ACEC/CT Update

State Bond Commission: $75 million for Transportation

The State Bond Commission is scheduled to approve $75 million for transportation projects, including $30 million for roads and $45 million for bridges. The amounts include money for design.

ConnDOT Update Meeting

To say that the Connecticut Department of Transportation is at a crossroads is an understatement. A new Commissioner is being selected, Governor Rell has proposed splitting the Department, a blue ribbon panel has recommended reforms to the way the Department operates, and funding is the subject of much debate in Washington and Hartford.

Our speakers will be: Acting Commissioner of Transportation James Boyce and Representative Antonio Guerrera (D-Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield), Co-Chair of the Transportation Committee, CT General Assembly.

The dinner meeting will be held at 5:30 PM, Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the Rock Hill Marriott. Sponsorships available. Please download the registration and sponsorship forms in the Meeting section in the right hand column.

False Claims Act passed over

The Judiciary Committee failed to take action on HB 5923, a false claims act, and the bill is dead unless it is brought up as an amendment to another bill later in the session. The bill, sponsored by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, would have increased risk for firms doing business with the state. Chalk up another one for the good guys.

Transportation Summit

Good turnout at this morning's Transportation Summit in New Haven. Speakers included Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives Jim Amann, Congressmen Chris Shays and Jim Courtny.

Some common themes: talk with your state reps and congressmen about the need for Connecticut and the US to update transportation infrastructure. Congress will be considering reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU next year while the transportation trust fund goes into the red. Although Connecticut has passed $4 billion in transportation initiatives in the past few years, the need will probably run about $12 billion.

UConn Graduation Rates Up

In a report issued by the Board of Governors for the Connecticut Department of Higher Education, the graduation of engineers at UConn is up from 478 in 2003 to 614 in 2007, an increase of 28.5%. Graduates in the natural sciences increased 16.9%.

However, that production rate is still well below the 754 annual openings projected by the Department of Labor. Also, according to the Department of Labor only 68% of our public college graduates in 2006 were employed in Connecticut after graduation and earned an average of about $38,516 per year. (I'd expect that engineering graduates earned above the average.)

The Connecticut General Assembly is considering legislation (SB 466) which would encourage graduates to stay in the state by allowing their state income taxes to be placed into an account that they could use to pay for affordable housing.

False Claims Act Testimony

ACEC/CT Executive Director Paul Brady testified this week against HB 5923, An Act Concerning Fraud Against the State. If adopted, the false claims act would upset the rights and responsibilities balanced in the construction contract, would discourage firms from working for the state and would encourage more litigation. A link to a copy of the testimony can be found in the right column.

Art Gruhn, RIP

Art Gruhn passed away March 17 after a long fight with cancer. Art recently retired from ConnDOT as Chief Engineer. He was a recipient of the ACEC/CT Government Engineer of the Year Award and was very well respected in the engineering and construction communities.

Goodbye, Emil

As per his agreement with Governor Rell, Acting DOT Commissioner Emil Frankel has resigned and returns to the private sector. Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele hopes to have a recommendation for a new Commissioner to the Governor soon. In the meantime, Deputy Commissioner Jim Boyce will be Acting Commissioner.

Acting Commissioner Boyce (or by that time Deptuy Commissioner Boyce) will be a guest speaker at our April 17th dinner meeting. Details to follow.

Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water

The drugs we take don't completely disappear in our bodies. Traces of pharmaceuticals are being found in many water systems. Although the amounts are almost undetectible, the long-term exposure risks are not known. The Associated Press has begun a series on this issue.

Engineers will soon be asked to address this problem when designing and operating wastewater systems and drinking water systems.

DOT Split Testimony

Here is a link to the testimony ACEC/CT presented to the joint meetings of the Transportation and Government Administration and Elections Committees yesterday.

In written testimony submitted to the Committees, Governor Rell stated:

“Over the last three years, we have provided unprecedented funding for transportation improvements throughout the state,” Governor Rell said. “Yet, it has become obvious that the Department of Transportation – as presently structured – is not equipped to manage our ambitious transportation agenda. All of the funding in the world will not achieve our desired goal if the agency cannot move these projects forward in an efficient, coordinated and timely manner.

“DOT as an institution has simply become too bureaucratic and too single-minded in its problem-solving approach. The structure of our transportation agency has not evolved at the same pace as our transportation needs have evolved."

Legislators had misgivings about the philosophy that the DOT is not functioning properly and the best way to fix it is to break it up into two agencies. Some thought that the breakup could be justified in order to give more emphasis to mass transit, but other transit advocates are not so sure.

State employee unions are not happy with the idea either.

It would seem that most legislators are leaning towards fixing ConnDOT with a new commissioner, a revised mission and time to get the organization back up on its feet and then considering a reorganization.