Iowa Infrastructure Report CardSponsored by: Iowa Section of ASCE

Kick-off meeting: January 17, 2014Johnston, Iowa

Why are we here today? Sources and motivations

Success of the National Report Card Encouragement of state efforts by the society Results of 2013 membership survey* IA infrastructure need significant and growing Opportunity to perform public service role Chance to promote the profession. Personal development

Setting a course Need a plan, schedule, organization, goals and methods

Commencing a process Time to convert intentions into action

10:05 – 10:10

Report Card background Started in 1988 with National Council on Public

Works Improvement's "Report Card on the Nation's Public Works" (chartered by Congress)

ASCE followed up in 1998 with "1998 Report Card for America's Infrastructure"

Since then: 2001, 2005, 2009, and 2013 Now National, state and regional report cards Coordinated effort to make the public and elected

official aware of infrastructure needs Originally covered 10 categories; now 16

10:10 – 10:20 1/8

1998 Report – pretty simple

Roads D-

Bridges C-

Mass Transit C

Aviation C-

Schools F

Drinking Water D

Wastewater D+

Dams D

Solid Waste C-

Hazardous Waste D-

   

Average Grade D

American Society of Civil Engineer's"1998 Report Card for America's Infrastructure"

10:10 – 10:20 2/8

2009 – a bit more

10:10 – 10:20 3/8

2013 – added impact

10:10 – 10:20 4/8

ASCE’s State and Regional Infrastructure Report Cards Program

“In order to broaden the dialogue on infrastructure, ASCE encourages Sections and Branches to develop and promote Infrastructure Report Cards for their states or regions using the national methodology.”

10:10 – 10:20 5/8

Now – State & Regional report cards

10:10 – 10:20 6/8

Categories and sub-elements for IowaSelect from National’s predetermined list:

10:10 – 10:20 7/8

• Transportation• Aviation• Bridges• Inland waterways• Rail• Roads• Transit• Ports

• Water & Environment• Dams• Levees• Drinking water• Waste water

• Energy: Elec, Gas, Oil, Wind, Renewables

• Waste management• Solid waste• Hazardous waste

• Public facilities• Parks/rec areas• Schools

Report Card Recipe for Success: Suggested sequence

10:10 – 10:20 7a/8

“RULES” for Report Carding

In order to use the ASCE Report Card name and reputation in producing a State Report card, we will need to work closely with and secure concurrence of National.

It will be important to separate the status/condition of the infrastructure from the skill and diligence employed by its caretakers.

Identify successes as well as shortcomings.

Focus on education about issues, not specific political goals.

Seek to communicate why, how and where Civil Engineers play important roles in infrastructure construction, maintenance and operation.

10:10 – 10:20 8/8

Charge to the committee

Comments from Iowa Section 2013-14 President, Brian Wilham, of Shive-Hattery Assoc. in West Des Moines

10:20 – 10:25

Iowa Report Card:Today’s plan of action Identify desired outcomes

Establish general methods framework

Agree on a work plan Identify Infrastructure categories to cover Establish a schedule Scope out a budget

Establish sub-committees

Identify ways to recruit sufficient participation from our membership

10:25 – 10:30

Guidance available from National:

Regional Report Card Notification Form and Instructions How to Grade Your Community’s Infrastructure Getting Started Suggested Timeline for Development of Report Cards Selecting Infrastructure Categories Data Collection and Establishing Criteria Issuing Grades Promoting the Report Card Report Card Release Events

Elements of a Media-Worthy Event Developing Media Tools Using in Public Policy Efforts

10:25 – 10:30

Let’s get to know each other a little better

Ice breaker exercise Pair up

Each person picks 2 questions to ask and 2 to answer

Interview each other

Introduce partner to the group and share what they learned

Follow-up: Talk about our individual visions about having an Iowa report card.

1. What profession would you be in if you hadn’t become a CE? (& why)

2. What profession(s) would you NOT wish to be in? (& why)

3. Best and worst movie recently viewed?

4. Funny/intriguing memory from childhood?

5. Four adjectives that friends and family would use to describe you?

6. What do you think other people’s first impressions of you are (at work)?

7. If you could trade places with a celebrity or public figure, who would it be and why?

8. What do you think will be the three most interesting developments (in CE) in the next 20 years?

10:30 – 11:00

Discuss/Select desired outcomes 30 minutes Let’s talk about what can be accomplished via production of an

Iowa report card. What can realistically be achieved?

