Infrastructure News

ENERGY

Missouri DOT Explores Solar Roads

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Maps of U.S. Infrastructure

The Washington Post has an online article that includes six informative maps about U.S. infrastructure. We encourage readers to check it out.

TRANSPORTATION

Missouri Gets F for Road Safety

That National Safety Council gave Missouri an F for road safety in its recent State of Safety: A State-by-State Report. Missouri’s low score is a result of the lack of laws relating to child passenger protection, texting while driving, seat belts and other transportation safety issues.

The state received and overall grade of F and was ranked lowest in the country (ranked 51^st out of all states and the District of Columbia and ranked 49^th for road safety) . In addition to road safety, the report considers safety issues in workplaces, homes and communities. You can find the Missouri scorecard here, as well as NSC’s scoring methodology.

Missouri Still Contender for Hyperloop

We previously noted that a Kansas City to St. Louis route was entered into a competition for Hyperloop One as it considers routes for a high-speed, tube magnetic levitation system. Apparently the 240 mile route across Missouri to connect the two Midwestern metropolises is still in the running. You can find more here.

Here is a link to another articles on a potential hyperloop in Missouri:

Proposed Missouri hyperloop would forge 25-minute connection across the state

Missouri Transportation Improvements Stalled

The Columbia Missourian recent published an evaluation of Missouri Governor Eric Greitens’ campaign promise to improve state transportation infrastructure. Though the governor recommended supplemental appropriations for the transportation agency in his fiscal year 2018 budget, he has not proposed new or increased funding sources and generally has opposed increased taxes. Recent bills in the state General Assembly that would increase fuel taxes have also failed to pass.

Here are some additional articles on Missouri’s transportation funding.

Missouri House Strikes Down Proposed Gas Tax Hike

Task force seeks consensus on new source of road funding

Transportation task force considers fuels tax increase

Texting Lanes Coming to Miami

Apparently it is hard for some people to put down their cellular phones and pay attention to something else. The Miami Dade Express Authority has decided it is easier to change the roads than change behavior. It is planning to install to install bumpers on one lane of a highway and designate it for texting use.

Infrastructure Watch usually passes on thing like this without comment, but this seems like a bad idea. It may keep texters from wandering into other lanes, but it seem like they can still get into a lot of other troubles. In addition, it does nothing to address texting while driving in other lanes or on other roads. IW believes there is a role for technology in addressing this issue and that we have to be realistic about human behavior, but on the whole this does not seem like a very expensive way to address just a small part of the problem.

For all of you texters who won’t be driving Florida’s bumpered, baby lanes: STOP IT!

At any rate, you can read more about this here.

Incidentally, Florida got a F for road safety in the NSC State of Safety report, where it ranked 44^th. It’s overall grade was a D, with a rank of 40^th. You can see the Florida scorecard here.

WATER

Philadelphia Unearths Wooden Water Pipe

Recently a construction crew digging in Philadelphia came across segments of wooden water pipe that were probably installed in 1812. Fortunately, Philadelphia is not still using these pipes. When they were installed, they would have carried water from the Schuylkill River that was pumped up by steam engine.  You can read more about it here.

The Poop Engineer: Wastewater Blog

IW welcomes another engineering and environment blog to the web, The Poop Engineer. IW is not associated with The Poop Engineer, though the author worked at the same company for a while. Good luck, Andy.

Water Weirdness

Apparently some UK utilities uses dowsing rods to find water pipes.  IW does not recommend this, but it’s interesting that people cling to it. Here are links to articles on the practice.

Are Indians Turning To The 'Supernatural' In Subterranean Search For Water?

British water utilities admit they use divining rods to find leaks

In 2017, UK water companies still rely on “magic”

Testing Dowsing: The Failure of the Munich Experiments

U.K. Water Companies Sometimes Use Dowsing Rods To Find Pipes

UK water firms admit using divining rods to find leaks and pipes

Water Dowsing

Water firms backtrack on admissions that they use divining rods

Transportation and Engineering News

TRANSPORTATION

Missouri Governor Proposes Funding Increase for Amtrak

The budget proposal submitted by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon included an additional $500,000 for Amtrak, for a total of $10.2 million. Amtrak claims it will need $18 million from the state to install positive train control, as mandated by Congress, on the Missouri River Runner line, with a total cost of $30 million. You can find more about this issue here.

