October 19, 2018 | Articles
Inspired by the Past… Building for the Future
By MATT CUMMINGS
Executive Vice President, AECOM, and 2018 ARTBA Chairman
I’m a history buff. I’m particularly interested in the development of America’s transportation infrastructure, which shouldn’t be surprising given my 30-year career as an engineer.
From 1935 to 1943, the Works Progress Administration (WPA—later called the Work Projects Administration) employed more than 8 million people in thousands of construction projects nationwide. The federal government invested approximately $11 billion, or more than $191 billion today when adjusted for inflation.
More than $4 billion (about $70 billion today) was directed at highway, road and street projects, eventually totaling more than 650,000 miles. Maybe you’ve driven the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut; the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina; the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi or the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Los Angeles.
WPA crews built 75,000 bridges, many of them small spans to help farmers get their goods to market. New York City’s Triborough Bridge was one of the largest. Projects also included the Boston, New York and Chicago transit systems.
The WPA also had a hand in developing 800 airports and airfields, in addition to 125,000 public buildings and 8,000 parks. Murals and other public artworks also were among the WPA legacy.
Talk about a building boom! The scale of that work remains impressive and something America should be striving for today.
Back in September, President Trump said: “For decades now, Washington has allowed our infrastructure to fall into a state of total decay and disrepair. And it’s time now to build new roads, new bridges, airports, tunnels, highways, and railways all across our great land.” Whether you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, it’s hard to disagree with the sentiment.
While there are clearly many differences between the America of the 1930s and the nation in the second decade of the 21st century, at least three things remain the same in the transportation arena.
First, the public and private sectors of the U.S. transportation design and construction industry are as much up to the task of major infrastructure modernization as they were in the 1930s. Think of how much our industry has advanced with technology, equipment, materials processes and safety.
The accomplishments of the WPA can inspire our generation to do big things. But we shouldn’t need a Great Depression or a Great Recession as motivation. Building great projects is the right thing to benefit our economy and quality of life, and help our children and grandchildren.
Second, the best way to meet the infrastructure challenges in this century is through a significant boost in direct federal transportation investment and bolstered by a mix of additional funding and financing mechanisms. That means, as a start, President Trump and Congress must provide a permanent Highway Trust Fund revenue solution.
Third, as it has for the last 115 years, ARTBA will continue to be exclusively focused on advancing the industry’s interests before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, the courts, news media and general public.
ARTBA was on the job long before FDR created the WPA, and we will be here after current challenges are solved. Working together, let’s build for the future.
October 19, 2018 | Articles
By Nick Goldstein, vice president of regulatory & legal issues, ARTBA
ARTBA has petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to repeal a 102-year-old federal procurement rule that blocks the use of innovative products that could improve safety and quality on the nation’s major roadways.
The rule prohibits state and local governments from using patented or proprietary products on highway and bridge projects that receive federal funding, unless those products qualify for limited exceptions. It was adopted in 1916 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which then managed the nascent federal-aid highway program.
The American Road Builders Association, as ARTBA was known at the time, objected to the Woodrow Wilson administration rule.
In a 26-page filing, ARTBA points out that since many new technologies—particularly those marking a significant advance in quality, performance, or durability—incorporate intellectual property, “the rule has inevitably impeded the development and deployment of products from the market that could save lives, minimize congestion or otherwise improve the quality of our nation’s highways.” It cites examples including the use of composite materials and disc bearings for bridges, moveable traffic barriers, higher visibility signage and breakaway sign posts.
The association’s petition argues the rule was not directed by the governing statute, the 1916 Federal-Aid Road Act, nor was it ever subject to the Administrative Procedures Act’s rigorous public notice and comment requirements. It further says there does not appear to be any factual record or official federal proceedings to support an objective rationale for the rule.
ARTBA also noted other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the Coast Guard and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have set up procurement systems that allow for the appropriate use of sole source contracts for patented or proprietary products to accomplish their missions.
“This regulation is a relic of antiquated early 20th century thinking,” ARTBA President Pete Ruane said. “It is out of step with the Federal Highway Administration’s support for the development and procurement of the best products on the market. Repealing it would spur the use of new technology and materials that help save lives and upgrade the quality of our highways and bridges.”
If the USDOT accepts the petition, the agency would then formally propose to withdraw the rule, with allowances for public notice and comment. ARTBA’s goal is new federal direction that promotes, rather than stifles, the use of innovative products and techniques in the transportation infrastructure market.
ARTBA is being assisted in the petition action by the Washington, D.C., law firm, Venable, LLP. The Venable team is led by former U.S. Secretary of Transportation James Burnley.
October 19, 2018 | Articles
By T. Peter Ruane, ARTBA President & CEO
The NCAA college basketball tournaments are an annual rite of spring where millions of Americans of all ages engage in an unofficial national holiday (of at least an hour or two) to fill out, and then monitor brackets. For two dramatic weeks each March, fans and casual observers come together to follow tournaments routinely filled with buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories and excellence.
