segment, my road has been closed for about a week with another week to go in order to replace a deteriorated cross culvert. There are a large number of culverts near the end of their design lives throughout New England. Below is a frequent scene on many back roads. Although it appears like the culvert is relatively
stable, with each storm event runoff flows through some of the openings along the side of the pipe and erodes the soil away from the outside of the pipe. A circular cross section is an engineering marvel offering culverts a great deal of strength. The force of a heavy vehicle passing over the top is redirected along the sides of the pipe into the soil below. The key is that this mechanism requires soil along the outside of the pipe to keep the pipe from compressing in the vertical plain while expanding in the horizontal plain. To demonstrate for yourself, stamp on a soda can. Note that in one direction it is now flat while in the other it is now wider. That is called pancaking in the culvert world. Long before pancaking normally occurs, soil that is eroded from the side of the pipe leaves voids that lead to settlement and sink holes.
This is a sinkhole in Connecticut that occurred on the side of a state road. At first glance it appears to be a roadside washout, but careful inspection revealed minimal runoff at this location and the road and bituminous curb were actually undercut before they collapsed. The culvert below this location had the tell-tale holes at waterline and a small sandbar inside the pipe downstream the holes created by the eroded material flowing back into the culvert.
The more dangerous of the sinkholes occurs directly under the pavement. The cohesiveness of the pavement allows the area below the pavement to be hollowed out considerably before a noticeable failure occurs. This innocuous little hole in the pavement was in the shoulder of a New England interstate. Although barely large enough to drop a bowling ball through, this hole required nearly twenty-five cubic feet of material to fill the void. When driving roads not every pavement deformation is a sinkhole. Most are just good old pot holes more common in our environment, but when the culverts show significant deterioration look for these additional signs of a more pressing problem. Also look for the situation below. This is a sink hole that was probably mis-identified as a harmless pot hole and patched cosmetically without ever addressing what is likely to be a much larger void below the pavement.
The sinkhole in the interstate pavement above led me to the Colorado School of Mines for a short course on Microtunneling which has since expanded to a fascination of the different methodologies of trenchless construction of culverts. Traditional methodologies are still effective depending on the depth of fill over the culvert and the density of the traffic traveling over the top. As methods such as pipe ramming, pipe bursting, and Microtunneling become more accepted in the east options for pipe replacement become more numerous.
The earlier article touched upon the condition of our culvert infrastructure, then went on to talk about the ramifications the deficient culverts had on the water quality and animal passage. A newer form of infrastructure are culverts specifically designed for animal passage, sometimes even without any accommodations for runoff. To the left is a black and white photo of a fox passing through what is sometimes affectionately known as a "critter crossing". Other culverts are designed to provide runoff in a lower channel and an adjacent shelf for animal crossing all housed inside a box culvert. During high flow the runoff can utilize both the lower and upper channels.It will be interesting to see the final New England culvert condition report. My understanding is that many of the culvert replacements would fall under state betterment funding of the type that was significantly cut with the sunsetting of the registration fee this year in New Hampshire. This places an additional burden on the State Agencies as they add the cost of maintaining culvert infrastructure to other underfunded programs. Adding water quality and animal passage including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals to the discussion of culvert maintenance, more cost effective measures such as slip lining (rehabilitation) may need to be abandoned in favor of full reconstruction to meet all of the identified challenges. With replacements significantly more expensive than rehabilitation this will further strain the balance between the need and the available funding.
Town manager voices concerns about DES Winni Basin study - citizen.com: Meredith
Town manager voices concerns about DES Winni Basin study - citizen.com: Meredith: "MEREDITH — Town Manager Phil Warren is again sounding the alarm
about the operation of the Winnipesaukee River Basin Project."
about the operation of the Winnipesaukee River Basin Project."
Declining enrollments mean fewer schools - SentinelSource.com: Editorial
Declining enrollments mean fewer schools - SentinelSource.com: Editorial: "About eight years ago, public school enrollments in New
Hampshire began declining. The phenomenon owes to a number of
things, including the fa…"
Hampshire began declining. The phenomenon owes to a number of
things, including the fa…"
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Is it time to consider CM/GC on New England Transportation Projects?
In New England the primary procurement methodologies being used on transportation projects are Design-Bid-Build and Design-Build. Design-Bid-Build is the incumbent methodology best understood by state officials and the general public. It offers the owner control of the project, and allows more control of the risks such as utility relocations and right-of-way since the design is completed before the contractor is procured. Design-Build is gaining more acceptance with most states now having an established program. This methodology sacrifices some of the owner’s control of the design in exchange for more risk passed on to the contractor. These projects are generally completed more quickly, allow constructability reviews by the contractor as the design progresses, and allow State Agencies to secure federal construction dollars earlier in the process
With the state of the economy there are signs that Design-Build projects are not performing as intended. Contractors more desperate for work or trying to break into the Design-Build market are not requiring the financial compensation commensurate with their labor expended, materials costs, reasonable profit, and reward for the additional risk undertaken. In the short term this may be in the favor of the public good, getting projects built at bargain prices, but this is not a sustainable strategy and may ultimately injure the transportation market.
