Infra Insight Blog

On Dec. 9, 2012, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting qualifications from teams interested in entering into a design-build contract and a potential capital maintenance agreement for the Dallas Horseshoe Project.  Following a three-month process, which included questions and answers from interested industry participants, TxDOT received seven Qualification Statemelnts on Feb. 22, 2012.  Over the next month, the Qualification Statements were evaluated by TxDOT.  On March 29, 2012, TxDOT announced the short list of ...

Representatives from a coalition of Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the United States have joined to send a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner  to oppose inclusion into the House's surface transportation reauthorization bill two amendments, introduced by Senator Bingaman, to the recently passed S. 1813, entitled Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). The DOTs that signed the letter include Arizona, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas, Kansas, Virginia, and Ohio.
 
The DOTs say the two ...

On March 19, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting statements of qualifications from prospective proposers to provide design-build services for intermodal parking facilities and enhancements associated with the Metro Gold Line Foothill light-rail extension. 

The project will involve the design and construction of multiple 200-plus-space parking structures and 100-plus-space surface parking lots, as well as the implementation of other amenities at the six stations included as part of the light ...

The national search for the position for Director, Electronic Fares Program for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is currently underway to identify top individuals to consider this newly created position. This exciting role provides leadership in support of MTC’s formidable mission that spans an array of complex electronic fare programs that impact millions of people in the region.

The Director, Electronic Fares Program will join a leadership team committed to innovation, creativity, and transforming local transportation methods through ...

On March 9, 2012, the Indiana Finance Authority, an independent instrumentality in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Transportation, issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting statements of qualifications from prospective proposers to develop, design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a tolled bridge facility and associated roadway facilities crossing the Ohio River from Clark County in southeastern Indiana into Jefferson County, Kentucky (the East End Crossing) through an availability payment concession.

The East End Crossing involves the ...

The Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project reached a major milestone today when it received three proposals to replace the existing span linking Interstate 710 to the Port of Long Beach.  The Port of Long Beach and Caltrans are jointly procuring the design-build portion of the project - estimated to cost roughly $750 million - through California’s Design-Build Demonstration Program.

The three teams that submitted proposals are:

• Dragados USA Inc./Flatiron West Inc/CC Myers Inc., A Joint Venture;
• Shimmick Construction Company Inc./FCC Construction S.A./Impregilo S.p.A, A ...

The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) announced today that IFA and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will be providing updated information and answering questions from prospective proposers related to the procurement of the East End Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project on March 2, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY. All interested parties should pre-register here for the event by 5:00 p.m. on Feb. 29, 2012.

As previously announced, the Ohio River Bridges Project will include two procurement ...

On Feb. 15, 2012, the North Carolina Department of Transportation advertised a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the I-77 HOT Lanes Project located in the Charlotte-Mecklunberg area.  The RFQ seeks interested teams to submit their Statement of Qualifications to develop, design, build, finance, operate, and maintain HOT lanes along the I-77 corridor through a public-private partnership.  The project will involve the conversion of existing HOV lanes to HOT lanes, and the extension of HOT lanes along the I-77 corridor.

An industry forum is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2012 in Charlotte ...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has shortlisted five design-build teams in response to its first design-build project for the first segment of the California High-Speed Train System in California's Central Valley. 

The shortlisted teams are: 

• California Backbone Builders, composed of Ferrovial Agroman and Acciona
• California High-Speed Rail Partners, composed of Fluor Corp., Skanska and PCL Constructors
• California High-Speed Ventures, composed of Kiewit Corp., Granite Construction and Comsa EMTE
• Dragados SA, Flatiron Construction Corp. and Shimmick ...

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has authorized the City and County of Honolulu to begin construction of a 20-mile, $5 billion rail transit project.  The FTA Letter of No Prejudice allows the City to begin up to $184.7 million in construction and other activities on the project, including the first sections of raised guideways from East Kopolei to Pearl Highlands.  The 20-mile rail project will extend from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center in downtown Honolulu and includes a station at the Honolulu International Airport. 

Hawaii state courts have rejected state law challenges to the ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a much-anticipated fourth round of funding for USDOT’s popular TIGER Discretionary Grants program, totalling $500 million for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure.

