Balmy weather helped give bauma, the world’s largest construction equipment show, a massive shot in the arm. A record 530,000 visitors from more than 200 countries made it to the Munich, Germany, show in mid April. Here’s a brief look at some of the major equipment introductions:

(Note: Some models may not be immediately available in North America.)

The Wirtgen AutoPilot Field Rover (winner of one of bauma’s six Innovation Awards) consists of a computer integrated into the paver, GPS receivers mounted on the machine and a control panel. The receivers communicate with a GPS reference station on the jobsite. After the site is measured and staked out, the Field Rover plots the optimum course for the paver, creating a virtual stringline. The course data is entered onto a thumbdrive, which is inserted into the machine’s control panel. The paver adjusts its position and paving heights to match the data from the thumbdrive.

Fighting in the 45-ton weight class, the LiuGong Model 945E excavator is the largest in the company’s lineup, designed to give them a competitive machine in the high-production construction, quarry and aggregates market. The 945E features a 328-horsepower Cummins engine and a 2.2-cubic-meter bucket. In addition, the company’s 375B radial lift skid-steer sports curved cab glass for a wider, less obstructed view of the jobsite. It has a dump height of 87 inches and a 60- horsepower Perkins engine. Double lever pilot control and a hydrostatic transmission with infinite speed control, enable operators to crawl slowly over challenging sites.

Liebherr’s R9XX excavator prototype heats up hybrid race. While emphasizing that it was only a prototype, Liebherr displayed its R 9XX concept electric hybrid excavator at the show.

Liebherr’s entry in this increasingly popular category employs an electric hybrid driveline in a 40-ton excavator with a downsized engine. The R 9XX draws its main power from a standard diesel engine but also uses the engine to pump surplus energy to an electric storage device known as supercaps and a hydraulic pressure accumulator. Braking energy is converted to electrical energy and stored in the supercaps to drive the fully electric slew drive.

According to the company, the hybrid system on the R 9XX can supply short-term peak power at up to twice the rated output of the diesel engine.

The company has not said if or when the R 9XX will become an available as a production model.

Eaton’s LifeSense hydraulic hose monitoring system is now available in a wireless version. LifeSense, which has been available in a wired version since 2011, uses a sensor to monitor the life of individual hydraulic hoses. Each sensor sends electronic signals that are run against a hose diagnostic unit, detecting failure-related events within a hose. Each hose can be monitored, and replaced only when it is truly at the end of its life. The wireless system can measure up to 100 hoses, and transmits data once every seven hours.

The compact Atlas Copco SB 702 breaker has a solid one-piece housing body. Both the percussion mechanism and guide system are integrated into a single block of steel, and the accumulator is well projected from jobsite knocks. Capable of being installed on a wide range of carriers, the unit has a wide flow range. Stress and wear on the working tools is minimized by double tool retainer bars.

JCB’s JS220 Tier 4 Interim excavator is the company’s first heavy model powered by the company’s 4.8-liter Ecomax engine, which does not require any after-treatment. The 172-horsepower excavator has a standard 7-inch LCD color monitor, a 10-percent improvement in fuel economy and offers lower cab noise levels.

Reaching up to 180 feet, the new Genie SX-180 self propelled telescopic boom lift offers an 80-foot horizontal reach and a 3-foot platform that can hold up to 750 pounds. The 10-foot jib rotates 180 degrees. The SX-180 can be driven at full height and the X-chassis extends and retracts to provide work stability and a low transport profile.

The 2.1 version of Trimble’s 3D PCS900 paving control system helps contractors mill smooth, high quality surfaces. Combined with the SPS930 Universal Total System, the system minimizes machine stops and aids milling job continuity and accuracy. The PCS900 guides the milling drum to maintain grade, and the SPS930 automatically transitions to the next total station without the stop required by a manual transition. The system is portable, so it can be used on several machines and jobsites.

Bosch Rexroth’s electrohydraulic pump control system uses “virtual bleed off” technology, or VBO. The new pump control system pumps only the amount of oil needed and combines lower fuel consumption with fast response times and dynamic system stability. The company also introduced its hydraulic start/stop solution. This system uses variable valve pumps and accumulators to store and release energy to hydrostatic drives and hybrid systems. The energy storage systems can reduce fuel consumption in machines or applications with high idle times. If no energy is required for the machine’s driving or working functions the engine automatically shuts off, if it has stored enough energy for a hydraulic restart.

Wirtgen has combined the basic design of a concrete/asphalt milling drum with a vibrating roller studded with carbide tipped teeth to create the Hamm H25i VC crusher drum that destroys the material underfoot while on the move. Applications for this hybrid technology include breaking or pre-crushing rock, breaking up concrete road surfaces, crushing and compacting mixed soils, compacting cohesive soils and compacting during cold recycling and stabilization. The drum is expected to be available in North America this fall.

With a 43-foot maximum platform height, the Snorkel S4309RT has twin 51-inch deck extensions, providing a total 6-by-21-foot-8-inch working area. The machine is capable of lifting 1,500 pounds.

