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Sinkholes: Do You Know the Signs of These Hidden Hazards?

Sinkholes pose significant risks to roads and the motorists who use them. Yet the first signs of trouble are subtle and can go unnoticed until serious damage occurs.

With PILLAR’s proven expertise at your side, you’ll have data and solutions at your fingertips that will transform the way your team manages sinkholes.

Common Warning Signs of Sinkholes

When sinkholes begin to form, the telltale signs are subtle but consistent. These include:

  • Circular or arced cracks in pavement or soil: Small circular or arced fissures that gradually widen, fault, or appear suddenly can indicate instability in the ground below.
  • Dips and depressions: Unexpected depressions in the ground or pavement, especially those that appear overnight, also warn of a potential sinkhole forming below.

With PILLAR’s sinkhole maintenance, you’ll be able to identify the start of a sinkhole quickly, saving you the time and money needed to battle a larger issue later.

Causes of Sinkholes

Sinkholes form as the results of both natural and human factors, and identifying the underlying cause is key to maintenance and prevention.

Natural triggers include underground water sources or repeated heavy rains that seep into the ground carrying away soil particles creating voids. Over time through repeated stresses, these voids increase underneath the surrounding soil and eventually cause the top layers to fall inward or sink. 

Sinkholes also can result from human causes such as leaking water, sewer, and stormwater pipes or poorly designed or maintained drainage systems that lead to similar erosion and soil instability.

Feel Prepared to Act in the Face of a Sinkhole Incident with PILLAR

To effectively manage sinkholes, you must know the condition of your drainage systems and pavement. The best way to do this is through a reliable collection and assessment system.

PILLAR has the expertise and experience to efficiently gather the needed data and respond to a sinkhole according to your DOT’s unique needs. Our approach can identify and make repair recommendations to correct any drainage issues, and ultimately remediate sinkhole-prone areas. If a sinkhole does occur, you’ll have PILLAR on your side to leverage data and make an action plan for a quick response.

Partner with PILLAR for Comprehensive Sinkhole Solutions

DOTs trust PILLAR for their transportation asset management because we offer a complete package that’s data-driven and cost effective. With PILLAR, you’ll always have efficient solutions at the ready. From start to finish, we keep you and your roadways on solid ground, detecting sinkholes when they start to form and offering rapid response to sinkhole incidents.

Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.

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Is Your Budget Strategy Costing You Thousands? You May Need an Annual Equipment Budget

Operating and maintaining complex transportation projects requires proactive planning, expertise, and the right tools for the job. Without proper preparation, you risk missing the right resources, purchasing equipment on the fly, and damaging your bottom line.

Fortunately, annual equipment budgets can help—they lower the likelihood of being caught unaware and unprepared when a crisis inevitably happens. These important tools play a crucial role in helping DOTs and transportation asset agencies optimize resources, maintain assets effectively, and ultimately save thousands of dollars.

Be Proactive: Annual Equipment Budgets Can Save You Thousands

Don’t let crisis and chance determine your equipment acquisition. A reactive budgeting strategy is costly in time, money and stress. By investing upfront time creating an annual equipment budget, you can be more prepared and save thousands each year.  Here’s how:

1. Predictive Maintenance: With an annual equipment budget in place, you can allocate funds for regular maintenance and repairs of transportation assets such as vehicles, machinery, and infrastructure. Preventive, scheduled maintenance identifies and addresses potential issues before they escalate into costly breakdowns or failures. You’ll extend the lifespan of your assets and reduce the need for expensive emergency repairs.

2. Replacement Planning: Spread out the financial burden of equipment replacement by allocating funds annually. Strategic replacement planning ensures important tools are replaced at the right time and take into consideration factors like depreciation and changing operational needs. You’ll minimize sudden expenses and service disruptions and save.

3. Cost Control and Budgeting: Use your annual equipment budget to forecast expenses and set budgetary limits for each asset category. This proactive approach helps prevent overspending and budget overruns, allowing you to allocate resources efficiently and maximize returns.

4. Risk Mitigation: Allocate funds for risk mitigation measures such as safety inspections and emergency preparedness using your annual budget. By addressing potential risks proactively, you can reduce the likelihood of costly accidents and legal liabilities, ultimately saving money in the long run.

Be Smart: Turn Your Data into Savings

A budget is a forecast and a forecast is only as good as the information you use to build it. That means your data is a goldmine not just of information but also of savings. To build your budget, you’ll need to examine trends and use historical data to make informed projections about your needs. This is where PILLAR can help.  

