rehabilitation project creating 50 direct jobs. at oakland airport $9.7 million work on east apron face project will incorporate rams, tyson is an overnight parking for aircraft. a san jose international 5.2 million project is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate tax uaw which the faa regional safety analysis team recommended it be interested to potentially unsafe general movement. this funding has move the project for by four years trading 83 new jobs. the fresno yosemite airport national will create jobs when work begins on a $2.2 million project to reconstruct to 19 taxiways. the recovery and to send a private activity bonds from the alternative minimum tax. airports rely on bonds to finance 53 percent of their capital needs for safety, security and infrastructure projects. last august the bond market dried up in this change, the

metropolitan national airport in miami dade airport have sold bonds for internal projects and metropolitan washington airports authority sold bonds to assist capital construction program. in terms of airport infrastructure there is no doubt the amt provision is stimulating impact on short and long term projects. in closing the $1.2 million project -- $1.2 billion appropriated for airports in the american recovery and reinvestment act and the amt relief is treating much needed jobs across the country. while investing in infrastructure necessary to address the future of a safe and efficient aviation system. thank you. >> thank-you, mr. penrod. mr. keating. >> thank you, representative edwards in committee, my name is john keating and the president's oldcastle materials east, today i am testifying on both

oldcastle american road and transportation builders association. burst out like to express our appreciation to this committee's leadership in ensuring the american recovery and reinvestment act included a major transportation infrastructure components. thank you. and chief executive officer, doug black, and are vice president of economics told this committee last october that increased transportation infrastructure investment from economic stimulus package would be put to work quickly and produce meaningful economic benefits. today is my pleasure to report on how these commitments are being fulfilled. says of obligated 14.7 billion other recovery act, highway funds as of june 16. this amount is about five and a half billion more than required to be obligated by the june 30th deadline. we expect outlays to continue to increase as a move into the summer and fall construction seasons. furthermore, the value of new contract awards for highway

bridge projects outpace 2008 levels. for the first time this year in the month of may, that's exactly what we hold them wanted to see the state and local transportation agencies began awarding recovery and projects. let me share with do a few examples of how the recovery and stimulating our economy -- one oldcastle companies by industries in northern new england has been awarded $105 million worth of projects in three states it operates. much of this work has under way that will be done soon. in new hampshire after several early jobs have begun, mike decided to hold a job fair in concord advertising and 50 jobs. over 400 people showed up, pike fill the positions and is expecting a stimulus work to create as many as 250 jobs. another great story within the pike example of all the project taking place right now in the state of maine.

last year we were fortunate enough to rebuild a large section of eid to 95. this year the main dot entered its fiscal season with the understanding it would not have the funds to support the sister project in the northbound interstate 295 ferrell. as a result of the recovery and this project has been able to move toward. as a result, with great coordination between in the dot and the contrasting committee, this project has been advertised, bid, awarded, and will be completed by mid october -- mid august. it's significant job involving 22 miles of roadway in completely rebuild and repaved, all this construction will take place in 120 days. the other nice thing about this project is at its peak it will support 350 jobs in the state of maine. are members and virtually every state are reporting similar experiences. we will see even greater benefit in the remainder of the year and

in 2010 when the most of the stimulus funds hit the market paragon that said, it in assessing the recovery act success we must and knowledge a hard reality -- the federal programs are only one part of the overall transportation markets. virtually all states, counties and in his apologies are facing budget challenges and many will require to delay their own transportation investments before the recovery act was ever signed into law. as such as the recovery and transportation investment is protecting existing jobs. while keeping transportation programs afloat may not generate headlines, i can tell you from personal experience is a job means a great deal of the people and the real world. the transportation is disinvestments are the first step in a critical two-part process. to build on the recovery and gains congress must enact a robust multi-year reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program. the best way to undercut the

progress being made by the recovery act is to put the reauthorization bid on hold for 18 months. my rent has my describes how uncertainties stemming from the reauthorization delays in 2003 and 2004 contributed to a stagnated u.s. transportation construction market. while the recovery and provide a much-needed short-term infusion of resources, a long-term deal will inject stability in the overall marketplace by establishing investment levels and sustainable financing approach. when companies like oldcastle have this type of long-term indicator of future investments it enables us to make the capital investment decisions that have the greater economic multiplier a fat thrash out many sectors of our economy. two that end we commend chairman oberstar rep mike and the entire committee for moving forward with a multi year service transportation bill.