Pre-applications must be submitted by Feb. 20, 2012 and final applications must be submitted by March 19, 2012.  Previous rounds of competitive TIGER grants were heavily over-subscribed.  The last round attracted 848 applications with funding requests for $14.29 billion, while USDOT awarded funds in December 2011 for 46 capital ...

On January 23, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting qualifications from private developers interested in entering into a design-build contract and capital maintenance agreement and/or a toll concession agreement for the IH 35E Managed Lanes Project. The RFQ provides prospective developers the opportunity to submit qualifications for one or both of the two public-private partnership (P3) methods. Qualification submittals for the project are due March 23, 2012.   

IH 35E serves the rapidly growing areas of ...

On Nov. 3, 2011 the TIFIA Joint Program Office announced availability of limited funding for TIFIA credit assistance for fiscal year 2012 and invited submission of letters of interest (LOIs) by Dec. 30, 2011.  While we are aware of no official announcement, sources inform us that the TIFIA JPO received LOIs from 26 project sponsors seeking over $13 billion in credit assistance to finance almost $36 billion in new infrastructure investment.

This current interest continues a three-year trend in strong demand for TIFIA credit assistance, and, so far anyway, a limited amount of available ...

On Friday, Dec. 9, 2011, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed historic design-build legislation into law, giving five state entities - the New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Thruway Authority, the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Bridge Authority - general authorization to enter into design-build contracts for capital projects for physical infrastructure.  Previously, only public universities had legislative authorization to use design-build. 

The ...

This morning, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Ray LaHood announced the winners of the extremely competitive TIGER III grant application cycle.  Forty-six projects in 33 states will share $511 million in grant funds.  The announcement was made several months earlier than the originally scheduled date.

As has been the case with the previous two rounds of TIGER grants, this cycle was wildly oversubscribed.  According to the announcement, USDOT received 848 project applications from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, requesting a total of $14.29 ...

Statements of Qualifications for the California High-Speed Rail Authority's Initial Construction Section, Construction Package 1 (north of the San Joaquin River through the City of Fresno) are due Dec. 19, 2011, with contract award currently scheduled for December 2012. 

This is the first of five design-build procurement packages planned for the California High-Speed Rail Project. The Authority's procurement schedule is available here.  Comments on the Draft 2012 Business Plan, issued by the Authority last month, are due by the end of the year.  The Draft Business Plan ...

In advance of its deadline for statements of qualifications (SOQ),  the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York State Thruway Authority are holding a Pre-SOQ Informational Meeting for the Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing Project.  The event will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY.  Interested participants are required to pre-register for the event by completing an online registration form, available here.   The agenda includes presentations by the DOT and Authority, a question period, and a "meet-and-greet" ...

On November 16, challenges to the legality of the Presidio Parkway public-private partnership (P3) contract ended with a one sentence order from the California Supreme Court: The petition for review is denied.  Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), the union representing Caltrans engineers, had asked the Supreme Court to review the Aug. 8, 2011, decision of the California Court of Appeal in San Francisco (First District), which unanimously held that Phase 2 of the Presidio Parkway project can move forward as a P3.  As a result, the California Department of ...

At its October 27 meeting, the Texas Transportation Commission approved the issuance of a request for qualifications for the Horseshoe Project in Dallas County.  The project will be the first under new design-build legislation passed by the Texas legislature during the 2011 session.  Subchapter F, Chapter 223, of the Transportation Code prescribes the process by which the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may enter into a design-build contract with a private entity that provides for the design, construction, expansion, extension, related capital maintenance ...

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the draft reauthorization bill unanimously voted out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, contains major improvements to the TIFIA program that many, including those of us at Nossaman, have been advocating.  These changes, if enacted, will greatly expand availability and eliminate much of the uncertainty over whether a project will be selected.

• The bill eliminates virtually ALL of the selection criteria, converting availability from a discretionary competitive selection process to a simple objective ...