Ditch Witch’s JT60 all-terrain horizontal directional drill will get a North American reveal at ICUEE this fall in Louisville. The drill features what Ditch Witch calls an “industry-exclusive, patented two-pipe drilling system.” Powered by a 200-horsepower Cummins Tier 4 Interim engine, the drill has 60,000 pounds of thrust and pullback and 9,000 pounds of rotational torque. A dual-pivot drill frame allows multiple, stable entry angles.

The R2 hydromechanical variable transmission from the Dana Rexroth joint venture promises to increase machine fuel efficiency up to 25 percent compared to similar machines with torque converters. The R2 is a modular platform with software controls that enable direct or remote mounting, flexibility in shift control and drive strategy parameters, and the deployment of up to three PTO. The R2 system is designed to reduce ownership and operating costs, particularly for front-end loaders, motor graders and other off-highway applications requiring 180 to 260 horsepower.

SAY WHAT?

“We’re not going to toll our way to prosperity in this country … but toll roads can be a tool in some cases to add capacity.”

– Secretary of Transportation nominee Anthony Foxx at his confirmation hearing.

A whole lot of highway contractors who work on our roads want to see tougher laws, fines and legal penalties for moving violations in work zones and more frequent safety training for workers on these jobs.

This information comes from a survey that shows something we already know – highway construction site accidents kill.

And it’s always troubling when we know something is lethal but can’t quite find a way to make it exponentially safer. A vast majority of highway contractors want to start with the two moves aforementioned. If we are in a bipartisan desert at the moment, surely tougher laws and more mandatory training can be oases.

Both sides may quibble about the oft-heard argument that there “are no Democratic or Republican roads or bridges,” but they cannot disagree that every death in a highway construction site accident diminishes all of us. And from a pragmatic point of view, it would not cost a lot to make these moves.

Thirty-eight percent of highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the new highway work zone study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

That seems like a significantly high number to me. The study found work zone crashes are more likely to kill vehicle operators and passengers than construction workers.

Mike Hoover, the chair of the association’s national highway and transportation division and executive vice president of Tempe, Arizona-based Sundt Construction, says 46 percent of contractors reported that motor vehicle operators or passengers were injured during work zone crashes this past year, and 14 percent were killed in those crashes.

More than 18 percent of work zone crashes injure construction workers, and 8 percent of those crashes kill them.

The report also finds that 21 percent of contractors reported that work zone crashes during the past year have forced them to temporarily shut down construction activity and 30 percent of those project shutdowns lasted two or more days.

AGC says 68 percent of contractors nationwide feel that tougher laws, fines and legal penalties for moving violations in work zones would reduce injuries and fatalities. And 70 percent of contractors nationwide agree that more frequent safety training for workers could help.

New Address: Greenest Street, Chicago, Illinois.

It’s “the greenest street in America.”

That’s what the Chicago DOT says of Cermak Road. So it must be true.

There’s been a lot written about it, but basically, it’s a streetscape that includes natural landscaping, bicycle lanes, wind-powered lighting, storm water diversion for irrigation, drought-resistant native plants and innovative “smog-eating” concrete.

Chicago’s DOT is finding ways to make some startlingly green and sustainable improvements in their road work and management, and doing it with a very efficient use of taxpayer funds. Their mantra basically is that this sort of work should be done and – surprise – you can do it cost-effectively.

Our guess is that a lot of big cities in America are keeping an eye on what is happening with Chicago roads and sitting around tables to figure out how they can do the same thing.

SAY WHAT?

Texting while driving is “reckless and irresponsible. … However, the key to dissuading drivers from texting while driving is information and education, not government micromanagement.”

– Texas Gov. Rick Perry, opposing a ban on texting while driving in the Lone Star State.

Inside the highway and bridge industries

By John Latta, jlatta@randallreilly.com

Using different tolls for different times of day and for different vehicles is an increasingly common consideration for agencies facing gridlock or suffocating congestion on a regular basis.

It’s a still a work in progress and lacks enough long-term data to be precisely engaged. Los Angeles has recently opened two stretches of freeway using a version of it and a number of cities are working with their own versions. Now comes a case study, using the term “variable pricing” rather than “congestion pricing” or other phrases often used to describe the practice.

In midsummer of 2010 bridge tolls were raised for peak period travel across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The variable pricing model is designed to ease congestion, improve safety and make rush hour travel less stressful.

But did it work?

A University of California Transportation Center at Berkeley report shows that variable pricing can change driving habits and patterns, but does it do so as intended and does it give the desired results? The report answers some but not all of the questions.

The report notes that carpoolers who previously traveled for free during peak hours were charged an electronic toll under this variable pricing scheme. And after 29 months of study, says the report, we can say that “the introduction of carpool charges had a stronger impact on traffic volumes than did peak period pricing of regular traffic.” What happened, says the report, is that significant numbers of peak hour carpoolers did not travel, switched routes, shifted to public transit, or opted to drive alone. More than half the loss in carpool traffic was estimated to be attributable to the toll increase, a far stronger influence than factors such as rising gasoline prices and unemployment.”

With regular traffic, variable pricing was not quite so influential. Regular rush hour drivers’ reaction to variable pricing showed that “peak period motorists were fairly insensitive to pricing” and the report also notes that many of the journeys were not made by choice – it was how you got to work or got home.