As I reflect on the sensational men’s and women’s tournaments just completed, there are several interesting parallels between these celebrated events and our industry’s advocacy efforts to secure necessary levels of federal transportation investment.
Throughout both tournaments, we saw countless examples of teams who never quit. Sometimes they were able to overcome seemingly insurmountable deficits, other times they were not. Regardless, these young adults routinely demonstrated a belief in themselves and their cause that would never allow them to back down.
As all ARTBA members know, we never quit. We also make no apologies for our zealous pursuit of federal policies that will lead to a safer and more efficient national transportation network. Attempting to advance innovations or new solutions to long-standing dilemmas isn’t always easy or popular, but failure to do so almost assuredly preserves an unacceptable status quo.
Another similarity between the NCAA college basketball tournaments and federal advocacy is that both are replete with talking heads and odds makers. Interestingly enough, both also demonstrate that so-called “experts” are often wrong.
For two straight years, the juggernaut that is the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team has failed to make it to the championship game despite a 2016-17 season that was part of 111 straight victories and an undefeated 2017-18 campaign. Similarly, the men of Loyola-Chicago, aided by their chaplain “Sister Jean,” beat long odds on their way to the Final Four becoming one of only three 11 seeds in history to reach that goal.
The odds makers in our case are the Washington, D.C., political class and the media. Each have been throwing cold water on the outlook for a robust infrastructure bill and a Highway Trust Fund fix since before the 2016 presidential election was complete. While I certainly wish we were further along in that process, there is no denying it is still moving forward.
Trump administration officials testified on their infrastructure proposal weekly in the House and Senate during March. The president also recently gave an infrastructure-focused speech in Ohio where he once again pledged to deliver “the biggest, boldest, infrastructure plan in the last half-century.” Republican leaders on Capitol Hill appear settled on moving a series of infrastructure bills as opposed to one measure and will start with reauthorization of the federal aviation and water transportation programs.
No one said this was going to be easy or quick, but it is also too soon to be writing any obituaries. Unfortunately, some cannot resist the urge to pronounce a final score before halftime.
The take away is that players in the game—be it college basketball or lobbying Congress—are not deterred by the talking heads because they are too focused on doing what they know is necessary to be successful.
With that in mind, make plans to attend the May 14-16 ARTBA Federal Issues Program and Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In. Flooding the halls of Congress with industry advocates pushing for a permanent Highway Trust Fund fix is one of the most meaningful things we can do to ensure the infrastructure discussion continues to move forward on Capitol Hill.
This column appears in the March/April issue of Transportation Builder magazine.
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October 19, 2018 | Articles
By T. Peter Ruane
The U.S. transportation construction industry has a long history of positive safety results … and shortcomings.
Construction of the famous Brooklyn Bridge, a generation before ARTBA’s 1902 founding, is an example. One late 1870s photo shows a sign on the cable walkway leading to one of the tower tops:
Safe For Only 25 Men at One Time. Do Not Walk
Close Together, Nor Run, Jump, or Trot. Break
Step! — W.A. Roebling, engineer in chief
Roebling was clearly thinking about safety. But nearly 30 workers are estimated to have been killed on the job. Roebling himself suffered a debilitating case of “the bends” after ascending too quickly from an underwater caisson pumped with compressed air where men dug the river bottom.
Hard hats didn’t exist on this project, and safety harnesses were rare, if used at all. Such now-common safety gear is also missing from many 20th century transportation construction photos.
But, that’s not how we design and build today.
ARTBA has been a transportation construction industry safety leader since its early days. The association’s safety programs can be viewed as a three-legged stool:
- Through ARTBA’s Transportation Development Foundation (TDF), we provide a wide variety of safety education programs that have trained more than 100,000 industry workers in recent years alone. The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse (workzonesafety.org), the world’s largest online resource devoted to the topic, annually fulfills 200,000 information requests.
- TDF also offers professional development and management training programs and recognizes industry excellence through its safety awards.
- ARTBA’s legislative and regulatory advocacy—via the Traffic Safety Industry Division, the Transportation Safety Advisory Council, and Safety & Insurance Committee—helps ensure that Congress and federal agencies also keep safety top of mind.
There are many outstanding volunteer industry leaders, senior ARTBA staff and other outside expert consultants engaged in each of these three segments, and they all work to help underline one main point: safety is an ARTBA core competency. That’s why in the past year, we created the Transportation Construction Safety Center (www.artbasafetycenter.org) as a gateway to all these valuable programs and services. And it also explains why the Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals™ program recently earned international accreditation from the American National Standards Institute.