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood plans to name Karen J. Hedlund as Deputy Administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).  Hedlund moves to the Deputy Administrator position from her current role as Chief Counsel at FRA, replacing Karen Rae, who Gov. Cuomo recently appointed as New York State Deputy Transportation Secretary.  Before moving to FRA, Hedlund served as Federal Highway Administration Chief Counsel from June 2009-June 2010, where she helped implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including new investments in highway ...

On October 21, I participated on a panel regarding Successful Teaming at the 2011 DBIA Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla.  In the broad sense, teaming in the design-build context is collaboration among all project participants to help foster integration and achieve win-win solutions for delivering a project.  The panel addressed best practices for drafting teaming agreements and promoting communication and integration among team members.  My presentation focused on why the owner is interested in teaming and how the owner can influence teaming arrangements.  Key takeaways from the ...

Our October 21 blog on managed lanes projects in Southern California talked about how three county transportation agencies are expanding on the success of the SR91 Express Lanes in Orange County, Calif., by using managed lanes to further relieve congestion and improve mobility in the region.  Not to be outdone by its Southern California cousins, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the transportation planning and funding agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, just received the blessing of the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and ...

Today, DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC (DXE), a group of private investors, received authority from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to construct and operate a 190-mile dedicated high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas, NV and Victorville, CA. Once the line is constructed, trains will operate at up to 150 miles per hour and provide an energy-efficient alternative to automobile travel on the I-15 corridor and air travel between these two areas of the country.

DXE requested that the STB grant authority to construct and operate this line under an expedited review ...

Yesterday, the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) announced its decision to shortlist three of six teams that submitted statements of qualifications for the Knik Arm Crossing project.  KABATA is procuring an availability payment public-private partnership for the $750 million project. Nossaman acts as KABATA's legal advisor for the procurement.
 
Michael Foster, KABATA's Board Chairman, said, "The process becomes very competitive from here on out. We expect to see some top notch proposals."
 
The shortlisted teams are:

Alaska Infrastructure Access Partners
Infrared ...

Southern California can’t say it’s number one when it comes to having the worst traffic congestion in the country, but it’s a huge economic and social problem for the region which three Southern California transportation agencies are addressing through the use of managed lanes.  That’s what we recently learned at the Women’s Transportation Seminar presentation on October 14, 2011.

On a panel moderated by Rick Backlund, an FHWA region official, we heard from Rose Casey, Program Manager for the Orange County Transportation Authority; Stephanie Wiggins, Executive ...

Ted Houghton is the new chair of the Texas Transportation Commission. Governor Rick Perry announced Houghton's appointment, effective October 7.  Houghton succeeds Deirdre Delisi, who recently resigned.  Delisi had served as chair since 2008.

Houghton was first appointed to the Commission in 2003 and was reappointed in 2009. A native of El Paso, Houghton is self-employed in the financial services industry. He is the first resident of El Paso to serve on the Commission.

"I'd like to thank Governor Perry for his trust in me to continue TxDOT down a path of responsiveness, change and ...

At its first regular meeting since the retirement of Amadeo Saenz, Jr. at the end of August, the Texas Transportation Commission named its choice for his replacement.  Effective October 17, 2011, former Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson began his new job as TxDOT’s 19th Executive Director.  Mr. Wilson comes to TxDOT from Luminant, a Dallas-based electric generation company, where he was the senior vice president of public affairs.

In addition to his position as Texas’ Secretary of State, Mr. Wilson’s history of public service includes time working for both former U.S ...

On October 24, 2011, the Alliance for Toll Interoperability (ATI), an organization of more than 40 toll road operators founded in 2007 for the purpose of promoting and implementing interstate interoperability, will commence pilot operations for four license plate interoperability hubs.  Pursuant to the Interoperability Network Pilot Program (INPP), separate hubs established by four vendors (ACS [a subsidiary of Xerox ], Federal Signal, Cofiroute USA, and Secure Interagency Flow [a CS/Egis joint venture]) will receive license plate data from six tolling agencies (E470 in ...

Nossaman's Geoff Yarema, chair of the Firm's Infrastructure Practice Group and a Commissioner on the Congressionally mandated National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, provided testimony this week to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, "Hearing on National Infrastructure Bank: More Bureaucracy & More Red Tape."