Missouri Legislator Suggests Punt to Counties

Missouri State Representative Bryan Spencer proposed to make counties responsible for the upkeep of certain roads that are currently maintained by the state (these are generally rural, two-lane highways). This would reduce the amount of state-maintained roads by 19,000 miles. The roads in question have been state-maintained since 1952, when they were shifted away from county maintenance. To implement the proposal, the state constitution must be amended. You can find more about this proposal here and here. Most proposals to improve Missouri’s road funding problem involve raising the fuel tax.

WOMEN IN STEM

Women Take Lead at Engineering Organization

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has nominated two women to the ballot for its president-elect.  Robin Kemper and Kristina Swallow are both professional engineers, and one will be ASCE’s president-elect and eventually president. Kemper provides expertise on construction and professional liability issues at Zurich Services Corporation. Swallow leads a team of public works engineers in Las Vegas. ASCE’s current president-elect, Norma Jean Mattei, will step up to the office of president, meaning the top two offices in the organization will be held by women for the first time in the 164 years it has existed. You can find more here.

Cool Stuff, Old and New

London Underground Turns 150

The first train traveled the London Underground 150 years ago last month. It has grown to 249 miles of track that carry 3 million passengers daily. The Institute of Civil Engineers is observing the anniversary with events throughout the year.

Moon Water

When I was in high school, I enjoyed The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. The title inspired my friends to tease me by saying it with dramatic flair. We all read science fiction, but I tended to read more hard sci-fi and older books (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was 20 years old back then).

Anyway, in this book Heinlein anticipated that there would be water on the moon in the form of underground ice, which would be mined by settlers. Recent studies suggest that there is water ice on the moon, though we are obviously a long way from using it to quench the thirst of moon settlers. By the way, Heinlein also anticipated the Internet in this book, which I read when home dial-up Internet service was a relatively new thing and few people had computers in their homes.

T&I Committee Takes Up Infrastructure Issues

During his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama proposed a program of investing in infrastructure, particularly energy and transportation, as a way to create jobs and stimulate the economy.  The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee delved into the issue.

The committee held hearings yesterday the featured proponents from infrastructure advocates, business, and labor. Speakers included

•  Edward G. Rendell, Co-Chair of Building America’s Future and former governor of Pennsylvania,
• Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and
• Terry O’Sullivan, General President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

The T&I committee will be looking at three major bills, one to address waterways and ports, one to address railroads, and finally a reauthorization of the surface transportation programs (i.e. highways and related automobile, trucking and transit programs).  The last surface transportation reauthorization was only for two years, rather than the typical five-year plan.  The last Congress punted, largely for lack of will or imagination to deal with the predicted shortfalls in revenues for highway funding, for which they were criticized by departing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Related posts and articles

At hearing on nation’s crumbling infrastructure, money is the theme (Halsey, A., Washington Post, Feb. 13, 2013)

The Federal Role in Infrastructure (Macheska, C., Save America’s Infrastructure, Feb. 14, 2013)

Hearing Highlights Federal Role in Infrastructure and Economic Importance of Transportation System (House T&I Committee news release, Feb. 13, 2013)

No easy funding fix for U.S. transportation woes –lawmaker (Palmer, D., Reuters, Feb. 13, 2013)

The State of the Union... and our Highways (Jones, P. D., Huffington Post, Feb. 13, 2013)

LaHood Announces Plan to Leave DOT

Secretary Ray LaHood announced to the employees of the Department of Transportation (DOT) that after serving for four years in President Obama’s cabinet, he would not be staying on for the second term.  The secretary sent the following email to DOT employees across the country, informing them of his plans:

I have let President Obama know that I will not serve a second term as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.  It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the Department, and I am grateful to President Obama for giving me such an extraordinary opportunity.  I plan to stay on until my successor is confirmed to ensure a smooth transition for the Department and all the important work we still have to do.

As I look back on the past four years, I am proud of what we have accomplished together in so many important areas.  But what I am most proud of is the DOT team. You exemplify the best of public service, and I truly appreciate all that you have done to make America better, to make your communities better, and to make DOT better.