thank you for allowing me to represent and tell oldcastle store and i look forward to to any questions. thank you. >> thank-you mr. keating and thank you each of you for your testimony and also for your patience this morning. it just have a couple of questions -- mr. brown, do you think that's you said in your testimony that mississippi had allocated the funds for highways and bridges and plans on monday 165 contracts is a recovery act funds. how soon after funds are obligated to expect that contracts will be left and how soon after they left and we expect or to get under way -- that is people get on a job? >> madam chairman, maybe i didn't make myself clear and i apologize if i didn't -- those percentages i gave to you are going to contract. those are actual contract jobs.

all of our contracts will be finished and on the street and ready for going to work so literally shot already and now show activity beginning within 30 days of the day we let the contract, that would be the time we would give notice to proceed so certainly by the end of august of this year we will be fully conscious and to the employee had worked on all of our stimulus funds. >> and is part of the reason for that like in my state of maryland that you've had a number of these projects sitting there engineering done, environmental work done, all of it just waiting for the resources to be able to put people to work and so it was uncomplicated for you to be able to let those contracts and get the work started runaway. >> not at all, you are right on target to. we first identified in i guess probably, i will try to resurrect the number -- but probably summer in the range of

$800 million worth of work and then anticipating a much larger stimulus package quite frankly for transportation and when the numbers did not come in as high, of course, week. down to the number that we have now three and 54 million including and piano and the sub calicut's. we appear that number down. utilizing or giving emphasis to the ones we felt were needed the most. >> and i will just reply to that and there are a number of us on this committee and, of course, first and foremost our chairman who shared it the view that had we been able to put far more money into our infrastructure investment in this stimulus it's not that we would have been waiting to find work, the work is out there to be done if the federal resources are available to do ed. >> madam chairman, if you indulge me i would just add in that we are prepared and i say

we in mississippi and also we as an industry across the state. the united states and representing ashto and my other colleagues throughout america, i would tell you that we are prepared to do $800 million worth of projects in the first 90 day frame and then, of course, a subsequent 120 days. i agree with you 100 percent certain the there were many more projects that could have been put on the streets in the same amount of time. >> speaking on behalf of a ashto and away from mississippi because you are a southern state, can you speak to the many projects that will come on-line from the state's that are your represented members that may be northern states that the weather didn't permit until now that these contracts, that people be put to work susie's highway contracts? >> well, i think it will insert in a different way. one of our good friends and

colleagues shanker president of ashto, from the city pennsylvania, for example was very concerned that he would not be able to get some where the bulk of his projects ready because of just what you said -- the weather and the working conditions restraints than he has that we don't particularly have in the south. but i think he has apprise himself by redoubling his efforts and as have the other foes throughout ashto and northern regions and other climate for you have climate changes and problems. i think we have all been surprised at the efficiency of our staffs, at the hard work that has been put in to put in these jobs on the straight and putting people back to work. i think everybody has embraced the two major things that have been embraced by all of us in highway transportation across the country and that's the term shovel ready, making sure that, indeed, everything was shoveled

money into it is two go and that's not an easy task, but we've proven we are up to lead and the other thing is that commitment to create and two retain jobs. i think every state regardless of the climate's from which they operate have redoubled their efforts to do just that. have the project is ready to go, truly ready to go and then generate the new jobs along with the job attention that comes with the regular program. >> thank you mr. brown. let me turn to you, mr. casey, and i am so familiar with septa having spent a little time as a youngster visiting my grandmother and using the septa system. i can attest to the work that is needed on the septa system as while. but i wanted to ask just in terms of the current authorization for highway and transit programs that expires on september 30th, can you tell me how the lack of a long-term authorization for these programs affect septa ability to plan for

capital improvement projects? >> some of our critical means our multi year. i can specifically say we are completing a project now between engineering and construction in eight years and without a long-term project cannot have committed those funds to get that project completed. we have a number of projects that are on the drawing boards and city hall station is a major station under city hall that is very complicated system and. the project will take multiple years from a design and also construction efforts and so is critical that we have a multi-year funding source that we know those monies are coming in so we can commit dollars for those projects. >> thank you. and fda administrator in his testimony mention the that the several septa projects are being assisted by recovery act funds including -- correct me if i get

