Infra Insight Blog

Federal prevailing wage law, known as the Davis-Bacon Act and Related Acts (Davis-Bacon Act), is applicable to almost every federal and federal-aid project.  The rules governing the Davis-Bacon Act have been essentially unchanged for 40 years.  But now, for the first time since the Reagan administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) is updating the Davis-Bacon Act and making a number of significant changes to how the Davis-Bacon Act is administered ...

One of the key events for the P3/infrastructure industry this year will be the P3 Policy and Delivery Summit, which is being held in Washington D.C. on May 14th and 15^th. The Summit is taking place during, and in partnership with, Infrastructure Week, and is poised  to attract industry leaders from the private sector and senior officials from federal, state, and local government. The event will be held at the Cosmos Club, a D.C. landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Summit’s focus is to analyze the respective roles of federal, state and local government in ...

Sponsors of critical maritime transportation projects received welcome news this week, as the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for America’s Marine Highway Projects. This notice makes available roughly $7 million in recently-appropriated funds for the Short Sea Transportation Program (46 U.S.C. § 55601), commonly referred to as America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) is in charge of this important, but perhaps not well-known, program:  The America’s Marine Highway ...

The National Council for Public Private Partnerships, reengineered its 2016 P3 Connect annual conference June 27 to 29, 2016, posing the question What’s Next for public-private partnerships in the United States.  NCPPP (as it is widely known in the P3 space) launched four Institutes to offer answers.  NCPPP created four separate Transportation, Energy, Real Estate and Social Infrastructure and Water institutes, each of which met in Chicago over the three day conference starting discussions with where are we now and ending with where do we go from here.

In parallel, NCPPP reprised ...

New Mexico will now allow certain highway and projects funded in whole or in part by federal funds to use the design-build delivery method.  On the last day (March 9, 2016) to sign bills from the most recent legislative session, Governor Susana Martinez signed HB 206 , which permits the Department of Transportation to use the design-build delivery method for road and highway projects above $50 million.   Previously, road and highway projects were specifically prohibited from using design-build delivery unless part of a very limited number of demonstration projects.  Opening road and ...

City of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced today that WMB Heartland Justice Partners was selected as the Preferred Offeror to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new Marion County Consolidated Justice Facility.  WMB Heartland Justice Partners is comprised of equity members Walsh Investors, LLC, Meridiam Infrastructure Indy Justice, LLC, and Balfour Beatty Investments, Inc.

In making the announcement, Mayor Ballard said of the project: It will solve so many problems, so many problems that contribute to our existing facilities being outdated, inefficient ...

On May 17, 2013, the Texas Department of Transportation and AGL Constructors reached commercial close on the design-build and capital maintenance agreements for the I-35E Managed Lanes Project.  AGL Constructors is a joint venture comprised of Archer Western Contractors, LLC, Granite Construction Company and The LANE Construction Company. AGL Constructors was conditionally awarded the contract in December 2012, and was one of four teams the Texas Department of Transportation shortlisted for the project in early 2012.

The I-35E Managed Lanes Project is the first phase in a ...

The Design-Build Institute of America announced today the 2013 Design-Build in Transportation Awards, which will be presented on March 19, 2013 at the 2013 Design-Build in Transportation Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The California Department of Transportation was named 2013 Transportation Owner Agency of the Year.  Caltrans has made great strides with design-build recently through its Design-Build Demonstration Program.  Caltrans also reached financial close this year on its high profile Presidio Parkway project, which will use the design-build-finance-operate and ...

On December 13, 2012, the Texas Transportation Commission conditionally awarded the design-build and capital maintenance agreements for the IH 35E Managed Lanes Project to AGL Constructors, a joint venture comprised of Archer Western Contractors, LLC, Granite Construction Company and The LANE Construction Company. AGL Constructors was one of four teams the Texas Department of Transportation shortlisted for the project earlier this year. The other proposer teams included:

• Dallas to Denton Constructors, a joint venture comprised of Zachry Construction Corporation and ...

Last night the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, responsible for development of the $750 million Knik Arm Crossing project in the Anchorage, Alaska region, filed a letter of interest with the USDOT for TIFIA credit assistance.  It is one of the first, if not the first, letters of interest filed under the USDOT’s July 27 Notice of Funding Availability implementing the MAP-21 amendments to TIFIA.

KABATA filed a letter of interest in November 2011 for a $308 million TIFIA loan.  With the changes in MAP-21 authorizing TIFIA credit assistance up to 49% of eligible project costs and ...

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in cooperation with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, reached financial close on the Presidio Parkway Project public-private partnership (P3).  The $1.1 billion deal is the first transportation P3 in California under the recently enacted P3 statute, Streets and Highways Code section 143, and only the third highway project developed through an availability payment structure. 

Caltrans entered into an agreement with Golden Link Concessionaire, LLC, a consortium led by Hochtief PPP Solutions North ...

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has released the report "Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation: A Toolkit for Legislators."  The text of the report is short and concise (32 pages, with multiple appendices), yet provides a thorough overview of the the pros and cons of PPPs.  It also sets forth nine principles for consideration by legislators in deciding if and how to pursue public-private partnerships.  

The report is very well sourced, with examples of how projects and jurisdictions addressed matters that affected their programs and projects.  The ...

The California Department of Transportation started off the New Year with a significant step in its public-private partnership program.  After an Alameda County Superior Court judge dissolved a temporary restraining order and denied a preliminary injunction sought by Professional Engineers in California Government, the California Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, awarded the contract for the Presidio Parkway Project to Golden Link Concessionaire, LLC, a consortium led by Hochtief PPP Solutions North ...

A short six months after shortlisting proposers, the California Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority selected Golden Link Partners, a consortium led by Hochtief PPP Solutions North America and Meridiam Infrastructure North America, as the Preferred Proposer for Presidio Parkway Project.  Golden Link Partners submitted an annual availability payment of $28,549,189, well within the $35 million limit authorized by the California Transportation Commission in April 2010.  This significant event in the procurement follows closely ...

Following extensive industry review of the draft Request for Proposals, on Friday, July 9, 2010, the California Department of Transportation, in coordination with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, issued the final Request for Proposals for the Presidio Parkway Project. According to the latest procurement schedule in the Request for Proposals, technical proposals are due on September 10, 2010, and financial proposals are due on September 24, 2010.

The Presidio Parkway Project is the first public-private partnership procurement under California's new ...

California's first public-private partnership procurement has passed two major hurdles in the last week.  First, after a long anticipated and much-debated hearing, the California Transportation Commission approved the San Francisco Presidio Parkway Project last week on an 8-3 vote.

Second, on May 25, the California Department of Transportation released the draft request for proposals to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Presidio Parkway.  The project, sponsored by Caltrans and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, is being closely watched ...