INFRA US 2

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UPPING THE ANTE Las Vegas gambles on the biggest private project in US history PAGE 40

DRIVING INVESTMENT Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood lays down his budget priorities www.americainfra.com • Q4 2009

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SHAKE, RATTLE & TOLL Can road pricing fix America’s crumbling highways?

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E H T H G U O R TH r in New a e p p a start to eing missed? y r e v o c e trina b s of r a t K o o f h o s s n As the ey lesso k e r a , s Orlean PAGE 34

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ED NOTE USINFRA2_aug09 23/09/2009 09:36 Page 11

FROM THE EDITOR 11

All together now Why building better connections could revolutionise Europe’s infrastructure future

I

’m sure I’m not the only person who emits an audible sigh of displeasure when a TV advert, most often for a mobile phone network, starts banging on about how great it is to be ‘connected’. Backed by an irritatingly cute soundtrack, these ads tend to feature gangs of impossibly good-looking people having their already wonderful lives improved immeasurably by their ability to stay in uninterrupted contact with one another. Living in the age of the social network and the omnipresent mobile phone, being connected is presented as aspirational. Curmudgeon that I am, I find it all quite nauseating.

Regardless of my personal antipathy, the concept of connectedness could be key to the next leap forward in European infrastructure development.

Building better networks has the potential to safeguard both our environmental and economic future. High-speed rail lines are flourishing across much of the continent. As these networks improve, the train is becoming a truly viable alterna-

tive to short haul flights. The opening of the Madrid to Barcelona line allows travel between the two cities in under three hours. The train is taking an increasing share of passenger numbers on the route, as travellers opt to avoid the many onerous features of air transit for a comfortable service that deposits them in the heart of their destination city.

There is no reason why such services should be constrained by national borders. There are already international connections on certain highspeed routes, so a future where people are able to travel the length of the continent by fast train isn’t so outlandish.

In energy too, making new connections could be of tremendous benefit. The huge drive towards renewable sources of power presents opportunities as well as challenges. To exploit Europe’s massive capacity for offshore and onshore wind power, new transmission infrastructure will have to be built. If we are starting from scratch anyway, why not think ahead and construct a truly panEuropean network? Tackling such a project in a

“Hosting the UEFA Euro 2012 football championships in Ukraine and Poland is stimulating investment in infrastructure and supports Ukraine’s continued economic development.”

Ukrainian Vice-Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyrya (page 30)

“High-speed rail is – or is becoming – a key driver of modernisation – economic, environmental and social; it is not simply a better, faster means of transport.” UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis (page 36)

concerted way could help resolve the reliability issues that can dog renewable energy. The wind will always be blowing somewhere, so it makes sense to be able to funnel energy from the source to where it is most needed.

But to make this work will require a far more concerted approach than we have seen previously. Governments and planners will need to cast off their tribal tendencies and embrace a common future. These are exactly the kind of projects that the European Union was designed to facilitate, but which have traditionally been far too slow to get moving. Things need to change and we need to start working together. Forget the TV ads – that’s the kind of connectedness I could really get behind. n

Huw Thomas, Editor

“Wind energy is the most dynamic industry all over the world. Even in this very tricky period it is still growing.”

Christian Egal, CEO, EDF Energy Renewables (page 86)

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CONTENTS 12

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46 A nation on the move

High and dry?

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood outlines budget priorities for the year ahead

Four years after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans and the Louisiana coast, Huw Thomas looks at ongoing efforts to rebuild flood defences and assesses a challenging future for the Big Easy

40

92 Toll story As the United States struggles to revive its ailing surface transportation network Stacey Sheppard asks what the future holds for America’s interstate highway system

Raising the stakes It’s the biggest private project in US history, but can the MGM Mirage CityCenter beat the odds and deliver in today’s economic climate?

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CONTENTS 15

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Intelligent defense

Up to speed

60

GOLD SPONSOR

56 Play it cool Scott Belcher tells US Infrastructure about some new strategies to reduce transportation’s environmental impact

60 Up to speed S I LV E R S P O N S O R

52

State of motion

Railways created a transport revolution in the 19th Century. As trains and lines get faster and more sophisticated, are we on the verge of a new leap forward?

remains the greatest obstacle. We ask what the Golden State is doing to overcome this challenge

INDUSTRY INSIGHT 78 Shelton Stringer, Earth Systems Global, Inc 112 Dominic Li, TruePosition 130 Daniel Conway, Chartis

66 Intelligent defense 50 Belle of the Ball, or Cinderella after midnight?

By Jeff Solsby, Director of Public Affairs, American Road & Transportation Builders Association

Bringing the power of geospatial intelligence to Homeland Security

72 The winds of change Whilst the US is making considerable progress in the wind energy sector, there are still lessons to be learnt from those across the pond

52 State of motion Earl Seaberg of the California Department of Transportation explains how Recovery Act money is getting things in more ways than one

82 Gridlock?

As California attempts to meet its renewable energy targets, transmission infrastructure

ASK THE EXPERT 54 Mike Ostrom, Mygistics Inc. 70 Brian Wegner, Fugro EarthData 80 Robert Poore, DNV Global Energy Concepts 88 Mike Dickinson, Pacific Crest Transformers 108 Scott Alfieri, DCC/PlantCML

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CONTENTS 17

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS 58 Craig Cantrell, PIPS Technology 64 Greg Tilley, Infotech Enterprises America, Inc 96 Tanya Lin, Sprint 134 Jordi Vilardell, AgerGAS

110 Loud and clear

126 Future assurances

Close attention needs to be paid if emergency communication and notification systems are to make themselves heard when it really counts

The security industry stands ready to support qualified contractors to build infrastructure

132 Waste not, want not 114 We’ve only just begun Recovery Act investments are a great start, but failing US infrastructure needs much more, says Patrick Natale

IN THE BACK

Ted Michaels, President of the Energy Recovery Council, explains how waste-toenergy will play an increasing role in the waste management strategies of the United States

118 Building safety Richard Fairfax, Director of Enforcement Programs at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), tells US Infrastructure about the organization’s efforts to make construction sites less risky

138 States of emergency 140 Bridging the gap 142 In review 144 Photo finish

122 Ahead of the curve 86 Renewable recovery

Safer roads aren’t just about safer vehicles, says Roger Wentz

Despite a tough year, the future is bright for green energy, says Mike Eckhart

136 Wasted opportunities The importance of understanding the difference between waste and recyclables

NEXT BIG THING 102 Steve Nichols, Thales Communications, Inc

91 Flying solo Energy independence programs can boost the economy and save energy, says Steve Lehtonen

100 Raising the standard Richard Mirgon of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International tells US Infrastructure about the drive towards interoperability

104 The magic number Brian Fontes outlines the future of public safety communications in an online world

Renewable recovery

86

We’ve only just begun

114

The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans 18th - 20th November 2009

Chairman/Publisher SPENCER GREEN Director of Projects ADAM BURNS Editorial Director HARLAN DAVIS Worldwide Sales Director OLIVER SMART

Next Generation Oil & Gas Summit.

Editor HUW THOMAS Managing Editor BEN THOMPSON Associate Editor STACEY SHEPPARD Deputy Editors NATALIE BRANDWEINER, REBECCA GOOZEE, DIANA

The Next Generation Oil & Gas Summit is a three-day critical information gathering of C-level technology executives from the oil and gas industry.

A Controlled, Professional & Focused Environment The NGO&G Summit is an opportunity to debate, benchmark and learn from other industry leaders.

It is a C-level event reserved for 100 participants that includes expert workshops, facilitated roundtables, peer-to-peer networking, and coordinated technology meetings.

A Proven Format This inspired and professional format has been used by over 100 CIOs and CTOs as a rewarding platform for discussion and learning.

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A good investment of time: It was scheduled to continue talks with several potential contractors.

Excellent organization.

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Creative Director ANDREW HOBSON Design Directors ZÖE BRAZIL, SARAH WILMOTT Associate Design Directors MICHAEL HALL, CRYSTAL MATHER, CLIFF NEWMAN Assistant Designer CATHERINE WILSON Online Director JAMES WEST Online Editor JANA GRUNE

Project Director HEATHER C. BRIDEN Sales Executives LEE CARLSON, RYAN KANIS, JAMES WADDELL, LOUIS QUINONES, LANA KLETER, PATRICK GUNDERSON

Finance Director JAMIE CANTILLON Production Coordinators HANNAH DUFFIE, LAUREN HEAL, RENATA OKRAJNI Director of Business Development RICHARD OWEN Operations Director JASON GREEN Operations Manager BEN KELLY

Mikhail Ivanov, CEO, Volga Gas Plc

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Many thanks for the excellent organization of the Summit. Everything was great! Once again, many thanks.

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The advertising and articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinions and attitudes of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher or editors. We are not to be held accountable for unsolicited manuscripts, transparencies or photographs. All material within this magazine is ©2009 Infrastructure.

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UPFRONT US INFRA 2:25 June

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UPFRONT THE BRIEF

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STIMULATING DEBATE The progress of the American stimulus plan is provoking fierce debate eight months down the line.

The signing of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) by President Obama on February 17, 2009, marked an important turning point in the history of infrastructure investment in the US. Not since President Eisenhower’s landmark reform of

the Interstate highway system in the 1950’s has America seen such heavy investment in its infrastructure. For decades now political indifference has meant that the nations highways, bridges, power plants, water treatment plants, and airports to name but a few, have been living on borrowed time.

However the ARRA saw a large injection of funding in the form of a stimulus package designed to revive America’s economy and reinstate the nation as a prominent global economic power. The aim of the

stimulus was to create jobs to combat up for grabs $130 billion was set rising unemployment, to stimulate aside for construction related prothe economy and to address the jects, $49.3 billion of which was country’s infrastructure devoted to the transportafunding problem. tion sector. Additional The degree to allocations were made which the ARRA for energy ($30.6 has been successful billion) and water was set aside for construction related in the months since ($20.1 billion). projects it was signed into law However it has is a hotly debated topic. been emphasized that inInitially there was widespread vestment through the ARRA will disappointment regarding the levels not accomplish the critical task of of funding allocated to infrastructure fully revitalizing infrastructure in the and construction. Of the $787 billion US. The stimulus bill will only cover

$130 billion

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UPFRONT

THE BRIEF

a small portion of the total investment needed to repair, maintain and improve the country's infrastructure and should be seen as a ‘down payment’.

Whilst it has a long way to go towards fully bridging the funding gap, the stimulus bill has at least served to put infrastructure in the spotlight and highlight some of the critical issues facing the nation, even if the allocation was not of the magnitude expected.

Critics of the stimulus plan have been quick to cite a number of problems with President Obama’s strategy. Some say it is moving too

21

slowly while others argue it is an inefficient way to reinvigorate the ailing economy. For others, the impact is not enough to counter the economy's downward spiral and many believe that another stimulus is needed.

However, Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, one of Obama's top economic advisers, recently told reporters that the current package is on track to save or create 3.5 million US jobs by the end of 2010. She also reiterated the administration's view that the stimulus bill had to be given time to work before another one would be looked at.

But the critics are sceptical of the progress being made. Whilst other countries such as France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, India and China have all managed to pull themselves out of recession, America still seems to be treading water, despite having spent more on its stimulus package than any other Western economy.

The Administration however remains positive and emphasizes that given time the stimulus plan will reap the rewards it is promising. In a recent speech Vice President Joe Biden, the chief Administration official entrusted with the implementation of the stimulus plan, said: “The Recovery Act has played a significant role in changing the trajectory of our economy and changing the conversation about the economy in this country. Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we're talking about the end of a recession – eight months after taking office.”

The Department of Transportation also remains positive and estimates that for every dollar invested in infrastructure the economy receives $5.40 in economic return.

NEWS IN PICTURES

People march over the St. Claude Avenue Bridge in the Lower 9th Ward in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana

A housing development in the Bay Area remains unfinished illustrating the ongoing housing slump

Ford Motor Company is joining forces with two green energy companies, Xtreme Power of Austin, Texas and Clairvoyant Energy of Santa, California, to redevelop the abandoned Ford Wixom Assembly Plant in Michigan into an energy park

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UPFRONT INTERNATIONAL NEWS

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SWITCHING SIDES

THE NEED FOR SPEED

POWER PARTNERSHIP

After months of preparation Samoa became the first country in decades officially to switch from right- to left-side driving. The switch, which took place in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday 8, September, was signalled when a radio message by the Police Minister Toleafoa Faafisi, was broadcast telling drivers to stop their vehicles.

Minutes later the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, broadcast the formal instruction for drivers to switch sides and overturn 100 years of motoring tradition.

Eleven big cities recently announced a joint campaign for a high-speed rail network serving the UK and linking all major economic centers. UK Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, told the Guardian newspaper that the move is strongly supported by the government. Adonis has been in favor of a high-speed London to Glasgow line since being promoted from rail minister. He has irritated budget airlines by saying he wants short-haul domestic flights to be replaced by high-speed rail.

In September, First Solar, an American solar developer, signed an agreement with the Chinese government to build a 2 gigawatt solar power plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China, which is scheduled for completion in 2019. First Solar, the world’s largest producer of solar cells, has indicated that the solar farm , which is expected to cover an area of 25 square miles, will be the largest in the world to date.

In an attempt to bring the country into line with other South Pacific nations such as Australia and New Zealand, Samoa became the first country to implement such a change since the 1970s when Nigeria, Ghana and Yemen switched sides. For the time being Samoa will allow cars with steering wheels on either the left or the right side of the vehicle. However the Prime Minister admitted that the issue of buses with doors and steering now on the wrong side had yet to be addressed.

High Speed Two (HS2), a private organization, has been given control over the route of the line and is due to report on the most practical path and potential costs in December.

The 11 cities involved in the campaign are Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Mike Ahearn, CEO of First Solar said that the potential for projects like this in China is enormous. However he stated that it would be nearly impossible to install a solar field of this size in the United States. “There’s plenty of land, but there’s not enough near transmission lines,” he said. California and New Mexico will also benefit from solar plants built by First Solar, but Ahearn said he expects Asia to be home to the biggest solar plants for some time.

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UPFRONT

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FUTURE FUNDING

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TOLL ROAD TROUBLE

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, a 30-year infrastructure fund is to be launched next year by Krung Thai Asset Management (KTAM) at a cost of 20 billion baht. The fund will finance construction of a 21 mile highway route from Bang Sue to Taling Chan under the Srirat expressway project.

ConnectEast, the company that operates Melbourne's 39-kilometer EastLink toll road, is facing a $400 million-plus legal battle with one of its biggest shareholders, according to a recent report in Australian newspaper The Age. It is claimed that Leighton Holdings was misled by the toll-road operator who gave inflated traffic forecasts.

The government will be offering nine billion baht towards the land expropriation for the project said Somchai Boonnamsiri, the KTAM Chief Executive. Construction is set to begin in the second half of 2010 and is expected to take four years to complete.

Mr Somchai said estimates for daily car traffic on the new expressway could be as high as 130,000.

Leighton subsidiary Thiess John Holland has said that the initial traffic forecasts provided the incentive to accelerate work on the toll road at an increased cost. However, initial estimates forecasting an average of 258,000 vehicles using the toll road daily have not lived up to expectations with a mere 159,000 cars using the road on a daily basis. The disappointing traffic figures have prompted ConnectEast to write off $400 million of the value of its toll road and consequently Thiess John Holland is seeking a similar sum in damages.

ÜBER EFFICIENCY German Sewage treatment officials have warned that water conservation in the country is so effective that water pipes serving Germany’s biggest cities are starting to corrode, as insufficient water flow is causing stagnation. The German Federal Association for Energy and Water (BDEW) is calling for households to turn on their water faucets more often.

Speaking to Deutsche Welle at the end of August Martin Weyand, head of the water and sewage systems at BDEW said: “We believe that the potential for decreased water consumption has reached a level where it will backfire and be counterproductive.”

Environmentalists are calling for water conservation to continue and are asking civic authorities to design their technical systems in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

However, according to BDEW, changing the existing pipe network – some of which dates back to the 19th century – is technically, financially and environmentally impractical.

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UPFRONT COMPANY NEWS

COST CUTTING

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Individuals who ride public transportation can save on average $9147 annually based on the September 3, 2009 national average gas price and the national unreserved monthly parking rate, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

“The Transit Savings Report” released monthly

by APTA calculates the average annual and monthly savings for public transit users. The report examines how an individual in a twoperson household can save money by taking public transportation and living with one less car.

According to APTA, taking public transport provides a safe and affordable way for individuals and families to cut household costs and an effective way of reducing an individual’s overall carbon footprint while helping reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

ROAD SAFETY

tion and enforcement, speed cameras and post-accident care.

Emerald Group Publishing, the leading pubMore than 2000 evaluation studies lisher of transport books, will launch the sechave been reviewed and their findings ond edition of the Handbook of Road Safety summarized by means of meta-analysis in Measures (previously published in the new edition of this important 2004) during September 2009. reference work. Authoritative This new edition gives stateand unique in its broad cov“This handbook of-the-art summaries of curerage, this handbook offers an rent knowledge regarding serves as a comprehenthe effects of 128 road safesive reference manual for amount of ty measures. It covers all road safety professionals information for the areas of road safety includworldwide. interested reader” ing: the design of roads; traffic The first edition was control; vehicle design and vehicle highly acclaimed and received safety features; vehicle inspection; driver some important praise. In a book retraining; publicity campaigns; police enforceview in Logistics and Transport Focus, ment and general policy instruments. With Will Murray, Research Director, many of the original chapters revised and sevInteractive Driving Systems said: “In sumeral new ones added, extra topics covered in mary, an important, timely and useful this edition include: environmental book that should benefit researchers and zones, DUI legislapractitioners alike”.

Fred Wegman, Managing Director of SWOV, wrote a book review that was published in the European Journal of Transport Infrastructure Research saying: “This handbook offers an enormous amount of information for the interested reader.

Furthermore, the reputation of the authors and their approach in this book ensures that this book is a valuable addition to worldwide road safety research. As far as I know, this book has no competitor...”

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FAST FACT

CLEANING UP

17.2% of roads in California are in poor condition compared to a US average of 5.78% Source: Transportation for America

An American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program that provides cash assistance to energy production companies, will grant funding in place of earned tax credits to two clean energy projects in Pennsylvania.

Highland Wind Farm in Cambria county and Locust Ridge II in Schuylkill

county, which together produce enough energy to power approximately 59,000 homes, will benefit from the program.

The US departments of Treasury and Energy have announced a $42.2 million grant to Highland Wind Farm and a $59.2 million grant to Locust Ridge II. The grants are among a total of $500 million in Recovery Act investments announced recently for 12 wind and solar energy projects in eight states.

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UPFRONT

NATIONAL NEWS

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CRACKS ARE SHOWING

FLIGHT DELAYS

Bridges are usually designed and built to last 50 years.

However the average bridge in the US is now 43 years old. According to the US Department of Transportation, of the 600,905 bridges across the country as of December 2008, 72,868 (12.1 percent) were categorized as structurally deficient and 89,024 (14.8 percent) were categorized as functionally obsolete.

Recent disasters such as the tragic collapse of Interstate 35 in Minnesota on August 1, 2007 have only served to highlight the urgent need to address the safety issues posed by America’s aging bridges.

The latest example comes in the form of the San Franscico-based Oakland Bay Bridge, which was closed at the end of August after transit crews found a crack during a long-planned seismic upgrade.

According to CalTrans spokesman Bart Ney, the crack was found in a steel link that holds up part of the span. The bridge had to be shut down so that a section of the eastern span could be cut out and replaced with a new double deck section designed to help it better withstand earthquakes. California transportation workers used the closure as an opportunity to inspect the bridge from top to bottom, which was when they discovered the crack in the link.

CalTrans construction manager Mike Forner said the fissure probably wasn't a danger to motorists because the other seven links assumed some of the cracked link's load, but the damage is serious enough to justify a closure.

This is not the first time that this bridge has experienced structural problems. A 50ft section of the 73year old bridge famously collapsed during the devastating earthquake of 1989.

National flight delays by cause (July 2009)

The annual cost of power outages in the US is

$80 billion

Source: Department of Energy

FAST FACT

On time (77.60%)

National Aviation system delay (6.89%)

Air carrier delay (5.93%)

Security Delay (0.04%)

Aircraft arriving late (7.33%)

Cancelled & diverted (1.47%)

Extreme weather (0.74%)

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics www.bts.gov

VEGAS GEARS UP The Regional Transportation Commission cle station with showers, restrooms and a of Southern Nevada has recently started bike repair shop. work on its Bonneville Transit Center. The The new center is an integral part of $17 million transit center is expected to be the RTC’s efforts to increase the number completed by 2010 and will be the main ter- of people using public transport and is minal for the new ACE Gold, Green particularly designed to help cyand Blue rapid transit lines, clists combine their riding which will begin operations habits with transit rides.

The early next year. It is hoped RTC buses currently that the new facility will carry about 60,000 bifunction as the hub of the cycles each month. The transit center is transportation system in newer buses hold three expected to be completed by downtown Las Vegas. bicycles on the front 2010 The landmark 21,000rack, and the new ACE square-foot terminal will combuses have three bike hangers plement the redevelopment and inside the vehicle. revitalization of the downtown Las The facility has received $5.5 million Vegas area. Situated on the southwest in funds from the American Reinvestment corner of Casino Center Boulevard and and Recovery Act and additional money Bonneville, the transit center will have has been allocated from congressional earpreferred parking for hybrid vehicles marks and federal grants. It is hoped that and air-conditioned waiting areas for by funding projects such as the transit cenbus passengers. It will also boast 100 bike ter much needed jobs will be created in a parking spaces, a 1800-square-foot bicy- time of high unemployment.

$17 million

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UPFRONT NATIONAL NEWS

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ON YOUR BIKE

10 cars, up to 200 cars. These measures are important because surveys With road congestion becoming have shown that the leading deteran increasingly urgent matter, rent to potential bicycle commuters many commuters are looking for is lack of a safe, secure parking spot alternative ways to travel. Hopping at their destination.

This is a lesson that is gradually on a bike is a cheap and healthy alternative to the long traffic queues. being learnt by numerous cities As the proportion of trips made by throughout the United States. bicycle is increasing – in Portland, Philadelphia recently amended its Oregon for example, bicycle use zoning requirements to mandate that certain new develophas grown nearly 150 perments provide bicycle cent since 1990 and parking; approximately In Portland, Pittsburgh’s planfive percent of Oregon bicycle use ning department people bike to has grown nearly is considering the work – attenrequirement to tion has fosince 1990 provide one bicycle cused on bicycle parking space for parking facilities. every 20,000 square feet New York recentof development; even the carly signed the ‘Bicycle Access Bill’, which will require the own- centric Orange County is getting in ers of commercial buildings with on the act, with Santa Ana's City a freight elevator to allow people Council passing a bill requiring proto enter the building with a bicy- portional bicycle parking when car cle. This may appear to be a rela- parking is provided.

In Chicago and Los Angeles tively minor measure, but the bill potentially represents a large in- pilot projects are investigating turncrease in the city's supply of bicy- ing car-parking meters – once semicle parking, which is currently reliable bike-parking spots, now estimated at 6100 racks, many of rendered obsolete by ‘smart meter’ these outdoors. New York's City payment systems – into bike parkCouncil has also passed a bill ing infrastructure. But Portland is mandating that commercial park- leading the way in the pursuit to ining garages provide spaces for bi- crease bicycle parking. The city is cycles – one bike space for every spending $1 million of federal stimulus funds on bicycle parking at transit hubs.

150%

FAST FACT

37% of highway bridges in New York State are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete Source: New York State Department of Transportation, Highway Bridge Data (https://www.nysdot.gov/main/bridgedata)

IN THE PIPELINE Los Angeles City Council has had from the Department of Water and a wake-up call recently as burst Power (DWP) claim that the incipipes in San Fernando Valley flood- dents are unrelated. ed homes and businesses in one City Councilman Paul Koretz neighborhood and caused a sink said he is worried about the state of hole in another. Council the city’s infrastructure and members have anhow much of it will need nounced that they replacing immediateDWP already will now be closely. DWP already have a ly monitoring have a $4-billion the city’s leaky program to reprogram to replace 32 and aging water place 32 miles of miles of old, corroded system, which has old, corroded trunk trunk line in the next few years recorded 34 major line in the next few blowouts in the first 19 years. USC’s Civil days of September.

Engineering Department said The burst pipe in Studio City the burst lines in the Valley are illuswas a trunk line that was installed trative of a larger, nationwide probin 1914 and the sinkhole in Valley lem with aging drinking water Village occurred as a result of a infrastructure. A recent report put rupture to a six inch service line the tab for fixing aging pipes around that was built in 1969. But Officials the country at $255 billion.

$4 billion

FAST FACT

240,000 water main breaks occur per year in the US Source: Environmental Protection Agency

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BACK ON TRACK Mayor of Chicago Richard M. which includes changing at-grade Daley recently announced a new rail crossings to grade-separated plan to improve railroad inones, modernizing frastructure in Chicago tracks and improvand throughout ing signaling Rail infrastructure Northern Illinois. equipment, is improvements are estimated to cost The region, which estimated to more than is seen as the rail cost more than hub of the United $1.5 billion States, requires imthroughout the provements to preregion. serve and strengthen this role. The Mayor said the plan was the result of more than two years of discussions involving city, state and federal officials and the railroads. The plan,

$1.5 billion

The latest issue of EU Infrastructure featured an article on the challenges faced

by Poland and Ukraine in their attempt to bring their infrastructure up to the standards required for hosting the UEFA European Soccer Championships in 2012.

To read more of the stories from this issue, head to www.euinfrastructure.com

SHAKE UP In states such as California and Nevada where earthquakes are common occurrences, bridges are often subject to intense vibrations and their destruction can have disastrous consequences.

However, Professor Saiid Saiidi of the University of Nevada has made significant progress in materials science as he has developed a new reinforcing material

that has great potential for use in the construction of bridges.

The nickel-titanium alloy, which has been named nitinol, could make bridges more elastic allowing them to move slightly with vibrations and then revert back to their original shape. In a lab-made rehearsal at the university’s test center the team simulated the intensity of a magnitude 8 quake. The 100-ftlong model concrete bridge remained structurally intact although it did suffer a little surface damage.

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER Teterboro airport has been des- vestments needed to make ignated as the oldest and one of Tererboro safe. the most dangerous airports in The main priority appears to the New York and New Jersey be the replacement of the 1970s Metropolitan Area – control tower, which is even more so than too small and John F. Kennedy which suffers The Port or LaGuardia, from problems Authority has invested despite the fact of reduced visthat they accomibility. to upgrade the modate twice the However the airport’s facilities air traffic of cramped physiTeterboro. cal layout of the airSince 1970 the Port port and the sheer Authority has invested $174 mil- number and variety of planes lion dollars to upgrade the air- using the ‘reliever’ airport merely port’s facilities, but this funding heightens the risk of serious doesn’t even come close to the in- accidents.

$174 million

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UPFRONT NATIONAL NEWS

28

RESTORE & REPAIR

TOP 10

American states with the highest capacity of wind power State Repairing and maintaining structures such as bridges, buildings and pylons is an expensive and laborious process, but teams at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation and the Duisburg-Essen University in Stuttgart have invented a way for damaged metals to repair themselves. While the process does not yet work on inanimate objects, the

team is making progress on that front. In the metal industry at the moment, all metals are coated with other metals for protection. The new technology uses tiny, fluid-filled capsules in the exterior coating. The theory is that when the outer coating is scratched, punctured or compromised, the capsules in the outer layer burst, releasing restorative liquids.

OVER EASY

MIDWEST ON THE MOVE

In a move that would generate a much needed cash injection into the city, New Orleans Armstrong International has received federal approval for its preliminary application to become a private airport, as reported by USA Today.

The Federal Aviation Committee, which is overseeing a trial program to privatize up to five US airports, received the application from airport officials in August. The hunt for private investors who are willing to buy the airport on a long-term lease can now begin.

Once the airport selects a private operator, who will be entitled to keep the profits from running the airport, it will submit its final application to the Federal Aviation Administration. To complete the process, it will also require approval from the city council and 65 percent of its airline tenants. The airport hopes to submit its final application by the fall of 2010.

The FAA’s attempt to privatize airports has been slow to get off the ground with Chicago midway being the only other airport to be given approval for privatization.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is targeting major transportation projects that will have a significant impact throughout the state and Midwest region. He is submitting nine applications to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant Program.

Seeking a total of $587,899,855 in stimulus funding, Strickland is hoping to see a marked improvement in transportation systems throughout the state, the creation of more jobs and more sustainable communities. “We selected projects based on their ability to give Ohio’s travelers and shippers more opportunities, and further transform Ohio into a premier national and global logistics and transportation location,” said ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris. “These investments will also leverage nearly $1.2 billion in additional state, local and private sector funding.”

1 2 3 4 5

6

7 8 9 10

Existing Capacity (MW)

Texas

8361

Iowa

3043

California

2787

Minnesota

1805

Washington

1575

Oregon

1408

New York

1264

Colorado

1068

Kansas

1014

Illinois

915

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UPFRONT NATIONAL NEWS

30

INFRASTRUCTURE BANK NEEDED

BULLET TIME A plan to construct a $40 billion highspeed rail system in the state of California has the potential to create 160,000 jobs in the currently flagging construction industry and create another 450,000 permanent jobs.

The Californian High Speed Rail Authority has stated that they expect the network to be created by 2035, utilizing the state’s skilled work force. As a result of the high-speed railway, the state’s economy is predicted to soar as well as reducing air pollution, health care costs and auto accidents.

Currently, California has three of the top five most congested urban areas in the United States with wasted fuel and lost time costing the state $20 billion per year. The creation of such a network would shorten travel times, reduce delays to air and auto travelers as freeways and airports are relieved of congestion and generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue surplus.

However, many Californian residents are skeptical about the plans, raising concerns about declining property values. The entire project is currently under review, with environmental issues and routes being designated, but the rail authorities are confident that the system should be ready for construction by 2012.

FAST FACT

According to the results of a report published

by CG/LA Infrastructure LLC on July 17, 2009, the US infrastructure market will decline to less than 10 percent of the world market by 2030 if current investment levels remain the same. The report states that in the same period China’s share will exceed 28 percent and the European Union’s will be over 20 percent.

DIAGNOSIS MERGER

The decline would put the US at a competitive disadvantage globally but the report concludes that the establishment of a national infrastructure bank, capitalized with $300 billion over 10 years could help curb this decline, with the US maintaining a share of the world infrastructure market as high as 21 percent.

ographical markets are the US, the UK, Australia, Asia, the Middle East and South Africa, which will open up

On September 17, 2009 Balfour Beatty, new avenues for the enan international larged group. In the engineering and US in particular it construction serwill seek to leverage vices, professionits expanded and al services and strengthened civil infrainvestment group structure platform and to made public its intenfurther develop its position tion to acquire Parsons in transportation, power Brinckerhoff, which is and water, and complex an employee-owned, buildings. Commenting US-based international on the acquisition, Balfour professional services Beatty Chief Executive, firm focused on infraIan Tyler, said: “The acstructure. quisition of Parsons Through the acBrinckerhoff represents quisition Balfour Beatty, the realisation of a number of a company that offers a key strategic objectives for Balfour wide range of capabilities Beatty. In particular, we believe it makes us across infrastructure markets with a particular one of the world’s major players in professionfocus on the public sector and regulated utilities, al services, substantially strengthens our US is hoping to take on Parson Brinckerhoff’s lead- presence and puts Balfour Beatty in an exing position in US civil infrastructure, parcellent position to take advantage of ticularly in the transportation sector. increased infrastructure spendBalfour Beatty works prining. It is a key step in becomThe cipally in the UK, the US, ing a global integrated leader South-East Asia and the in infrastructure services.” will open up new Middle East in the key infraKeith Hawksworth, Chief avenues for the structure markets of transExecutive Officer of Parsons enlarged group portation (roads, rail and Brinckerhoff, said: “We are deairports); social infrastructure (edlighted to be joining the Balfour ucation, specialist healthcare, and various Beatty Group. We believe there is a clear fit types of accommodation); utilities (water, gas between our two closely-aligned companies. and power transmission and generation) and We are very enthusiastic about what we see as commercial (offices, leisure and retail). the enormous potential that can be realized by However, Parsons Brinckerhoff’s key ge- working together in the future.”

acquisition

Montana produces

8.9 metric tons of CO2 from transportation per capita Source: Transportation for America

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NATIONAL NEWS

Page 31

UPFRONT 31

WATER WORKS The City of New York is to receive $220 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for water infrastructure improvements via the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Governor of New York David A. Paterson and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced in September that New York will benefit from energy-efficiency and equipment upgrades to save money and improve water quality at wastewater treatment facilities in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. Improvements also include measures to reduce flooding from heavy rains in flooding hotspots throughout the city, including Cambria Heights and Far Rockaway in Queens and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx.

