Viewpoints

Ending the levee lowdown

joconnell — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:30:57 +0000

We're overdue in making flood management a priority; adopting stronger, smarter plans, procedures and funding options

This year will be remembered as a time of record-breaking floods that tested hundreds of levees, inundated riverfront communities and ruined thousands of acres of crops. Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina called attention to the decay facing the nation’s aging levee systems we have made little progress in addressing its root causes.

While the U.S.

Author:

Rob Vining, National Director Water Resources Practice

Service:

Water Resources

Levee_Lowdown_RVining_2012.pdf

Changing the conversation

joconnell — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:16:24 +0000

Time to focus on how transportation investment pays back America

As the debate over jobs and funding drags on, it has occurred to me, as well as many other transportation professionals, that we need to change our position on the subject of maintaining and improving our nation’s infrastructure. It’s painfully clear our transportation inventory is aging, and our country needs to be more resilient against natural and manmade disasters. We know globalization is driving a need for better intermodal connections to encourage trade — that our economy is challenged and job creation is paramount — and we must meet these demands or fall behind.

Author:

Paul Yarossi, president, HNTB Holdings Ltd

Market:

Aviation

Bridges

Freight rail

High-speed rail

Highways

Public transportation

Tolls

Tunnels

Changing the Conversation viewpoint

THINK: Infrastructure forum transcript - November 2011

joconnell — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:04:38 +0000

“Creating the Right Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast”

THINK: Infrastructure forum was held on Nov. 1, 2011 at The Yale Club of New York City. This edited transcript and Q&A captures highlights from the two-hour discussion.

THINK: Infrastructure forums focus on major industry issues that are priorities for all participants and therefore will enable them, individually and as a group, to advocate for change.

Date:

11/01/2011

Market:

High-speed rail

Public transportation

THINK: Infrastructure forum transcript

Limited resources offer opportunity to think about bridges differently

joconnell — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:27:56 +0000

Innovation and creativity play an increasingly essential role in modern bridge design and engineering today. With one in every four bridges in America structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, our nation is facing an investment of billions of dollars to rebuild or replace its aging bridge infrastructure.

Bridges are first and foremost socio-economic lifelines, vital to our economic health at the local, regional and national scale. Many parts of the country can directly associate growth with the construction of a new bridge.

Author:

Ted Zoli, PE, National Bridge Chief Engineer

Market:

Bridges

HNTB_LimitedResources_Zoli_2012.pdf

America’s water infrastructure: today’s action item or tomorrow’s tragedy? It’s our call.

jillblack — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:31:13 +0000

When Hurricane Katrina struck, I wondered if it might be the wake-up call our country needed to address its crumbling levee system. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The alarm went off, and America hit the snooze button.

America may be able to ignore the warning, but we, as an industry, cannot. It’s our duty — and some would argue our ethical responsibility — to act.

Author:

Rob Vining, National Director Water Resources Practice

Service:

Water Resources

America's water infrastructure

Driving to replace the gas tax

jillblack — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:36:03 +0000

There is a perfect storm brewing in surface transportation. Our infrastructure is eroding at an alarming rate, and the revenue to replace it isn’t keeping pace.

Highways alone will require nearly $5 trillion for preservation and congestion relief during the next decade, at a time when traffic congestion already has reached record levels. Even with recent declines in the U.S. motor vehicle fatality rate, traffic deaths still claim more than 33,000 lives each year.

Ignoring this Category 5 crisis isn’t an option.

Author:

Jim Barbaresso, Director Intelligent Transportation Systems

Market:

Highways

Service:

Technology

Driving to replace the gas tax

Make transportation a priority

jillblack — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:47:15 +0000

It is often said that one of America’s greatest strengths is finding the will to come together and take action when faced with a national crisis. We face such a time now. The challenge is all around us in our aging and underfunded highways, transit systems, bridges, airports and other transportation infrastructure.

For too long we’ve short-changed transportation as we worked to address the nation’s other needs and priorities. Our transportation system has not received the attention or funds it needs in our national discussion or agenda.

Author:

Paul Yarossi, President HNTB Holdings Ltd

Market:

Highways

Make transportation a priority

Trains and the city

jillblack — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:52:12 +0000

One exciting ripple effect of President Barack Obama’s commitment to high-speed rail, which he demonstrated with an $8 billion pledge in federal stimulus money in 2009, is the promise of economic development in the areas surrounding transit hubs.

The promise is real and has been demonstrated around the world in countries where high-speed rail is established. High-speed rail draws people from all walks of life.

Author:

Peter Gertler, Chair High-Speed Rail Services

Market:

High-speed rail

Public transportation

Trains and the city

THINK: Infrastructure forum transcript - May 2011

rdeshazo — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:03:35 +0000

THINK: Infrastructure forum was held on May 4, 2011 at The Yale Club of New York City.
This edited transcript and Q&A captures highlights from the two-hour discussion.

THINK: Infrastructure forums focus on major industry issues that are priorities for all participants and therefore will enable them, individually and as a group, to advocate for change.

Market:

Aviation

Highways

Tolls

Think_InfrastructureForum_511web.pdf

America needs to remain bullish on high-speed rail

jillblack — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:04:08 +0000

As a nation, we have lost sight of why we need high-speed rail. We are viewing high-speed rail as an isolated, discreet and expensive product when we should be looking at it as a critical element of a balanced, efficient multi-modal transportation system.

Opponents cite a number of points against a high-speed rail system that are valid and worthy of investigation, for example:

Can high-speed rail be built and operated without subsidies? Some believe that high-speed rail will not be self-sustaining and therefore, we should not invest in it.

Author:

Peter Gertler, Chair Rail and Transit Services

Market:

High-speed rail

AmericaRemainBullHSR_PGertler_2012.pdf