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

Courts Overturn EPA Rules

Cellulosic Biofuel Mandate

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules setting quotas for cellulosic biofuels use.  These quotas began after passage of a law in 2007 to encourage “advanced” biofuels.

Production of cellulosic biofuels has been slower than projected.  The American Petroleum Institute, which brought the suit against the EPA, argued that gasoline refiners were required to meet a requirement they had little control over meeting.  The cellulosic biofuel producers were getting all the carrots; the gas producers were getting all the sticks.

The court more or less agreed.  They found that the quota was not consistent with likely Congressional intent.  In addition, the rule differed from other environmental regulation in that the group regulated, refiners, was not the group in control of the technology the agency wanted to develop, producers of cellulosic biofuels.

This is not a complete overturn of quotas for advanced biofuels use.  There are more widely available non-cellulosic biofuels that meet the legal definition of advanced biofuels that the agency can substitute to keep up the quota.

Stormwater Is Not a Pollutant

EPA also lost a case in federal district court related to stormwater discharges.  EPA rules established in 2011 limited stormwater discharges into Accontic Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.  Virginia sued claiming that EPA only has the authority to limit pollutants, not the discharge of stormwater itself.  The court agreed.

So far, it is not common for EPA to regulate stormwater discharge as a surrogate for setting limits on the pollutants in stormwater.  They have used the strategy only in Virginia and Missouri.

Related posts and articles

Court Overturns E.P.A.’s Biofuels Mandate (Wald, M. L., New York Times, Jan. 25, 2013)

Judge: EPA Can't Treat Stormwater as Pollutant (Honeywell, R., Governing FedWatch blog, Jan. 8, 2013)

Missouri, Manitoba Force Bureau of Reclamation to Take “Hard Look” at Project

Missouri and the Canadian province of Manitoba sued to prevent the transfer of water from Lake Sakakawea of the Missouri River to Minot, ND. They claim that this interbasin transfer would introduce alien species to the waterways effected by the project.

This is the second time Judge Rosemary Collyer (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) has ordered the Bureau of Reclamation to take a “hard look” at the project and its environmental effects. Collyer found that the Bureau’s environmental review was too narrow, considering only the anticipated change in lake levels as a result of the transfer.

Portions of the pipeline that is part of the Northwest Area Water Supply Project have already been constructed. The project ran into trouble in 2002 when Manitoba first filed suit.

Relate posts and articles:
Missouri Comes Out Swingin Over River Divserion Plan
Judge Orders Interior to Re-examine Water Pipeline Plan

Government Accountability Office Reports on Need for Water Infrastructure Investment

In a report on drinking water lead compliance and other water infrastructure needs of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, the Government Accountability Office also addressed water infrastructure needs nationwide. Estimates of water infrastructure needs in the U.S. range from $485 billions to $1.2 trillion. About three-fourths of the existing infrastructure is underground pipe (about 800,000 miles of drinking water lines and nearly as many miles of sewers).

Funding for this infrastructure is a major issue. The revenues of many utilities are not sufficient to keep up with infrastructure needs. Funding for the largest federal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure programs have be flat or declining.

The full report is available here.

Missouri Gets Economics Stimulus Fund for Clean Diesel Projects

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1.73 million to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR). The funding can be used to support clean diesel projects and loan programs to address the nation's existing fleet of over 11 million diesel engines.

The funds provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 will go to MoDNR’s diesel emissions program, which allocated equal funding to all 50 states and the District of Columbia and an additional pool of money for which states, local governments, tribes and nonprofits can compete. Eligible projects include engine idling reduction and retrofit technologies, engine replacement, vehicle replacement, and clean diesel emerging technologies.

You can read the full EPA news release here.

Amtrak May Benefit from Tunnel Bill

The Northeast Corridor Rail Tunnel Safety Act (H.R. 651) would provide $898 million to Amtrak for tunnel rehabilitation and safety improvements in New York, Maryland and the District of Columbia.