to the pronunciation in trent -- that tubal hoc station which has a development production component. can you tell us more about how that benefits septa? >> i submitted copies of some of the projects, pictures of some of the projects with my testimony and mckenzie the station in. i don't think any personal would even go near that station or in sensation in his current condition but it's critical that we have facilities that are passengers want to use and would encourage them to use this system and feel safe on the system. it has the ability for transfer of bus routes so they can take the bus to the station and then take the train into downtown philadelphia and a number of stations i mentioned earlier in my testimony that would also have that ability to multi transit purposes. >> there is economic development activity that goes around in

those chances stations? >> yes where possible we are looking at economic development. as everyone knows in the public transportation world, if you have a public transportation increases the value of real estate around the stations. >> thank you. and then i know also in your testimony mr. casey you also spoke about the importance of being able to pair off some operating funds so that you would have to make other kinds of cuts in the system -- can you speak to that? >> septa are not in a situation that some of the transit agencies are. we have a multi sources of funds so it is not in one basket if you will. and some of the other agencies are relying heavily either on the sales tax or the realty transfer tax have taken a hit in the last. because it is a solo funding source there are really being impacted and you can read it

across the nation all the major transit agencies are having some type of budget deficiencies. >> thank you. mr. penrod, i appreciate in your testimony that when you describe particular projects you also describe the direct and indirect jobs that are being created using their recovery act funds and i think some form for us to keep our eye on that and especially in some of our states facing tremendous unemployment. also in your testimony you cite that detroit airport project in sevareid from two years to one year and the san jose airport project that was moved toward her by a full year which were completed in half a year instead of in two years in another move for it by yet another two years. i imagine that this acceleration of construction had a beneficial a fact in terms of keeping

project cost done so i wonder if you could comment on that and also on what airports are doing to replenish the pipeline and a planned projects and i thank you madam chairman. the acceleration or making a two-year project a one-year project certainly face a significant amount of mobilization and winter shutdowns insurgent northern tier locations for you have to shut down in the wintertime. and so anytime you can insure in the construction. on airfield to significantly decrease costs because of reduced mobilization but also significantly increasing the levels to us because if you have multiple construction projects any time you have construction projects in vehicles and aircraft there is a significant plan development so anything can reduce the safety exposure to shorten project times, i think from a project if you will like

any other infrastructure operator at which airports are certainly as people expect airports to be the most save department of transportation infrastructure they use. and so the fact that in these in our case in pittsburgh and now expect my colleagues across the country, we have multiple projects on the shelf on a regular basis going into discussions of a stimulus package and we have 200 million worth to talk about and we are pleased because those were actually number one and two projects, but the shortage of the boc funded levels in pittsburgh has caused us to defer over 20 projects over the next couple years. us and we have an abundance on the shelf ready to go and out of spec my colleagues in the same position and so we welcome to future opportunities. >> just as we close out with a question for you mr. penrod any

point out the airport improvement program is operating under short-term extension 2,009 and i would appreciate if you would comment on how the lack of a long-term authorization for this program affects you're and other airports ability to plan for airport development projects -- i imagine this is pretty critical. >> is critical, iran made to have a three to five-year construction time line so certainly a funding stream that expires at the end of september is significant concern in trying to contemplate in a couple years so certainly a longer-term project and program allows us to better plan whether it is economies are interfering with air traffic and again go back to the improvement of safety, however, you can plan that. there are multiple pieces of working on an airfield whether

air traffic issues or movement issues or even to and routine maintenance so it will address made to this issue, we can operate more efficiently as well so certainly long-term program will be a significant benefit to the industry can i thank you mr. penrod. mr. keating, is my understanding a national survey done several years of on the transportation construction contractors hire employees within three weeks of obtaining a project contract and that these employees begin receiving paychecks within two weeks of hiring -- can you comment on this based on your own recent experience with oldcastle materials? >> essentially when the work is put out to advertise depending on the workload we may bring estimators and professionals on board in well before we secure the work then there's no question once we receive a contract or a bit of a word we need to be ramping up to supply

the workforce for those projects. so it is actually much quicker and once they're on our payroll they are receiving paychecks on a weekly basis. >> then from one contract to the next if you are in an environment where there's longer-term planning which you just lay those workers off for you keep them on a and move them to another project or hire new workers? how does that work? >> it is very critical to have a long-term plan out there knowing what the funding levels are. our company is involved in both heavy highway construction type work as well as maintenance work and it typically building a staff that will service multiple jobs over the course of the. that is dictated by the amount of work it out by the individual agency so we would move from one project to another on a regular basis with a steady work-force. >> thank you. then the mr. keating you also make a point when you say that

outlays are lagging indicator of highway construction and so the federal highway program operates on a reimbursable basis, it does an outlay of funds until the work has been performed in the state seeks reimbursement for the work after that. i'm interested in leading indicators that your association tracks such as the value of new contracts awarded in employment and you spoke to some of that's in your testimony and you say the job growth in still mining and quarrying, stronger than normal in april -- can expect from the finding that highway construction employment will season living in the growth then beginning in june and july since is a lagging indicator? >> i think we are already seen that. these projects have come out. we've got people to work now. you're exactly right, is a reimbursement program. we will go to work today and work on multiple phases working for a state dot.

