INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY ISSUE VIII

MAY 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
Traffic Problems Getting
PAGE 1 Worse By The Day The 405 and 91 in Southern California
GRIDLOCK ON OUR
FREEWAYS
A look at how to deal with increasing
By: Matt Plotkin
traffic on our roads and highways
President, The Right Hire
PAGE 2
NEWSLETTER Ah, California. It has everything one
INTRODUCTION could possibly want. Big cities, small
The Right Hire is proud to introduce towns, beaches, mountains, forests,
Infrastructure Monthly, dedicated to
rivers and lakes. Unfortunately it also
the Construction and Civil
has the 405, the 101 and the 80 and
Engineering industries
other congested freeways that make
California infamous for non-stop traffic
PAGE 2
PROTECTING BRIDGES jams. But while California may be
New detection system helps warn of ground zero for traffic congestion on
potential problems its freeways, this is a national if not
global problem.
PAGE 3
THE RIGHT HIRE SURVEY/ It's estimated that we now spend an
INDUSTRY TRENDS
Introducing a new section on trends extra 40 hours per year in traffic more
as reported by companies across the than in the past. Given, a good part of
infrastructure industry that is due to extra cars on the
freeways as a result of population
PAGE 3 growth, but that doesn't mean we
HISTORY OF ROADS have to accept spending more time
From 625 BC to the present
commuting as a way of life. We as
need to move forward and deal with
PAGE 4
MORE SUN, LESS GAS
this problem head on.
Ways a skylight can reduce gases in
your house Last year, Los Angeles approved a plan
to add express toll lanes to the 110
and 10 freeway, as a way of reducing
congestion around the Downtown Los
Angeles area. Depending on the time
of day, solo motorists would have the
option of taking these lanes for
anywhere between 25 cents to $1.40
per mile. While some critics say this
would do nothing to reduce
congestion, it's a one year pilot project
paid for by a grant from the federal
government.
are currently undergoing projects to
widen the freeways to add a lane in
one or both directions. This might
work temporarily, but it's only a 6 mile
stretch on the 91 and a 10 mile
stretch on the 405. However, the 405
widening project alone is creating a
total of 18,000 jobs.
We need a better, more sustainable
approach that would create more jobs
and less congestion. Not only would
we get our valuable time back from a
reduced commute, but we'd all be
using less gas, causing less pollution
and put less pressure on our brakes as
a result of the stop and go traffic.
Another option is to improve traffic
flow on our streets. We've all been
there before, sitting at a red light for
several minutes while the cross traffic
has ceased to exist. We need more
traffic engineers to be employed by
local cities to do more studies, and
make our streets run more efficiently.
This would reduce traffic on the
streets, making them a more viable
alternative to our over crowded
freeways.
Regardless of which option we choose,
this is a problem that is getting worse
for millions and millions of people
every single day. Addressing this
problem is addressing our quality of
life. It would lighten the burden on our
cars, improve our quality of life and
ultimately would be creating
thousands of jobs.
 INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY ISSUE VIII
MAY 2010

THE RIGHT HIRE PRESENTS:

INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY
By: Matt Plotkin

Welcome to the eighth 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.

Monitoring Bridges:
Early Warning System
for Rust Developed
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2010) —
Concrete bridges have to be strong
enough to cope with a wide variety
of different impacts: frost, heavy
traffic and emissions all take their
toll on these structures. And then
there are the various types of road
salt used in winter to combat icy
roads. The most common of these is
sodium chloride, which is deployed
in large amounts on Germany's
roads.
When the ice thaws, these salts break
down into their ionic components
that penetrate the concrete,
destroying its five-centimeter thick
protective alkaline layer. Any salt
that leaches through to the steel rods
used to reinforce the concrete pad
will cause them to rust, resulting in
structural damage. The result is
cracks. In a worst-case scenario the
bridge itself could collapse.
Until now there have been no
effective tests to determine how deep
the ions have penetrated the concrete
and what damage they have already
caused. Current practice is time-
consuming and involves construction
workers hammering on the
reinforced concrete in search of
cavities, which are a sure sign of
corrosion damage. But experts at the
Fraunhofer Institute for
Microelectronic Circuits and
Systems IMS in Duisburg have now
hit upon a more reliable and cost-
effective method for detecting rust
corrosion at an early stage.
With a new sensor-transponder they
can continuously measure and
monitor how deep the ions have
penetrated the concrete. While the
sensor was developed by the
building materials testing facility in
Braunschweig (MPA Braunschweig),
the integrated passive wireless
transponder system is the work of
IMS researchers.
The sensor itself is crisscrossed by
very fine iron wires, laid down at
even distances. "If the dissolved salts
reach the iron wires, these begin to
corrode and break. The number of
defective iron wires is an indicator
of the extent of corrosion and the
depth to which the concrete's
protective layer has been penetrated.
This allows us to determine when
the next repair work needs to be
carried out," explains Frederic
Meyer, a researcher at the IMS. The
transponder transmits the measured
data by wireless to the reading
device carried by the construction
workers. "Our transponder does not
get the energy it needs to measure
the corrosion from a battery, but
from a magnetic field. This means it
does not need to be replaced and can
remain within the concrete structure
permanently," says Meyer.
The first field tests are already
underway, with the sensor-
transponder being integrated and put
through its paces in a test bridge
constructed by the MPA
Braunschweig. The researchers will
be exhibiting a prototype at the
EURO ID trade fair, to be held in
Cologne from May 4 through 6.
 INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY ISSUE VIII
MAY 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.

