In this section, Informed Infrastructure compiles infographics from trusted sources that reveal insight on infrastructure spending. We also compile some of the top infrastructure stories that shouldn’t be missed. For ongoing news coverage, turn to Informed Infrastructure online (www.informedinfrastructure.com), our Twitter feed (@IInfrastructure) and our weekly e-newsletter.

USDOT Issues $4.9B in Infrastructure Project Grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued $4.9 billion in funding to 37 projects through two major discretionary grant programs: the National Infrastructure Project Assistance or “Mega” grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or “INFRA” grant program.

The Mega program—created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—provides $5 billion in funding through 2026 to support projects that are “uniquely large, complex and difficult to fund” under traditional grant programs, according to USDOT.

For this round of Mega funding awards, the agency issued grants to 11 different projects that seek to generate national and regional economic, mobility and safety benefits.

Concurrently, the INFRA program—which garnered a 50 percent increase in funding due to the IIJA—also funds large-scale “transformational” infrastructure projects. For this funding round, USDOT issued grants to 28 projects that aim to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas.

More details on the funding and projects can be found at bit.ly/49MREDy.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, renewables provided more than 22.7 percent of U.S. electrical generation in 2023.

EIA’s latest “Electric Power Monthly” (available at bit.ly/49OEUMV) reports that the combination of utility-scale and small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 16.1 percent in 2023. Small-scale solar alone grew by 20.1 percent—faster than any other energy source. In December 2023, small-scale solar increased by 21.4 percent while total solar grew by 30.7 percent.

As a result, by the end of 2023, solar was 5.6 percent of total U.S. electrical generation. Small-scale solar accounted for 30.9 percent of all solar generation and provided more than 1.7 percent of U.S. electricity supply last year.

Solar generation has now nearly matched hydropower (also 5.6 percent of the total) and should surpass it within the next few months to become the second-largest renewable energy source, behind only wind.

The US Water Alliance and The Water Research Foundation assembled a team of utilities, researchers, and technical experts to establish industry‐wide guidance and tools to help improve greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction efforts at water and wastewater utilities.

Considering increasing pressure from the global community to reduce GHG emissions and the frequency of extreme climate events, the water sector has increased its efforts in this area.

As utilities work to mitigate GHG emissions, conducting a GHG emissions inventory is the first step to understanding current emission sources. Although many GHG estimation methodologies exist, there’s no utility-facing industry-wide framework or easy‐to‐use resource that provides water utilities with practical guidance on which emissions are essential to address and what the best available methods are for assessing them over the lifecycle of capital and operational emissions.

Following a 21-month research process starting October 2023, the guidance document and GHG emissions accounting tool will be made publicly available for industry dissemination. Additionally, peer-reviewed articles and conference workshops will be key to educating the water sector on estimating direct and indirect utility GHG emissions.

Engineering Professor Completes Second Fulbright Project

Dr. William Schonberg, a professor of civil engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, is now a two-time participant in Fulbright programs for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning. 

In his first Fulbright role in 2019, Schonberg was a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Advanced Science and Technology and conducted research at the Defense Science and Technology Group in Australia. More recently, Schonberg served as a Fulbright Specialist on a project with the University of Aruba in Oranjestad, Aruba, in late 2023. 

Buildings

• Webcor White Paper Outlines How General Contractors Can Add Value to Wayfinding in Large Public Facilities 
• The International Code Council Releases 2024 International Codes 
• New Model Specification Announced for Polypropylene Piping 
• Siemens’ Building X Expands Fire Safety Offering to Increase Transparency, Efficiency 
• Building Sustainably Requires Rethinking the Logic of How We Build 

Transportation

• Woolpert Implements Asset Lifecycle Management Solution at Tulsa International Airport and Tulsa Riverside Airport 
• Video: Steel Bridges: Understanding Fatigue 
• Acrow Bridge Provides Temporary Wastewater Bypass Solution During System Rehabilitation in Arizona 
• NRDC Scorecard Ranks State Transportation Policies 
• Biden-Harris Administration Awards $110 Million in Grants to Improve Safety on America’s Roadways by Preventing Deadly Wildlife-Vehicle Crashes 

Water

• Lawsuit Targets State of Utah for Failing to Protect the Great Salt Lake 
• New Study Finds That Sewage Release Is Worse for Rivers Than Agriculture 
• World Water Works Inc. Upgrades Existing Treatment System For Pet Food Manufacturer 
• ASTERRA Technology Now Used for Wastewater Exfiltration 
• International Code Council Releases 2021 International Water Conservation Code Provisions 

Tools and Technology

• WSP Upgrades Capabilities to Offer Advanced Geospatial LiDAR Services 
• Phase One, Quantum Systems and Trimble Unveil Groundbreaking Survey Grade UAV Solution with Phase One P5 Camera Launch 
• Introducing vSite: The Geospatial Digital Twin Transforming Construction Sites 
• Esri’s ArcGIS Basemaps and ArcGIS Living Atlas Data to Be Integrated into Autodesk Software Environment 
• Carbon Management Software Market to Reach $5.5 Billion by 2032 Driven by Mandatory Scope 3 Emission Reporting and ESG Transparency