Okla. road contractors energized by stimulus plan 2/9/2009

Oklahoma's road contractors and their onsite workers alike are energized by the prospect that Washington may soon approve a huge stimulus package that sends hundreds of millions of dollars to the state.

Raising a clenched fist for victory and jumping six inches in the air, Manhattan Road and Bridge senior vice president Mike Webb declared, "Let's go!"

Ken Adams, president of the company, said, "We're not going to relax; I'll tell you that," as he lit a cigarette while reflecting on what might have to be done quickly to get Oklahomans working on road and bridge projects.

He and other contractors had just left a meeting at the state Capitol complex with state transportation Director Gary Ridley and a board representing the road and bridge industry.

Passage of a Congressional stimulus package could mean $465 million for Oklahoma, according to a version approved by the House in late January, but federal lawmakers are still wrangling over the final price tag on the bill.

Ridley is telling contractors the stimulus money could hit Oklahoma in early April, and he wants them to be ready.

Leaders foresee the possibility of 15,000 Oklahoma jobs being added to the economy through the construction industry and spinoffs into other sectors.

Bobby Stem, executive director of the Oklahoma General Contractors, is working closely with construction companies to circulate the word throughout the industry to get ready.

Stem said one OGC member rented out 100 cranes to the oil industry that were returned last December when prices fell.

"Maybe we could get those cranes to work," Stem said.

At the work site of a current Manhattan project on the Oklahoma City Interstate-40 Crosstown, Adams pointed to a special concrete pump machine equipped with an auger rising high above the road bed. It's skinny long pipe augers the material upward, then stretches horizontally and points downward onto the bridge base, spreading concrete where a regular dump truck couldn't reach.

Pump operator Jerry Castillo keeps an eye on the machine he commands to make sure the concrete keeps spewing. The auger is guided by skilled field workers' gloved hands that move it atop the decking so the concrete lands in the right spot.

Castillo has some advice for Washington.

"What I would say to Congress: We voted for you, both the Republicans and Democrats to be in office. When it gets tough we expect you to work it out. This is the United States."

"Everybody is concerned; a lot of people have been laid off," said Castillo, noting many of his co-workers have families with children.

Both state highway officials and these contractors say it's vital to be ready with shorter-term projects designed to get people working soon. Priority projects already have cleared right-of-way and environmental hurdles.

Some of the projects could be as short as 90 days while others, like massive bridge repair work, may stretch to a maximum of two years.

The contractors praise Ridley and his department, along with the Legislature, because Oklahoma already has an eight-year plan detailing needed road building. Ready-to-go jobs are being plucked from the list, and Ridley says $1.1 billion worth of projects could be ready quickly.

State transportation officials credit Oklahoma's U.S. Sen. James Inhofe with taking the lead in fighting for infrastructure funding. But Inhofe is reluctant to support the stimulus package itself, unless big changes are made in what he calls "this already bloated bill."

Meanwhile, Congress has been so fixated on a stimulus package, that members have not tackled infrastructure funding through the regular Transportation Reauthorization Bill that expires in March.

Inhofe told The Associated Press he sees two possibilities for getting more infrastructure money to Oklahoma.

He has teamed up in a bipartisan effort with Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California who wants to increase overall infrastructure funding from about $30 billion to possibly $50 billion.

While Boxer chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Inhofe is the ranking Republican. He sees a possibility of feeding more infrastructure money into the Transportation Reauthorization Bill.

"Remember, we are almost second from last or dead last on bad bridges, and people have died," he said.

Last month, the state transportation department pulled nearly 100 projects out of the eight-year plan. They are now dissecting those projects into ones with short-term timelines.

"We don't want to disturb traffic any longer than we have to," Adams said.

Webb said 12- to 14-hour days could be common in the summer, which means lots of overtime.

Contractors learned last week they should expect 40 percent of the work to entail asphalting roadways, another 35 percent concrete paving and 25 percent for bridge rehabilitation.

Subcontractor Dub Ross, whose Oklahoma City company manufactures corrugated steel pipe, said, "Bring it on."

Associated Press