Infra Insight Blog

There can be little argument that many of the more than 90,000 dams in this country are in need of immediate attention. The catastrophic failure of two dams in Michigan last month following an extraordinary amount of rain in a relatively short period, highlights a number of issues:

• More than 60% of dams in the United States are more than 60 years old. That means they were largely constructed using construction standards and techniques that are no longer consistent with modern requirements and standards, exposing these dams to  the potential for failure. ...

A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal for the Third District heard oral arguments last week in the longstanding companion cases challenging the legality of AB 32’s cap and trade auctions. (California Chamber of Commerce v. California Air Resources Board and Morning Star Packing Co. v. California Air Resources Board)  The questions most frequently posed by the Justices related to the nature of payments made for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission credits, a contributor in the billions of dollars to the state general fund for programs designed to reduce greenhouse gasses ...

Hopes that the Congress would pass S. 1647, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act (DRIVE Act),  a six-year, $478 billion transportation funding reauthorization bill before the August recess have, like so many times before, come to naught.  Instead we get a three month extension of the current transportation funding and authorization law, MAP-21, that will provide $8 billion to allow current project funding and implementation to continue.

The three-month extension, H.R. 3236, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement ...

A lawsuit recently filed by Scenic America strikes at a guidance issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2007 related to the use of changeable electronic variable message signs (CEVMS) also known as digital billboards.  These CEVMS, which are seen with increasing frequency on sites adjacent to and intended to be viewed from the highway right of way, rely on state of the art digital technology to provide changeable, high definition commercial messages to the traveling public.

The FHWA guidance being challenged addresses an issue raised by the Highway ...

With the delay of the federal transportation re-authorization and federal transportation funding in limbo, state transportation agencies across the nation are trying to cope any way they can. In California this week, 19 self help local transportation financing agencies - that collectively generate more than $4 billion a year for transportation - drew a large crowd of transportation public agency officials, elected officials, contractors and consultants to the 20^th Annual Focus on the Future Conference in Los Angeles to explore their options. Conference speakers discussed current developments in transportation funding, environmental compliance and project delivery. The news on project delivery and innovation was positive, the environmental compliance news mixed, and the funding news pretty discouraging.

Interspersed with the grim chronicling of the current state and federal funding landscapes, the conference highlighted some bright spots, including federal ARRA funds, Measure R funding in Los Angeles, and innovative project delivery, PPPs and congestion pricing.