Advocates at Work

On August 10, 2005, President George W. Bush signed a new, six-year federal highway and transit program authorization bill into law. Over the preceding six years, no private organization devoted more time, energy or resources than the American Road & Transportation Builders Association toward making that law the best it was possible to be in terms of serving the interests of the U.S. transportation construction industry.

Webster’s defines an advocate as “one who leads the cause of another.” The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is an advocate—the transportation construction industry’s primary advocate in the nation’s capital and in federal courts across the nation.

The cause—the core mission—has not changed since the association was formed in 1902. ARTBA, led by visionary and focused leaders from across the transportation construction industry, works to build federal investment in transportation infrastructure programs. As it pushes that agenda in the halls of Congress, ARTBA also works to ensure that its members’ views and business concerns are addressed as those programs are structured and operated.

It has often been said—and is a truism in Washington—that “politics is the art of the doable.” Successful advocates, however, do not “pull their punches,” compromise or try to “finesse” their core positions, or retreat at the first sign of political pushback. They steadfastly stay the course... and push. For they know, as political observer and author, Leo Bogart, put well, “it is never the opinion of the moment, but the potential for opinion change which must occupy those who seek to exert political influence.”

In Washington, the political game is not over until it is over. Wearing people and positions down by dragging the political process out is a high art form in the nation’s capital. The advocate knows that and responds accordingly. And then, when the politicians declare the game over, win or lose, the advocate picks up the pieces and continues pushing forward—because the new game has just begun.

That is how ARTBA approached the reauthorization of TEA-21, the 1998 highway and transit act. The association, guided by a strong and focused board of directors and an aggressive leadership team, set goals...established a plan to help achieve them...and then aggressively pursued those goals to the end—standing tall on behalf of its members and not wavering in the face of political pressure, knowing that to back down would be to negotiate with itself.

This is the story of your industry advocate—ARTBA—at work.

“Representing the [transportation] construction industry, ARTBA has been a constant presence on highway issues. ‘They’re huge. They’re very involved in this,’ said a congressional staffer. ARTBA President Pete Ruane has led the group since 1988, expanding its issue, advertising, coalition building and grassroots lobbying efforts.”

Record Federal Highway & Transit Investment

The TEA-21 reauthorization legislation signed by President Bush, the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy for Users” (SAFETEA-LU), includes many positive changes to federal policy and law long advocated by ARTBA in the areas of project planning and environmental reviews, project litigation, safety in the construction work zone and on rural roads, and the fostering of public-private partnerships and financing.

SAFETEA-LU also provides total guaranteed funding of $286.5 billion over six years ending in FY 2009: $227.6 billion for the federal-aid highway program; $52.6 billion for state and local transit programs; and $6.3 billion for the highway safety activities.

Under SAFETEA-LU, federal highway investment will grow an average of 4.4% per year from the FY 2004 baseline of $34.4 billion—a relatively modest, yet hard fought for, 1.8% average annual increase when the impacts of projected inflation are taken into account. Under the new law, the federal transit program will grow annually by an average 6.3%, or an anticipated 3.6% average increase annually after adjusting for projected inflation.

To accomplish these levels of annually increasing—and historically high—investment, SAFETEA-LU will use all revenue flowing into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through FY 2009 and also most of the cash balance existing in the fund when the law was enacted.

But that just didn’t happen.

Ethanol Tax Reform: The Story Behind the Numbers & Major Achievement

Heavy political pressure was brought to bear to constrain investment in the new highway and transit law as it was being developed by Congress. Indeed, the debate between the Congress and the White House over funding necessitated passage of 11 short-term extensions of the federal highway and transit programs after TEA-21 authority expired on October 1, 2003. The Bush administration’s first SAFETEA proposal, sent to Congress in May 2003, called for a $190.2 billion six-year highway investment. Its position evolved to support for a $201.6 six-year highway investment in its FY 2005 budget request to Congress in February 2004.

The real story behind the funding achievement that is SAFETEA-LU is an important, ARTBA-championed federal tax reform that was enacted in late 2004 as part of a large corporate tax overhaul bill. That law ensures, for the first time, that the Highway Trust Fund would be fully compensated for ethanol-blended motor fuel sales. As a result, revenue to the trust fund will increase by $19 billion through FY 2009. That is the equivalent of a new, permanent, two-and-a-half cent increase in the federal motor fuels excise.