The variable pricing toll adjustments sent bridge tolls from $4 to $6 during peak hours (5 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.) and retained the previous $4 toll for all other periods, except weekends when a $5 toll is charged. So peak hour motorists ended up paying a 50-percent surcharge relative to what they previously paid and relative to those who travel during non-peak weekday hours. Also, as the report points out, the practice of allowing free passage to carpoolers, motorcyclists, and vehicles with clean-air decals ended and a $2.50 levy was charged to vehicles using the bridge’s high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes during peak hours. These vehicles were also required to have a FasTrak electronic transponder for automatic toll collection.

Commuter buses and vanpools carrying 11 to 15 passengers could continue traveling at no charge during peak periods when equipped with a nonrevenue FasTrak electronic tag.

Pitching Concrete

A British firm has developed a tent of a flexible canvas material that, when saturated before it is inflated or hosed down after it’s pitched (by just two people), hardens into concrete. So you pitch a canvas tent and 24 hours later it’s a concrete building. The company was apparently inspired by the way casts are placed on broken bones, wetted and then harden. While it may have been designed primarily for military purposes, the most valuable way to use it might be to house people displaced into horrible conditions by natural disasters.

The shelter comes delivered flat-packed in airtight and water- and rot-proof plastic sacks. Blow it up with an electric fan, then hose it down and wait. Not much good for camping of course because once the Concrete Canvas Shelter is up and set, well it would take some serious demolition equipment to get it down.

Wireless Safety Model Testing

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has been awarded a $14.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct a safety pilot model deployment of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) safety applications.

The 30-month program will establish a real-world, multimodal test site in Ann Arbor, Mich., for enabling wireless communications among vehicles and roadside equipment for use in generating data to enable safety applications. Passenger cars, commercial trucks, and transit buses will be included that are equipped with a mix of integrated, retrofit, and aftermarket V2V and V2I-based safety systems, a technology that could prevent thousands of crashes.

The data generated will be used for estimating safety benefits in support of future decisions by the U.S. DOT, as well as for use by the broader transportation industry in developing additional safety, mobility, and environmental applications using wireless technologies. The testing phase will last a year and include approximately 2,850 vehicles.

STOP Signs or Traffic Lights

Are traffic lights always preferable to stop signs?

It’s not a new debate, and this time it’s a suburb in Brooklyn, N.Y., that is raising the issue.

It seems cars speed through residential streets in Boerum Hill and now some locals believe that traffic lights bear a major part of the blame as they encourage drivers to race between streets to make green lights. And by extension speed up to get through orange lights to make the next green. Stop signs they say would be a better, safer, alternative. Speed bumps and “slow zones” are being tossed into this one. We’re not talking the major thoroughfares, but the adjacent residential streets.

I haven’t seen much research data on this — if you know of any let me know — but it would seem that the answer will vary with the situation. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t hurt to have authorities and citizens approach the question of their neighborhood with some studies to help them solve the problem. The Boerum Hill debate feels like both sides are starting out with nothing except good will and their own experience to get the problem solved. I’m not suggesting a computer-generated answer with minimal public input, far from it, but without some decent data the decision might end up being something of an educated, and experimental, guess.

SAY WHAT?

“Because of its shortcomings — driving range, cost and recharging time — the electric vehicle is not a viable replacement for most conventional cars. We need something entirely new.”

 – Takeshi Uchiyamada, the “father of the Prius,” on why fuel-cell vehicles hold far more promise than battery electric cars.

by John Latta,  jlatta@randallreilly.com

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has come up with The Planning Time Index (PTI). It is a way to measure the degree of commute unreliability, introduced for the first time as part of TTI’s annual Urban Mobility Report (UMR.)

The PTI measures travel reliability, working out the amount of extra time needed to arrive on time for higher priority events, such as an airline departure, just-in-time shipments, medical appointments or especially important social commitments. TTI says that if the PTI for a particular trip is 3.00, a traveler would allow 60 minutes for a prime-time trip that typically takes 20 minutes when few cars are on the road. And, says TTI, if the PTI is 3.00 and you allow three times as long as you normally would you’d get where you need to be, on time, 19 times out of 20.

PTIs on freeways vary widely across the nation, from 1.31 (about nine extra minutes for a trip that takes 30 minutes in light traffic) in Pensacola, Fla, to 5.72 (almost three hours for that same half-hour trip) in Washington, D.C., according to the TTI study.

“We all understand that trips take longer in rush hour, but for really important appointments, we have to allow increasingly more time to ensure an on-time arrival,” says Bill Eisele, a TTI researcher and report co-author. “As bad as traffic jams are, it’s even more frustrating that you can’t depend on traffic jams being consistent from day-to-day. This unreliable travel is costly for commuters and truck drivers moving goods.”

But wait! Now not only your delay discomfort, but how much carbon dioxide you are pouring in the atmosphere as you crawl along can be measured. The 2012 UMR debuts an estimate of the additional CO2 emissions attributed to traffic congestion: 56 billion pounds – about 380 pounds per auto commuter.

The analysis of CO2 was made possible by funding from the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE).

“Including CO2 emissions into the UMR provides another dimension to the urban congestion problem,” says researcher and co-author David Schrank. “It points to the importance of implementing transportation improvements to reduce congestion.”

