PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
January, 2020
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Date: February 13 -14, 2020
Venue
: Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center
201 Lafayette St.
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
Hotel Reservations:
1-800-955-6962 or 225-344-5866 | Group Code:
LAGC
Deadline to receive Group Rate: January 30, 2020
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2020 ACEC SUMMIT CONFERENCE SPONSORS
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SUMMIT TOPICS AND SPEAKERS
·
Keynote: Can I Have Your Attention?
Curt Steinhorst
Legal Panel
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson; Long Law Firm; Phelps | Dunbar; Chaffe McCall; Reis LeMieux
Legislative Panel
Participants TBA
Federal Update
Congressman Garrett Graves
(
Invited)
·
Business Climate in Louisiana
Stephen Waguespack, LABI
Who Bears Risk Allocation
Roundtable discussion moderated by LAGC CEO, Ken Naquin
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FEATURED SPOTLIGHT SPEAKER
Keynote Speaker, Curt Steinhorst
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING ASSOCIATIONS
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ACECL President Doreen Brasseaux and Lake Charles Committee Chair Butch Babineaux of Fenstermaker & Associates present the 2019 QBS Champion Award to John Bruce representing the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury at the January 22, 2020 Lake Charles Luncheon.
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2020 LOUISIANA TRANSPORTATION CONFERENCE
MARCH 1-4, 2020
RAISING CANE'S RIVER CENTER, BATON ROUGE
Conference sponsorships are still available!
The Louisiana Transportation Research Center will host the 2020 Louisiana Transportation Conference (LTC) March 1-4, 2020, at the Raising Cane's River Center in downtown Baton Rouge. The theme for the conference is Transportation Innovation: The Foundation of our Future. Conference sponsorships are still available!
The deadline for guaranteed inclusion in the conference program is 02/05/2020.
The FINAL deadline for inclusion in on-site signage is 02/14/2020.
Please contact Emily Wolfe with LTRC with any sponsorship questions at
emily.wolfe@la.gov
or (225) 767-9145.
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New Orleans: Jan 9 Speaker Lauren Averill, PE, Jefferson Parish Coastal Management Department
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Lake Charles: January 22 Speaker: Jim Rock, Lake Area Industry Alliance
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Shreveport: January 27 Speaker Rep. Raymond Crews
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Monroe: January 28 Speaker Rep. Foy Gadberry, P.E.
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LA PARISH ENGINEERS AND SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
LPESA Calling for New Memberships and Renewals
SAVE THE DATE: May 6-7, 2020
LPESA Spring 2020 Conference
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Professional Services Interest Form
The City-Parish and MOVEBR Program Management Team have identified several areas that may have a need for engineering and specialty services to support MOVEBR Projects. The City-Parish may choose to contract for these services on future projects by direct appointment. Firms interested in providing these services should submit their information on the MOVEBR website using the
Professional Services Interest Form
.
Your firm must be in this database to be considered for MOVEBR project work through direct appointment. If you previously submitted a letter of interest via email to the City-Parish, please complete this form to assure your firm is in the MOVEBR database.
Submission of information does not preclude any businesses, firms, or specialty service providers from participating on project team pursuits for MOVEBR projects.
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RFQS ISSUED
Four RFQs were released by the City-Parish on Friday, January 17, 2020 to begin the process of selecting engineering firms for the following projects:
Scenic Hwy (Harding Blvd – Swan Street)
North Blvd (I-110 – Foster/Florida)
Florida Blvd (N. Foster – Airline)
Highland @ Siegen
Firms interested in responding to these RFQs should download the procurement package from the
City-Parish RFQ Manager
.
You can learn more about
doing business with MOVEBR
and view the Public Notices & RFQs that are currently available on the MOVEBR website.
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Training Opportunity
The MOVEBR Program Management Team, on behalf of Lighthouse Louisiana, invites all engineers, designers and project managers involved with the MOVEBR Program to experience pedestrian travel as a person who is blind.
Think the ADA has you covered? Come see for yourself under a blindfold. Learn about what you can do to go beyond basic ADA requirements to create spaces that are truly accessible to pedestrians who cannot rely on sight to travel safely and independently.
What to expect: This will be a 30-minute interactive lecture, followed by a 45-minute immersive white-cane walk. While blindfolded, you will get the opportunity to take in information from your other senses in order to navigate to the nearest bus stop. This training will help build awareness and understanding of what you can do to make your projects more blind-friendly.
This training is led by experts at Lighthouse who have knowledge of best practices and firsthand experience navigating the world without sight.
Lighthouse Louisiana
's mission is to empower people with disabilities through services, employment and advocacy.
When: Wednesday, February 5, from 10 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Where: Baton Rouge Community College
Dumas Conference Room (located inside the Magnolia Building)
201 Community College Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
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Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Secretary Shawn Wilson, Ph.D. announced two new additions to his executive staff. Deidre Deculus Robert has been named as executive counsel, and Joshua McNemar has been named as assistant to secretary for policy and governmental affairs.
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ACEC urges Congress to move forward on infrastructure
The American Council of Engineering Companies – the voice of America’s engineering industry – released the following statement from its President and CEO, Linda Bauer Darr, on the roll-out of the House infrastructure plan.
“The much-anticipated roll-out of the House infrastructure plan is an encouraging sign that momentum continues to build in Congress to pass legislation that will substantially invest in and modernize America’s transportation, water and social infrastructure.