Our achievements are significant.  We have put safety front and center with the Distracted Driving Initiative and a rule to combat pilot fatigue that was decades in the making.  We have made great progress in improving the safety of our transit systems, pipelines, and highways, and in reducing roadway fatalities to historic lows.  We have strengthened consumer protections with new regulations on buses, trucks, and airlines.

We helped jumpstart the economy and put our fellow Americans back to work with $48 billion in transportation funding from the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and awarded over $3.1 billion in TIGER grants to 218 transportation projects across the Nation.  We have made unprecedented investments in our nation’s ports.  And we have put aviation on a sounder footing with the FAA reauthorization, and secured funding in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act to help States build and repair their roads, bridges and transit systems.

And to further secure our future, we have taken transportation into the 21st century with CAFE Standards, NextGen, and our investments in passenger and High-Speed Rail.  What’s more, we have provided the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy with the funding and leadership it needs to prepare a new generation of midshipmen to meet our country’s rapidly-evolving defense and maritime transportation needs.

Closer to home, we also have made great strides.  In December, the DOT was recognized as the most improved agency in the entire Federal government in the 2012 “Best Places to Work” rankings published by the Partnership of Public Service.  Even more impressive, DOT was ranked 9th out of the 19 largest agencies in the government.

Each of these remarkable accomplishments is a tribute your hard work, creativity, commitment to excellence, and most of all, your dedication to our country.  DOT is fortunate to have such an extraordinary group of public servants.  I look forward to continuing to work with all of you as the selection and confirmation process of the next transportation secretary moves forward.  Now is not the time to let up - we still have a number of critical safety goals to accomplish and still more work to do on the implementation of MAP-21.  

I’ve told President Obama, and I’ve told many of you, that this is the best job I’ve ever had.  I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of you and I’m confident that DOT will continue to achieve great things in the future.

Thank you, and God bless you.

You can read the original DOT news release here→.

Related posts and articles

LaHood Leaving Transportation (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 31, 2013)

Secretary LaHood’s Legacy: Stronger, Safer Transportation Choices for All Americans (Schmitt, A., Livability Law, Jan. 30, 2013)

Transportation Secretary LaHood to leave office (Jansen, B., USA Today, Jan. 29, 2013)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: I’m Out (Bernstein, A., Transportation Nation, Jan. 29, 2013)

Infrastructure in the Fiscal Cliff Deal

President Obama signed a bill (H.R. 8) embodying an agreement to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”  In some ways, the bill is a punt.  The 113^th Congress and the president will be negotiating new deals again in a couple of months.  Rather than complain about the chronic procrastination and shortsighted partisanship that is prevalent in our capital (I supposed I just complained), I’ll summarize some of the infrastructure-related features of the bill.

ENERGY

The bill extends the tax credit for wind energy of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour.  The extension is for 10 years and will cost $1.2 billion annually.

A more modest provision in terms of price, $1 million annually, will extend a subsidy of $2 per ton for coal produced on Indian lands.

Other provisions

•          Extend tax credits for home energy improvements and energy-efficient new homes and appliances,
•          Extend the tax credit related to what are now called second generation biofuels,
•         Extend credits for a variety of alternative energy generation in addition to wind,
•         Extend a number of programs that support biomass projects through tax credits and financial assistance,
•          Extend the tax credit on refueling properties for alternative fuel vehicles,
•          Extend credits for biodiesel.

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads will receive a one-year extension of the tax credit for maintenance.  The will be about $165 million of the year.

An expired increase in the tax credit for taking public transit that originated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is revived for 2013 and retroactively for 2012.

Electric scooters and bikes will be supported by an extension of the tax credit for “2- or 3-wheeled plug-in” electric vehicles.

Related posts and articles

From NASCAR to rum, the 10 weirdest parts of the ‘fiscal cliff’ bill (Plumer, B., Washington Post Wonkblog, Jan 2., 2013)

Book Review: #STEM Books for #DeSTEMber

I’ve reviewed 39 STEM-related books (and counting).  STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  As you may have seen in the news, there is a push to improve STEM education, interest students in STEM fields, and grow the number of workers in these fields.  The idea is that these will be the skills needed by workers of the future.  If you’re a STEM educator or a student considering a career in STEM fields, you might like to take a look at some of these books.