Traffic congestion in U.S. cities has remained relatively stable in recent years and continues to underscore the link between traffic and the economy, according to the UMR. As the nation’s job picture has slowly improved, some congestion measures in 2011 were generally comparable to the year before.

Fuel wasted in congested traffic reached a total of 2.9 billion gallons – enough to fill the New Orleans Superdome four times. That’s the same as 2010, but short of the 3.2 billion gallons wasted in 2005.

The Travel Time Index (the difference in time required for a rush-hour commute compared to the same trip in non-congested conditions) remained steady at 1.18, still short of the 1.23 level in 2005.

The total financial cost of congestion in 2011 was $121 billion, up one billion dollars from the year before and translating to $818 per U.S. commuter. Of that total, about $27 billion worth was wasted time and diesel fuel from trucks moving goods on the system.

Researchers say that the most effective way to address traffic congestion varies from one urban area to another, but that in all cases, a multi-faceted approach should be used, relying on more efficient traffic management and public transportation in addition to new construction.

Travel options such as flexible work hours and telecommuting should also be part of the mix, says TTI.

SAY WHAT?

 “Other cities are going to do this across the county. We are going to see smarter use of highways.”

- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as L.A. opened its second stretch of “congestion pricing” freeway

We know the current, ongoing lack of adequate investment in infrastructure will cost us. But just how much?

Bluntly, a new report tells us that “unless the U.S. invests an additional $1.57 billion per year in infrastructure — drinking water and waste water, electricity, airports, seaports and waterways, and surface transportation — between now and 2020, the nation will lose $3.1 trillion in GNP, $1.1 trillion in trade, a $3,100 per year drop in personal disposable income, $2.4 trillion in lost consumer spending and a little over 3.1 million jobs.”

These scary numbers come from a new American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) report, The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future, the fifth and final report in ASCE’s Failure to Act series.

“This report answers the question: how do U.S. infrastructure systems affect the nation’s economic performance,” says ASCE’s president, Gregory E. DiLoreto.

The report, produced by the Boston-based Economic Development Research Group, concludes that there will be an estimated investment gap between now and 2020 of $846 billion in surface transportation.

Deteriorating infrastructure, long known to be a public safety issue, has a cascading impact on the nation’s economy, negatively effecting business productivity, gross domestic product, employment, personal income, and international competitiveness, the report points out.

“Now is the time to bridge the gap between recognizing the needs and willingness to act,” says Janet Kavinoky, executive director of transportation and infrastructure and vice president of Americans for Transportation Mobility for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The ASCE projections include both the costs of building new infrastructure to service increasing populations and the cost of expanded economic activity; and for maintaining or rebuilding existing infrastructure that needs repair or replacement. “The total documented cumulative gap between projected needs and likely investment in these critical systems will be $1.1 trillion by 2020,” says the report.

The bulk of the gap is due to surface transportation needs, including roads, bridges and transit systems.

Crunched numbers in the report show that surface transportation needs in 2020 will be $1.723 billion, expected funding will be $877 billion, leaving a funding gap of $846 billion. By 2040 say the report numbers, needs will be $6.751 billion, funding $3.087 billion and the funding gap $3.664 billion (dollars in 2010 billions). Surface transportation needs will go 49 percent unmet in 2020 and 54 percent unmet in 2040 by these numbers.

Two years ago it was estimated that deficiencies in America’s surface transportation system cost households and businesses nearly $130 billion. “If present trends continue,” says the report, “by 2020 the annual costs imposed on the U.S. economy from deteriorating surface transportation infrastructure will increase to $210 billion, and by 2040 to $520 billion.”

The report’s 2020 projections show that our surface transportation infrastructure deficiencies are expected to cost the national economy almost $900 billion in GDP, rising to $2.7 trillion through 2040.

“Moreover,” says the report,“as productivity deteriorates along with infrastructure degradation, more resources will be wasted in each sector. In other words, it may take two jobs to complete the tasks that one job could handle without delays due to worsening surface transportation.”

SAY WHAT?

“The cost of the reform to taxpayers would be less than $1 per week, per vehicle.”

 – John Horsley, who has just retired as executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, proposing that Congress convert the “cents per gallon” federal excise tax on fuels to a sales tax on fuels.

We know the current, ongoing lack of adequate investment in infrastructure will cost us. But just how much?

Bluntly, a new report tells us that “unless the U.S. invests an additional $1.57 billion per year in infrastructure — drinking water and waste water, electricity, airports, seaports and waterways, and surface transportation — between now and 2020, the nation will lose $3.1 trillion in GNP, $1.1 trillion in trade, a $3,100 per year drop in personal disposable income, $2.4 trillion in lost consumer spending and a little over 3.1 million jobs.”

These scary numbers come from a new American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) report, The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future, the fifth and final report in ASCE’s Failure to Act series.

“This report answers the question: how do U.S. infrastructure systems affect the nation’s economic performance,” says ASCE’s president, Gregory E. DiLoreto.

The report, produced by the Boston-based Economic Development Research Group, concludes that there will be an estimated investment gap between now and 2020 of $846 billion in surface transportation.

Deteriorating infrastructure, long known to be a public safety issue, has a cascading impact on the nation’s economy, negatively effecting business productivity, gross domestic product, employment, personal income, and international competitiveness, the report points out.