“I am thrilled to join Mayor Bloomberg to announce this important and urgently needed funding for environmental projects in the City of New York. These projects will provide a bounty to New York City by saving money through increased energy efficiency, protecting our waterways through improved wastewater treatment, reducing flooding after heavy rains and restoring precious wetlands,” said Governor Paterson.

“I thank President Obama and New York’s Congressional Delegation for their hard work to include funding for water infrastructure within the

ENERGY CONSUMPTION Petroleum 37%

economic recovery program. The City has tremendous infrastructure needs and this funding is an important down payment on protecting and improving our urban waterways, he continued” Mayor Bloomberg added: “The infusion of stimulus dollars for water projects will bolster our aggressive programs and help us improve water quality in our rivers and bays, and reduce flooding in areas that have long suffered from storm water flooding – particularly in Southeast Queens. The stimulus funds will also be used for open space and open street greening projects, and will create jobs quickly with projects that will all begin in the next few months.”

The $220 million ARRA grant will be administered by The Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), working closely with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority. The City will receive $189 million in grant funding for conventional clean water projects and $30.6 million for projects that incorporate innovative, ‘green’ technologies.

Renewable energy consumption in the nation’s energy supply, 2008 Solar Energy 1%

Nuclear Electric Power 9%

Hydroelectric 34% Geothermal energy 5%

Renewable Energy 7%

Biomass 53%

Wind energy 7% Natural Gas 24%

Coal 23% Source: Energy Information Administration

TOP 10

Number of deficient NHS bridges by state State

1 2 3 4 5

6

7 8 9 10

No NHS Bridges

Texas

15,233

California

7530

Ohio

4147

Florida

4142

Pennsylvania

3872

Illinois

3640

New York

3572

Virginia

3309

Tennessee

3125

Alabama

2788

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UPFRONT IN MY VIEW

32 REP. JAMES OBERSTAR, CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE, EXPLAINS HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS A MAJOR ROLE TO PLAY IN MAKING AMERICA MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE. Although this is a global problem, the United States must take the lead in remedying a wide range of adverse climate impacts, because our nation is the largest consumer of energy in the world.

In 2020, US energy consumption is projected to grow by 23 percent, and in 2025, the Energy Information Administration projects that worldwide energy use will grow by 57 percent. There is no way to avoid it, the Federal government must harness its energy use to reverse the global warming trend, before it is too late.

We should take the view that the challenge before us is an opportunity for positive change. By taking meaningful steps to address climate change, we can simultaneously tackle our nation’s increasing energy needs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. New laws and regulations promoting increased energy efficiency and alternative energy sources across various sectors will result in lower carbon emissions and reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels.

It is logical that Federal government buildings are a good place to start when implementing alternative sources of energy, because the Federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the world. In fact, the Federal government owns 333,000 buildings worldwide, comprising just over 2.5 billion square feet. In the United States, the asset count is 293,651 buildings comprising approximately 2.4 billion square feet of space. Worldwide, the Federal government leases approximately 57,000 buildings, comprising 557 million square feet of space. In the US, the Federal government leases 23,000 buildings, just under 291.2 million square feet of space.

A systematic policy of ‘greening’ Federal buildings, or integrating construction practices that significantly reduce the environmental footprint of a building in comparison to standard practices, will result in a reduction of our net environmental impact. However, without significant transformation of building construction and operations, adverse impacts on the environment will increase with population growth and changes in other demographic and economic factors.

The scientific evidence is crystal clear – Planet Earth is warming. But climate change, as well as America’s corollary need for greater energy independence, is not just an environmental issue – it’s a national security issue, an economic issue, an humanitarian issue. It’s an issue we cannot afford to ignore any longer.

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UPFRONT COMPANY INDEX

33

TRANSIT INNOVATION

DON’T MISS...

The Obama Administration has announced $100 million in economic recovery act funds for transit agencies, charting a new course for green transportation. The funding has been allocated to 43 transit projects across the nation with an aim to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 43 transit agencies are pursuing cuttingedge environmental technologies to help reduce global warming, lessen America's dependence on oil and create green jobs. Alabama will receive funding to replace gasoline and diesel buses with electric hybrids, Massachusetts will construct wind energy generation turbines and Vancouver, Washington, will install solar panels at transit facilities.

“This is a sign of things to come," said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who made the announcement in Atlanta, the site of the largest award.

"This shows how investing in green transportation not only helps the planet, but creates jobs and strengthens our economy. It also shows how much more we can do.”

Selection criteria for the nationwide competition, which received applications totalling more than $2 bil-

46 A NATION ON THE MOVE lion, included a project's ability to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and also to provide a return on the investment. Other criteria included readiness to implement, applicant capacity, degree of innovation and national applicability.

“These grants will put Americans to work now while improving our environment in the future,” said Federal Ttransit Agency Administrator Peter Rogoff.

“The transit industry continues to be at the forefront of reducing pollution and creating a cleaner, safer environment for our nation.”

COMPANY INDEX Q4 2009 Companies in this issue are indexed to the first page of the article in which each is mentioned.

AgerGAS 134, 135 American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) 86 Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) 100 American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials 92 American Highway Users Alliance 92 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 50 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 114 American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) 122 American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 72, 82 BASF 19 Bipartisan Policy Center 92 Brookings Institution 92 California Department of Transportation 52 California Energy Commission 82 Campbell Scientific 10 Chartis 130, 131 DCC/Plant CML IFC/1, 106, 108 Department of Homeland Security 66, 102 DNV Global Energy Concepts 80, 81 Earth Systems Global, Inc. 78, 79 Emerald Insight 27, 51 Energy Recovery Council 132 European Commission 72

European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 72 Federal Communications Commission 102 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 66 Federal Highway Administration 46, 54 Frost & Sullivan 143 Fugro EarthData 70, 71 Goracon Windpower Access Systems 90 GreenPlumbers USA 91 Harrington Hoists 85 Heritage Foundation 92 Inca Gold 117 Infotech Enterprises America, Inc 64, 65, IBC Institute for Transportation & Development Policy 92 Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. 136 Intelligent Transport Society of America (ITSA) 56 Intergraph 4 Konecranes 84 Liberty Mutual Surety 128 Louisiana State University 34 Mastec 77 McQuay 125 MGM Mirage 40 MSA 121 Mygistics Inc. 13, 54, 55 National Association of County Engineers (NACE) 122 National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 104 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 110

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) 66 National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Committee 92 National Telecommunications and Information Agency 102 Nexedge 29 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 118 Pacific Crest Transformers 88, 89 Perini Building Company 40 PIPS Technology 16, 58, 59 Siemens 8 SNCF 60 Solar Energy Industries Association 82 Sprint 2, 96, 98, Surety Information Office 126 Telvent OBC Thales Communications, Inc. 14, 102, 103 TruePosition 112, 113 University of California 34 US Department of Energy (DOE) 72 US Energy Information Administration (EIA) 72 US Army Corps of Engineers 34 Waterblasting Technologies 123 Westwood Professional Services 6

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood outlines budget priorities for the year ahead

72 THE WINDS OF CHANGE What lessons can the US wind energy sector learn from its European counterparts?

82 GRID LOCK? How California is tackling transmission infrastructure in order to meet its tough renewable targets

COVER STORY

High dry? and

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Four years after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans and the Louisiana coast, Huw Thomas looks at ongoing efforts to rebuild flood defences and assesses a challenging future for the Big Easy.

W

hen Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, flooding New Orleans in millions of gallons of water, killing more than a 1000 people and leaving untold others homeless, the nation was shocked to its core.

That such a disaster could befall a modern American city defied understanding. It was only after the event that an investigation revealed the city’s crumbling flood defenses were an accident waiting to happen.

Though the catastrophe that struck the Louisiana coast in 2005 was unprecedented in its severity, the region has a long and troubled history of flooding. It required an extensive program of levee construction along the length of the Mississippi towards the end of the nineteenth century to allow people to live and work the on the land of the great river valley.

But in 1927, this system of levees was found wanting as flood waters broke through and inundated some 27,000 mi 2 of land in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Hundreds of residents were killed and the damage was estimated at roughly $400 million, the equivalent of $4 billion in 2007 dollars. A recent study by Insurance Journal projected that were a similar flood to occur today, the costs would be in the region of a staggering $160 billion.

Despite the carnage, New Orleans was spared the worst during 1927 as floodwaters were diverted before they could cause serious damage.

But the city’s location on originally swampy land so close to sea level meant that it couldn’t expect to escape indefi nitely. Th roughout New Orleans’ history the city has been subject to flooding, mostly as a result of the frequent hurricanes that plague the Gulf Coast.

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That the city was ever viable is down to its huge network of levees, breakwaters and drainage systems. As New Orleans expanded into lower-lying areas bordering Lake Pontchartrain, so the need for effective protection became ever more pressing. In 1899 the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board was established, which later merged with the existing Drainage Commission. The organization was responsible for a major boom in the city as drainage canals and pumping stations increased the amount of land available for building. Responsibility for coastal defences and breakwaters fell upon the Orleans Levee District, set up in 1890. Over the years the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have also become involved at federal level in protecting New Orleans from flood. The Corps’ involvement took on a new dimension in 1965 following damage caused by Hurricane Betsy. The 1965 Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project (LPVHPP) saw these three organizations charged with a range of tasks, including designing and constructing improved levees, maintaining existing ones and ensuring pumping stations were kept in good working order. Such a fragmented approach was a recipe for inefficiency, bureaucratic foot-dragging and inertia. Th is failure to prioritize and strategically plan the approach to flood protection had major consequences.

On August 29, 2005, when the storm surge created by Hurricane Katrina flowed into New Orleans’ drainage system, work mandated by the 1965 LPVHPP to raise and strengthen levees had still not been completed.

That such critical infrastructure could have remained inadequate for a full 40 years beggars belief. It also raises serious questions about the authorities’ ability to rebuild flood protection at sufficient speed and to a suitable standard to counter any future Katrina-type situations. Profes-

sor Robert Twilley of Louisiana State University is just one person calling for a shake up in the response to the challenges facing the Gulf Coast in Katrina’s wake. “There is a lack of funding, but also the lack of a prioritization system at the federal level for allocating funds for critical water resources infrastructure,” he said in Senate testimony earlier this year.

“The challenges facing the Gulf Coast reflect a national inability to come to grips with the need to deal with neglected infrastructure, both natural and built, and the realization that both provide security to coastal communities. It will not be possible to protect and restore coastal Louisiana without significant changes in the way federal and state governments deal with these issues.”

These fears are echoed elsewhere. In the report Building Walls Against Bad Infrastructure Policy in New Orleans, Peter Gordon and Richard Little of the University of California write: “Institutional problems were apparent in the 40 years leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Beginning with the LPVHPP in 1965, even a cursory analysis shows a project destined to fail at some point. Federal appropriations and the USACE construction schedules never reflected a high priority for completing the work. Without sufficient funds and a sense of urgency from the responsible government agencies, construction lagged behind schedule, causing further cost escalation and thus wider funding shortfalls.”

In light of previous failings, the pressure is on to make sure the mistakes that followed Hurricane Betsy aren’t repeated. Once again the USACE is taking a leading role in rebuilding flood defences and safeguarding the region from future extreme weather events. Karen Durham-Aguilera is Director of Task Force Hope, the Corps’ $15 billion

“When Katrina hit in 2005, work to strengthen and raise levees mandated in 1965 had not been completed”

Stormy weather

1718 ▼ New Orleans is founded and named for Phillippe Duc D’Orleans

1722 ▼ Much of the city is destroyed by a hurricane

1831 ▼ Severe floods and storms batter the city

1874 ▼ Louisiana is ravaged by major floods

New Orleans and Louisiana have been locked in a struggle with the forces of nature for nearly 300 years

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hurricane protection project in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana.

Though there have been rumblings that this critical work has not been moving fast enough, Durham-Aguilera insists that progress is being made. “We’re at about the 40 percent point right now,” she says. “We are in the heaviest execution phases of our construction. By the time we’re done, we’ll have about 360 construction contracts. We’ve already awarded nearly 200 of them at a value of about $5 billion. There are 46 ongoing right now, and we completed 154. In this calendar year alone, we’ll award about 100 construction contracts. So we’ll have the most heavy construction phase ongoing from now through next year.”

The sheer scale of the job is a major factor in its timely delivery. “Th is is a $15 billion program, and we’re building it in the space of a few years,” Durham-Aguilera continues. “That includes forming the new design criteria that incorporates the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and all the hydraulic modeling that goes along with it. We just can’t build fast enough even though we’re proceeding at an incredible pace. I think the biggest engineering challenge was forming the design criteria in the first place and then putting all the parts and pieces needed to make the construction program happen.”

Given the glacial response to Hurricane Betsy, concerns that postKatrina work would be held up by bureaucratic inefficiency and infighting are perfectly understandable. However, Durham-Aguilera argues that such fears are unfounded in this case. “Traditionally in the United States we under-invested in civil works water resources infrastructure across the nation,” she explains. “In some parts of the civil works program, with the way that the appropriations process works, at times it can take years. For the work that was authorized in the wake of Hurricane Betsy, when Hurricane Katrina hit, that work was only about 40 percent done even though it was 40 years later. One of the reasons this work here in New Orleans is progressing so fast is because the program was fully funded up front by the administration in Congress.”

1893 ▼ More than 2000 people in Louisiana and Mississippi die when a hurricane strikes

1927 ▼ The worst flood in US history inundates 1.3 million acres of land and leaves 300,000 homeless

A closer look at some of the figures puts things into perspective.

Task Force Hope’s budget comes to nearly $15 billion. By comparison the entire civil works program for the whole of the US is around $5.5 billion, not counting recently added Recovery Act money. Of that $5.5 billion only $2 billion is earmarked for construction. The contrast is pretty stark and goes some way to accounting for the fact that the USACE expects to have fi nished much of its work by June 2011. “The level of funding is a direct reason why we’ve had the ability to progress so quickly for such a large program,” Durham-Aguilera confi rms.

Even in the face of the obvious commitment to the future of New Orleans and Louisiana, a niggling concern remains. Quite simply, there is very little that can be done to truly protect against the next Katrina, whenever it may come. Current efforts are focused on countering the effects of a 100-year flood, rather than a 400-year storm like the one that hit in 2005. Durham-Aguilera acknowledges that only so much can be done. “It’s not protection,” she states. “It’s risk reduction because no one, whether it’s from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fi res, can ever be totally protected, but the risk can be reduced. We deliberately changed the name of this program to risk reduction because we want people to realize there will always be residual risk. However, there are ways you can buy down that risk. There’s the structural method, which are the levies, the floodwalls, all the components that we’re doing. There are other things that can be done such as zoning and building codes that require businesses and houses to be elevated so that they have a chance of staying dry in the event of flooding. There are the costal protection environmental features.” Making detailed evacuation plans and ensuring that residents and business have adequate flood insurance also play a major part.

“There are hard decisions the state and local governments have to make is in deciding to limit developments in the areas that are more vulnerable and the people that choose to live there living with that risk,” Durham-Aquilera continues. “You can never totally reduce the risk for

1957 ▼ Hundreds are killed

by Hurricane Audrey

1965 ▼ Hurricane Betsy wreaks further devestation

2005 ▼ The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina tops New Orleans levees, leading to more than 1000 fatalities

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any storm, but you can mitigate it and you can buy it down. The structures that we’re building are built for a 500-year or more resiliency, so that even if they over top, the system will stay in place.”

If any good can come of Katrina, it will be in the new approach to flood defense that comes in its wake. “What we’re doing is totally different from prior to Katrina,” says Durham-Aguilera. “First, that system was never designed for a storm like Katrina, and then there were things that we found that would have caused problems even for a smaller storm that we’ve since corrected. Where before we designed for a maximum probable historical storm, now we take 152 storms, both historical and potential, to form criteria based on the conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, with numerous tracks. We design for the combined effects of those

“There will always be residual risk. However, there are ways you can buy down that risk” storms, and they’re anywhere from a 25-year to a 5000-year frequency storm. We’ve formed our design criteria based on that. There are numerous different factors of safety based on the loading and we also have features that we put in for a 500-year resiliency. If the system’s overtopped by the amount of water that these storms could bring in, it will be robust.

By that I mean armoring, using concrete splash pads, rock especially where the soil meets concrete, types of grass, and the way you armor grass to make it stay there. There are numerous things that we’re doing aside from the design criteria.”

But even with a limitless budget and resources, there are areas that are impossible to protect. In these cases, the only safe course of action is to relocate somewhere else. This is one of the key suggestions put forward by Peter Gordon and Richard Little in their report on reconstruction: “In the case of flood protection, living outside the flood-prone area is perhaps PROGRESS REPORT the wisest choice, though certainly not an option for many people who More than half of the contracts for the Hurricane were already living in New Orleans and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System have in August 2005. However, as redenow been awarded velopment occurs, land assemblage activities such as those under way Contracts Number Estimated Value by the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority could be used to encourTotal planned 353 $10.8bn age residents to return to parts of the Total awarded 192 $4bn city with a lower flood risk and to In construction 39 $3bn residences elevated above expected flood levels.”

As of 1 July 2009. Source: USACE While this is undoubtedly a pragmatic approach to dealing with the problem, it overlooks the fact that those who were most affected by Katrina were often among New Orleans’ poorest citizens. It is all very well to suggest that people should just move to where it is safer, but for those without the economic freedom to make such choices, this advice is of limited value.

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THE WHOLE STORY The Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System is comprised of many complementary projects.

Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Surge Barrier In early April 2008, a contract was awarded for the IHNC Surge Barrier project, the largest design-build civil works project in USACE history. This project is a key feature of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System – essential to providing 100-year level of risk reduction to a large portion of Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.

The contract was awarded to Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc., a Louisiana company. Construction on the barrier floodwall began in May 2009.

Southeast Louisiana Project (SELA) SELA includes interior drainage improvements in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes that support the parishes’ master drainage plans and reduce damages due to rainfall flooding.

Ten SELA construction contracts awarded since Hurricane Katrina include canal enlargements, bridge replacements and pump station improvements. Three of the 10 contracts are substantially complete, and several others are already functional. All of the contracts are scheduled to be finished by the end of 2009, except for the Dwyer Road Intake Culvert, which is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Given the battering that the Louisiana coast has received from the elements over the years and the fresh challenges we can expect as a result of climate change, the question over whether New Orleans is a lost cause does occasionally rear its head. If it cannot be protected from the weather events that undoubtedly lie in its future, might it not be better to cut our losses now, even only from a purely economic perspective? Such an attitude overlooks New Orleans’ many other values. It is one of the most diverse and unusual cities in the US, a melting pot where different cultures have come together to create something truly unique. It is the home of Mardi Gras, the site of the fi rst opera performance in the States and the birthplace of jazz. In an America increasingly tending towards homogeneity, New Orleans stands out. That is why it is worth saving.

Many people and places live in the shadow of risk. Residents of San Francisco know that, one day, an earthquake of similar magnitude to the one that ravaged California in 1906 will occur again. The city knows this and has taken steps to protect itself, but it is understood that a complete guarantee of safety is simply not possible. Human ingenuity has mitigated the risk in California, just as Task Force Hope is currently doing all it can to provide the highest possible level of protection for the people of New Orleans. As a species, we may not be able to ever truly master the unpredictable and sometimes capricious effects of nature, but we can do a great deal to make our relationship with it a little bit more equal.

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Raising the stakes It’s the biggest private project in US history, but can the MGM Mirage CityCenter in Las Vegas beat the odds and deliver in today’s economic climate?

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as Vegas. The city built by chance. Every year this neonsoaked oasis attracts visitors from around the world, all dreaming of the big score just a dice roll away. Millions of dollars are won and lost on simple twists of fate and fortunes have the habit of changing in an instant.

In such an environment the colossal gamble that is the MGM Mirage CityCenter development appears curiously apt. Conceived when the economy was on a seemingly unstoppable hot streak, the nearly $9 billion project suddenly fi nds itself in a place where cash is at a premium and the players are more inclined to fold than up the ante. As the downturn bit, many developments in Vegas simply downed tools and waited for things to improve. But the consequences of halting or delaying a project of CityCenter’s size are potentially ruinous on their own. The only option was to push ahead. As the development’s completion date approaches, observers are anxiously waiting to see how this high stakes play is going to pan out.

A major scare came in March of this year, when reports surfaced that the project’s owners were about to default on a $220 million debt payment.

Had this happened, CityCenter would have quickly transformed from ambitious project to grand folly, the unfinished site a monument to the hubris of the age. Fortunately both for its backers and the city of Las Vegas, this crisis was averted and the development is set to complete towards the end of 2009. As Vice Chairman of Perini Building Company, the organization tasked with overseeing CityCenter’s design and construction, Dick Rizzo acknowledges the challenges this project has faced. “The inability to continue to confirm financing by MGM has had its concerns,” he tells us when we speak to him from his Las Vegas office. “We went through a period of time where we weren’t sure that the financing was going

more work going on in a concentrated basis at the end of the project than we originally anticipated. But it hasn’t impacted the completion. It may have somewhat impacted the amount of acceleration or overtime that’s being spent to achieve the schedule.”

“The inability to continue to confirm financing by MGM has had its concerns” The economic uncertainty has nevertheless left its mark on CityCenter. Harmon Tower, originally planned to loom 52 stories over Las Vegas Boulevard has now been cut to a more modest 28. Additionally, certain compromises had to be made in the level of fi nish on some of the development’s condos. “Th is project is designed to the very highest level quality,” says Rizzo. “As a result of that the fi nishes that were originally specified were extremely exotic. With exotic goes the price tag.

Our responsibility was to take a look at that in the fi nal intent, not to change the fi nal appearance, but look at alternative products that could give you the same result with less cost.”

to be available from month-to-month. There was a serious challenge for us which had to be managed through cooperation with the owner as to how much they had available, how much we were able to spend in that particular month. That put a challenge on us in terms of some of the work that got stacked up because we couldn’t do all that we were originally planning as scheduled as a result of the financing. Some of it got pushed more together. So we have

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Even if the economic situation wasn’t so precarious, handling a project of this scope is fraught with difficulties, not least simply managing the work of all those involved. “This one is unique in the sense that it has eight internationally recognized architects, each one of them in charge of certain portions of the project,” says Rizzo. “Each group has its own design team and there are individual challenges with each of the individual architects. There is a master architect, but under him there are other design architects that handle certain portions of the project.”

The MGM Mirage CityCenter is around 18 million ft2 of construction on a 66 acre site Each of the architects involved in this project has been handed the brief to create something unique. Simply keeping everyone moving in

the same direction requires a very structured approach. “We had to create these separate management groups assigned to each of the major architectural groups just to be able to service them the way they should be,” continues Rizzo, describing the company’s strategy of divide and conquer. “You break it up into manageable pieces and you assign groups of individuals specifically dedicated to those pieces. We have done that and it seems to be working.”

Project Design Coordinator Tony Cosentino echoes Rizzo’s assessment: “You have basically one contractor building a little over 18 million square feet of construction on a confi ned site of 66 acres, and you have all these different architects,” he says. “All the different architects have a tendency to detail and document their information in slightly different fashions from each other. So to try to get them to use the same

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Turning LEED into gold

vocabulary and the same kind of detailing to be consistent from one project to the next so that there wasn’t a learning curve from project to project to project was also a challenge.”

Complexity has also been an issue in the project’s layout. Building so many different structures on one site necessitated some extremely detailed planning. “The biggest problem you have whenever you’re dealing with multiple buildings on a very congested site is all the interfaces between these buildings,” says Cosentino. “You have to consider how they stack up against each other, how the structural systems work adjacent to each other and how the mechanical systems and the plumbing systems flow between buildings. Those are tremendous detail issues to work through, and those challenges were ones that we did as a collaborative effort between the contractor, the owner and the architects. In 95 percent of the instances, we had tremendous success, and there were very few areas where we had some challenges to really overcome, and sometimes they didn’t manifest themselves until we were out in the field. There wasn’t anything that caused a delay or a redesign of the project. It was things that were all manageable, so from that perspective I thought it went very well.”

Tony Cosentino assesses whether sustainability pays financially as well as environmentally.

“You construct the buildings, you put in all the energy saving features and water saving features and you set them up so that they operate in the most efficient manner possible. From a long-term perspective, it’s best to maintain those things and check that on a regular basis to make sure that you are, in fact, operating the building in the most efficient way.

Obviously, because we’re not going to be operating the building, we can’t ensure that.

But there are a lot of things that the owner has elected to do, and a lot of credit needs to be given to MGM Mirage for making this great leap of faith to take the largest privately developed project in the country and to cause the whole project to go towards a sustainable building envelope and building project. That’s a great testament to what they’re trying to do, and I think that they will see a return in a couple of ways.

Number one, I think they’ll see a return in some of the normal energy costs that they would have seen if they just didn’t do anything special. I think they’ll see savings there. I think they’ll see a savings on the side of water consumption. I think they’ll use a lot less water than they would have used, therefore saving money on that side. And I think the third aspect of that is because they’ll be LEED certified, probably silver or maybe even gold in some instances, that will be a great marketing opportunity for them.

Therefore, they’ll probably realize a better return by having a higher occupancy in their facilities because of what they are.

So is that a sufficient return for what they’re spending? Yeah, I think it might be, because the reality is they’re not spending all that much more to get the LEED certification in the things that they’ve done in the building.”

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MGM Mirage CityCenter: Big Numbers

Aside from its sheer scale, one of the most striking features of CityCenter is the attention being paid to sustainability. In addition to pushing for the US Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED certification at a minimum silver level across the project, the construction process has also been characterized by a focus on limiting environmental impact. Tony Cosentino has responsibility for overseeing the development’s LEED and other sustainability initiatives. “One thing that we have been able to do, is work with MGM Mirage and one of our construction waste haulers to help them set up a business to segregate all of the waste so that we can recycle as much as possible off the job site from the construction waste,” he says. “We have been very, very successful in doing that.”

This has meant that huge amounts of waste which would otherwise have ended up in landfill were instead turned into commodities. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals were sold back into the marketplace, while cardboard and paper was also baled up for reuse. But things didn’t stop there.

“A lot of the gypsum board from the drywall partitions has been sold back to drywall manufacturers to be used as a recycled content in new drywall manufacturing,” Cosentino explains. “They’re also using it along with the wood that they’re chipping up and even some of the paper that they’re shredding. With these substances they’re making material that is then being used for soil remediation on farm areas or places where they typically have bad soil quality. They’re tilling this mixture of gypsum, paper and chipped wood into the ground to make it much more valuable for growing trees in. These trees will then eventually be harvested at some point in the future.”

Similar efforts are being taken with waste concrete, which is used as fi ll or base material and even in some cases in the production of new concrete. “There’s been a tremendous amount of reuse of materials,” continues Cosentino.

“They don’t necessarily come back onto our job site, but they’re getting used back in the marketplace.”

Ensuring that the fi nished project conformed to the high standards demanded for LEED certification also requires constant vigilance. “Th is is the largest LEED project in the history of the United States,” says Rizzo. “So we all gained experience going through the project of this size and understanding what it takes to really get LEED certification. What we have learned is the significance of not only knowing what it takes to get the points that are necessary to qualify the project for LEED certification, but the amount of supporting documentation and paperwork that’s required. I don’t think we ever anticipated the kind of documentation that’s necessary. It’s not only knowing how to get the point, it’s also the ability to document that you did do it.” But this hard work has certainly paid off in CityCenter’s case, as certain parts of the development now exceed initial targets. “Originally it was supposed to be all silver, but now we’re at a point were some portions can qualify for gold. They’re going through that now and evaluating those portions in making sure that they have the appropriate points for it.”

Cosentino also attests to the challenges involved in achieving this level of LEED accreditation. “If you were going to go to platinum, you have to involve that process in the very, very early stages of design, because there’s so many things that will impact what happens there,” he

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Work continues on MGM Mirage’s CityCenter project in Las Vegas, September 2008

says. “Silver is a little more achievable in the normal course of business.

The gold, which would be between silver and platinum, takes a little bit more effort, but you can get there primarily with a lot of energy conservation, which is really where the money’s going to be saved on the owner’s side long-term anyway.”

“There’s been a tremendous amount of reuse of materials. They don’t necessarily come back onto our job site, but they’re getting used back in the marketplace”

Given the well-documented fi nancial troubles the development has endured it is reasonable to assume that CityCenter’s commitment to sustainability might have been tested at points. Th at the owners and

contractors have stayed the course is testament to the ambition behind the project.

There is a great deal riding on how CityCenter turns out. Apart from the adjacent Cosmopolitan hotel and condo development, another Perini construction, it is alone in a once crowded field. “As it turns right now on Las Vegas Boulevard these are the last two remaining projects that will be opened,” says Dick Rizzo. “There’s nothing behind them that I’m aware of that is under construction or being planned within the next two to three years after that. There’s a great deal of concern right now about the impact that this project, and Cosmopolitan, will have on the market. No one’s really excited about spending much more money of any consequence in Las Vegas until they understand what the impact truly is of these two programs.”

This puts CityCenter in an extremely interesting position. It could come to symbolize new hope for a Las Vegas battered by the downturn, provided the much-anticipated recovery arrives in time. Alternatively, it could stand as a costly epitaph to Sin City’s long held belief that big is better.

Whatever way the cards fall, there is no doubt that CityCenter represents a considerable achievement from a purely design and construction perspective. We can only hope that lady luck will smile upon it in the future.

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RayLaHood ED:4August

23/9/09

FEATURE

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A nation on the move Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood outlines budget priorities for the year ahead.

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he President’s budget continues record level investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure. At the same time, the budget reflects the growing recognition that traditional gasoline taxes and airline ticket taxes, two of the major sources of funding for the Department’s surface transportation and aviation programs, respectively, are outdated and not adequate to support 21st Century transportation needs.

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I want to thank Congress for providing more than $48 billion in vital transportation funding to both help bring about economic recovery and make lasting investments in our nation’s infrastructure.

This is both an investment in our transportation infrastructure and in jobs for Americans. The resources made available from the General Fund for transportation infrastructure in the Recovery Act will help to rebuild, retool and revitalize the vast network of roads, tunnels, bridges, rail systems, airports and waterways that we have long depended on to keep the economy moving and growing. I am very proud of our Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Team effort in implementing the provisions in the Recovery Act. By working across organizational boundaries, the team has been successful in meeting the Congressional deadlines.

America’s transportation systems are the lifeblood of our economy, and when properly maintained can be a catalyst for economic growth. These systems allow people to get to jobs and allow businesses to access wider pools of labor, suppliers and customers. The ability to move freight efficiently will be critical to our economic recovery. Without efficient transportation routes, economies stagnate. We need to protect, preserve and invest in our transportation infrastructure to ensure that it can meet our present and future demands.

Above all, we must make our transportation systems safe. Where public safety is concerned there is no room for compromise. Over $18.5 billion, or

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one-quarter of the total request for the Department, will support transportation safety. I am mindful that safety – on the road, on the rails, in the air, and on the water – has always been, and must continue to be, the central focus of the Department.

On the road The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expires on September 30, 2009. The Administration is developing a comprehensive approach for surface transportation reauthorization. Consequently, the budget contains no policy recommendations for programs subject to reauthorization, including those for the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Federal Transit Administration. Instead, the budget displays baseline funding levels for all surface transportation programs.

