Lighting a fire under Capitol Hill

On Sept. 14-16, 2003, the Associated General Contractors of
America (AGC) and its members were in the nation's capital advocating for
highway and infrastructure funding.

The reauthorization of TEA-21, which expires on Sept. 30, is
stalled and Congress has made little headway in producing the necessary
legislation to keep the highway program in operation. One of the key issues to
be addressed is how to raise the revenue to address the nation's mounting
highway and bridge needs. AGC's Legislative Conference is strategically
designed to provide you with the tools you need to have your voice heard.
Forums are scheduled so that you will be fully prepared on the issues related
to highway reauthorization, and time is scheduled so that you can visit your
members of Congress and AGC's legislative headquarters. Interested in attending?
Visit the AGC website (www.agc.org).

Register is open

At the annual meeting of the International Association of
Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI), AGC announced that it has entered into an
agreement with the National Equipment Register (NER) for NER to provide its
theft prevention and recovery services to AGC's 35,000 members. AGC noted that
the problem of theft for AGC members is a growing concern, particularly with
recent increases in the cost of insurance. NER provides training and database
services to coordinate the efforts of the insurance industry, equipment owners
and law enforcement in the fight against heavy equipment theft. 

Since 1985 AGC has sponsored a charitable award with the
IAATI to recognize a law enforcement official for outstanding achievement in
the recovery of stolen construction equipment.

Equal time with FHWA

AGC's Work Zone Safety Committee recently met in St. Louis,
Mo., to develop comments on the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking to amend its regulations governing traffic safety in
highway and street work zones. The comments take issue with FHWA's equal
emphasis on the safety and mobility impacts of work zones on road users,
workers and other affected parties and look beyond the immediate area of the
work zone to consider the impacts at the corridor and network level. Under the
proposed rule, states would be required to develop a Transportation Management
Plan (TMP) for all projects, but the extent of the TMP would be governed by the
impact of individual projects. The TMP includes three distinct parts: a Traffic
Operations Plan, Traffic Control Plan and Public Information and Outreach Plan.
The rules also call for increased training requirements, for contractor
employees to be responsible for the TMP and for more consideration to be given
to the use of performance specifications for traffic control plans.

Talking about LIFE

AGC CEO Steve Sandherr and Senior Executive Director for
Government and Public Affairs Jeff Shoaf were invited to a 90-minute meeting
with senior Department of Transportation officials, including Secretary Norman
Mineta and Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters, to view a presentation on
the U.S. DOT's "Highways for LIFE" concept. The proposal, which is
expected to be introduced as an amendment to the administration's highway
reauthorization proposal, is designed to improve safety, reduce congestion due
to construction and improve quality.

"Highways for LIFE" is an acronym for Long lasting
highways using Innovative technologies and practices to accomplish Fast
construction of Efficient and safe pavements and bridges.

The DOT would seek to identify pilot projects of various
sizes that would allow for innovative practices and improved technologies to
reduce on-site construction time, attain higher quality and improve safety.