The Texas Public Works Association recently held its annual conference in Mesquite. HNTB won three awards, including the Richard Ridings Community Involvement Award, which went to Jerry Holder. A Texas Tollway Authority project and the city of Pasadena's Rustic Channel were also recognized at the event.

HBTB People, Projects Recognized

Members of HNTB's municipal group received several awards at TPWA Awards Ceremony. Left to right: Scott Forbes, Jerry Holder (recipient of Richard Ridings Community Involvement Award), Rob Maxwell (recipient of Environmental Award for Pasadena Rustic Channel project, which he managed) and Michael Inabinet.

HNTB Corp., headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., recently received three awards from the Texas Public Works Association. The firm has Texas offices in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Plano and San Antonio.

Jerry Holder received the Richard Ridings Community Involvement Award. Holder was recently appointed officer-in-charge of HNTB's Dallas office. The award recognizes public works professionals who are leaders in their community.

HNTB encourages its employees to make a difference in the communities in whcih they live and work.

Holder attended Leadership Frisco, a community leadership program sponsored by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, and chaired the class project, WaterWise, which developed a water conservation program for the community. He has served on the board of directors of the Frisco Family Services Center for the past four years and is serving his second term as president. Holder also serves the city Frisco as a board member and treasurer for the Frisco Economic Development Corp. He recently finished chairing the 21-member Frisco Citizens Bond Committee, which presented a $198 million bond package to the city council.

Pasadena Rustic Channel Project: The improved channel provides a connection for the residences to the newly renovated neighborhood park.

The President George Bush Turnpike Landscaping Project received the Transportation Award in the $2 - $10 million category. HNTB submitted the first major landscape project implemented under the North Texas Tollway Authority system-wide design guidelines on behalf of the NTTA. The NTTA organized the project from conception to completion. The results have been positive from an aesthetic and practical viewpoint. The NTTA also partnered with cities and industries along the corridor to build consensus.

The city of Pasadena's Texas Rustic Channel was awarded the Texas Public Works Project of the Year in the Environmental Category in the construction projects less than $2 million category.

The city of Pasadena undertook the Rustic Channel Improvement project to improve the 20-ft. wide drainage easement that lies along back lot lines in Highland Estates, an older residential area that was platted in the 1940s. The existing channel was ill-maintained due to limited site access. Public works and engineering needed a solution that would require low maintenance. The solution designed by HNTB utilizes modular block walls with decomposed granite paths on each side. The channel provides a linear connection for the residences to the newly renovated neighborhood park.

AEM, AGC Praise Approval of WRDA

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers recently applauded the affirmative vote by the U.S. Senate on the $12 billion reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act.

WRDA authorizes planning and construction projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including those that provide flood control and ensure continued navigation on the nation's waterways.

The last WRDA legislation was signed into law in 2000. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new WRDA bill in July 2005. The two bills now move to a House-Senate conference committee for differences to be resolved.

The AGC also praised the U.S. Senate passage of the act.

"This critical legislation will facilitate trade and commerce, and foster economic development," said AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr.

According to a statement released by the AGC, the WRDA reaffirms the government's pledge to authorize, modify and improve projects, programs and policies protecting the nation from floods and keeping waterways open to navigation. The AGC and AED both called the legislation overdue.

Materials Cost to Continue Rising?

"Get used to higher materials cost inflation," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the AGC of America, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its report on the producer price index for May. In a statement released in June by the AGC, Simonson said:

"Overall, producer prices are remaining well behaved, with only a 0.2 percent increase in May and a 1.5 percent increase in the past year, outside of food and energy. But the PPI for construction materials and components jumped 1.2 percent last month and 7.8 percent over 12 months. By project type, the 12-month increases range from 8 percent for new single-unit residential construction to 16 percent for highway construction.

"Many materials are contributing to the increase," Simonson commented. "In the past 12 months, there have been increases of 87 percent for copper and brass mill shapes, 48 percent for asphalt, 40 percent for diesel fuel, 26 percent for gypsum products, 18 percent for plastic construction products and 15 percent for cement.

Simonson said he expects a few of these increases to level off as the housing market cools, but most are tied to strong U.S. and world demand for materials and freight transportation. "I think construction materials costs will keep outstripping the overall inflation rate," he said.