“I want to assure you that we will soon have a plan to address the potential Trust Fund shortfall” An overarching concern for surface transportation funding is the status of the Highway Trust Fund. The funding levels set in SAFETEA-LU for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 were designed to spend down the accumulated balance in the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund. This has left the Highway Account unable to sustain spending from current highway programs into fiscal year 2010. The sustainability issue became apparent when in 2008 the Highway Trust Fund required an $8 billion cash transfer from the General Fund in order to remain solvent.

The current reduction in economic activity has only exacerbated the problem of sustainability for fiscal year 2010, and we remain at risk of yet another cash shortfall later in fiscal year 2009.

To highlight the growing imbalance between projected Highway Trust Fund revenues and baseline spending, the fiscal year 2010 budget includes lowered Highway Trust Fund funding levels for certain programs (i.e.

Federal-aid Highways and Transit Formula and Bus Grants). Such funding reductions would be necessary to maintain positive annual cash balances. For these programs, the budget also includes discretionary budget authority appropriated from the General Fund equal to the difference between the baseline funding and the lowered Highway Trust Fund funding levels.

Under the funding scenario presented in the fiscal year 2010 budget, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be funded entirely from the Highway Trust Fund. The split between Trust Fund and General Fund expenditures in all accounts funded by the Highway Trust Fund is for presentation purposes only and not a meant to be a policy recommendation on the part of the Administration.

Using the Federal Highway Administration as an example, the baseline funding level presented in the fiscal year 2010 budget is $41.8 billion, a one percent increase from the amount provided by Congress in the fiscal year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. However, the Highway Trust Fund can

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only support an estimated $5.7 billion in contract authority, and an equivalent obligation limitation. The balance – $36.1 billion – is assumed to be provided from a new discretionary General Fund appropriation.

Does this mean that we will have a $36 billion shortfall in the Highway Account of the Trust Fund in FY 2010? No. During any given year, most of the payments from the Highway Trust Fund are for funding commitments that were made in previous years. By fiscal year 2010, the majority of revenues that will be deposited into the Highway Trust Fund will be needed to cover cash outlays from those prior-year commitments.

The President’s fiscal year 2010 budget reflects the fact that over the long term, we will need to identify a new funding solution to ensure that we continue to meet our Federal surface transportation infrastructure investment needs. However, I need to emphasize that this budget is a ‘placeholder’ and does not reflect the Administration’s recommended funding levels or approach for the next surface transportation reauthorization.

The Administration inherited a difficult problem – a system that can no longer pay for itself. There simply is not enough money in the Highway Trust Fund to do what we need to do. The fiscal year 2010 budget frames the challenging spending decisions facing policymakers. Clearly as we approach the reauthorization of surface transportation programs, we will need to think creatively as we search for sustainable funding mechanisms.

I want to assure you that we will soon have a plan to address the potential Trust Fund shortfall. We believe very strongly that any Trust Fund fix must be paid for. We also believe that any solution must be tied to reform of the current highway program to make it more performance-based and accountable, such as improving safety or improving the livability of our communities – two priorities for me.

To the skies The Federal Aviation Administration is in a similar situation as DOT’s surface transportation programs in that its current authorization also expires at the end of the current fiscal year. The Vision 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act originally expired at the end of fiscal year 2007, and since that time the Federal Aviation Administration has been operating under a series of short-term extensions. Current aviation taxes and expenditure authority are authorized through September 30, 2009.

The Airport and Airway Trust Fund provides all of the funding for the Federal Aviation Administration’s airport improvement, facilities and equipment, and research and development activities, as well as approximately 70 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration’s operations. As of the end of the current fiscal year, DOT estimates that the Airport and Airway Trust Fund will have a cash balance of approximately $9.5 billion and an uncommitted balance of $929 million. The uncommitted balance takes into account the amount of cash needed to cover commitments that have already been made.

As such, the uncommitted balance is generally used as an estimate of available resources for new commitments. The fiscal year 2010 budget projects that the uncommitted balance will drop to $334 million by the end of fiscal year 2010. Although the budget estimates a small uncommitted balance in fiscal year 2010, the end of year 2010 cash balance is estimated to be $8.75 billion and the Federal Aviation Administration will have more than sufficient resources to implement its programs in fiscal year 2010.

The President’s budget requests nearly $16 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration in 2010. The budget also assumes some basic ele-

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ments of a reauthorization proposal. The current financing system is based largely on aviation excise taxes that depend on the price of a passenger’s airline ticket rather than the actual cost of moving flights through our nation’s aviation system. Starting in 2011, the budget assumes that the air traffic control system will be funded with direct charges levied on users of the system.

While the budget does not include a detailed reauthorization proposal, the Administration believes that the Federal Aviation Administration should move toward a model whereby the agency’s funding is related to its costs, the financing burden is distributed more equitably, and funds are used to pay directly for services the users need. The Administration recognizes that there are alternative ways to achieve its objectives, and wants to work with Congress and stakeholders to enact legislation that moves toward such a system.

Unlike the budget presentation for surface transportation programs, the fiscal year 2010 budget request of nearly $16 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration is not a ‘placeholder’ and, in fact, would fund the Federal Aviation Administration’s highest priority requirements. The request includes $865 million for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) – an increase of close to $170 million from the fiscal year 2009 enacted level. NextGen is an evolutionary process that will transform the way the national air transportation system operates. The outcome will be reduced congestion and delays, improved safety, and reduced noise and emissions.

In addition, the budget request includes funding to increase the number of air traffic controllers by 107 and the number of safety staff by 36. This will improve the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety oversight function and meet its current need to continue to hire a new generation of air traffic controllers in advance of the anticipated retirements. The budget request would provide $3.5 billion for the Airport Improvement Program. This level of funding will support an estimated 3500 infrastructure projects at an estimated 1500 airports, including the rehabilitation and maintenance of existing infrastructure, compliance with design standards, and improved airport capacity.

Riding the rails In the 20th Century, the United States built highway and aviation networks that fueled unprecedented economic expansion, fostered new communities, and connected cities, towns and regions.

The President’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposes to help address today’s transportation challenges by investing in a world class network of high-speed passenger rail corridors that connect communities across America. Building on the $8 billion provided for high-speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the President’s budget proposes to fund a five-year, $5 billion high-speed rail State grant program. This represents a major commitment by the Federal Government to provide the traveling public with a viable alternative to driving and flying.

The budget also includes $1.5 billion in grants to support the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) – $572 million for operating grants and $930 million for capital and debt service grants. When combined with the

$1.3 billion in funding provided for Amtrak under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the fiscal year 2010 request will allow Amtrak to begin to address some of its long-standing capital requirements.

Making waves The US maritime industry plays an important role in today’s global economy. In terms of the value of cargo, more than 48 percent of US foreign trade and six percent of our nation’s domestic commerce travels by water. The FY 2010 budget request includes $346 million for the Maritime Administration.

This request fully funds the Maritime Security Program at $174 million and provides $153 million for Operations and Training, including a $12 million increase for the US Merchant Marine Academy for operational and capital improvements.

In fiscal year 2009, the Maritime Administration took positive steps to address and remediate certain internal control issues related to budget implementation at the Academy. These steps include significant financial management reforms at the Academy and technical assistance for new Academy leadership. I have also directed MARAD to establish a ‘blue ribbon’ panel of experts who will examine and report to me on the Academy’s long-term capital improvement needs.

The budget also provides an increase of $15 million under MARAD Operations for a Presidential initiative to support integrated planning with the Department of Homeland Security for development and modernization of intermodal freight infrastructure that links coastal and inland ports to highway and rail networks.

The fiscal year 2010 request for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation includes nearly $17 million for agency operations and fully funds the second year of the Seaway’s 10 year Asset Renewal Program.

Before I conclude, I also want to mention two other notable items in the President’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for DOT. This request will enable the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to fill 18 additional pipeline safety inspection and enforcement positions. This will bring the total number of inspection and enforcement positions up to 135 in fiscal year 2010, meeting the target in the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety Act of 2006.

Finally, the Administration is committed to maintaining small communities’ access to the National Airspace System. The budget provides $175 million for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program to fulfill current program requirements as demand for subsidized commercial air service increases. The budget drops an earlier proposal to restructure the eligibility criteria for airports to receive EAS funding, but also acknowledges that the program design must be updated and made more cost effective. The Administration is committed to working with Congress to develop a more sustainable program that will provide better value for passengers and the American taxpayer.

This article is based on a 2009 statement before the Senate Committee of Appropriations.

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ARTBA ed:4August

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ROAD BUILDING

Belle of the Ball, or Cinderella after midnight?

By Jeff Solsby, Director of Public Affairs, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).

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ou’ve probably heard it before: “With the stimulus bill, the road construction industry must be sitting pretty!”

In the eyes of many, the industry is uniquely benefiting from the economic stimulus bill by working on some of the 6000 stimulusfunded projects nationwide.

But the reality is very different. Without near-term action on a robust, multi-year surface transportation authorization bill, the industry could look more like Cinderella at 12:01AM, than the glamorous ‘Belle of the Ball.’

There is some good news. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has produced some benefits for our industry. Indeed, thanks to the highway and bridge funding in the stimulus law, coupled with the FY 2009 appropriations bill, this year will produce record levels of federal surface transportation investment. This infusion of federal money has helped soften the blow of a severe economic downturn and helped protect existing industry jobs.

Construction material prices have also decreased.

Notably, there was a dramatic turnaround in May when $6 billion of new highway and bridge projects were awarded compared to $5.2 billion in May 2008 – a 33 percent increase. We’re likely to experience similar positive trends over the next few months as the construction season peaks and the stimulus funds keep flowing.

But federal programs are only one part of the overall transportation market. Virtually every state is facing budget shortfalls and, according to the National Governors Association, 15 states

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have cut transportation investment in 2009 and 19 states will make similar reductions in 2010. At the same time, Congress had to inject another $7 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to meet obligations through the end of FY 2009, and there is no doubt more will be needed for FY 2010.

While the stimulus is a bright spot, the state budget reality means that stimulus funds are simply allowing states to maintain current activities, or just easing the impact of significant budget cuts. It is this confluence of challenges that makes the current push by some to delay the reauthorization of the highway/transit program until March 2011 mind boggling. We learned the hard way from 2001 to 2005 that a prolonged period of uncertainty at the federal level, during a time of economic and state budget difficulty, produced severe market stagnation and stymied efforts to deliver surface transportation improvements.

Recent data from ARTBA Vice President of Economics & Research Bill Buechner shows that the value of highway construction put in place “drops off like a cliff,” starting in FY 2011 once the effects of the stimulus wear off. We’ve known for four years the reauthorization bill was due at the end of September. Yet, over the past few months, I have seen enough political hand-wringing about why now is not the right time to act on a bill to make you wonder why some people decide to get out of bed in the morning.

In the real world, delay means paralysis – for revenue, for business development and for

market expansion. The only people who might possibly see any benefit from such a delay are narrow constituencies operating inside the DC beltway where delay has become a time-honored legislative tactic.

According to a new study, deficient roadways contribute to 22,000 fatalities and cost the nation $217 billion annually. And the latest Texas Transportation Institute report finds the traffic congestion ‘tax’ has reached $87 billion.

America’s outdated transportation system is a major impediment to US competitiveness in the global marketplace. These challenges will not solve themselves.

ARTBA is working daily to advocate its views to Congress and the Obama Administration about the need to complete action on a bill, either by the end of this year or in early 2010. But we cannot achieve success without a united and national industry effort. That means workers, managers, executives and leaders from across the industry must mobilize to tell Congress what action means to our industry – and to their families and the economy as a whole. We must let them know that the real-world impacts of delay will mean lost jobs in their state/district and deferred purchasing decisions.

We may be seen as the Belle of the Ball by some, but if we don’t work to actively protect our own interests, we’ll turn back into pumpkins and have no one to blame but ourselves.

For further information, please contact the ARTBA Action Hotline at 888 448 2782.

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REGIONAL FOCUS

Earl Seaberg of the California Department of Transportation explains how Recovery Act money is getting things moving in more ways than one.

projects throughout California – underscoring the state’s focus on pumping federal stimulus funding into the economy as quickly, efficiently and responsibly as possible. Also this fall, California will have met Recovery Act deadlines for transit funds and will have submitted Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant applications well in excess of $300 million to the US Department of Transportation.

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High-speed rail

he American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is intended to help the states restart their economies and stimulate employment during the economic downturn.

California is receiving $2.57 billion for highways, local streets and roads and $1.07 billion for transit projects. In March, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law legislation (AB x3-20) that expedited the allocation of $835 million to regional transportation agencies, who will receive $1.6 billion in federal economic stimulus funds from the Recovery Act. The legislation modified existing state law, providing greater delegation to regional transportation agencies for selecting projects and programming their dollars. The new law also gave Caltrans the flexibility to loan $310 million of state Recovery Act stimulus funds to move a number of other projects more quickly to construction. These particular projects were chosen because they could provide construction jobs immediately and also provide the greatest long-term economic benefits for the state of California.

By this fall, Caltrans expects $2 billion in Recovery Act funds will have been federally approved and committed to hundreds of highway

The Recovery Act provides $8 billion nationally for high-speed rail and intercity passenger rail. With a commitment last November by voters to issue nearly $10 billion of state bonds, including $190 million for intercity passenger rail, California is once again leading the nation as the first state to commence and fund high-speed rail development.

There are plans for 800 miles of track that would carry trains traveling up to 220 mph. The trains would link San Francisco, Sacramento, the Central Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego.

In July, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced that a route between Southern California and Las Vegas had been amended into the federally designated California high-speed rail corridor. There are two competing private sector high-speed train proposals for this route. A magnetic levitation train connecting Anaheim and Las Vegas would be the first in the US to use magnetic levitation technology. The initial segments of the Maglev system proposed for construction are between Las Vegas and Primm, Nevada, and between Anaheim and the Ontario airport. The electric DesertXpress initial service would connect

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Las Vegas and Victorville, California. A subsequent phase of the project would extend service to Palmdale where it would connect with the planned California high-speed rail system.

Major projects Caltrans anticipates $1 billion worth of state and local Recovery Act projects will be advertised for contractors to bid on by the end of this year.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, construction to the main southern approach to the Golden Gate Bridge will be expedited thanks to $50 million in federal economic stimulus funding from the Recovery Act. The Doyle Drive project is on schedule to begin construction this fall, instead of 2010. Doyle Drive is a badly deteriorated 70-year-old section of US 101 that is being replaced with a modern, seismically safe parkway connecting San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio of San Francisco, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Also near the Bay Area, construction is well under way on the first project funded by the Recovery Act. The project will improve the pavement on a 50-year-old section of Interstate 80 used by nearly 200,000 motorists each day. The $13.5 million project was fully funded by Recovery Act dollars and came in nearly 40 percent under original cost estimates.

Interstate 405 in Los Angeles is one of, if not the, busiest transportation corridors in the United States. On May 8, Governor Schwarzenegger launched the start of the Interstate 405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project in Los Angeles, a billion-dollar project that is proceeding on schedule

thanks to $190 million in federal economic stimulus funding from the Recovery Act. Th is project is the fi nal segment of the carpool lane system on I-405 in Los Angeles County. When it is completed, motorists will be able to use the carpool lane all the way from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley.

On May 27, thanks to $74.3 million in Recovery Act funding, construction began in San Diego on the next phase of the State Route 905 Project. The entire project will cost $620 million and will create eight miles of a new six-lane freeway near the US/Mexico border. Annual trade between California and Baja California totals more than $35 billion, and border ports of entry process more than two million trucks each year, a figure expected to double within the next decade.

The Recovery Act is providing $128 million for a project in the Inland Empire of California that is scheduled to start this fall. The project will reconstruct Interstate 215 and add bus/carpool lanes through the city of San Bernardino, which is one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation.

The Recovery Act is helping the nation restart its economy during the worst economic downturn in over 70 years. It is helping accelerate transportation projects that move people and goods, increase safety, and restore our aging transportation infrastructure. The Recovery Act will put California and other states in a better position to achieve greater long-term objectives – the upcoming authorization of the next federal transportation act. „ Earl Seaberg is Deputy Program Manager, Recovery Act, at the California Department of Transportation.

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ASK THE EXPERT

Congestion, the thief of time Mike Ostrom gives an insight into some of the innovative tools that allow road users to claw back the valuable time wasted due to traffic congestion.

I

t is often said that procrastination is the thief of time. No less can be said of the effect of traffic congestion on our hectic modern lifestyles. Time to do the things that interest us, time with our families and friends is the most precious resource. Almost no one disagrees that time is money. Conversely, money can also buy us time: you can hire someone to clean your house, mow your lawn or deliver your drycleaning. However, time is not a renewable resource, once squandered it can never be replaced.

According to the 2009 Urban Mobility Report, due to ever increasing traffic congestion, we spent an extra 4.2 billion hours in our vehicles, expended an additional 2.8 billion gallons of fuel, costing us the incredible sum of $87.2 billion.

Since we cannot create time, how do we buy back the time lost due to traffic delay? The modest declines in traffic volumes due to increases in fuel prices and a slowed economy certainly haven’t made much of an effect and are not sustainable. Longer-term strategies such as increasing urban density or building a nationwide high-speed rail system, though promising, do little for us in the short-term. Immediate, lowercost programs that reduce congestion without adding new roadways such as high-occupancy lanes, better traffic signalization, improved traveler information and incident response systems

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are things we can do today. These programs do work. The Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Performance Monitoring System shows that in 2007 we bought back 308 million hours, reduced our fuel needs by 202 million gallons and saved $6.5 billion. As effective as these programs are, we can do better.

Intelligent Intersections is an interesting recent example of this. InSync, developed by Rhythm Engineering, is a system that uses cameras to detect vehicles in and approaching intersections and changes the timing accordingly.

Systems at consecutive intersections co-ordinate in real-time so most vehicles can move through without stopping. A recent study of InSync by Midwest Research Institute for Missouri Department of Transportation, determined significant benefits including a 90 percent reduction in stops, travel time improvements of 30 percent, fuel consumption reductions of 20 percent and emissions savings of 30 percent.

Improved portable navigation devices and location aware smart phones are also effective at reducing travel times. According to a recent report by NuStats, using a traffic enabled GPS navigation device reduced user travel times by 21 percent. As predictive traffic information becomes more widely available, the effectiveness of these devices should increase even further.

Perhaps the most promising of these new technologies are dynamic Traffic Management Systems (TMS). These proactive systems use advanced simulation models combined with realtime traffic and origin/destination information to predict the effects of various management strategies. This allows more effective management and provides better traveler information that until now was not possible. New technology from Mygistics, Inc. combines route choice, travel time and departure time data collected from several real-time sources such as loop detectors, roadside sensors and GPS-equipped probe vehicles. This information is then used, along with demand-based simulation models, to predict network flow patterns. The model can consider any combination of management strategies such as incident management, ramp metering, signal control and traveler information to produce optimal strategies. Travel time predictions and route recommendations can then be made available to travelers.

Improving the livability of our communities by giving back the valuable time that is taken from us every day in traffic delay should be our near term focus. These innovative tools that allow us to more effectively take advantage of the large amount of unused roadway network capacity will allow us to be green, save green, and maybe even have a little more time to spend on the green.

Mike Ostrom is a cofounder of Mygistics and an expert in the fields of transportation technology, geospatial information, visualization/simulation, and the production of predictive traffic and travel time data. As the current CEO of Mygistics he is working to combine the latest in Web 2.0 technologies with traffic engineering and intelligent transportation systems to improve mobility on a national scale.

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INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION

Play it

Scott Belcher tells US Infrastructure about some new strategies to reduce transportation’s environmental impact.

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ransportation contributes about 28 percent of the United States’ total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Additionally, emissions from transportation are growing faster than other sectors, representing almost half of the increase in total GHGs between 1990 and 2006. Transportation-related GHG emissions are the result of the interaction of four factors: vehicle fuel efficiency, the carbon content of the fuel burned, the number of miles that vehicles travel, and the operational efficiency experienced during travel.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America is part of a diverse group of stakeholders including transportation experts, industry leaders, federal agencies, environmental organizations and other non-governmental organizations that commissioned Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission. Good environmental policy must be driven by good data, and Moving Cooler helps fill the void by providing much needed data on transportation solutions and their positive impact on climate change.

As transportation and climate legislation is being developed in Congress, this report will help inform the debate. Many of the conclusions and as-

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sumptions in the report can and will be debated. This is the norm with studies like this. Nevertheless, Moving Cooler is a good first step. Much more work needs to be done, particularly in light of recent Intelligent Transportation System deployments that are demonstrating significant efficiency gains not necessarily reflected in this study. These and other improvements will doubtless hallmark the next generation of studies whose way has been paved by Moving Cooler’s foray into the conversation.

The Moving Cooler report is unique in providing information about the potential contribution of transportation actions to reduce the amount of vehicle travel that occurs by encouraging the use of less fuel-intensive means of transportation or by reducing the amount of fuel consumed during travel via transportation system improvements.

As best as can be determined, Moving Cooler is the first-ever comprehensive analysis of transportation efficiency and its relationship to GHG emission reductions and consumer savings. The report analyzes the effectiveness and cost of almost 50 scalable transportation strategies, both alone and combined, to reduce GHG emissions. Strategies were first assessed individually,

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and then combined into ‘bundles’ that illustrate the potential cumulative effects that could be achieved. Finally, these bundles were examined using an economy-wide pricing overlay that analyzes the effect of fuel tax and carbon pricing and other nationwide pricing measures.

The good news is that Moving Cooler finds that behavioral and operational strategies, combined with technology and fuel strategies, enable the transportation sector to achieve significant levels of GHG emission reductions. The key driver behind many of these solutions is the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems that make our infrastructure smarter and more efficient, while providing real-time information on traffic conditions, transit options and other transportation services. These Intelligent Transportation System technologies and services provide the 21st century tools we need to actively manage our transportation network to reduce congestion, optimize existing capacity, facilitate mode choice, and improve system efficiencies.

“Emissions from transportation are growing faster than other sectors, representing almost half of the increase in total GHGs between 1990 and 2006” In addition to making a contribution to reducing GHG emissions, Intelligent Transportation Systems contribute to expanded travel options, reduced congestion, greater accessibility, improvements in the livability of urban areas, improved equity, improved environmental quality, enhanced public health and improved safety.

Many of the strategies that are estimated to be most effective at reducing GHG emissions are only made possible because of Intelligent Transportation Systems, including: • Eco-driving which is only effective when combined with GPS-enabled navigational systems and real-time information; • Congestion pricing, vehicle miles traveled user fees, and other road charging systems that depend on Intelligent Transportation System technologies • Expansion of transit systems and rail lines which can only realize optimal efficiency when combined with Intelligent Transportation System solutions such as transit signal priority, automated vehicle location, computeraided scheduling and dispatch, real-time transit and multimodal traveler information, mobility management systems – particularly for the elderly and disabled – ‘smart cards’ and payment systems.

ITS America looks forward to the pursuit of widespread deployment of smart technologies and to continue improving the emissions data associated with Intelligent Transportation Systems and other transportation efficiency measures. If your company or organization has real-world data on emissions reductions and other environmental benefits of ITS that you would be willing to share, we would be thrilled to provide this data to policymakers who are working to pass transportation and climate change legislation.

Scott Belcher is President and CEO of the Intelligent Transport Society of America. For more information go to www.itsa.org

All wrapped up Most strategies to reduce transportation GHGs would typically be implemented as part of a package of transportation activities. To test the combined impact of strategies, Moving Cooler developed six illustrative bundles or groups of strategies and estimated the total GHG reductions that might be achieved through an integrated set of actions. Each bundle was designed to bring together strategies that emphasize a common action plan: • The Near-Term/ Early Results Bundle focuses on strategies that could be implemented broadly before 2015 and that could result in early GHG reduction benefits. The nearterm bundle gets the largest percentage – 11 percent – of GHG reductions between 2010 and 2020. Examples of the variety of strategies that can be implemented relatively quickly include increased transit services, ecodriving programs and truck stop electrification.

• The Long-Term/ Maximum Results Bundle focuses on maximizing efforts to reduce GHG emissions without regard to cost, scale, or time frame of the implementation.

This all-out bundle includes most of the Moving Cooler strategies assessed for this study: both near-term strategies, as well as infrastructure investment to expand transportation services, pricing measures (such as tolls and congestion pricing), operational improvements, and freight strategies. The maximum effort/long-term bundle also achieved the same 11 percent reduction by 2020, but at a much higher cost.

• Land Use/ Transit/Non-motorized Transportation Bundle emphasizes the interaction of urban area-focused strategies that increase density and encourage travelers to shift to more energy efficient modes, with shorter average trip lengths and increased walking and biking, which would eliminate some vehicle trips.

• The System and Driver Efficiency Bundle focuses on strategies that improve multimodal system efficiency by adding capacity, removing bottlenecks, reducing congestion, and improving traffic flow.

• The Facility Pricing Bundle focuses on local and regional pricing and incentive strategies such as tolls, congestion pricing and parking fees that will induce changes in travel behavior by changing the cost of travel. These strategies also could be coupled with service expansion.

• The Low Cost Bundle focuses on achieving GHG emission reductions through the deployment of strategies that are more cost-effective.

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

CHARGING AHEAD

Craig Cantrell reveals how consolidation of system components and greater interoperability within the intelligent transportation market could help generate the funding required to maintain and expand America’s transportation infrastructure.

What is Federal Signal’s role as it relates to the transportation market space?

Craig Cantrell. Federal Signal offers best in breed technologies and solutions to customers in the road user charging and traffic data collection markets.

With the acquisition of PIPS Technology, Federal Signal simultaneously established a leadership position in, and demonstrated a commitment to, this market space. As a leading global provider of automated license plate recognition technology, PIPS is an example of the market leading brands found throughout Federal Signal’s diverse product portfolio.

Why do you believe road user charging is currently such a hot topic?

CC. The demands placed on public road infrastructure in terms of miles driven are significantly outpacing the growth rate of new roads. At the same time, spending on our existing road infrastructure for maintenance and expansion has actually declined by almost 50 percent over the last five decades. The gas tax has seen a decrease in purchasing power of almost 33 percent in the last

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15 years due to the fact that it is not being adjusted for inflation. We are headed down a path with our road network that none of us want to travel.

Transportation professionals must make smart decisions to make better use of the roadways we have and also generate revenue to offset the financial shortfall that is needed to maintain and expand our nation’s transportation infrastructure.

This realization brought about Congress’ creation of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission.

Earlier this year the Commission estimated that the revenue raised by all levels of government for capital investment will total about one-third of the roughly $200 billion necessary each year to maintain and improve the nation’s highways and transit systems. The Commission also estimated that the cost of traffic congestion in the top urban areas in the US amounted to nearly $80 billion.

Figures like these command attention.

Isn’t road user charging simply an additional tax?

CC. Do you view your electric or water bills as

taxes? It’s the same concept – you pay for what you use. Taxes are a levy on the taxpayer not necessarily correlated to how those taxes are spent and not necessarily benefiting the taxpayers. On the contrary, road user charging is a fund raising mechanism targeting the specific users of the transportation system – with the funds raised benefiting the users of the system.

Ultimately the issue is implementing the best systems to address infrastructure funding issues that – if left alone – have dire consequences to the general public. Existing roadways continue to deteriorate and new road construction halts, while more and more cars hit the road. This alternative has unacceptable direct and indirect implications for our society.

What advancements do you see for road user charging in the near future?

CC. Our focus at PIPS will continue to be the advancement of our technology for better performance and user adoption and to enable more cost effective solutions for tolling and traffic data collection. Looking at the state of the industry today, we believe there are real opportunities to increase the impact of these solutions. Today, many different providers offer components of a solution with little to no interoperability across systems deployed. The burden falls on the integrator to pull it all together and these solutions operate in isolation of each other. Moving forward, consolidation of system components and greater interoperability of the solutions deployed will drive cost reduction while improving the overall experience for all stakeholders, including the traveler.

For example, at E-470 in Denver, PIPS worked with tollway management and other vendors to deliver an improved process for vehicle tolling that introduced a totally cashless system utilizing the license plate as the vehicle identifier. The benefits of this approach include reduced operating costs and increased traveler satisfaction when using the tollway. We believe this is just a small example of what lies ahead in solution improvements for this segment of the intelligent transportation market space.

Craig Cantrell is VP and General Manager of PIPs Technology, a division of Federal Signal Corporation. He has experience in the development of data acquisition systems and software toolsets.

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RAIL FOCUS

UP TO SPEED Railways created a transport revolution in the 19th century. As trains and lines get faster and more sophisticated, are we on the verge of a new leap forward?

A

ll across the globe our roadways are clogged with traffic.

Roadways are suffering from large populations that they were simply not built to support. In countries like the US, where many major roadways were constructed long before modern technology was available to support such wear and tear, the situation is critical. Coupled with this, air travel is no longer the glamorous experience it once was. Crowded airports, fl ight delays and onerous security checks all conspire to make flying more chore than pleasure.

In light of such conditions, the idea that we need smart transportation systems that equal the needs of the 21st century has taken hold and, as a result, the concept of high-speed rail

has sparked renewed interest. High-speed rail may not be technically new, but with interest coming from nations such as the US and Britain, it is taking on a fresh and exciting dynamic.

Currently in the UK, for example, the only evidence of any high-speed rail is the rail link to the Channel Tunnel, which, critics say, just isn’t enough. The argument is that, quite frankly, there is no reason why high-speed rail can’t be done on a massive scale in Britain, the country that not only invented the railways but, through High Speed One, already has a state-of-the-art high-speed line (even if it is only 68 miles long in length and fails to connect any major UK cities).

But if any country really is to implement a high-speed network, there surely is a

long way to go. On April 16, 2009, President Obama highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions. Obama said the $8 billion for high-speed rail in his stimulus package – to be spent over two years – and an additional $1 billion a year being budgeted over the next five years, would provide a “jump start” toward achieving that vision. In a statement, he said: “I know that this vision has its critics. There are those who say highspeed rail is a fantasy. But its success around the world says otherwise.”

In response to this, US Infrastructure examines some of Europe's high-speed rail networks and looks at the lessons that America can learn from them.

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FRANCE

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he fi rst TGV service in France was launched in 1981 between Paris and Lyon, cutting the journey time between the two cities to under two hours.

Since then the network has been massively extended, fi rst to include a line between Lyon and Marseilles, and then new lines from Paris to Lille in the north, Alsace in the east and Le Mans going west. Today, France’s TGV network is nearly 1200 miles in length, which is almost as large as Japan’s leading network, and four lines are currently being built, totalling over 400 miles in length, all due for completion by 2015.

It was actually President Sarkozy who accelerated the high-speed program as a key point of his fiscal stimulus plan back in December 2008. At the time, he told a press conference: “It is certain we are not wrong doing this. Mobility is a need and the boss of SNCF, who is here, won’t disagree.” That boss is Guillame Pepy, but in contrast to Sarkozy’s defiance, Pepy has noted several mistakes in the planning of the network. One of the biggest, he says, was not building the Paris-Lyon line as a four-track railway from the outset because, as is happening now in Japan with the Tokyo to Osaka line, the TGV line is now nearing saturation point. As a result, planning is now under way for a second line between the two conurbations.

Nonetheless, as the French high-speed network continues to be built out and become interconnecting with neighbouring countries, it appears that a series of ‘Trans-European Networks’ could become a reality. In fact, plans show that the Paris to Lille and the Channel Tunnel lines will soon link through, via Brussels, into the new Dutch high-speed line up to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, cutting the journey time between Paris and Amsterdam to a mere two hours. Further to this, extensions to the Lyon to Marseilles line that are currently under construction (or in the planning stages) include plans to go south-east from Marseilles toward Nice and ultimately through to Italy, south toward Montpelierr (through a 17-mile tunnel under the Pyr-n, enees) to Barcelona, and easterly to Turin, hItaly to join up with the North Italian highspeed network.