This tax-reform is the primary source of the funding increases accomplished under SAFETEA-LU!

Left to right: ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane; 2005 ARTBA Chairman Rich Wagman; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); and 2005 ARTBA Senior Vice Chairman Gene McCormick met in July 2005 to discuss the status of the highway/transit bill.

President Bush signed the new highway/transit act at a Caterpillar manufacturing facility in Illinois. ARTBA leaders attending the event at the ARTBA member firm’s plant included ARTBA Chairman Rich Wagman, ARTBA Senior Vice Chairman Gene McCormick and ARTBA Central Region Vice Chairman Larry Tate.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, and the committee’s ranking Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.), led the congressional drive for ethanol tax reform.

The ARTBA team worked closely with their staffs and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the ethanol producers’ organization, to provide economic research in support of it, and then lead the external grassroots and direct lobbying effort that resulted in success. RFA recognized ARTBA’s unique leadership role in the effort by presenting the association with its “Industry Partner Award.”

ARTBA sought White House support for the ethanol initiative in a one-hour private meeting with White House Office of Management & Budget Director Joshua Bolten and his top staff in January 2004.

ARTBA: Setting the Agenda & Framing the Debate

ARTBA helped set the TEA-21 reauthorization legislative and policy agenda and frame the debate when it sent a 72-page report to Congress and the Bush Administration in May 2001—the first national organization to publicly articulate its TEA-21 goals.

In testimony to ARTBA’s standing as the consensus voice of the transportation construction industry in Washington, D.C.—and the credibility of the fact-based analysis it uses to support its advocacy positions—ARTBA was invited to provide an expert witness to testify before 14 congressional hearings held in conjunction with TEA-21 reauthorization issues. No other national construction-related association, representing any interest, was asked for that level of official input by the U.S. Congress!

The “Transportation Makes America Work!” Campaign

ARTBA President Pete Ruane and House Ways & Means Committee Member Rep. Kenny Hulshoff (R-Mo.) at a September 2003 press conference discussing the need for ethanol tax reform.

ARTBA First Vice Chairman Rich Wagman, G.A. & F.C. Wagman, testified in March 2003 before the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change and Nuclear Safety and urged reform to the tax treatment of ethanol-based motor fuels.

To advance its TEA-21 reauthorization legislative agenda, in October 2002, the ARTBA Board of Directors launched an ambitious, $2 million public affairs campaign designed to help shape and move the debate in the nation’s capital.

The ARTBA “Transportation Makes America Work!” (TMAW) program employed tools used in political campaigns—a grassroots mobilization program, opinion polling, print and radio advertising, issue-based economic research, a targeted national media tour, conferences and media events, issue backgrounders and publications, a dedicated Internet site, project-specific consultants and coalition leadership and projects—to support the association’s direct lobbying activities.

A hallmark of TMAW was the use of cutting-edge communications technology. For example, our award-winning “Mobilize!” grassroots action program featured a DVD/Internet toolkit which was implemented by companies across the nation. The TMAW internet site provided a cornucopia of information and lobbying tools heavily used by industry activists and media.

The TMAW-supported “ARTBA Action Hotline” provided a toll-free phone tree for grassroots activists that included routinely updated status reports and a seamless phone patch-through to congressional offices on Capitol Hill. These tools were put to extensive use by the association’s affiliated state contractor associations and the newly-launched, corporate-based “ARTBA Grassroots Action Team.”

While it will only be a footnote in the history of the long struggle to enact a multi-year TEA-21 reauthorization bill, those who supported the TMAW campaign can take pride in the fact that the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee overwhelmingly approved a six-year bill in March 2004, that embraced the needs-driven federal highway and transit investment program first proposed by ARTBA. The bill called for a $375 billion investment in state and local transportation programs.

Bringing an Unparalleled Lobbying Team to Work for ARTBA Members

ARTBA members, led by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, contributed more than $2 million to the ARTBA Industry Advancement Fund to support the aggressive “Transportation Makes America Work!” grassroots lobbying and communications program. Pictured: AEM Chairman Ron DeFeo, Terex Corp. (left), and ARTBA Chairman Tom Hill, Oldcastle Materials, check campaign progress in spring 2003.