How much work can we perform in our volunteer capacities? What messages do we want to send with the final product? How could passage of a fuel tax or other revenue increase impact the

effort? Who will be our audience? Neighbors, legislators, local officials,

Governor, all? What message or story do we want them to receive? How do we hope they will respond? What could go wrong? What other groups should be included / kept informed?

11:00 – 11:30

Establish Iowa’s Report Carding core guidelines and methods 30 minutes Before narrowing in on specific areas of interest, let’s

establish how the grading process will work. What aspects of Infrastructure can we /do we want

to include in the scoring? What attributes and functional characteristics should be

scored? Grade on where things are today and where they are

headed? Grade on quality of assets alone or include assessment

of operations and maintenance. How to produce composited scores

11:30 – 12:00 1/5

National’s infrastructure criteria: To develop the Report

Card grades, a quantitative and qualitative approach to each of the eight fundamental criteria should be used to arrive at each of the category grades.

Each author is expected to review and assess all relevant data and reports, consult with technical and industry experts, and assign grades according to the following eight criteria:

Capacity – Evaluate the infrastructure’s capacity to meet current and future demands.

Condition – Evaluate the infrastructure’s existing or near future physical condition.

Funding – Evaluate the current level of funding (from all levels of government) for the infrastructure category and compare it to the estimated funding need.

Future Need – Evaluate the cost to improve the infrastructure and determine if future funding prospects will be able to meet the need.

Operation and Maintenance – Evaluate the owners’ ability to operate and maintain the infrastructure properly and determine that the infrastructure is in compliance with government regulations.

Public Safety – Evaluate to what extent the public’s safety is jeopardized by the condition of the infrastructure and what the consequences of failure may be.

Resilience – Evaluate the infrastructure system’s capability to prevent or protect against significant multi-hazard threats and incidents and the ability to expeditiously recover and reconstitute critical services with minimum damage to public safety and health, the economy, and national security.

Innovation – Evaluate the implementation and strategic use of innovative techniques and delivery methods.

11:30 – 12:00 2/5

Grades are developed via composite scoring How to best combine scoring:

All 8 criteria allowed 12.5 points= 100 total points to earn

No single criterion should dominate a score – so what is the max weighting to be used in Iowa?

How should criteria be evaluated? Technical (numerical) ratings Professional judgment (by

whom) Industry expert consensus

11:30 – 12:00 3/5

Grading Criterion Key Indicator Facts Earned Points Available Points

Capacity 8 10Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Condition 10 15Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Operations and Maintenance 8 10

Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Public Safety 14 15Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Funding 8 15Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Future Need 5 12Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Resilience 8 13Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Innovation 9 10Fact 1Fact 2Fact 3Fact 4Fact 5

Final Grade 70 100

Points should be allocated in balanced manner across the 8 Key Criteria to arrive at the number of earned points of the possible 100 points.

GRADE: 70% = C

State Report Card Category Grading Sheet Example Note: Authors should start with a balance among the 8 criteria (12.5 points for 8 criteria) and then use their expertise and discretion to determine if key criteria that may impact the category significantly should be weighted more substantially. However, no one criterion should represent a majority of the grade.

National’s grading schema Grading Scale

Grading for an ASCE Report Card uses a 100 point scale and can also be represented as a percentage.

Points should be allocated in balanced manner across the 8 Key Criteria to arrive at the number of earned points of the possible 100 points.

Authors should start with a balance among the 8 criteria (12.5 points x 8 = 100) and then use their expertise and discretion to determine if Key Criteria that may impact the category significantly should be weighted more substantially. However, no one criterion should represent a majority of the grade.

The percentage earned is then translated into a letter grade based on the following scale:

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89%

C = 70-79%

D = 51-69%

F = 50% or lower

A - Exceptional 10099989796959493929190

B - GOOD 89888786858483828180

C - MEDIOCRE 79787776757473727170

D - POOR 69686766656463626160595857565554535251

F - FAILING/CRITICAL 5049484746454443424140393837363534333231302928272625242322212019181716151413121110

9876543210

11:30 – 12:00 4/5

Selecting a final report structureWhich will be best for Iowa?Option 1: General Framework

1. Executive Summary: 3-5 sentences Most compelling facts

2. Introduction: Start with the most compelling statistic Give context – how many, how much Compare it to a common item of reference

3. Analysis: How is [x] doing in terms of Capacity,

Condition, O&M, Funding, Future Need, Public Safety, Resilience, and Innovation? (Don’t forget all 8!)

