Packed House for Construction Industry Forum
By Kari Hebrank
It was standing room only as close to one hundred underground utility contractors and
suppliers gathered at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club for NUCA of Florida’s (NUCA
FL) Construction Industry Forum as part of NUCA FL’s Annual Conference. The forum kicked
off with a Transportation Infrastructure Panel comprised of Assistant Secretary Brian
Blanchard, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); Gene Strickland, President,
Florida Transportation Builders Association; and, Representative Chris Latvala who was a
last-minute replacement for his father, Senator Jack Latvala whose plane was delayed.
Peppered with questions by moderator NUCA FL
President Tom Woodward, Nelson Construction, the
panel discussed a variety of transportation topics,
including the Federal gas tax distribution, mass transit,
improving a strategic intermodal system, automated
vehicles, corridor improvements, mobility fees and how
to attract entry-level workers to help build our future
infrastructure.
Secretary Blanchard indicated Florida has a $3
billion road and bridge budget for FY 2015-1016 and the agency explores the return on
investment for other modes of transportation such as light rail, working with private industry,
and mentioned there is an economic competitiveness for ensuring mobility. Key corridors
underway include Tampa to Central Florida; Tampa to Jacksonville; and extending the Turnpike
westward to Highway 19.
Next the forum turned to Safe Digging 101: Critical Business Practices for Damage
Prevention presented by Wayne Jensen, Chair, Tampa Bay Excavation Task Force.
Introduced by moderator Mike Woodall, John Woody, Inc., Wayne reviewed “positive
response” codes and “locate tickets” along with best practices in order to verify the status of
whether it is safe to dig. Wayne stressed the importance of ensuring field crew understand locate
ticket and document locate marks in the field.
To complement Wayne’s presentation, Michael Barker,
USIC gave a demonstration on a new application that may be
utilized in the field on a cell phone or iPad entitled “DigCheck.”
The application is free to utility contractors and excavators