http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/infrastructure/ en-us Sun, 5 Jul 2009 17:52:05 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2286013/posts THE WIDER VIEW: Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam 04th July 2009 Creeping closer inch by inch – 900ft above the mighty Colorado River – the two sides of a £160million bridge at the Hoover Dam in America slowly take shape. The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and winding around and across the dam itself. When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona. In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2286013/posts#comment Sun, 5 Jul 2009 17:52:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2236548/posts The state’s largest farm organization is in favor of legislation that would terminate the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) in both name and concept. Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke expressed support for HB 11 by State Rep. David McQuade Leibowitz (D-San Antonio), which repeals the authority for the establishment and operation of the massive transportation project. “We hope you will agree with us that it is finally time to kill the Trans-Texas Corridor,” Dierschke testified before the House Transportation Committee on April 21. Although the farm organization recognizes the need to build and maintain Texas’ infrastructure, Dierschke said Texas Farm Bureau... Southwest Farm Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2236548/posts#comment Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:49:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2229260/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is expected to unveil its plans on Thursday for accelerating development of high-speed rail, a concept that in the past has had mixed political support and little public funding. "It will be broad and strategic," Karen Rae, acting head of the Federal Railroad Administration, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday about the initiative described by officials as President Barack Obama's top transportation priority. "It's going to talk about how we begin to create this new vision for high-speed and intercity rail," Rae said. White House and transportation officials have spent the past several... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2229260/posts#comment Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:23:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2211551/posts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went to the White House on Friday with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to press President Barack Obama for more federal aid for infrastructure projects. .. Schwarzenegger said a good response would be to increase government spending on roads and bridges and other projects. "This creates jobs," he said. "We had a terrific meeting." ... Schwarzenegger ... Obama "says he wants to pursue the same spread-the-wealth ideas that Europe had decades ago." .. California is "benefiting tremendously" from the economic stimulus package Obama has put together. Obama reciprocated, calling Schwarzenegger "one... Sac Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2211551/posts#comment Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:49:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200268/posts California may have to halt work on its high-speed rail project if it does not get an infusion of cash from the state's infrastructure fund. Aides told the state's high-speed rail board on Thursday that the project is out of money and unable to pay its bills. The problem is an outgrowth of the state's larger budget crisis. Some of the rail project's engineering and environmental review contractors have said they will not continue working without being paid. The rail board has asked the state's Pooled Money Investment Board for a $29.1 million loan to fund its operations through the... cbs2 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200268/posts#comment Fri, 6 Mar 2009 01:09:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200212/posts MAHMUDIYAH — Leaders from the 2nd “Iron” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, met here with nine shaykhs to discuss security and infrastructure progress in the area, Feb. 25. With Mahmudiyah being a largely agricultural area, the discussion focused on determining methods to create more jobs for locals by developing agricultural and rural industries, as well as refining the irrigation systems in their areas. “The meeting was designed to bring influential shaykhs of Mahmudiyah together to discuss the future, and to ultimately prioritize how we can help citizens of Mahmudiyah with the resources available to the Coalition without interfering with... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200212/posts#comment Thu, 5 Mar 2009 23:58:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2198377/posts Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 1:43 pm Renewing America's Infrastructure President Barack Obama addresses a crowd gathered at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., to discuss infrastructure spending as part of the American Recovery and Investment Act, as Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood listen.(White House photo 3/3/09 by Pete Souza) >   "Thanks in large part to Joe Biden....and because of all the governors and mayors, county and city officials who are helping implement this plan, I can say that 14 days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are seeing shovels hit the ground," President Obama... White House Web Site http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2198377/posts#comment Tue, 3 Mar 2009 20:43:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2198463/posts President Obama said Tuesday that the country already is "seeing shovels hit the ground" on the first infrastructure repair project funded through the Transportation Department's share of the $787 billion stimulus bill. