On the afternoon of Thursday, August 5, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) moved to end debate on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a $1.2 trillion investment in our nation’s road and bridges, water systems, ports and inland waterways, electric grid, dams and levees, schools, airports, rail network, transit systems, broadband, and more. Following this meeting, it was expected that the Senate would soon pass legislation representing a historic investment in the nation’s infrastructure … as early as Saturday, August 7, 2021!
On August 10, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) came one step closer to becoming law when the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 69-30, approved the legislation! This $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan is supported by 19 Republicans and all 50 Democrats. The American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) members exclaimed, “the Senate infrastructure bill is ‘giant leap forward’!!” ASCE’s long-term advocacy efforts scored a huge victory this week and said it marks the largest U.S. infrastructure investment in generations!
The bill must pass the House of Representatives—debates set to start as early as Aug. 23—before it would go before President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Passage in the Senate clears a huge roadblock toward realizing the kind of legislation ASCE members, ACPA members, many more in the concrete paving industry, and many more construction and infrastructure industries, have been calling their representatives and senators about, and attending, legislative fly-ins to discuss for decades.
The President has asked Congress for the bill to be on his desk for signature no later than the end of September, 2021.
The IIJA represents $550 billion in new funding for the nation’s critical infrastructure and would make a significant impact on improving almost all of the categories featured in ASCE’s 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which assigned the nation’s systems a disappointing grade of ‘C-.’
For the 2021 Report, please go to: https://infrastructurereportcard.org
For the 2021 ISCP article titled “ASCE: 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure: Grade Surpasses D—1st time in 20 Years“, please click on image above, or go to: https://www.concretepavements.org/2021/03/05/asce-2021-report-card-for-americas-infrastructure-grade-surpasses-d-1st-time-in-20-years/
The American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), ASCE, CNBC, and CNN noted that of the $1 trillion in infrastructure spending, roughly $550 billion over the next 5 years is considered new spending (above and beyond what congress would normally be spending under current law), will help rebuild America’s:
• Roads—newer, longer-lasting and more sustainable
• Bridges
• Airports—Improvements
• Clean Water
• Public transit and works systems—Modernize
• Construction Management Technologies
• Electric grid
• Broader use technologies
—Electric Vehicles
—Broadband Internet
• Inland Waterways
• Dams
• Levees
• Schools
• Rail Network
All infrastructure sectors that ASCE has been advocating for over the last 3 decades with its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (see links above). This bill will pave the way to meet the President’s promise to “build back better.”
The legislation authorizes approximately $304 billion from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for roads and bridges over five years through FY 2026. This represents:
• 34% increase over funding levels in the current surface transportation authorization (FAST Act)
• Largest amount of highway funding ever authorized in a surface transportation bill
• Legislation spending $25 billion to improve runways, gates and taxiways at airport terminals
• Significant win for the concrete pavement industry:
—ACPA-conceived $12 million/year Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies (AID-PT) program
—Funds the majority of concrete pavement research and technology deployment efforts conducted by and funded through Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center)
Click to enlarge: ASCE members Paul Maron & Colette Easter
with U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (KY-R). PHOTO: Paul Maron
Paul Maron, P.E., M.ASCE, Project Manager-Strand Associates, Louisville, KY and a longtime infrastructure advocacy champion with the ASCE Kentucky Section said, “I’m ecstatic. There’s nothing in my tenure with ASCE that compares to this. When it comes to reinvesting in our infrastructure, for so long we’ve just been doing the bare minimum, making very modest, incremental improvements. But this, I think, is a giant leap forward. And I hope this sets an expectation for more bills like this – not just as a response to a pandemic, but what we should be doing for our future generations going forward.”
“Some of us with our group here in Kentucky, yeah, we gave ourselves a little pat on the back this week,” Maron said, with a laugh. “We’ve been meeting with our congressional delegation, following up with emails, really doing what we can to develop personal relationships with the staff, continuing to keep those consistent messages – not coming from a partisan position but helping as subject-matter experts. And I can’t say how much of a difference we made in getting this done, but I’d like to think we at least helped.”
Click to enlarge: ASCE members Jim Pajk, Lita Lavin, &
Tony Klimek attending CNN town hall with President Biden
PHOTO: Jim Pajk
LONG-TERM EFFORT:
The ASCE Infrastructure Report Card grades date back to 1988, when America’s infrastructure earned a C grade. Since then, the Society has issued 7 more report cards, including the 2021 edition released this past March (see above), and ramped up its overall advocacy initiative – including the Key Contact program, annual fly-in events, Infrastructure Week partnerships, and a wide range of regularly released state report cards.
For the links to reports, please go to:
1988 Report Card: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1988-Fragile-Foundations-ExSum.pdf
Regularly Released Report Cards: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-by-state-infrastructure/
2021 Report Card—Click on image or link above, as well as here: https://source.asce.org/2021-report-card-for-americas-infrastructure-grades-reveal-widening-investment-gap/
Key Contact Program: https://www.asce.org/keycontacts/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20Key%20Contact,developments%20that%20need%20membership%20action
Jim Pajk, P.E., M.ASCE, Assistant Administrator of Design and Construction-City of Columbus Department of Public Service, has been a stalwart of ASCE advocacy efforts with the Central Ohio Section for nearly 20 years and earned the 2016 ASCE Civil Engineer Advocate of the Year Award. He cited the 2019 Ohio legislation that increased the state’s gas tax as an important accomplishment and was 1 of 3 ASCE members recently invited by CNN to attend a President Biden Ohio town-hall event. Pajk, though, is more apt to measure progress by the relationships he’s formed than the policies he’s influenced. He said, “I’ve always told people, it’s not that first year or that second year. But as you develop those contacts, moving forward, you see it change. Maybe I get a call from Sen. [Rob] Portman’s office about something, or I get a call from Sen. Sherrod Brown asking for my thoughts. You get invited to attend certain meetings. You start developing those connections, and that’s when I think you start to feel like you’re making a difference.”