Our data analysis technology gives you data-driven insights to inform your operations. Through our tailored solutions you’ll find develop a crystal-clear concept of your future needs. We can provide you with:

  • Data mining
  • Data Visualization 
  • Business Intelligence
  • Optimization
  • Lifecycle costs
  • Risk analysis

Do you have mountains of data, but don’t know how to make it work for you? We specialize in normalizing data to make it usable and actionable. It can take in-house and IT teams months to properly integrate systems.  But with professionals at the helm, you avoid bugs, security flaws, and technical upsets, getting a functional dataset much faster so you can build your annual equipment budget with confidence.

Let PILLAR Help You Develop an Annual Equipment Budget

An annual equipment budget is a powerful tool for saving money and stress. Not only will you be more prepared and flexible if disaster strikes, you’ll save thousands of dollars when compared to a reactive budgeting strategy. 

If you’re ready to see the difference a data-driven annual equipment budget makes, get in touch and learn more about how we can help.

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Don’t Let the Data Dilemma Slow You Down:
AFES Extraction for Existing GIS Data

In the realm of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), data reigns supreme. It rightfully serves as the foundation for decisions, strategies, and projects for many DOTs. However, the abundance of GIS data often leads to a conundrum: how do we use it effectively?

Sifting through data to find the answers you need can be an inefficient process that eats into timelines and delays needed repairs. Fortunately, navigating this challenge is not insurmountable. When you partner with the right experts, you can turn your data dilemma into a powerful resource. Keep reading to learn how to unlock the full potential of your GIS data.

Discovery Phase: Uncovering the Context of GIS Data

When you’re grappling with vast repositories of data, determining where the data originated and pinpointing your needs is the critical first step. At PILLAR, we are experts at combining the latest technology with hard-won human experience to set the parameters for your project efficiently. 

We help clients understand where the data originated and define what insights they require, like the dimensions of a structure or the location of assets. This initial step sets the stage for the subsequent extraction process.

Extraction Phase: Instantly Extract Data with AFES 

During extraction, PILLAR meticulously pulls GIS features, or assets, from your data—creating a usable catalog of information such as the location of guardrails or the heights of structures. Our Automated Feature Extraction System (AFES) uses multiple algorithms simultaneously to classify various assets and obtain their attributes. This process is rapid, often reducing cost and time up to tenfold. And we don’t stop there. 

With PILLAR, you’ll receive a nuanced approach that blends automation with human expertise. Our experts can quickly identify any gaps in your data and employ additional methods to fill in critical information. We offer additional LiDAR scans or even a detailed, in-person inspection. 

Addressing Organizational Challenges: Bridging Data from Multiple Departments

Often, within large organizations, siloed departments maintain separate datasets, resulting in fragmented data and missed opportunities. To make matters more complicated, data is often collected without consideration for downstream usability. Agencies may collect vast amounts of data but fail to render it actionable or accessible for end-users. That’s why it’s important to partner with full-service providers who not only extract and organize data but also consult on its practical applications. 

Effective asset management hinges on collaboration with knowledgeable partners who can guide organizations through the entire process—from data extraction to utilization. At PILLAR, we do just that, helping you bridge the silos, and maximize the utility of your GIS data.

Work With PILLAR And Get the Most Out of Your Data

The journey from raw GIS data to actionable insights is multifaceted but navigable. By embracing a structured approach that encompasses discovery, extraction, and utilization, organizations can harness the full potential of their spatial data. Avoid the time and expense of data cleanup by working with an experienced partner that will not only gather and extract your data but also consult with you on how to use it most effectively. PILLAR is ready to help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can leverage our decades of experience to transform your GIS data from a mere resource into a powerful tool for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

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Bridges on the Brink:
DOTs Overwhelmed by Bridge Inspections

Most DOT asset managers have tens of thousands of bridges to maintain at acceptable service levels. That’s a lot of inspections and condition assessments to work through, not to mention getting the maintenance done. Worrying about the condition and safety of the bridges you are responsible for is enough to keep you up at night.    

While bridge inspections and maintenance are critical to preventing catastrophic incidents, they are typically time-consuming and expensive to execute, pulling on already thin department resources. That’s why PILLAR offers solutions in the form of technology, condition assessment, maintenance plans, and more. We can help you stay organized, quickly identify needs, and address repair and maintenance recommendations so drivers stay safe.