“Now is the time to bridge the gap between recognizing the needs and willingness to act,” says Janet Kavinoky, executive director of transportation and infrastructure and vice president of Americans for Transportation Mobility for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The ASCE projections include both the costs of building new infrastructure to service increasing populations and the cost of expanded economic activity; and for maintaining or rebuilding existing infrastructure that needs repair or replacement. “The total documented cumulative gap between projected needs and likely investment in these critical systems will be $1.1 trillion by 2020,” says the report.

The bulk of the gap is due to surface transportation needs, including roads, bridges and transit systems.

Crunched numbers in the report show that surface transportation needs in 2020 will be $1.723 billion, expected funding will be $877 billion, leaving a funding gap of $846 billion. By 2040 say the report numbers, needs will be $6.751 billion, funding $3.087 billion and the funding gap $3.664 billion (dollars in 2010 billions). Surface transportation needs will go 49 percent unmet in 2020 and 54 percent unmet in 2040 by these numbers.

Two years ago it was estimated that deficiencies in America’s surface transportation system cost households and businesses nearly $130 billion. “If present trends continue,” says the report, “by 2020 the annual costs imposed on the U.S. economy from deteriorating surface transportation infrastructure will increase to $210 billion, and by 2040 to $520 billion.”

The report’s 2020 projections show that our surface transportation infrastructure deficiencies are expected to cost the national economy almost $900 billion in GDP, rising to $2.7 trillion through 2040.

“Moreover,” says the report,“as productivity deteriorates along with infrastructure degradation, more resources will be wasted in each sector. In other words, it may take two jobs to complete the tasks that one job could handle without delays due to worsening surface transportation.”

SAY WHAT?

“The cost of the reform to taxpayers would be less than $1 per week, per vehicle.”

 – John Horsley, who has just retired as executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, proposing that Congress convert the “cents per gallon” federal excise tax on fuels to a sales tax on fuels.

Big Bang Theory for Federal Highway Giants

By John Latta, jlatta@randallreilly.com

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco suggests that highway grants play a very positive short-, mid- and long-term role in building state gross product. And “stimulus” dollars do some of the best work.

Federal highway grants to states appear to boost economic activity in the short and medium term. The short-term effects appear to be due largely to increases in aggregate demand. Medium-term effects apparently reflect the increased productive capacity brought by improved roads. Overall, each dollar of federal highway grants received by a state raises that state’s annual economic output by at least two dollars, a relatively large multiplier.

The bank’s research springs from its observation that while public infrastructure spending programs, from the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and Tennessee Valley Authority through to the American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009 (a.k.a “The Stimulus”), “surprisingly little empirical information is available about the effect of public infrastructure investment on economic activity over the short and medium term.”

The report delves into the dynamic effects of public investment in roads and highways on gross state product (GSP). A key value in this approach is that uses the federal highway grants processes to examine how transportation spending affects economic activity.

And what did the big bank find?

“We find that unanticipated increases in highway spending have positive but temporary effects on GSP, both in the short and medium run. The short-run effect is consistent with a traditional Keynesian channel in which output increases because of a rise in aggregate demand, combined with slow-to-adjust prices.

“In contrast, the positive response of GSP over the medium run is in line with a supply-side effect due to an increase in the economy’s productive capacity.

“We also assess how much bang each additional buck of highway spending creates by calculating the multiplier, that is, the magnitude of the effect of each dollar of infrastructure spending on economic activity. We find that the multiplier is at least two. In other words, for each dollar of federal highway grants received by a state, that state’s GSP rises by at least two dollars.”

The multiplier effect

The multiplier effect helps gauge the effectiveness of government spending by measuring the dollar change in economic output for each additional dollar of government spending. A multiplier of two implies that when government spending increases by one dollar, economic output rises by two dollars.

According to the San Francisco study, “multipliers for federal highway spending are large.” The report finds that when it come to highway grants and GSP:

• On initial impact, the multipliers range from 1.5 to 3.

• In the medium run, the multipliers can be as high as eight.

• Over a 10-year horizon, there is an average multiplier of about 2.

The bank was actually surprised to find that these numbers were noticeably larger than those typically found in the literature on the effects of government spending.

Stimu-dollars

So just how did the infusion of $27.5 billion in federal highway grants to states as ARRA stimulus money affect state GSPs?

As the bank notes, “ARRA was designed to have strong short-term effects. In general, infrastructure projects are not viewed as effective forms of short-term stimulus because of the long lags between authorization, planning, and implementation.

By the time the projects get under way, a recession may be over. The extra spending could ultimately end up feeding an already booming economy.” Clearly not a problem in this case.

To address this problem the Administration said the money had to be used quickly.

But highway spending, even rapid highway spending, in a recession (when productive capacity is underutilized)might affect output in a substantially different way than spending during more normal times, the bank hypothesized.

So the bank looked into whether unanticipated changes in highway spending in 2009 and 2010 had a different effect on GSP than in other years they looked at. And found that the multiplier was around four times.

“This suggests that highway spending can be effective during periods of very high economic slack, particularly when spending is structured to reduce the usual implementation lags,” says the bank report.

SAY WHAT?

“I think they do represent the wave of the future in the 10-15 largest urban areas,”

— Bob Poole, director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, on HOT “dynamic pricing” toll lanes.

