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AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Construction 2009 Summer Meeting Chicago, IL FHWA UPDATE Butch Wlaschin Director, Office of Asset Management Federal Highway Administration Recent Losses to the FHWA Family • Jim Sorenson • Vince Barone U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 2 Presentation Overview • New Administration • Update on Recovery Act and Reauthorization • Construction Program Evaluations • Domestic and International Scans • Other FHWA Programs & Initiatives U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 3 New Administration • Victor Mendez, ADOT – Former AASHTO President • Greg Nadeau, Maine DOT – Director of Policy • New Public Affairs • New Chief Counsel U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 4 Reauthorization • House very active – $500B – 6 year bill • Senate more inclined to get an 18 month extension with no changes • Both have passed and sent to WH $7B stop gap provision • WH – Administration proposal looking for an 18 month extension with program changes U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 5 Recovery Act Update • 64% money obligated • As of May 31, FHWA reported 4,798 full time equivalent jobs • 400% Increase from March and April • $35/hour average pay U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 6 Recovery Act Update • 2,406 projects under construction • Roughly 2/3 of ARRA funds spent on maintenance and preservation projects. • David Winter will fill you in next U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 7 Recovery Act Competitive Procedures S. 1554 • All contracts must be awarded through competitive procedures • Exceptions must be reported to the Recovery and Accountability and Transparency Board and posted on their web site (example public agency force account approval under 23 CFR 635.204) U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 8 Recovery Act Buy America Provisions • Due to the Applicability of Title 23 Requirements in Title XII, there will be no changes in our BA implementation for ARRA projects U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 9 Recovery Act Buy America Provisions • FHWA’s BA statutory provisions in 23 USC 313 and our regulatory policies in 23 CFR 635.410 apply. • Notifications of waivers will be posted on the FHWA Buy America Waiver web site and published in the Federal Register. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 10 Recovery Act Davis Bacon Requirements • Davis Bacon will apply to all ARRA projects (the existing exclusion for local roads and rural minor collectors will not apply). U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 11 Recovery Act Davis Bacon Requirements • This is the result of the “Notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a manner consistent with other provisions of this Act…” language in Section 1606. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 12 Recovery Act Risk Management Plan Key Risk Areas • Local Public Agency (LPA) Oversight • Quality Assurance • DBE Program • PS&E Quality • Eligibility/Improper • Contract Administration Payments • Indian Reservation Roads Program • Achievement of Program Goals U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 13 Recovery Act Risk Management Plan Not Business as Usual • Division Office Oversight • National Oversight • Communication and Education • Sharing Risk with Partners • Measures and Monitoring • Reassessment and Feedback U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 14 Construction Program Evaluations An Update • Steering group established in July 2008 to lead planning efforts • Draft Evaluation Guide developed for 6 focus areas – Staffing, Pre-Construction, Contract Admin., Quality, Safety and Process Improvement U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 15 Construction Program Evaluations An Update • Future Actions – Develop SOP’s, establish evaluation teams, training and identify pilot State(s) to evaluate • CPE’s vs. ARRA National Reviews – How do they differ from one another? U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 16 Construction Program Evaluations Updated Timeline Sept 2009: Final Evaluation Guide Fall 2009: SOP’s and finalized format Fall 2009: Establish Evaluation Teams Winter 2010: Conduct Team Training Winter 2010: Identify CPE Pilot States Spring 2010: Conduct 1st Pilot Evaluations Summer 2010: Assessment of evaluation U.S. Department of Transportation effort (first pilot efforts) Federal Highway Administration 17 2009 Domestic Scan of Accelerated Construction Practices • AASHTO/ FHWA team conducted the scan in March 2009 with stops in FL, AL, TX, UT and CA • Purpose – To identify construction operational and management practices that support accelerated construction and project delivery • Scope – Evaluated practices in construction acceleration for emergency situations and a DOT program and planned project • Full scan report to be published in December 2009 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 18 2008 International Right-of-Way and Utilities Scan • Purpose – Identify practices to better integrate right-ofway and utility activities into the project development and delivery processes • Key findings – “Alliance Contracting” approach; nonadversarial right-of-way acquisition; improved working relationship with utility industry at all levels. • Final report available at: http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/pubs/pl09011/ U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 19 Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule Status • All 52 States have fully met initial compliance requirements – Approved WZ policy, definition for significant projects, procedures for TMPs, training plan • Agencies should be implementing their WZ policy and procedures on all Federal-aid highway projects going to bid after October 12, 2007 unless a project exception was obtained • At the project level, observe and provide feedback on TMPs for process improvement U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 20 Temporary Traffic Control Devices Rule Status • The Final Rule on Temporary Traffic Control Devices was developed in response to section 1110 of SAFETEALU • - Decrease WZ fatalities and injuries • - Build on WZ Safety and Mobility Rule • - December 4, 2008 compliance date U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 21 Temporary Traffic Control Devices Rule Status (cont.) • 37 States currently in compliance • 15 States still in process of achieving full compliance – majority of these are close U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 22 Work Zone Rule Implementation Support • FHWA continues to provide support for implementation – Process Review Toolbox – Now available at http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/prtoolbox/pr_toolbox.htm – Implementation Examples – Regularly adding new examples to our website www.fhwa.dot.gov/workzones – WZ Analysis Guides – New leaflet, a guide for decision-makers, and a guide for analysts now available at http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/traffic_analysis/index.htm U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 23 Work Zone Rule Implementation Support (cont.) – WZ ITS Assessment Report and White Paper on Managing WZ Impacts with Technology – Now available at http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/its/index.htm – Training http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/outreach/outreach.htm • NHI Advanced WZ Management and Design - available • FHWA Law Enforcement in WZs – available • WZ Safety Grants courses - available U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 24 Other Resources • WZ Peer-to-Peer Program (http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/p2p/index.htm) • Office of Operations WZ website (http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/index.asp) U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 25 Value Engineering Program • Regulatory update anticipated 2009-2010 • Continued outreach and guidance • Promotion of successful practices • Defining success with VE Program • Value Engineering Change Proposals • FHWA’s VE Accomplishment Reports are available at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ve/vereport.cfm U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 26 Training Opportunities • National Highway Institute – www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov • Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council (TCCC) – http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/tccc/ • National Transportation Training Resources database – www.nttr.dot.gov U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 27 New Training Courses in 2009 • Inspection of Bridge Rehabilitation Projects • Risk-based Cost Estimating for Major Projects (scheduled to be available in FY 2008) • Maintenance Leadership Academy • Environmental Factors in Construction & Maintenance Operations U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 28 New Training Courses in 2009 • Advanced Emulsion Technology for Pavement Preservation and Rehabilitation • Construction Engineers Academy • Free web-based training modules U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 29 National Highway Specification Website Web Site Improvements - Updated Content – Standard specifications – Expanded alternative and emerging specifications – Construction Manuals – Links to standard plans U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 30 National Highway Specification Website Web Site Improvements - • Improved Functionality – Administrative procedures – Enhanced search capabilities • Web-based training – Administrative procedures – 508 compliance www.specs.fhwa.dot.gov U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 31 Additional Topics The use of federal-aid funds can now be used for conferences, NHI training, etc. were PDH’s/CEU’s are given U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration 32 Thank You Questions? 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