I’ll confess that I’m not an educator, but I think most of these books will be accessible to high school and college students, and a few to middle school students.  The list is also a reflection of my career and interests in engineering, public health, policy, and history.  Even with these biases, I think it is a good list for someone looking for STEM-related books.

How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick’s Robotic Resurrection by David F. Dufty

I was fascinated by robots as a kid.  I enjoyed reading Isaac Asimov’s robot stories.  I longed for the Omnibot 2000 in the Sears Wishbook.

Robots have come a long way.  In How to Build an Android, David F. Dufty describes the short strange life of a very complex robot made to look and talk like science fiction author Philip K. Dick.  The robot had a very sophisticated and lifelike head and complex artificial intelligence.  As with most complex things, it was the work of many people who had to solve a lot of problems.

If you’re interested in robotics, this is an interesting nontechnical book.  In addition, you’ll get introduced to some freaky sci-fi.  You may even get as (somewhat) legitimate reason to use the word “Dickhead” (capitalized, it refers to a fan of PKD, so don’t go using it on anyone).

 

The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways by Earl Swift

The Interstate highway system in the United States is one of the most enormous structures built.  Some of the prospective STEM students who read this may actually be younger than the Intestate system, though in some sense it is never complete because it needs constant repair and maintenance.  The Interstates were completed in the 1990s, but the Federal-Aid Highways go back to 1916.

 

Earl Swift wrote an accessible history of the Interstates in The Big Roads.  If you interested in automobiles or transportation, it’s a good read.

 

Dreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury

Deborah Cadbury describes seven wonders of engineering in Dreams of Iron and Steel.  It covers almost a century of history, but many of the events are concentrated in the Victorian Era.  That was a time of great technological innovation.

 

Though the book is history, many of the structures still stand.  Railways, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Suez and Panama Canals, and Hoover Dam stand testament to an age of big engineering.

 

The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios

Though the memory of Professor Wragg’s sneer prompts me to not make this confession, part of my interest in science and technology came from comic books.  Iron Man was cool.  Spider-Man’s web shooters were very cool.  Superhero comics are full of fantasy, admittedly, but the strange, unrealistic science and technology they depict have inspired many to study STEM in reality.

 

Physicist John Kakalios uses examples from comic books to explore real physics in The Physics of Supeheroes.  Sometimes comics get there science right.  Even when they get it wrong, it can be instructive.  If you know what people are talking about when they refer to the “New 52,” you may find this book to be a great introduction to physics.

 

1089 and All That: A Journey into Mathematics by David Acheson

Here is another confession: I’m not especially interested in math.  I endured a lot of math classes to study engineering.  Reading David Acheson’s 1089 and All That did not require such endurance.  For one reason, it is a short book.  For another, Acheson doesn’t expect his readers to be mathematicians; it is enough to follow the outline of the math he discusses.

 

I recommend this book because so many people have a fear of math.  1089 can be followed by many high school students and older folks with math phobias.  Just take a deep breath, relax, and follow along as well as you can.  You’ll see that math can be interesting, useful, and even beautiful in a way.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge: They Said it Couldn’t be Built by Judith St. George

Judith St. George’s The Brooklyn Bridge is a short history of and iconic bridge.  Written for the bridge’s 100^th anniversary, it is also the story of the engineers who sacrificed life and health to see it completed: John Roebling and his son Washington.  John Roebling was a German immigrant who built many suspension bridges and owed a wire-making business.  He gave his son and extraordinary education in bridge engineering for the time, and before beginning work on the Brooklyn Bridge he served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.

 

Why should a cutting-edge STEM student read about a bridge that is almost 130 years old?  It’s because we still use and rely on very successful, centuries old technologies.  Improving and rebuilding our infrastructure will be an important part of our economy.  As recently as 2010, New York City and the federal government committed $500 million to repair and repaint the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski

STEM lumps together science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Is there a difference between science and engineering?  Is it important?

 

Henry Petroski, a professor of civil engineering and history and author of The Essential Engineer, believes there is an important difference.  At heart, science is about increasing knowledge.  Engineering is about invention.  Of course, new knowledge makes new invention possible.  Just as often, though, engineering runs ahead of science.  Sometimes science didn’t advance until someone invented the instruments to conduct new observations and experiments.  The invention of the microscope made possible the science of microbiology.  Steam engines were built and greatly improved before we had a modern scientific understanding of thermodynamics.  In fact, thermodynamics was to a large extent born out of desire to understand steam engines. In this sense, it is an engineering science (study of manmade things) as much as a natural science (study of natural things) or branch of physics.

