Overseas News on Civil Engineering IT
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This section focuses on a unique overseas website related to civil engineering IT. This issue features 'Economic Recovery "Yes We Can' ”, which is related with the Website of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) headquartered in Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Emphasizing 5,000 "Ready-To-Go" Transportation Projects for Economic Recovery and Employment Measures
A nonprofit, nonpartisan association, AASHTO represents departments of transportation for 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. It represents all five transportation modes: air, highways, public transportation, rail, and water, with missions of advocating transportation-related policies and providing technical services to support states in their efforts to efficiently and safely.
AASHTO runs special highlight pages that offer various kinds of information through its main Website. "Economic Recovery 'Yes We Can!'" is one of them, focusing on the roles of public works projects as stimulative measures of economy and dispatching measures and information about current problems and economic recovery.
"5,000 'Ready-To-Go' Transportation Projects Could Put Millions to Work"
According to the opening of the highlight site, John Horsley, Executive Director of the AASHTO pointed out with regard to the economic recovery plan that: 1) State DOTs right now are moving to advance thousands of projects, so that contracts can be let in 120 days, as the House bill has proposed, 2) Those projects will enable the transportation industry to keep people at work, and bring construction workers back on the job very quickly. 3) When AASHTO asked the state DOTs if they are prepared to have 50% of the $30 billion under contract within 120 days, as the House bill stipulates, they responded, "Yes, we can!" He further explains their concretization.
This part is linked with the video statement of Mr. Horsley speaking in "The Voice of Transportation, which offers audio-visual contents in detail.
"Top Five Transportation Headaches and Their Remedies Identified"
In January 2009, AASHTO and TRIP (a nonprofit organization that researches, evaluates and distributes economic and technical data on highway transportation issues) jointly published a report entitled "America's Top Five Transportation Headaches -- and Their Remedies."
Its subtitle refers to the concept as "The nation's greatest challenges in providing a well-maintained, efficient and safe highway, bridge and transit system and the best opportunities for gaining transportation headache relief." Then the report lists the top five "headaches" of America: 1) Aging Bridges, Crumbling Pavements and Deteriorating Transit, 2) Congested Roads, Highways and Transit Systems, 3) Traffic Fatalities and Injuries, 4) Demand is Stressing the System, 5) Everyone's Costs Are Rising.
Following these transportation problems, the report prescribes five remedies as below:
- Begin work immediately on "ready-to-go" transportation projects. (e.g. state transportation departments have 5,280 highway and bridge projects worth $64 billion.)
- Boost transportation funding to stimulate economic growth in the short, medium, and long-term.
- Recognize that the benefits of surface transportation improvements outweigh the costs.
- Use innovation and advanced technology to build highway and bridge improvements that last longer, are environmentally savvy, and take less time.
- Make a down-payment on the nation's transportation needs immediately, and address long-term improvements in the near future.
The Latest Information on Economic recovery Gathered Together
In this site, important information on economic recovery is gathered together in one place for the users' convenience. One can select from the following menu items to browse.
"Reports/Testimony" collects information such as significant reports and testimony about the economic recovery including the latest data. "State Examples" shows headlines for "Ready-To-Go" projects by States with the links of each State DOTs. For example, in the case of Nebraska, the DOT site shows a list of potential "Ready To Go" projects totaling $370 million, including replacing, repairing, widening, and removing of bridges; resurfacing and reconstructing of roads; and so on.
"In The News" presents the headlines of the latest news related with the economic recovery plan published in the newspapers, online news, or business magazines etc., with their links (original Websites). On the other hand, "Press Releases" shows the headlines and links for the press releases put out by AASHTO with respect to "Ready-To-Go" projects. What's more, "Other Organizations" introduces what other transportation organizations such as Association of American Railroads (AAR) are saying about economic recovery through the article links. Lastly, "Downloads" offers PDF files for downloading reports or news articles.
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 Home page: Economic Recovery"Yes We Can!" (AASHTO) (Image provided by AASHTO) |
"AASHTO - The Voice of Transportation" (Linked from this site to YouTube site) (Image provided by AASHTO) |
From http://www.transportation.org/, the website for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Used by permission.
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