There is also some concern on the projects that are being selected for Design-Build. Some projects appear selected less for the advantages incumbent in the Design-Build process, and more to meet federal guidelines and deadlines for the allocation of construction funding. It is important on Design-Build projects that there is sufficient flexibility for innovation and that risks are identified and assigned to the party that can best mitigate those risks. Some projects are simply passing risks over to the contractors with minimal regard to their ability to mitigate those risks.
CM/GC is short for Construction Manager/General Contractor. CM/GC has a few different variations since it began in building construction with variants occurring as the process has been expanded into the Transportation market. The general framework is that the owner hires the design engineer using Quality Based Selection (QBS). The owner next hires the CM/GC (Contractor) also through QBS. At an agreed upon stage in the design, the CM/GC provides a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP). The advantage of this methodology is that the owner retains more control over the design, the contractor is involved in constructability reviews, risks can be better mitigated before the GMP is solicited, and once the GMP is received federal funding can be secured.
CM/GC may be particularly effective on those projects with smaller construction costs that would otherwise be a good fit for Design-Build. It is difficult for traditional practitioners of Design-Build to make a sustainable profit on projects with a construction cost of less than $10 million dollars. This isn’t necessarily to say that the successful Design-Build can’t make a profit. Most designers and contractors that have committed to Design-Build pursue multiple Design-Build projects. At the $10 million dollar or less construction value, even with a success rate of winning one out of every three or four Design-Build projects pursued, the profit of the single victory is not enough to offset the cost of the unsuccessful efforts. This may also be a function of the current procurement documents where smaller projects still often require the same level of effort as some of the larger projects. Since the bulk of the effort required is expended in the RFP phase, another factor is the selection of more than three firms on the short-list also affects overall profitability.
Before CM/GC can be implemented, it will be important to verify that current laws will allow this procurement methodology. This will need to include securing a waiver to procure a contractor through means other than low bid. Ironically it may also be an adjustment with the construction community switching to a QBS selection and working more closely with a designer outside a direct contractual relationship. Currently FHWA is encouraging the use of CM/GC as part of an overall study. States such as Utah and Oregon have been using the procurement methodology for several years.
Friday, August 5, 2011
S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating From AAA
Published August 05, 2011
| Associated Press
Urgent: Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time in the history of the ratings.
The credit rating agency said that it is cutting America's top AAA rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said that it is making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation.
A source familiar with the discussions said that the Obama administration feels the S&P's analysis contained "deep and fundamental flaws."
S&P said that in addition to the downgrade, it is issuing a negative outlook, meaning that there was a chance it will lower the rating further within the next two years. It said such a downgrade to AA would occur if the agency sees less reductions in spending than Congress and the administration have agreed to make, higher interest rates or new fiscal pressures during this period.
S&P first put the government on notice in April that a downgrade was possible unless Congress and the administration came up with a credible long-term deficit reduction plan and avoided a default on the country's debt.
After months of wrangling and negotiations with the administration, Congress passed this week a debt reduction package that averted a possible default.
In its statement, S&P said that it had changed its view "of the difficulties of bridging the gulf between the political parties" over a credible deficit reduction plan.
S&P said it was now "pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government's debt dynamics anytime soon."
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Congress Takes August Break
Everybody deserves a vacation. I certainly would not begrudge anyone a little time off after the hectic lives everyone has been leading the last few years. One of my favorite late season haunts is the Outer Banks after the hurricane season has passed.The catch for me is that in the weeks before I go on vacation, I normally increase my hours to the point that I have almost made up for any vacation time I was going to use up. My work includes making sure that all of my staff have sufficient work to stay productive during the period that I am off.
Recently I have heard a lot from congress about the balanced budgets and how as business owners themselves, their businesses would not survive if they were run the way the government works. Where is some of that homespun common sense when dealing with the FAA crisis?
Congress is leaving on vacation with over 4,000 FAA workers out of work and the aviation fund losing over $200 million per week in lost revenue. The August break will cost the avaition fund over a billion dollars. I understand that we can not rush complex spending bills through congress just so that it can be passed before the legislative break, but let's remember that we have had 20 practice runs extending this particular program. The clauses that caused the Senate to reject this spending bill weren't important enough to be raised in the previous 20 extensions, but suddenly became so critical on the 21st extension that the jobs relying on the passage of that bill became expendable.
Representative Guinta is a member of the important House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. Unfortunately I am not in his district so I can not contact him directly to better understand why these jobs are being lost from our state. I ask that civil engineers within the 1st district question the Congressman so we can all better understand this failed extension and the reasons why a clean bill was not forwarded to the Senate.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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