Unlike many associations in the nation’s capital, everyone on the ARTBA staff is involved in pushing its message as direct lobbyists. For example, when an important vote came before the House or Senate, the entire ARTBA staff often manned the phones to ensure that every House or Senate member knew where ARTBA stood on the issue.

That said, the ARTBA TEA-21 direct and grassroots lobbying programs were led by the transportation construction industry’s deepest, most experienced, and seasoned Washington public affairs staff. The team included:

• Dr. Pete Ruane, president and CEO—referred to as “the Dean of transportation lobbyists” by the respected publication, Congressional Quarterly—who has been personally involved in the development of every federal highway/transit program reauthorization since 1980 and serves as vice chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) coalition;

• Bill Toohey, executive vice president and COO, a veteran of the last four reauthorizations and the architect of the “Transportation Makes America Work!” campaign;

• David Bauer, senior vice president of government relations, a veteran of the ARTBA TEA-21 campaign, who served six years as a legislative aide to the chairman of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee and coordinated reauthorization activities of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC);

“When the American Road and Transportation Builders Association began getting ready for one of its biggest fights ever, it went out and hired the Republican media firm Wilson-Grand Communications to do its radio spots...running on District talk-radio stations...The road-builders lobby also pasted up ads inside Capitol Hill Metro stations heavily trafficked by congressional staffers; more ads on the 2004 calendar put out by policy-wonkish National Journal; and in the inside-baseball Capitol Hill newspapers Roll Call and CongressDaily AM.”

• Jim Kolb, vice president of congressional relations, former director of congressional relations for the U.S. DOT during the Clinton administration and a past Capitol Hill staffer and union lobbyist;

• Rich Juliano, vice president of chapter relations and grassroots programs, the White House Liaison to the U.S. DOT and a policy advisor to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta in 2001-02 and the former deputy chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, who served as the state liaison to the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign;

• Larry Russell, director of western operations and grassroots programs, who was the field director for the successful 2004 John Thune (R-S.D.) for U.S. Senate campaign and “ground zero” field operation coordinator for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign in Cleveland, Ohio;

• Matt Jeanneret, vice president of communications, a veteran of the ARTBA TEA-21 campaign in 1998 and former aide to a U.S. senator and a federal agency spokesman in the Bush I administration;

ARTBA Central Region Vice Chairman Larry Tate, Caterpillar Paving Products, Inc., discussed reauthorization with FHWA Administrator Mary Peters during a 2004 visit to the company’s plant in Minnesota.

ARTBA’s singular leadership on ethanol tax reform was recognized with a national “Industry Partner Award” from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) in February 2005. ARTBA Senior Vice President of Government Relations, David Bauer (right), accepted the award from RFA President & CEO Bob Dineen.

• Dr. Bill Buechner, ARTBA’s Harvard-trained vice president of economics and research, also a veteran of the association’s TEA-21 campaign, who served for over two decades as staff economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress; and

• Brad Sant, vice president of safety and training, who, with multiple safety certifications and a Georgetown University law degree, worked with Congressional staff crafting the important new safety provisions in SAFETEA-LU.

ARTBA also brought in top-level political consultants to assist its volunteer leadership and staff TEA-21 reauthorization team on targeted assignments. The ARTBA TMAW consulting team included:

• Former House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-Texas) and his legislative consulting group at the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Washington, D.C., office;

• Cassidy & Associates’ Greg Hartley, an 18-year senior staffer and top advisor to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Dawn Levy, former senior tax and transportation counsel to Senate Finance Committee Ranking Democrat Max Baucus (Mont.);

• The Carmen Group’s David Carmen, David Keene, former advisor to Presidents Reagan and Bush I and chairman of the American Conservative Union, and Gary Hoitsma, eight-year aide to Senate Environment & Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.);

• John Zogby, chairman of Zogby International, one of the nation’s premier political polling firms;

• Top Republican and Democratic pollsters Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake, directors of the Tarrance Group’s respected “Battleground Omnibus Poll”;

• Wilson-Grand, a leading national Republican political advertising and media consulting firm;

“ARTBA’s early blitzkrieg shows how Washington trade associations try to steer debate on important legislative matters that directly affect their members.” “Hand it to the highway lobby. Even when they lose, they don’t lose...This year, Congress failed to enact a scaled-back $318 billion, six-year bill that the highway lobby advocated, leaving the industry with a temporary extension of the bill. Nonetheless, Congress did approve, as part of the FSC/ETI tax policy bill, a reform in the way ethanol fuel is taxed that will net the federal highway trust fund—drum roll—$22.4 billion over six years. That’s $4 billion a year for transportation projects, in a year when the lobby didn’t get what it wanted.”

