DOTD chief asks feds for more highway funding

Louisiana DOTD secretary Johnny Bradberry recently met with U.S. DOTD secretary Norman Mineta to help Louisiana get more federal highway funding. Bradberry used the meeting to push for federal support and dollars for Louisiana's highway needs.

Bradberry wants officials to support passage of the federal highway bill, which stalled in Congress in September 2003.

Despite emergency temporary measures that supply federal highway funding while the bill is stalled, Bradberry said states have a difficult time planning for future projects when there is no long-term federal financing plan.

"It's starting to get very difficult and complicated," Bradberry said. "Projects are starting to get delayed. We have preliminary engineering work that cannot get started because of the way the funding comes to us."

The main source of federal highway funds is the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax. Louisiana is a "donor state" because citizens pay more in gas taxes than the state receives in federal transportation funds.

Although Mineta did not make hard commitments to Louisiana, Bradberry said, "He's very interested in and supportive of our businesslike approach to DOTD."

Bradberry also asked Mineta to support funding Louisiana's high-priority projects, such as Interstate 49 and LA 1. Completing the northern part of I-49 from Shreveport to the Arkansas state line will cost about $320 million. I-49 will eventually link the Port of New Orleans to Canada.

The LA 1 project involves rebuilding the bridge at Leesville and adding an elevated road to Port Fouchon, providing a safe hurricane evacuation route and reliable access to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). About 20 percent of the nation's oil supply is offloaded from LOOP and LA 1 provides the only route from LOOP into the continental United States.

Bradberry met with Mineta as he completed a tour of Washington D.C. officials. Bradberry also met with members and staffs of Louisiana's Congressional delegation and with Mary Peters, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.

Broadmoor puts Navy back in business

Broadmoor LLC of New Orleans was awarded the Commander's Letter of Commendation in recognition of the firm's outstanding performance in repairing Hurricane Ivan damages to the Naval Air Technical Training Center's (NATTC) primary training facility in Pensacola, Fla.

Broadmoor engineers repaired extensive exterior and interior damage to the 750,000-sq.-ft. building and completed the $36.8 million job in 90 days.

R.B. Raines, captain of the U.S. Navy and commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southern Division, complimented Broadmoor in his commendation.

"In spite of scarce resources, in both manpower and material, you exceeded the Navy's greatest expectations," Bained said.

"We have come a long way since 100 days ago when we were sitting in the dark using our cell phones," Capt. Lloyd Callis, commanding officer of the NATTC said during the ribbon cutting ceremony. "What should have been a 14- to 18-month process was completed in 90 days."

Chevalier Hall, the primary training facility of the NATTC in Pensacola, lost its entire roof system in the storm when Hurricane Ivan hit in September 2004, resulting in severe water damage throughout the complex.

The renovation required repairing 450,000 sq. ft. of roofing, replacing 470,000 sq. ft. of drywall, 446,000 sq. ft. of acoustical ceiling tile and 13,000 yds. of carpeting, painting 1.15 million sq. ft. of interior wall finishes and significantly repairing mechanical and electrical systems throughout the complex. Work was completed on Jan. 13.

Broadmoor relied on many New Orleans-area subcontractors to complete the renovation, including M. Natal Construction Inc., Gallo Mechanical Contractors Inc., High-Tech Electric Inc. and King and Company.

Blanco, Strock pledge cooperation to reverse coastal degradation

Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, chief of engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, recently reaffirmed the state-federal partnership and its commitment to the national goal of reversing Louisiana's coastal losses.

The signing ceremony for the partnership agreement was held in the LSU Energy, Coast and Environment Building on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. Strock signed the chief of engineers report during the ceremony, a crucial step in advancing the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study (LCA Study).

The five-volume LCA Study is a near-term plan developed over the last 18 months following decades of work and cooperation among many people and agencies. The near-term plan identifies 15 projects upon which construction should begin within 10 years.

Five of the projects require immediate action to avoid higher costs in the future.

The LCA Study makes a number of other recommendations, including a science and technology program, demonstration projects and beneficial use of dredged material projects.

