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

Book Review: The Big Roads by Earls Swift

Swift, Earl.  The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

The American interstate system is often thought to be a product of the Eisenhower administration.  It’s named for him.  However, the nearly 47,000 miles of interstate were conceived largely before Eisenhower’s presidency.  Even as he observed the Army’s 62-day, cross-country convoy of 1919, engineers were laying the political and technical foundations of national highways.  Earl Swift tells this longer history of the interstates in The Big Roads.

When Americans began calling for better roads, the typical road was mud.  The loudest calls for better roads at the beginning of the 20^th Century were cyclists, especially the colorful Carl Fisher.  Fisher’s most famous work is the Indianapolis Speedway, where a popular 500-mile race continues to be run.  His promotion of the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast highway (at least on paper), provided an important antecedent to the interstates.

The Lincoln Highway Association operated on a system that informed later highway development.  Rather than build a huge new highway, it selected existing roads for improvement, joining them together in a highway.  New roads were built only if necessary.  The association, a private organization that raised private funds for road improvement and route promotion, was a model for later systems in another way.  The Lincoln Highway was built and improved in pieces by a number of local and state agencies.  The association provided a route, coordination, promotion, encouragement, and sometimes funding, but the road improvements were mostly local works.

Thomas MacDonald, an Iowa highway engineer, was using a similar model as he worked for that state.  He worked with city and county road departments to coordinate improvements leading to a statewide system of decent roads.  When he became director of the Office of Public Roads, he brought this model to the federal highway program, institutionalizing it in the Federal Aid system that began in 1916.

Of course, the U.S. highways that developed under this system were not like modern interstates.  They were open to anyone along them.  In rural areas, they might have been and often still are long ribbons of pavement crossed by the occasional farm road.  In cities, they became crowded with business, especially restaurants and gas stations, that slowed traffic to a crawl.  This problems gave rise to the concept of a limited-access highway, first proposed by Benton MacKaye, the conservationist who conceived the Appalachian Trail.

MacDonald and his engineers began working the concept.  His office produced a report, authored primarily by Hubert Sinclair Fairbanks, that laid out most of the current interstate system in 1938.  Fairbanks supported that idea that better roads might solve problems related to slums and blight in cities.  The recommendations of this report and a follow-up commission were largely implemented in law in 1944, when the term “interstate” first appeared in legislation.

The plans for an interstate system languished during World War II and the years immediately following.  Eisenhower comes into the picture at this time because he strongly supported funding for the interstate system.

Highway engineers saw themselves as providing a good and giving the people what they wanted.  Along the way, as Fairbanks suggested, they could clean up the cities.  As they began to implement their plans in earnest, opposition arose.

Swift gives particular attention to two interstate opponents.  Critic Lewis Mumford provided the intellectual and philosophical foundation for the Freeway Revolt.  Joe Wiles, a black professional and veteran, organized opposition to Interstate 70 in Baltimore which resulted in changes to the plan and help unite the white and black communities in that city.  The federal and state governments began to take seriously the possibility that interstates could have a negative impact on the communities near them

The intestate system, finally completed in the 1990s, is the largest public works project in history.  Now that it is built, it needs to be maintained.  It will be expensive: $225 billion a year for the next 50 years to keep it in good shape.  That is more than twice what we’re spending.  In addition, improved fuel efficiency and reduced driving prompted by the economic downturn has reduced gas tax revenues for the Highway Trust Fund.  In the near future, we may need to find new ways to pay for maintaining our transportation marvel.

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

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Brooklyn Bridge by Judith St. George

Canals and Their Architecture by Robert Harris

Dreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury

The Great Bridge by David McCollough

On the Mainlines by William B. Claycomb

This review of The Big Roads by Earl Swift appears courtesy of Keenan’s Book Reviews, where you can reviews of other books related to engineering and technology.

Highway Funding

Infrastructure Watch previously posted about the dwindling Highway Trust Fund.  One of the reasons this fund has shrunk is that it is supported by taxes on gasoline.  Improvements in fuel efficiency and changes in driving habits have reduced revenues from gas taxes.

This is issue for states as well as the federal government.  Like the Highway Trust Fund, most state highway revenues come from gas taxes.  At all levels of government, people are looking for alternative sources of revenue.  Some of the proposals include increasing gas taxes, sales taxes, miles-traveled taxes, increasing fees, and new or increased tolls.

