The emergency relief program reimburses eligible expenses for damages caused by natural disasters or other emergency situations.  More than one quarter of the funds will be used to repair damages caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.  In all, 32 states, several US territories and Federal Land Management Agencies will receive funds to help pay for the reconstruction or replacement of damaged highways and bridges.  Read more at US DOT

Over the past 90 days, the price of steel that Dallas-based DFW Grating buys from domestic mills to fabricate bar and plate grating has nearly doubled. C. Scott Netherton, DFW Grating’s Vice President of Business Development, added that steel distributors are scaling back their inventories unless they are sure they have a buyer. “We’re not happy with the current situation,” said Netherton, meaning the uncertainty surrounding tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports that have rattled the U.S. market, where prices on some products had been rising since late last year.

Read the full article from Building Design + Construction: Steel and aluminum tariffs raise more questions than answers for domestic suppliers

The Administration’s stated goal of $1 trillion dollar investment in US infrastructure relies on a $200 billion boost from the private sector.  The tax bill that passed in the House last week could undermine that objective by taking away a deduction on tax-exempt private activity bonds.

Find more details in The Hill report.

On July 28, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection awarded AECOM and a team that includes OMA, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and Matrix New World Engineering the final design contract for a resilience project along the Hudson River.

Source: Risk management takes center stage in new projects around the country

The Transportation Department withdrew the Obama era plan to allow cities to set aside work for local residents on federally funded projects.  NYTimes reports.

Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he received verbal government approval to build an underground Hyperloop that would go from New York to Washington DC in 29 mins.  NYTimes reports.  According to his tweets, the loop would go from “City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city”

You are cordially invited to attend an MWDSBE Outreach Event hosted by Railroad Construction Company, Inc. (RCC) on Thursday, April 27, 2017, open house from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Please join the RCC team at 75-77 Grove Street, Paterson, NJ to discuss upcoming projects and potential bid opportunities with the company.  All interested and certified MWDSBE companies are welcome!

Click Here to register.

CIS President, Chris Colabella, is part of the mentor network for the event being hosted by Leading Women Entrepreneurs (LWE) and CohnReznick, December 7th from 8:30am – 10:30am.  For more details and a link to register see the article posted in NJ.com.

Voters also overwhelmingly rejected casinos in north jersey.

Northjersey.com

Both houses passed legislation last week to increase New Jersey’s gas tax to 37.5 cents a gallon.  Once signed by the governor, the legislation will mean an end to Christie’s executive order to shut down TTF projects. Voters must also approve a referendum on the November 8th ballot in order for the funds to be constitutionally dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund.

NJ.com