The interesting thing about TGV is that as its popularity has soared it has been paralleled by a willingness from the French authorities to help pay for the investment. In fact, only two percent of the cost of the original Paris to Lille line was paid for by local authorities, and by contrast the current Le Mans to Rennes line is covered by 39 percent by local authorities, showing a much greater cover over time. However, the TGV does still face a series of challenges. Outside of Paris, for example, there are currently only 18 TGV stations for the entire network. That means that there are currently no stops for some medium or even large towns, and research shows that, despite some people arguing otherwise, it is not the case that high-speed rail requires there to be few stations and only city-to-city services. In fact, evidence suggests that intermediate stations are, if suitably engineered, entirely consistent with the highest speed end-to-end running.

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ITALY

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he Italians actually implemented high-speed rail three years before the French by opening a line from Rome to Florence in 1978. Now, 31 years later, the line has been extended north and south to form a nearly complete network from Milan to Naples via Bologna, Florence and Rome. The last major section, which is due to open later this year, will link Florence to Bologna and will include an impressive near-50 miles of tunnels, nine individual tunnels in all, to get the line through the Apennines, halving the existing journey time to just 30 minutes. In addition, a north-west to north-east line is also at various stages of operation, planning and construction, aiming to link Turin, Milan, Verona, Venice and Trieste by 2016.

Furthermore, from 2011, a competitor service will be set up in Italy that will also run on the Milan to Rome line.

According to a Boston Consulting Group study of a recent survey of 13,000 pan-European distance travellers from 13 countries, more than 30 percent of passengers would like to switch modes of transport, and in some countries that proportion is actually as high as 65 percent. As the report says: “Considering the size of the market, this presents a huge opportunity for alternative providers, particularly given the fact that by 2020 passengers will be able to travel faster from A to B via high-speed rail than by plane on nearly half of Europe’s busiest air routes.”

Similarly to France, there are still challenges that are facing the Italian network. While the location of Rome’s city-center station, for example, proves to be the network’s greatest advantage in terms of city-center business, it is also the network’s biggest disadvantages in terms of fast, convenient access by car and public transport for those with further to go. In other words, it is those operators that can provide the most seamless door-to-door journey across multiple modes, usually by working with other companies, that will have an obvious advantage.

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SPAIN

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pain entered the high-speed era back in 1992 when it opened the Madrid-Seville line. Today Spain is considered as the most ambitious country across Europe in terms of growth of a high-speed network. With its most recent completion of the Madrid to Barcelona line, Spain now boasts an impressive 990 miles of high-speed rail in operation. Further to this, there is both another 1200 miles under construction and 990 miles in the planning stages.

The network is also growing outside of the Spanish borders, with a key construction project currently working to connect the Spanish and French networks. As a result of this, an intense debate is now under way to decide whether the new line will carry freight and passenger traffic, or just passenger. But the most notable feature of Spain’s high-speed rail has to be the sheer scale and rapidity of its development, especially considering Spain is a country without an especially strong railway tradition. Nonetheless, the growth has been immense. Back in 2005, for example, the Spanish government published a national high-speed plan with a target to build 6200 miles of line by 2020, connecting all of the nation’s capitals, accounting for 90 percent of the population. The proposal also estimated that the cost will be met from allocating 1.5 percent of the GDP to national infrastructure investment. With a budget of €250 billion, half of that will go to rail. In fact, this year alone Spain will be spending dii n ng a massive total of €10 billion on rail ra il infrastructure inffras rasstr ttru r uctuu re re investment, with six billion going to high-speed gh-s gh -sspeed rail.

What’s more, the Madrid to Barcelona line, which only opened last February, offering riders a journey time of two hours and 38 minutes for the 370 mile journey, has now cut that journey time to two hours and 15 minutes. When the service opened it only had 16 percent of the combined train and air market; now it holds 48 percent, and expectations are that this will

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Infotech ed:4August

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

Trading up As Geographic Information Systems (GIS) become an integral business tool, the need to upgrade to more sophisticated geospatial databases becomes more pressing. Infotech’s Greg Tilley explains why.

What developments and changes have you seen over the years that have helped Infotech become a GIS industry leader today?

Greg Tilley. GIS is finally making the transition from a niche application to an enterprise wide technology. With this progression, there has been an increasing requirement for organizations to upgrade their geospatial databases and integrate them into their enterprise systems.

Infotech has invested in understanding the business drivers in our core markets – utilities, telecom and government – so that we have become well-positioned to help our clients to transform their legacy systems and meet the rapidly changing operational requirements.

“GIS is finally making the transition from a niche application to an enterprise-wide technology” As a global company, please explain what a global delivery model is and how it helps to insure quality and security while meeting schedule and budget constraints?

GT. At Infotech, ‘global delivery model’ means we can deploy the most appropriate mix of resources to meet any range of skill, cost, schedule and security requirements while insuring the best overall value for our clients. Yes, we are part of a global organization, but we are first and foremost a US company. Infotech Enterprises America, Inc., is a California Corporation generating $70 million in revenue, paying millions of dollars in income and payroll taxes and employing more than 400 people in North America. Our parent company, Infotech Enterprises Limited, is a global company of

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8000 people with offices in the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and Asia. Operating as a US company with a global parent allows us to transcend the labels of ‘offshoring’, ‘outsourcing’, etc.

We like to think of our model as ‘right sourcing’.

For projects requiring a large pool of highly skilled engineers operating in a super secure environment, we will tap into one of our development centers in India. If the engagement requires close proximity and a high level of interaction with the client, we will use onsite and/or North America based associates. In either case, the oversight of the engagement is maintained by our North American based account management and project management teams. In other words, we practice global delivery with local responsibility.

GT. The downturn has impacted Infotech, like most businesses. Our growth has slowed and several major clients have delayed or suspended work that was scheduled for 2009. As a result, we have looked at cost containment wherever we could accomplish it without impacting customer service. While our overall workforce has not declined, we have made some strategic changes, shedding positions that are no longer required and adding positions to support new service areas that we expect to be growth engines as the economy recovers.

What geospatial innovations do you anticipate within the next five years? How will these innovations impact the solutions demanded by Infotech has had exceptional your clients?

GT. I think the innovations growth over the past five will be driven from two major years. What has allowed you forces that are just beginning to achieve and sustain this to impact the markets we type of growth? serve; ‘smart grid’ and ‘cloud GT. Quality and reliability of computing’. Both of these are our deliverables. I know that is loosely defined concepts at a cliché, but we take great pride this point, but both represent in achieving high rates of firstpotentially major shifts in the time acceptance. On a recentGreg Tilley is President of Infotech Enterprises America, way our customers do busily completed project for a Inc., a California Corporation ness. In the geospatial arena, major telecommunications with over $70 million in revenue and over 400 employees. He has we’ve seen a progression of firm, we achieved 100 percent 36 years experience in business management, GIS, remote database sophistication first-time acceptance on delivsensing and environmental through ‘Conversion’ (paper ery of an enterprise database planning. Tilley is a member of several GIS organizations and to CAD or simple GIS) and with more than eight million holds an MA in Geography from Michigan State University.

‘Migration’ (CAD/GIS to spafeatures. That kind of perfortially enabled database). The mance is made possible by our forces of smart grid and cloud focus on process and efficiencomputing will drive us to a new phase that we cy. Consistent and reliable performance encall ‘Liberation’. This means geospatial databases hances our clients’ ROI and makes our sales will not only need to be intelligent and spatially team’s job a lot easier. enabled, but also platform-independent and functionally compatible with all of an organizaWhat has Infotech done and what do you plan tion’s operational databases, many of which will to do in order to get through this economic have been virtualized off the desktop. downturn?

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GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

Intelligent defense Bringing the power of geospatial intelligence to Homeland Security.

By Liam P. O’Brien

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uring the flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota in March and April 2009, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provided critical geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of the Lead Federal Agency for response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal, state and local organizations.

NGA provided analysis that assisted in the planning and movement of resources to mitigate the impact to lives and property. It also supplied GEOINT from multiple imagery and geographic information system (GIS) sources for all rivers in the area to identify critical infrastructure and affected population centers.

NGA analysts sat side by side with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) colleagues to monitor levees and gauge data for areas of potential impact.

The versatility and responsiveness of GEOINT uniquely support a wide range of missions including analysis and protection of the nation’s critical infrastructure and other key resources to enhance crisis and consequence management. This is one of hundreds of examples where GEOINT adds a critical perspective.

NGA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and a member of the Intelligence Community. It provides timely, relevant and accurate GEOINT to policy makers and federal agencies in support of the nation’s homeland security and homeland defense initiatives.

GEOINT analysts provide information and data required to create the common operating picture that enables informed decisions for combat, national and homeland security, including floods, wildfires, hurricanes and special security events.

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GEOINT is the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. It has become a critical component of our country’s military, intelligence and homeland security operations, providing a foundation for visualization and decision making from the Oval Office, to the warfighter on the battlefield, to the first responder on site at a domestic disaster.

NGA, in coordination with DHS and other domestic civil agencies, supports efforts for domestic preparedness, infrastructure protection, border and maritime security, national special security event planning, disaster preparation and recovery, and global humanitarian relief efforts.

We play an important role in providing, integrating and analyzing critical geospatial information and imagery to understand the world in which we live and operate. For domestic operations, we only work in support of a Lead Federal Agency when specifically asked and always in accordance with intelligence oversight and other laws governing our activities in the United States.

Left: Members of the Coast Guard head back to shore after searching for stranded residents near the Wild Rice River just south of Fargo, North Dakota Below: Over 300,000 sandbags held in reserve sit on trucks and on the floor of the Fargodome to protect Fargo from the flooded Red River

NGA leans forward to be a collaborative and integrated partner through the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Database (HIFLD) Working Group and the Programs Partnership Working Group, in cooperation with the Department of Defense/Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, DHS, the Department of Interior/US Geological Survey (USGS) and others.

“GEOINT analysts provide information and data required to create the common operating picture that enables informed decisions for combat” The HIFLD WG was established in February 2002 to identify, share and protect homeland infrastructure geospatial information used for visualization and analysis. Currently, the HIFLD WG has approximately 3000 members and contributing partners focused on identifying and facilitating acquisition of authoritative homeland infrastructure geospatial data, enhancing awareness and sharing processes and technology.

HIFLD WG partners are involved in a wide range of functions including critical infrastructure protection; emergency preparedness, response and recovery; risk management; decision support; crisis and consequence management; threat analysis; antiterrorism/force protection; defense support to civil authorities; man-made and natural hazard modeling; continuity of operations and continuity of government planning; and government facilities management.

As a result of HIFLD WG coordination, NGA and the USGS collaborated to create a strategy to address the geospatial data requirements for common operational infrastructure data for the homeland. The data collection effort is part of the Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP), a clearinghouse of mission-critical geospatial and remote sensing information designed to help decision makers and operational planners develop a common frame of reference for daily threat assessments, critical infrastructure vulnerability analysis, domestic crisis response, strategic planning and consequence management.

Specifically, the HSIP contains high-resolution imagery, vector and elevation data that provide a common operational picture of the nation’s infrastructure and key resource asset information within the United States. The HSIP data provides the user with locations and contacts for local information about specific infrastructure elements or resources from sectors such as domestic utilities, finance and energy.

This database also enables federal, state, local and tribal decision makers to improve their readiness and knowledge about potential threats and vulnerabilities by providing situational awareness and an understanding of the terrain and associated infrastructure.

Over the past eight years as partnerships matured, HSIP continued to grow and be refined. NGA leads the geospatial data brokering efforts called HSIP Gold and HSIP Freedom. HSIP Gold serves federal-level decision makers, providing them with the information necessary to support readiness, response and recovery planning for natural or man-made disasters.

NGA disseminates HSIP Gold data on DVD and Web-based services. DHS provides the majority of HSIP Gold on the Web via its Integrated Common Analytical Viewer (iCAV) and DHS Web-based services to homeland security mission partners that have access to the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN).

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To date, the success of the HSIP has relied heavily on license-restricted commodity data to build and maintain the HSIP Gold foundation.

Procurement of existing commercial-off-the-shelf data has helped accelerate the build-up of HSIP data holdings; however, some of this data cannot be shared outside the federal government due to licensing restrictions.

As a result, the HSIP Freedom Initiative was developed with a twopronged approach: first, make more of the national infrastructure databases available to a wider number of homeland security users, including state, local, tribal and industry partners, and second, help move the HSIP toward more license-free open standard-compliant data.

The first initiative of the program involved analyzing the 340 data layers included in the HSIP database to determine which layers could be distributed beyond the federal community to the state, local, tribal and other homeland security community partners.

The partnership’s technical evaluation determined approximately 190 current layers were license-free and consistent with federal, state, local and tribal government access and use constraints.

These layers have been posted on the HSIN GIS Community of Interest for access by all approved homeland security mission partners. They have the ability to download the consolidated HSIP Freedom data set to use in their state, local or tribal emergency preparedness or response efforts. Previously, these were not available until a declared emergency.

The second objective of HSIP Freedom is under way. Data gathered from across the country is being integrated and aligned into a seamless national data set. Seven layers of the Emergency Services Sector are presently being enhanced and then provided to the states.

The HSIP is improved by a reduced number of licensed data sets, thus reducing long-term costs and restrictions on data sharing and distribution. The states have benefited tremendously by receiving these improved data sets at no cost. Plans to continue this program include more layers being developed in cooperation with the states and could be expanded to include infrastructure sector partner information.

As authorities planned for the security of the Major League All Star game in St. Louis, federal, state and local authorities already had access to hundreds of layers of critical data including maps of critical infrastructure and vulnerabilities in various jurisdictions. The HSIP information was in place to enable better collaboration and cooperation between stakeholders. GEOINT provided that common operating picture, enabling many stakeholders to operate with the same baseline and operate far more effectively.

NGA is committed and dedicated to using the power of GEOINT to enable our federal, state, local and tribal partners to protect our homeland, our nation’s infrastructure and our citizens.

Ensuring the security of the US homeland requires collaboration between hundreds of local, state, federal and industry partners.

HSIP continues to improve as a critical resource for homeland security professionals, improving our capacity to prepare and respond to national and local crises. NGA is proud to contribute to the vital homeland security mission by working with our partners at every level, enabling them with the power of our GEOINT resources.

Liam O’Brien is Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Office of the Americas. For further information see www.nga.mil

68 www.americainfra.com

Recent activities of the NGA Olympic support NGA provided substantial support to the Olympic games in Athens, Greece in 2004 and Torino, Italy in 2006. A team of analysts was deployed to assist each event with force protection and security issues. NGA employed its geospatial knowledge to help officials create maps of the locations used for the events and surrounding infrastructure.

Hurricane response NGA supported recovery efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. It sent a team of analysts to the region to support the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and other first responders. NGA provided imagery from commercial and government satellites and from airborne platforms. It created the nga-earth.org website to show residents the extent of the damage and progress of the recovery efforts.

California wildfires In the fall of 2007, NGA provided over 150 geospatial intelligence products to FEMA to lend support in combating the California wildfires. It supplied damage assessments of major infrastructure in the area, assessments of areas still on fire and areas where the fire had been extinguished. This information was uploaded to the nga-earth.org website as a way for the public to see the damage without returning to the area. NGA greatly assisted firefighters and other first responders with relief efforts.

Safety of navigation NGA provides support to mariners through its NGA Maritime Watch Desk. In 2007, the NGA Maritime Watch Desk celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first radio broadcast of a navigational warning to ships at sea. The Maritime Watch Desk provides immediate 24/7 safety warnings through electronic messages regarding navigation safety hazards, such as obstructions in the water, shifting river channels, buoys off station, closure areas, and military exercises.

Midwest flooding In spring 2008, NGA partnered with FEMA to provide direct support to those affected by the Midwest floods. NGA used geospatial information and commercial imagery to determine the extent of the damage. It posted imagery and mapping products on the nga-earth.org website for residents and first responders to see the damage and watch recovery efforts.

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ASK THE EXPERT

Planning for success Brian Wegner explains how geospatial data is playing a leading role in infrastructure lifecycle planning.

A

lot has been said about the state of the country’s infrastructure: it’s old, it’s outdated and it’s overburdened. While these statements are true, stimulus funding offers a great opportunity to improve the integrity of these critical, interrelated systems. Currently, billions of dollars have already been released to state governments for infrastructure projects related to transportation, water, energy, and other key areas. Geospatial data will play an important role in these efforts, supporting a wide range of planning, design and maintenance activities.

“Combined with important developments in geographic information systems (GIS) technology, aerial mapping data are now considered essential tools for decision support”

Over the past decade, geospatial technology advances have significantly increased the range of mapping products available from airborne remote sensing. Combined with important developments in geographic information systems (GIS) technology, aerial mapping data are now considered essential tools for decision support. Fugro EarthData and its sister companies have helped pioneer many of these innovations, which contribute readily to the entire infrastructure lifecycle.

Direct-to-digital mapping for planning and management Combining digital airborne sensors with robust processing soft ware, direct-to-digital mapping delivers high-resolution image-based mapping products in a fraction of the time required using conventional fi lm-based meth-

ods. Fugro EarthData has used this approach to complete over a dozen statewide and more than 50 countywide mapping programs over the past seven years. These foundational datasets support utility site selection, transportation planning, construction feasibility and land-use planning, among other functions.

mated approach that greatly streamlines the production process. The success of this technique was recently demonstrated in Horry County, South Carolina. By mapping the impervious surfaces as well as vegetation and open terrain, the county was able to improve its storm water runoff modeling. Additional applications for infrastructure include site and route selection, permitting and construction logistics planning.

Panoramic mapping for visualization and management

Th is summer, Fugro EarthData unveiled its latest technology innovation: a high altitude, high-resolution panoramic mapping LiDAR mapping for planning and solution that provides comprehensive 3D design mapping from multiple viewing angles. The Airborne LiDAR mapping systems use the technology is truly one of a kind, with the ponear-infrared portion of the electro-magnetic tential to revolutionize aerial mapping. More spectrum to provide fast and accurate topocost-effective than existing camera systems, a graphic mapping. Fugro EarthData was an single panoramic mapping mission will meet early adopter of this technology, helping to a full range of user needs, from base mapping, design and build the first commercially availto oblique mapping, to terrain modeling and able LiDAR mapping system and completing feature extraction, to 3D visualizations. With the nation’s first-ever statewide LiDAR mapregard to infrastructure, the range of data apping project. Collected from a fi xed-wing plications is equally as vast, including urban aircraft , LiDAR data supports infrastructure planning, asset management, change detecplanning through efficient base mapping, tion, emergency preparedness and disaster urban modeling and floodplain mapping. Heresponse and recovery. licopter-borne LiDAR, as developed by sister Th is overview just scratches the surface company John Chance Land of available geospatial Surveys, provides highly technologies. Along with detailed corridor mapping airborne remote sensing, in support of transportation GPS-based land surveys design, asset management and satellite mapping serve and utility maintenance. a number of important functions, all of which will Thematic mapping be used to help renew the for problem solving infrastructure we now deBy cataloguing the scribe as old, outdated and spatial distribution of speoverburdened. In fact, state cific cultural and natural and federal government features, thematic mapping agencies are now using helps users answer imporweb-based mapping tools Brian Wegner is Senior tant questions related to to help track stimulusVice President of mapping infrastructure and environfunded projects. The State services at Fugro EarthData.

With more than 20 years of ment. Traditionally, these of Maryland’s StateStat service to the company, he has helped implement many projects were accomplished website (www.mdimap. of the technology innovations using manual photointercom/statestat2) is a simple detailed herein. He is a certified photogrammetrist and licensed pretation techniques. Two yet fitting example of geosurveyor and holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. years ago, Fugro EarthData spatial technology at work introduced a semi-autofor infrastructure.

70 www.americainfra.com

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

Whilst the US is making considerable progress in the wind energy sector, there are still lessons to be learnt from those across the pond.

The winds The rising price of energy, uncertainty over supply and concerns for the environment are driving the United States to rethink its energy policy and strive to develop more diverse sources of clean, renewable energy. The nation is working toward generating more energy from domestic sources and is looking towards wind energy in particular.

The United States has tremendous wind energy resources. California gave birth to the modern US wind industry in the 1970s, but as many as 16 other states have greater wind potential. This potential is not something that has gone unnoticed and in recent years there have been increased efforts to harness the benefits offered by wind.

In 2006 President Bush emphasized the nation’s need for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy portfolio. Then in 2008, the US Department of Energy released a report that examined the technical feasibility of harnessing wind power to provide up to 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity needs by 2030.

The topic of renewable energy has also been picked up by President Obama, who, in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences in April this year, said: “Energy is this generation’s great project. And that’s why I’ve set a goal for our nation that we will reduce our carbon pollution by more than 80 percent by 2050. My recovery plan provides the incentives to double our nation’s capacity to generate renewable energy over the next few years – extending the production tax credit, providing loan guarantees and offering grants to spur investment.”

The recognition that America needs to look to more renewable sources of energy has come not a moment too soon. In its Annual Energy Outlook 2007, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that US electricity demand will grow by 39 percent from 2005 to 2030, reaching 5.8 billion megawatt-hours (MWh) by 2030.

To meet 20 percent of that demand, US wind power capacity would have to reach more than 300 gigawatts (GW).

But luckily the US has both the potential and the capacity to plug this gap with wind energy and is already making vast improvements in this direction. The wind energy industry grew 29 percent between 2002 and 2007 and wind power is now one of the country’s largest sources of new power generation.

While European countries, especially Germany and Denmark, are leading the way, the US is not far behind and can benefit from the lessons to be learnt from its neighbors in Europe. With this in mind US Infrastructure spoke to Christian Kjaer, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association to fi nd out how the European Union is hoping to reach its tough renewable targets and the challenges it must overcome in order to do this.

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“We simply haven’t invested enough in our infrastructure for decades now and that needs to change if we want to make a dramatic change in the way we get our energy in the future”

The European Union has set a binding target of 20 percent of its energy supply to come from wind and other renewable sources by 2020.

In order to achieve this 20 percent energy target, more than one-third of the European electrical demand would have to come from renewables, with wind power expected to deliver 12-14 percent. So how realistic is this target? n Kjaer, believes that this is completely possible. “To reach the targets set out by the European union we would have to increase total wind power capacity in Europe by 9.5 gigawatts per year over the next 12 years. Given that we increased wind power capacity by 8.5 gigawatts last year, it’s not an ambitious aspiration,” he explains. It is quite clear that wind energy will take the lion’s share of the energy target that the European Union has set, but the target also calls for hydro resources and biomass to be fully utilized. “I would say it’s certainly achievable to reach 20 percent renewables although whether we meet the projections for biomass remains to be seen. It’s all down to how effectively the members are going to implement renewables – that’s the big question mark,” adds Kjaer.

While it is widely believed that the development of wind energy across Europe is limited by existing power infrastructure Kjaer believes that this is not a hugely limiting factor in regard to the physical grid.

“We do have some restrictions if we look at certain regions of Europe.

There are regions in Spain where you get 40-50 percent of the electricity coming from wind, so there are certainly limitations on how much you

REQUIRED GROWTH IN US CAPACITY (GW) TO IMPLEMENT THE 20% WIND SCENARIO

305

11.6 2006

2030

Source: AWEA

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can expand there unless you do something with the internal infrastructure of the grid itself,” he explains.

Challenges So, challenges do remain in terms of how the grid is operated. Kjaer believes that it is vital to start putting together plans that allow investors to invest in new infrastructure, as projects take an extended amount of time to get on track. “We certainly need to change operations and look at the way we operate our grid if we want to meet the 2020 renewable target. There is no question that the biggest challenge over the next 10 years is grid infrastructure. The grid is already a limiting factor because of course we don’t have electricity infrastructure offshore. We need to start planning to prevent this becoming a challenge in the future,” says Kjaer. “In short there are limitations, certainly offshore with the lack of grid, but we need to stop and put in place measures that concentrate on companies investing and building in the sector. There are some institutional problems with this, such as a lack of funding, but we simply haven’t invested enough in our infrastructure for decades now and that needs to change if we want to make a dramatic change in the way we get our energy in the future.”

While offshore wind is more expensive than onshore wind energy, due to the high costs of foundations and the grid that needs to be built offshore, offshore will always provide a larger wind resource. Kjaer hopes that as more economies of scale are introduced to the system and

wind turbines are mass-produced, offshore will be recognized for the stronger resource that it is. “The offshore market in Europe is more or less at the level that we were in 1992 and 1993 onshore, so we haven’t even come close to reaping the benefits and getting the cost reductions down in the same way as onshore in the last 20 years,” he says. “In order to do that we need economies of scale and that’s why it’s so important that you have some companies that are focusing very heavily on this, including in the UK, Germany and Norway, as well as France. But again offshore infrastructure is a much more imminent issue to solve compared to onshore because there aren’t any grids.”

Source: AWEA

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Kjaer goes on to explain that the benefit of improving offshore grids is that it is possible to build interconnections between countries that means it would be possible to improve the electricity and tracing of electricity over the borders of Europe, giving consumers the cheapest electricity possible. By planning infrastructure investment it will benefit in terms of maximizing the exchange between various member states as well as putting the infrastructure where there are off shore wind resources or weight power resources and improve the functioning of the internal electricity market while meeting targets for renewables.

“What we do in terms of offshore infrastructure is extremely important, and here we are in need of faster action than onshore in terms of new infrastructure. We need to figure out structures that allow us to make smart plans in how we build electricity infrastructure off shore at a bilateral or regional country level. It’s very much a similar challenge that we’re standing in front of as when we were building the oil and gas infrastructure. We would like for that planning to be a bit more international in nature, and a bit more co-ordinated among individual European countries than we saw with oil and gas because it makes sense in terms of electricity markets.”

There is no doubt that grid infrastructure is going to be the most important issue to work on in the next decade, along with the development of the power market and a much higher degree of interconnection between the European member states. While it will be possible to learn something from the onshore infrastructure for increasing offshore wind farms particularly around grid development, Kjaer believes that from an infrastructure perspective those in Europe have never much cared about what happens on the other side of the border, which means it may well be harder to do so this time around. “Don’t repeat what we’ve done onshore because there needs to be co-operation in terms of infrastructure planning,” advises Kjaer. “Let’s not repeat the nationalistic approach that we have taken on for the last 100 years of onshore when we planned grids. Instead it’s even more important that we cooperate as the benefits of offshore are that much higher.”

Power generation As Europe looks to expand both onshore and offshore wind generation capacity it becomes clear that wind alone cannot be responsible for all of our power generation because of variable nature power. So how exact a proportion of European energy can be realistically generated by wind? Kjaer believes it depends on how big an integrated power system it is possible to construct, so the amount of wind energy put into the system at a European level depends on how integrated the European grid system turns out to be. Of course the bigger the geographical area, the more fi rm power is generated from wind energy so there is a huge benefit in the geographical dispersion of wind energy. However, in order to get that geographical dispersion it means that the grid has to have the same sort of dimensions, which is why interconnections are so valuable, A more interconnected grid means that variability becomes irrelevant. “Th is is why we believe that the infrastructure is so important, and it’s not only about integrating wind energy but also about improving competition in the electricity market.”

Kjaer goes on to say that no-one is suggesting that wind energy should provide 100 percent of all European Union power, but rather

if it was well integrated and utilized it could have a large segment of the electricity market. “If we used the enormous hydro resources that we have in Norway or Sweden for example, which complements wind energy extremely well, I have no doubt that we can have a system based on 100 percent renewable electricity, be it biomass, wind, large hydro, small hydro or geothermal, but it requires a complete change in our way of thinking about operating systems and requires that we start utilizing that.”

Indeed, Kjaer believes that there are no technical barriers to wind energy producing 25-40 percent of Europe’s electricity. He highlights Denmark as having plans to use wind power alone to generate 50 percent of its electricity by 2020, and of course if that’s possible in a small geographical area like Denmark why shouldn’t it be possible Europe wide. “In reality there are no technical barriers to having half of Europe’s electricity supplied by wind energy, but that will be beyond 2020, when we expect to be on target and see between 14 and 19 percent of our energy coming from here. By 2030 I see wind energy will provide at least a quarter of our electricity and I think there’s still quite a long way to go in terms of increasing wind energies,” explains Kjaer.

IMPACT OF 20% ENERGY FROM WIND IN THE US

• Environment: Avoids air pollution and reduces GHG emissions; reduces electric sector CO2 emissions by 825 million metric tons annually • Water savings: Reduces cumulative water use in the electric sector by 8% (4 trillion gallons) • US energy security: Diversifies electricity portfolio and represents an indigenous energy source with stable prices not subject to fuel volatility • Energy consumers: Potentially reduces demand for fossil fuels, in turn reducing fuel prices and stabilizing electricity rates • Local economies: Creates new income source for rural landowners and tax revenues for local communities in wind development areas • American workers: Generates well-paying jobs in sectors that support wind development, such as manufacturing, engineering, construction, transportation and financial services; new manufacturing will cause significant growth in wind industry supply chain Source: AWEA

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OFFSHORE WIND MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN THE EU UP TO 2008 AND EWEA’S SCENARIOS UP TO 2030

OPERATIONAL OFFSHORE WIND FARMS IN EU

United Kingdom Belgium

12000

120000

10000

100000

8000

80000

6000

60000

4000

40000

2000

20000

Germany Ireland

ANNUAL

Finland

CUMULATIVE

Denmark

Netherlands Sweden

United Kingdom

39%

Denmark

28%

590.80 MW 409.15 MW

Netherlands

17%

246.80 MW

Sweden

9%

133.30 MW

Belgium

2%

30.00 MW

2000 2002

2004 2006 2008 2010 2020 2030

Annual installation Annual installation (Ref.scenario) Ireland

1%

25.20 MW

Finland

2%

24.00 MW

Cumulative installation

Germany

1%

12.00 MW

Cumulative installation (Ref.scenario)

Source: EWEA

Source: EWEA

Progress In terms of moving forward, Kjaer explains that the key projects currently underway in the European wind energy space are extremely interesting and that the sector is learning a great deal from these developments. He also points to Eastern Europe as an interesting area, with Romania, Bulgaria and Poland in particular getting serious about renewable energy. “The speed at which the conditions have been put in place to attract investors is great,” says Kjaer. “It’s interesting to see how these countries have approached the whole debate about the renewables directive, putting in place measures in terms of grid access and payment frameworks.”

So how does Kjaer envisage the wind energy space progressing in the future as Europe reaches its 2020 deadline? “It’s a truly interesting time,” replies Kjaer, “because we have come from a past in which we actually didn’t need more new electricity generating capacity. We actually had excess capacity until a few years ago, which is no longer the case because we are shutting down old power plants and have to build new ones. What the European Commission are saying is that between now and 2020 we have to build approximately 350,000 megawatts of new electricity generating capacity, which is equal to 50 percent of all capacity that’s currently running in the European Union.”

Kjaer explains that the most interesting element over the next 11

years will be seeing where that capacity will come from – where wind will be in relation to its main competitors in terms of new electricity generating capacity. “If we look at investments over the last 10 years, Europe has really been investing in wind power and gas, and I think it will be really interesting to see how wind energy compares in terms of cost with building a new gas fi red power plant,” he says. Kjaer sees three elements that are very much in wind energy’s favour. Firstly is that it is quicker to build a wind farm than a new coal or gas fi red power plant.

Second is the fact that from 2013 coal and gas power plants will have to pay for every ton of CO2 that is emitted. And third is that with a coal or gas fi red plant it is vital to take into account future fuel prices in order to understand the cost of operations. “One of the main benefits of wind power is that the cost of carbon and fuel prices will be zero over the next 20 years of operation, whereas you can’t guarantee that for coal and gas fi red plants, you just don’t know what fuel and carbon prices will be.

“The competition over the next 12 years will be who gets to build those 350,000 megawatts that we need in the European Union and it will be between coal, gas and wind energy and with the current outlook for fuel prices, wind energy looks like an increasingly attractive investment.”

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INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Playing it safe Shelton Stringer asks whether risk aversion is stifling innovation in project development.

T

he United States leads in technology innovation. However, risk aversion seems to be increasingly prevalent in today’s business culture. Is this aversion to risk suppressing innovations that could result in significant savings in project development?

