Quality Quick Takes

Fall, 2005
Snapshots of quality-related highway developments

DOT Partners in Federal Program to Create One-Stop Shopping for Businesses Participating in Post Hurricane Rebuilding Efforts
The U.S. Department of Transportation is a partner in the late-breaking U.S. Department of Commerce Hurricane Contracting Information Center (HCIC), a central resource center for businesses to learn about federal contracting, subcontracting, and reconstruction opportunities in the Gulf Coast. The HCIC, an interagency effort, is designed to assist U.S. businesses, especially minority, women and small businesses, navigate through federal agencies to bid for contracts more easily, including highway contracts. To access additional information, please click here.
The quick-response HCIC partnership opens a pathway to bring high quality to Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts and more quality construction firms, including minority owned and small and medium sized businesses, to the table of opportunity.

NICET Extends a Helping Hand to Engineering Technicians and Technologists Affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) is offering the following services to workers affected by the recent hurricanes: extensions of certifications for those without documentation or resources to renew; free certification records replacement; and updates on examination scheduling in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Certificants can place free “position-wanted” ads at no charge and employers can place free “position available” ads that specifically offer temporary or long-term employment to displaced engineering technicians and technologists. For more information visit NICET here.
NICET, an NPHQ partner, is producing superior customer service during times of need to bolster opportunities for certificants, examinees and stakeholders. In so doing, the organization boosts the overall quality of the highway workforce.

New FHWA Freight Model Improvement Online Resource Center Tackles Faster, More Reliable Delivery of Goods
FHWA’s recently-established Freight Model Improvement Program (FMIP) addresses issues related not just to freight planning and operations, but also highway quality and the economy, since roadway congestion is an increasing variable in the cost of doing business and in economic development. The FMIP recently launched an online resource center, managed by the Office of Freight Management and Operations, to:

• Improve the state-of-practice in freight forecasting and analysis models;
• Monitor the state-of-practice and state-of-art in freight demand models and the application of the models to transportation policy and planning at national, multi-state corridor, state metropolitan, and local levels;
• Provide best-practice assessments, training, tool development, and other short-term improvements to local estimation and forecasting methods;
• Support research to develop the next generation of innovative, multidisciplinary freight models and tools for national, regional, and local transportation analyses;
• Promote consensus-building among freight stakeholders for model improvements and data requirements, and urge vendors to meet those needs.

Access the site here. The AASHTO Freight Transportation Network, an interrelated group of websites for AASHTO’s five freight transportation mode policy committees (Standing Committee on Rail, Standing Committee on Water, Standing Committee on Aviation, Subcommittee on Highway Transport, and Special Committee on Intermodal Transportation and Economic Expansion) is a related site available here.
Freight has emerged as an urgent quality issue in the transportation community as highways, railroads, and ports confront capacity challenges in moving goods.

NRMCA Highlights “What To Do About The Disappearing Workforce”
The National Ready Mix Concrete Association’s Fall, 2005 Concrete in Focus magazine features data about the looming workforce shortage in the U.S. construction industry, the largest industry in the world. To prevent bloating construction costs and project delays, the 6.9 million person industry must replace 240,000 workers a year. With a mass baby boomer exodus forecast over the next six years and a smaller population segment to replace departing workers, new ideas, workforce planning, and innovative programs are essential to keep the construction industry vibrant. View the Concrete in Focus article here.
Innovative ideas to address projected workforce shortages in the ready mix concrete industry address a pressing human resources concern in the highway quality community.

Fast-tracked NCHRP-AASHTO Environmental Study Pinpoints Benefits of Planning and Interagency Partnering for Efficiency, Predictability, and Expedited Project Approvals
For the AASHTO Standing Committee on Environment, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) conducted a quick-response study (Project 25-25, Task #10) on how up-front transportation system planning can facilitate future highway projects. The study reflects the Federal Highway Administration’s commitment to use regulatory flexibility to focus planning on the entire surface transportation system, rather than single project-by-project facility improvements. The report describes the benefits of advance mitigation or conservation partnerships and examines the legal and regulatory basis for funding advance mitigation/conservation efforts. It also outlines communication and partnership opportunities for early conservation and mitigation efforts, assesses key issues and lessons learned, and concludes with recommendations for collaborating on a state and local basis. View the report here.
Advanced system-wide environmental planning and enhanced interagency partnerships provide efficiency and flexibility, lower risk, raise quality, and expedite highway project approval.

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