In addition to Infrastructure Monthly, you'll be receiving a survey every few months to help better
understand the trends within these markets. The survey will be short, the questions will be simple, and
it won’t take much time to fill out and email back. The more responses we get, the more accurately I
can report on these trends.

On behalf of the Infrastructure market, we thank you in advance for your participation.

A brief history of paved roads 1940s-1950s

625 B.C.
The Babylonians are credited with the first recorded use of
asphalt as a road building material. The ancient Greeks
were also familiar with asphalt (the word comes from the
Greek "asphaltos," meaning "secure").
1500s
Christopher Columbus landed off the shores of Trinidad in
1498 and discovered the famous Asphalt Lake, which
would later be used on the Pennsylvania Avenue project in
Washington, D.C. covering 54,000 square yards.
1800s
Macadam roads became popular in the U.S. for rural road
construction during the 1830s and 40s. Belgian chemist
Edmund J. DeSmedt laid the first true asphalt pavement in
the U.S. in Newark, N.J. The Cummer Company opened
the first central hot mix production facilities in the U.S.
The first asphalt patent was filed by Nathan B. Abbott of
Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1871.
1920s
World War I ended and the use of the automobile was
steadily rising, but roads outside the city limits were
frequently too muddy or dusty for travel. To fix this
problem, road engineers used oils and asphalt.
The modern American turnpike is born. After World War
II, full scale automobile production resumed along with
major levels of road maintenance and new highway
construction. By 1950, vehicle registration exceeded 40
million cars and 8 million trucks. In 1956, President
Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act and
launched the Interstate System to create an infrastructure
highway program unmatched anywhere in the world.
1970s
A national move to conserve energy and materials initiated
a widespread interest in recycling of pavement materials;
asphalt is now America’s most recycled product.
1990s
A traffic study by the World Road Association indicates
that asphalt pavements are at least 4 decibels quieter than
concrete pavements.
2000s
The U.S. population has increased 23 percent since 1990
and the number of miles driven has risen by 41 percent.
Only half of the nation’s major roads are in good
condition, based on an analysis of recent Federal Highway
Administration data.
INFRASTRUCTURE MONTHLY ISSUE VIII
MAY 2010

Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified homes

Let the sun shine in - and the volatile gases flow incorporate skylights as part of their lighting package.
out
Modern skylights use pre-engineered flashing kits designed
 
and matched to work specifically with shingle, tile or metal
(ARA) - Remember that sweet children's song that advises us
roofs, and energy efficient models from leading manufacturers
to "let the sun shine in" so we can enjoy life? Update it for
are Energy Star qualified. "Utilizing these matched flashing
today's modern lifestyle, which gets lived in air-tight homes
systems, plus multiple layers of water protection and other
filled with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and maybe we
improvements have led to 'No Leak Skylights' that come with
should add "and let the volatile gases out."
a no-leak product and installation warranty," Patrick says.
Nothing adds beauty and charm to a room like escaping
Further enhancing the energy efficiency of skylights can be
volatile gases. And while a venting skylight adds visual drama
easily accomplished with accessories. A full range of blinds
to a room, it also helps remove gases, moisture, odors and
and controls is available, including Venetian blinds to provide
other trapped VOCs through passive ventilation via the
style and comfort, roller blinds to diffuse the light, or blackout
chimney effect it creates.
blinds to block the light. And blinds, like skylights, can be
manually controlled, moved with a remote control, or even
Passive ventilation can help alleviate "sick house" symptoms
connected to a home command system that controls
that develop when a house doesn't "breathe" - or exchange
accessories and appliances throughout the house.
stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air. Many items in the home,
from adhesives, upholstery and carpet to the furnace,
There are even solar blinds available for certain types of
fireplaces and even pressed wood cabinets and cupboards, can
skylights that qualify for a 30 percent federal tax credit for the
emit VOCs into your home environment. Short-term exposure
product and installation - with no cap on the credit through
to VOCs can cause headaches, nausea, eye irritation, sore
2016. The credit can help you recoup up to 30 percent of the
throat and nasal irritation. Venting VOCs through a skylight
cost of the blinds and the labor to install them. Solar blinds are
can improve the overall healthfulness of your indoor
even more energy efficient because they utilize a built-in solar
environment year-round.
battery to power the mechanism that opens and closes the
blinds.
Not only can modern skylights make your home greener,
healthier and more livable, they are also now totally
Venting skylights are particularly popular in kitchens, baths,
dependable according to Joe Patrick, senior product manager
and laundry rooms for venting moisture, heat and cooking
with Velux. "Newly redesigned skylights are now available
odors as well as for bringing natural light to much-used areas
with no-leak warranties on not only the product but also on the
of the home. Sun Tunnel tubular skylights are particularly
installation, so homeowners no longer need be concerned
useful in entries, hallways, closets, interior baths and other
when they have a properly installed no-leak skylight," he says.
smaller or confined areas where additional natural light is
needed but where traditional skylights may not fit or be
"Think about the number of openings in a home," Patrick says.
practical. Lighting kits are available for these units, enabling
"Vent pipes, chimneys, exhaust fans on the roof, windows and
them to do double-duty at night.
doors and vent pipes on the walls, and people don't worry
about them leaking. Modern skylights employ comparable or
Spring and summer are great times to make home
better technologies than any of those to keep water out and are
improvements that deliver environmental, economic,
no more prone to leaking when properly installed and flashed."
emotional and physical health benefits. Adding a skylight and
accessories delivers all those green pluses - and a trained
Green builders know that when venting skylights are utilized,
professional can install units in as little as a day.
energy efficiency can be enhanced while adding natural light
and passive ventilation to the home. Many Leadership in