Are we satisfied with the status quo? What are the costs of playing it safe with ‘tried and true’ technologies and methods? Project investors and owners stand to benefit the most from innovations and can best assume the risks innovation entails. However, some have the attitude ‘not on my project’ or ‘I am not going to be the guinea pig.’ But are the existing technologies that much safer? How can innovations that are perceived as unproven be assessed and compared to current methods? At what point is an innovation accepted as proven?

Engineering in its truest form is the art and science of using materials in an efficient fashion to serve an intended function in an acceptably safe manner. Inefficient designs use more material than needed to meet the intended function in an abundantly safe manner. Such designs are a waste of valuable resources.

For example, in the case of foundations for wind turbines, the commonly accepted ‘tried and true’ foundation is a ‘gravity spread’ footing that uses the weight of concrete to counter the overturning forces. This is a waste of concrete and steel, as there are other innovative designs that are smarter and which employ far less materials.

Engineered structures are presumed to be designed as ‘fail safe’. But what does ‘fail safe’ actually mean? As in all endeavours, engineered structures have some inherent risk, however small.

Through building codes and community-accepted practices we define safety and risk. Even ‘fail safe’ structures have some small, quantifiable, statistical risk of failure, either catastrophic (to be avoided) or performance (not functioning as intended). Risk due to performance failures can be managed if the intended function can be restored through corrective action. If the cost of the correction is small in comparison to the savings

78 www.americainfra.com

in using the innovation, accepting some risk of performance failure will save the project money.

Innovation in structural design begins with a fundamental understanding of the physical laws affecting a design and material properties, with the goal of crafting a structure to serve its intended purpose in a more efficient manner. Prototypes and in-

“Risk-aversion can be very costly for project development.

To play it safe is not the entrepreneurial spirit that built this great nation” strumentation can test new designs to assess their performance and make adjustments as needed.

Over time, this fine-tuning process leads to a reduction in risk through improved design.

Ultimately, this transition turns an ‘innovation’ into a widely accepted construction technique.

Implementing an innovative design on a commercial scale takes guts. The desire to avoid risk can result in innovation being suppressed by a lower tier of decision makers if they bear

the risks but do not receive the benefits. For instance, a contractor may reject an innovation that saves material costs if the contractor’s profit is based in part on mark-up of materials consumed for the project, or if they would bear the cost for anything going wrong.

The stakeholder is the appropriate person to decide when to use an innovation, even for something as rudimentary as foundations. An astute stakeholder will compare the risk associated with a new design against the benefit to be gained and make an informed business decision whether to use the innovation or not. Such risk assessment should include identifying what could go wrong, its likelihood, how to mitigate that risk, the costs of restoring functionality if something does go wrong, and comparing those risks to the benefit gained.

One who merely plays it safe avoids both the risk of the unknown and the benefit of innovation.

Such risk aversion can be very costly for project development. To play it safe is not the entrepreneurial spirit that built this great nation.

Shelton Stringer is President of Earth Systems Global, Inc. He is a licensed geotechnical engineer, professional geologist, and engineering geologist in the state of California and professional civil engineer licensed in several states.

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ASK THE EXPERT

P

ower production from wind energy is a widely implemented technology. The risks in wind energy projects are complex and comprehensive and, in part due to the rapid growth of the industry, are more typical of less mature industries. Th is is particularly true for risks associated with technology, project performance, future operating costs, infrastructure, frame conditions and acceptance criteria.

Large wind farm projects require large initial fi nancial investments and typically involve use of evolving analysis tools and technology with limited operational experience. Th is results in higher uncertainties in the return on investment relative to more mature technologies. Technical and commercial decisions made during the development stage have large future fi nancial implications affecting multiple key stakeholders. As the size of projects increases, the consequences of possible suboptimal early-stage decisions also increases, i.e. the risk exposure becomes larger.

In this environment managing risk throughout the project life cycle becomes imperative for all stakeholders. These risks are typically managed through one or more of the following techniques: Technical Due Diligence, Project Risk Management, Equipment Certification and

Project Certification. These services, combined is frequently not the case and project specific with appropriate risk identification and mitigaestimates are needed to reduce uncertainty in tion tools, can effectively manage wind energy energy estimates and associated project risks. project risks throughout the project lifecycle.

Many projects suffer from lower availOperational data indicate that the perability and higher component failure rates formance of many projects than expected. These problems differs significantly from prefrequently stem from a comconstruction energy estimates. bination of design and manuThe most common reasons facturing defects, although for these differences are inadinadequate maintenance pracequate on-site wind resource tices also contribute. These measurements and erroneous risks can be managed from the estimation of the losses that inception of the project by carewill occur on a project. fully wording the turbine warAn adequate wind ranty agreements, verifying measurement program will the suitability of the turbines characterize the influence of for the site, providing thirdthe terrain and vegetation on party verification of the design Robert Poore is Head of Department for DNV the site winds, information and manufacturing quality Global Energy Concepts. that is essential for accurately assurance program, inspectHe has more than 30 years’ experience in modeling the wind. Insufing turbines before warranty the design, testing and analysis of wind energy ficient consideration of losses coverage expires, and selecting systems. In 1999, he is often due to inappropriate appropriate service providers received the AWEA award for technical excellence assumptions, such as assumand third-party oversight of and in 2004, he served as Chair for Global ing that the percentage energy project operations.

WINDPOWER 2004. He is loss due to turbine downtime Consistent risk managecurrently the co-chair of the AWEA’s Research and will be the same as the downment is increasingly recognized Development committee. time percentage. Data from as a key element in good corpomany projects show that this rate governance. Consequently, DNV has developed a multi-user WEB application, EasyRisk Manager, to register, track and follow-up on all risks, actions and incidents that could influence business performance, thereby efficiently supporting management decisionmaking processes.

Well-defi ned operations and management strategies for wind farm projects are critical to ensure the fi nancial viability for a wind farm Robert Poore on wind energy investment. DNV has developed industry project risks and their mitigation. standard dedicated life-cycle performance simulation soft ware (MAROS/TAROS) for modelsing the effect of different maintenance strategies on the revenue, availability, accessibility and cost of a project.

These unique tools combined with deep technical knowledge of wind resources, turbine technology, and wind energy operations and maintenance allow DNV to help clients manage wind energy risks throughout the project lifecycle. With these tools and services, DNV develops and maintains project- or customer-specific risk registers and provides relevant risk mitigation and control services. „

RISKY BUSINESS

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TRANSMISSION

GRID LOCK? As California attempts to meet its renewable energy targets, transmission infrastructure remains the greatest obstacle. We ask what the Golden State is doing to overcome this challenge.

C

alifornia is the most populous state in the US and its total energy demand is second only to Texas. Therefore, California imports more electricity than any other state. However, the Golden State is rich in conventional energy resources and leads the nation in electricity generation from non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources, including geothermal power, wind power, fuel wood, landfi ll gas and solar power. Meanwhile, the state’s hydroelectric power potential ranks second in the nation behind Washington State.

The generation of clean energy may well be getting easier, but moving it to market is not, and renewable energy projects are suffering due to the grid’s limitations. Dreams of replacing all fossil fuels in the near future are coming up against the reality of a power grid that cannot handle the new demands.

If President Obama’s vision of renewable generation is to be a success, greater investment in transmission infrastructure will be required. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has identified transmission limitations as the greatest obstacle to realizing the enormous economic, environmental and energy security benefits of obtaining at least 20 percent of electricity from wind power.

According to a joint publication by the American Wind Energy Association, and the Solar Energy Industries Association there are currently almost 300,000 MW of wind projects, more than enough to meet 20 percent of the nation’s electricity needs, that are waiting in line to connect to the grid because there is inadequate transmission capacity. In California alone, more than 13,000 MW of large solar power plants are waiting to connect to the grid. US Infrastructure spoke to Susanne Garfield-Jones of the California Energy Commission to fi nd out how California intends

to overcome the challenge of inadequate transmission infrastructure in order to meet its renewable energy targets.

The lack of transmission infrastructure to access remote renewable energy resources is the most critical barrier to California meeting its renewable energy targets of 33 percent by 2020. What is the state of California doing to improve its transmission infrastructure?

Susanne Garfield-Jones. Executive Order S-14-08, signed by California Governor Schwarzenegger on November 17, 2008, establishes a Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) target for California that directs all retail sellers of electricity to serve 33 percent of their load with renewable energy by 2020. The order directs state government agencies “to take all appropriate actions to implement this target in all regulatory proceedings, including siting, permitting and procurement for renewable energy power plants and transmission lines.” The Executive Order and associated memoranda of understanding by and among several state and federal agencies established a joint state-federal Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT).

The REAT’s primary mission is to streamline and expedite the permitting processes for renewable energy projects, while conserving endangered species and natural communities at the ecosystem scale. The Executive Order recognizes the major role of the California Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) in achieving the RPS target. The Executive Order directs the California Energy Commission and requests the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Independent System Operator (California

“In California alone, more than 13,000 MW of large solar power plants are waiting to connect to the grid”

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CALIFORNIA'S RENEWABLE ENERGY BREAKDOWN ISO), to work with RETI stakeholders to develop a product that identifies top priority renewable energy zones that can be developed reliably, cost-effectively and with least environmental impact.

RETI is a statewide initiative formed in September 2007 to help identify the transmission projects needed to accommodate California’s renewable energy goals, support future energy policy and facilitate transmission corridor designation, and transmission and generation siting and permitting. RETI is an open and transparent collaborative process in which all interested parties are encouraged to participate. It is assessing all of the competitive renewable energy zones in California that can provide significant electricity to California’s consumers by the year 2020. It is also identifying those zones that can be developed in the most cost-effective and environmentally benign manner, and will prepare detailed transmission plans for those zones.

18.21 Nuclear =

18.2% 45.74 Natural Gas =

14.44 Nuclear =

45.7%

14.4% 11 Large Hydro =

11.0%

10.61 Renewable =

10.6%

2.39 Wind =

22.5% 4.46 Geothermal =

The lack of timely permitting of transmission for renewables in California has long been a concern.

What advances have been made to tackle this problem?

SGJ. To allow the timely permitting of transmission for renewables, the state must ensure the establishment of the critical link between transmission planning and

RETI WORK IS ORGANIZED INTO THREE PHASES Phase 1: Identification, characterization and ranking of Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) specified for solar, wind, geothermal or biomass energy facilities in California and neighboring regions.

Phase 2: Development of a statewide conceptual transmission plan to access priority CREZ, based on more detailed analysis of CREZ. Phase 3: Development of detailed plans of service for priority components of the statewide transmission plan.

The final Phase 1B report with the CREZ rankings was completed in January 2009. The initial Phase 2 report was completed in August 2009. Particulars about RETI Phase 3 have not been determined and will ultimately be influenced by how the California ISO and electric utilities respond to RETI stakeholder efforts to this point.

For more information on RETI, please see the following website: http://www.energy.ca.gov/reti/index.html

42.0%

0.24 Solar =

2.3%

2.08 Biomass =

19.6% 1.44 Small Hydro =

13.6%

transmission permitting decisions.

Making this link will ensure that needed projects are planned for, have corridors set aside as necessary and are permitted in a timely and effective manner that maximizes existing infrastructure and rightsof-way, minimizes land use and environmental impacts and considers technological advances.

Th is issue is being addressed in two forums. As part of its biennial Integrated Energy Policy Report proceeding, the Energy Commission develops a Strategic Transmission Investment Plan. In recognition of the importance of coordinated statewide planning as a prerequisite for timely, effective permitting, the Energy Commission held two workshops on this topic as part of its 2009 Strategic Transmission Investment Plan proceeding. The Energy Commission will formulate recommendations based on the workshop record in its 2009 Strategic Transmission Investment Plan, released in

draft form by October 1, 2009.

The CPUC, which has jurisdiction over transmission permitting for investor-owned utility projects, has opened an investigation into the barriers to transmission for renewables.

Cost allocation issues also pose a significant barrier to developing transmission infrastructure. How is this issue being addressed in California?

SGJ. Cost allocation for in-state projects within the California ISO territory is not a barrier, as transmission costs are spread among all users of the California ISO-controlled grid through a transmission access charge.

Publicly owned utilities (POUs) in California allocate costs among their own customers.

Cost allocation may be a barrier for interstate transmission projects for accessing renewable generation. There is potential federal legislation that would establish new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority for siting and cost allocation that would address this issue.

What are the main regulatory barriers to new transmission and how can they be overcome?

SGJ. Major regulatory barriers include the lack of coordinated statewide transmission planning and fragmented transmission permitting jurisdiction. This has made it difficult to site and permit transmission to interconnect remote renewable resources in a timely fashion.

The state should ensure the development of a coordinated statewide planning process that is open to all stakeholders and will lead to the

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development of needed facilities, including joint investor-owned utility (IOU)/POU projects. Such a planning process needs to build on the RETI stakeholder-driven process to ensure environmentally acceptable projects are identified that help the state achieve its RPS goals.

In California, projects proposed individually by investor-owned utilities, publicly owned utilities or third parties are within the jurisdiction of different permitting agencies. Th is is seen as a barrier to the development of joint transmission projects that may be in the best interest of the state of California in the furtherance of its policy objectives.

A solution could be the consolidation of transmission permitting authority within one agency, regardless of project proponent. Linking coordinated transmission planning with consolidated permitting authority would result in the timely permitting of appropriate transmission projects that are both environmentally acceptable and economically efficient.

Construction of renewable energy facilities and transmission lines may offer significant environmental benefits, but any new construction risks facing public opposition for aesthetic, economic or environmental reasons. What have been the main challenges that California has faced in its mission to achieve its renewable portfolio standard?

SGJ. The main challenge to the development of transmission to access renewable energy continues to be the public opposition. Th is challenge is being addressed by RETI using a collaborative stakeholder-driven planning model whose goal is to balance land use and environmental concerns with electric transmission needs.

“The main challenge to the development of transmission to access renewable energy continues to be the public opposition” The planning results from the RETI process should facilitate the permitting of appropriate transmission facilities to meet the RPS goals by resolving contentious environmental issues early in the process.

If California were to benefit from upgraded and modernized transmission infrastructure what could it potentially achieve in terms of energy generation from renewables?

SGJ. The recent RETI Phase 2A report identified 102 transmission line segments that can deliver 160 percent of the estimated renewable ‘net short’ for a 33 percent RPS by the 2020 target. The net short calculation takes into consideration 33 percent of load-serving entity sales minus the contribution from existing renewables. Th is 160 percent of net short equates to 95,536 gigawatt-hours of renewable generation. A total of 36 CREZs were identified by RETI with at least one transmission line segment accessing renewable generation from each CREZ. It should be noted that there is considerably more renewable generation that can be developed in the CREZs than the 160 percent of the estimated renewable net short identified by RETI.

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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Despite a tough year, the future is bright for green energy, says Mike Eckhart.

T

he outlook for the renewable energy market in the United States remains positive, despite lagging levels of new investment in 2009 compared to the boom years of 2007 and 2008.

Particularly, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 contains a number of provisions widely expected to stimulate investment and contribute to a major scale-up of the industry in the US, beginning anew in 2010.

Investment in renewable energy relies on two primary factors: the availability of capital to fi nance projects – which have high upfront costs – and commodity prices of electricity and fossil fuels. Th roughout late 2007 and the fi rst half of 2008, commodity prices were high, giving renewable energy projects comparatively high returns, and money flowed into the sector, especially where state governments provided incentives.

After the fi nancial market crisis of late 2008 and early 2009, however, commodity prices declined. Simultaneously, the credit market became constrained as lenders sought to increase earnings and reduce and avoid risk.

As a result, renewable energy investment in the fi rst half of 2009 dropped substantially compared to the fi rst half of 2008. Th is inability to fi nance renewable energy projects and companies can have serious consequences for continued growth of the industry and the economy in general.

“Th is year, the rate of renewable energy installations has fallen by about half, largely due to an inability to secure fi nancing,” says Sanjay

Wagle, a Renewable Energy Advisor at the Department of Energy. “In addition to lost construction jobs, renewables manufacturers too are suffering a sudden loss in demand for their products.”

Federal leadership and agenda-setting Recognizing the potential for renewable energy to jump-start the economy – in addition to mitigating the effects of climate change – President Obama called for a doubling of renewable energy in three years.

“To fi nally spark the creation of a clean-energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years,” said then-President-elect Obama in his January 2009 speech. “In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings, and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.”

President Obama made renewable energy a key aspect of his legislative agenda – giving hope to the industry despite the harsh investment environment. In addition to proposals for a renewable electricity standard and a cap-and-trade system, President Obama incorporated renewable energy as a major feature of ARRA, which became law in February 2009.

2010 and beyond Renewable energy investment in the third quarter of 2009 is showing signs of resurgence. As of mid-September, third quarter venture

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capital and private equity investment has far surpassed second quarter investment levels, suggesting that the market is recovering.

Experts predict that although 2009 investment levels will continue to rise, they will still be below 2008 levels. In 2010, however, ACORE anticipates that the industry will experience strong growth, continuing in the years to come, as long as long-term policy frameworks – including capand-trade, a national Renewable Energy Standard, and a federal financing authority – are implemented. Provisions in current proposed legislation in both the House and Senate would establish all three of these long-term policy frameworks.

One of the most influential policies to promote long-term growth in the sector is the proposed Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA), or Green Bank, that would provide affordable financing for the accelerated deployment of clean energy, energy infrastructure and manufacturing technologies. Current proposals in Congress would allocate up to $10 billion for the creation of an independent government corporation that could provide loans, loan guarantees and other financing for clean energy technologies.

Combined with the Recovery Act provisions – which will successfully bolster short-term growth in the industry, these policies are necessary to ensure long-term growth and investment in the US renewable energy sector.

However, there is already debate in the Administration and in Congress about why the federal government (hence, the taxpayers) should continue to have a direct role in renewable energy fi nancing. They are asking: “Can’t the private sector do this without government being involved?”

The answer is in the magnitude of the capital needed to achieve two percent renewable energy by 2020. According to the Hudson Clean Energy Partners, the US will need $350 billion to $500 billion of project fi nance to achieve the goal, or about $30 billion per year. The highest level of investment was less than $20 billion in 2008.

Some experts believe the federal government will be needed to help establish a stable policy environment to attract the $30 billion per year in private capital, and it might be needed to help fi nance the new technologies as they come with the market.

The US Senate will be taking up the energy and climate legislation this fall. The schedule recently slipped because of the healthcare debate and the urgency of passing re-regulation of the fi nancial sector, but we remain optimistic that the energy and climate bill will be passed this year or next, giving us a national Renewable Electricity Standard and a CEDA/Green Bank initiative. If so, renewable energy will get back on a rapid growth path and stay on it through at least 2020.

Mike Eckhart is Executive Director for the American Council on Renewable Energy.

A helping hand To mitigate the high cost of financing renewable energy projects, ARRA created and enhanced a number of mechanisms to finance projects and boost markets.

CASH GRANT IN-LIEU OF INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT To help eliminate the challenges associated with tax credit financing, ARRA offers eligible projects the option of receiving a cash grant instead of the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit.

The cash grant offers immediate funding for renewable energy projects placed in service before 2011 and is intended to address the lack of readily available project finance during the recession.

“This new program directly addresses the problem, by turning existing tax credits for renewable energy projects into upfront capital, enabling companies and firms to secure financing and begin construction again,” says Sanjay Wagle.

The Department of Energy expects the grant program to support the construction of up to 5000 renewable energy projects, supported by over $3 billion in cash grants.

According to Wagle, “the $3 billion in grants could enable between $10-14 billion of capital investment in projects that would not be financed without this program – projects that are ready to be built but are waiting to close financing and start construction.”

SECTION 1705 LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM In addition, ARRA expanded the Loan Guarantee Program, which was originally established under Title XVII of the Energy

Policy Act of 2005 to help pre-commercial energy technologies bridge the ‘Valley of Death’ between technology development and the commercialization.

The Recovery Act creates the Section 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, intended to facilitate rapid deployment of renewable energy and transmission projects by strengthening investor confidence in the ability of borrowers to repay loans. Section 1705 aims to promote commercially-ready technologies, whereas 1703 was established to advance pre-commercial, cutting edge technologies.

In late July, the DOE released two funding solicitations for the Loan Guarantee program which are expected to provide up to $30 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy and transmission infrastructure projects by the end of 2011.

MANUFACTURING TAX CREDIT On August 13, the Department of Energy released guidelines for the implementation of another Recovery Act program—the Qualified Advanced Energy Project (QAEP) tax credit for renewable energy manufacturers. ARRA included $2.3 billion in tax credits for companies that “re-equip, expand, or establish” facilities that manufacture renewable energy property.

Intended to increase both energy independence and economic development, the credit provides up to 30 percent of the cost of investment in qualifying facilities.

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ASK THE EXPERT

Round coils with a cruciform core provide superior resistance to radial forces to which the transformer is subjected during faults and severe duty cycles.

The improved cooling available with the round coil construction also helps dissipate short circuit thermal effects after the fault has cleared and the transformer resumes normal loading. The improved cooling is possible because, unlike wound cores, cruciform cores in conjunction with specially designed upper and lower pressure plates allow the cooling fluid to flow throughout the coils, thereby substantially reducing hot spots in the insulation system, which in turn leads to longer transformer life expectancy.

Powerful choices Mike Dickinson explains the importance of choosing the

correct coils for transformers.

W

hen purchasing a transformer, several factors must be evaluated carefully to ensure that the correct choice is made. One question that is frequently asked by those investing in this technology is whether it is best to opt for round, rectangular or disc wound coils. There is however no simple answer to this question other than “it depends”.

The reason rectangular and elliptical coils have been around for so long is that they work for certain standard applications and their construction favors high volume manufacturing processes.

If your need is truly for a standard distribution transformer subjected only to limited available fault currents, equipped with fusing or protection devices, subject to stable loading with little variation, or is a small-to mediumsized transformer with star connected primary and secondary windings, then rectangular windings might work for you.

If on the other hand, your application is more ‘exposed’ to higher levels of fault cur-

rents, repeated events – or high current requirements with lower designed impedances, like motor starting – the answer is yes you should buy a layer-wound, round coil design and preferably one with robust bracing incorporating heavy duty pressure plates to add axial stability to counteract the strong physical forces experienced during faults.

Mike Dickinson is the Director of New Business Development for Pacific Crest Transformers. He has 37 years’ experience in transformers, including design, manufacturing, training, testing, marketing, and sales of distribution, small power, and high voltage CTs, PTs, and CVTs up to 230 kV.

Unlike wound cores, as are typically used with rectangular or elliptical coils, round coils allow for the utilization of miter cut, cruciform cores. Cruciform cores are comprised of multiple width laminations which, when assembled, present a round cross-section and largely fi ll the core window in the round coils.

“The reason rectangular and elliptical coils have been around for so long is that they work for certain standard applications and their construction favors high volume manufacturing processes” If your purchases include larger transformers, 10 MVA and above, or higher BIL levels, 350 kV BIL and above, you should also consider buying disc-wound, round coils. The disc-wound design and construction gives all the benefits of layer wound round coils with miter cut cruciform cores and even more mechanical strength and transient fault withstand capability.

Furthermore, the disc construction minimizes electrical stresses within the coil caused by switching surges, lightning strikes and voltage disturbances frequently found in the network at higher voltage levels and seen by larger transformers.

It is our recommendation that for most substation applications, for essentially all station transformer applications, and for those high-risk distribution transformer applications, you should buy wisely and purchase the round coil design for lower total cost of ownership.

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SUSTAINABLILITY

Flying solo Energy independence programs can boost the economy and save energy, says Steve Lehtonen.

G

reenPlumbers USA has a mission of training and equipping plumbers to be ‘Champions of Conservation’. Unfortunately, no matter how many plumbers we train in water and energy efficient practices, those new champions of conservation need jobs to practice their trade.

We’re in a bit of a pickle here. Homeowners and businesses want to save water and energy. Contractors want to help those homeowners and businesses save water and energy, and the government wants effective environmental action. But so far, the stimulus is not performing up to expectations.

In California and a few other locations, though, a new idea has taken hold and is gathering steam. Energy Independence Programs (EIP) are an exciting, practical way for businesses and homeowners to retrofit their buildings and save energy, and money. The EIP idea came out of legislation (Assembly Bill 811) signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on July 21, 2008. Basically, the law authorizes a city or county and property owners to enter into fi nancing agreements for renewable energy and/or energy efficiency improvements that are permanently fi xed to residential, commercial, industrial or other real property.

Property owners can apply to the county for a loan up to any amount (the average in Sonoma County is about $35,000) for solar PV, solar thermal, EE windows, doors, and other renewable energy or energy efficient installations. The county reduces the loan

amount by any qualifying rebate or incentive, and the balance is financed on the property owner’s tax bill for a period of ten to 20 years.

The property owner has a higher tax bill, but also has the advantage of reduced energy and water costs, plus a more saleable property.

Sonoma County is still in the early stages of the program, but the numbers are very impressive. The EIP is creating jobs for contractors, savings for customers, and reducing the carbon footprint of the area. As of August 14, the Sonoma County program (www. sonomacountyenergy.org) had received 461 applications totaling $16,224,183. Overall, the County has a commitment for $100 million in funding and the dollars will roll over to new projects as property owners make payments.

A similar program in Palm Desert is smaller in scope (less than $10 million) but has a waiting list of more than 200 names. Pretty impressive in an economy where there is no spending going on at any income level.

Two of the criticisms of the ARRA stimulus package are that it is very slow out of the gate and there is serious doubt whether real jobs will be created. The EIP programs, on the other hand, create immediate jobs that mandate renewable energy or energy efficiency. The stimulus funds will hopefully create jobs, but the money that returns through job creation and taxes will be more difficult to quantify.

So far, cities and counties are fi nancing the EIP programs through banks such as Wells Fargo – but the government should take a look at making some stimulus funds available for fi nancing EIPs. In fact, banks that have received TARP funds should be mandated to become involved in EIP fi nancing.

The next great revolution in this country will be the retrofit of public buildings, commercial establishments and homes. Energy Independence Programs will speed up the process, as property owners see the savings in energy upgrades and the value that their community places on sustainability. EIPs will also create a demand for a better trained workforce, because the statistics that will be available from these early programs will show that qualified contractors, using the most efficient products, installed by trained workers, will generate the most savings.

Our workforce will require green training at an unprecedented level, as newer, better technologies are introduced into the marketplace each year. GreenPlumbers USA is prepared to train the plumbing industry in these new energy and water efficient technologies.

Imagine the jobs that could be created if every city in the country began an Energy Independence Program. Then imagine the amount of energy and water that could be saved.

Steve Lehtonen is Managing Director of GreenPlumbers USA

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ROAD TOLLS_4August 23/09/2009 10:26 Page 92

HIGHWAYS

TOLL

STORY

As the United States struggles to revive its ailing surface transportation network Stacey Sheppard asks what the future holds for America’s interstate highway system.

T

he nation’s vast surface transportation network is in a very poor state indeed. The 2009 Infrastructure Report Card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded America’s roads a D-, denoting a less than poor condition. Crumbling and overstressed highways are the victims of consistent funding shortfalls and the need to rebuild and modernize the 50-year old highway system becomes more acute with every year that passes.

Construction, operation and maintenance of the 160,000 miles of roadway that makes up the National Highway System (NHS) has traditionally been financed by the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which was established by the Highway Revenue Act of 1956. This Act authorized that revenues from certain highway-user taxes could be credited to the HTF to finance the highway program.

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Historically a combination of gas tax, diesel tax, and tire tax has been used to achieve the funding needs. However back in 2006, Jack Basso, Director of Management and Business Development at the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO), gave a presentation entitled The Future of the Highway Trust Fund in which he stated that the HTF was running out of money and that there would be a deficit as early as 2009. Sure enough in 2008, Congress had to rescue the fund with an $8 billion cash injection and the future remains bleak.

A major cause of the shortfall in the HTF is the decline in revenues generated by federal and state gas taxes. According to Greg Cohen, President and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance, one of the main problems with the gas tax is the fact that it is too low. “The gas tax is not indexed to inflation so it has been at a flat 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. Many years have passed and as inflation has increased along with the cost of materials and con-

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struction, the gas tax has been unable to keep up with the need. Our view would be that if you were to index the gas tax to inflation as well as to fuel efficiency in vehicles, gas tax should go up.”

Something that is serving to further exacerbate the decline in gas tax revenue is the economic situation coupled with the nation’s drive to become less dependent on fossil fuels. As the economy has slowed down, so has mileage driven and improved technology has resulted in more fuel-efficient vehicles, which means that gas tax revenues are now fairly stagnant.

The resulting funding shortfall has spurred much debate as to how the US is going to find alternative sources of revenue to plug this gap. In July this year, Jack Basso gave a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives' Annual Convention entitled The Future of Infrastructure in which he stated that the gas tax remains viable for 20 years, but that it would need to be increased by five to eight cents per year over the next five years, after which it should be indexed to inflation. He also recommended that, in the long-term, alternatives to the gas tax need to be implemented by 2025.

expert on transportation policy, sees how some people could view it in this way.

“You could argue that you’ve already made the investment and you have paid for it with your gas taxes. But at the same time you could argue that all those payments have already fully depreciated because the interstate highway system was largely completed in the early 1980s,” he says.

Replogle points out that many opponents of tolling – especially truckers – argue that tolls are double taxation and that this is the result of state DOTs and road builders telling a story for half a century that gas taxes pay for the roads. But he is quick to add that this story is not entirely true and that a lot of general tax revenue has been used in the past to support local roads and broader transportation system costs.

Others believe that the idea of tolling being a double taxation is entirely unfounded. “The issue of double taxation is a total straw man,” says Frankel.

“It is true that federal gas taxes or state bonding have paid for the construction of interstate highways, but if a road has to be completely rebuilt and restored or expanded or replaced, nobody has paid for that.”

Truth be tolled What these alternatives should be is the main point of discussion and mainly revolves around the introduction of market mechanisms. Michael Replogle, Global Policy Director at the Institute for Transport and Development Policy, sees paying for road use as a possible solution. “Tolls are likely to play a growing role both for finance and operational management of highways in the US. This is appropriate and polls show that the public often sees tolling as a fairer way to pay for highways than gas taxes,” says Replogle. “Many environmental and transportation advocates agree that new road capacity should be priced and managed and that it is time to begin a phased transition to time-distance-place road user charges.”

Cohen agrees that toll roads will play an important part in bridging the funding gap. “At the moment, toll roads are really the only way that we could build new major roads in America.

There simply is not enough funding through the gas tax to build major toll-free roads the way there used to be,” he says.

Director of Transportation Policy at the Bipartisan Center, Emil Frankel, is a strong advocate of user-fees and believes that what is needed is a shift to more directly user-related fees as a way of stimulating improved performance in the system. “There is currently a prohibition against tolling of the interstate highway system. I strongly advocate that this prohibition be removed so that states and metropolitan regions could impose tolls,” he says.

“I believe that the federal government should be permissive so that if states and localities want to make greater use of tolls and user-related fees, they should be allowed to do so.”

One of the main concerns with tolling the highway system seems to revolve around whether tolls should be used purely for new construction or whether they can also be placed on existing free federal highways that have been built with federal funding.

The concerns of the Highway Users Alliance are understandably more user related. Greg Cohen says: “ Our group and others are very concerned about slapping tolls on existing roads that were paid for with taxes. The problem here is that both citizens who’ve made their housing and work decisions and companies that have their logistics operation based on existing roads would be completely held hostage to a plan to put tolls on those roads.”

Despite the concerns regarding the tolling of the highway system most observers are in agreement that new sources of revenue will be needed, whether this comes from tolling or other means of monetizing the system.

Earlier this year the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Committee published a report in which it detailed its recommendations for a move away from motor fuel taxes and towards a more direct federal mileagebased taxation.

Highway robbery?

