INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
JULY 2010
I nfrastructure M o n t h l y
Published by: The Right Hire
Matt Plotkin, President
310-844-7481
Mattp@therighthireinc.com
www.therighthireinc.com
When The Levees Break -
PAGE 1
LEVEES KEEP US ABOVE Destruction Occurs
WATER
But when they break, they drown By Matt Plotkin
cities President, The Right Hire
PAGE 2 All across the country, in cities like Des
NEWSLETTER Moines, Nashville and New Orleans, and
INFORMATION even in California, citizens are
The Right Hire is proud to publish
experiencing disaster in a way that could
Infrastructure Monthly, dedicated to
have easily been prevented. Our levees
the Construction and Civil
are breaking like twigs, causing massive
Engineering industries
floods on our streets, in our homes and
damaging local businesses and taking
PAGE 2 lives. Sure, water levels are rising but that
CALTRANS ALLOCATES
NEARLY $900 MILLION FOR
doesn't mean that the Army Corps of
PROJECTS Engineers has been doing all it can to fix
A breakdown of the major projects the problem. Or maybe it's due to a lack of
in each region funding, which in turn has cost us billions
of dollars in damages from floods.
PAGE 3
THE RIGHT HIRE SURVEY/ In 2005, prior to the levees breaking a
INDUSTRY TRENDS second time in 2008, it was estimated that
Introducing a new section on trends $10 million dollars worth of improvements
as reported by companies across the
were needed to fix the levee. However,
infrastructure industry the money was never allocated and in
2008, the levee broke again, causing
PAGE 3 significant damage to the Des Moines
BUILDING HURRICANE area. Now, in 2010, a broken levee is
RESISTANT BUILDINGS
Especially important now that
causing a fresh round of destruction in
hurricane season is upon us
Iowa, causing devastation to many homes
and buildings. Imagine how much damage
could have been prevented had they used
PAGE 4
SOLAR POWER DOES IT
the $10 million to fix the levees. Instead,
AGAIN billions of our taxpayer dollars are going
Water heating is being revolutionized towards fixing what should have been
by solar power prevented in the first place, for a mere $10
million.
In 2004, a levee broke in the San Joaquin
region of California, causing floods and
threatening the drinking water for over 20
million people in the area. FEMA stepped
up after the fact to provide just over 7
million dollars to prevent further damages,
but why do we have to have an
emergency before we fix what could have
been preventable in the first place?
Many officials have taken a see no evil
hear no evil approach to the broken
levees our country relies so heavily on.
However, once the water starts to rise, the
levees become no match for the rising
tides and suddenly the same officials who
have turned a blind eye to the problem are
now scurrying around trying to be heroes.
But with the American Red Cross having
already spent all the money in their
disaster relief fund, and then having to
borrow money to help flood victims, the
question must be asked, why are we
constantly behind the ball when it comes
to fixing our levees? How many people
must drown, how many homes must be
ruined, how much havoc must be reached
before we wake up and fix the problem?
A spokesman for the Army Corp of
Engineers claims there was no way of
knowing the levees would break. Yet they
keep breaking over and over again; it
sounds like the Army Corp of Engineers is
playing defense. If they can't do the job,
it's time to put a top construction company
in place to solve the problem. Maybe then,
we’ll get a company that’s held
accountable when something goes wrong,
one that doesn’t play defense but rather
goes on the offensive to fix our broken
levees.
This is a fixable problem, but one that isn’t
going to go away in time if nothing is
done. We need a better system to monitor
and fix our broken levees, because with
the water level rising in rivers like the
Mississippi, we don’t have another choice.
Or else it’ll be time to either learn to swim
down the boulevard or buy a raft.
 INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