Red State, Blue State, Slow State, Stopped State.

What color is your highway congestion?

A new analysis by the Washington Policy Center shows that nine of the top ten cities with the worst traffic delays in the country are blue states. The odd one out is number 10, Austin, Tex.

In cities with more than the average congestion-caused delays, 64 percent are in blue states and 25 percent are in red states.

If you are in a blue state you waste, on average, 21.6 hours stuck in traffic every year but in red states only 11.6 hours. If you are in a red state city, that delay comes to 451 hours a year and in blue state cities it is 931 hours.

Among cities with below-average congestion delays nearly half are red states and 31 percent are blue.

The Center (www.washingtonpolicy.org)took INRIX’s National Traffic Scorecard that ranks the top 100 cities traffic-congestion-wasted hours data and overlaid voting trends from the past four presidential elections.

Big Belly Knows Garbage

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) says it is testing a little-known technology to improve its efficiency. CDOT has bought and installed 11 BigBelly Solar Garbage Compactors at a rest area off I-25 near Fort Collins. The compactors will replace traditional/standard garbage collection trash cans.

“These garbage compactors are basically ‘smart’ trash cans that run on solar energy,” says CDOT deputy maintenance superintendent Phillip Anderle. “Compactors can be monitored remotely via computer or smartphone, so staff will only have to go to the rest area when a compactor sensor registers that it needs to be emptied.”

Crews are expected to increase their efficiency and over time the compactors are anticipated to save money, reduce the volume and frequency of trash pickups, conserve fuel, save staff time, and decrease wear and tear on CDOT vehicles. The systems as tested costs about $55,000 and CDOT expects to recover the cost of the system within the next eight years.

E15

Careful what you put into your light truck fleet tanks, says AAA

A recent AAA survey found a strong likelihood of consumer confusion and the potential for voided warranties and vehicle damage as a result of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent approval of E15 gasoline. AAA says 95 percent of consumers surveyed have not heard of E15, the newly approved gasoline blend that contains up to 15 percent ethanol.

Only about 12 million out of the more than 240 million light-duty vehicles on the roads today are approved by manufacturers to use E15 gasoline, based on a survey conducted by AAA of auto manufacturers. AAA automotive engineering experts also have reviewed the available research and believe that sustained use of E15 in both newer and older vehicles could result in significant problems such as accelerated engine wear and failure, fuel-system damage and false “check engine” lights for any vehicle not approved by its manufacturer to use E15. Unsuspecting consumers using E15 could end up with engine problems that might not be covered by their vehicles’ warranties.

“The sale and use of E15 should be suspended until additional gas pump labeling and consumer education efforts are implemented to mitigate problems for motorists and their vehicles,” says AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet. “Consumers should carefully read pump labels and know their auto manufacturer’s recommendations to help prevent any problems from E15.”

By John Latta, jlatta@randallreilly.com

A study from the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) confirms that ambient and cryogenic ground rubber provides performance benefits in asphalt and the asphalt manufacturing process.

The study, Effect of Ground Tire Rubber Particle Size and Grinding Method on Asphalt Binder Properties, also indicates that ground tire rubber (GTR) should be considered an appropriate asphalt binder modifier to achieve critical high-temperature performance in asphalt mixtures. The study evaluates the role of GTR in asphalt mixture performance and finds that GTR, whether cryogenic or ambient, does not impact the performance of the rubber material or, ultimately, the asphalt.

It was conducted at NCAT’s facility in Auburn, Ala., with the assistance of partners Blacklidge Emulsions, Lehigh Technologies and Liberty Tire Recycling.

Richard Willis, NCAT assistant research professor, is hopeful that the study findings accelerate the use of sustainable material in highway construction. “By increasing the use of ground tire rubber,” Willis says, “asphalt producers will benefit from price stability as compared to more volatile oil prices which impact the cost of traditional, oil-based polymers. Importantly, ground tire rubber produced cryogenically or ambiently provides high performance and cost benefits in asphalt.”

Rubber particulate modification of binders has been used throughout the United States for more than 30 years in various locations. As oil prices have risen, the number of states reassessing the potential of GTR mixtures has started to increase, but little research has been published characterizing the influence of particle size, grinding technique and blending methodology.

[See the story on page 33 on how rubber in asphalt can help quieten road noise.]

Peter Wu, P.E., Ph.D., from the Office of Materials and Research at the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) believes that GTR provides long-term supply and is “a cost-effective and competitive way to increase the robustness of asphalt, while also serving as a productive outlet for end-of-life tires. Wu says rubber-modified asphalt can assist with this while also contributing to the state’s sustainability efforts. GDOT recently amended the state’s road construction specifications to include recycled rubber as an alternative to oil-derived polymers.

The NCAT study indicates that surface area and particle size of the rubbers had the most influence on the modified asphalt binder – smaller particle size, which equates to larger surface area, provides better performance. Based on the study results, researchers also recommend the following:

• Ground tire rubber should be considered an appropriate asphalt binder modifier to achieve critical high-temperature performance in mixtures.

• Ambient and cryogenic GTR performed equally in terms of binder modification and separation.

• Specifications should not distinguish between the two types of materials when the GTR is 30 mesh or smaller.

