The Infrastructure Show - Podcasts

Motor fuel taxes have long been the primary source of both federal and state funds for U.S. highways. In recent decades, the sufficiency of fuel taxes has come into question as vehicles have gained in fuel efficiency and electric vehicles have become more common. As the time nears for the US Congress to re-authorize the

Decades in the making, the Hudson River Tunnel Project is adding two railway tunnels between New Jersey and New York to serve Amtrak and New Jersey Transit riders. These tunnels will increase rail capacity and add critical redundancy to the network. To learn about this project, we’re talking with Thomas Prendergast, CEO of the Gateway

Irving, Texas, a city of about 255,000 people near Dallas, is growing fast, and its water supply and wastewater systems must be upgraded to support rapidly increasing demands. To do this, Irving has created a multi-year, citywide program to maintain and expand its water management systems. To learn more about this large-scale municipal infrastructure program,

Four dams were removed from the Klamath River in 2023-24 to bring it back to its natural, wild state. These dams provided water and power to the region but blocked spawning salmon, and they were declared economically inefficient by their owner. This was the largest dam removal effort in U.S., leading to the restoration of the river, its environment, and services to Native American communities. To...

In 1979, one of two nuclear reactors at the Three Mile Island power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, suffered a partial meltdown. The second reactor was shut down 40 years later for economic reasons. Now, work is underway to restart that second reactor to produce electricity for a single customer, Microsoft. To learn what it takes to restart and ensure the safety of a nuclear power plant, and...

Public-private partnerships (P3s) can be important strategies for financing transportation and other large infrastructure projects. Advancing public infrastructure projects with P3s requires careful analysis of the associated costs and the sharing of risks and rewards.To learn about trends in P3 financing, we speak with Professor Jonathan Gifford of the Schlar School of Policy and Government at...

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the largest public power company in the United States. It also controls flooding, assures navigability and recreation, and protects the environment across seven states on the Tennessee River System. Established in 1933 to combat the depression, TVA is in its ninth decade as a self-sustaining entity.To understand the TVA as an enduring infrastructure...

Ships hit bridges much more often than people realize, and while most of the outcomes are minor, such events can present big risks to bridge users, ship operators, and infrastructure. Bridge design standards that address such risks are issued and updated periodically by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, but they do not mandate adding protection to existing...

Transformers step-down voltage from high levels most efficient for long distance transmission to lower levels for safe distribution to homes and businesses. Having enough transformers for replacement and to support expansion of the electrical grid is essential for ensuring reliability of the power system, but currently there is a shortage of transformers.A study by the National Renewable Energy...

The Chicago Transit Authority’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Line Modernization Project (RPM) is rebuilding a 5.6-mile elevated rail rapid transit structure and four stations, ensuring structural integrity, expanding capacity, and improving ride quality along a corridor on the North Side of Chicago. Included in this six-year project is removal of a failing embankment and returning land to the...