Proponents are hopeful that Maryland will expand public-private partnerships on state infrastructure and facilities, with the state House of Delegates' March 26 vote to approve a bill authorizing use of private financing.The bill now goes to the state Senate. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) , who supports infrastructure privatization, will likely sign the measure if it clears the legislature, which is set to adjourn on April 9. Separate legislation authorizing development of an offshore wind farm also is set for a House vote by week's end.The P3 bill would authorize the Maryland Dept. of General Services to use P3s for design,
State transportation departments wishing to replace bridges faster using accelerated bridge construction, or ABC, techniques will soon have a standardized design tool kit as a reference.
North Carolina's Dept. of Transportation pushed forward to meet the needs of state construction industry stakeholders and residents alike in 2011, thus earning ENR Southeast's designation as "Owner of the Year."
Subcontractor indemnification and "additional insured" requirements remain contentious between primes and subs, as a Minnesota case illustrates.The case—Engineering and Construction Innovations Inc. (ECI) v. L.H. Bolduc Co. Inc.—arose from a water and sewer infrastructure project several years ago for which Bolduc served as a sheeting subcontractor to first-tier subcontractor ECI. According to the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) of Minnesota, ECI accused Bolduc of damaging a sewer line during construction and sought reimbursement for the repairs from Bolduc and its insurance company, the Travelers Indemnity Company of America.When both Bolduc and Travelers refused to offer payment, ECI sued both in district
Related Links: Appeals Court Decision in Engineering and Construction Innovations, Inc., vs. L.H. Bolduc Co., Inc. Problems continue to grow with indemnifications—contractually making one party responsible for another’s damages.They can be difficult enough to understand if one is not well versed in legal or insurance issues, but sometimes they even stump lawyers.And as a case moving through the Minnesota state justice system illustrates, liability in construction contracts is an increasingly contentious and confusing issue.The case, Engineering and Construction Innovations, Inc. (ECI) vs. L.H. Bolduc Co., Inc., arose from a water and sewer infrastructure project for which Bolduc served as a
PHOTO COURTESY OF AECOM The $492-million Long Beach, Calif., courthouse, set to finish in 2013, will be the first non-transportation P3 in the U.S. Related Links: Private Funding Finds A Way Into Other Public Spaces U.K. Takes Hard Look at Cost of Private Finance Initiative Transport P3s Take Lessons Learned Into New Unknowns Read FMI Report: Public-Private PartnershipsWhat You Need to Know A generation after public-private partnerships burst onto the infrastructure construction scene as a project finance approach, participants are using lessons learned from successes and failures to refine methods, particularly as needs grow and public funding tightens further. But
Related Links: U.K. Takes a Hard Look at Private Finance Initiative Private Funding Finds a Way into Other Public Spaces P3 Special Report: U.S., Canada, U.K. Push New Finance Approaches In the mid-1990s, two highway projects oneither side of the country helped to create a paradigm shift in the way U.S. infrastructure improvements would be financed. Dulles Greenway in northern Virginia and state Route 91 Express Lanes in Los Angeles were designed and built almost entirely with private funds, giving rise to what would become public-private partnerships, or P3s.Enthusiasm and skepticism greeted both projects. While some saw the nascent P3s
Since joining the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 2000, Matt Gillen has worked to coordinate and plan a variety of construction safety research efforts while also building stronger relationships between scientists and the construction industry.
