In This Issue

	MnDOT Moves Ahead with 35W Bridge Replacement
	Gov. Calls for $22 Billion in Illinois Bridge Reinforcements
	Bridge Collapse May cause Gas-Tax Hike
	DC Congestion Charge Sees More Backlash
	Oberstar Proposes National Bridge Plan
	Bridge-Monitoring Devices Not Used

MnDOT Moves Ahead with 35W Bridge Replacement

The following information comes from MnDOT’s web site about the 35W Bridge:

“Five contracting teams submitted Statements of Qualifications to bid on the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge project. All five teams will now submit a proposal and cost estimate. More information will soon be available on the Design Build Web site. The teams are:

The state has announced an accelerated program for selecting a design-build team to replace the 35W Bridge. In addition, Jon Chiglo has been named as the project manager.

Gov. Calls for $22 Billion in Illinois Bridge Reinforcements

Illinois - In light of the recent Minnesota bridge collapse, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich is officially calling on the Illinois General Assembly to put bipartisan differences aside and approve a $10 billion state capital investment plan to make needed investments in keeping the state’s infrastructure system sound.

“Illinois is fortunate to have one of the safest bridge networks in the country,” the Governor said, referring to federal statistics that show Illinois has the fifth safest bridge system in the U.S. “But the terrible tragedy in Minnesota underscores what I have been saying for the last several years. It is critical that we make major investments in our infrastructure – both for the health of our economy and public safety. As we continue to negotiate the state budget in Springfield, we need to make sure a capital plan is part of the final agreement.”

Under the proposed $10 billion plan being discussed in Springfield, Illinois would leverage additional federal funds for a total of $22 billion for infrastructure needs. Last week, the governor directed IDOT and the Tollway to have inspectors examine bridges that are similar in design to the Minnesota bridge, under construction, or that carry high volumes over waterways.

Bridge Collapse May cause Gas-Tax Hike

WASHINGTON – Fuel taxes may soon rise to fund bridge repairs across the nation after the Minneapolis bridge catastrophe brought the U.S.’s crumbling infrastructure to the forefront. Alaska Republican Representative Don Young, chairman of the state’s House Transportation Committee called the 500 bridges in the country similar to the Minneapolis span “potential deathtraps.”

About 25% of bridges in the nation are classified in the same category as the Minneapolis bridge: structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. And the backlog to fix such problems is staggering, at $461 billion for the roads and bridges across the country. Not to mention the $63 billion traffic congestion costs citizens in wasted time and fuel. One-third of the 40,000 traffic deaths each year are caused by road conditions.

The most recent transportation bill passed in 2005, two years behind schedule, at $286 billion – nearly $90 billion less than the $375 billion transportation officials said was needed to stop the U.S. infrastructure from deteriorating any further. Young was among Transportation Committee leaders who tried to pass the larger amount by indexing the fuel tax for inflation to keep the National Highway Trust Fund supplied. The 18.3 cent-per-gallon tax, which has not been raised since 1993, would have increased by a nickel.

However, Bush rejected the gas tax proposal, calling it a tax hike, leaving states to defer new projects. Federal money accounts for about 45% of all infrastructure spending.

“This administration failed to support robust investment in surface transportation and the funding to accompany it,” Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-MN, the new chairman of the Transportation Committee this year, said at a news conference after the bridge collapse. When the next transportation bill comes up in 2009, Congress won’t settle for a “bargain basement” deal, said Oberstar.

DC Congestion Charge Sees More Backlash

WASHINGTON – The possibility of a congestion charge in the Washington, D.C. area is facing more backlash than ever. The most recent comes from the American Automobile Association.

“To suggest that visitors who come to Washington, D.C. don’t bring anything, they just use the services and then leave, is just preposterous,” AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Lon Anderson says. “Let’s remember, we have over 20 million tourists alone who visit the Nation’s capital (every year). They bring over $5 billion that they spend here and they pay an enormous amount of taxes already.”

Talk of a congestion charge increased recently when D.C. Department of Transportation Director Emeka Moneme said the city is studying the possibility. Moneme says the charge could be a way to bring much-needed revenue to transportation projects like the city’s struggling bridge system. There are no set plans for the congestion charge in the city, Moneme said. “What we want to do is educate people about the impacts of traffic in the city.”

While city leaders backing the charge say tourists greatly contribute to the wear and tear of the streets, as well as the congestion and pollution, Anderson says the tax may do more harm than good. “If you put a tax in that is going to discourage visitors, are you serving the best interest of the city and its economy? I’m not sure,” said Anderson.

Oberstar Proposes National Bridge Plan

WASHINGTON – The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman has stepped up to the plate in the wake of Minnesota’s I-35W bridge collapsing into the Mississippi River during rush hour last week. Wednesday, Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.) unveiled a comprehensive plan to repair the nation’s transportation system deficiencies.

“One week ago, a routine commute after a day of work, school or shopping turned to horror, shock and tears,” Oberstar said. “Today, as the recovery effort continues, we ask ourselves if such a tragic failure can happen elsewhere. How many structurally deficient bridges are out there? What repairs are immediately needed?”

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) in a press release applauded Oberstar’s plan, calling it “a strategic, targeted capital investment plan that has accountability and a defined national outcome – eliminating structurally deficient bridges on America’s most heavily traveled highways. He is proposing a ‘surgical strike’ approach that could be a model for the future.”

The four main components of Oberstar’s initiative are:

1. Significantly improving bridge inspection requirements

2. Providing dedicated funding

3. Distributing funds based on public safety and need, while prohibiting Congressional and Administration earmarks

4. Establishing a trust fund, similar to the Highway Trust Fund, to create a dedicated source of revenue to repair, rehabilitate and replace structurally deficient bridges. Revenue deposited in this trust fund may not be used for any other purpose.

The proposed plan plans to address this issue as the first order of business for his committee when Congress meets in September.

Bridge-Monitoring Devices Not Used

National - New monitoring devices used to inspect bridges are not being used by states because the extra expense of the monitoring equipment has not yet been proven cost effective. National safety and engineering experts say dozens of new technologies exist to help keep bridges safe, including X-ray machines that find hidden cracks in girders, sensors embedded in concrete to track erosion of steel reinforcing beams, and computerized monitors that track tiny changes in stresses on steel beams.

But some experts say the investment can be well worth the money. Ann Darrin, a supervisor at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, said “I think that the newer technologies that are out there can actually pay for themselves.” The lab is helping the Maryland State Highway Administration install small monitoring sensors in concrete on bridges. The devices are said to last up to 80 years.

After the collapse last week, phones were ringing off the hook at Atlanta’s LifeSpan Technologies, which retails bridge-monitoring systems, according to CEO Peter Vanderzee. Many times the monitoring systems show the bridges are more durable than officials expected, which saves the state money on unneeded repairs. The cost to install the monitoring system on a large bridge is about $250,000.