Pay-as-you-go

Tolling existing federal highways has been seen as a band-aid solution by many opponents who claim that this strategy is merely a double taxation of the same asset. Ronald Utt, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and

Robert Puentes, a senior fellow and Director of the Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative at the Brookings Institution, believes that a Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) tax is more a long-term solution due to the techno-

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US retail gasoline prices are among the cheapest in the world Norway United Kingdom France Brazil Japan Australia Singapore Canada China United States Syria Egypt Saudi Arabia 0

1

2

94 www.americainfra.com

4

5

6

7

8

Source: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

Highway account balance 12

10

8

6

4

Value for money

FY 2006 FY 2007

2

FY 2008 FY 2009

0 Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Ending balance for FY 2008 includes $8017 billion transferred from the General Fund in September 2008 pursuant to public law 110-318

Source: Federal Highway Administration

Decline in purchasing power of motor fuel taxes (Based on inflation since 1993) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

04 20

20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 20 13 20 14 20 15

01 20

20 02 20 03

97 19

19 98 19 99 20 00

94 19

19 95 19 96

0 19 93

Percentage

“Value pricing” has been suggested as an alternative method of generating the much needed revenue for the highway system. The introduction of High Occupancy and Toll (HOT) lanes, which are free to transit and ride-sharers, but also to solo drivers for a variable toll based on current congestion levels in the HOT lanes, has gained a lot of support.

Cohen highlights the fact that the conversion of under-utilized High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes has the potential to be a great success in the US. He believes that under-used HOV lanes could operate more effectively through the addition of non-high occupancy vehicles that pay a toll.

Many observers see the expansion in the use of HOT lanes as a path to the introduction of “congestion pricing”. Replogle says: “HOT lanes are a reasonable way to introduce congestion charging strategies into regional travel markets to demonstrate the concept. But HOT lanes are not effective as a long term strategy.” He goes on to explain that congestion charging makes a great deal of sense and enables corridor operators to manage demand to prevent the routine loss of up to half of road

3

Price per gallon (US Dollars) 2006

Billions of US Dollars

logical issues involved in imposing such a system.

However he does see benefits in such a system including a better allocation of revenues, costs and resources.

For Ronald Utt however, a mileage tax simply mimics a gas tax. But whereas the fuel tax is inexpensive to collect as this is done at the wholesale level and then simply passed on, he points out that if a mileage tax were introduced the fees would need to be collected from individuals and the administrative complexity and the cost of this would be substantial.

The idea of a VMT tax certainly doesn’t appear to be quite as controversial as that of imposing tolls on existing free federal highways however. Cohen is of the opinion that a VMT tax would gain greater support from the American public than the imposition of tolls. This is because everyone would be subject to these user fees and not just people who live near certain major roads so the system of VMT is in fact fairer.

However a mileage tax will also encounter problems as Cohen explains: “Of course here we have great concerns about privacy and whether or not the government is following you around. Sometimes those concerns are not rational but I think that pilot testing those approaches in limited areas to gage public acceptance and to make sure that privacy concerns are taken care of is a prerequisite.”

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throughput capacity that occurs during peak demand when traffic is in stopand-go conditions. “Experience from around the world, from places like London, Stockholm and Milan, shows that the public will accept the tolling of previously free roads if they see they are getting a better performance and expanded travel options,” says Replogle.

On the flip side of the coin, there are many people who believe that implementing congestion charging in the US, similar to that in London for example, would not be successful. “I don’t think congestion pricing will work here except potentially in New York, San Francisco and possibly Washington DC, because I just don’t think that businesses would stay within an area that is tolled,” says Cohen. “Here there are so many different cities competing for business that if a medium-sized city was to impose a cordon price around its downtown area it’s very likely that the businesses would simply move outside the cordon area or to a different city that doesn’t have the pricing structure.”

For Ron Utt, the congestion charging system in cities like London is less than desirable. “The London congestion is extremely high for what you’re getting and there is no other option.” He sees this option as far more discriminatory than the use of HOT lanes for example. At least with HOT lanes highway users have access to a free option as long as they are willing to accept a lower quality service in terms of speed and congestion levels.

Whichever option is adopted to increase funding for the modernization of the highway system, the question remains as to how the implementation will be funded. Increasingly cash-strapped states are considering public-private partnerships as a means of generating the needed finances.

Robert Puentes believes this is a viable solution to the funding shortfall, but at the same time he is of the opinion that it is a lot to lay at the feet of the private sector and that by no means should the private sector be called upon to play the primary role in filling the funding gap.

The same is true for Replogle who believes that the P3 approach can be a valuable tool to help finance, develop, operate and foster innovation in transportation systems. But at the same time he says that they can be used to do both good and bad things. “They should not be used simply to deal with public entity cash-flow problems. They should instead be considered for improv-

ing operation of existing roads, transit systems, parking, bicycle and pedestrian systems and overall system management infrastructure,” he explains. “If P3s are used simply to build more roads faster or to cash-out the present value of publicly owned infrastructure with long-term leases to solve short-term budget woes, they will move us away from sustainable transportation.”

The movement towards effective and practical solutions that will allow the US the address its infrastructure shortcomings in surface transportation is long overdue. However the momentum that is now building will be welcomed by not only those who are actively involved in transportation policy, but also but the highway users themselves.

“The movement towards effective and practical solutions that will allow the US the address its infrastructure shortcomings in surface transportation is long overdue” “Over the last 10 years we’ve seen a substantial change within the transportation community,” says Frankel. “This has moved from academia and scholars to transportation professionals and transportation executives. The last important hurdle is elected officials. Whether it is going to be accepted by Congress and whether Congress will allow these programs to go forward at the state and local level remains to be seen.”

For whom the road tolls If any of these funding systems are approved by Congress, the next step will be ensuring that they have the support of those who use the highways. For Cohen the major issue here is the public’s distrust of the government. “There’s a great deal of concern that politicians would try to make roads into cash cows for a variety of government purposes, some involving highways, but some potentially involving a diversion to non-highway purposes,” says Cohen.

For Ron Utt, one way to gain public acceptance is to ensure that whatever system is imposed is fitting for the area. “The serious congestion tends to be isolated in a relatively small number of metropolitan areas like New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Houston. The rest of the country has no congestion that is anywhere near this and so the idea of coming up with a national program in which everybody pays a higher premium, in some cases for problems that don’t exist, will not sit well,” explains Utt. “This is the fundamental flaw of trying to implement a national transportation policy in the United States.

What I think is the best solution is to continue to devolve more and more investment and financing to regions and allow them to determine what the optimal solution is and what revenues should be used to pay for them.” n

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throughput capacity that occurs during peak demand when traffic is in stopand-go conditions. “Experience from around the world, from places like London, Stockholm and Milan, shows that the public will accept the tolling of previously free roads if they see they are getting a better performance and expanded travel options,” says Replogle.

On the flip side of the coin, there are many people who believe that implementing congestion charging in the US, similar to that in London for example, would not be successful. “I don’t think congestion pricing will work here except potentially in New York, San Francisco and possibly Washington DC, because I just don’t think that businesses would stay within an area that is tolled,” says Cohen. “Here there are so many different cities competing for business that if a medium-sized city was to impose a cordon price around its downtown area it’s very likely that the businesses would simply move outside the cordon area or to a different city that doesn’t have the pricing structure.”

For Ron Utt, the congestion charging system in cities like London is less than desirable. “The London congestion is extremely high for what you’re getting and there is no other option.” He sees this option as far more discriminatory than the use of HOT lanes for example. At least with HOT lanes highway users have access to a free option as long as they are willing to accept a lower quality service in terms of speed and congestion levels.

Whichever option is adopted to increase funding for the modernization of the highway system, the question remains as to how the implementation will be funded. Increasingly cash-strapped states are considering public-private partnerships as a means of generating the needed finances.

Robert Puentes believes this is a viable solution to the funding shortfall, but at the same time he is of the opinion that it is a lot to lay at the feet of the private sector and that by no means should the private sector be called upon to play the primary role in filling the funding gap.

The same is true for Replogle who believes that the P3 approach can be a valuable tool to help finance, develop, operate and foster innovation in transportation systems. But at the same time he says that they can be used to do both good and bad things. “They should not be used simply to deal with public entity cash-flow problems. They should instead be considered for improv-

ing operation of existing roads, transit systems, parking, bicycle and pedestrian systems and overall system management infrastructure,” he explains. “If P3s are used simply to build more roads faster or to cash-out the present value of publicly owned infrastructure with long-term leases to solve short-term budget woes, they will move us away from sustainable transportation.”

The movement towards effective and practical solutions that will allow the US to address its infrastructure shortcomings in surface transportation is long overdue. However the momentum that is now building will be welcomed by not only those who are actively involved in transportation policy, but also but the highway users themselves.

“The movement towards effective and practical solutions that will allow the US to address its infrastructure shortcomings in surface transportation is long overdue” “Over the last 10 years we’ve seen a substantial change within the transportation community,” says Frankel. “This has moved from academia and scholars to transportation professionals and transportation executives. The last important hurdle is elected officials. Whether it is going to be accepted by Congress and whether Congress will allow these programs to go forward at the state and local level remains to be seen.”

For whom the road tolls If any of these funding systems are approved by Congress, the next step will be ensuring that they have the support of those who use the highways. For Cohen the major issue here is the public’s distrust of the government. “There’s a great deal of concern that politicians would try to make roads into cash cows for a variety of government purposes, some involving highways, but some potentially involving a diversion to non-highway purposes,” says Cohen.

For Ron Utt, one way to gain public acceptance is to ensure that whatever system is imposed is fitting for the area. “The serious congestion tends to be isolated in a relatively small number of metropolitan areas like New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Houston. The rest of the country has no congestion that is anywhere near this and so the idea of coming up with a national program in which everybody pays a higher premium, in some cases for problems that don’t exist, will not sit well,” explains Utt. “This is the fundamental flaw of trying to implement a national transportation policy in the United States.

What I think is the best solution is to continue to devolve more and more investment and financing to regions and allow them to determine what the optimal solution is and what revenues should be used to pay for them.” n

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

Conversation stopper Sprint’s Tanya Lin tells US Infrastructure that failure to prepare crisis communication strategies can have dire consequences during an event.

What role does critical communication strategy have to play in emergency planning? How important is it that communications are considered from the beginning of the planning process?

Tanya Lin: Communications are critical to any strategy in emergency planning. It’s basically the foundation of the planning process. It’s important to consider the communications methodology, technology and logistics, to include who you would need to communicate with during a disaster or crisis event from the beginning. Then, when the emergency or disaster does happen, you’re able to better facilitate and make sure that you can still communicate to all the parties that you need to and ensure situational awareness and continuity of operations.

You need to have the technology in place to allow you to interoperate between agencies and between critical municipalities, as well as with state and federal government, so communications are really the foundation. Communications is the underpinning of any emergency plan, and ensuring that you have that foundation at the start of a planning process are vitally important.

One significant challenge currently facing emergency planners is the risk of a pandemic event such as swine flu. What part do communications have to play in the response to such challenges?

TL: H1N1 planning or any kind of pandemic planning is unique whether you’re an emergency manager for a state, local or federal agency, a corporate entity or you’re the emergency business continuity planner for a critical infrastructure component. You have to deal with potentially 40 to 60 percent of your workforce unable to come to work. So pandemic planning and communications go hand-in-hand, because you have to be able to speak with these people and ensure continuity of operations. The employees have to be able to continue to do their jobs, but they have to be able to do them remotely. There could be schools closing, employees falling ill and even mandatory quarantines, but governments and businesses cannot stop functioning so people are going to have to continue to work. Organizations have to be able to function but in this situation they are going to have to rely on remote workers, so you have to depend on communications for this dispersed workforce. Be it, broadband internet at your home, mobile broadband on your laptop, Wi-Fi hotspots or cellular phones, you have to have

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that communications technology in place before the pandemic strikes, because once it strikes and your workforce is unable to come to work, it will be much more difficult to coordinate the communications of those critical employees to sustain your agency or your business.

If communications systems are unable to speak to one another their effectiveness can be severely hampered. What efforts are being undertaken to ensure interoperability across the space?

TL: One of the things that Sprint and the country as a whole has been working on since 9/11 is interoperability. It’s making sure that people can talk to

Sprint Emergency Response Team SatCOLT (Satellite Cell on Light Truck)

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each other whether they’re using a variety of radio systems or interoperable console devices such as an ACU made by Raytheon or having a compliance standard like P25 across radio systems. Interoperability is something that has been first and foremost on people’s minds for the last several years, and so everything that companies are building and working towards is all about ensuring interoperable communications.

So what efforts are being undertaken to see that this happens? Right now, interoperability is key in the marketplace and many new technologies are available. There are new compliance standards to ensure interoperability across broadband networks. The different regulatory committees are working towards compliance standards so that if and when these systems are built, they can interoperate with one another. It is also important for emergency managers and business continuity planners to identify what other agencies are using and ask questions of their vendors. Can these products interoperate with my current systems and other agency systems? What is needed to make the disparate systems interoperable?

mount generators permanently to certain cell sites. We work with different technologies like hydrogen fuel cells for battery backup at cell sites. There are many things that critical infrastructure entities can do to ensure that resiliency across the board. That’s the key to Sprint’s Emergency Response Team (ERT). If and when that event occurs and you need to have that additional coverage or you need to set up a site that has been completely torn down by a disaster or emergency, Sprint’s ERT can deploy mobile cell sites called SatCOLTs (Satellite Cell on Light Truck). The Sprint SatCOLTs are fully selfcontained, with an on-board generator system, full cell site equipment and satellite backhaul capabilities all mounted on an F-650 chassis allowing us full flexibility of movement and deployment. Sprint invests significant dollars to ensure we are able to provide those resilient communications when communications are critical.

“Communications are the underpinning of any emergency plan, and ensuring that you have that foundation at the start of a planning process is vitally important” What are the main challenges in ensuring that communication technologies from different vendors can be used in concert?

TL: The main challenge in ensuring interoperability is that there are so many technologies out there. It’s important for emergency managers and business continuity planners to identify which technologies will be used and to implement those technologies before the disaster or crisis event. It is also important to exercise those systems and the emergency response plans that you have in place. That’s where you’re going find what works and what doesn’t and can make the adjustments before an event happens.

Agencies and businesses should do table top exercises and full-scale exercises, which are important in any sphere of emergency management and business continuity. You have to be able to identify the technologies that are out there, and you have to be able to use them in a real world type exercise so that when the disaster or emergency does occur, you’re not scrambling at the last minute trying patch together a solution.

Critical communication technology needs to be able to operate with great reliability in often very hostile environments. What can be done to ensure that solutions possess the necessary resilience?

TL: One of the things that we do at Sprint is network hardening. You do have to be able to operate in hostile environments. You do have to be able to operate soon after a disaster strikes and ensuring network reliability and hardening is key to Sprint.

If there is an imminent strike event, such as a hurricane, Sprint will often stage generators just outside the immediate impact zone, or proactively

Tanya Lin is the manager of operations for the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT). In this role, she has national responsibility for the operations and direction of Sprint ERT, a one-of-a-kind elite rapid response communications organization that provides interoperability and communication augmentation for Federal, State and Local Public Safety, Law Enforcement, Military agencies and Enterprise clients.

Critical communications must react to a constantly changing set of environments and challenges. How is it possible to build sufficient flexibility into communications technology?

TL: That’s the key. Critical communications do need to be able to react to a constantly changing set of environments and challenges. During any incident or during any disaster, things are going to be in a state of flux. They’re not always going to go exactly as planned.

Your systems have to be scalable. They have to be flexible and they have to be rapidly deployable. One of the most important things in communications is being able to adapt to the environment in which we find ourselves during emergencies, be it a hurricane or pandemic flu. You have to be able to utilize the same technologies over and over again. You must ensure that your communication systems have built in redundancies, are self-contained and that you have the personnel available to deploy these systems and technologies when needed. It’s vitally important right from the outset when you start looking into the issue of emergency communications that you’re looking at solutions that are flexible, scalable and rapidly deployable. n

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PUBLIC SAFETY

THE STANDARD What standards do you believe need to be in place to ensure true interoperability for communications at a national level?

Richard Mirgon. I think the two standards that have to be in place are P25 for land mobile radio and LTE for broadband. I think P25 has arrived in that most of the grants that come from federal government now require P25 or at least an explanation of why you’re not deploying it.

Regarding LTE, I think on an international level it has arrived.

Every major manufacturer is making LTE equipment. There are some feature sets the public safety needs within that standard but I believe those will come.

So do you believe that we will see a fully nationwide system during your tenure at APCO? RM. No, not at all. I think this is a multi-year project. It’s way too big to occur in any one year. There are just too many players involved. In my

Richard Mirgon, President of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, tells US Infrastructure about the drive towards interoperability.

perfect world I would like to see LTE become the international Public Safety standard. I think there is a chance of that happening. A lot of nations have adopted LTE. Now, we do a lot of work with our partner organizations like BAPCO in Great Britain and AMCO in Australia.

Part of my concern is simply that in the event of major disasters, whether it’s a tsunami or a large wildfi re, many times we use resources from other countries. We have to be concerned about issuing responders with radios or communication devices that all adopt the same standards so the equipment they’ve got will already work wherever they end up being deployed. I think that’s a very important and effective response to a major international disaster, or a major disaster that requires international response.

What are the major brakes on putting together a national or international standards system? What’s slowing the process down?

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RM. I think what slows it down is just our own bureaucracy. When you think about all the different people that have to be involved in something like this that includes various regulatory bodies and corporations. Additionally you need to take the developmental cycles required to meet public safety needs into account. It’s a big elephant to eat, shall we say?

Where do you think the impetus to solve these problems is going to come from? Will it be the industry or from regulatory bodies?

RM. Industry is a big player. I think most of the time we’ve seen that it can be a very large driving force. But ultimately it’s going to require a partnership between industry, government and public safety professionals.

I understand that you are currently working with the Department of Homeland Security to finalize radio interoperability standards. How close are you to completing this process and what do you believe the likely outcome will be?

RM. Actually, we’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve got a lot of good partners over at the DHS Office of Emergency Communications who have been excellent to work with.

RM. Absolutely. I think most vendors want some sort of open standards.

It keeps their production costs down. It makes it easier for them to vie for customers. I think they end up developing proprietary systems when there’s no guidance.

They have got to do something, they’ve got to make money, they’ve got to move, they’ll make a decision, but sometimes it’s not in public safety’s best interest. However, a lot of times that can be our fault too, because we failed to engage with them, talk to them and help to develop those standards.

You have taken up the role of President at APCO fairly recently. What are going to be the key priorities for you during your tenure?

RM. Our biggest priority right now is still that nationwide broadband network and what we refer to as the D Block, a wireless spectrum set aside for a national public safety broadband communications network.

We are really looking to develop that and get it moving. The rapid rise of broadband brings both challenges and opportunities for us. It creates new challenges because we’re talking about technology that’s still new to everybody. It creates new opportunities because this is where we have

“Actually, we’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve got a lot of good partners over at the DHS Office of Emergency Communications who have been excellent to work with” They’ve produced a lot of documents, a lot of guidance and work with a lot of the state involvement. They’ve really helped get everybody onboard with looking at the national interoperability picture. The Office of Interoperable Communications has also done a lot of research and funded many test projects. FEMA has done a lot of work trying to provide resources for emergency managers. So, you know, all in all OIC has been an excellent partner. If there was any downside it would be the fact that they’re just so large. Sometimes we fi nd different departments within DHS working on the same project and nobody knowing about it.

A new administration coming in also has an impact. We fi nd that any time there’s an administration change within Washington, DC, a lot of the people we work with end up moving or changing jobs. That creates a bit of a challenge for us to try to identify who the new key players are going to be that have to keep a project moving.

But I think all things considered, things are going very well. The new people who have come in have been very open to talking with public safety and working with us. They are clearly doing their best. The downside is that there are many things they’re not familiar with, just because they’re new to their jobs. Their hearts and souls are clearly in the right place and they’re working hard with us.

the chance to shine and show our leadership ability. It’s not about APCO pushing an issue, it’s more about APCO providing leadership on an issue, bringing the right people to the table and helping them come to a conclusion and resolve issues.

It’s a process that we’re comfortable with and somewhere we’re experiencing a good degree of success. When we endorsed LTE a few months ago, we got excellent response to it. When the Commission announced this last notice just before our conference we had a town hall meeting and we were able to bring in players from just about every other association to comment on it. We believe we’ve demonstrated our ability to bring diverse players together to the table and reach common decisions and consensus on issues.

Richard Mirgon is President of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International. He has over 30 years of local government public safety experience and has recently retired from his position as Director of Technology Services for a Northern Nevada County, a position he has held since 1991.

Moving away from the government side of things, do you believe that there is enough cooperation between vendors to come up with technologies that are going to be able to communicate with each other?

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NEXT BIG THING

Bridging the communication gap Steve Nichols explains the importance of interoperability for first responders and how the multi-band radio offers better connectivity and communication solutions.

E

ight years after the traumatic events of 9/11, government agencies and first responders working together to secure the homeland are still challenged by network-dependent communications solutions that fail to provide the flexibility required for multi-agency interoperability.

With 2.2 million first responders in the US today, it is expected that each one should be able to connect with other personnel on scene, as well as with their dispatch center, with clear, reliable voice and data communications. Lives are often at stake and the radio is an essential tool to accomplish the mission. More communication talk paths, more data channels and more connectivity are required by a growing universe of first responders.

To keep up with this voracious appetite for additional channels, talk groups and network capacity, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Agency have allocated spectrum in a variety of different frequency bands from 30-870 MHz. The operate. Thales has leveraged more than 10 years of P25 public safety experifirst band was 30-50 MHz, which is still in use today by many agencies. ence and an unequaled software-defined radio technology base serving the Then, a progressive series of bands at higher frequencies was released from Department of Defense (DoD) to solve today’s critical interoperability issues 136-174 MHz, 402-420 MHz, 450-470 MHz, 470-520 MHz, 800 MHz, and, with a portable radio that does all this and more. The Liberty Multiband Land most recently, 380-400 MHz and 700 MHz bands. Up until now, each band Mobile Radio (LMR) is the first multiband radio covering the entire public required a separate, specific, single-band radio. The traditional components safety spectrum to be approved by the FCC. For the first time, federal, state, and radio design approaches limited an economically viable design to a sinlocal and DoD agencies can communicate across all the public safety gle band for each portable radio. bands –136-174 MHz, 380-520 MHz, 700 MHz, and 800 But what if users had a single portable radio soMHz – with a single portable radio. lution that covered all frequency bands? And what if The Liberty Multiband LMR offers maximum specthe radio were the same size, weight, and power as the trum utilization and unprecedented efficiency. Local users old single-band portable? who have moved to 800 MHz systems, but have kept older To truly address the needs of users, this solution VHF and UHF conventional frequencies for back-up, can would have to be a bridge radio, one that takes adaccess all of these bands for additional talk paths. Federal vantage of existing infrastructure, operates without users who have been frustrated by VHF spectrum crowdinfrastructure and allows migration to new digital ing are now free to use the 406-420 MHz band in a single systems; a radio that bridges between established reportable radio. The Liberty Multiband LMR operates in gional Project 25 (P25) trunked systems and convenP25 digital, conventional and trunked as well as legacy anational radio users from adjacent municipalities using log. The radio offers OFB DES and AES with over-the-airother bands. This radio would serve a single incident rekey for secure communications. It is Mil Spec rugged commander, a group of agency commanders, all and submersible to two meters. Easy to operate, the Liberty squad leaders in an agency, or every team member, as Multiband LMR requires minimal training and can be derequired. ployed quickly. With day-to-day use, first responders beSteve Nichols joined Thales Communications, Inc., in 1997, leading In early 2008, the Department of Homeland come intimately familiar with its operation and, in crisis business development activities for the Security’s Science and Technology Directorate situations, this familiarity can be life-saving. company’s Project 25 portable radio product lines, including, most recently, awarded a contract to Thales Communications, Inc. The new software-defined multiband radio: all bands, the introduction of the new Liberty Multiband Land Mobile Radio. He has to demonstrate a multiband radio that enables emersoftware-defined modes, trunking and encryption – all in more than 30 years of experience in the gency responders to communicate with partner a single portable radio. For the first time, interoperability Land Mobile and Public Safety Radio industries. agencies, regardless of the radio band on which they in the palm of your hand. n

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CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS

The magic number Brian Fontes outlines the future of public safety communications in an online world.

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mergency calling using 911 is supported currently with a system design from the 1970s, using purpose dedicated analogue networking and hardware/soft ware, which is limited in its ability to handle newer types of technology. The adaptation of this system, designed to handle wireline calling from fi xed caller locations, to one capable of supporting mobile cellular and nomadic VoIP services has been time consuming, cumbersome and expensive.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) recognized in the late 1990s that an up-to-date design would be needed as the technology evolution advanced, and began in 2000 to design a better approach, which became known as Next Generation 911 (NG911).

Early versions of NG911-like systems are beginning to be implemented, and the IP basis of NG911, both in networking and application soft ware, is driving increased pressure for IP networks, and the concurrent need for broadband connectivity on a national scale. And the need is not just for 911 support, but with a growing recognition that a much bigger emergency communications process is involved. Effective emergency response and emergency healthcare delivery in the United States are products of the combined efforts of the public, emergency response organizations, non-governmental and academic institutions, the private sector, and all levels of government (local, state, tribal and federal). Before, during and after an emergency of any magnitude, citizens depend on the coordinated efforts of all of these entities.

Yet, each of these sectors has their own unique responsibilities, governance structures, information sharing policies and communications technologies. Additionally, each sector has thousands of independent entities, making intra and inter-sector information sharing difficult. The infrastructure need is to enable organization-to-organization information sharing through broadband internetworking and IP technology.

While significant effort has been devoted to the needs of the endpoints in the chain of response (911, police, fi re, EMS agencies, hospitals, etc.), focus is currently lacking on the organizational and technological connectivity of all of these sectors and their member organizations.

Th is includes governance structure, information sharing policies, and shared technologies and services that enable the interconnection of all of these organizations. As communications technology advances, a major national effort is needed to organize the shared use of technologies and services, and increase organizational information sharing. NENA has recently stepped up to this challenge, with the formation of the Next Generation Safety Consortium (www.ngsc.org), in which a number of the nation’s leading emergency response, medical, consumer, technology and academic organizations have come together to facilitate solutions and to support and deploy next generation emergency information and communication technology. Th is includes shared broadband access for all 911 and emergency response agencies, robust and secure broadband backbone networks connecting them, and engineered and managed IP

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‘The challenge is in how best to operationally present and utilize the added information, and how to support calltaker adjustments to these new capabilities’ networks supporting applications for emergency and essential services, all enabled by such broadband access. The Next Generation Safety Consortium expects to utilize various federal grant opportunities to prime the funding of these objectives.

With the bandwidth and flexibilities afforded by IP networking and IP based soft ware in NG911, emergency calling and messaging will necessarily support the technological methods used by various types of user devices involving more than just voice communication, such as text, video, and sensors, and the ability to acquire additional data associated with the call or caller. Examples include direct interaction between telematics providers and 911 centers, as well as with other essential services, such as 311 for community services, 711 for the hearing and speech impaired and Poison Control Centers. Th is involves new challenges and opportunities for 911 center calltakers who have previously dealt with voice and TTY (for deaf and hard of hearing callers). The opportunity revolves around the calltaker and responders gaining more useable initial and immediate knowledge of the emergency circumstances. The challenge is in how best to operationally present and utilize the added information, and how to support calltaker adjustments to these new capabilities. One key is to provide the flexibility to enable calltakers to adjust their interac-

tion with the system and data to best suit their use. Another is to provide data in hierarchical forms, so that the most crucial info is available up front, while other info can be accessed as needed. NENA and APCO joint work groups are building standards and best practices to support these and other real world based factors.

NG911 is also designed to improve control over call and messaging management during high calling rate and disaster situations. Public safety authorities will have improved control of overflow and alternate rerouting through call handling rules databases directly accessible to the 911 call center and/or 911 Authority groups. The availability of internetworking across regions, states and nationally will make it possible to quickly shift emergency call and data to unaffected answering points, in cases of 911 centers being out of service, through use of preplanned rule sets or real time rule modifications.

Another issue often heard is concern for smaller call centers that lack the fi nancial and staffi ng resources to make the move to next generation architecture by themselves. Really, the relevant question is how do call centers and 911 authorities band together to take advantage of internetworking and networked or hosted applications that can be accomplished at a fraction of the cost of doing it all separately. While the transition from out of date and locally restricted technology won’t be cheap, the good news is that it can be more easily accomplished through appropriate regional and state level interoperational agreements and cost sharing, because the technology involved inherently provides that opportunity.

The technological convergence and internetworking involved in these services and communication capabilities means a significant shift in infrastructure needs and use. With the broadband and technology emphasis expressed by the current US administration, the climate is ripe for the type of initiatives described above. The challenge is to recognize and act on the opportunities to provide improved public services through widely expanded public safety communications, and for public safety related organizations to come together in pursuit of these needs and goals that are enabled by broadband and technology tools. While infrastructure is a means to these ends, it is a basic and critical building block to accomplish the future of public safety communications.

Brian Fontes is CEO and President of the National Emergency Number Association

At a national scale, the Next Generation Safety Consortium intends to support sharing of technological resources through: Facilitating the development of essential national elements of Next Generation emergency related systems in an effort to complete these elements one time at the national level and make them available across the country, thus avoiding costly, non-interoperable duplication at the state/local level; Supporting a wide variety of state and regional trials and deployments in partnership with state and regional leaders to implement national elements and shared applications, as part of safety-focused projects or as part of larger state broadband deployments.

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ASK THE EXPERT

Critical communication Scott Alfieri discusses best practices for the successful use of emergency notification technology in the public safety environment.

B

y adopting and exercising a few simple guidelines, public safety operations can dramatically improve any crisis communications strategy with emergency notification technology at its core.

For today’s public safety operations, emergency notification technology is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity. As more sheriffs’ offices, fi re departments and emergency management agencies implement these communications systems, so too are they seeking guidance to ensure their effectiveness. We have identified six ‘best practices’ for improving the integrity and reliability of any emergency notification system, whether on-premise, hosted or hybrid.

Educate people on your use of the technology You and your family sit down to dinner.

The phone rings. You pick up, only to hear an

automated ‘hello’. Assuming it’s another telemarketing call, you hang up. It’s a common scenario. Only this time, the call is from your PSAP’s emergency notification system, attempting to let you know of a hazardous materials spill out on Route 9.

To be sure that emergency personnel and local residents will react appropriately to these calls, educate them on the system’s use beforehand. Activate ‘sample’ notification scenarios, letting people hear how calls sound

“For public safety operations utilizing an on-premise emergency notification system, it is imperative to strategize on the front end in order to avoid any issues on the back end” and ways to interact with them. Broadcast information about your use of the technology on local public access TV channels and radio.

Launch an all-out public awareness campaign by mailing flyers community-wide and encouraging locals with unlisted numbers or cell phones to register for notifications during community events or online.

As simple as it sounds, also train people to say ‘hello’ when they receive a call from numbers inside your area code or directly from your operation. Most emergency notification systems are programmed to recognize a standard ringback tone and ‘listen’ for an actual voice before delivering the message.

When these systems encounter silence, they assume no one is on the line and terminate the call, often resulting in non-delivery.

Conduct partial and full system tests on a regular basis An emergency notification system is only as good as the data that resides within it. Therefore, it is imperative for public safety operations to routinely carry out both partial and full system tests.

As a general rule, select a small group of people, preferably your own personnel, to automatically notify once each month. Include all device types (e.g. home phone, BlackBerry, email, etc.) in this activation in order to determine any data errors or potential communications issues. If possible, also conduct regularly scheduled tests to small geographic areas throughout your community. Last, if you do not activate actual emergency notifications often, conduct a full system test once per quarter, or at a minimum, twice each year.

Together, these measures will help your operation correct any potential hardware, soft ware or telephony issues before they arise.

Avoid the blacklist During the course of a week, you probably receive hundreds of unwanted emails regarding special events, company promotions or worse. Fortunately, the companies and/or individuals behind these campaigns often fi nd themselves blacklisted, slowing, suspending or rejecting their access to certain email servers.

For public safety operations that send a large number of notifications via email, this poses a potential problem.

Typically, the first sign of trouble comes with ‘bounce-back’ emails. Often these include technical reasons for the return, but others will not. It all depends on your IT department’s set-up and soft ware.