Many ARTBA members and firms are equally dedicated to the safety of their employees. You can read about a few of them in this annual “Safety Source.” Joined by other industry partners and public agencies, we have made great strides in reducing work zone injuries and fatalities. I suppose we could pause here to slap high-fives and pat ourselves on the back. But I’m not ready for that, not now, and not until injuries and fatalities are reduced to zero.
ARTBA’s vision for our industry is to reach the day when we don’t talk about “doing a job safely.” Rather, we look forward to when we simply say, “This is how the job is accomplished correctly.” There will be no special discussion about safety procedures because all aspects of project development and construction will incorporate the latest best practices to save lives and prevent injuries. Nobody will consider working any other way. It will simply be the only way we build.
As an advocacy group, ARTBA is relentlessly committed to pursuing this goal. We know you are with us!
Pete Ruane is president and CEO of ARTBA
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October 19, 2018 | Articles
By ARTBA Chairman Matt Cummings &
ARTBA Foundation Chairman Paul Yarossi
You’ve been hearing a lot about safety on the highways. You should hear a great deal more. This is one subject which cannot be over emphasized… It is a grave national situation and one in which we all have a part. It is not an overstatement to say that your life may depend on it.”
Doesn’t this sound like a statement you might have heard recently from an ARTBA volunteer or senior staff? Think again.
It’s from a 1945 column in “Road Builder’s News” by then American Road Builders Association (ARBA) Engineer-Director Charles M. Upham. He explains further the association “for more than 20 years has stressed the need for greater safety on our highways and has worked to bring it about.”
Upham’s column makes clear at least three things. First, ARTBA’s leadership and commitment to improving roadway safety for motorists and workers has been a key part of the mission since the association’s 1902 founding. Second, as an advocacy organization, the quest for “better and safer roads” truly never ends. Third, all of the association’s safety initiatives wouldn’t happen without the intellectual and financial contributions, and personal involvement of its volunteer leaders.
Road safety topics and products were part of the program in 1909 when the American Road Makers (ARM) launched the “Road Show”—the forerunner to today’s CONEXPO-CONN/AGG. ARBA was a key participant in the 1940s-era “President’s Highway Safety Conferences,” hosted by former association member Harry S. Truman.
In the 1960s, the association supported establishment of the U.S. Department of Transportation and its oversight on safety matters. In 1979, industry leaders launched ARTBA’s Traffic Safety Industry Division to provide a home for manufacturers of roadway safety hardware, including barricades and barriers, signage, pavement markings, crash cushions, and other temporary traffic control devices. Creation of the Transportation Safety Advisory Council, and Safety & Insurance Committee soon followed.
In 1985, ARTBA hosted the first National Conference on Highway Work Zone Safety in partnership with FHWA and the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO). This led to a second conference in 1994, and out of its proceedings, emerged the idea of a National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse (www.workzonesafety.org) to serve as a centralized information resource aimed at improving motorist and worker safety in these sites.
The ARTBA Foundation won the FHWA contract to create such a facility in 1997. More than 20 years later, the Clearinghouse has become the world’s largest online resource on road construction safety, with helpful materials available in seven languages. Along the way, under contracts from FHWA and OSHA, the ARTBA Foundation has also provided safety training for more than 100,000 industry professionals.
The latest example of innovative leadership is found in the 2016 launch of the ARTBA Foundation’s Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals™ (SCTPP) program, which you will learn more about in the pages of this issue’s annual “Safety Source.”
This certification exam tests knowledge of industry established core competencies necessary to recognize and mitigate potential hazards to those in and around transportation project sites. Most notably, in early May, the SCTPP program earned the “gold standard” of professional credentialing with international accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). It’s a milestone achievement that we believe will help propel the program to the next level.
Everyone in our industry owes a huge debt of gratitude to three driving forces—David Walls (Austin Industries), Ross Myers (Allan Myers) and David Zachry (Zachry Corporation)—for providing the leadership “muscle” to get the certification launched. We also salute the safety experts and C-suite executives from the following organizations who shaped the program’s scope and created the exam questions:
- Arch Insurance Group
- Ash Grove
- Astec Industries
- Barriere Construction
- Cargo Transporters
- CRH Americas
- Granite Construction
- HNTB
- Kiewit Infrastructure Group
- Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America
- Laborers’ Training & Education Fund
- Lane Construction
- Liberty Mutual Insurance
- National Asphalt Pavement Association
- National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
- Plastic Safety Systems
- Superior Construction
- Texas Department of Transportation
- The Center for Construction Research & Training
- The Vecellio Group
- Virginia Tech
- Wagman Heavy Civil
- WSP USA
We strongly encourage you to engage your firm’s key employees in the certification program. Bolstering the number of “safety certified eyes and ears” on transportation project sites is the industry’s collective responsibility. As Charles Upham reminds us, “this is one subject which cannot be over emphasized.”
Matt Cummings is executive vice president at AECOM. Paul Yarossi is executive vice president at HNTB.
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Inspired by the Past… Building for the Future