THE RIGHT HIRE PRESENTS:
INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
By: Matt Plotkin
Welcome to the latest issue of
Infrastructure Monthly, provided and
created by The Right Hire. Each month,
you can expect a mix of Civil Engineering
and Construction articles, along with
business tips and ideas, industry trends,
and the latest alternative energy news. In
every issue, this newsletter will aim to
inform and educate its readers on the
latest infrastructure news.
The Right Hire is a recruiting firm focused
in the infrastructure fields of Construction
and Civil Engineering. We have worked
with companies of all sizes to find the top
talent on the market today. Contact us
today to find out how we can help
streamline your recruiting process.
$897 MILLION ALLOCATED TO
EXPAND STATE’S ECONOMY AND
IMPROVE TRANSPORTATION
Sacramento – The California
Transportation Commission (CTC) has
allocated $897 million to 170
transportation projects statewide,
including $157 million from Proposition
1B, a transportation bond approved by
voters in 2006, and $49 million from
President Obama’s American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Recovery Act). The remaining $691
million in allocations came from
assorted transportation accounts funded
by state and federal dollars.
“The Recovery Act and Proposition 1B
are paying for vital transportation
projects that help relieve traffic
congestion and improve the quality of
life for all Californians,” said Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Investing in
our infrastructure is strengthening our
economy and creating jobs throughout
the state at a time when we need them
most.”
Since its passage, approximately $5.9
billion in Proposition 1B funding has
been allocated. California has obligated
nearly $2.5 billion from the Recovery
Act to 931 highway, local street, and job
training transportation projects
statewide.
JULY 2010
Highlights of the project allocations
include:
Los Angeles - $16.6 million in
Recovery Act funding to help repave
and repair 112 lane miles of pavement
on Interstate 5 near Castaic.
Kern County - $20 million from the
Recovery Act to help replace 42 lanes
miles of pavement on Interstate 5 near
Buttonwillow.
San Mateo County - $30 million in
Proposition 1B funding to provide grade
separation of an existing at-grade rail
crossing in San Bruno. This will reduce
the potential for accidents and decrease
emissions from vehicles waiting for
trains to pass by.
San Bernardino County - $45 million
from Proposition 1B for a rail grade
separation project along the Alameda
Corridor East in Ontario.
“From one end of the state to the other,
transportation projects are providing
good paying jobs and improving
mobility for people and businesses in
California,” said Caltrans Director
Cindy McKim.
The CTC also approved two projects for
Caltrans’ design-build demonstration
program: the Devore Interchange
Project in San Bernardino County and
the State Route 180 Braided Ramps
Project in Fresno. Design-build is a
project delivery method that combines
design and construction into one
contract. Faster project delivery occurs
because design and construction take
place concurrently. Caltrans anticipates
both projects will be completed at least
two years earlier using design-build.
The expedited construction schedule
will bring thousand of jobs to San
Bernardino County and Fresno sooner
than expected.
The Devore interchange (Interstate
15/215) is the second greatest
bottleneck for goods movement in the
country. The annual cost of traffic
delays at the interchange is almost $4
million and is expected to increase to
almost $80 million a year by 2040. The
$369 million Devore project will
dramatically improve goods movement
and enhance traffic safety.
The Braided Ramps Project, located
between State Routes 41 and 168 in
Fresno, will ease congestion and
improve safety for motorists by
eliminating many merging and
transition conflicts along a series of
interlocking freeways, making it easier
for motorists to travel throughout
Fresno.
 INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
JULY 2010

