Related Links: Summary of Rahall bill Link to letters from construction, transportation and organized labor groups supporting bill The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s top Democrat, Nick Rahall of West Virginia, has introduced a bill that would authorize $5.5 billion over two years to repair and upgrade highway bridges across the country.The measure, which Rahall introduced on June 19, would direct the funding to structurally deficient, functionally obsolete and fracture-critical bridges.The money would come from the general fund, not the Highway Trust Fund. The trust fund’s highway account, the prime federal revenue source for highway and bridge construction, has been

Courtesy of Washington State Dept. of Transportation After the Skagit bridge collapse, a temporary replacement moves forward. The accident may amplify calls for more infrastructure funding. Related Links: Link to Senate bridge hearing, including Webcast, prepared testimony Will the May 23 collapse of part of Washington state's Skagit River Bridge spark more federal funding for bridges? A senior House Democrat is seeking to boost bridge aid over two years. But intense federal budget pressure is likely to make a near-term hike a tough sell in Congress, particularly in the Republican-controlled House. Still, the Skagit bridge accident may at least amplify

Photo courtesy Savannah River Site Waste processing facility at Aiken, S.C., site was set for completion in July 2012. Related Links: Baker Concrete v. SRNS NNSA Letter DOE Looking at Cost, Schedule Problems at S.C. Nuclear Site Independent DOE Review (January 2013) of Construction Quality and Fire Protection System Design at the Savannah River Site Waste Solidification Building Claiming the Fluor Corp.-led team that manages and operates a federal nuclear-waste site in Aiken, S.C., intentionally misled it about the status of design completion on a $90-million plutonium and uranium waste-disposal project under way, Baker Concrete Construction Inc. sued the joint

The federal government announced its largest construction-related False Claims Act settlement of 2013 earlier this month involving alleged disadvantaged business enterprise fraud by a collection of Ohio-based engineering-related companies.The U.S. Dept. of Justice says it has reached a settlement with Dayton-based TesTech Inc., TesTech owner Sherif Aziz, Dayton companies CESO Testing Technology Inc., CESO International LLC, and CESO Inc., and their owners, David and Shery Oakes. They have agreed to pay $2.88 million to resolve the fraud allegations, DOJ says.The allegations were brought with the assistance of a whistleblower, former employee Ryan Parker, who will receive $562,370 of the settlement

Related Links: Study: Global Contract Disputes Worth Less, But Last Longer Construction disputes around most of the globe took longer to settle in 2012 than the year before, according to a new survey.The Middle East topped the chart in terms of both the length of disputes and the values involved.The average time needed in 2012 to settle construction disputes increased by 20%, or about 60 days, to 12.8 months.The money at stake in the disputes declined slightly, to $31.7 million.The data came from the newest Global Construction Disputes Report published by EC Harris, a U.K.-based built asset consultant and a

Related Links: ENR Blog: DOT Nominee Foxx Clears a Hurdle Link to Webcast of Foxx's 5/22/13 confirmation hearing Anthony Foxx, President Obama’s nominee to head the Dept. of Transportation, has advanced a step toward confirmation, with the Senate commerce committee’s unanimous vote June 10 to move his nomination to the full Senate.The committee’s top Republican, John Thune of South Dakota, said at Foxx’s May 22 confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t vote the nomination out of committee until DOT responded to his request for information about how it implemented budget sequester cuts to Federal Aviation Administration programs. Those cuts resulted in

Courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Gibbs, House water-resources and environment subcommittee chairman, said, "We are studying infrastructure projects to death." Related Links: Focus on Water-Resources Bill Shifts to the House (ENR 6/3/13 issue) Senate WRDA Bill Nears Passage (ENR 5/20/13 issue) As House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders plan their version of a Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, it's clear they want the bill to include provisions to accelerate Army Corps of Engineers civil-works project reviews. The WRDA the Senate passed on May 15 already includes language that aims to move projects faster through reviews.A June 5

Related Links: House Appropriations Committee summary of milcon/VA bill (excluding floor amendments) White House budget office statement on milcon/VA bill Boehner's June 6 letter to Obama A battle is brewing between President Obama and House Republicans over 2014 appropriations. The White House issued veto threats for the first two House-passed 2014 spending bills—for Dept. of Defense (DOD) construction-Veterans Affairs and the Dept. of Homeland Security—and any other 2014 appropriations bills that track the budget resolution the House approved in March.In response, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote Obama, saying the president was taking a "reckless" approach and was threatening to

Photo by AP Wideworld Hurricane Floyd inundated nearly the entire eastern third of North Carolina in 1999, making clear the state's flood-map revision process was dangerously broken. Related Links: Moving On After Sandy After Sandy, FEMA Flood Maps Are a Moving Target The arrival of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 could not have come at a worse time for North Carolina. Torrential rains pounded vast areas of the state already saturated by Hurricane Dennis just three weeks before, resulting in massive flooding that exceeded 500-year flood levels in many eastern river basins.Floyd revealed deficiencies in North Carolina’s flood hazard information

Photo by AP Wideworld President Obama, with Gov. Christie, visits Asbury Park, N.J., seven months after Sandy blasted towns along the coast. Obama said, "The Jersey shore is back, and it is open for business," but it still faces "a long road ahead." Related Links: Sandy Recovery, An ENR Special Report Moving On After Sandy ENR 1/28/13 - Senate Vote Next Step for $50.5B Post-Sandy Funding Bill When President Obama paid a May 28 visit to the New Jersey shore, he met Gov. Chris Christie (R) and stopped at towns slammed by Superstorm Sandy seven months earlier. Obama noted the