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Infrastructure projects should include more minority- and women-owned contractors

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The need to rebuild, repair, operate and maintain our country’s infrastructure is, and always will be, an ongoing endeavor. The problem is that minorities, women, veterans and other groups are seldom the contractors or high-wage earners on infrastructure projects.

Historically, the primary funding source for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and its infrastructure projects is an 18.4¢-per-gallon gasoline tax and a 24.4¢-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel that millions of consumers pay at the pump. These taxes account for nearly $200 billion annually. In addition to the federal tax, states collect gasoline taxes that often are much higher, with some state rates adding as much as 57¢ per gallon to a fuel purchase. Couple these taxes with airport fees, tolls and so on, and we see that much of America’s infrastructure is supported by consumers—people who should have the right to participate in rebuilding it. The inclusion of all Americans must be a top priority for local, state and federal representatives and the companies awarded these contracts.

As financial models for these projects become more creative, including the wider use of public-private partnerships (P3s), we need to ensure that funds are being used for their intended purpose—to rebuild infrastructure—and that all Americans benefit from this funding.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.enr.com/articles/44181-infrastructure-projects-should-include-more-minority–and-women-owned-contractors

GDOT kicks off $500 million highway interchange project near Macon

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The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) last week broke ground on a $500 million highway interchange project near Macon, GA, according to Equipment World.

The Interstate 16/Interstate 75 interchange improvement project will separate local traffic from through traffic, which GDOT officials said would reduce the number of accidents. The upgrades should also ease general congestion, improve access to downtown Macon and improve travel conditions between the Port of Savannah and Atlanta.

In order to minimize negative impact on traffic, the project will be delivered in seven phases, with the first phase’s completion scheduled for summer 2018. GDOT has awarded contracts totaling $268.8 million for the first four phases.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.constructiondive.com/news/ga-kicks-off-500m-highway-interchange-project/445584/

DBE contracting opportunities under the Trump Administration

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good-time-for-dbes-01-2017With President-elect Trump’s promise to turn America’s crumbling infrastructure into an opportunity for accelerated economic growth, there are likely to be significant investments in the next four years in transportation, construction, and other similar projects.

The new administration’s plans are likely to have a particularly big impact on the highway construction industry, which stands to ultimately receive billions in federally-financed dollars. State and local governments will be first in line to receive the funds so they can be trickled down to create thousands of new jobs. Those dollars will be filtered through prime contractors and their disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) partners, which will be performing many of these federally-funded projects. With billions of dollars likely to hit the streets, this is a good time for firms to look into the DBE program.

While not as well-known as the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) and other small business programs, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) DBE program has been around for some time. It was established by Congress in 1983 with legislation that required that at least 10 percent of the funds authorized for highway and transit federal financial assistance programs be expended with DBEs. The three agencies with those programs are the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, and Federal Transit Administration.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/dbe-contracting-opportunities-under-the-95974/

Contractor files lawsuit over DBE-related lost $77 million bridge contract

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Arkansas_State_Highway_and_Transportation_DepartmentA Texas-based contractor has filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department over the department’s cancellation of a $77.6-million bridge contract for alleged failure to document disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) involvement efforts. The department has made a claim against the contractor’s bid bond.

The contractor, Roanoke, Texas-based Johnson Bros. Corp., had in January submitted a very low bid to replace a bridge carrying highway I-40 over the White River between Little Rock and North Little Rock. The second-low bid came in about $40 million higher.

Filed in the Pulaski County circuit court of Arkansas in Little Rock on March 9, Johnson Bros. names as defendants the state’s highway commission, the commission members individually and the department’s chief engineer. The petition requests judicial review of February administrative decisions that found the contractor’s efforts to involve DBEs in the project insufficient, reject the bid, make a claim under the bid bond and ban the contractor from rebidding on the project.

The petition also claims that the highway commission took no action on a petition to review the department’s decision and request for injunctive relief.

State officials had conditionally awarded the contract to Johnson Bros. Corp. based on the company’s low bid.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/39253-arkansas-cites-dbe-rule-and-halts-bridge-contract

Georgia to receive second-largest share of left-over federal highway funds

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Repurposed Highway Funds 2016The Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) has laid out plans for redistributing to states about $2 billion—and potentially more—that had been set aside more than a decade ago for highway and bridge projects but is still unspent.

The 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, enacted on Dec. 18, mandated the funding shift for the so-called orphan earmarks and said the money had to be parceled out to states by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

FHwA’s long-awaited announcement, released on March 8, is another piece of positive news for state highway agencies as well as road and bridge engineers and contractors.

It follows the Dec. 4 signing of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation, or FAST Act, which provided a boost of about $2 billion, or 5%, for highway and bridge funding in fiscal year 2016.

The earmark funding “is really a shot in the arm for the construction industry, for the 2016 construction season,” says Jay Hansen, National Asphalt Pavement Association executive vice president. “On top of the FAST Act, this is icing on the cake.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/38978-fhwa-details-plans-to-reuse-2b-unspent-on-old-earmarks

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