Challenges of Bridge Assessments

Most bridges are inspected every one to two years. This may not seem daunting at first, but consider that a DOT alone manages more than 21,000 bridges and structures. The sheer volume is staggering and each of those bridge inspections can present several challenges:

  • Inspecting large numbers of bridges within limited timeframes and budgets can be difficult so managers must thread the needle of thoroughness and efficiency. 
  • Bridge inspections generate vast amounts of data. 
  • Managing and analyzing this data effectively can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Tracking and executing maintenance recommendations for tens of thousands of bridges requires serious manpower and can be overwhelming.

PILLAR Balances Thoroughness with Efficiency in Bridge Assessment

At PILLAR, we specialize in managing and maintaining transportation infrastructure, helping DOTs and management companies make the most of their resources and keep the public safe. 

Our team is comprised of a unique combination multidisciplined professionals including structural engineers and data analysts. In addition to our decades of tactical, strategic, and operational experience, we have the technology and expertise available to collect and manage your data and use to develop a maintenance plan for any bridge. Here’s how we can help:

  • Quantity Verification: We go into the field to verify the needs identified in your bridge assessment reports. Next, we collate the data, bundling similar repairs on several bridges. With this information you can quickly formulate a contract for completing the repairs.
  • Get Repairs Done Fast: If you have a backlog of maintenance tasks, we can help! Our experienced maintenance professionals can supplement your staff and oversee repairs. You’ll have the job done professionally and efficiently.  
  • Documentation & Data Analysis: At PILLAR, we help you get more from your data. We’re experts at normalizing data and putting into a format you can use quickly. When you work with us, you’ll never spend hours sifting through hard copies trying to find critical information about repairs. We’ll digitize your reports so you can easily find what you need.
  • Risk Assessment: With PILLAR, you can evaluate risks through identified defects or deterioration. We compare current condition data with historical records to assess deterioration rates and trends so you can quickly prioritize maintenance and repair actions based on the severity of the condition. 

If you’re ready to take control of your bridge maintenance, contact us. Our team of experts is ready to speak with you about how we can help.

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Staff Shortages Leave Critical Work Undone 

Calm the chaos with Staff Augmentation.

A tight job market, retirements, cutbacks and hiring freezes create chaos for transportation operations and maintenance teams, often leaving jobs unfilled and critical maintenance undone. Calm your chaos with staff augmentation, a solution that temporarily adds experienced people to your team when and where you need them.

Last year, PILLAR supported municipalities and DOTs by providing more than 56,000 hours in staff augmentation for essential positions such as contract management, bridge, program planning, inclement weather operations, and guardrail, pipe and pavement inspectors. All in effort to help improve safety and maintain smooth operations.

About Staff Augmentation

Transportation asset management and operations agencies routinely leverage staff augmentation services by bringing temporary or contract professionals on board to address critical staffing gaps or manage specific projects. This is especially helpful when organizations need quick access to specialized skills or expertise not readily available within those organizations. 

You’ll see immediate results with PILLAR’s staff augmentation service. These benefits include:

Specialized skills: PILLAR delivers professionals with specific skill sets that are not readily available or deep enough in your organization. 

Flexibility: Staff augmentation through PILLAR allows your organization to remain flexible by helping you manage short-term needs without the long-term commitment and costs of hiring an employee. 

Cost efficiency: Don’t go to the expense of hiring specialized staff for a short-term need. Hiring employees is expensive and training is time consuming which can result in costly implementation delays.  

Faster implementation: Eliminate the knowledge gap that comes with hiring a new employee or changing the focus of an existing one.

Reduce knowledge gaps among new hires: Plug the knowledge gap left after a senior employee exits the workforce. 

Risk mitigation: Compliance regulations and standards are complex to navigate. PILLAR’s technical writers and safety managers keep your organization within compliance and avoid potential operational issues.

Contact Us Today

Don’t staff shortages contribute to your next bad day. PILLAR’s experienced professionals will keep your agency operating efficiently and safely and allow you to maximize available resources. Complete the form below or call us at 276-223-0500 to find out how our staff augmentation service can support you.

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PILLAR’s Technical Writers Provide Vital Resources for DOTs

Don’t face another day mired in paperwork. PILLAR has full-time technical writers ready to step in to develop contracts and technical documents for your agency. 

Technical writers are a critical resource for your transportation asset management and operations team because they create documentation, contracts and other written materials that help keep transportation systems moving forward.

Need maintenance contract development, equipment specifications, or technical writing? PILLAR has you covered. 

