Schneider told the committee that since passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act his company has been awarded nearly $200 million in stimulus projects throughout its 17-state operation, NSSGA’s  eDigest & Washington Watch report.

What’s more, Schneider said that Knife River’s current backlog is 20 percent stimulus funded.  He cautioned, however, that the industry is “headed back to square one and wondering what our future holds,” according to the report.

If Congress doesn’t pass a six-year highway bill soon, Schneider pointed out that construction job losses will skyrocket on an industry sector that already has an unemployment rate of more than 20 percent.

In Schneider’s testimony, he told Congress that the biggest issue right now is increasing revenue flow necessary for future funding. “With the overall condition of our economy, the biggest question is: Where will the money come from?” he asked.

“The U.S. already has the system in place – the Federal Highway Trust Fund,” he continued. “It needs to be restored to the strength it once had, and more money needs to be pumped into it to keep up with growing demands. It is difficult to consider raising the federal gas user fees, but many of us in the industry believe it may be our only answer at this point to fund highway projects that are in serious need. As noted in the previous research, American taxpayers would support it if it meant safe, efficient highways.

“I urge you to gather support for a long-term highway funding and multiyear authorization bill and make it a priority in Congress. Passing this bill, means you are essentially passing a jobs bill, putting thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans back to work not only in  the construction industry but in the many other supportive industries.

“Supporting a well-funded multiyear authorization bill which includes capacity expansion also benefits millions of Americans who depend on safe driving surfaces. There is a need for real jobs meeting real needs to provide American taxpayers real value.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gannon, a director on the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) board, told the committee that recovery act-funded projects his company is working on have not wholly offset the 50 percent drop in private sector work in recent years. He said, however, that ARRA projects have allowed them to hang on to the firm’s existing workforce.

Gannon also noted that of July 16, more than 11,000 highway and bridge projects under the recovery act had moved to the construction stage and more than 3,000 were now finished, worth a total of $23 billion.

“This is $23 billion that is generating jobs in direct construction and the supply sectors and all of it is boosting the economy,” Gannon said in his testimony.

He cautioned that while the recovery act was currently supporting transportation work and jobs in 2010, its impacts will phase down quickly when those funds are no longer available in 2011.

“Frankly, the uncertain outlook about the reauthorization of the federal highway and public transportation programs is making a challenging situation worse,” Gannon said. “It is also the uncertainty and trepidation caused by how the delay is being handled — with short-term extensions and deficit spending.”

Gannon told the committee that for 50 years the federal-aid highway and transit programs have been “a model of responsible and stable financing” benefitting system users. “That dependability, which is need to plan and execute multi-year transportation improvement projects, is now threatened by a lack of political will to enhance Highway Trust Fund revenues,” he said.

He closed his testimony saying that true economic recovery for the transportation construction industry will only be realized when Congress and the Obama Administration address the nation’s infrastructure challenges head on and pass a robustly-funded highway and transit investment bill.

A copy of ARTBA’s testimony is available on the ARTBA Website (www.artba.org) in the “government affairs” section of the site.

The project is located on the Navajo Nation reservation in New Mexico and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Granite will book the project into backlog during the third quarter of 2010.

Scope of the work includes pavement rehabilitation of about 62 miles of rural highway. The project will be divided into six sections spread out throughout 100 miles in San Juan and McKinley Counties.

Work is estimated to begin August 2010 and will take approximately 11 months to complete.

For more information, go to the Department of the Interior’s Recovery Investments Web site at http://recovery.doi.gov/.

Although some leading Democrats support a gas tax increase in the next surface transportation reauthorization, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who testified at the hearing, confirmed that the Obama Administration does not support any increase in the gas tax. (Click here for YouTube video on Congressional oversight hearing on transportation reauthorization.)

At the hearing, discussion continued to center around the need to pass a six-year surface transportation reauthorization, something the Democratic majority has been unable to accomplish to date.

“Only a long-term transportation bill will truly spur employment in this country and in the construction industry, now facing an incredible 20.1 percent unemployment rate,” Mica said in his testimony. “Unfortunately, the Obama Administration undermined Committee Chairman Oberstar’s efforts to promote a long-term reauthorization, and did not want to see a vote on a gas tax increase after passing a number of other controversial measures over the past year.”

Mica, who has been a strong opponent of increasing the federal gas tax, said the next Congress will be even less inclined to come to Washington and propose a gas tax increase. “The next long-term reauthorization must consider a host of financing alternatives to help stabilize the Highway Trust Fund, which currently relies on the increasingly obsolete gas tax for funds.”

