Capital Improvement Projects Research Articles

Strategies to Mitigate Risk and Improve InvestmentReturn in Large Capital Projects

Private equity investment opportunities in the energy industry are increasing as a result of the volume of large capital improvement projects and recent regulatory changes. While large capital improvement projects provide an opportunity for a potentially profitable investment, the return on that investment must be protected through the active management of the inherent risks. Owners have traditionally attempted to mitigate financial risk solely by contractual risk transfer. The article explains why the paradigm of attempting to shift the risk via the contract alone fails to adequately protect the owner from financial risks and that active owner involvement and use of industry standard project controls for schedule, procurement, and claims management are the best strategies to mitigate risk and improve the rate of return on any investment in large capital projects. <b>TOPICS:</b>Private equity, other real assets, risk management, project finance

University of Nebraska College of Medicine

University of Nebraska College of Medicine

Problems involved in charging users for urban capital improvement projects

Problems involved in charging users for urban capital improvement projects

Urban sprawl factors in the surface water resource basins of Istanbul

This paper presents the reasons for uncontrolled land-use changes in the water resource basins of Istanbul. These changes are evaluated with a Geographical Information System (GIS), using four Landsat (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005) satellite images. Additional spatial information about capital improvement projects (highways and the Bosporus bridges), industrial land-use decisions, land ownership, and jurisdictional boundaries is also utilized. We observe that the most critical land-use changes have occurred in places with higher accessibility, mostly in close proximity to the metropolitan city center. The literature describes large public capital improvement projects (primarily the Trans European Motorway – TEM) as the primary reason for a trend of illegal occupation of public lands; however, the TEM should not be considered as the sole reason. This study explores other possible causes for these illegal developments in the water resource basins, grouped into three broad dimensions physical, socio–economic–political, and legal. Finally, we put forward possible policy suggestions for the preservation of the limited surface water resource basins in Istanbul.

The Case for Conditioning Federal Infrastructure Investment on State Land and Water Planning

Federal water policy encompasses both investment in capital improvement projects and resource development, and environmental protection and preservation, resulting in continuing tension. Partly as a consequence we have reached an impasse in national water policy without achieving the 35-year-old goal of “fishable and swimmable” surface waters or addressing the potential effect of rising sea levels. Making federal monies for Corps of Engineers projects, highways, and agricultural programs available only on the condition that states receiving funds have comprehensive land and water plans in place could help the nation achieve these important tasks.

Survey of fish consumption patterns of King County (Washington) recreational anglers

Three fish consumption surveys were conducted in King County, WA during 1997-2003. These surveys were conducted to support environmental analyses of proposed capital improvement projects planned by the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Personal interviews were conducted at marine, estuarine, and freshwater locations throughout King County. Over 1300 anglers participated in the survey and provided consumption information. A majority of the respondents from the surveys (30-71%) were Caucasian, while the remaining respondents comprised various ethnic groups. The mean consumption rates for consumers of marine fish, shellfish, and freshwater fish were 53, 25, and 10 g/day, respectively. Results indicate that the consumption patterns of marine anglers from King County have remained consistent since the mid-1980s. The consumption distribution for marine anglers suggests that some respondents may consume fish as a large portion of their diet. The consumption habits of freshwater anglers are comparable to those of other recreational anglers throughout the United States. The survey results provide distributions of marine and freshwater fish consumption suitable for risk assessments conducted for anglers residing in King County, WA.

Prioritizing capital improvement projects to mitigate risk

Faced by the need to repair and replace aging infrastructure and at the same time build new systems to meet population growth, US water utilities must make increasingly complex decisions about where, when, and how to invest their capital improvement dollars. What's more, their decisions must involve a range of stakeholders and win their “buy in” in order for projects to receive necessary financial and community support. A decision‐making process has been developed to help utilities systematically and objectively prioritize capital improvement projects on the basis of financial risk and other defensible planning criteria. In addition, the methodology described in this article enhances both internal and external communication, can help stabilize rate increases, and potentially lower bond interest rates by providing rating agencies with evidence of comprehensive planning. Water suppliers can use this information to begin transforming the way they establish and prioritize their capital improvement programs. By following the step‐by‐ step approach described here, utilities can turn the daunting challenge of capital improvement choices into a process that leads to sound financial policies and fosters collaborative partnering with their customers and communities.

Innovative Asset Management Approach to Prioritize Capital Improvement Projects

Innovative Asset Management Approach to Prioritize Capital Improvement Projects

COMPETING INTERESTS How Can CSO and SSO Programs Share the Same Resources?