We are also encouraged by references to policies aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change and improving the resiliency of the nation’s infrastructure. The engineering industry is on the front lines of designing roads, bridges, ports, public buildings and other structures that must endure more severe weather events and the higher storm surges and flooding they bring. We urge Congress to make resiliency a common theme throughout this legislation.
We urge Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, and committee leaders to work together in a bipartisan manner with their colleagues to design a bill that addresses our significant existing maintenance backlog but is forward looking to prepare America for emerging technologies that will keep us competitive in the global marketplace. This will require Congress to include long-term, sustained financing that addresses falling revenues in the Highway Trust Fund.
Just as America’s engineering firms act as trusted advisors to our public and private clients, we are ready to offer our experience and expertise to develop a bill that will build a better future for our nation.”
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ASCE: SMART Infrastructure Act Puts Public Safety At Risk
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DOTD plans to update their CCS manual in 2020 and will preview the changes at the Transportation Conference March 1-4, 2020. The Dye Report and ACECL submitted suggestions/comments have informed the changes but to what extent is to be determined once we see them in writing. I have been told we will receive a printed copy of whatever is presented in March and will have time to review and comment.
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DOTD will issue the Dye Management report (An Assessment of LADOTD’s Consultant Plan Development and Performance Rating Processes) within the next couple of months.
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Kathleen Gordon Named Executive Director for American Institute of Architects Louisiana (AIA Louisiana)
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ACEC to Highlight National Engineering Week Member Celebrations
ACEC will spotlight Member Organization and Member Firm efforts which pay tribute to engineering during National Engineers Week, February 16-22.
All submitted Eweek activities will be posted on the ACEC
Last Word Blog
and appear in a special Engineers Week section of
Engineering Inc.
Submitted photos and videos also will be shared over ACEC social network sites.
Eweek activities throughout the nation range from keynote luncheons and dinners to school presentations for students to hands-on engineering competitions. For more Eweek celebration suggestions,
click here.
If you would like your activity to be featured as part of this special Engineers Week coverage, please email a few paragraphs describing the event, along with the name, email and telephone number of the primary contact to Alan D. Crockett, Member Communications Director,
acrockett@acec.org
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CONSULTING ENGINEER AND LAND SURVEYOR IN THE HOUSE
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ACECL welcomes Foy Gadberry, P.E. to the Louisiana Legislature. A consultant engineer, Foy will be looking out for legislation impacting the consulting engineering profession.
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FP&C Notice of Intent to Change the Rule Relative to Capital Improvement Projects Procedure Manual Update
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In follow up to my membership email relative to the Notice of Intent by the State Office of Facility Planning and Control (FP&C) to amend their Procedure Manual Rules, attached are the first and second formal comments submitted. The first was submitted to 'stop the clock' so that we had time (albeit very limited) to submit more formal comments. Since this process must be done within the Administrative Procedures Act requirements we are having to abide by very proscribed rules. The second document is the set of written comments submitted at the public hearing held Wednesday, January 29 and best reflects comments by the membership and, in particular, the ACECL Facilities Committee membership. My thanks to you all for the time and input. If you do not see your specific comment included, know that I vetted all comments and I can explain if something was omitted or worded a certain way.
During the public comment hearing, the AIA also submitted their written comments. We both noted that our comments are in response to the parts of the Rule not being removed/repealed. We are both going to follow up by next week with comments to the Procedure Manual in writing so if you commented about the sections related to Owner-User Agency Responsibilities and Designer Responsibilities (which are being removed from the Rule) then those will follow in the comments I submit next week.
The architects and I both verbally made a note of the main issues that are concerning to us although everything is in the record from our written submission. We both stressed the need to include definition and references to legal standard of care in the document particularly related to Liquidated Damages, Errors and Omissions. There was limited dialogue but we did have some back and forth on the limitations of our professional liability coverage. We also both commented on when and how we need to be compensated for changes/alternates and our limitations on being able to estimate to AFC. I also explained our request to have language added relative to civil engineering projects.
The next step is for FP&C to review the verbal and written comments and decide whether to accept some, all or none. If they make no changes based on public comment then the rule as they published it December 20 takes effect March 20. If they do make any changes – as I think they will – then they will reissue a new version with all proposed changes and we will have another period in which to comment.
I'll circulate the anticipated next version of the Notice of Intent issued by FP&C once received.
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T. Baker Smith Welcomes 2020 With a Texas-based Acquisition
T. Baker Smith (TBS) has acquired Naismith Marine Services, Inc. (NMS), a hydrographic, geophysical surveying and environmental firm based in Rockport, Texas. Naismith Marine Services specializes in bathymetry, underwater inspection and imaging, oyster and seagrass surveys and wetland delineations.
This acquisition is part of TBS’ overall growth strategy, enhancing its Texas capabilities and further building on over 20 years of providing client service in the Houston and San Antonio markets.
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LABI Annual Meeting
Baton Rouge Chapter Luncheon
ACECL Board Meeting
Critical Issues Summit
Lafayette Chapter Luncheon
DOTD Transportation Conference
ACEC Business of Design Consulting Conference
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Thank You to our 2020 Sponsors!
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Doreen Brasseaux
President & CEO
ACEC of Louisiana
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