The Right Hire Introduces Market Trends as Reported by Companies Around the
Industry
By Matt Plotkin
President, The Right Hire

I sincerely hope you've been enjoying Infrastructure Monthly. Every month we do our best to provide an
informative collection of articles to educate our audience. As a recruiter and business owner, I try to
keep my finger on the pulse of what's coming in the months ahead.

Lately, I've noticed an uptick in jobs within the Construction and Civil Engineering fields. It seems after
months of job losses, there arguably are better times ahead. In addition to writing pulitzer prize
winning articles, in the next couple of months I'm going to start a new section about industry trends.

As much as I talk to people in the industry everyday, both to companies and interviewing top talent,
one man alone cannot gage the entire industry as a whole. I'm asking for your assistance in this task,
and have put together a survey that will help us to better understand what's next for this industry. After
all, knowledge is power and that’s what we strive to give to you.

The first rounds of surveys have gone out, and we are analyzing them to discover the trends that have
been occurring in the market. We appreciate all the responses we have received and will be publishing
the first round of trends starting next month. Thank you again to everyone that has been participating,
and we ask everyone who receives the survey this month to take a minute and reply for the benefit of
the infrastructure industry.

Building to Withstand Hurricanes
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2010) — Rima Taher, an expert in the
design of low-rise buildings for extreme winds and hurricane,
hopes her phone won't ring much this hurricane season. It's
already been busy with requests for information about best
building design and construction practices to reduce wind
pressures on building surfaces.
In the aftermath of the January earthquake in Haiti, Taher, a civil
and structural engineer at the NJIT College of Architecture and
Design, prepared a document for Architecture for Humanity
about best building practices for hurricane and earthquake-prone
areas. It's posted on the organization's Haiti Reconstruction
website and still circulates in Haiti. More recently, she
cooperated with wind researchers at Tokyo Polytechnic
University, Japan, to develop and translate from French a
brochure for UNESCO to help Haitians prepare for the upcoming
hurricane season. UNESCO will distribute the brochure in Haiti.
In 2007 Taher's article about the design of low-rise buildings for
extreme wind events appeared in the Journal of Architectural
Engineering of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Another
article on improved building practices for hurricanes appeared in
Caribbean Construction Magazine in July of 2009.
"Certain home shapes and roof types can make a big difference,"
is a common refrain in all her work.
Her recommendations include the following.
• Design buildings with square, hexagonal or even
octagonal floor plans with roofs of multiple slopes such
as a four-sloped hip roof. These roofs perform better
under wind forces than the gable roofs with two slopes.
Gable roofs are common only because they are cheaper
to build. Research and testing demonstrate that a 30-
degree roof slope will have the best results.
• Wind forces on a roof tend to uplift it. "This explains
why roofs blow off during extreme wind events," Taher
said. To combat uplift, she advises connecting roofs to
walls strongly with nails, not staples. Stapled roofs were
banned in Florida after Hurricane Andrew. The use of
hurricane clips is recommended. The choice of roofing is
important. Different roofing systems perform differently
under hurricane conditions. In tile roofs, loose tiles often
become wind-borne debris threatening other structures.
• Aim for strong connections between the structure and
foundation. Structural failure-- one structural element
triggering the collapse of another -- can be progressive.
• Hurricane shutters can protect glazing from wind-borne
debris. Various designs are available.
• Roof overhangs are subject to wind uplift forces which
could trigger a roof failure. In the design of the
hurricane-resistant home, the length of these overhangs
should be limited to about 20 inches.
• The design of the researched cyclonic home includes
simple systems to reduce the local wind stresses at the
roof's lower edges such as a notched frieze or a
horizontal grid. Install the latter at the level of the gutters
along the homes' perimeter.
• An elevated structure on an open foundation reduces the
risk of damage from flooding and storm-driven water. All
foundation piles must be strengthened by bracing and
should penetrate deep enough into the soil to reduce the
risk of scour.
INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
Savings heat up with solar-powered water
heaters
 
(ARA) - More homeowners are deciding solar power is
the right thing to do - for the sake of the environment and
their wallets. New technologies make it easier than ever
to use the sun to heat water in our homes. And Congress
is helping make going green a cash-smart move too, by
extending the federal solar tax credit another eight years.
Thanks to the tax credit program, you can recoup 30
percent of the total installed cost of a solar water heating
system. "It's a great time to switch to solar power for
your water heating needs," says Jim Cika, a solar water
heating expert with VELUX America. But before you
buy a solar water heater, do your homework, he urges,
learn about the technologies available and review just
how solar-friendly your home can be.
"Homeowners need to factor in geographic location,
orientation of the roof for solar collectors, costs and tax
incentives and rebates that may be available to arrive at
an economically sensible and environmentally-sensitive
decision," Cika says.
While a solar water heating system usually costs more to
purchase and install than a conventional water heating
system, it can reduce energy costs in the long run and is
much kinder to the planet.
Cika says that the cost of an installed ENERGY STAR
qualified system from his company will vary depending
upon the volume of heated water required in a home. A
packaged system consisting of one, two or three rooftop
solar collector panels will usually be installed along with
a 60, 80 or 120-gallon solar storage tank. An average
installation is projected to cost $6,500 to $11,000, with
some complex installations running as much as $12,000.
Systems are available for gas, electric and boiler markets
throughout the U.S., Cika says.
"On average," he says, "if you install a solar water heater,
your water heating bills should drop 50 to 80 percent --
not an insignificant sum when you consider that the
Department of Energy says that water heating can
JULY 2010
account for 14 to 25 percent of the energy consumed in
our homes."
According to Cika, in the construction of a new home,
where the cost of the system is rolled into the mortgage,
homeowners can save more on their monthly energy bills
than the increase in their house payment. "Solar water
heating provides a positive cash flow from the day of
move in," he says, "effectively giving an immediate
payback."
"In the case of an installation in an existing home in an
area that has both federal and state rebates and
incentives," he says, "the payback can vary from three to
seven years."
Two primary solar technologies are available in the
market right now: solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar
thermal. The photovoltaic process uses the sun to
generate electricity and solar thermal uses the sun to heat
water. Solar thermal often is the technology of choice for
homeowners for a number of reasons. Kevin Hughes, a
writer for GreenBuildingElements.com, who installed a
solar thermal system in his San Francisco home, explains
why.
"I prefer solar thermal, specifically solar hot water, a
much older technology. It is much cheaper to install,
much more efficient and has a much faster payback," he
says.
For homeowners considering an installation, the Internet
offers a number of websites that can be helpful with an
analysis and then with locating products and installers.
Findsolar.com and nabcep.org list certified installers by
state. Solar-rating.org lists certified solar equipment
manufacturers and certified installers for VELUX units
are listed at veluxusa.com.
Eere.energy.gov/consumer includes a link to a calculator
for initial cost, annual operating costs and determining
payback, as well as a consumer's guide to solar thermal,
while nrel.gov offers a consumer's guide to photovoltaic.
Federal and state tax credit information, by geographic
area, is available at dsireusa.org.