Critical Contract Development

Well-written contracts are a must-have for transportation asset management and operations to ensure the smooth operation of transportation systems, protect the interests of all parties involved and minimize legal risks.

These legally binding agreements with government agencies, contractors, suppliers, service providers and other organizations define and detail the terms, conditions, specifications, responsibilities and obligations of each party involved in various transportation projects or services.

It takes a savvy technical writer to draft contracts that are clear and complete. Experience matters too because transportation contracts can vary widely: There are construction contracts, maintenance contracts, procurement contracts, and service agreements with each type serving a specific transportation purpose.

PILLAR’s technical writers have skill to handle all your contract needs, including:

Drafting contract documents, including their terms and conditions

  • Negotiating contract terms with stakeholders
  • Ensuring legal compliance and risk mitigation
  • Managing changes and amendments to contracts
  • Resolving disputes and conflicts arising from contracts

Essential Documentation

Technical writers must also generate clear, concise, and accurate documentation that helps transportation systems operate efficiently, meets all legal and regulatory requirements and, most importantly, prevents bad days from happening by keeping motorists and transportation personnel safe.

Technical writers produce a wide range of transportation documents:

  • Asset management plans outline strategies for acquiring, maintaining, and optimizing transportation assets.
  • Operations manuals provide detailed instructions for operating and maintaining transportation systems and equipment.
  • Safety guidelines detail safety protocols and procedures for transportation personnel.
  • Regulatory compliance documentation help your team meet legal and regulatory requirements.
  • Equipment specifications for routine or specialized maintenance equipment

PILLAR’s writers provide the complete package and are proficient in:

  • Researching and understanding complex technical information
  • Writing and editing documents to ensure clarity and accuracy
  • Collaborating with subject-matter experts to gather information
  • Organizing and structuring content for easy comprehension
  • Ensuring that documentation complies with industry standards and regulations

Contact Us Today

With PILLAR’s technical writers on your side, your team doesn’t need to feel understaffed or stress about budgeting to add a full-time writer. Our experienced technical writers are ready to support your team in creating rock solid contracts and detailed documentation whenever and however you need them. Fill out the form below or contact us by phone for more information and conquer your paperwork today.

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Don’t Slide on Slope Stabilization

As a transportation asset manager, one of your worst bad days is to receive an alert that a slope collapsed on one of your roadways. This treacherous situation can result in fatalities and/or roadway closures and require significant expenditures to repair. 

Put a plan in place to help prevent this bad day scenario from happening in the first place. Keep your slopes maintained and safe with a proactive management plan from PILLAR. In 2023, our team helped one DOT implement a slide prevention program by identifying over 15,000 square yards of slopes requiring stabilization BEFORE disaster struck — and our cutting-edge collection methods can help your agency do the same.

The Issue

Engineered slopes can become unstable over time from weather events, erosion and other factors. Stabilization counters these issues, protecting their long-term viability and preventing rockslides and other slope failures.

Slope stabilization includes a number of implemented techniques designed to remedy an unstable or inadequately stable slope. The purpose is to increase the Factor of Safety of a slope to a level that is considered adequate.

Stabilization methods vary depending on the slope, its location, and surround environment. 

The Solution

PILLAR’s proactive slope erosion mitigation planning offers thorough evaluation and remediation. Our approach includes:

Site assessment and engineering analysis. We combine the technology of Mobile LiDAR with on-the-ground manual inspection to evaluate the geological and hydrological characteristics of your slopes. Through this, our professionals can identify any potential instability triggers, such as rainfall, snowmelt, earthquakes, or human activities. Where needed, we will test the soil and rock properties for cohesion, friction and strength as well as assess the groundwater conditions. This gives you a complete and accurate picture of your slope.

Scaling. Removing loose or potentially unstable material improves the geography of a slope. Scaling is an efficient way to prevent rockslides on natural or newly created slopes and can be conducted regularly as part of routine maintenance. Scaling methods include hand or mechanical scaling or by small scale blasting, also known as trim blasting.

Structural measures. Reinforcement systems such as retaining walls, soil nails, micropiles, rock bolts and shear pins work externally to protect the slope from weather and erosion or work internally to give extra strength to the rock mass.  The PILLAR team has more than 100 years of combined experience working with and for municipalities and departments of transportation and has the expertise to ensure these measures are done in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

Non-structural measures. Landscaping and drainage provide additional protection to slopes. Added vegetation can improve slope stability by enhancing soil cohesion and fighting erosion. Drainage is critical to allow water to escape from rock slope, further mitigating the effects of erosion and freeze-thaw cycles that can fracture rock. Drainage can include horizontal weep drains or holes drilled into large rock faces. 