Increased Gas Tax

One approach is to simply increase the tax on gas.  In 13 states, it has been 20 years or more since the gas tax has changed.

Sales Tax

Some states are looking at supplementing highway funding with a sales tax.  Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has gone so far as to propose eliminating his states gas tax and replacing it with a sales tax to support transportation.  Though no other state has considered going so far, many have looked at increased or new sales taxes to supplement funds for highways.

Miles-Traveled Tax

The gas tax has some relation to road use because the more you drive the more gas you use.  Several states have looked at the possibility of directly taxing for roads based on use.  The difficulty of such a tax is that there needs to be a mechanism of tracking and reporting miles traveled.

Fees

Most states have fees for motor vehicle registration.  Some are considering increasing these fees and dedicating them completely to transportation.  It seems unlikely that these fees alone could replace losses in gas tax revenue.

Tolls

Tolls are a longstanding method of road funding.  One suggestion for raising road revenues is to increase toll and institute tolls on free roads.

Related posts and articles

Highway Trust Fund Running Out of Money (Infrastructure Watch, Feb. 9, 2012)

New tax hikes eyed for roads, transit (Copeland, L., USA Today, Jan. 28, 2012)

Time to tweak gas taxes? States weigh options (Copeland, L., USA Today, Jan. 28, 2012)

Quick Hits: Highway Funding (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 22, 2013)

Energy, Transportation & Missouri News

ENERGY

Buyer of TVA Nuclear Plant Plans to Run It

We previously posted that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was auctioning an unfinished nuclear power plant near Hollywood, Alabama. The buyer, Nuclear Development LLC, announced its intention to complete the plant and put it into operation.

Before this can be done, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must transfer the operating license from TVA to Nuclear Development. In addition, Nuclear Development must complete financing arrangements.

Nuclear Development bid $111 million for the plant. In addition to two nuclear reactors and supporting facilities, the property includes 1,600 acres of land.

Canada, Finland Plan to Phase Out Coal

Canadian officials announced plans to phase out coal-powered electric generation by 2030. They hope the country will be 90 percent powered by sustainable sources by that time.

Findland also proposes to phase out coal by 2030. The country plans to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

MISSOURI

Bill Would Make Sale of Municipal Utilities Easier

A bill filed in the Missouri General Assembly (HB 247), would lower the threshold of voter approval needed for a municipality to sell a utility. If passed, it would lower the requirement from a five-seventh majority to a simple majority. The Missouri House Local Government Committee has taken up the bill.

TRANSPORTATION

Bill Would Transfer Some Missouri Roads from State to Counties

Two bills in the Missouri Senate (SB 38 and SJR 3), propose pathway for the transfer of responsibility for certain road, letter routes, from the state to counties. About two-thirds of the current state funds for maintaining these roads will be distributed to counties, the remainder remaining with the state for other transportation needs.

County officials are opposed to the measure, saying it will shift much of the state’s burden for road maintenance to even more cash-strapped counties. These routes were maintained by counties until 1952, when the state took them over as part of a road improvement program.

A similar proposal failed to pass in the 2016 session. SJR 3 also includes a provision for raising fuel taxes. You can find out more about these bills here.

Noisy Electric Cars

New rules will require electric cars traveling slower than 19 miles per hour to produce a sound. This is to prevent accidents involving pedestrians who can’t hear the very quiet electric motors operating in these vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Administration anticipates this measure will prevent 2,400 injuries to pedestrians annually. New electric and hybrid cars must comply with the rule by September 2019.

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.

Legislation Introduced in Congress to Protect Pedestrians from Quiet Cars

This is, at best, tangentially related to the type of infrastructure subjects we normally address in this blog. We’ll refrain from further commentary, though the fact that this is a bill in Congress may say something about the state of that institution.

Representatives Edolphus Towns (New York) and Cliff Stearns (Florida) have introduced a bill that would require the Department of Transportation to promulgate safety standards for hybrids and other very quiet cars in order to protect pedestrians, particularly the blind who rely on hearing to determine when it is safe to cross a road.

Additional Information
Towns’ news release
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/08/tech/main4002670.shtml?source=RSSattr=SciTech_4002670
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/03/tech/main3324895.shtml?source=related_story

Energy, Transportation, Water & Missouri News

ENERGY

U.S. Military Agency Seeks to Protect Grid

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has announced plans to develop systems for the protection of critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks. You can find out more in this article or the DARPA Web site. If you’d like to find out more about the vulnerabilities of the U.S. electric grid, you may be interested in Lights Out by Ted Koppel.

