Courtesy Ohio Department of Transportation

Six months have passed since the first round of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) obligations, and of the $48.1 billion allocated to transportation infrastructure, $30.6 billion has been obligated to more than 10,000 approved projects, according to an early-November announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Nothing like a big, round number to signify accomplishment.

Of course, of that initial sum of $48.1 billion, only $17.9 billion was made available for highways and bridges; and because of the “shovel-ready” stipulation, the first half of the money went largely to projects that were perpetually on-deck, i.e. repaving work.

This has been disappointing for those who were expecting opportunities to secure significant design work in the public sector; and stories about stimulus money going to ancillary roads or “sound” bridges hasn’t helped to mollify frustrated engineers and transportation professionals. But looking back at results from a survey we performed this spring in anticipation of the stimulus package, most of our readers weren’t banking on 2009 anyway.

“While federal spending authorized by the ARRA is beginning to fuel a gradual turnaround in the construction industry, most CE News readers don’t expect to reap those benefits until at least 2010,” observed Editor Bob Drake in the May 2009 issue of the magazine.

States have until March 2, 2010, to obligate the remaining money allotted to highways and bridges (about $9 billion), and before departments of transportation (DOTs) start the review process, here are some ARRA observations, as well as general observations about the industry, from leaders at engineering firms large and small, across the country.

Langan Engineering & Environmental Services
For this New Jersey-based firm, which does 30 percent of its work in the public sector, the stimulus package has been a positive. According to President and CEO David T. Gockel, P.E., P.P., LEED AP, although most of the ARRA-funded work in New Jersey has been “road re-carpeting,” there have been some noticeable benefits for his firm, such as the location of the final pieces of funding for significant projects that were at a standstill previously.

One such project is the Mass Transit Tunnel, an $8.7 billion joint venture to improve public transportation from New Jersey to New York. The tunnel project has been in the works since the 1990s, and it received a small amount ($130 million) from ARRA before breaking ground in June. Working under Tishman Construction, Langan will provide some geotechnical services on the project, which is hoped to be completed by 2017.

“Any commitment of infrastructure spending is good,” Gockel said. “I think that the stimulus package is a starting point, but if you look at the magnitude of funds necessary to add to the infrastructure deficit, it’s going take a whole lot more money.”

Going forward, Gockel is optimistic, but like other firm leaders, he understands that federal funding depends on public awareness, and Gockel believes there is a “huge, huge gap” between the public’s perception of infrastructure funding and building, and what’s actually taking place. But as with the Mass Transit Tunnel, progress requires vocal, credible support — and the engineering community could use a few more evangelists.

“I went to an Urban Land Institute seminar last year, and they had [former Federal Reserve Chairman] Paul Volcker speak, and one of his messages was: This country needs more engineers,” Gockel said. “Now, hold on a minute, you got a Fed Chair talking about engineers to planners and architects. It’s really engineers that move us forward, but math and science guys are going elsewhere.”

Though Gockel agrees that commoditization is an issue the engineering profession must confront, he said the market will continue to demand technical excellence and recognition of new trends, such as sustainability, which Langan has made a priority. Gockel said out of about 500 employees at Langan, 125 are LEED-accredited, up from about 50 this time last year. “As a firm, if you aren’t focused on getting your people accredited, you are going to be left behind.”

Hunsaker & Associates — Los Angeles
The L.A. office of Hunsaker & Associates specializes in design/construction staking and planning services including: transportation and highway design; public works infrastructure; and drainage analysis and design. Jeannine Giem, LEED AP, AICP, is a principal at the L.A. office, specializing in government relations, which makes her the office expert on the ARRA.

“We were skeptical at first that the [ARRA] would be of any help,” Giem said, adding that large surveying firms and general contractors that already had established relationships with Caltrans seemed more likely to secure projects. But looking back at the first round of obligations, Giem is surprised by the amount of small projects the package is providing. “We expected all of these ARRA projects to go to the AECOMs of the world, but we’re seeing that they’re trickling down to guys like us that are doing mainstream civil engineering; and they’re not just shovel-ready projects.”

Even though her office hasn’t been awarded an ARRA-funded project yet, Giem is hopeful, and dedicated to refining her firm’s approach to project procurement.

“We’re finding that we need to make new alliances,” said Giem, explaining that Hunsaker is teaming a lot more with minority-owned business to meet project requirements. Regarding smaller firms that haven’t been exposed to ARRA as yet, but are looking for ways to attract opportunity, Giem said they should make sure to register as a small business enterprise (if possible) and investigate certifications for which they might be eligible.

Giem understands that more opportunities mean more competition, but if the new partnerships with sub-consultants don’t help Hunsaker best the rest, she’ll take the relationships gained as consolation prizes.

Traffic Planning and Design, Inc.
Like Jeannine Giem at Hunsaker, Matt Malozi, executive vice president of the Pottstown, Pa.-based Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. (TPD), had low expectations for the stimulus package. Unlike Giem, Malozi says the results are even lower than the expectations.

“We really haven’t seen much in terms of direct impact,” Malozi said. “There have been some ancillary benefits like maintenance and protection of traffic, but as far as new engineering or planning, we’re not seeing that being built into state DOT budgets, or city or county programs.”

But Malozi has high hopes for the next round of obligations in March, and TPD is making sure all of their prequalifications and partnerships with other firms are lined up. Malozi explained that because so many qualified firms are applying for work, partnering can offer significant benefits, such as:

• redundancy in workload to ensure deadlines can be met;
• familiarity if a partner is already in good stead with a project manager at a DOT;
• proximity if a partner is located near a project site.

Malozi added that as firms jockey for partnerships in anticipation for projects coming out, the climate has become particularly intense and competitive. “No one wants to get voted off the island,” said Malozi, and the reality-television analogy is a good one, as the focus of the stimulus package is not to develop a career (read: character), but to provide a glut of “one and done” jobs. “When [the stimulus package] is done, there’s not a whole heckuva lot backing it up.”