If you suspect you have been blacklisted, there are a number of resources online from which you can run automated tests against your IP address. These include: www.spamhaus.org, www.spews.org and www.dsbl.org.

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You might also consider directly contacting the domain blocking your emails in order to resolve the problem.

To avoid being blacklisted in the future, confi rm the validity of the email address in the ‘from’ field of your emails. Also, continually remove invalid email addresses from your contact data, as too many can cause Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to flag your email account as a source of spam.

Know your communications capacity It’s Mother’s Day. You pick up the phone and dial you mom’s number, only to hear “We’re sorry. All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later.” The same holds true during large-scale disasters, where your area’s phone grid may become overloaded or even completely shut down.

Do you know how many simultaneous phone conversations your particular community, office or county is able to support? Do you fully understand the availability (or lack) of cellular service in your area? Did you know there are limitations to the number of SMS/ text messages providers can support at any given time?

by the vendor. While this number is generally far greater than those associated with on-premise systems, capacity is still limited by your area’s communications infrastructure.

As an example, a small town may only have 200 phone lines in its entire grid. During peak hours, 150 of them could be in use at any given time, leaving only 50 available for emergency notification.

To counter this potential problem, consider using alternative means for communication, including cell, email and SMS/text messaging.

But remember, these methods have limitations too. Also take into consideration the restrictions of your own PBX, voice mail system and paging service. Last, but certainly not least, make multiple attempts to ensure the delivery of your message.

Finding a balance may be tricky, but as evidenced by the technology’s widespread use, it is certainly not impossible.

Have a back-up in place Depending on the situation, your telecommunications infrastructure may be severely impacted or rendered inoperable. As with all public safety systems, redundancy measures should be in place for your opera-

“For today’s public safety operations, emergency notification technology is no longer a luxury.

It is a necessity” Clearly, there are a number of factors influencing or limiting your ability – or capacity – to communicate during certain situations.

For public safety operations utilizing an on-premise emergency notification system, it is imperative to strategize on the front end in order to avoid any issues on the back end.

Th is includes allocating a certain number of inbound and outbound phone lines or toggling between the two; shortening a call’s duration (i.e. greeting, message, prompts and farewell); and determining the most effective sequence for contacting certain groups of individuals (e.g. page fi rst, then email, call home, etc.).

For those operations using off-site (hosted) emergency notification services, the amount of phone lines available is determined

tion’s emergency notification system. Th is will ensure communications with fi rst responders, area residents, local authorities, community volunteers and others do not fail, even in worst-case scenarios.

Redundancy, though dependent on your vendor, is most often delivered through remote hosting centers. These facilities provide public safety operations secure access to hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of phone lines 24/7/365. Use of this infrastructure, whether for secondary or primary purposes, may be subject to a subscription fee, per-call charges or both.

Another option for redundancy involves the shared use of emergency notification systems between local or regional operations.

Scott Alfieri oversees all business operations as president of Dialogic Communications Corp (DCC), a PlantCML company. He manages the company’s continued growth in both the public and private sectors. Prior to DCC, Alfieri held managerial positions with several highprofile organizations in New York, Australia, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Though less costly, this method does require a great deal of communication, collaboration and coordination on behalf of the participating parties. It may also not be feasible in the event of a large-scale disaster affecting two or more groups.

Open the lines of communication In an emergency, you must not only be able to push information out and into the hands of personnel and the community-at-large, but also manage the influx of calls post-notification. The use of an inbound ‘bulletin board,’ if available with your system, will easily address this communications need.

As part of your notification message, briefly instruct recipients to call a designated phone number for additional incident-related details. Then, record and update this information as often as necessary. Activate subsequent notifications as the situation escalates or improves to keep everyone in the loop and further reduce the number of incoming calls.

The benefits of adopting the six ‘best practices’ identified here are two-fold. First, public safety operations utilizing emergency notification technology will improve the efficiency and reliability of their system. Second, they will reap the numerous benefits of knowing they have taken all the right steps to ensure their communities are safe and informed.

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PUBLIC SAFETY

LOUD AND CLEAR Close attention needs to be paid if emergency communication and notiďŹ cation systems are to make themselves heard when it really counts. By Lee Richardson

I

nfrastructure requirements for emergency communication and notification systems are beginning to evolve to a higher level than ever before. The need for these systems is typically established through the mandates of federal, state or local jurisdictions and in some cases by adoption of the requirements of building or occupancy codes. Once the higher level need for the system and its basic features have been established, more detailed requirements for implementation are usually prescribed by referencing specific equipment/system installation standards. One such document is NFPA’s 2010 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, which includes expanded coverage of emergency communications systems. The requirements of NFPA 72 are not occupancy specific and apply equally whether the installation of a system is required by mandate or required to meet the building or property owner’s needs.

The emergency communication systems addressed by NFPA 72 include the traditional emergency voice/alarm communications systems and two-way telephone systems historically used in buildings for fire emergencies. However, the 2010 edition also includes new installation, performance and testing requirements for in-building mass notification systems, wide-area mass notification systems, and distributed recipient mass notification systems. Emergency communications systems for areas of refuge and two-way radio communications enhancement systems are also addressed in the 2010 edition.

Within the context of NFPA 72, mass notification systems are used to provide information and instructions to people in buildings, outdoor campus areas or to selected individuals or groups of individuals in various locations in response to broad variety of emergency situations. These situations can include terrorist threats, weather emergencies, or biological, chemical or nuclear emergencies. Within buildings, the infrastructure for these systems can be similar to that used in a more traditional fire alarm system. In fact the use of integrated systems to perform multiple functions has many operational and economic advantages and the requirements of the 2010 edition embrace this approach.

Earlier editions of the Code required fire alarm signals to take precedence over any other signal. The Code now recognizes that in some situ-

ations other signals may need to have a higher priority. To establish these priorities, designers of mass notification systems are required to perform a risk analysis that considers all the anticipated events that the system is expected to address. When identified by the risk analysis and the emergency response plan, signals and messages from non-fire emergencies are permitted to take priority over fire alarms signals and messages.

In addition to the requirements addressing signal and message priority, the Code includes more detailed requirements for fire alarm and mass notification system interface and coordination. Specific requirements are included for in-building mass notification systems when they interface with fire alarm systems, building controls or wide area mass notification systems. A new section is provided in the Code on information, command and control, including requirements for a central control station and for emergency communications control units.

The expanded requirements provided for these systems also include visible notification appliances (strobes) and textual visible notification appliances (message displays). New requirements addressing strobe marking and lens color are provided along with a new subsection on text displays.

Text display height above the floor, minimum character size, viewing distance and color are all addressed in detail.

New requirements and guidance are also provided for wide area (outdoor) mass notification systems. These provisions address access control (based on risk analysis), interface with other systems, protection of communication links and detailed provisions for high power speaker arrays.

Provisions for the latter address environmental conditions, power supply capacity, voice intelligibility and tone audibility as well as considerations to prevent hearing damage.

The 2010 edition of NFPA 72 also includes new requirements to address two-way radio communications enhancement systems. Emergency response personnel often rely on portable radios for communication during an emergency. However, communication inside buildings can be adversely affected by the building structure, causing signal attenuation and/or interference. Radio communication enhancement systems such as bi-directional antennas and signal amplifiers are intended to ensure that radio coverage is provided throughout the building, especially in critical areas. Extensive requirements are provided for the design, commissioning and testing of these systems. These address compatibility with public safety radio systems, radio frequencies, radio coverage, inbound and outbound signal strength, signal level testing, and system monitoring and annual testing.

New requirements are also provided in the Code for emergency communication systems for areas of rescue assistance used within buildings for individuals who are unable to use stairs during emergency evacuation. These systems provide two-way communication between remote refuge stations and a central control point.

One of the more important provisions for emergency communications systems is that they be able to reproduce voice messages so that the message is capable of being understood. If emergency information and instructions are not understandable by the occupants, the messages are of little value. While this may seem obvious and straightforward, in practice it can often be a real challenge. Intelligibility can be greatly affected by background noise and by reverberation due to hard surfaces in the area of installation. The proper distribution (number and loca-

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2008 United States Fire Loss Clock

Source: Fire Loss in the United States during 2008, by Michael J. Karter, Jr., NFPA, Quincy, MA, August 2009

tion) of speakers and the sound level of the speakers both play are role in the design of these systems.

The 2010 edition of the Code includes updated requirements for the design, installation and testing of voice message systems to ensure they produce intelligible messages. The Code requires designers of these to designate acoustically distinguishable spaces (ADS) and whether or not they will require voice intelligibility. An ADS is defined by its physical boundary or by its acoustic or environmental characteristics. Some spaces may not require the voice messages to be intelligible, depending on the emergency response plan for the building. Intelligibility may not be achievable in other spaces due to very high ambient noise levels. In the latter cases, other notification arrangements may need to be provided and addressed in the emergency response plan. A new annex on speech intelligibility is included in the 2010 edition and provides extensive guidance for the design and especially the testing of voice communications systems.

While need for requirements for mass notification systems where originally promoted for application in US Department of Defense buildings throughout the world, they are certainly applicable to any number of

commercial, industrial, and government applications where there is a need to inform or instruct people in an emergency. Versions of these systems have already been installed at some colleges and universities in response to recent campus violence. The 2010 edition of NFPA 72 provides a foundation of requirements to ensure these systems are installed and perform reliably and continue to do so.

A major component in the successful implementation of these systems cannot be taken lightly – need for careful assessment and planning prior to and during the system design. The potential scenarios that these systems can be called upon to address need to be carefully thought through and documented in emergency response plans and procedures. The development of messaging strategies and command and control strategies will be essential if these systems are to be used effectively. Further steps will also be needed to provide proper communication and interaction with various responsible authorities.

Lee Richardson is Senior Electrical Engineer and Staff Liaison for NFPA 72 at the National Fire Protection Association. For more information on this and other NFPA codes, visit www.nfpa.org.

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INDUSTRY INSIGHT

EVERY SECOND COUNTS Dominic Li explains the importance of accurate and reliable location information for wireless 911 calls.

M

obile phones have become the dominant means of communication throughout the world. For this reason, governments everywhere are currently investigating how to process the ever-increasing number of emergency phone calls (911, 112, etc.) coming from mobile phones.

According to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) records, more than one third of 911 calls were from mobile phones. In other parts of the world, this percentage exceeds 50 percent of emergency calls.

With mobile phones, the person calling could be almost anywhere. Also, in emergency situations, people are often panicked or disoriented and cannot provide their exact location. As a result, it is difficult for government agencies to respond to calls coming from mobile phones and to send the appropriate emergency responders.

When lives are on the line and every minute could potentially mean the difference between life and death, there is little room for error. Distressed callers need to be accurately located regardless of their environment or the type of mobile phone

that they are using. Designing and deploying a wireless location platform allows governments to improve emergency response times, increase the number of emergency calls that can be processed, and maximize valuable public safety resources.

In emergency situations, every second counts.

Emergency responders refer to the Golden Hour, which is the first hour after an incident takes place.

If care is administered within the Golden Hour, the victim’s chances of survival are greatly improved.

When someone calls an emergency number, often the person does not know exactly where they are, may not speak the native language, or may not be able to speak at all. For all of these compelling reasons, it is necessary for governments to empower the call-takers with the ability to quickly and accurately locate mobile phones in emergency situations. In short, the ability to accurately and reliably locate the incident improves response times, and ultimately, saves more lives.

Today, virtually everyone carries a mobile phone. Furthermore, people feel compelled to report an emergency situation. This has caused an exponential increase in the total number of emer-

gency calls. A car crash on a major highway can generate hundreds of emergency calls. By knowing the location of the caller, the call-taker can quickly deduce that the caller may be repeating the emergency incident of a previous caller. While the call-taker must answer every call, having the location information accompanying each call allows the call-taker to quickly qualify that call and move onto the next one.

Emergency responders often spend precious time searching for the location of an emergency.

Sometimes, additional vehicles or even costly helicopters are deployed in order to simply assess where the emergency is. With location information, call-takers can cross-reference the origins of calls to rapidly determine the exact site of the

“When lives are on the line and every minute could potentially mean the difference between life and death, there is little room for error” emergency. The ability to quickly and accurately locate emergency callers allows emergency services to be deployed more rapidly and efficiently, saving precious minutes and precious funds.

Mobile network operators typically select the TruePosition U-TDOA Location Platform because of its ability to locate any type of mobile phone, in any environment, including indoors, inside a car and in urban, suburban or rural areas — all with high accuracy and reliability. Today, TruePosition has more than 75,000 TruePosition Location Measurement Units (LMUs) installed, which locate more than five million emergency phone calls each month.

The E911 system in the United States, with its ability to quickly and accurately locate mobile phones in the time of need, is widely regarded as an overwhelming success by the emergency response communities. Thanks to the advances already made in the United States, other countries around the world have a solid foundation to build on. n As Vice President of Marketing and Portfolio Management, Dominic Li oversees the development and execution of TruePosition’s portfolio and marketing strategies, as well as the management of the corporate brand.

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INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

We’ve only just begun Recovery Act investments are a great start, but failing US infrastructure needs much more, says Patrick Natale.

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n late 2008, as the buzz began to build on how we should go about stimulating the country’s economy, addressing America’s lingering infrastructure shortfalls became a publically accepted part of the ‘solutions vernacular’. While it ultimately represented a relatively small percentage of President Obama’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the anticipated spending of approximately $100 billion on infrastructure was welcome news for many reasons.

First of all, the package demonstrated a level of leadership and commitment on the infrastructure front that this nation hasn’t seen since the administrations of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy. Additionally, it reinforced what advocates have been saying for years: infrastructure investments are useful both in the long term, as a means to strengthen the country’s ability to compete globally, and in the short term – as generators of jobs and boosters of safety and efficiency.

Not surprisingly, then, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) strongly supported the inclusion of infrastructure spending in the stimulus plan

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as a step in the right direction. However, we clearly noted that this short-term investment should only be seen as a supplement, rather than a replacement, for long-term solutions such as regular appropriations and scheduled reauthorizations that would ultimately restore America’s world-class infrastructure.

The need and the cost Our organization has long advocated bolder steps to improve and maintain America’s infrastructure and we have made significant efforts to keep infrastructure in the forefront of the nation’s consciousness. A highly visible dimension of our work is the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which we have issued every few years since 1998. Our most recent Report Card, issued in January 2009, assigned the nation’s roads, bridges, water systems and other critical infrastructure a cumulative grade of D. We presented five key solutions for raising this disappointing infrastructure grade: increase federal leadership in infrastructure; promote sustainability and resilience; develop federal, state, and regional infrastructure plans; address life-cycle costs and

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America’s infrastructure needs Estimated five year Investment needs and shortfall (in $ billions) 2009 ASCE Report Card Grade(s)

Category

Five-year need

Estimated Actual Spending*

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

Five-Year Investment Shortfall

D D D- and D-

Aviation Dams Drinking Water and Wastewater

87 12.5 255

45 5 140

1.3 0.05 6.4

(40.7) (7.45) (108.6)

D+ D and C+

Energy Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Inland Waterways Levees Public Parks and Recreation

75 77

34.5 32.5

11 1.1

(29.5) (43.4)

50 50 85

25 1.13 36

4.475 0 0.835

(20.5) (48.87) (48.17)

Rail Roads and Bridges Discretionary grants for surface transportation

63

42

9.3

(11.7)

930

351.5

27.5 1.5

(549.5)

Schools Transit

160 265

125 66.5

0** 8.4

(35) (190.1)

2.122 trillion***

903 billion

71.76 billion

(1.176 trillion)

DDCCD- and C

D D GPA = D

Total Need****

$2.2 trillion

* Five-year spending estimate based on the most recent available spending at all levels of government and not indexed for inflation. ** The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $53.6 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund for education, as of press time, it was not known how much would be spent on school infrastructure. *** Not adjusted for inflation. **** Assumes three percent annual inflation.

ongoing maintenance; and increase and improve infrastructure investment from all stakeholders.

Our Report Card also estimated that $2.2 trillion must be invested across all levels of government over a five-year period to bring the nation’s infrastructure to a good condition. This amount would be required simply to meet the current needs of citizens, not accounting for anticipated growth in population.

While this $2.2 trillion number is large, the fact is that much of it is already allocated in existing budgets. The problem is that across the nation these budgeted funds are repeatedly raided to pay for other programs. As a result, a bridge or highway frequently degrades for yet another decade while vital funds are redirected toward other demands.

Different solutions While we view the $100 billion in stimulus spending as merely a ‘down payment’ on this massive infrastructure investment need, we believe it can have a very positive impact on our ailing systems. In communities across America, these investments can help ease road congestion, enhance public transit, reduce power grid disruptions, update the nation’s aviation system and replace leaking water pipes. To achieve this, however, projects must be selected carefully – both in stimulus and long-term legislative solutions – to ensure that appropriated funds for infrastructure investment produce desirable results.

In our latest Report Card, ASCE highlighted a series of case studies on how different communities are addressing their infrastructure issues. Some of the solutions were bold and innovative. Some were simple, tried-and-true

solutions. The thing that they all have in common is that they have had a major impact on the performance of the community’s infrastructure.

A great example of an innovative solution is the project that was undertaken by the Orange County Water District to improve the sustainability of its water supply. To meet growing demand and reduce reliance on water imported from northern California and the Colorado River, the Orange County Water District developed the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System, which takes highly treated sewer water and purifies it to levels that meet state and federal drinking water standards. GWR System water will be 35 percent to 75 percent cheaper than water produced by seawater desalination and the purification process will consume about half the energy. The project, which will help position the state to meet its everincreasing need for fresh water resources, won ASCE’s Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for its innovative approach and its impact on the community.

In contrast, an example of a low-sizzle, high-impact project was Missouri’s work on installing new median cable barriers on its major interstates. It is hard to imagine infrastructure elements less glamorous than cable barriers, yet these safety additions are relatively inexpensive and are delivering outstanding results. After installing the barriers systemwide, cross-median crashes have been all but eliminated in the state. By contrast, in 2002, 24 people died in cross-median crashes on Interstate 70 alone. These life-saving results, combined with the job creation implicit in installing miles of support posts and cables, clearly illustrate the power of investing in straightforward, effective projects.

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Spending wisely How to invest our down payment In early 2009, ASCE released a set of principles intended to guide the process of allocating funds to important projects. The guidelines were intended to help keep the focus on both rehabilitating worn-out infrastructure to increase safety and building new infrastructure to keep America competitive. Underlying these principles is our belief that spending should favor projects that provide multiple benefits, beyond just creating jobs. The principles charge decision makers with the task of ensuring that every project funded by the stimulus bill:

competition for projects, with bids 15 to 20 percent lower, on average, than engineers anticipated.

Across America, a broad spectrum of projects is receiving significant stimulus funding and meet the essential criteria for ‘stimulating’ our economy and setting us back on the path to infrastructure excellence. A few examples include:

• Delivers measurable improvements in public health, safety and quality of life.

• Provides substantial, broad-based economic benefit.

• Is designed and built in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, with proper consideration given to life-cycle costs.

• Has a significant environmental benefit such as area restoration, improved air quality through reduced congestion or better watershed management through eliminating vulnerabilities in a system.

• $4.5 billion in Department of Energy projects that will build or modernize more than 3000 miles of transmission lines – creating jobs immediately, lowering the number of power outages and increasing power grid reliability.

• $4.6 billion investment in water resources projects to be carried out by the US Army Corps of Engineers – ranging from construction to maintenance and operations – which will generate high, immediate employment and provide a useful service to communities.

• $27.5 billion for the Federal Highway Administration to invest in roads, bridges and other Federal Aid Highway Program infrastructure – which will create jobs across the nation while reducing road congestion and increasing bridge safety. This funding will also spur improvements in the intercity passenger rail system, including $8 billion for high-speed rail.

Because job creation is a central theme of the stimulus package, there has been significant focus on so-called ‘shovel ready’ projects, and more than 2500 such projects were already underway around the country by the end of June, according to the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In some cases, current economic conditions have been making the nation’s construction dollars go further, thus making some projects a relative bargain. The White House said in April that departments of transportation across the nation were reporting intense

Critics of the stimulus bill will point to a small number of funded projects that, to the untrained eye, appear to be off the mark. In many cases, however, these projects simply address long-overdue upgrade or maintenance issues, such as making critical repairs to roads and bridges or installing new signage to ease motorist confusion. No, they don’t have the grandeur of a new bridge or airport terminal, but they do create jobs and make travel safer and more efficient. They have significant value and are an important part of improving our infrastructure systems nationwide.

When it comes to investing stimulus funds, many other states are following Missouri’s lead by focusing on nuts-and-bolts highway projects.

According to a recent report from the Government Accounting Office, roughly half of the $15.9 billion obligated nationwide as of June 25, 2009, is being used by the states to reconstruct or rehabilitate deteriorated roads, with a particular focus on repaving. Why? Because resurfacing and other such projects typically face fewer hurdles and can be implemented faster. That means speedier job creation and a faster delivery of benefit to the community.

Going forward We are inspired by the great work being done across the nation to improve our infrastructure. ASCE is also encouraged by the new spirit of leadership in Washington, including the infrastructure investments that are part of the stimulus bill.

These investments can provide significant benefits for the public, but only if projects are selected wisely and executed effectively. As noted earlier,

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ASCE is challenging the government to focus on projects that improve public health and safety, deliver powerful economic benefits, are sustainable and cost effective and help improve our environment. Done right, the projects we are undertaking will provide tangible benefits to the American people, such as reduced traffic congestion, improved air quality, clean and abundant water supplies and protection against national hazards. And they’ll create jobs today, as well as tomorrow.

The stimulus is an important down payment on the future viability and safety of America, but is not a cure-all for the infrastructure crisis. We hope the current focus on infrastructure investment is the beginning of a vibrant and enduring renewal of the structures and systems that will secure the future of America and its citizens.

Patrick Natale is the Executive Director of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 146,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.

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WORKPLACE SAFETY

BUILDING SAFETY Richard Fairfax, Director of Enforcement Programs at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), tells US Infrastructure about the organization’s efforts to make construction sites less risky.

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What sort of measures does OSHA take to help improve the safety of workers on American construction sites?

Richard Fairfax: We have a few approaches that we follow. First and foremost, my office is the enforcement office, so I oversee all the inspections. Construction activity is a dominant factor in the inspections we do because the fatality rate is high and they also have a fair number of injuries and illnesses. We actually end up conducting about 60 percent of our inspections in construction. Tied in with that we promote health and safety through outreach, training and education. It’s basically enforcement outreach training and education.

How successful have you been in cutting death and injuries in work over recent years? Are you seeing improvements?

RF. We are seeing improvements, even though the fatality rate in construction still remains stubbornly high. We are seeing the fatality rate coming down and a number of years ago we started to strongly focus on the four leading causes of fatalities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their data on the subject. We have seen a decline in the area that we’ve been focusing on like falls from elevation and electrocution, ‘struck bys’ and that sort of thing. We’re not satisfied with that. We’re obviously very glad that the number of fatalities and the rates have been coming down, but we still feel it’s too high and we have more to do. We’re going to continue to focusing on and addressing those areas where we think work is killing people.

Obviously construction is a fairly physical and potentially injurious activity, but why do you think it is so hard to lower these numbers and these rates?

RF. There are a number of reasons. There’s a downturn in the construction industry now because of the economy but that has come after nearly a decade of increased activity, where there were lots of incentives available for getting jobs done more quickly. When people work really quickly there seem to be less issues associated with putting in the fall protection and putting in the controls. I have anecdotal information I get from our inspectors that they go out to investigate a fatality where someone was hauling stuff up on a ladder or working off of a ladder when they really should’ve been working off scaffolding.

During the course of the inspection when they interviewed and asked, “Why weren’t you using scaffolding?” The answer that basically came back was, “It would’ve taken too long to put the scaffolding up and it was much quicker to just get up there and have the person work from the ladder.”

Well what happens is the person worked off the ladder, leaned in too far to do something and fell.

Do you think this is something that we might see more of given the economic climate at the moment where people are trying to do things with the smallest amount of budget in the fastest amount of time?

RF. Well probably, but I don’t know that for a fact. One of the key points and the first thing that should be done is education and training out on construction sites. You have to train people to work safely, how to use the fall protection system, to make sure they put up the guard rails, make sure they put up the scaffolding cover and protect floor openings so people don’t fall rather than cutting corners so you can get the work done quicker.

You mentioned education there, what sort of role does OSHA play in promoting education on work sites?

RF. We have a fairly large role. OSHA is an enforcement agency, but we do one heck of a lot of compliance systems and training, and many of our standards have a training component to them. They’re supposed to train and educate people on fall hazards, electrical hazards and other things like that.

We basically feel that training is a real key issue and so we provide a lot of training and education.

We provide a lot of training materials, but also after we’ve issued a citation and we settle with a company to get them to correct the hazards then oftentimes as part of that settlement we do build in a

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Manner in which workplace fatalities occurred, 2008 Fires and explosions (3%) Exposure to harmful substances or environments (9%) Falls (13%)

Transportation incidents (40%)

Highway (23%) Fall to a lower level (11%)

TOTAL FATALITIES

Assaults and violent acts (16%)

Homicide (10%)

5071 Struck by object (10%)

Contact with objects and equipment (18%) More work-related fatalities resulted from transportation incidents then from any other event. Highway incidents alone accounted for almost one out of every four fatal work injuries in 2008.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor 2009

training component because we feel very strongly about it. Another important thing is that this training is not just focused on workers but on line foremen and the managers too.

In general do you think that the construction industry takes the issues of workplace safety seriously enough?

RF. I think it’s a hard question to answer. There are some companies that are very dedicated to health and safety and they have incorporated it into their business plan and how they do everything. These companies are doing things right. But then there are an awful lot of companies that are much smaller and they don’t look at safety and health as part of their work or their business and they haven’t incorporated or built into it. We used to run into that a lot with trenching operations. It’s just much easier to dig the trench rather than take the time to put the trench box in. There are some very good companies out there, but there are a lot that take a lot of shortcuts and cut corners and don’t provide the correct materials and don’t train the workers. They are the ones who have most of the accidents.

Are there any particular areas where you notice particular problems, or that are more dangerous or more lacking in safety than others?

RF. The big thing we have in construction as I mentioned earlier, are the four leading causes of accidents. Falls by far is the number one, whether it’s falls from one level to another level, falls off of ladders, falls from scaffolding that hasn’t been constructed, falls through floor openings. Right behind that are electrical hazards. People are using a power saw and it’s got a frayed cord and they reach back to move the cord and they grab the bare wire and they’re electrocuted. Then

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you have the ‘caught between’ or ‘struck bys’. Those are the areas we’re focusing on, and those continue to be the leading causes of death. A lot of the programs we’re working on and developing now we’re starting to structure them to focus specifically on those areas.

Are you rolling out any fresh initiatives in this area? Do you have any new things in the pipeline?

RF. There are a couple of new things I’m working on that will probably come out in the next couple months. We have a program called the Serious Violators Enforcement Program. It’s basically a program where we direct additional enforcement action to the worst employers, the ones that continue to violate OSHA standards and continue to cause harm. Part of that program will focus on the four leading causes of death.

Another thing we’re working on is for companies that have more than one location. It’s a corporate settlement agreement policy where if we find a company has patterns of violations then when we issue citations against them.

We’re going to make it part of the settlement to have them enter into what we call a corporate settlement agreement. This would bind them under the legal agreement to correct the hazards that we’ve identified at all their facilities rather than just one. I think both of these programs are going to go hand in hand. I think they’ll have an impact because rather than affecting safety and health hazards one establishment at a time, both these things go after multiple establishments at the same time.

Following on from that, do you think that the regulatory authorities like yourselves have sufficient power to police those organizations that don’t pay sufficient attention to issues with workplace safety?

RF. I do. That’s why we have the training and education cooperative component.

If we focus our inspections at the establishments where we need to be, and issue the correct penalties, I think that sends a message to the entire industry. Then those employers wanting to do the right thing are going to. They have been approaching us through the cooperative aspect of OSHA where we offer information and training, so it seems to be a good balance the way we have it set up now.

Finally, how confident are you that you can really affect a change in an industry as inherently risky as construction?

RF. If you look at the trends on fatalities and you look at the trends on injuries and illnesses, they have been going down for the last 30 years. I don’t feel they’ve been going down fast enough, but they’re still going down. I think that is largely due to the efforts of OSHA. If you think about it there are more work sites now than there were 10 or 20 years ago. There are more people working than there were 10 or 20 years ago. The coverage of OSHA now is just huge. It may still continue to go down, so I think this combination of enforcement and compliance assistance seems to be working.

Also, since we look at injury and illness rates so much we’re launching a national emphasis program to check the accuracy of injury and illness rates. We want to make sure that what’s being reported is indeed accurate because we use fatalities and we use injury and illnesses to target a lot of our efforts. That’s another program we’re going to be launching. I think we do have an impact. Ideally I’d like to drive the fatality rate down to zero. That’s the ultimate goal.

Richard Fairfax is a certified industrial hygienist and is presently the Director of Enforcement Programs for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Washington, DC. He has worked for OSHA for 29 years as a field industrial hygienist, regional industrial hygienist, and as a senior industrial hygienist before taking his current position.

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TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

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he automobile industry builds safer vehicles today than in any time in the past in order to help save lives. We have had success with airbags, seatbelts and ABS – but rarely do we hear of the lifesavers that we pass every day on our way to school, to work, or as we travel on vacation.

These ‘unsung heroes’ are roadway safety devices. They are bright, reflective pavement markings and road signs, work zone traffic control devices, guardrails, cable barriers, rumble strips and a host of other roadside safety hardware. Recognition for the success of these lifesaving features – similar to the recognition gained over the years by in-vehicle safety features – recently came from the top.

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez blogged, “Though America's highway network is serving more drivers now than at any other time, our roads are the safest they've ever been. Some credit must go to the auto industry, which has made great advances in automotive safety, but road design and safety hardware are equally responsible. Better use of guardrails and cable median barriers and more subtle improvements like brighter signs and pavement markings also contribute to a safer roadway.”

Making America’s roadways safer is an attainable goal – and in many cases is extremely affordable. For example, lane departure fatalities at curves represent 30 percent or greater of total state highway fatalities in 22 states.

In another 17 states, 20-30 percent of all fatal crashes occur at curves.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE Safer roads aren’t just about safer vehicles, says Roger Wentz.

These dangerous roadway curves can be effectively ‘treated for safety’ at a low-cost, to reduce crashes by up to 20 percent immediately. The fi x is something as simple as high-visibility curve chevron signs. The cost for such a safety improvement is a surprisingly affordable $2000.

Other low-cost safety improvements include wider roadway edge lines, raised

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20-30 percent of all road fatalities in the US occur at curves.

pavement markings, edge line and centerline rumble strips, post-mounted delineators – and others that are contained in a quick-reference Low Cost Local Road Safety Solutions booklet, released by ATSSA and the National Association of County Engineers.

If you don’t know where to begin, your fi rst step in making roadways safer could be an audit. The Federal Highway Administration’s Road Safety Audits Program is a formal safety performance examination of existing or future roads or intersections.

The audit is conducted by a local independent, multidisciplinary team.

The Illinois DOT used Roadway Safety Audits to evaluate safety risks for identified locations of high crash severity, potential changes to intersections, and to help a local

agency evaluate its safety risks for application for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding. Engineering improvements included corridor improvements on the interstate system with milled rumble strips, cable guardrail, shielding piers and upgraded guardrail, and a curve delineation and improvement project that addressed severe crashes on curves located on local roads in four counties.

Louisiana obtained funds for 47 eligible Local Road Safety Program projects that included signage, a variable message board, data management and safety data collection, pavement marking and striping, rumble strips, sign signal inventory, access management plan, roadwork and sidewalk construction, roundabout construction,

“Making America’s roadways safer is an attainable goal – and in many cases is extremely affordable.”

equipment upgrades and guardrail projects.

One of Rhode Island’s initiatives was the installation of guardrail on undivided highways with narrow medians throughout the state, and several states are now reporting an upper-90 percentile decline in fatalities and crossover mishaps following the installation of cable median barrier. There are countless other roadway safety improvement examples across the country.