• Ten percent rubber is an appropriate level of loading for asphalt binders.

For the full study go to

www.ncat.us/files/reports/2012/rep12-09.pdf or the Better Roads Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BetterRoadsMagazine.

SAY WHAT?

“If you can park free at work, it’s an invitation to drive to work alone. And almost everybody who does drive to work has this invitation.” – Donald Shoup, professor of urban planning, UCLA

Snapshot of a Stalemate

More than 90 percent of Virginians are eagerly behind better roads for the state. But most Virginians are reluctant to support strategies to increase funding to pay for them.

A total of 92 percent of Virginia voters in a new Quinnipiac University poll say it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to improve roads and highways. But there are mixed opinions on where to find the money to make the improvements.

Voters oppose 57-38 (5 percent DK/NA)percent putting tolls on parts of Interstate 95 in the Commonwealth to pay for road repairs.

Given a choice, however, between tolls or a higher gas tax, voters prefer tolls 56-32 percent (12 percent DK/NA). Support for tolls over a gas tax hike is strong among all groups, except voters in the southeast part of the Commonwealth, where 46 percent prefer tolls and 42 percent prefer higher gas taxes.

“There is broad public support for the idea of state action to improve the state’s roads and highways, but not on how such projects should be funded,” says Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Jetson Roads

Maybe we could still, one day, drive like George Jetson. Maybe science is getting a little closer to making our roads smarter and safer.

For example: Two Dutch companies are working on the road of the very near future. Their research includes projects that address safety and intelligent transportation:

• A temperature-sensitive paint that is normally transparent, but in extreme, icy cold, the paint reveals warning symbols on the road surface.

• Glow-in-the-dark road surface paint, which absorbs solar energy during the day and can glow in the dark for up to10 hours.

• Under-the-road induction coils to charge electric vehicle batteries as they drive down the road.

• Road surface lights that growing brighter as a vehicle approaches and get dimmer as it moves away.

Stuck in Slow

By John Latta

There has been no “bump” yet from the new surface transportation legislation, MAP-21, says Alison Premo Black, American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) senior economist and policy VP. At ARTBA’s national convention in Memphis in September, Black suggested that actual spending on highways may fall as the year goes on. Black sees MAP-21 offering “some stability,” but also argues that nominal increases will be eaten away by inflation and rising project and material costs. But, as Black points out, there are no earmarks in MAP-21, an expanded TIFIA promises more private funding and there are project delivery time reforms waiting to kick in.

When it comes to state and local budgets, Black sees marginal improvements in revenues, “but not enough to move the needle in 2012 or 2013.” There is, she says, “still a gap of $55 billion between state revenues and commitments.” But, says Black, some states are at least actively tackling the revenue question with possible new income streams, and some states are actually showing growth. States remain in a battle to try and lower spending, a fight not likely to be quickly over, she says.

Buried ominously in the heart of her analysis of the numbers is a prediction that the highway market continues to struggle, possibly continuing to decline before any noticable climb out, something Black says may be in the 2015 or 2016 cards.

And yet bridge markets are showing surprising strength and we could see a record year. Perhaps not so surprising as bridges, which take so long to build, usually show an upswing with new surface transportation bills.

Looking at the real value of pavement work, Black says there is “quite a bit” of pullback in the market YTD and a pace that looks a lot like last year, which may be good news to many.

Contractors, according to an ARTBA survey, are still not optimistic about the future market, and capacity numbers are not encouraging, making unemployment decreases less likely.

SAY WHAT?

“We’ve got to figure out other ways. For example, I drive a hybrid car and I get about 50 miles to the gallon, I’m not paying my fair share at all. If I get an electric car, I won’t pay anything.”

­­— Senator Barbara Boxer, talking to Politico about Highway Trust Fund income.

By John Latta

MAP-21, our brand-new surface transportation legislation, includes several significant changes to the review and approval process for transportation projects, all of which have the potential to change, and hopefully benefit the way agencies and contractors work. There would seem to be a combination of potential opportunities and potential bumps in the road in the legislation. But overall MAP-21’s reforms do seem to deliver more of the former.

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) analysis of the legislation delightedly points out that the new law deliver some of the organization’s long-held priorities in reforming the review and approval process, to wit, greater “lead agency authority” for the U.S. DOT and the integration of the planning and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes.

And, says ARTBA, changes allow state and federal agencies to “undertake a review process which is far less time consuming without weakening existing environmental protections.” In other words to speed up some legendarily slow processes.

To cite just one example from the ARTBA analysis: “MAP-21 allows for the expanded use of the categorical exclusion (CE) process, the least rigorous form of environmental review, in a number of additional areas. CEs may now be used for: projects within an existing right-of-way; certain components of multi-modal projects; repair and reconstruction of existing roads, highways and bridges; projects damaged by natural disaster; and projects receiving minimal federal funds.”

The new law expands SAFETEA-LU’s efforts to delegate responsibilities to states by allowing all states to assume control of either CEs or the entire environmental review process, says the organization. “MAP-21 narrows the 180-day time limit to file lawsuits on a project decision started in SAFETEA-LU to 150 days. Further, the law establishes time limits on permitting decisions.”