• Global Insight, the world-renowned economic research and forecasting operation;

• Dr. Jon Deason, former top official with the U.S. Dept. of the Interior and director of the Environmental & Energy Management Graduate Program at The George Washington University; and

• Ed Graber, former director of congressional relations for AGC of America.

The New Game Begins

During the long road that was TEA-21 reauthorization, ARTBA advanced the interests of the U.S. transportation construction industry. Period.

While the association and its members accomplished much with the enactment of SAFETEA-LU, the job is not over! Ensuring that America has the dynamic surface transportation network that is needed to meet the enormous mobility, safety and security challenges ahead will require a much larger federal investment in highways and transit than was provided by SAFETEA-LU.

ARTBA is already working on the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization, due in 2009, to help make that happen!

Executive Viewpoint — ASTEC

J. Neal Ferry
Executive Vice President
Astec Industries, Inc.

Q: How big a role does Astec play in North American transportation?

A: Astec as a corporation builds asphalt plants, asphalt pavers, profiling machines, asphalt material transfer machines, as well as all types of aggregate equipment that crushes, screens, and conveys material. In addition, we build a full line of liquid asphalt heating and storage systems at our factories in Tennessee and New Mexico. We also build trenchers and directional drills that allow contractors to build edge drains or drill under freeways so traffic will not be interrupted. We believe our equipment provides a cost-effective solution for all those who use our equipment. In addition, we build a significant portion of the equipment in North America for the specific categories we are in.

Q: How might our transportation system be improved?

A: We believe that all highways should be built to last longer. Also, they should be configured so that the investment in building each lane mile is suited for lower initial cost, smoother ride, and greater fuel economy for each and every vehicle that travels on them.

We also believe a new generation of highway should be built to allow separation of trucks from cars. This would save lives, reduce maintenance, conserve fuel and result in roads that would last longer.

In addition, we believe that the design-build process should be considered for the majority of highway projects. The design-build process takes the specific needs of the highway project into consideration while improving the speed of the project itself.

Astec firmly believes that Americans should continue to enjoy the freedom and ease of travel they have come to enjoy. This freedom to travel where and when you choose is central to the American dream. Through developing specific highway solutions that are carefully planned, quickly implemented and long lasting, we can be certain that Americans and their economy will flourish.

Q: What innovations do you see coming for road building?

A: At Astec, we are constantly researching and developing new equipment, but we also believe that it is important to review how a better road can be built by looking at factors beyond the equipment.

One important area of future innovation is in materials. We should consider a change to individual aggregate sizes to make the production process more accurate, and we should blend the material just as we make hot mix asphalt or concrete. This would produce a more uniform product and make our roads last longer. Further, we believe that more crushing, sizing and fractionating of recycled aggregates is necessary. If reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is sized exactly like virgin aggregates, higher percentages of RAP will be possible in asphalt mixes.

Additionally, we think a reconsideration of existing methods on how to mix concrete is necessary. By rethinking the concrete mixing process, more innovations will be possible, and these innovations will lower the cost and improve the quality of concrete used on highways.

Q: How is the energy crunch affecting asphalt plant operations, and how do you see its effects a year from now on the industry in general?

A: Customers of our products and others are looking for methods to be more efficient in their respective locations, because energy sources, often in the form of oil products, are certainly their highest cost of operation item.

The increased cost of oil has also created a long overdue acceptance of RAP. The rising cost of liquid asphalt has caused producers who previously produced 100% virgin mixes to look at RAP as a lower cost solution.