According to the US-DOT, “Each State's apportionment of HSIP funds is subject to a set-aside for construction and operational improvements on high-risk rural roads.” That set-aside totals $90 million nationally. The US-DOT reports, “If a State certifies that it has met all its needs relating to construction and operational improvements on high-risk rural roads, it may use those funds for any safety improvement project eligible under the HSIP.” That equates to a lot of roadway safety standing by to be implemented.

Roger Wentz is President and CEO of the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). For more information go to www.atssa.com

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SURETY

Future assurances The surety industry stands ready to support qualified contractors to build infrastructure. By Marc Ramsey

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he question “What is the current state of the surety market?” is often posed to the surety industry. The inquirer actually may be asking, “Is there enough surety capacity in the marketplace to meet the demands of the construction industry, particularly in my sector?”

The simple answer is, “Indeed, adequate surety capacity is readily available today to qualified contractors in all market sizes.”

The complex answer is, “Yes, but ….”

The surety industry is cyclical. Some years are profitable, while other years experience severe losses. How the industry performs depends, in large part, on how the construction industry performs. For the rest of 2009 and into 2010, the surety industry is bracing for a down-cycle, which is coming as bank credit tightens, contractors’ backlogs run out, and competition increases for less available work. Contractors may begin to bid work beyond their experience as the recession continues and they are unable to secure more familiar work. This means more contractor defaults. Contractor defaults on bonded projects may result in surety industry losses.

Surety industry executives do not anticipate catastrophic losses, but they do expect an increase in losses beginning later this year. Recent years of profitability and solid underwriting are expected to compensate for the coming losses, and 2009 should still be profitable. Surety executives predict a difficult 2010 and beyond, but insist the industry is ready to meet the challenge. After all, unlike banks, property and casualty insurers have proved financially fundamentally sound. Keeping in mind that surety is a longterm, highly volatile product, surety companies have remained conservatively reserved and maintained disciplined underwriting to mitigate the impact of the current downturn.

Surety executives also foresee an increase in the severity and frequency of losses. Underwriters will continue to look not only to limit these losses through solid underwriting, but also to protect obligees by supporting what they believe to be qualified contractors on their projects.

Underwriting requirements are not changing, but contractors’ balance sheets are. Surety capacity is available, but sureties are responding to the changing composition of their clients’ balance sheets and adjusting program commitments as necessary.

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LIBERTY MUTUAL AD.indd 1

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So, how did we get here? Will the federal stimulus plan make a difference?

And how long will the down-cycle last?

Most contractors rely on bank lines of credit to fill gaps between when they incur expenses and when they receive payments for work. The tightened credit market is causing cash flow problems for many contractors, whose banks have reduced or eliminated their lines of credit.

logs, which have deteriorated due to the tight credit market, with projects from the public sector.

The federal stimulus package is $787 billion. The amount allotted to construction is $130 billion. Presuming it will take two years to spend, or $65 billion per year, that is less than seven percent of the current $965.7 billion in annual construction spending, according to the June Census figures. Some surety executives say seven percent is less than ideal, considering the stimulus plan was supposed to be a jobs producer and construction affects everything.

Many say the stimulus program will not have a major impact on the broad construction marketplace. While it is better than nothing, they say, the competitive landscape of the national construction market continues to represent too many contractors competing for too few projects.

The public marketplace should experience an uptake in activity following the infusion of stimulus funding, as infrastructure, roads and bridges, and defense work stand to gain the most. These projects, howevContractors need to monitor their bank renewals far in advance and be er, will receive long bid lists, resulting in reduced margins for successful prepared to discuss their financial institution with their surety, as many contractors. Executives add that the devil will be in the details as to how sureties are no longer satisfied only that a contractor has a line of credit, but the work is let, how it is administered, and whether it will benefit comrequire that it is with an acceptable financial institution committed to supmunities down to the local level. porting their client.

Surety executives say public construction will not rebound completeSurety executives encourage contractors to maintain a strong banking rely until single-family residential construction takes root again in severely lationship to ensure that working capital lines are available to sustain cash depressed construction areas. Contractors then will realign to their most flow, but advise contractors to have a backup plan in case their existing bank profitable sector, where they are best suited, and the market for all things does not meet their company’s needs. tied to residential construction such as The decreased public investment in schools, retail, and commercial will reconstruction is driven more from declining sume to normal activity levels.

Percentage Change (June 2009 Over June 2008) tax revenues and large budget deficits than In today’s challenging construction in Total Public Nonresidential Construction Put in Place in US, Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate by any linkage to the troubled credit market. environment, contractors are faced with Municipalities and states are working to increased competition by new entrants in -14.3 Office identify sources of revenue including their the public sector, while municipalities and -28.2 Commercial designated shares of stimulus money and states struggle with declining tax revenue 3.2 Healthcare align the anticipated revenue streams with and budget deficits, resulting in less avail3.3 Educational high priority construction projects. able work. As contractors’ backlogs run 14.1 Public Safety They also are cutting expenses, looking out, they will be pressured to reduce prof-6.3 Amusement and Recreation at all line items from education to capital it margins to compete more aggressively.

2.3 Transportation projects. Many municipalities are canceling The result may be better pricing for public 13.3 Power projects for which bond issues already had owners, but the reality is that some contrac2.7 Highway and street been approved, and in some cases, even after tors may not survive.

7.6 Sewage and waste disposal they had raised the capital, so they can use The stimulus package should have a -6.9 Water supply the money for other areas of their budget. positive effect on the sectors that stand to 0.4 Conservation and development If the credit crisis has had any effect on gain the most from the federal money, but Source: US Census municipalities and states, it has been on executives say it is not enough to signifitheir ability to access credit at terms they cantly affect the broader construction find acceptable. This has contributed to marketplace. delays or cancellations of some construction projects in 2009.

The surety industry plays an important role in construction. Despite The US Census reported the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total nonfinancial scandals and the credit crisis, the surety industry has weathered residential construction put in place declined 0.7 percent in June 2009 over storms in the past and continues to stand strong, ready to meet today’s June 2008. Total nonresidential public construction grew 5.1 percent over the challenges by supporting qualified contractors to build infrastructure and same period. other projects that help the US economy prosper.

The recession is affecting the entire nation, but the impact varies regionally. The regions suffering the worst may be those where residential markets Marc Ramsey is Communications Manager at The Surety Information Office.

For more information please visit www.sio.org have slowed most, forcing contractors to look to replace their private back-

“Surety executives say public construction will not rebound completely until single-family residential construction takes root again in severely depressed construction areas”

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INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Balancing act Risk management concerns in a challenging economy.

BY DANIEL CONWAY

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ough times are still here. As today’s market continues to grapple with rising competition and volatility, it’s more important than ever to mitigate risk in project delivery. However, in the current climate, that means there is pressure to reduce costs and effectively manage exposures – both of which can pose challenges.

The financial crisis, and its ensuing pressure on the construction market, has changed the risk management landscape. One of the biggest concerns is that the sector may not maintain its commitment to the safety and innovation that helps manage the complexity of emerging construction.

As the residential construction market continues to diminish, many contractors are bidding well outside of their expertise to acquire the scattering of infrastructure projects sustaining the industry today. Certain sectors have been hit hard by the construction crisis, especially home building and commercial development. However, infrastructure building is still experiencing activity,

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in areas such as schools, hospitals, mass transit and general infrastructure maintenance and repair. The number of bidders on construction projects of all types and sizes has doubled. Therefore, as unqualified and inexperienced bidders infiltrate the market, often at unsustainable price points, the risk profile changes explicitly. Without expertise and adequate funding, running a longterm project successfully is virtually impossible.

While increased exposure to risk has been a certain consequence of the economic turmoil, construction of infrastructure projects, particularly those of considerable magnitude, has always entailed substantial risks. Infrastructure and underground projects contain so many variable conditions and are inherently complex. Injuries, catastrophes and malfunctions can all result in significant material or financial loss. Then there’s the risk of potential design and operational issues and, worst of all, risk of delay to the project’s completion. In the face of such obstacles, the success and viability of core infrastructure projects centers on how the associated risks are evaluated and managed.

It’s not easy or inexpensive to properly execute a broad risk management program.

Appraising hazards, implementing controls, ad-

hering to regulations, improving safety awareness and preventing injuries is just a sampling of the tasks at hand. However, proper risk assessment throughout all phases of construction is a vital tool in helping to protect against significant accidents and delays in production.

Many construction companies have taken a more sophisticated approach to risk management over the years. Initial exposure to loss is early in the project lifecycle and prudent contractors have developed their policies and procedures to focus more on prevention. But as margins get thinner, the issue of expense management takes precedence. Pressure to reduce expenses can lead to detects in quality and protection, as safety and engineering are common first targets for cost-cutting. The level of innovation in actual construction development will continue to improve, but we may begin to see some practical, day-to-day loss control measures falter. This leaves the industry with risk management practices that are merely adequate, as opposed to proficient as it had become accustomed.

A comprehensive and well-structured insurance program from a carrier with the resources and services to complement and support your risk management strategy is critical. The secure carriers you want on your side have extensive pre-engineering and pre-qualifying standards. If you slip on risk management, the selection of carriers that would provide an insurance program may become limited. Furthermore, imprudence relative to insurance buying emerges regardless of the options. Not only are risk managers forced to look past criteria such as stability, experience and value-added services in search of low rates, they need to recognize that less is not more when it comes to a sound insurance program. Gaps in coverage, unattractive terms and conditions, potential insolvencies are all impending side effects.

As we tackle the substantial undertaking of rebuilding America’s infrastructure, the industry can’t afford to take its eye off the ball. Risk management plans and insurance programs need to be comprehensive and flexible to tackle everchanging exposures, and not be constrained by difficult economic conditions.

Daniel Conway, President of Construction Risk Management and Surety, and Chief Executive of Construction Solutions for Chartis, began his career with Commercial Insurance in 1995. In 1998, he joined Construction Risk Management and was appointed to President in 2004. Dan holds a BS degree in Risk Management from Temple University.

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WASTE-TO-ENERGY

Waste not, want not Ted Michaels, President of the Energy Recovery Council, explains how waste-toenergy will provide increasing benefits for the waste management industry in the United States.

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he prospects for waste-to-energy in the United States are indeed bright, assisted by widespread recognition by decisionmakers and policymakers that waste-to-energy is a climate-friendly, clean and renewable source of homegrown energy. Renewed interest in waste-to-energy by communities is coinciding with policies and incentives that are making waste-to-energy even more attractive to those that are responsible for managing solid waste and producing locally-generated renewable energy. The market has responded to these factors and the interest in waste-to-energy is very high.

There perhaps has never been a more resounding need for renewable energy in the United States than there is today. The call for renewable enReduces greenhouse gas emissions ergy has been heard loud and clear as a result of the of Waste-to-energy achieves the reduction demand for energy independence and the growing separate three gh throu sion greenhouse gas emis environmental concerns associated with fossil fuel mechanisms: use. In addition, local governments across the country are also grappling with determining the most ef, waste-to1) by generating electrical power or steam ficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective from sions emis ) (CO2 de dioxi n energy avoids carbo way to manage trash. These factors have once again n ratio gene rical elect fossil fuel- based made waste-to-energy an attractive option for comss 2) the waste-to-energy combustion proce munities that are looking to take responsibility for sions emis ane meth ntial pote all effectively avoids their trash and their energy needs. from landfills The US Congress has passed, or is considering, s metals from 3) the recovery of ferrous and nonferrou several pieces of legislation that acknowledge wastey is more energ e-towast by e municipal solid wast to-energy as a critical component of our nation’s enmaterials raw from n uctio prod energy efficient than ergy future and provide incentives for its continued and expanded use. nstrated In brief, waste-to-energy has been demo The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act both for n optio ent agem man e to be the best wast of 2009 signed by President Barrack Obama on and eters param l enta onm energy and envir February 17, 2009 extended the period in which new . specifically for greenhouse gas emissions waste-to-energy projects could qualify for the Section e-towast e nwid natio that n It has been show 45 renewable energy production tax credit (PTC). n tons millio 28 ssing proce are h whic energy facilities, Under the new law, a waste-to-energy plant or expan28 ately oxim appr of se relea the of trash, prevent sion that is placed in service prior to December 31, s that million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent 2013 will receive a tax credit of 1.1 cents per kilowattre if sphe atmo the into sed relea would have been hour for electricity produced by that plant for a period . oyed empl not was waste-to-energy of ten years.

In addition, waste-to-energy is recognized as a climate-friendly, renewable energy source in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

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(Waxman-Markey bill) passed by the House of Representatives on June 26, 2009. This legislation requires that electric utilities obtain 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy generators, and electricity generated by qualified waste-to-energy facilities is defined as renewable.

Furthermore, the legislation establishes an historic cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases. For reasons listed in this article, waste-to-energy facilities would not be regulated for greenhouse gas under this legislation if their fuel consists of 95 percent or more municipal solid waste on a heat input basis.

Legislation approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also creates a renewable energy standard and defines waste-to-energy as an eligible renewable with which utilities can satisfy their requirement.

The policies embodied in legislation recognize that modern wasteto-energy plants are sophisticated power plants with specially designed emission control systems, which can play a vital role in curbing greenhouse gases, increasing the generation of homeSuperior environmental perform ance grown energy and reThe waste-to-energy industry in the United ducing reliance on fossil States has created growth oppo rtunities n fuels. through its commitment to emis sions reductions that have been docu mented by the US EPA.

The EPA required municipal was te combustors to be in compliance with Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards by the year 2000. In order to meet the standards, many waste-to-ene rgy plants retrofit their plants with modern air pollution control equipment. This required significant investment of resources, as loca l governments and the industry spent approxim ately $1 billion to bring them into compliance with the new standards.

The investment resulted in sign ificant emissions reductions. Proud of its accomplishments, the waste-to -energy industry provided EPA with the most robu st database of emissions data that the agency had ever received from any industry. Thro ugh analysis of the compliance data, EPA determin ed in 2002 that nationwide emissions of diox in by wasteto-energy plants were reduced by more than 99 percent from 1990 levels. Mercury was reduced by more than 95 percent. Lead, cadmium, hydrochloric acid, and particula te matter were all reduced by 90 percent or mor e. These accomplishments led EPA to conc lude in 2003 that the waste-to-energy industry produces electricity with “less environmenta l impact than almost any other source of electricity.”

Compatible with recycling Studies have shown that communities with waste-to-energy facilities are likely to have higher recycling rates than the national average. A recent study by Eileen Berenyi concludes that communities nationwide using waste-to-energy have an aggregate recycling rate at least 5 percentage points above the national average. Far from competing with recycling, waste-to-energy is part of an integrated approach to solid waste management that includes recycling as a core component.

The average recycling rate for waste-toenergy communities across the United States is over 33 percent, while the comparable national recycling rate is approximately 28 percent.

Renewable Since the inception of the com mercial waste-to-energy indu stry more than three decades ago, policymaker s have recognized municipal solid waste as a renewable fuel. In addition to the many federal laws that defi ne wasteto-energy as renewable, 24 stat es and the District of Columbi a defi ne waste-to-energy as renewab le.

The sustainable nature of mun icipal solid waste is a major com ponent of its historic renewable stat us. For more than three and a half deca des, despite all of the efforts of Env ironmental Protection Agency (EPA ) and many others to reduce, reuse and recycle, the US diversion rate of municipal solid waste has clim bed to barely 30 percent. Dur ing this same time period, the solid waste generation rate has more than dou bled and the population has risen by mor e than 96 million people. Furt herm ore, for the past several years, the nati onal average diversion rate has incr ease d by less than one percentage poin t per year. Today, Americans disp ose of more than 400 million tons of mun icipal solid waste per year of which less than 30 million tons is used as fuel in waste-to-energy facilities.

It is clear to see that for the foreseeable futu re, there will be no end to an amount of municipal solid waste availabl e as a renewable fuel.

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

JV. The most difficult thing to accomplish is good process management from the very beginning: starting with citizens correctly separating their waste, public authorities doing their task and finishing with the processes in the waste-to-energy plant. If we manage to improve every link of that chain, the biggest part of the problem will already be solved.

“We believe that renewable energy is not only more ecological and more economic, but it also improves the standard of people’s lives” To achieve this, we have to educate at all lev-

War on waste Jordi Vilardell explains the benefits of converting waste to energy and how this could help dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Waste-to-energy conversion is an increasingly recognized approach to resolving the issues of waste management and sustainable energy. What particular benefits can wasteto-energy bring, both in economic and environmental terms?

Jordi Vilardell. The re-use of waste brings manifold of economic benefits: the safe disposal, the recovery and the production of energy. In environmental terms, it is very beneficial as it prevents the emission of many tons of CO2 and CH4 (methane)

With rising oil prices and increased demand for energy, there is a need to find sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. What potential does waste-to-energy have as a replacement to more conventional sources of power?

JV. Energy recycled from waste is a good alternative particularly for small towns, which normally produce proportionally more waste than bigger cities. Furthermore, big factories and livestock normally reside in the countryside and the large amounts of waste produced by them bring about big problems, due to the lack of an adequate infrastructure. In these villages, up to 60 percent of Jordi Vilardell has been an entrepreneur from an early fossil fuels could be substituted for age and set up his first renewable energy obtained from business aged just 17. Years later he launched a the recycling of local waste. In prosperous business in the construction industry. He Spain 80 percent of communities established several companies do not possess a natural gas conrelated to that sector, including an architect’s nection and the heavy butane gas consulting agency and a property development agency. bottle is still in common use.

into the atmosphere, which is unquestionably very important.

Another benefit, which nowadays hardly any companies regard as important, but which our company, Agergas, gives the same importance as to those already mentioned, is the social benefit. The energy produced by Currently he is the head, our company is directly returned founder and CEO of AgerGAS. to the society, for instance, in a What are the key challenges of form of public light, heated water creating effective waste-tofor municipal swimming pools or energy for muenergy processes? How is the industry worknicipal buildings, etc. ing to overcome them?

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els: make the citizens and the administration realize that the little but necessary effort they have to make and the new habits they have to adopt are in their best interest. Better management means minimized costs and cheaper energy and that is what we are all looking for.

Can you tell us about any examples of successful implementation of waste-to-energy initiatives that you have been involved in?

JV. First of all, I would like to emphasize that Agergas is primarily acting in rural areas to comply with our vision, which differentiates us from the competition. We believe that renewable energy is not only more ecological and more economic, but it also improves the standard of people’s lives.

We are currently developing a private project near the city of Dubai, where we compile the industrial and livestock waste from a few local municipalities and as a result, in the middle of the desert, we are about to offer a complete service of electricity, hot water and upgraded biogas as a means of cooking for the entire city. While the electricity will be delivered to the clients via existing installations, the upgraded biogas will be supplied by a local pipeline network, which connects the plant directly with the houses.

In Spain we are working on a similar project in the province of Valladolid, where we also solve the very serious problem of livestock waste that massively contaminates the area. Instead of the common practice of biogas feeding into the natural gas pipeline network, the benefit of our supply method is that the biogas is delivered exactly to the locality where it was produced.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT

W asted opportunities

Robin Wiener explains the importance of understanding the difference between waste and recyclables.

W

aste management is a key issue confronting our nation and our policymakers. While it might seem merely a question of nuance or semantics, it’s a much larger issue that deserves our attention and action.

“Recyclables Are Not Waste and Recycling Is Not Disposal.” These nine simple words frame what should be a simple concept. How can valuable commodities that not only conserve virgin materials such as oil, trees and metallic ores, but also dramatically reduce the energy consumed in the process of manufacturing basic materials, such as steel, copper, aluminum and paper among others, be defi ned as waste? And that’s not even addressing the tremendous amounts of pollution that are reduced in the manufacture of these basic materials.

Scrap recyclables are a substitute for raw materials that otherwise would come from non-replenishable virgin resources and are sought after by the industrial community as a readily available feedstock. In comparison, wastes are materials that are discarded, or thrown away with no value or use other than disposal.

The scrap recycling industry recycled 150 million tons of materials in 2008, transforming society’s outdated and obsolete products and materials into useful raw materials needed to produce new products. At the same time, the scrap recycling industry, employing over 85,000 employees in “green” jobs, exported over $28.6 billion of recyclable materials to 153 countries, helping our country’s trade balance and making America more competitive in the global marketplace.

With all the discussion as to how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global climate change, scrap recycling has an extremely positive environmental impact that should be encouraged and expanded. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that recycling in 2006 (142.2 million tons of materials) resulted in 232.7 million tons of green-

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house gas emissions being avoided. A more recent study by the Bureau of as private entities) simply confuse the two, to the overall detriment of International Recycling estimated that CO2 emissions avoided through legitimate recycling. While the interpretation of the terminology may recycling total approximately 500 million tons. These are impressive numseem a minor issue, there are substantial and unintended consequences bers that provide meaningful impact on our environment. that unfairly penalize the scrap recycling industry.

At the same time, the challenge of recycling everOn another front, the US scrap recycling industry is increasing amounts of electronic equipment is being met critically dependent upon reliable rail service to transport by the scrap recycling industry. Approximately 2.8 billion recycled materials to its industrial consumers in domespounds of electronic equipment was recycled in 2006, intic markets and to ports for international export to concluding 65 million units of computer equipment (CPUs, sumers located around the world. Unfortunately, rail car monitors, and printers). Obsolete electronics are products shortages, appreciable rail car and service deterioration, that contain marketable commodities traded in the global extensive rail congestion, significant cost increases, and a market. One metric ton of electronic scrap from personal lack of effective remedies for insufficient and unsatisfaccomputers contains more gold than that recovered from tory service have all combined to create an intractable 17 tons of gold ore. situation that is harming most of the nation’s important Robin Wiener is President of The electronics recycling process, using state-of-themanufacturing and exporting industries. Improving the the Institute of Scrap Recycling art technologies to ensure responsible recycling, yielded nation’s rail service by increasing capacity, reducing conIndustries, Inc. For further information see www.isri.org 1.3 billion pounds of recyclable materials, more than half gestion and improving service is imperative for the US of which were metals. Consumer electronics alone are now scrap recycling industry and for all US manufacturers. considered to be approaching more than 3 million tons generated annuThe scrap recycling industry is uniquely positioned to meet the chalally. With these types of numbers, you can easily see the environmental lenges of today’s world – a leading economic engine for America providand economic benefits of treating electronics equipment as scrap rather ing real solutions that help protect and sustain the earth’s environment. than trash (e-waste?).

By addressing the confusion and misunderstanding between waste and With near universal agreement that recycling is good for our economy, recyclables, as well as taking steps to ensure reliable and affordable rail our environment and a sustainable future, it’s hard to imagine that anyone service, we can take a significant and meaningful step crucial to the ecowould intentionally impede the recycling process. But it happens everyday nomic and environmental well-being of our nation. due to the confused definitions of and distinctions between recyclable materials and waste.

Unfortunately, because the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Recycling Facts (RCRA) does not clearly delineate between waste and recyclables, courts as well as state and local governments have often confused the two and Scrap accounts for 40% of the world’s raw material needs created unnecessary burdens on recycling that defy the very meaning of RCRA – resource conservation and recovery. Efforts to encourage the US Environmental Protection Agency to remove the stigma have not been successful to date.

As a result, today’s state and local laws and regulations often unintentionally regulate recyclables as waste and scrap recyclers/processors as waste handlers. Some of the unintentional consequences of this confusing terminology are that scrap recyclers are required to operate under restrictions intended to apply to disposal operations, such as solid waste management plans designed to oversee landfills and to control the flow of solid waste. Local governments also misconstrue the confusion to justify discrimination against scrap recyclers when they apply for land use/ zoning consideration.

Thinking that scrap recycling must be similar to waste disposal operations, many local governments mistakenly adopt a NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) approach to scrap recycling operations, further limiting and penalizing scrap recycling without proper justification. Another consequence of this confusion over recyclables being treated as waste is additional insurance costs for recyclers who must be insured for hazardous waste activities, even though they are not handling hazardous waste materials.

Without clear and precise federal distinctions differentiating “recyclables” from “solid waste,” many state and local governments (as well

2 out of 3 lbs. of steel made in the US is manufactured using ferrous scrap 60% of the metals and alloys produced in the US are made from nonferrous scrap Recycling one ton of steel conserves 2500 lbs of iron ore, 1400 lbs of coal, and 120 lbs of limestone 33% of the US aluminum supply comes from recycled materials Recycling one ton of aluminum conserves up to 8 tons of bauxite ore and 14 megawatt hours of electricity 100 million tires were recycled in 2008 for reuse in a variety of industries Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 79 gallons of oil, 7000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill

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IN THE BACK

CRITICAL INFRA

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States of Emergency With American infrastructure crumbling before our eyes, recommendations suggest we should take a “fix it first” approach.

US Infrastructure examines some of the projects in dire need of repair.

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ith news of America’s failing infrastructure fi lling newspapers and images of collapsing bridges and levees on the nation’s TV screens, it has become apparent that after 30 years of general political indifference and funding myopia, it takes a national disaster such as the collapse of the I-35W interstate or the ongoing clean-up from Hurricane Katrina to get the public’s attention.

Combine this with a global economic meltdown and the country’s dilapidated and outmoded infrastructure has finally taken center stage. The US now faces some difficult decisions about the direction of infrastructure planning, funding and development.

In a report entitled Infrastructure 2009 Pivot Point by the Urban Land Institute in conjunction with Ernst & Young, one of the recommendations proposed is to focus stimulus funds on repairs in the short-term. The report suggests that fi xing ailing infrastructure should take priority over building new if we are to prevent future catastrophes on the same scale of the I-35W bridge collapse.

Candidates for repair range from rusting bridges and overpasses to outdated water treatment plants and structurally deficient levees. Here US Infrastructure takes a look at some of the most critical infrastructure projects in need of investment.

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ATLANTA Water System Water shortages aren’t limited to the Southwest but Atlanta is one area that is hit particularly hard. When drought hit Georgia in fall 2007, residents of Atlanta pitched in to reduce their consumption. However, according to a report in Popular Mechanics last year, as much as 18 percent of the city’s water was hemorrhaging through leaking pipes.

Like many older cities, much of Atlanta’s sanitary sewer system is aged and in disrepair.

Cracked and leaking pipes built to handle sanitary sewage alone, admit groundwater and storm water as well, increasing the volume of flow in the pipes. Furthermore, unprecedented population growth has lead to the sewers receiving sanitary sewage volumes greater than anticipated when they were originally constructed. Consequently, these sanitary sewer systems are strained beyond their capacity.

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KENTUCKY Wolf Creek Dam Wolf Creek Dam was constructed in the 1940s to provide flood damage reduction, hydro-power production and recreation. At 325,850 gallons maximum capacity, Lake Cumberland is the largest reservoir east of the Mississippi River. The reservoir is 101 miles in length and has 1255 miles of shoreline.

However, the dam developed serious seepage problems in 1968. The underlying problem results from caves and cavities in the limestone foundation. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District completed a Major Rehabilitation Report to evaluate alternatives to improve the long-term reliability of the Wolf Creek Dam. The recommended alternative – a concrete cut-off wall – will cost about $317.1 million. The initial phase of construction began in March 2006.

CALIFORNIA Sacramento River In 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers declared 122 US levees to be “at risk of failure.”

Of these, 19 were on California’s Sacramento River. To pick just one, if the Natomas Levee were to fail, floodwaters surging from the Sacramento River could endanger more than 83,000 residents and over $8.2 billion in damageable goods, including Sacramento International Airport, which could be under as much as 20 ft. of water.

The US Army Corps of Engineers decided that sections of the levee system are unsafe due to deficiencies related to levee under-seepage issues. However, a lack of budget agreements means that $234 million in financing for the Natomas Levee Improvement Program, has been halted.

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PROJECT FOCUS

On August 1, 2007, Minnesota suffered a tragedy of historic proportions when the I-35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge collapsed. The reconstructed bridge opened to trafďŹ c at 5 a.m. Thursday, September 18, 2008.

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IN THE BACK PROJECT FOCUS

141

Features of the new bridge

I-35W in numbers

• 10 lanes of traffic, five in each direction— two lanes wider than the former bridge • 189 feet wide—the previous bridge was 113 feet wide

•

• 13 foot wide right shoulders and 14 foot wide left shoulders, the previous bridge had no shoulders

70

- height in feet of the curved piers along the Mississippi River

• Light Rail Transport-ready which may help accommodate future transportation needs

• 100 - minimum number of years that the new bridge was designed to last •

• Design-build project complete in 339 days • Designed to be aesthetically pleasing and fit in with its environment

120 - number of precast concrete segments in the main span over the river

• Mn/DOT and its partners met and

• 323 - total number of sensors supporting the “smart bridge” technology

exceeded DBE minority participation goals

504

•

- length in feet of the main span over the Mississippi River

•

- highest number of construction personnel on site

•

- miles of steel strand posttensioning

600 750

• 1800 - number of children that participated in “Casting the Future” educational program •

50,000 - cubic yards of concrete in the bridge

•

134,000 - pounds of post tensioning

Economic impacts of the bridge collapse

bars to hold the segments together

The collapse of the I-35W Bridge had an substantial impact on road users and the economy of Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Transport’s initial study concluded that road-user costs due to the detours around the river crossing would total $400,000 per day. Further analysis estimated the loss to Minnesota’s economy at $17 million in 2007 and $43 million in 2008.

These impacts are concentrated in the Twin Cities and translate to about 0.01 percent of the state’s economy on an annual basis.

• 141,000 - number of cars that crossed the old bridge daily •

2,930,000 - pounds of steel posttensioning strand used

•

11,085,000

- pounds of steel reinforcing bars used in the entire project

Schedule Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Design/Site Preparation Foundation Construction Pier Construction Segment Casting Superstructure Construction Segment Erection (Center Span) Finishing Work Grand Opening

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September 18, 2008 (3 Months ahead of schedule)

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IN THE BACK IN REVIEW

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Hot off the press From megaprojects and transportation, to waste management and sustainability, we take a quick look at what some of the current books on critical infrastructure have to offer.

Guiding Principles for the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure

By ASCE Critical Infrastructure Guidance Task Committee

Following the devastating consequences of one of the worst infrastructure disasters in America’s history – the levee failures in New Orleans – attention was focused on the importance of ensuring the quality of critical infrastructure systems. In response to this the ASCE Critical Infrastructure Guidance Task Committee produced this book in which it outlines a set of interdependent guiding principles to inform the planning, funding, design, construction and operation of critical infrastructure systems. Th is book details the four fundamental guiding principals that ASCE proposes and looks at some important strategies for change.

US Infrastructure says: A particularly pertinent read for all organizations and individuals involved in developing and operating critical infrastructure.

Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems A Framework for Meeting 21st Century Imperatives By the National Research Council

America’s critical infrastructure systems are now 50 to 100 years old and require significant improvements. Th is book explains that if the nation is to meet some of the important challenges of the 21st century, a new approach will be needed to achieve the renewal of critical infrastructure systems. The authors discuss the essential components of this new approach and outline a framework to ensure that processes, practices, technologies, materials and fi nancing options are better aligned to meet the needs of modern critical infrastructure.

US Infrastructure says: An informative book that underlines the need to renew and restructure existing infrastructure systems to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Disaster Recovery Planning for Communications and Critical Infrastructure

By Leo A. Wrobel and Sharon M. Wrobel

Th is practical book, by two respected industry experts, addresses the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to natural disasters and terrorism. It gives advice on what professionals should be doing to protect their infrastructure from theses threats and provides an insight into maintaining command and control in crisis situations and predicting the probability of disasters.

US Infrastructure says: A fascinating read for anyone interested in the major threats to critical infrastructure.

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PHOTO FINISH

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Final steel beam from World Trade Center is laid to rest in museum

T

he fi nal steel beam taken from the World Trade Center site is hoisted into place for permanent installation at the planned National September 11 Memorial & Museum August 24, 2009 in New York City.

The 58-ton, 36-foot-tall ‘Last Column’ was delivered to the World Trade Center site after being stored for seven years at a hangar at Kennedy International Airport. The column is famously etched with graffiti and first responder logos in tribute to those killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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