MAP-21 also

• Removes the ban on using Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds on projects that add new highway capacity for single occupancy vehicles;

• CMAQ funds can now be spent on projects involving retrofitting diesel-powered construction equipment with newer, cleaner engines;

• The Secretary of Transportation must complete an annual online report on all projects for which federal funds were obligated;

• Establishes a Transportation Alternatives program that dedicates two percent of the amounts provided to states by formula for activities including bike and pedestrian trails; safe routes for children and individuals with disabilities; abandoned rail conversions; community improvement activities and environmental mitigation activities. The two percent is a $300 million reduction from the cumulative funds provided annually for these activities under SAFETEA-LU;

• Requires the development of updated national bridge and tunnel inspection standards, including penalties for states that remain non-compliant, and a training program for bridge and tunnel inspectors.

• Broadens the existing list of activities that constitute a “highway safety improvement project” to include: activities to maintain minimum levels of retroreflectivtiy; geometric improvements to roadways for safety purposes; roadway safety audits; roadway safety infrastructure improvements to assist older drivers; truck parking facilities; and systemic safety improvements; and

• Allows project sponsors the option of acquiring property necessary for a project prior to the completion of NEPA reviews.

SAY WHAT?

“The short answer, most likely, is ‘no.’”

David Goldberg, communications director for Transportation for America (T4A) answering his own question (“Is it a bellwether for transportation votes in other states and metros?”) after a vote in Atlanta to reject an $8 billion tax to fund road and transit projects.

An Earmark Windfall

Leftover earmarks from the old SAFETEA-LU years will be hauled out of their hiding places and put to work, adding almost half a billion dollars to funds ready to flow into transportation projects. This courtesy of a “use it or lose it” ultimatum from the White House.

“We’re not going to let politics stand between construction workers and good jobs repairing our roads and bridges,” said President Barack Obama

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is making over $470 million in unspent earmarks immediately available to states for projects that will create jobs and help improve transportation across the country. “We are freeing up these funds so states can get down to the business of moving transportation projects forward and putting our friends and neighbors back to work,” said LaHood.

President Obama has vowed to veto any bill that comes to his desk with earmarks and says he would support legislation to permanently ban earmarks. But $473 million in highway earmarks from FY2003-2006 appropriations acts remain unspent years later. Those acts contain provisions that authorize the Secretary to make the unused funds available for eligible surface transportation projects, says the White House, and those provisions have been put to work.

State departments of transportation can use their unspent earmarked highway funds, some of which are nearly 10 years old, on any eligible highway, transit, passenger rail, or port project. States must identify the projects they plan to use the funds for by October 1, and must obligate them by December 31, 2012. Funds not obligated by the December 31 deadline will be proportionally redistributed in FY 2013 to states that met the deadline

“Particularly in these difficult fiscal times, states will be able to put these dollars to good use,” said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez.

A list of available funds by state can be accessed: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/redisfy0306earmarks.htm

Introducing Solutions

It’s readers helping readers

For all of the problems you run into everyday, there are, somewhere, answers.

Our new website section, Solutions, began as an idea when I was sitting with executive editor Tina Barbaccia and a group of engineers at an American Public Works Association conference. Some of them had problems, and they tossed them on the table, as it were. Every engineer around that table pitched in with advice, ideas, case studies or horror stories. It was by no means the first time we’ve been at such a table. But it the first time it occurred to us to set up Solutions on the Better Roads website so that the self-help process could be interactive online.

Send us a detailed description your problem, with as much support material as we can handle, and we’ll post it in the new Solutions section on BetterRoads.com with a call for help from our expert readers. Also, if you’ve encountered a challenge that you’ve successfully solved, we want to know about that, too. It would be an ideal proactive post.

We know our readers are experienced, savvy and willing and able to help each other. Why not help each other online as you do in person?

We already have a Solutions article in the works from Dragos Andrei, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, an associate professor in the Civil Engineering Department of Cal Poly Pomona, to help those of you having a tough time working to integrate recycling and reclaiming strategies into pavement management systems.

But wait, as they say on TV, there’s more!

If your problem or question appears on the website, or if your solution is posted as you try to help, you will be entered (if eligible) into a drawing for a chance to come to a game with the National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium (a night’s lodging and game tickets) in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

How did we come up with such a great incentive? Tuscaloosa is Better Roads’ hometown. You will be more than welcome.

For more information email Tina Barbaccia at tina@betterroads.com. or call her at (630) 364-2306

Cement industry backs new PM standard.

A recently proposed standard for particulate matter for the cement industry will allow plants to develop new control and compliance strategies to address this and other emissions while preserving vital manufacturing jobs, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already announced new proposals for the national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the portland cement manufacturing industry, specifically, a modification to the emission standard for particulate matter (PM). It also proposed to reset the compliance deadline from September 2013 to September 2015 to address the new PM standard.

The proposal is strongly supported by the data EPA possesses in the rule record, says PCA. In 2009, the association argued that the PM standard should be revised to reflect inherent variability of emissions over time. In reviewing the standard as part of the reconsideration process, EPA came to the same conclusion says PCA. The new proposed standard, says the association, now more accurately reflects the variability of emissions experienced by cement kiln control devices during extended periods of time.

PCA also says it believes the new standard will reduce the number of cement plants that otherwise would have been forced to close, thereby avoiding hardship in many communities throughout the country.