Engineering Inc. - November/December 2010 - (Page 4)

News&Notes STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) I Chinese Traffic Jam Not Likely Here, But U.S. Congestion Crisis Growing n analyzing the multiweek traffic jam on the busy highway connecting Inner Mongolia to Beijing, traffic engineers at the Texas Traffic Institute (TTI) asked the question: Could a 60-mile-long backup lasting several weeks happen in the United States? Their conclusion was no, but that doesn’t mean that serious congestion is not already prevalent on the overburdened U.S. highway system—and experts predict the situation is only likely to get worse. Shawn Turner, a senior research engineer at TTI in College Station, Texas, said the traffic tie-up on the Beijing-Tiber Expressway almost defied imagination as vehicles moved forward at a rate of a half-mile per day. “What happened in China was a failure caused by a string of events—a perfect storm,” he said. Construction to handle coal-truck deliveries began on the only major road connecting Mongolia to Beijing, and then a series of accidents occurred, bringing traffic to a standstill. China’s lack of a good traffic information system in its rural areas and few—if any—secondary roads exacerbated the problem. The latter two factors differentiate the United States from China, said Turner. The U.S. nationwide traffic monitoring structure and fully developed secondary roads system go a long way toward preventing the kind of catastrophic traffic jams experienced in China. He cautioned, however, that the combination of increasing traffic and deteriorating highway infrastructure in the United States could lead to “similar crises of lesser magnitude” in the future. “When roads are at or near capacity, it doesn’t take much to push traffic into a frozen, jammed state,” he said. The National Surface Transportation Commission reported in 2009 that between 1980 and 2006, the total number of miles traveled on U.S. highways increased by 97 percent for automobiles and by 106 percent for trucks. Over the same period, the total number of highway lane miles grew by just 4.4 percent—meaning that more than twice the traffic was and is still traveling on essentially the same roadway capacity. Statistics also show that traffic congestion in many of the nation’s metropolitan areas already is endemic, with the cost of congestion—including lost time, wasted fuel and vehicle wear and tear—topping $78 billion per year for the nation’s 437 urban areas. It is estimated that revenues raised by all levels of government for capital investment in the nation’s highways and transit systems total only about one-third of the roughly $200 billion necessary each year to maintain and improve the nation’s highways and transit systems. E CEOs Call Energy Infrastructure Shortfall Decade’s Top Engineering Challenge xpeditious development of renewable and traditional energy infrastructure was named the decade’s most critical engineering challenge by top engineering firm leaders, according to a new survey by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The survey of 323 U.S. engineering CEOs, chairmen and presidents completed in August ranked the top six engineering challenges of the decade. Remedying the nation’s inadequate renewable and traditional energy infrastructure was ranked No. 1 by the largest group of respondents (30 percent), followed closely by upgrading deficient transportation infrastructure (29 percent). Energy infrastructure topped the list, even though only 4 percent of respondents identified energy as their firm’s primary area of expertise, compared with transportation (30 percent) and water/wastewater (22 percent). transportation higher on our national list of Engineering executives with principal priorities,” said ACEC President and CEO operations in the South and West gave greater priority to energy than those in the Dave Raymond. “The extraordinary fact is Northeast and Midwest, who ranked trans- that we, as a nation, are not anywhere close to adequately addressing either of these portation as the most critical challenge. problems.” Other choices included expanding the nation’s inadequate water, wastewater and CEO Rankings by Region of flood-control infrastrucTop Two Survey Choices ture (21 percent); securing Obsolete Energy U.S. social and economic Independence Transportation Infrastructure infrastructure against Northeast 25.6% 38.6% cyberattacks (11 percent); implementing sustainable (ME, NH, RI, CT, VT, NY, NJ, PA, MA) building designs to reduce South 34.8% 27% environmental degrada(MD, DC, DE, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, WV, KY, TN, AL, OK, TX, tion (5 percent); and AR, MS, LA) improving the national Midwest 23.5% 30.3% electric grid (5 percent). (MI, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA, NE, SD, ND, MO, KS) “This unique survey of West 32.1% 26.1% top engineering leaders (CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO, HI, MT, WY, ID, WA, OR, AK) underscores the necessity of putting energy and Source: ACEC 2010 CEO survey 4 ENGINEERING INC. NovEmbER / DECEmbER 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - November/December 2010

Engineering Inc. - November/December 2010
Contents
From ACEC to You
News and Notes
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Power Play
2010 Fall Conference Highlights
Ins and Outs
Re-energized
Business Insights
Young Professionals of the Year
Members in the News

Engineering Inc. - November/December 2010