The chief's report is a summary of the LCA Study for Congress, which will now decide whether to authorize the $1.9 billion project. His signature signals completion of years of work by the Corps and the state through the Department of Natural Resources and other agencies.

Andress-Walsh opens new Geismar branch

The Andress-Walsh Company recently announced that a new branch in Geismar is open to service southeast Louisiana. The new facility adds to service capabilities. Andress-Walsh already offers the area from Texas locations in Houston, Beaumont, Clute and La Marque.

The branch is located at 5240 Gateway Drive just off Highway 30.

Slater Blanchard, the new branch manager for the Baton Rouge location, comes to Andress-Walsh with eight years of experience in industrial sales. Blanchard is originally from Pierre Part and has covered southeast Louisiana for more than 10 years.

Andress-Walsh is a 21-year-old pump rental company.

Shintech announces plans to construct new facility in Iberville Parish

Shintech officials, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, representatives of Louisiana Department of Economic Development and other state and local officials recently announced plans to construct a new manufacturing facility in Iberville Parish.

The proposed $1 billion capital investment for the proposed new facility is expected to require more than 2,000 construction workers at peak and create approximately 150 permanent jobs once the facility becomes operational.

Shintech plans to use its own financial resources for the total cost of the investment.

The facility, which will manufacture chlorine, caustic soda and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), will be located on a 1,725-acre site just south of Plaquemine that formerly housed Ashland Chemical Company operations.

Anticipated annual production capacity of the new integrated facility includes 1 billion pounds of chlorine, 1.1 billion pounds of caustic soda and 1.65 billion pounds of VCM. That additional raw material supply will allow Shintech to expand its annual PVC capacity in Louisiana by 1.3 billion pounds.

Shintech currently produces 1.1 billion pounds of PVC annually at its Addis, La., facility.

"In addition to providing significant employment opportunities for local residents, the proposed facility will be an economic boost to the state and Iberville Parish by contributing millions of dollars in tax revenue during both the construction phase of the project as well as once the facility begins to operate," said Michael J. Olivier, secretary of Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

The Iberville Parish site was selected from three sites Shintech considered. The company also examined a site near its Addis operations and land near its Freeport, Texas manufacturing facility. As part of site evaluation, Shintech requested community input to help determine which location was most appropriate for the facility's construction.

"We appreciate the participation and support of many Iberville Parish and West Baton Rouge Parish residents in reaching this decision," said Ervin Schroeder, vice president of Shintech. "In the end, the Iberville Parish site proved to be the best location for the type of facility that we want to construct, with adequate rail, highway and deepwater access."

Shintech intends to begin the regulatory permitting process next month and would like to start-up operations at the Iberville site in late 2006.

One reason the U.S. Gulf Coast was selected as the facility's location is anticipated continuation of PVC market growth in North America. PVC is used in building materials such as piping, siding and flooring and medical supplies such as blood bags, sterile packaging and IV tubing.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center unveils plan

Dr. Claude Bouchard, executive director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, recently received approval for a five-year master plan he outlined to the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University System. The plan calls for the center to grow by 50 percent, build new clinical research facilities and pour $350 million into the economy along the way.

"I think this is an outstanding plan, exactly what the flagship agenda needs. It's aggressive and achievable," said Stewart Slack, systems chairman, explaining his support of the plan.

Called Vision 2010, the plan's 10 immediately effective priorities include establishing a sixth division of nutrition and the brain (one of the three priorities dedicated to the Center's Basic Science Programs); expanding community and professional education efforts; advancing the postdoctoral program; securing additional funding from the National Institutes of Health; and pursuing partnerships to build a research-based wellness center.

Bouchard noted great success and considerable growth following Vision 2005 - the center's first ever goal-oriented strategic plan released five years ago. Under the plan, the center has nearly doubled total personnel from 350 to 600, created a Division of Education, expanded the operating budget from $22 million to about $40 million and enhanced recruitment of potential key faculty members after completing a 180,000 sq. ft. Basic Science Laboratory Building.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a campus of the Louisiana State University System and conducts both clinical and basic research. It is the largest academically based nutrition research center in the world.