Click to enlarge: West Virginia report card leaders Tabitha Lafferre,
Rodney Holbert, & Cindy Shamblin w/students & West Virginia
leaders at capitol. PHOTO: Tabitha Lafferre
Tabitha Lafferre, A.M. ASCE-West Virginia Section, made a unique contribution to the push for infrastructure investment by blending her role as a state report card co-chair and a civil engineering professor at Fairmont State University. She taught a class on the report card, and several of her students earned bylines in the 2020 Report Card for West Virginia’s Infrastructure.
Lafferre said, “It’s very rewarding as both a civil engineer and an educator to help push this forward and be able to work with our nation’s leaders to better our infrastructure.”
Lafferre said in reference to both West Virginia senators who played key roles in crafting the bipartisan infrastructure framework, “It’s great to see our West Virginia senators[—Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin—]investing so much of their time helping with a bipartisan solution for infrastructure. From day one, we’ve been seeing both of them talk about infrastructure. We also have great representatives who we’ve talked with, and they’re very much on board with infrastructure investment. It’s been great to see how open they’ve all been, always willing to take a phone call from me or the ASCE West Virginia Section, reaching out to us for resources.”
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE:
At an often-divisive time in American life the last 2 years, ASCE has focused its infrastructure advocacy work as a potential unifier, a nonpartisan point of emphasis. So it was notable that the infrastructure bill transcended party lines as it passed the Senate. Pajk said, “It’s always been said that infrastructure is a bipartisan issue. And it’s nice to see senators working on something that’s important to the country, that we can find common ground on. It’s good to see that workability, that governing we used to have on issues that are important. That’s what gives me that hope.”
Hope has sustained the ASCE members working toward this goal; hope that will continue to push the advocacy efforts forward. Maron stated, “I think it’s just really encouraging that it’s actually happening. I hope that Congress and the executive branch see the benefits of this kind of investment and realize that it’s not a one-off. There are true economic and social advantages to continue to invest in infrastructure at these kinds of levels. We’ve been talking about the need for a big infrastructure bill, a big reinvestment for decades. And it’s finally here.”
Construction Dive online reported that the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate Tuesday includes opportunity to accelerate the deployment of digital construction technologies such as 3-D modeling software and digital project management platforms. The Coalition for Smarter Infrastructure Investments—a collection of digital infrastructure companies that includes Bentley Systems and Mott McDonald—lobbied for the inclusion of the funding in the bill to move beyond the pen-and-paper processes that still dominate the construction industry.
Si Katara, Co-founder and President of HeadLight (visual-based inspection technology firm) said, “We’re thrilled that Washington is finally focused on infrastructure and increasing much needed investment levels. With increased funding, it’s more important than ever to modernize how we design, build and manage infrastructure so that each dollar we invest goes further.”
Katara said the bill provides massive opportunities to firms in a “rising tides raise all boats” scenario. He called the bill “a once in a generation opportunity to do something transformative”, adding that the funding would be able to let people focus on their work. By removing overhead and giving back the hours workers spend “hand-jamming reports,” they’ll instead be able to spend most of their time in the field working. On the heels of a damning climate change report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that recommended drastic action to reduce emissions before 2040, Katara also spoke about the effects of innovation on climate change and the environment. He said it would be “a terrible missed opportunity” if companies ignore environmental issues when innovating.
David McKenney, Vice President-Bentley Systems said, “It would be crazy to pump hundreds of billions into new infrastructure projects while still relying on design and management systems that look like they are out of the 1930s. America ranks only 13th in the world for infrastructure — we need to invest more to compete, but we also need to invest in a smarter way. Technology and data can help us do that.”
COALITION PAGE:
• Digital technologies can reduce outdated paper-and-pencil processes, modernize legacy systems, and increase productivity.
—Louisiana Department of Transportation study: Inspector productivity increased by 28% after adopting a singular digital technology
—Michigan Department of Transportation: Net benefit of over 6% in cost savings by reducing construction bids and change orders after implementing 3-D modeling technology.
• Better adoption of infrastructure technology can give policymakers the data and projects they need to make better decisions
• Emissions reductions come with more efficient infrastructure design and delivery
• New technologies can improve natural disaster resilience and measure and mitigate a project’s impact on low-income communities
“Infrastructure is unique in that it defines our commitment to societal betterment. The road to a greener, more equitable future is through technological improvements that can make infrastructure work for all communities,” said Joe Spinelli, Founder and CEO-HaulHub Technologies.
For important links, please see below (& above):
ASCE article titled “ASCE members celebrate Senate infrastructure bill as ‘giant leap forward’“: https://source.asce.org/asce-members-celebrate-senate-infrastructure-bill-as-giant-leap-forward/
“Pre-pass bill” ASCE article:
https://infrastructurereportcard.org/senate-expected-to-pass-historic-infrastructure-bill-over-the-weekend/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io&PostID=35267373&MessageRunDetailID=6039295670
2020 Report Card-West Virginia’s Infrastructure: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/west-virginia/
ACPA article titled “Historic Infrastructure Investment Passes Senate – Includes Big Wins for Concrete Paving” from ACPA website: www.acpa.org//?s=Infrastructure+Investment+Passes+
Construction Dive article titled “Infrastructure bill contains $100M for construction technology”: https://infrastructurecoalition.org/announcements/infrastructure-technology-coalition-launches-to-make-every-federal-dollar-invested-in-infrastructure-go-further-faster/
Climate Change Report 2021: “AR6 Climate Change: The Physical Science Basis”: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
Coalition & steering committee & mission: https://infrastructurecoalition.org