 

Petroski’s focus in the book is the importance of engineering to policymaking, where it is often overshadowed by science.  Policy, science, and engineering play off of each other a lot.  Most of my career as an engineer has been related to government, policy, and regulatory compliance.

 

The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

The Ghost Map by science writer Steven Johnson is the story of the birth of epidemiology.  Epidemiology is a medical science that uses statistics to help us understand how diseases operate in a population.  Using various statistical and geographic tools, long before we had computers and GIS, physician John Snow demonstrated that cholera, once a recurring plague that wiped out hundreds of thousands of people in some outbreaks, was a waterborne disease.  This understanding, initially met with much skepticism, allowed officials to intervene to prevent the spread of the disease.  For those who say of their math classes, “I’ll never us this,” here is a case where math (and science and policy) were used to make a great difference.

 

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose

It is not much publicized today that the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 to 1806 had a partly scientific mission.  Captains Lewis and Clark were charges with bringing back samples of the flora, fauna, and culture of the western territories.  It was also hoped that they would find a water passage to the Pacific Ocean.  In Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose writes about the scientific mission as well as the policy, diplomacy, and commercial hopes the expedition carried.

 

Of course, what attracts most people to the Lewis and Clark expedition is that it was a great adventure.  There is a place in STEM fields for thoughtful adventurers and explorers. 

 

Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear by Jan Bondeson

A list like this deserves something strange, creepy, and more fun than you care to admit.  Right now, thousands of very young future STEM workers are catching bugs and snakes, breaking their toys to see what is inside, or staring into space with a weird expression of vacancy and concentration.

 

Jan Bondeson’s Buried Alive is not a morbid book.  It is sometimes humorous, especially in consideration of topic.  From a STEM point of view, Bondeson shows how knowledge accumulates over time.  The fears and activities of our forefathers may seem strange to us, but they sometimes made sense in light of what they knew.  Buried Alive doesn’t simply play off our fascination with the grotesque and death, though the book might not have been written if we lacked that fascination, I think it reminds us to approach our ancestors with a touch of grace and humility.  Maybe our progeny will show us the same courtesy.

 

If you’re looking for something for a younger student, check out this post→ from Joanne Loves Science or these recommendations→ from STEM Friday.  By the way, I also write about engineering, infrastructure and the environment at Infrastructure Watch.

 

This review of STEM books appears courtesy of Keenan’s Book Reviews.

Extreme Weather Hard on Infrastructure

Hurricane Sandy highlighted the vulnerability of our infrastructure to extreme weather.  New York’s subways were severely damaged and travel to and from New England by train or airplane was delayed or cancelled.  People were without power for days, weeks for some.

This is only one example we could draw from 2012.  Extreme heat and drought troubled much of the nation this summer.

It is time to start thinking about how we live with our environment in new ways.  This is not simply a matter of climate change and the effects of human activity on climate and weather.  It is about what kind of lives we want to live, what kind of infrastructure we need to live it, what we consider acceptable in terms of infrastructure reliability, water and air quality, transportation methods and routes, locus of control, and the complex of manmade and natural systems we live in on local, regional, national and global scales.  Some are even seeing opportunities in what others are seeing as blunt problems needing heaving engineering answers.

Related posts and articles

And the Lord (Mayor) Said: Climate Change Is Real (Elliot, D., Conde Nast Traveler The Daily Traveler, June 8, 2012)

Extreme weather tough on transportation system (CBS News [Associated Press], Nov. 22, 2012)

It's not just Sandy: U.S. hit by record droughts, fires, and heatwaves in 2012 (Hance, J., Mongabay.com, Nov. 5, 2012)

US roads, airports unready for extreme weather (Lowy, J., Associated Press, Nov. 21, 2012)

