US Infrastructure Hopes

By Paul Scott Abbott

As chances of timely passage of a US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill began falling faster than autumn leaves, hopes remained that the measure will yet deliver abundant opportunities for construction endeavors and related project and breakbulk cargo moves, as well as long-overdue improvements across transportation modes.

While politicking was continuing to stall U.S. House of Representatives passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act following the Senate’s Aug. 10 approval of a revised version of the bill, a cross-section of interested observers shared with Breakbulk perspectives on the far-reaching benefits – and challenges – the measure could bring.

These experts, like so many Americans, were continuing to be optimistic the bipartisan infrastructure bill would clear its final legislative hurdle despite efforts in Congress to tie it to the Democrats’ even bigger US$3.5 trillion social spending and climate proposal that is a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“The infrastructure package currently before the House will definitely provide opportunities for the project and breakbulk cargo sectors,” said Andrew J. Gardner, president of Kiewit Supply Network, Lenexa, Kansas-based provider of comprehensive procurement services for construction and engineering industries.

While noting the number of materials for projects funded via the bill that can be sourced internationally will depend on Buy America Act requirements, Gardner commented: “Investments in bridge repair, replacement and rehabilitation, as well as investments in public transit, electric vehicle infrastructure and power infrastructure will increase project cargo demands across the United States.”

In addition, he said, the recent proliferation of cargo vessels off the California coast highlights the need for investment in port infrastructure to increase the number of vessels that can be unloaded and reduce the time required to unload each vessel.


Port Funding Eyed

Indeed, funding for port projects is among the key benefits the infrastructure program is seen as furnishing.

“The proposed infrastructure bill currently considered by Congress would provide sustained and substantial funding for ports,” said Christopher J. Connor, CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities. “This would be a generational investment that would equip the port industry with the resources to move freight with even greater efficiency for years to come.”

In the 2,702-page iteration passed by the Senate in August, the bill calls for nearly US$17 billion over five years to go toward port-related undertakings, including port infrastructure development grants and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction, operations and maintenance projects along navigation channels.

Such investments are well-directed, according to Connor, who said: “Port funding yields a strong return on investment. Spending one dollar on maritime infrastructure returns two to three dollars to the national economy in jobs and productivity.”

Sharing in the view these investments will be enormously beneficial is Martin T. Whitmer Jr., partner in Whitmer & Worrall LLC, a Washington-based bipartisan government relations and strategic consulting firm, who cited the link between US$25 billion in combined port and airport spending to US$303 billion targeted for highway and bridge improvements, plus a streamlined federal agency decision system for project delivery.

“This massive investment – coupled with environmental streamlining – means that infrastructure will be upgraded across all modes of transportation,” Whitmer said. “It does no good to efficiently unload a boat if the boxes sit and wait for trains and trucks because of congested rail and highway infrastructure. These investments will more than pay for themselves by reducing time, cost and emissions of moving freight.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Whitmer noted, also creates an Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation, while setting aside US$5 billion for freight movement megaprojects; US$8 billion for the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or INFRA, grant program; and US$20 billion for major multimodal freight discretionary grants.

“All of these investments are geared toward economic growth, moving goods quickly and safely while also maintaining the highest standard for the traveling public,” Whitmer said.


Economy to Gain

According to a Sept. 17 report from S&P Global Ratings, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would more than pay for itself, adding US$1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy while providing nearly 900,000 new jobs over an eight-year period, while stimulating renewable energy programs.

The S&P Global analysis shows a rise in U.S. per capita income of 10.5 percent more than in a scenario without the infrastructure initiative.

Private-sector productivity would also get a boost, averaging about 10 basis points per year, likely lifting average GDP growth on an annual basis to 2.1 percent compared with an even 2 percent gain without the infrastructure program.

The downside is there may be difficulties filling all the new positions with qualified skilled trade workers. A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce report indicates 88 percent of commercial construction contractors already are having moderate to high levels of difficulty finding the skilled workers they need – and that’s before US$1.2 trillion in new infrastructure projects is added. This is leading to a call for expansion of workforce development programs.

Member firms of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association are likely to be among those with a demand for additional skilled labor, according to Chris Smith, the trade group’s vice president of transportation, who said public construction projects such as those to improve roads and bridges are apt to generate some of the most substantial hiring needs.

“It’s going to be a boost for our members for sure,” Smith said. “There’s going to be a ton of business opportunity for our folks.”

Smith also pointed to another facet of the bill buried within its more than 2,700 pages: establishment of federal programs to facilitate use by states of funding to secure automated permit systems for transport of oversize and overweight loads. That would remove cost as an issue for the 14 U.S. states that currently are still without such systems.


‘Desperate’ Need

Jeff Tucker, CEO of Tucker Company Worldwide, a Haddonfield, New Jersey-based third-party logistics firm focused on specialized freight, said he sees investment in infrastructure – especially at and around ports subject to rising water levels – being as critical to national security as to breakbulk cargo operations.

“One of the greatest American natural resources of the 20th and 21st centuries is our infrastructure and our ability to move freight efficiently and inexpensively,” Tucker said. “However, our highways and bridges are in desperate need of expansion and reduction of bottlenecks to scale our economic growth.

“Many interstates and regional highways were built for the 1950s and 1980s and need significant investment,” he added. “This is especially true where ports are located – usually in congested urban areas without a lot of land to make expansions and improvements.

“The opportunity that infrastructure spending affords to breakbulk shippers and carriers is extraordinary, too,” Smith said. “Nearly every significant infrastructure project this nation undertakes will require countless breakbulk shipments to be made and moved. Infrastructure spending is as good for the nation as it is for breakbulk shippers, carriers and brokers.”

Kiewit Supply Network’s Gardner said the dual-pronged benefits of more project and breakbulk cargo moves and better multimodal infrastructure for accommodating such transports will be accompanied by a significant delivery-related challenge.

“The proposed investments will benefit project and breakbulk cargo,” Gardner said. “In addition to the project cargo needed to support improvements and expansion of roads, bridges, rail, water and power infrastructure in the U.S., this investment in infrastructure will ensure that future cargo transport will be faster, more efficient and more reliable.

“The challenge,” he said, “will be how we support these projects to ensure timely, reliable delivery of materials at a cost and schedule that doesn’t put any infrastructure project at risk.”

A professional journalist for more than 50 years, U.S.-based Paul Scott Abbott has focused on transportation topics since the late 1980s.


PHOTOS:

Photo 1: Andrew J. Gardner, Kiewit Supply Network

Photo 2: Christopher J. Connoer, American Association of Ports Authorities

Photo 3: Martin T. Witmer Jr., Whitmer and Worrall

Photo 4: Construction of plants such as the Lackawanna Energy Center in Jessup, Pennsylvania, requires extensive shipment of project cargoes – activity expected to be on the upswing with a broad-reaching infrastructure program in place. CREDIT: KIEWIT SUPPLY NETWORK.

Photo 5: Chris Smith, Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association

Photo 6: Jeff Tucker, Tucker Company Worldwide

Photo 7: Project cargo moves, such as this one for an oil refinery, are anticipated to increase following passage of a massive infrastructure measure. CREDIT: TUCKER COMPANY WORLDWIDE