June 2004 Joint Meeting of the Dallas Branch and Fort Worth Branch
Date: Monday, June 14, 2004, 12:00 noon (Please note that we meet on the second Monday in June).
Location: The Arlington Hilton, 2401 E. Lamar Boulevard (northwest corner of IH 30 and SH 360 interchange and north of Six Flags over Texas). See Map and driving directions. Please park in the back or on the north side of the hotel for easy access to the meeting room.
Program: TxDOT’s New Ways
of Doing Business
With an ever increasing population in Texas and the subsequent impact on transportation
systems, demand for new improvements has surpassed available funding and TxDOT’s
traditional “pay-as you-go” method of financing highway projects needed a new
evaluation. In 2003, Texas voters approved
Proposition 14 to allow issuance of bonds that are secured by the existing State Highway
Fund to leverage additional funding for transportation projects. In the same year, the Texas Legislature passed
Omnibus Transportation Bill or House Bill 3588 that was signed into law by Governor Perry
to provide TxDOT with new tools to facilitate transportation improvements. HB 3588 empowers TxDOT to construct and operate
the “Trans Texas Corridor,” enter into “Comprehensive Development
Agreements (CDA’s) to build tollways with private (design-build) entities and use a
wide range of administrative and financial tools in partnership with local governments and
their “Regional Mobility Authorities (RMA’s).”
Our
June program highlights TxDOT’s traditional pay-as-you-go method of financing
construction projects versus the new methods and opportunities created by HB 3588. It will compare the two methods and include a
brief report on the progress the Dallas and Ft. Worth districts are making utilizing the
new tools. Public/Public and Public/Private
partnership opportunities, including real case examples occurring in the DFW area, will be
presented.
The
Program will also provide insight into the strategy the region is using to address
numerous badly needed transportation projects without any identified funding for
construction. There are 11 such major
projects worth over $9 billion in the Dallas District alone.
Speaker: William
Lee Hale, P.E., District Engineer, Dallas District
Mr. Hale’s appointment as the Dallas District Engineer took effect November 1, 2003. The District comprises seven counties –
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall.
After joining TxDOT's Ellis County Area Office in 1983, he progressed to Resident Design Engineer in 1985 and Assistant Area Engineer in 1987. He was promoted in 1992 to Area Engineer for the Southeast Dallas County in Hutchins where he was responsible for planning, design, construction, and maintenance operations. Prior to his appointment in Dallas, Mr. Hale was District Engineer of the Abilene District, a post he held since January 1999.
Following graduation with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1983 from the University of Texas at Arlington, he earned his master's degree in civil engineering from the University in 1989. He became a licensed professional engineer in 1988 and taught a graduate course in pavement design as a senior lecturer at UTA from 1992 to 1998.
Mr. Hale received the 1996 Luther DeBerry Award for his contributions to Texas transportation. He is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Chi Epsilon Engineering Fraternity.
| Wayne Klotz, P.E.,
our ASCE District 15 Director will provide a briefing on ASCE National issues during the
June Meeting/Luncheon. The Materials
Engineering Technical Committee will present a seminar on “Considerations
for Jointing Concrete Pavements” prior to the Luncheon and the T&DI Committee
will provide a seminar on “MSE Walls –
State of the Art” after the luncheon. See
Link for more
information. |
Reservations: by Wednesday, June 9, 2004. Call the ASCE Reservation Hotline at (214) 890-6941. This voice mail system has been established by the Branch to handle reservations. Please state your company's name first and then the name of the attendees. In case of a malfunction, contact Eric Ratzman, P.E. at (214) 346-6274. On-line reservations may be made by sending an e-mail to Eric Ratzman at: reservations@dallasasce.org or from the Branch Website (www.dallasasce.org). Please make your reservations by only one of the above methods to avoid double counting. Please be prompt in making your reservations by the deadline due to the new hotel arrangements.
Cost: $25.00 with reservations, $28.00 at the door if seating is available.
Dallas ASCE