COMPETING INTERESTS How Can CSO and SSO Programs Share the Same Resources?The City of Columbus, Ohio is currently updating their Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) and developing a Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) Program. The LTCP and CMOM programs will ultimately identify in the neighborhood of 2 billion in capital improvement projects. The programs are being developed by independent consultants under separate budgets....Author(s): Dax J. BlakeKevin CampanellaSourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationSubjectSession 4: Reducing SSOs: Planning to ImplementationDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Jan, 2005ISSN1938-6478SICI1938-6478(20050101)2005:4L.153;1-DOI10.2175/193864705784291510Volume / Issue2005 / 4Content sourceCollection Systems ConferenceFirst / last page(s)153 - 164Copyright2005Word count418

Practical Perspective on Real-Time Control

Abstract Environmental regulation is evolving and will require billions of dollars in investments to improve the operation of wastewater systems and to control the wet-weather pollution. The optimization of existing facilities before building new ones has been emphasized as a preferred strategy and, consequently, municipalities are learning that they can avoid costly and unnecessary capital improvement projects. Real-time control is a technology that serves to optimize the operation of wastewater systems. However, it is still not widely used, although it is gaining acceptance in the municipal engineering community. More and more municipalities are evaluating the potential of real-time control for their systems. Nevertheless, there are relatively few examples of actual real-time control applications or publications on this topic. Many issues still need to be addressed, ranging from the evaluation of real-time control to its implementation. Some of the criteria that favour the implementation of real-time control systems are presented, including safety, reliability, adaptability and flexibility, and such a presentation is complemented by case studies of operational real-time control systems illustrating these characteristics.

Safety Program Guidelines for Public School Facility Construction and Operations

Facilities management programs at public schools covering capital improvement projects and facility operations and maintenance functions need comprehensive safety programs to ensure that workers, school staff, and students are provided a safe and healthy environment during all related activities. This paper reviews the elements of a school safety program and discusses program implementation issues to make it successful. Program guidelines are provided for safe construction, operations, maintenance, and design in the context of school facilities.

AN IMPERIAL CONNECTION? CONTRASTING ACCOUNTING PRACTICES IN THE COAL MINES OF NORTH-EAST ENGLAND AND NOVA SCOTIA, 1825–1900

The archives of the General Mining Association (GMA), a London-based enterprise with substantial holdings in the Nova Scotian coal-mining industry during the 19th century, are investigated in this paper. The historical record was examined with particular reference to the degree to which industrial costing techniques were transplanted via engineers/managers within the British Empire. The findings support the hypothesis that linkages to Newcastle were evident in Canadian coal mining, but that the accounting emphases differed somewhat between the two locales. In Nova Scotia, there was a great attention to day-to-day expense control. A similar concern was apparent also in the North-East of England, but here there appeared the additional sophistications of costing capital improvement projects and estimating the profitability of new workings. With regard to labor, the managers of the GMA's Canadian operations, like their counterparts in the North-East Coalfield, seemed disinterested in tracking the efficiency and productivity of individual miners. We hypothesize that this inattention typified an environment wherein labor was scarce and employment alternatives existed for the work force.

Implementation of Project Management in Public Engineering Organization

The Bureau of Engineering is a part of the City of Los Angeles' Department of Public Works and is responsible for the planning, design, and construction management of capital improvement projects for the city. In February 1997, the Bureau of Engineering executive staff and the Board of Public Works mandated a dramatic shift to improve project delivery. All of the non-wastewater elements of the Bureau were organized into a program-based matrix organization with a Project Manager as the focus for project delivery with project conception-to-conclusion responsibility. This paper describes the project management method of project delivery being implemented at the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering and explains the implementation elements and their status. The paper reviews the new project management organizational structure and the organizational options considered by the Bureau. The work details the roles and responsibilities for the project delivery team members. The new tools used to manage projects ...

Lags in government capital improvement projects: Empirical evidence from Hawaii

Since July 1968 the State of Hawaii has published projectspecific information on all state government capital improvement projects. These data have been analyzed in order to determine the length and variability of the planning lag-the lag between the release of funds for planning, engineering and architectural services and the authorization to call for bids- and the bid-start lag-the lag between the call for bids and the release of funds for construction.

Transit's Need for Assured Federal Aid

Transit faces a serious financial crisis, and thus needs greater governmental aid, especially from the federal government. The inability of the automobile to fulfill all travel demands makes transit a necessity for the survival of large-city downtown areas. For the ideal of a balanced transportation system, transit should be considered as a complement to the automobile, not a competitor. The federal government recognized the need for assisting transit in capital improvement projects with the enactment in 1964 of the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act, but such aid thus far has been far from sufficient to meet the needs. States and local governments also are now providing aid to transit. Transit, however, still needs these two types of financial assistance, particularly by the federal government: (1) greater governmental funding on a guaranteed continuing basis for capital improvements; and (2) governmental aid for operating costs.