Congress Passes Appropriations (6 Months Late), Gears Up for Next Budget Battle

Congress finally agreed on an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011—half way into the budget year that began in October—after sliding along on a series of continuing resolutions. Since the appropriations bill are ostensibly the only thing Congress must pass every year, IW humbly proposes a rule that disallows the consideration of any other bill in the House of Representatives, where appropriations must originate, until after an appropriations bill has passed in that chamber. A similar restriction would apply to the Senate once it received the bill for consideration. Enough crazy speculation about how I think things ought to be.
The appropriations included $38 million in cuts for this fiscal year. They were across the board and hit environmental and infrastructure programs. Here are some links from more diligent writers for our more diligent readers.
Budget deal cuts clean water, hurts communities and economy (Public Works, April 15, 2011)
Congress passes budget bill that Yarmuth and Paul oppose (Bailey, P. M., WFPL, April 14, 2011)
Congress passes budget cuts (Felkins, J., DeKalb County Journal-Times, April 14, 2011)
Congress passes spending bill, averting shutdown (Condon, S., & Montopoli, B., CBS News, April 14, 2011)
Obama’s high-speed rail gets $1.5 billion slashed in budget deal (Stein, S., Huffington Post, April 11, 2011)
Thought 2011 budget battle was messy? Wait for the next round (Lightman, D., Talev, M., & Douglas, W., McClatchy Newspapers, April 14, 2011)

Recovery & Stimulus News

Colo. No. 25 for ARRA Jobs (Hicks, L. W., Denver Business Journal, March 25, 2011)
DOT’s Stimulus Payout Reaches $26.7 Billion (Boyd, J., Journal of Commerce, March 23, 2011)
GDOT: Stimulus Program a “Tremendous” Success (Dacula Patch, March 23, 2011)
Mo. Auditor: Oversight Lacking on Stimulus Funds (Jefferson City News Tribune [Associated Press], March 24, 2011)
Rebuilding Green: The American Reinvestment and Recover Act and the Green Economy (Infrastructure USA, March 14, 2011)

$590 million in federal passenger rail funding (Snohomish Times, Feb. 28, 2011)
House Passes Appropriations Bill (Infrastructure Watch, Feb. 21, 2011)
New report reveals smart transportation spending creates jobs, grows the economy (Smart Growth America, Feb. 4, 2011)
Recent Lessons from the Stimulus: Transportation Funding and Job Creation (InfrastructureUSA, Feb. 7, 2011)
Rejected Florida money now could be used for Washington State Railways (NCWTV, Feb. 16, 2011)

Infrastructure Stimulus (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 27, 2011)

On a personal note, a (hopefully very short) hold on an ARRA-funded project could mean IW may have more time for blogging next week. Bloggingd doesn't pay the bills, so keep your fingers crossed that the project gets moving again,

Infrastructure in the Obama Budget

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama emphasized infrastructure funding. His budget proposal includes increases for transportation, especially for high-speed rail, but cuts other infrastructure programs.

Unfortunately, Infrastructure Watch doesn’t have the time to dig through the budget and analyze it. Fortunately, professional journalists, paid bloggers, and big stakeholders do. Here is a compilation of some articles from these diligent folks.

Education, Infrastructure Win in Obama Budget (Gramlich, J., Stateline, Feb. 15, 2011)

EPA Budget Proposal Focuses on Air and Climate, Cuts Water Grants (Nelson, G., & Chemnick, J., New York Times, Feb. 14, 2011)

Geithner: Infrastructure Bank Would End Bridges to Nowhere (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 9, 2011)

Grading Obama’s Budget Proposal for Food, Water and Fish (Food and Water Watch, Feb., 16, 2011)

Obama Budget has $5 Billion for Infrastructure Bank (Lambert, L., Reuters UK, Feb. 17, 2011)

Obama Budget has $556 Billion , Six-Year Transporation Plan (Crawley, J., & Lambert, L., Reuters, Feb. 14, 2011)

Obama Budget Hikes Transportation But Cuts Other Construction Programs (Ichniowski, T., & Hunter, P., Engineering News-Record, Feb. 16, 2011)

Obama’s $3.7 Trillion Budget Sets Fight in Congress (Runningen, R., & Faler, B., Bloomberg, Feb. 14, 2011)

Reconnecting America Releases Analysis of Obama Budget Proposal

Tax Hikes May Outweigh Obama Budget (Hoover, K., Portland Business Journal, Feb. 16, 2011)