Podcast: The Infrastructure Show

The Port of Houston is the principal U.S. port on the Gulf of Mexico, handling petrochemical, coal, and grain exports, and inbound consumer products. Many of the 4,000 or so ships that traverse the Houston ship channel annually transit the Panama Canal on their journeys. The expanded Canal, set to open in the winter of 2016, will support Neo-Panamax ships with as much as three times the capacity of current Panamax ships, as well as very large LNG carriers. Is the Port of Houston ready for these new ships? What public and private investments have been made and are planned to assure that Houston, and the U.S., are competitive in international trade? Roger Guenther, Executive Director of the Port of Houston Authority talks about Houston’s progress and plans with host Joseph Schofer

The expanded Panama Canal is scheduled to open in the winter of 2016, featuring a new, parallel set of locks and deeper channels, allowing the passage of Neo-Panamax container ships carrying as many as 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), in contrast to 5000 TEU capacity of today’s Panamax ships, as well as larger bulk carriers and now LNG ships. Larger ships mean lower transportation costs, and the possibility of reducing consumer prices and making some US businesses more competitive in the global markets. But a key question for the U.S. is “Are our ports, harbor, and landside transportation systems ready for these larger ships?” Are channels deep enough, cranes sufficiently large and plentiful, and do rail, road, and storage facilities have the throughput capacity to move the bulk and containerized goods? Host Joseph Schofer discusses the national perspective on port readiness with Roger Bohnert, Deputy Associate Administrator-Office of Intermodal System Development, and Yvette Fields, Director, Office of Deepwater Ports and Offshore Activities, at the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). The Phase I report of MARAD’s Panama Canal impact study is her

“Nuisance flooding” is a term for minor flooding that is not catastrophic or life-threatening, but which causes various problems for cities and towns, including overflowing storm water management systems, roads that must be closed to traffic, and deterioration of infrastructure not designed to be under water and in contact with salt-water. Much has been written in recent years about climate-related sea level rise, but a study released this July by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, focuses on the impacts of sea level rise as manifested in increasing frequency and magnitude of nuisance tidal flooding – and the findings are dramatic. Titled “Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes Around the United States,” the report shows that nuisance flooding occurs much more frequently today than in the 1960s – in fact, 300 to 925 percent more frequently. Professor Schofer discusses this important topic with the lead author of that report, William Sweet, oceanographer at NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services

Six years ago, transportation planners across the U.S. watched with great interest the progress of the November 2008 elections in Los Angeles County, California, where a proposed sales tax to fund transportation projects – called Measure R – was on the ballot. Measure R passed in that election, and its proposal was implemented: a half-cent sales tax on each taxable dollar spent in Los Angeles County, used to fund specific transportation projects for the next 30 years. This month, on the 6-year anniversary of Measure R’s passage, Los Angeles County is the scene of five major highway and transit projects under construction at the same time – an unprecedented accomplishment in U.S. metropolitan areas, where “no new taxes” is the popular mantra. Professor Schofer talks about Measure R, its process and products, with David Yale, Managing Executive Officer, County-Wide Planning and Development, for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, also known as Metro

In the Midwestern United States, the winter of 2013-2014 was one of the most severe in recorded weather history. In Chicago, every type of transportation was affected by waves of Arctic cold and 80 inches of snowfall. At O’Hare International Airport, in suburban Chicago, the challenge of removing snow and ice from 14 miles of runways, 45 miles of taxiways, and 20 million square feet of gate areas during this period of extreme weather was immense – this for the second busiest airport in the U.S., handling more than 194,000 flight operations for the first 3 months of 2014. Yet O’Hare did such a good job that it won a top aviation industry award for excellence in snow and ice control – the coveted Balchen/Post Award issued annually by the Northeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives – O’Hare was this year’s winner in the large commercial airports category. Professor Schofer discusses the snow removal challenges at O’Hare Airport and how they are met with George Lyman, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation, Airport Airfield Operations and Vehicle Services Sections

Few people who travel on U.S. highways are aware that great thought went into the design and construction of the roadways, from the layout of the access ramps, to the type of pavement, to the lighting. Even fewer stop to think about the research that informs the highway planning profession. In fact, highway planning relies on its own research facilities, and they can be elaborate. But few are more elaborate than the Virginia Smart Road – a unique 2.2-mile, two-lane research highway built to Interstate Highway Standards, which is managed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation. It is not open to the public, but rather serves as a laboratory for highway researchers to experiment and to learn. Professor Schofer talks about this research highway with Dr. Tom Dingus, Director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

On March 22, 2014, during a month of heavy rains, a significant landslide occurred near the rural town of Oso, WA, about 50 miles north of Seattle, on the steep slope above a river – a slope with a history of landslide occurrences. The slide destroyed about 50 homes and killed 43 people. The event has raised questions about landslide causes and about the feasibility of landslide warning systems. Professor Schofer discusses the Oso landslide, and the topic of landslides in general, with Jeff Keaton, principal geologist for AMEC Americas in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association team, also known as GEER, which is supported by the National Science Foundation. GEER teams survey extreme event locations immediately following the occurrences, and did so at Oso

Building enclosures – also known as building envelopes – provide buildings’ line of defense against the elements. Today, many building owners and developers are looking at the current focus on Building Enclosure Commissioning as a means not only to deliver more energy-efficient, higher-performing buildings, but also as an impetus for changes in how we educate the next generation of architects and other design and construction professionals. Professor Schofer talks about this important topic with Dan Lemieux, Principal of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, the firm of engineers, architects and material scientists, who also is Chairman of the ASTM Subcommittee on the Performance of Building Enclosures

When the Federal Bureau of Reclamation finished construction of the giant Hoover Dam near Boulder City, NV in 1936, the country anticipated that this project, which had finally tamed the Colorado River, would ensure a reliable, long-term water supply for the river basin states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. And for many decades it did so. But the Western states’ drought that has lasted the past 14 years is resulting in a near emergency situation because the water level has been falling in Lake Mead, the reservoir behind the Hoover Dam. The hosts talk with Dave Johnson, Deputy General Manager of Engineering and Operations for the Southern Nevada Water Authority about the situation and about the intake tunnel being drilled under Lake Mead to ensure Nevada continues to have access to its water source

The Ohio River Bridges Project is a $2.6 billion undertaking involving the construction of two bridges in the Louisville Metropolitan Area, a metro area that includes Kentucky and Indiana, with about 1.4 million people. One of the largest transportation projects in the country, the Ohio River Bridges Project demonstrates impressive cooperation between the two states involved. The hosts talk about the Project with Ron Heustis, Project Manager, Indiana Department of Transportation