Underground Infrastructure - February 2023 - 16

Forecast & Market Analysis
the cost of everything going up, we've
got to raise rates just to keep our heads
above water, " lamented this respondent
from the Midwest.
Survey respondents reported an average
of 3.2 years between rate hikes, an
increase from 2.8 years in 2021 and 3.0
in 2022.
Municipalities
rated
several broad
categories in terms of level of impact on
their operations. Th e order of emphasis
mirrored 2022. Funding remained
the number-one concern, with 76 percent
of respondents citing that issue.
Regulations/EPA was cited by 72 percent
of the respondents; hiring qualifi
ed employees by 59 percent; safety
concerns by 34 percent; and community
relations by 32 percent.
About 45 percent of those surveyed
commented that
they prefer
to
use
trenchless methods when feasible, down
slightly from 2021's 47 percent, while 39
percent said it didn't matt er and 16 percent
still prefer open-cut methods.
Rating engineers, contractors
Th e survey also asked municipal personnel
to rate the consulting engineering
community, based on a 1-to-5 scale, with
fi ve being the highest approval. Basically,
this number provides a confi dence benchmark.
Th e consulting engineer score for
2022 improved slightly to 3.9 percent.
For the most part, respondents were
pleased with the eff orts of consultants.
" We've had prett y good relationships with
our engineering consultants, " explained
this city offi cial from the Southeast. " We
received a healthy matching fund grant [in
2022] and with the help of the consultants,
we brought it on-line in record time. "
Said another respondent from the
Northeast, " We've got decaying pipes everywhere
we turn, so we're always trying
to stretch our rehab dollars whenever we
can. Our consultants have been critical in
helping us keep up with the work. "
A somewhat cynical response from a
West Coast survey participant was that
" when we got a large award amount from
STRIVING FOR A
SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE.
At Miller Pipeline, the work we perform
every day for our customers maintains
and modernizes America's infrastructure
providing reliable and affordable energy
the communities where we live, work and
of natural gas, water and wastewater to
play.
We are proud of the work we do, backed
by our four core values, and our people
making an impact for a more sustainable
by our four core values, and our people
making an impact for a more sustainable
future.
future.
#BelieveActImpact
BelieveActImpact
the infrastructure bill, consulting engineers
were coming out of the woodwork,
happy to help us out. "
As for how engineers could improve
their relationship with and support for
cities, several familiar themes were repeated.
Quality, by a large margin, was
again the most-cited factor, by 80 percent
of municipal mangers. Other areas
included " understanding of new technology, "
cited by 75 percent of respondents;
" cost " by 74 percent; and " productive
relationships with contractors " was mentioned
by 40 percent.
Th e survey also asked municipal personnel
to rate contractors. Th e overall
rating was a composite from four categories:
quality of work, timely project
completion, fair pricing and dependability,
based on a scale of one (worst) to 5
(best) Contractors saw their composite
score hold steady at 3.9.
Like engineers, quality was the number-one
desired trait for contractors, cited
by 82 percent. UI
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SUSTAINABILITY MISSION
Visit millerpipeline.com/sustainability today.
16 FEBRUARY 2023 | UndergroundInfrastructure.com
http://www.millerpipeline.com/sustainability http://www.UndergroundInfrastructure.com
Underground Infrastructure - February 2023

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