4. Conclusion: Highlight the most significant issues State the grade

5. Recommendations: What are the 3-5 solutions that can start

solving this today?

6. Sources

Option 2: Criteria Driven Framework

1. Executive Summary: 3-5 sentences Most compelling facts

2. Condition & Capacity: Includes O&M Includes Innovation

3. Funding & Future Needs

4. Public Safety & Resilience

5. Conclusion: Highlight the most significant issues State the grade

6. Recommendations for Action What are the 3-5 solutions that can

start solving this today?

7. Sources

11:30 – 12:00 5/5

LUNCH 12:00 to 12:30

How can we acquire infrastructure data? Basic needs

Extent and magnitude Operating volumes Customers, users served

Financial Cost/value of the infrastructure class O & M costs (and, for comparison, O & M needs) Replacement needs vs. revenues Upgrade needs vs. revenues

Status and conditions Performance – measure of how well the class fulfills need Condition – measure of physical/operational adequacy Resilience – measure of class reliability

12:30 to 12:35 1/2

Data sources identified by National Need to review and determine which will be useful Need to determine what data ‘holes’ need to be filled Need to document acquired data to assure that

results are defensible and carry sufficient “weight of authority”

12:30 to 12:35 2/2

2013 Report Card Sources• w

ww.infrastructurereportcard.org

State Reports & Interviews

Data evaluation and grading -1/3 Grade reporting and consolidation

To be done via spreadsheet 8 criteria x submitted grades x weightings = final grade for each

class State grade to be un-weighted combination of all classes

Sub-committee submittals needed: Basics, financial and status/conditions Narrative description of infrastructure class Rationale for grades, scores and grading discussion Success stories and future options Amplifying commentary Photos, source files, links and contacts

12:35 to 12:45

Data evaluation and grading – 2/3 An advisory panel of experts should review the

research and the assigned letter grades.

Your panel should consist of engineers who are widely regarded as technical experts in the infrastructure area that will be analyzed.

An advisory panel will lend credibility to the project and panelists should be listed on the report card.

12:35 to 12:45

Data evaluation and grading – 3/3 Citizen focus group (option for consideration)

Invite a suitably diverse group of citizens to a trial presentation of the Iowa report card findings

Ask them to give feedback as to how well they understand the results.

Seek questions from them and use their replies to guide final wording of findings and analysis

Ferret out misunderstandings and unforeseen flash points before public release of the report card.

12:35 to 12:45

Preview modes of delivery and discuss effectiveness of each. Brochures Web site Social media Press release Press conference Letters to editors Civic group

presentations

Initial Immediate follow up Long term

12:45 to 1:00 PM

Establish a schedule – ASCE Countdown

Twelve Months Prior to Release Submit Report Card Notification Form to ASCE National. Select committee members to develop report card. Decide which infrastructure areas to evaluate. Decide what data to use in assessing infrastructure and where to find

it. Eleven Months Prior to Release

Teleconference with ASCE National staff liaison and member of Advisory Council

on State and Local Report Cards. Begin researching and compiling data.

Ten – Four Months Prior to Release Draft fact sheets and issue briefs. Assign grades to each infrastructure area. Submit regular status updates to ASCE National.

Three Months Prior to Release Write text for report card. Start planning media event to release the report card. Contact a graphic artist or desktop publisher to layout your report card. Research locations to hold event. Submit regular status updates to ASCE National.

Two Months Prior to Release Finalize location for event. Begin to compile a list of key decision makers to invite to the event. Decide who will speak at the news conference and begin drafting

remarks. Submit final drafts to ASCE National for Advisory Council review.

Six Weeks Prior to Release Finalize changes recommended by Advisory Council. Draft media materials including media advisory, news release,

spokesperson, bios and talking points. Compile media list of appropriate reporters, producers and editors,

preferably ones that cover transportation, schools, local government, the environment and other infrastructure-related issues. Be sure to include titles, email addresses and Finalize remarks for the event and show how much time is allotted per speaker and what topic each speaker will cover.

