Underground Construction - December 2021 - 6

EDITOR'S LOG
Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief
Infrastructure Money and Reality
The Great Infrastructure Money Grab is on
and at long last, underground construction
markets are getting a reasonable share of
the funding bonanza. Markets are anxious
to secure their piece of the $550 billion of
which $120 billion is designated for water,
sewer and broadband.
Another $65 billion is assigned to
" strengthening " the power grid which, in
many cases, means moving overhead electric
lines underground. In fact, that is stressed in
the funding descriptions. For years, utilities
and government agencies have ignored
rational arguments stressing the cost benefits
of reduced maintenance and extended
life-cycle gained by placing electric and telecommunications
lines underground. Now,
people are beginning to see past short-term
savings in overhead installation in favor of
the greater system reliability and long-term
cost benefits of going underground.
For the water market, a sizable chunk of
the dedicated funding ($15 billion) is for
dealing with perceived risks of lead pipe.
The infrastructure funding bill envisions
replacing much, if not all, of the remaining
lead pipe systems in the United States. This
reflects the still knee-jerk reaction by public
officials and constituents that all lead pipe
presents an emergency health risk.
The truth is quite contradictory.
After the Flint, Mich., incident - which,
indeed, was a disaster - reports of lead
pipe poisoning cropped up everywhere
6 DECEMBER 2021 | UCONonline.com
from schools to public buildings to
neighborhoods. But upon further review,
those scares were largely unsubstantiated.
While getting rid of lead pipe absolutely
needs to happen, it is rarely an emergency
situation. Even in the Flint case, it was the
unnecessary, twice flushing of an old system
that caused leaching of the lead pipes,
all made worse by ignoring engineering
consultants' recommendations.
Lead systems, properly monitored to
ensure no leaching is occurring, remain
capable and safe water delivery systems
with little if any public risk. Still, it would
be prudent for any entity with active
lead pipes to identify them, assess their
condition, and develop plans and a timeline
for removing them as they grow older and
subsequently do reach an at-risk stage.
Further water funding will come from
$14.7 billion in additional EPA Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund over the next
five years.
For sewer municipalities and agencies,
$14.7 billion from 2022 through 2026
was also dedicated through the EPA's SRF
program. In addition, $280 million will
be authorized annually, through 2026,
to support state municipal planning and
construction of projects that address
combined sewer overflows.
In essence, federal dollars for water
and sewer programs have been more than
doubled for the next five years. However, it
remains important to consider that all this
money is but a drop in the bucket when
weighed against actual needs of America's
sewer and water infrastructure. Estimates
consistently place a true needs figure to replace/repair/upgrade
systems, at between
$700 and $750 billion.
That's why I was concerned about some
recent conversations I had with municipal
personnel. Too many have the mindset
that the government funding cavalry has
arrived. Therefore, cities can avoid making
tough funding decisions to repair their
crumbling systems.
The reality is much different. The infrastructure
funding should be accepted as simply
bonus bucks that present a rare opportunity
for cities to catch up on their spending
needs, while continuing to aggressively tackle
infrastructure problems and projects.
Another consideration for municipalities
is that under the President Biden
administration, most likely the EPA will be
greenlighted to accelerate enforcement procedures
via the dreaded Consent Decrees.
Many cities are - and should be - running
scared. Now is not the time to just settle for
whatever money is available at low or no
cost. Now is the time to be aggressive, make
the challenging decisions (even if financially
painful) and fully address problems.
Of course, fiber was already red-hot and
with another $65-billion investment, it will
soon become white hot. The big winners
here are the rural and underserved areas of
the country for without this major government
financial investment, there is little
motivation for fiber companies to spend
major money for minor returns.
You still probably won't see the mega-fiber
companies break away from their
business plans and build systems outside
of highly populated areas. But now that
funding is available, there should be an
ample number of smaller companies enticed
to take the plunge into rural America.
Perhaps a major hiccup, as the Power &
Communication Contractors Association
recently pointed out, is that the bar has
been set too low for fiber speeds in the new
installations. The PCCA rightly recommends
speeds of at least 100/100 Mbps in order to
allow communities viable systems for not
only commercial endeavors but medical and
local government needs, as well. I would go
so far as to predict even greater speeds will
be needed in the very near future.
No doubt the Infrastructure Spending
Bill will have substantial impact on
underground markets. Of course, we have
to get past workforce and distribution
issues, plus assuming the government
doesn't interfere or micro-manage, and
succeeds in expediting spending. America's
underground infrastructure desperately
needs that shot in the arm. *
http://www.UCONonline.com

Underground Construction - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - December 2021

Contents
Underground Construction - December 2021 - Cover1
Underground Construction - December 2021 - Cover2
Underground Construction - December 2021 - Contents
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 4
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 5
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 6
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 7
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 8
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 9
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 10
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 11
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 12
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 13
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 14
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 15
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 16
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 17
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 18
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 19
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 20
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 21
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Underground Construction - December 2021 - 26
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 27
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 28
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 29
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 30
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 31
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Underground Construction - December 2021 - 33
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Underground Construction - December 2021 - 40
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 41
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 42
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 43
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 44
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 45
Underground Construction - December 2021 - 46
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Underground Construction - December 2021 - 50
Underground Construction - December 2021 - Cover3
Underground Construction - December 2021 - Cover4
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