Continual monitoring and maintenance. PILLAR’s support doesn’t end with recommendations. We remain vigilant over time, continually assessing your slopes for any signs of deterioration or instability.

Emergency response and public awareness. We ensure that slope stabilization work includes the proper signage needed to raise awareness to the traveling public about stabilization efforts and potential hazards. In the unfortunate event of an unexpected slop failure or natural disasters, PILLAR will be beside you to develop an emergency response plan.

Eradicate Unstable Slopes Today

Slope slides can be deadly, so make proactive stabilization priority No. 1. With unmatched experience and state-of-the-art technology, PILLAR is your trusted slope erosion mitigation  partner. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation, and let’s make your slopes — and roadways — the safest they can be.

Complete the contact form below to learn more about our services.

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Time for Roadside Vegetation Maintenance:
Ensuring Safer Roads

It’s time to gear up your crews for a crucial task. As the trees prepare to shed their leaves in preparation for fall and winter, the upcoming months provide an ideal opportunity to tackle essential roadside tree trimming and highway vegetation control. This initiative not only enhances the safety of your community’s roadways but also benefits all those who travel on them.

Here are several compelling reasons why regular roadside tree trimming should be a top priority:

1.) Enhanced Safety

Unchecked growth of trees and shrubs can pose significant safety hazards for road users. Overgrown branches, shrubs, and other vegetation obstruct visibility, making it challenging for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians to spot crucial elements such as road signs, oncoming traffic, and the path of the road itself.

It’s imperative to remove any limbs or vegetation that obstruct a driver’s line of sight, especially in curves or at intersections. All signs should remain clearly visible from every angle and at a considerable distance. For instance, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, critical signs like stop, yield, and wrong-way signs should be discernible from 250 feet away on roads with a 30mph speed limit and 600 feet away on roads with a 60mph speed limit.

2.) Tree Health

Regular and proper trimming practices help manage the growth of shrubs and trees, ensuring their continued health and strength. This reduces the likelihood of branches falling onto roadways and sidewalks, thus mitigating potential hazards.

It is essential to remove dead or ailing trees and shrubs, as these could become serious threats to road users.

3.) Infrastructure Health

Trees and shrubs possess aggressive root systems that can penetrate pavement and affect drainage pipes and other roadside infrastructure. Eliminating young trees near roadways can prevent future issues from arising.

Vegetation adjacent to roadways can also disrupt stormwater drainage, leading to water accumulation on and near the road. This not only damages pavement but also creates safety concerns for vehicles.

Additionally, removing trees near the road facilitates snow plowing and prevents the development of unexpected icy patches during winter months.

4.) Cost-Efficiency

In simple terms, the cost of routine tree and shrub maintenance and brush removal is minimal compared to the potential damage they can cause. Taking proactive measures is far more cost-effective than reacting to the aftermath of accidents or incidents involving trees, brush, or other vegetation.

Establishing a comprehensive vegetation maintenance plan and implementing it can also reduce liability in case of unfortunate incidents involving trees, brush, or vegetation.

Create a Plan with PILLAR

PILLAR is your trusted partner in devising an effective and proactive vegetation management plan to save time, money, and lives. 

PILLAR offers a range of services, from identifying problematic areas and prioritizing needs to drafting contracts and budgeting, for DOTs of every size. Our satisfied partners include a DOT that needed to address overgrown trees and vegetation over 500 centerline miles plus corresponding ramps and intersections. 

Our expertise and experience guarantee the successful management of your plan.  Contact us today for a complimentary consultation, and let’s make your roadways safer for all.

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Don’t Let Unpaid Third-Party Damage Claims Cause a Bad Day.  
PILLAR Can Help.

Let’s face it, traffic accidents cause bad days for all involved. Unfortunately, for transportation asset managers getting the damage repaired is often just the beginning of the bad day saga. Collecting third-party damage claims from a driver’s insurance company is critical to getting funds you need. If not dealt with quickly and thoroughly, DOTs can lose millions in claims that they’re owed. But navigating the complicated collection process is time consuming and frustrating. 

Get the insurance money you’re owed. 

Don’t miss out on insurance recovery claims on damaged assets. PILLAR can help with a team of multi-disciplined professionals who take the complexities out of the collection process. We will work to identify the damage, investigate the circumstances and help you build a claim package that’s ready to submit. 