Send final layout of the report card to printer.

Three – Two Weeks Prior to Release Finalize news release, fact sheets and issue briefs. Assemble these

materials with report card into a press packet. Finalize talking points.

One Week Prior to Release Email media advisory to identified media contacts.

Three Days Prior to Event Make follow-up phone calls to invited media to remind them of the event

and to make sure it is on their schedule. Day Before Event

Continue making follow-up calls to invited media. Email an embargoed copy of the report card to reporters. The embargo can

be set for midnight the night before the release or the start time of the press conference.

Day of Event Continue making follow-up phone calls to key reporters. Send news release if an embargoed copy was not distributed the day

before the event. If sending a news release without an embargo time, mark it “for immediate release” in place of the embargo time.

Distribute press kits at the press conference.

One Day After Event Send copy of report card to key decision makers asking them for their

support for infrastructure investment and renewal. Monitor media coverage of the report card release. Draft an op-ed that presents the issues highlighted in the report card and

pitch it to your local newspaper. (Some large papers may ask that an op-ed be submitted on an exclusive basis, meaning no other publication can simultaneously print the piece. Check each publication’s editorial policy to be sure.)

Monitor opportunities to send letters to the editors and to comment on blogs, etc.

1:00 to 1:15 PM 1/2

Establish a schedule

January 17 – kickoff – receive the charge – prelim decisions – select subcommittees

Feb – Get organized : Topics, grading criteria, official schedule Teleconference with National

Mar OL -- progress reports – issues – concerns April OL -- status report

May – Meet for questions, problems progress report, review trial data, grades and composite results

June OL -- online status report July OL -- online status report / advance publicity planning Aug – OL Turn in grades for consolidation

Sep - Meet to review and finalize Independent peer review for credibility National review

Oct – OL Review graphics, discuss roll out and publicity Nov -- OL Prepare / procure print, web and digital materials

Dec PR University session from National

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 – O f f i c i a l r o l l - o u t

Trial Iowa calendar

1:00 to 1:15 PM 2/2

Establish a budget / preliminary version now / final in Feb

Cost items Notes

Meeting expenses Jan-14Feb, May, Sep, Dec?

Graphic arts Where to procure; at what cost; how ‘jazzy’?

Printing What items; how many of each?

Misc.

Special

Revenue SPAG grant; Region 7; Iowa Section

1:15 to 1:30 PM

Iowa Report Card – what resources will be available to us? Data, templates, direct advice from National Iowa Report Card e-room Meeting sites & means Funding Other organizations

1:30 to 1:35 PM

Sub-committees Self select into committees, or at least committee

chairs

Establish what infrastructure items have been ‘taken’

Determine which, if any, of the remainder ought to be included in final report.

Make sure we have everyone’s particulars and contract information.

1:35 to 1:50 PM 1/2

Infrastructure category Sub-committee Chair Additional members

•Transportation

•Aviation

•Bridges

•Inland waterways

•Rail

•Roads

•Transit

•Ports

•Water & Environment

•Dams

•Levees

•Drinking water

•Waste water

•Energy: Elec, Gas, Oil, Wind, Renewables

•Waste management

•Solid waste

•Hazardous waste

•Public facilities

•Parks/rec areas

•Schools

1:35 to 1:50 PM 2/2

Recruitment of additional help At this point, we should brainstorm about who else to

involve in this project, what to ask of them and how to procure their participation Other Iowa Section ASCE members Other professional societies with parallel interests Representatives of infrastructure organizations

Looking ahead Will need to recruit domain experts who are not part of

this committee to perform critical reviews later in the process

1:50 to 1:55 PM

Wrap-up Thanks for coming and agreeing to be involved in the development of an

Iowa report card.

Next Steps: SWD will prepare and file a notice of intent with National All of us should invite additional people to participate Sub-committees need to make an initial assessment of the topics that they have

chosen to evaluate. We’ll need to be able to pool our findings at the next meeting

Next meeting ASCE staff will teleconference with us to discuss project Invite prior state An official grade repository worksheet will be reviewed. Each committee will be asked to report on the status of their infrastructure

categories Finalization of schedule and budget