On November 6, 2021, President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law that enacted “a key piece of his domestic spending agenda” that promises to funnel billions of dollars to states and local governments to upgrade outdated roads, bridges, transit systems and more.
From this one trillion dollar federal windfall, states should expect to see close to $110 billion dollars allocated for roads, bridges, and other related major projects.
According to an official White House press release,
“Repair and rebuild our roads and bridges with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users. In the United States, 1 in 5 miles of highways and major roads, and 45,000 bridges, are in poor condition. The legislation will reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years and invest $110 billion in additional funding to repair our roads and bridges and support major, transformational projects.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal makes the single largest investment in repairing and reconstructing our nation’s bridges since the construction of the interstate highway system. It will rebuild the most economically significant bridges in the country as well as thousands of smaller bridges.”
And it will mean a rising wave of bridge and highway-related work for state DOTs, engineers, and contractors throughout the United States.
Getting Equipped for The Next Five Years
Speaking of the overall scope of the new law, the White House says that implementation will be overseen by experts to ensure it creates good jobs, boosts the nation’s global economic competitiveness, strengthens supply chains, and acts against inflation.
In addition, one of the promises the President made while discussing the Act was to fix the 10 most “economically significant” bridges in need of reconstruction, as well as repairing 10,000 additional smaller bridges.
Consequently, when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed, the Bridge Investment Act, was signed into law by President Biden at the same time.
The IIJA provides $12.5 billion specifically to fund the Bridge Investment Act, which,
“[E]stablishes a bridge investment program to award competitive grants to certain governmental entities for projects that improve the condition of bridges as well as the safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of people and freight over bridges…”
So, when will companies begin to see this new surge of work? Eventually.
Creating the Bureaucratic and Agency ‘Infrastructure’ for Rebuilding the Infrastructure
According to one construction publication, the funding package was designed to be a longer-term approach to rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure as opposed to an “interim” stimulus package.
This means that, as the IIJA implementation begins, Federal agencies, like the Departments of Transportation and Energy, must figure out how to implement the law.
This includes creating new programs and finding reliable ways to quickly get money out the door. And that will require internal planning, internal and public review, hiring staff and building knowledge resources before any services like grant agreements and technical expertise are produced.
Now, it is quite likely that states are busy revisiting those much-needed projects for which they had no funding and planning on how to apply their share of the $550 billion in total new spending. Consequently, implementing the new law will be no easy task.
The article goes on to note that,
“According to the Brookings Institute, states will bear an even bigger burden than that of Federal agencies. As the owners and operators of most infrastructure, they must design and build new assets, hire more workers, and even mobilize their own financial resources to meet these Federal investments. They need to ensure their operations are ready to handle the influx of new federal funding and that means getting the people and processes in place to do so. No easy task given the job market right now.
All this means that projects simply cannot and will not happen overnight. The pace at which federal funds reach different places nationally depends on the types of projects pursued and the types of programs channeling resources to these projects.”
According to FitchRatings, while the IIJA will help state and local governments address key infrastructure funding gaps, the substantial investments are one-time in nature, and responsibility for long-term, sustainable transportation funding remains with state and local governments.
[h2] Consider Under Bridge Platforms for Your Bridge Access Equipment Rentals
If your firm is involved with the construction of new bridges, repairing, or maintaining bridges, or inspecting them, you need access to a variety of quality, professional equipment for your work. But most firms cannot realistically purchase and maintain a fleet of specialty vehicles and equipment just for periodic bridge work.
Not to mention having the means to insure and store them.
Which is why renting under bridge inspection units and other bridge equipment is the best way to have the right equipment when you need it.
Depending on how much bridge work your company does, you may have periods when only one under bridge inspection unit or access equipment is needed. At other times, however, you may have several bridge jobs working simultaneously. These are both scenarios where it is far more cost-effective to simply rent the right equipment when you need it – and only when you need it.
And, with the passage of the Bridge Investment Act, you need to be prepared for an increased demand.
At Under Bridge Platforms, we provide quality under bridge equipment throughout all the Western States, including Utah, California, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon. Our inventory of boom lift trucks and under bridge inspection units includes many versatile and high-capacity vehicles, such as the reliable Skyjack SJB-66TK and the nimble Aspen Aerials A-30.
We take a great deal of pride in being the only company in California that offers total under bridge access. By offering high quality customer service, we have managed to build long-lasting relationships with our esteemed customers.
And we intend to keep it that way.
Contact us today to discuss the specific needs of your project.
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