As discussed in a previous blog post, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently set new level-entry boarding requirements for disabled passengers on intercity and commuter railroads through amended regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (76 Fed. Reg. 57924).

In the proposed rule, USDOT stated its intent to require passenger railroads to provide level-entry boarding at all new or altered station platforms, unless the passenger railroad could show that level boarding was infeasible.  In the final rule, USDOT retained the level-boarding ...

In a recent move that will have wide-ranging impact on the rail industry, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) set new level-entry boarding requirements for the access of passengers with disabilities to passenger railroads, applicable to new and altered station platforms where construction or alteration begins on or after March 2, 2012.  Through a final rule promulgated on September 19, 2011, USDOT amended its Americans with Disabilities Act regulations to require intercity and commuter passenger railroads to provide that disabled passengers can access any passenger ...

Yesterday the clock struck 4 p.m. in Anchorage, Alaska, the deadline for the P3 industry to submit statements of qualifications for the Knik Arm Crossing project. The public sponsor, Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA), found on its desk statements from six experienced teams. This level of interest in a U.S. P3 project has few parallels.  

Here are the six teams:

Knik Bridge Partners

CSEC Holding Company, Inc.

China State Construction International Holdings, Ltd

Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation

CCA Civil, Inc.

Finley Civil ...

On Sept. 19, 2011, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) sent a press release announcing that GDOT issued the final Request for Proposal (RFP) for the West by Northwest Project.  The RFP was provided to three short-listed proposers, comprised of several national and international developers and contractors.  Brandon Beach, P3 Committee Chair of the State Transportation Board, viewed the issuance of the RFP as further evidence that GDOT’s P3 program is vibrant and continuing to make huge strides in coordinating these mega-projects with our partner agencies.

Responses ...

USDOT’s TIFIA Office is hiring a new lead negotiator/financial policy advisor and a financial analyst.  Both positions are based in Washington, DC, and applications are due September 21st. 

The ideal candidate for the lead negotiator position will be a senior finance expert who has negotiated transportation finance and/or infrastructure project finance credit agreements as practiced in domestic and international capital markets.

For the financial analysts role, the ideal candidate is a mid-level professional with experience in the financial operations and practices of ...

We are pleased to report that AB 294--the bill that was the subject of our blog yesterday--is no longer in play.

A last-minute amendment to California Assembly Bill 294, if passed, would wreak havoc on Caltrans and local agency plans to use design-build for state highway projects (Public Contract Code section 6800 et seq.) and to enter into public-private partnerships (P3s) for highway projects (Streets and Highways Code section 143).

The language added to the bill would preclude local agencies from hiring consultants to work on the projects, stating that all work must be done through Caltrans employees or consultants under contract with Caltrans.  Project consultants are often hired well ...

Susan Martinovich, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), together with representatives of several state departments of transportation, held a news conference yesterday to urge Congress to take action before September 30 to extend the gas tax and to reauthorize federal highway and transit programs at current funding levels.  The press conference was held at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

A press release reporting the news conference quoted Martinovich ...

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) brought online this week two new extensions of its well-regarded Salt Lake City TRAX light rail network.  The first projects in UTA’s ambitious Frontlines 2015 program, UTA delivered the new West Valley and Mid-Jordan TRAX lines 20% under budget and a year early, boosted by funds the federal New Starts grant program and from a quarter-cent local sales tax increase.

The 5.1-mile West Valley extension ($370 million total cost) forms part of a new TRAX green line that will eventually run from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International ...

On August 8, 2011, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco published a decision holding that Phase 2 of the Presidio Parkway project can move forward as a public-private partnership (P3).  The unanimous opinion approved of and affirmed the February decision by Judge Wynne Carvill of the Alameda County Superior Court to the same effect, allowing the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) to proceed with Phase II as a P3. The decision was issued less than five months after the appeal had been taken ...

The Pennsylvania Transportation Funding Advisory Commission just issued its final report on a strategy to improve the commonwealth's transportation funding. Aside from a list of recommendations for streamlining operations, the Commission made the following key recommendations for solving the commonwealth's transportation revenue and funding problems:

• Expand program management and outsourcing, including bundling "individual projects into programs—such as rehabilitating 100 to 300 bridges at one time—and engag[ing] experienced private sector program managers ...