We are also finding that many of our customers are looking at methods to lower costs associated with drying aggregates by either using preheated, used motor oil for burner fuel, by sloping stockpile floors for drainage, or by covering their stockpiles. Producers are also taking advantage of high-efficiency burner designs with variable frequency controls. A good example of this kind of burner is Astec Inc.’s Phoenix Talon burner. These burners lower electrical power consumption, and their increased control capabilities allow operations to be more efficient.

Companies who find ways of lowering their energy-related costs in these or other ways will see success as soon as a year from now by simply focusing on this one problem.

Executive Viewpoint — AIG

AIG is one of the largest and most diverse insurers and providers of risk management services to ARTBA members in every area of transportation—from road and bridge building to mass transit, rail and airport projects.

Daniel Conway, President
AIG Construction Risk
Management and Surety

Q: From an insurance standpoint, how are the challenges and risks changing for transportation builders?

DC: Hazards related to transportation projects have improved greatly with technological advances that allow for a safer work environment and better end product. Unfortunately, risks associated with this industry segment have not diminished to the same extent. Increased litigation and the challenge of obtaining and holding onto skilled labor are just two of the many insurance-related risks contractors face.

There will be added pressures as a result of heavy damages and unprecedented insurable losses sustained on the Gulf Coast. Primary carriers and reinsurers are increasing reserves almost daily as they discover additional losses. Under the normal insurance cycle, casualty rates and coverage availability are not usually affected by losses in the property sector. However, their sheer magnitude may require some insurers to raise rates across multiple lines just to survive.

Rebuilding will demand significant materials that are already in short supply. Petroleum-based products are already exorbitantly priced. Shortages will only add to the problem. Bidding on projects has become increasingly difficult. Another risk related to the hurricanes is the uncertainty of the long-awaited $286.4 billion highway and transit spending bill. These funds may be at risk if they are deemed immediately needed for rebuilding. Many believe the current appropriation is not adequate. If funds are held up again, it will have serious future ramifications. Even if funds are available, contractors are facing the pressure of securing a skilled labor force. As firms are forced to bring in unskilled, less highly trained workers, safety risks escalate. AIG is working with clients to strengthen safety training programs, helping builders attain their overall strategic objectives.

EXCESS LINES

David Bresnahan
Senior Vice-President
Lexington Insurance Co.

Q: How are very large transportation-related projects covered?

DB: AIG Construction Solutions Group covers a high percentage of large infrastructure projects. In part because AIG is a “one-stop shop” with $150 million of capacity, but also because its credit rating (AA by Standard & Poors) is among the industry’s highest. Lexington, American Home and Starr Excess combine to deliver needed capacity for very large projects. Lexington Insurance also writes companion Project Specific Professional wrap-ups on these same large jobs. The security of our dedicated project limits is preferred compared with multiple, variable A&E practice policies.

Q: What effects are severe hurricane losses having on the market?

DB: Estimates are $40 to $60 billion in losses from Katrina and Rita, and the season is not yet over. To put those numbers in perspective, carriers typically have about $90 billion a year in cash flow. The impact, coinciding with rising interest rates, is a recipe for hard property and casualty markets.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Joseph L. Boren
Chairman & CEO
AIG Environmental

Q: What types of environmental insurance are typically written on transportation-related projects?

JB: The most common is Contractors Pollution Liability, which protects against claims for third-party bodily injury, property damage, or cleanup costs/environmental damages arising from pollution conditions caused in the performance of covered operations. If a project entails specific environmental remediation activities, other environmental policies may apply. For example; Clean-up Cost Cap covers cost overruns when environmental remediation costs exceed projected costs. Contractors Operations Professional Services may protect environmental contractors against claims arising out of design errors and omissions.

Q: Do most transportation projects carry environmental coverage?

JB: Our many years of experience tells us it is rare for a highway, airport, rail or mass transit project to pose no significant environmental risks. Unlike many other insurance lines, environmental is not usually mandated by law. Sometimes it is not required by owners. Even so, the percentage of projects where environmental insurance is in force is growing rapidly.

AIG has 25 years of experience providing environmental coverage—more than any other carrier in the industry. AIG Environmental’s mission is to raise risk consciousness and help owners, contractors and design professionals properly address them.

BUILDERS RISK

John Tutera
Vice President
Product Line Manager
Lexington Insurance Co.

Q: Is the move to design-build and design-build-operate altering the risk picture?