The federal gas tax is a user fee motorists pay on every gallon of gas purchased at the pump. These funds are collected in the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which is used to finance projects to build and maintain the nation’s highways, and some transit, infrastructure. Several factors, such as the growing fuel efficiency of the nation’s vehicle fleet and the increased use of alternative fuels, have contributed to the declining ability of the gas tax to adequately finance our infrastructure needs.

“We must also cut the red tape in the infrastructure project approval process,” Mica continued. “As the stimulus has shown, projects take too long to get through the bureaucratic approval process. This country rebuilt the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis within 437 days, when a project of that magnitude usually takes seven or eight years. We can use that project as a model for speeding up the process for many other major infrastructure improvements.”

Referring to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Mica said, “The stimulus is still missing the mark and failing to deal with record unemployment in the nation. Overall, four out of five stimulus jobs have been government jobs, and in September we will face a layoff of a half-million temporary census workers.

“According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, over 50 percent of highway stimulus projects have been short-term repaving projects,” Mica continued. “The project approval process must be cut significantly to speed up major infrastructure projects and we need a long-term transportation bill to really get people working again.”

The report noted that seven analysts polled by the new organization had forecast a profit of $84 million for the quarter. Cemex reported a profit of $186.5 million in the April to June period last year.

Cemex said second-quarter revenue fell 3 percent from a year earlier to $3.8 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 13 percent to $664 million.

Effective as of July 1, 2010, Public Act 96-795 and 96-920 became law. This law places new requirements on vendors and bidders seeking contracts with IDOT.

The Procurement Reform legislation affects myriad aspects of IDOT purchasing and contracting operations, from buying pencils to building bridges.

Construction Contracting, Architect and Engineer Consultant Procurements, Non-Construction Procurements, Emergency Procurements, Sole Source Procurements, Grants, and Procurement Communications have been impacted by the legislation.

The Website provides IDOT’s business partners with a high-level view of the functional changes under way at IDOT, including new restrictions on vendors, subcontractor requirements, transparency provisions and disclosures regarding lobbyists.

The site also provides insight into the changes that the legislation requires of IDOT and vendors or contractors seeking contracts with IDOT.

The legislation emphasizes accountability and transparency in the procurement of all goods and services, according to IDOT.

In February, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the availability of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for these projects, but it wasn’t until July 22 that the terms were finalized.

LaHood said freight congestion mitigation projects include new traffic control systems, track and bridge work, a highway-rail grade separation and safety improvements on various rail viaducts, according to the FHWA.

“We are using Recovery Act dollars to create jobs for breaking up freight bottlenecks that will help get our economy moving,” LaHood said in a written statement. “These projects are vital building blocks in America’s continuing economic recovery.”

The $100 million grant is from the U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) discretionary program, included in the Recovery Act, to promote innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that provide significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, region or the nation.

“We are helping to promote trade and commerce in the Chicago region,” Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez said in a press announcement. “Improving mobility for goods and people will lead to a quicker recovery and overall stronger economy.”

About 25 percent of rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago region, in some instances taking longer to transit the city than the time it took to reach it from the east or west coasts. The CREATE program focuses on alleviating major bottlenecks along freight and passenger rail corridors. The most important improvements within the program are the grade separations and the rail-to-rail connections, which will benefit highway users and permit more seamless connections between railroads.

“CREATE’s success is America’s success,” said Federal Rail Administration (FRA) Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “By improving the flow of freight and people, rail traffic will move more safely and efficiently.”

The five projects funded by the TIGER grant are the following:

•Construction of the Union Pacific Third Mainline-Proviso Yard.

•Installation of a traffic control system at La Grange/Broadview.

•Signalization of Blue Island Yard Running Tracks.

•Construction of a highway-rail grade separation structure at Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company and CSX Transportation, Inc. grade crossing at 71st Street.

•Fourteen roadway/sidewalk/curb projects as part of the Viaduct Improvement Program to enhance safety and security for motorists and pedestrians.

Overall, the CREATE program includes more than 46 rail and 25 highway-rail grade separation projects that involve restructuring, modernizing and expanding freight and passenger rail and constructing new highway-rail grade separations in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Mendez added that the program supports President Obama’s National Export Initiative to double the nation’s exports in five years.

Capital equipment dropped a slight 0.2 percent since May and increased 0.3 percent over the year. Number 2 diesel fuel prices fell 5.9 percent between May and June and increased 16.1 percent since June 2009. Cement dropped 0.8 percent over the month and fell 7 percent over the year.

For the full list of PPIs, download the BLS report. The price index for finished goods begin on page 15 of the release.

Rowe, who is also creator of mikeroweWORKS.com, a website dedicated to people in the trades, says his partnership with Caterpillar was “inevitable” because the two share the same work philosophy.