they will approve our work and pay us after the work is complete. and then they will get reimbursement from the federal government. from what you see from the fed down to the state as far as their outlay of funds with lags significantly to the work is actually being done -- we are bringing people on board now as i've said in several some cases in our testimony. bringing back existing resources as well as new hires in different parts of the country so there's no question the leading indicator is now. >> excellent and that i wonder if you to speak to a question that was raised earlier by myself to ms. richardson and that is two this acing contractors' ability to me to db goals and this is a particular concern especially in places where there are significant pockets of unemployment or

underemployment and i wonder if you can also speak to whether you believe there are any barriers to reaching out to small minority women owned businesses perhaps even as subcontractors on some of these projects? any idea? >> madam chairman, of my to take the opportunity to reply to that. is interesting, i was making noses you were speaking earlier. obviously we are using the same data goals and our problem of work in the stimulus and expanded role using stimulus funds. but one of the things that we have done is we have discovered that the stimulus part a great deal of interest on the part of dbe and traditionally the system of universal across the country you have a large dbe pool but a very large small portion of those dbe active in the day

today bidding and participation in the dbe process so when we have embarked on in mississippi is to expand the pool obviously been more over to expand the those and to participants within the pool of a dbe that we have. a stimulus discussion brought a great deal more interest and that has helped us because we did with that renewed interest from the dbe existing pool, we did in tremendous outreach effort where we brought in all of our dbe participants and our contractors at the same time that or be required to the have the dbe participation. we have had seminars and training, we have had staffing assistance programs put into place as well as the contractors, them speaking directly to the dbe rather than

us as the owner of the project so the spake. the contractor semaphored and you'd be surprised how expanded it has gotten. the other industry composed and that we added into our dbe program after a result of the stimulus was the find that we now in the smaller cities and the smaller urban areas where the cities themselves don't have a staff are the wherewithal to keep up with the reporting and the documentation dealing with the stimulus funds are regular funds as far as that ago we have added consultants dbe it consultants to assist them in their recording -- reporting and record-keeping requirements and we insisted that consoles and and the city as well. we are very proud of what we've been able to do in mississippi, i'm sure were not alone in doing this because this is discuss every time we get together in a an ashto situation. before i leave i like to make an

additional, and if i could madam chairman. on your questions you are very interested in the 18 months short-term provisions for funding as opposed to a full authorization. let me just offer this for whenever it is worth -- i personally am speaking from mississippi and in favor of authorization obviously. i think in the congress and does do in 18 months what i would call a continuing resolution, when others mcauliffe's i don't know, but the 18 month provision purses full six your authorization, i think for the same reasons advocated by chairman oberstar and congressman earlier in his comments, because of planning and because of advertising, because of construction time issues obviously we need more time. if, indeed, we don't get the full authorization, madam chairman, i would hope that this

committee would take a strong strong stance and position that when authorization is, and this is your authorization comes, and that it would be from and after passage for six years. not what we have in the deal with in the past where we're spending three years to get a six year reauthorization. the same problems exist at this panel and the previous panel this morning of not having enough time for adequate planning and that doing all the things necessary to build a program in a three-year authorization. that is very constraining in itself, so from and after passage on a six year bell would be something that i think our industry would really appreciate him that mr. brown, you have been heard loudly and clearly and thank you for that. we have been called for a vote and so i thank you for your testimony and for your time.

i will just close by saying if any of you have any recommendations about particularly abound dbe participation and ways to encourage that, i know that this congress woman would be really grateful for your insight they're in for any lessons learned at of the stimulus funding. keep letting contracts and hiring workers. i understand, in fact, if you would hold tight until after this vote, we are going to pull this panel into recess and i believe chairman oberstar will be coming back so we will stand in recess until 10 minutes following the vote. [inaudible conversations] ..