Our work speaks for itself. PILLAR’s has helped one DOT collect over $4.5 million in third-party damage claims over the past five years.

PILLAR Helps You Save Valuable Time and Money 

With PILLAR, you can identify and investigate damages faster and more efficiently. You’ll see significantly higher collection rates, which frees up budget for transportation management initiatives. We put in the work to identify and investigate damages and put together a claim package to save you time and money.

We can help clients identify asset damage in a number of ways, including our connected infrastructure sensors which provide alerts when there is an impact or other issue, our team in the field sites a problem, or we are alerted by the DOT to send our team out. 

Then, PILLAR’s professionals begin gathering information in the field — everything from the time, date, location and photographs of the damage to the names and contact information of the law enforcement officers who responded after the damage was done. With decades of experience across the realm of transportation, our team has the experience to know that the more information we can collect from the scene, the better for the DOT. 

PILLAR generates an estimate of the damages, collects copies of the law enforcement reports through your state’s Department of Motor Vehicle system, and then compiles everything into a claims package for a DOT’s district accounting specialist for processing and collection.

No More Guesswork on Third-Party Damage Claims

Stop your bad days before they start. With PILLAR you will have the peace of mind that your damage claims are being managed proactively by a seasoned team of experts using the latest technology. 

Rely on our expertise to remove all the guesswork from the collection process.

Contact Us Today

Don’t let your damage collection process get bogged down in paperwork. Book a discovery meeting with PILLAR to learn more about how we can help you identify damage, investigate the circumstances, and build a case, making it easier to collect what you’re owed.

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The 2022 Infrastructure Law: Positioning Your Shovel-Ready
Transportation Project for Success

The 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law addresses long-needed funding to state and local governments for thousands of “shovel-ready” transportation infrastructure improvement projects in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Over a period of five years, the law provides an unprecedented investment of $350 billion in highway programs for state and local governments to tackle long-overdue improvements to infrastructure.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest investment in roads and bridges since President Eisenhower’s investment in the interstate highway system. While the law offers an exceptional amount of funding, competition is fierce. Keep reading for tips on how to present your shovel-ready transportation projects and successfully apply for funding for your state or locality.

What are Shovel Ready Projects?

Today, “shovel-ready” describes a transportation project that has fully completed planning, has necessary permits, and approvals in hand, and is ready to put people to work right away once funding is in place. If you’re interested in applying for funding through the 2022 Infrastructure Bill, it’s important to pick the right project to stand out in the application process while maintaining realistic goals for your current workflow.

How to Prepare for a Shovel-Ready Project

Construction never happens on a wing and a prayer. As any infrastructure professional knows, construction projects require careful planning, preparation, testing, and permitting long before gaining clearance to break ground. Doing the prep work prior to funding helps you stay prepared to seize opportunities when they arise. 

  1. Review the Project Priority List in Your Region: Identify priority projects for your region that align with the stated goals of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. According to the White House, the goals of the deal are to, “rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind.” 
  2. Evaluate what steps are needed to qualify for shovel-ready status: Once you’ve identified a list of potential projects, it’s important to be realistic about which are closest to being shovel-ready.  Do any of the projects already have planning and regulatory compliance completed? If none of your projects are quite at the shovel-ready stage, try to find a project that would allow you to complete all the steps to getting shovel-ready in time to apply for funding. 
  3. Identify which type of funding is right for your project. The funding included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is broken out into different types of programs and grants. Review their list of grant programs carefully to find which grant your project best qualifies for. This will increase your chances for successful funding. 
  4. Prepare your best proposal. You’ve done the difficult work of planning. Now it’s time to write your proposal. Gather all your data, paperwork, and permits, and start building a case for your project. 

PILLAR Can Help Get Your Projects Shovel-Ready

These steps seem straightforward but can be close to impossible for DOTs and organizations that are already stretched thin when it comes to time, resources, and manpower. That’s where PILLAR can help. We’re fully equipped to help you get your project to shovel-ready status, from start to finish.  We even have full-time proposal writers who have a track record of success.  They can devote time and expertise to help you get the funding you need. 

We are a trusted advisory partner that DOTs, municipalities, and P3 stakeholders rely on for fiscally responsible operations and maintenance. PILLAR can act as an extension of your agency, providing full-time expertise without the full-time price tag. From boots on the ground to technical writing, PILLAR’s combination of expertise and integrity has got you covered. Contact us to find out how we can get your projects shovel-ready today.