Contracting firm leaders at the Associated General Contractors of America’s annual convention report that maintaining healthy backlogs and battling workforce shortages remain their top priorities.

A trio of spillway failures at the 770-ft-tall earthfill Oroville Dam that prompted the evacuation of more than 188,000 people from central California has renewed questions about the reliability of hundreds of dams in the state and more nationally.

There is something important happening in Oregon, Washington and Colorado that deserves serious attention from the new Transportation secretary and Congress.