CMAdvisor May/June 2010 - 13

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CMAA Radio Interview: Effective Solutions for Transportation Infrastructure needs
New transportation legislation, the Highway Trust Fund, and innovative construction and financing methods were some of the topics addressed by American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Executive Director John Horsley in the latest installment of radio interviews with CMAA President and CEO Bruce D’Agostino. Horsley has more than 20 years experience analyzing solutions to transportation challenges in the U.S. ASSHTO is optimistic that the House’s draft of a six-year, $500 billion surface transportation authorization bill and the Senate’s start at a draft ultimately will result in legislation by the end of 2010; however, Horsley points out the critical missing element is having enough money to fund a bill. Declining revenues are impacting the Highway Trust Fund as well. The first of two major problems facing the fund now, according to Horsley, is revenue falling off due to people driving less and a 20 percent decline in trucking traffic. “We’ve got to restore the cash flow to the Highway Trust Fund from highway revenue,” he says. Second is the fact that the fund spends $52 billion a year, but only takes in $40 billion in revenue. “As states face the reality of what it’s going to take to generate the money, I think more state legislators will authorize innovation and open the door to new financing tools, such as public-private ventures, toll lanes, HOT lanes, Design-Build construction techniques,” Horsley says. “I think necessity is the mother of invention.” Horsley considers High Occupancy Toll lanes and Design-Build some of the most exciting innovations in road projects. HOT lanes add capacity, but let drivers decide whether to pay the toll or not. Design-Build may offer an effective and systematic way to speed up construction. “Instead of Design-Bid-Build, you turn it over early in the process to a construction consortium, and say ‘You design it yourself, and you build it.’ This has produced big projects fast,” he explained.

Online Registration Open for Water Summit
CMAA’s second Water Summit, coming up in Kansas City, MO on July 18–20, is now open for online registration. This year’s event builds on the success of the inaugural Water Summit, which drew more than 100 participants in Las Vegas last year. Among the highlights of the 2010 event are panels of top system owners and leading providers of CM/PM for water/wastewater infrastructure. Owners represented include the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the City of Dallas Water Utilities. The service providers joining in the program include top executives from CDM, CH2M HILL, Black & Veatch, HNTB Corporation, Jacobs and AECOM Water. Harlan Kelly, Jr., head of the Infrastructure Division of the San Francisco PUC, and Catherine Gerali, district manager of the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in greater Denver, CO are serving as honorary co-chairs, helping to shape the program. Robert Glennon, author of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It, will be keynote speaker. Online registration is now available at the CMAA website.

Spreading the CMAA Message to CII Members
A trio of seasoned CMAA leaders took part in the recent Performance Improvement Workshop presented by the Construction Industry Institute, delivering a three-part presentation that stressed how CMAA’s Standards of Practice and CCM certification support CII’s goal of promoting high quality execution of capital construction projects. The presentation was part of the rapidly expanding collaboration between CII and CMAA under the theme “Best Practices—Best Practitioners.” In a reciprocal appearance, CII Director Wayne Crew, PE and Associate Director Manual A. Garcia, PE spoke at the CMAA Owners Forum in early May. Representing CMAA at the PIW were President & CEO Bruce D’Agostino, Michelle Wehrle, CCM of the U.S. General Services Administration and Randy Larson, PE, CCM, FCMAA, president of PBS&J Environment, Energy & Construction. D’Agostino provided an overview of CMAA programs, including the CCM certification process. He emphasized the value of the CCM in identifying individuals best qualified to practice Construction Management at a high professional level. Larson notes that “CMAA has made PBS&J’s CM practice strong and viable,” adding that the company strongly endorses the CCM and pays employees a cash bonus for achieving the distinction. The CM community as a whole, he observed, needs to “raise the bar” by creating “a practice of highly respected PM/CM professionals.” The CCM is a key to this, he says. Wehrle told the PIW attendees that GSA has written a preference for CCMs into its contract solicitations. GSA supports both CII and CMAA and sees the alliance between the two organizations as a big step forward. “The whole is truly greater than the parts,” she says. D’Agostino—who also presented to the CII Board of Advisors that afternoon—says the group responded with great enthusiasm. “CII’s members include a long list of top private and public sector owners,” he says. “Their expanding interest in certification bodes well for the profession, and for CMAA as the key player in creating, promoting, teaching and certifying the CM Standards of Practice.”

CMAdvisor May/June

lISTEn nOw to more on the TIGER Grant Program and economic recovery act

CMAdvisor May/June

Hailing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as an “unequivocal success” after one year, ASSHTO praises state DOTs, cities, counties, and transit agencies for their impressive accomplishments cited in a recent Congressional Budget Office study: 1,125 bridges repaired; 21,400 miles of highways repaved; and 7,500 buses purchased. Also noteworthy are the 300,000—600,000 new jobs created under the highway and transportation’s portion of the Act.

CMAdvisor May/June 2010

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