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "The work begins today in Montgomery County, Maryland, where a work crew is starting on a project to resurface Maryland State Highway 650 -- a very busy road that has not been fully repaired in 17 years." The resurfacing contract is going to a Pennsylvania-based family-owned company, America Infrastructure, LaHood said. He said the project will support 60 jobs. "And that's how we're... cnn http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2198463/posts#comment Tue, 3 Mar 2009 22:38:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2196232/posts Nissan has announced plans to cut its Sunderland workforce by 1,200. Thousands of unsold cars are stored around the factory's test track Honda is halting production at its Swindon plant in April and May, extending the two-month closure announced before Christmas to four months. Honda and Japanese rival Toyota are both cutting production in Japan and elsewhere. Pictured, Hondas await export at a pier in Tokyo Earlier this week Jaguar Land Rover said 450 British jobs would go The open car storage areas in Corby , Northamptonshire, are reaching full capacity Imported cars stored at Sheerness open storage area... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2196232/posts#comment Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:45:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2190390/posts As it stands now, road maintenance is funded largely through the gas tax. It is a pretty fair way to allocate the tax burden since the more you drive and use those roads, the more taxes you pay. But our new Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood doesn't think we're getting enough cash as a result of the gax tax - or at least not enough for the Obama administration. So, instead of the gas tax, there are proposals to fund road building and maintenance by charging drivers for every mile they drive. How would the government know how much to bill... Climate Change Fraud http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2190390/posts#comment Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:47:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2189586/posts The financial meltdown has produced a vast patchwork of foreclosed and abandoned single-family homes across America, accelerating the decades-long migration of our nation's poor from cities to the suburban fringe. In 2005, as rising property values reduced affordable-housing stock in inner-city neighborhoods, suburban poverty, in raw numbers, topped urban poverty for the first time. The trend will continue. By 2025, predicts planning expert Arthur C. Nelson, America will face a market surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (a sixth of an acre or more), attracting millions of low-income residents deeper into suburbia where decay and social and geographic isolation will... Miller -McCune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2189586/posts#comment Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:16:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2184780/posts This is awkward, like truly first-date awkward, when your hands brush and the other one pulls away. President Barack Obama speaking at the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Illinois Thursday afternoon on his economc stimulus plan (see video below) still before Congress: "When they finally pass our plan, I believe it will be a major step forward on our path to economic recovery. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2184780/posts#comment Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:40:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2181152/posts Bridges and highways and public works projects, oh my! Most of the stimulus package infrastructure spending involves construction-type projects. Have you noticed what nationality makes up the bulk of any type of construction crew lately? I’ll give you a hint: They don’t speak English very well, if at all, and most are probably not US citizens. LAN Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2181152/posts#comment Sun, 8 Feb 2009 22:22:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2177243/posts Congress is hell-bent on getting the $819 billion stimulus bill done as quickly as possible—and President Obama is just as eager to sign it. But a few last-minute additions last week show that there’s plenty of room to improve how this massive spending plan treats infrastructure. Devoting a few more weeks to thinking about what we’re trying to accomplish would be good for the nation’s recovery and beyond. The original bill, unveiled just two weeks ago, proposed little investment in transportation and mass transit. Yet these assets are the public backbone of our private-sector economy. Even where our roads, bridges,... City Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2177243/posts#comment Tue, 3 Feb 2009 07:42:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174297/posts WASHINGTON - Five weeks before becoming president, Barack Obama urged passage of a massive economic stimulus package, vowing that it would "create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. US faces difficult military decisions, Obama says Only 5 percent of $819b would go toward infrastructure Notebook: Panel backs Holder for attorney general Blagojevich asks to make argument at Senate trial But the bill passed by the House yesterday dedicates only about 5 percent of the $819 billion measure to highway, mass transit,... Boston.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174297/posts#comment Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:55:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173264/posts CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. roads, airports, schools, levees, dams, and other infrastructure are in overall poor shape and require a $2.2 trillion investment to bring them up to par, an engineering group said on Wednesday. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173264/posts#comment Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:10:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2171716/posts Consider this: A near unanimous 94% of Americans are concerned about our nation's infrastructure. And this concern cuts across all regions of the country and across urban, suburban and rural communities. Fully 84% of the public wants more money spent by the federal government -- and 83% wants more spent by state governments -- to improve America's infrastructure. And here's the kicker: 81% of Americans are personally prepared to pay 1% more in taxes for the cause. It's not uncommon for people to say they'd pay more to get more, but when you ask them to respond to a specific... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2171716/posts#comment Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:31:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2170505/posts You’ve heard it here, there and everywhere in the news media – the time is now for a big-government economic stimulus package, not only to revive the economy, but to salvage America’s crumbling infrastructure. That’s one of the selling points used over and over again by pundits, as they are paraded out repeatedly on broadcast and cable network news programs – that so-called “shovel-ready” projects will challenge economic woes by revitalizing something we need to do anyway. But only 3 percent of the Obama stimulus plan is slated for such projects....more... businessandmedia.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2170505/posts#comment Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:12:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169974/posts I missed Clintonite moldy oldie-turned-Obama economic adviser Robert Reich’s testimony a few weeks ago on how the government should spend federal stimulus money. The Berkeley professor engaged in academic fantasy land talk about getting all the cash out to workers as quickly as possible — a pipe dream debunked by the CBO report I mentioned in my column yesterday. Even more noteworthy, however, were the comments Reich made about which workers deserve the stimulus bucks most. Reich’s proposal exposes the lie that the Obama administration is actually interested in revitalizing basic infrastructure for the good of the economy. No, what... michellemalkin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169974/posts#comment Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:13:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165627/posts The United States will need $1.6 trillion to repair damage to its infrastructure from a massive influx of immigrants, a new report reveals. In his report titled, "The Twin Crises: Immigration and Infrastructure," prominent researcher Edwin S. Rubenstein examines 15 categories of infrastructure: airports, border security, bridges, dams and levees, electricity (the power grids), hazardous waste removal , hospitals, mass transit, parks and recreation facilities, ports and navigable waterways, public schools, railroads, roads and highways, solid waste and trash, and water and sewer systems. Rubenstein, a financial analyst and former contributing editor of Forbes and economics editor of National Review,... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165627/posts#comment Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:08:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2163467/posts Two years ago, lawmakers went to war with Gov. Rick Perry over his push to privatize Texas toll roads, but their efforts to stop the idea largely failed. As they return Tuesday to launch the 2009 legislative session, lawmakers will be faced with a choice of either raising taxes – which both Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst have called a bad idea – or giving private companies a greater role in paying for, and operating, a fast-expanding network of toll roads. The two-year moratorium on private road deals that passed in 2007 slowed but didn't kill Perry's plan to... WFAA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2163467/posts#comment Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:28:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160635/posts The Texas Department of Transportation made an announcement Tuesday that sounded like bad news for South Texas, but isn’t — its multibillion-dollar state infrastructure plan known as the Trans-Texas Corridor is dead. The key part of the plan for South Texas, known as I-69, is not. The state’s $180 billion plan, announced seven years ago, called for thousands of miles of 1,200-foot-wide traffic facilities to include toll roads for vehicles, rail for passengers and freight, and technology and power infrastructure such as fiber optic lines. Tuesday’s announcement by Texas Department of Transportation executive director Amadeo Saenz was a reaction to... The Corpus Christi Caller-Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160635/posts#comment Thu, 8 Jan 2009 01:30:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160528/posts Shawn Henry, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, told a conference in New York that computer attacks pose the biggest risk "from a national security perspective, other than a weapon of mass destruction or a bomb in one of our major cities." "Other than a nuclear device or some other type of destructive weapon, the threat to our infrastructure, the threat to our intelligence, the threat to our computer network is the most critical threat we face," he added. US experts talk of "cybergeddon," in which an advanced economy -- where almost everything of importance is linked to or... PhysOrg News / Agence France-Presse http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160528/posts#comment Wed, 7 Jan 2009 22:31:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159896/posts SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California has nearly $44 billion in infrastructure projects ready to start and capable of creating nearly 800,000 jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told President-elect Barack Obama in a letter on Tuesday in which he urged a "substantial federal stimulus program." Obama officials and Democrats in Congress have been discussing economic stimulus legislation authorizing up to $775 billion over two years to help the U.S. economy recover from recession. Some governors have pressed for around $1 trillion in spending while many Republicans are talking about $500 billion. California, the most populous U.S. state, is suffering from a spike... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159896/posts#comment Tue, 6 Jan 2009 23:03:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2158356/posts Bandera local farmers and rancher charge that the I-69 Trans-Texas Corridor Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has failed to meet important environmental standards. Barbara Mazurek, Bandera County Farm Bureau President says that these failures are indicative of the problems that exist with the entire Tran-Texas Corridor (TTC). “Because these environmental standards have not been met, the Texas Department of Transportation should seriously consider alternatives to its current model,” Mazurek said. According to Mazurek, there are three main reasons that the DEIS is flawed. • It limits its analysis to alternatives that fit the TTC “vision” of a multimodal... The Bandera County Courier http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2158356/posts#comment Sun, 4 Jan 2009 03:42:53 GMT