TRANSPORTATION

Could You Pay to Name a Missouri Road?

A bill introduced into the Missouri House of Representatives, HB 728, would allow the state Highways and Transportation Commission to sell naming rights to roads and bridges. You can find more about the bill here.

Hyperloop Considers Missouri

Missouri is one of the semifinalists for consideration for the construction of a Hyperloop, a high-speed transportation system that could go from Kansas City to St. Louis in 23 minutes. The Missouri Department of Transportation conceives of it as part of a reconstructed Interstate 70 corridor—the segment of I-70 that crosses Missouri is considered the first completed portion of the interstate system. You can find more about this proposal, about which there remain many questions, here or here.

Missouri Bill: Move Over for Utility Vehicles

A bill recently passed in the Missouri House, HB 85, that would require drivers to pull over or slow down when driving by a utility vehicle that is flashing lights. A similar requirement exists for emergency response vehicles such as fire and police. The bill will move on to the Senate. You can find more here.

Missouri and Illinois Rivers Could be Part of Trump Infrastructure Plan

Though President Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure plan is not final, locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers could make the list. Seven locks, five on the Upper Mississippi River and two on the Illinois River, aid barge transportation to Chicago and Minneapolis. A proposal to improve the seven locks and undertake related stream and habitat restoration projects was taken up by Congress in 2007, but never received an appropriation. If the project is supported by the Trump administration, it is not certain that the president would support the environmental aspect of the program, which would likely undermine the support it has received from major environmental groups. You can read more about this here.

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WATER

Trump Order Could Roll Back Federal Regulation of Streams

President Trump issued an executive order that lead to rescinding the 2015 Clean Water Rule. It is not clear what rule may replace it, but some suspect it will limit or eliminate federal regulation of intermittent streams.

The 2015 rule, promulgated under the administration of President Barrack Obama, clarified federal jurisdiction over certain waters. Opponents sued claiming that the rule actually extended federal jurisdiction. A federal court ordered federal agencies to not implement while it considered the case.

You can find more about this issue here.

Congressional Budget Office Presents Testimony on Transportation Spending

Earlier this month, Mr. Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presented testimony on federal spending on surface transportation infrastructure. This report was prompted by events anticipate for 2007: the expiration of SAFETEA-LU and spending form the Highway Trust Fund outpacing revenues.

Most government spending on surface transportation infrastructure is by state and local governments (about three-fourths). The great majority of federal spending is on capital (92 percent). The majority of state and local spending is on operations and maintenance (64 percent).

The CBO points out that Congress will need to find ways to decrease spending (or at least the growth in spending), increase revenues, or some combination of these. Fully funding the projected spending by raising fuel taxes could result in an increase of 5 cents per gallon.

The CBO suggested alternatives to fuel taxes.
-Mileage fees. Fees based on the number of miles traveled by a vehicle. This would include tolls.
-Weight-distance fees. Annual fees based on the mileage and type of vehicle.
-Congestion fees. Fees based on road choice and travel timing.
State and local governments are using or have experimented with these alternatives. They are advantageous and more economically efficient in that they link particular infrastructure resources to their users and type of use. The present fuel tax system is advantageous in that it is relatively inexpensive to administer and hard to evade.

Missouri Host Meeting on Kansas-City Area Rivers, TMDLs

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources will hold a public meeting Monday, Oct. 29, to discuss draft plans to improve water quality in Blue River and Indian Creek in Jackson County. 

The plans are part of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study, which describes pollutant reductions needed to improve water quality in four segments of Blue River extending from the Kansas state line to its confluence with the Missouri River, and Indian Creek from the Kansas state line to its confluence with Blue River. Both waterways are on the state’s list of impaired waters.

The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the department’s Kansas City Regional Office, 500 NE Colbern Road, Lee’s Summit, MO.

Links to the studies and supporting documents are available online at www.dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/tmdl.

You can read the complete, original news release here→.

Move Made to Eliminate Transportation Earmarks

Rep. Jeff Flake (Arizona) has introduced the Resist Offsetting with Additional Debt (ROAD) Act (H.R. 6472). The bill would eliminate funding where there are unobligated balances for earmark projects under SAFETEA-LU, the present transportation funding law. The bill would also prohibit transfers from the General Fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund.

Shortfalls in the Highway Trust Fund are projected to occur within the next few years. You can find more about this here.

Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News & Elsewhere

Here is a clearinghouse of links to recent articles and posts on the how the economic stimulus package is effecting infrastructure.

Missouri Docks and Ferries Receive Stimulus Funds (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 1, 2009)
Missouri Receives Stimulus Funds for Weatherization (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 1, 2009)
Missouri Receives Stimulus Funds to Clean Up Petroleum Leaks (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 1, 2009)
Missouri Receives Stimulus Funds to Reduce Diesel Emissions (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 1, 2009)

Bill Watch—111th Congress (Infrastructure Watch, July 21, 2009)
Highway spending isn't the stimulus it was envisioned to be (Lee, D., Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2009)
STIMULUS WATCH: Neediest areas not first for money (Castro, A., Associated Press, July 19, 2009)
LaHood Defends Stimulus, Impact on Jobs (Mostrous, A., Washington Post, July 15, 2009)
Stimulus Screws Up Opportunity To Create Jobs, Save Energy (The Infrastructurist, July 15, 2009)
Road officials trying to put stimulus cash to work (Tibbits, G., Associated Press, July 14, 2009)
Recovery Act Not Very Stimulating Relative to Water Investments (Selke, J., American Water Resources Association, Water Resources Blog, July 8, 2009)
Infrastructure Economic Stimulus in the News (Infrastructure Watch, July 1, 2009)

Infrastructure & Environment Review

ENERGY

Ameren Missouri Efficiency Program Ends

Unable to resolve differences with state regulators, Ameren Missouri has let its energy efficiency rebate program lapse. Staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission and the state’s Office of Public Counsel believed that Ameren customer overpaid the cost of the program, and opposed a three-year extension. A proposal from Kansas City Power & Light has been approved, and it might serve as a model for a compromise between the state and Ameren. You can read more about this issue here.

TRANSPORTATION

Bans on Texting While Driving Introduced in Missouri

Bills that would prohibit or greatly restrict texting while driving have been prefiled in the Missouri General Assembly session that started January 6: HB1542 and SB821. Currently, texting while driving is banned for drivers younger than 21 and for drivers of commercial vehicles. You can find more about these bills here.

Bill Would Add Missouri Highway Commissioners

HB1446 would increase the size of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission from six members to eight. Each of the seven Transportation Department districts would be represented by a commissioner, and an eighth commissioner would be appointed without regard to district residence.

Missouri Legislators Propose Fuel Tax Increase

Two proposals have been floated by Missouri state legislators. One would increase the tax on gasoline by 1.5 cents and diesel by 3.5 cents. Another would increase all fuel taxes by 2 cents. You can find more about these proposals here or here.

As an alternative to the fuel tax, SB645 would redirect 3 percent of automobile sales tax revenues from state general revenue to the road fund.

WATER

Flooded Wastewater Plants Release Sewage in St. Louis Area

Wastewater treatment plants operated by the Metropolitan Sewer District of St. Louis have released millions of gallons of sewage into rivers. The Grand Glaize and Fenton plants were inundated by the recent floods in Missouri. The two plants, which combined treat and average of 20 million gallons of wastewater per day, discharge into the Meramec River.

White House Announces Water Strategy

The White House announced a strategy to the sustainability of U.S. water supplies and systems. The cynic in me suspects that these strategies, programs, and actions were things that were mostly in the works anyway, but someone cobbled them together into a seemingly unified program (you can can get the details here). Even so, we need to take a serious look at our water resources, policies and practices. Good policy that addresses today’s water situation is needed, but sustainable water for our nation will come when we have a culture that values water for the many roles it plays in our environment, industry, health, recreation and almost every other aspect of human life.

Blue Ribbon Commission Reports on Missouri Transportation Funding

Last month, the Missouri Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Missouri’s Transportation Needs issued its report on transportation in the state.  There is a lot of interesting information in the report, but the main issue is funding.

Missouri needs to invest an additional $600 million to $1 billion annually in its transportation system.  Missouri has the seventh largest transportation system in the United States, but it has the sixth lowest fuel tax.

Several funding proposal are mentioned in the report, but I think only two are realistic.  That is, it is realistic that they could raise revenues; it is debatable whether they can win authorization.  These are increases in sales taxes or fuel taxes, possibly both.

·         Missouri’s sales tax rate (4.255 percent) is lower than any of the eight neighboring states.  An increase of one cent per dollar (to 5.225 percent) would raise an additional $700 million annually.