JT: The risks can be very different. With design-build, contractors often take on risks normally allocated to design professionals. The risks are different, and the standards can be far more rigorous. Design-build-operate, an increasingly popular format for toll roads and some other infrastructure projects, can carry risks traditionally borne by owners.

Risks must be spelled out in the contract. Before you sign, understand precisely what you are taking on. Allocation of risk is negotiable. At the very least, you must be compensated for the cost of adequate coverage.

The entire area of project delivery is evolving. The nature and degree of risks are not well understood by many. AIG provides clients with contract review services, including, where needed, development of risk management programs.

Executive Viewpoint — Degussa

John C. Salvatore
President & CEO
Degussa Construction Chemicals

Q: How would Degussa like to see ARTBA apply the results of SAFE-TEA?

A: Degussa recognizes that ARTBA is a strong organization developed to give a voice to the large and diverse transportation construction industry. It is there to provide our government support, expertise and guidance when identifying the short and long term needs of our nation’s infrastructure and to apply the necessary resources and funding in the most effective manner.

Degussa is the world’s largest construction chemicals company with hundreds of products applicable to building, strengthening and restoring our nations infrastructure. As such, we have a tremendous interest in being able to keep abreast of the current state of affairs relative to new and retrofit road and transportation project throughout the US.

Each state/department of transportation publishes its list of bridges and the condition of those bridges. In addition roads are identified as either concrete or asphalt with repair, maintenance, and replacement program identified for each. It would be extremely useful if ARTBA could implement a program to monitor the progress being made on the repair and protection of existing structures as well as the replacement of existing structures for each DOT.

This would provide everyone one point of contact to retrieve consistent, non-biased information of each state/DOT on the use of dollars and provide evaluations on their performance, progress, etc. If the information for each state was rated and reported by one source such as ARTBA, this would encourage the states and politicians to be more accountable for their assets and the protection of those assets.

Q: From Degussa’s perspective, what are the most pressing needs for funding?

A: Education. Costs and consequences need to be made tangible and easily understandable to the general public. If a bridge or road is left unrepaired and the weight limits are reduced, what impact does it have on our community? Eventually commerce may suffer thus putting pressure on economic growth. Second, consumers need to know what they can expect for a return on their investment. After all, it is their money (tax dollars) at work. If consumers knew the true costs (initial + maintenance + lost productivity/inconvenience) of mishandled road and bridge projects we would see projects specified and built with better materials, thus saving time and money in the long run.

Q: What pertinent Degussa products have been recently developed?

A: As the world’s leading construction chemicals company, Degussa Construction Chemicals offers the most comprehensive product line in the industry including these newer products:

Specialty and Paving-Specific Admixtures These products are added to ready-mixed concrete to defend against the damage caused by freeze/thaw cycles, abrasion, corrosion of reinforcing steel, concrete shrinkage and subsequent cracking, and chemical reactivity.

Self-Consolidating Concrete is flowable, non-segregating concrete that can spread into place, fill the formwork, and encapsulate the reinforcement without any mechanical vibration.

Underwater Concreting An anti-washout admixture for underwater concrete repairs minimizes the environmental impact of cement and other fines washing out of the concrete during placement.

4 x 4 Concrete a unique method for achieving high-early strength concrete that obtains at least 400 psi flexural strength within four hours of placement.

Quick Curing Bridge Overlay Systems Degadeck products can be applied in temperatures down to 14° F (-10° C) and open to traffic within one-hour after placement.

High Performance Duct Grouts On bridges with spans reaching up to 1000 ft, our Masterflow duct grouts protect the pre-stressing strands from corrosion, letting them transfer shear stress to the precast concrete elements.

Seismic Joint Systems Our Watson Bowman Acme Corp. has a multiple-direction large movement modular expansion device called the X-cel System to withstand seismic moments.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for changing the road and transportation construction methods in the U.S.?

A: Performance should be part of the bid package. Imagine if a contract was let where the winning bidder was responsible for the construction and the next 10 years of maintenance of the structure. Quality would improve through innovation, consumer inconvenience would decrease, and commerce would improve, providing goods at lower prices to the consumer. A long-term effect would be a reduction in construction-related traffic congestion, deaths and lower levels of greenhouse gases.