Expert Insights

A law that people know well, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was passed by Congress more than three decades ago. Now, however, it has moved to center stage in the public arena because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). A significant portion of the...

Massive amounts of information have been disseminated about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – but perhaps the volume and variety of messages have been overwhelming. For whatever reason, there is a troubling amount of confusion and a lack of clarity about all the new...

An abundance of funding has been allocated to public transit authorities … and more funding is on the way courtesy of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Interestingly, a trend has emerged that indicates a common practice throughout the country. Public officials at the...

Modern and well-run libraries have been treasured public assets for communities for decades. These unique public facilities serve many purposes – they are bastions of educational materials, home bases for creative inspiration, and repositories of equitable learning...

The interest in renewable energy is destined to escalate. Recently, the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) program enhanced the appeal for these types of projects while also expanding the scope. The ITC program encourages private investment in renewable energy...

Not everyone knows that the federal government’s infrastructure bill includes a $1.6 billion funding allocation for projects related to ferry services. Private-sector contractors should take a moment to check out some of the upcoming projects designed to amplify ferry...

Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology is becoming a common component in our daily lives even though the term remains unfamiliar to many people. LiDAR uses a beam of airborne laser light to map out ranges in 3-D. These images are integral to construction,...

Adaptive reuse is a terminology, process, and trend that is becoming quite common in government marketplaces. Public officials throughout the country are launching adaptive reuse projects involving government facilities that already exist. Rather than launch entirely...

Before the labor shortage and supply chain problems began — even before the pandemic that fueled them started — automation was a buzzword for planners and public officials. Now, automation may be the public sector’s best bet for dealing with stifling setbacks to the...

It has been 74 days since Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. As public officials, citizens and companies wait, it is time to get a clear picture of what is happening now, what happens next and what $1.2 trillion will do for communities throughout the...

City officials, for years, have struggled to find ways to provide more affordable housing options for residents, and now funding for these efforts is more available than ever. One funding source that has created revenue specifically for affordable housing is the...

Throughout history, college campuses have transformed students into global leaders by equipping them with the resources and knowledge required to address the world’s most troubling issues. That’s a critical component of every aspect of our well-being around the world....

What a year we just left behind! After living through 2020, we all hoped that 2021 was the year to bring normalcy back to our lives. It did not happen so here we are again, entering a new year and hoping that 2022 will be the year we return to some degree of...

Firefighters are heroes in our communities, and public safety is top of mind for first responders and citizens as well. Now, for the first time in many years, local governments have new funding for public safety facilities. Hundreds of projects for new or...

The recent passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill authorized a staggering $1.2 trillion for the rebuilding of America’s critical infrastructure. Airport officials throughout the country were among the first this month to begin receiving billions of the new...

The pandemic forced communities in America to mandate lengthy periods of social distancing. Now that the mandates have lessened, city and state officials are eager to fund projects designed to bring people back together. Large initiatives to construct sports stadiums,...

Government leaders throughout the country are leading initiatives to renovate, preserve, and modernize historic municipal buildings, or build new public assets. These efforts may be found in every state and at every jurisdictional level of government. Many of the...

Get ready to hear a lot about decarbonization. That’s the new magic word. It can be used to refer just about any program that removes or replaces carbon emissions. Because the term entails such a wide range of activities, it will soon open the door to an equally...

A windfall of federal funding will literally change the landscape throughout America over the next several years. The recently passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill makes funding available for all kinds of large capital projects. Additional funding is available...

America’s vast network of roads is a treasured public asset - an essential component of global competitiveness. The country’s roadways also are the backbone of economic vitality for every region of the U.S. Because of this, officials at all levels of government must...

The sudden onset of a natural disaster creates immediate havoc, and the cost of destruction that has become the norm is huge. To counter the cold unpredictability and extremely high costs of protecting the country’s environment, officials at various levels of...

The effects of COVID eased America’s dependence on automobiles in ways that continue to alter the fabric of U.S. infrastructure. Lockdowns inspired massive portions of the population to look for more diverse methods of travel, and public officials took note of the...

Public officials throughout America are leveraging data in ways that can only be described as futuristic. Through partnerships with companies that specialize in data capture, data integration, and data analysis, big changes are occurring. The results are impressive -...

Municipal buildings represent the center of government in communities throughout the U.S. In almost all cases, town halls and public buildings are esteemed as hallmarks of civic pride. The public assets have a cultural value as well as a functional one, and efforts to...

America’s prison system is responsible for housing and rehabilitating a very large population of inmates. The resources and accommodations required are great, and the system, the largest in the world, has reached a point of no return. Many of its parts are in critical...

As 2021 winds down, officials at every governmental level are unrolling budgets for 2022. As they consider spending options for an unpredictable future, many appear to be relying on lessons learned from the previous fiscal year – the year when COVID dominated almost...

For hundreds of years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has overseen some of the country’s most monumental civil works – projects that improved waterway passages, conserved the environment, mitigated flooding, and, ultimately, made the nation more livable. The...

In the immediate past, water and wastewater infrastructure projects rarely created any public excitement … but that may be changing. Citizens throughout the country now realize the critical need for clean and safe drinking water and careful management of wastewater...

Twenty-two different natural disasters struck various areas of the U.S. in 2020, and they all shared one commonality – estimated damages of more than $1 billion. The pattern of destruction from last year has alarmed and inspired local, state, and federal governments...

As environmental concerns force us to rethink how we power our urban centers, the massive losses sustained from sudden natural disasters expose the need for us to initiate change sooner rather than later. The future of our energy supply must face the dual challenges...

Federal funding continues to flow, and it is available now to government officials throughout the country. Just weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yet another $272 million that is available for rural drinking water and wastewater...

School districts throughout the U.S. are on the verge of letting large construction projects with new funding from citizen-supported bond elections. Some school districts already have secured their funding, and others will ask voters to approve bond packages in...

There are, of course, some people who know about what follows … but not the public at large. And, very few taxpayers, large companies, media outlets, and citizens have heard the news. Strange as it may sound, even many public officials appear to have little knowledge...

Airports in America are undergoing significant changes as focus has shifted to long-overdue, critical needs related to modernization. Finally, there is funding for these efforts. Public officials are preparing to launch thousands of projects with objectives related to...

Ports throughout the U.S. have extremely critical infrastructure needs, and port officials in numerous states are readying projects for launch. America’s ports are in desperate need of modernization, expansion, upgrades, and repairs if they are to remain viable....

As public assets become weathered over time, repair and maintenance costs accumulate. Without attention, the assets lose value and eventually become inefficient and unsafe. With local government budgets stretched to the breaking point, thousands of public assets...

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) appropriated $350 billion to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. After the bill was signed, the U.S. Department of Treasury released a Compliance and Reporting Guidance document that outlines provisions...

There’s a trend gaining strength that is worth watching. Private sector investors are beginning to seek investment opportunities that provide more than good returns. There is great appeal for investments focused on sustainability. Nowhere is this trend more clearly...

With so much buzz about the pending infrastructure bill, it would be easy to assume that most upcoming opportunities for government contracting will be centered on roads, bridges, water, and power. Or, with the potential passage of the Jobs Act, one could predict that...

Federal funding and community supported bond packages will provide funding for new public safety projects in the very near future. It appears that almost every state in the U.S. will launch projects similar to the ones that follow. Nevada The city of Henderson plans...