·         Missouri’s fuel tax rate is lower than all but one of its neighboring states, though it has substantially more miles of road than any of those states.  An increase in fuel tax of one cent per gallon would raise an additional $30 million annually.

Increased investment in transportation could be a type of economic stimulus.  For every $1 invested in results in $4 of new economic activity.  In addition, $1 billion spent on transportation creates 27,000 jobs.

You can read the full report here→.

Blizzard Costs Missouri $7.7 Million in Highway Clearing

As the wintery mix falls outside the “offices” of Infrastructure Watch, the Missouri Department of Transportation has updated its estimate of the cost to clear road during the recent blizzard to $7.7 million. The cost includes 90,000 man-hours and 1.1 million miles logged on snowplows. This does not include local government costs for clearing snow from the roads they maintain.

Related posts and articles
MoDOT: Blizzard Cost Millions
Record Snow Cost MoDOT $7.7 Million

Coverage of Infrastructure in Economic Stimulus

Here is a clearinghouse of links to recent articles and posts on the how the economic stimulus package is effecting infrastructure.

Companies Pretty Up Prices to Win Stimulus Projects (Cooper, M., New York Times, Apr. 14, 2009)
Economic Stimulus Funds 2000 Transportation Projects (Infrastructure Watch, Apr. 14, 2009)
President Obama to Mark Stimulus Milestone: 2,000th Transportation Project (Tapper, J., ABC News, Apr. 13, 2009)
Missouri Gets Economics Stimulus Fund for Clean Diesel Projects (Infrastructure Watch, Apr. 11, 2009)
Stimulus money means work for contractors (Proctor, C., Denver Business News, Apr. 10, 2009)
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES $45 MILLION FOR REHABILITATING FLOOD CONTROL STRUCTURES (USDA news release, Apr. 6, 2009)
Microsoft Benefits From Stimulus Funds (CBS News, Apr. 6, 2009)

Bay Area transportation projects benefit from low bids in poor economy (Richard, G., Mercury News, Mar. 30, 2009)
Utilities getting in line for stimulus monies (AWWA Streamlines, Mar. 17, 2009)
Stimulus Spurs Road Projects, Big and Small (New York Times, Mar. 3, 2009)

Recovery Act and Infrastructure News

Contractors add 14,000 jobs in April (Haughey, J., Reed Construction Data, May 7, 2010)
It Is Time to Get Ready for the Construction Recovery (Haughey, J., Reed Construction Data, May 3, 2010)
Stimulus aids few Georgia bridges (Redmon, J., et al, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 9, 2010)
Stimulus recipients report high job creation during first quarter (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, May 3, 2010)

Highway work expected to fuel demand for cement (Sullivan, A., Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, April 30, 2010)

States Obligate All Highway Stimulus Funds (Infrastructure Watch, March 10, 2010)
Stimulus funds target infrastructure (Showley, R., San Diego Union-Tribune, March 10, 2010)

Agencies find errors in Recovery Act spending reports (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, Feb. 11, 2010)
Missouri Environment & Infrastructure Roundup (Infrastructure Watch, Feb. 1, 2010)
Report finds federal regulations have delayed stimulus projects (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, Feb. 19, 2010)

Massive New Study Confirms Stimulus Spending On Road Construction Does Nothing To Lower Unemployment (Business Insiders, Jan. 11, 2010)
Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 26, 2010)

Bureau of Transportation Statistics Releases Highway Bridge Report

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recent released a report on highway bridges. The report summarizes information on bridges from several federal government sources and reports. Some of the interesting highlights of the report follow.

Bridge Conditions. In 2006, 74,000 bridges were found to be structurally deficient. This amounts to about 12 percent of highway bridges. Structurally deficient bridges are considered unsafe or likely to collapse, but need significant maintenance and may need weight or traffic limitations.

Spending. About $12 billion was spent on highway bridges in 2004. The vast majority, about $10.5 billions, was for rehabilitation and replacement of bridges.

Bridge Ownership. State and local governments own 98 percent of the bridges tracked by the Federal Highway Administration. The agency’s National Bridge Inventory includes all public road bridges over 20 feet long.

Rural vs. Urban Bridges. Urban interstate bridges, less than 5 percent of highway bridges, carry almost 35 percent of bridge traffic. Rural local bridges, about 35 percent of highway bridges, carry less than 2 percent of the traffic.