Over the past 10 years, California lawmakers have made tremendous strides in providing express design-build procurement authority to pubic agencies in the state. This authority, however, has not been applied evenly across all project types or agencies.

As matters stand in 2011, much broader design-build authority exists for public buildings or vertical projects than for transportation or horizontal projects.  Within the realm of horizontal projects, projects on the state highway system are subject to a number of constraints that do not apply to other types of projects.  And the ...

Yesterday, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority awarded a $486 million design-build contract to a Kiewit/Parsons joint venture. The contract is for the 11.5 mile extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail from the Sierra Madre Villa station in the City of Pasadena to Citrus Avenue near the boundary of the City of Azusa and the City of Glendora.  The Authority previously awarded a separate design-build contract to Skanska for the Iconic Freeway Structure within the same alignment.

The Authority made the award decision for the Foothill Extension project using ...

On July 19, 2011, the Georgia Department of Transportation issued a press release stating that GDOT was invited to apply for a TIFIA loan in the amount of $270 million for the Northwest Corridor Project – a project to add managed lanes along I-75 and I-575 in the metro Atlanta region with approximately $968 million in capital costs.  The press release followed an announcement by Governor Nathan Deal that the procurement of the Northwest Corridor Project will proceed to the next phase through the issuance of a final Request for Proposals.  Three consortia – consisting of major national ...

During a July 20, 2011 presentation before the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Virginia Department of Transportation reported that VDOT reached agreement on major business terms with Elizabeth River Crossings LLC for the design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance of the Midtown Tunnel Project in the Portsmouth and Norfolk area.  As a result of this major milestone, VDOT is targeting to reach financial close on the Midtown Tunnel Project by the end of 2011.  

The Midtown Tunnel Project will involve the construction of a new two-lane tunnel under the ...

If you want to know what a mature, effective federal and state P3 policy can look like, we need not look very far beyond our U.S. borders.  Two Canadian provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, provide us a road map for building successful, sustainable P3 programs and policies.

At the International Bridge Conference in Pittsburgh last month, panelists for a workshop on P3s, including Len Kozachuk with Infrastructure Ontario (IO), described the essential features of this agency and its alternative financing and procurement program.  The contrast with how our federal and state policy ...

We all know that our infrastructure is aging.  Considering how hot the issue of transportation funding (or lack thereof) has become, it is almost impossible not to see or hear something on this topic daily.  That being said, Transportation for America has provided a new way for us to fixate on the state of disrepair of our nation’s bridges – an interactive map.

The map is color-coded and uses green to mark states that are more-or-less maintaining their bridges.  A special hats off to Florida and Nevada, which rank 50th and 51st respectively in the list of disrepair.  In contrast, the map ...

Posted by guest blogger Ryan J. Orr

A recently published paper analyzes returns on infrastructure investments and produces some rather surprising findings. The paper, Risk, Return and Cash Flow Characteristics of Infrastructure Fund Investments by Florian Bitsch, Axel Buchner, and Christoph Kaserer, examines an extensive dataset of infrastructure and non-infrastructure deals and finds that the data does not back up the conventional wisdom that infrastructure investments offer long-term, stable and predictable, inflation-linked returns with low correlation to other ...

On June 15, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Rep. Bill Shuster, Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Material Subcommittee, introduced the Competition for Intercity Passenger Rail in America Act.

Chairman Mica said: After 40 years of costly and wasteful Soviet-style operations under Amtrak, this proposal encourages private sector competition, investment and operations in U.S. passenger rail service. The legislation would force Amtrak to sell the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to the U.S. government, establish a committee ...

As discussed in our previous blog post, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced this week the availability of nearly $527 million in FY 2011 funds for the third round of USDOT’s wildly popular TIGER Discretionary Grant program.

Pre-applications for the funds are due by October 3, 2011, and final applications are due by October 31, 2011.  USDOT will host a half-day seminar and webcast providing information and guidance on the TIGER application process on July 18, 2011.

The TIGER program awards funds on a competitive basis to projects that will have a significant ...