Bulletins
As we have advised you in the past to beware, recently several MITA members have received what appears to be official letters from the USDOT requesting specific bank account information. Although the fax letters are very official looking on USDOT Procurement Office letterhead, we have confirmed with the USDOT’s Office
Lowboy Legislation Close to Final Approval Legislation that MITA has worked on for several months only has one more hurdle to cross before it is signed into law. Senate Bill 582 introduced by Senator Tom Casperson would allow for lowboy trailers to operate legally regardless of transporting equipment. Currently lowboy
As the 2012 construction season ramps up, MITA wants to remind contractors that the contractor (or subcontractor) responsible for the placement of the concrete is ultimately responsible for concrete quality control. A concrete quality control plan may rely on the testing and procedures that are in place from a ready
A long awaited debate on passing a federal transportation reauthorization budget is occurring in both chambers of Congress. This week the U.S. Senate reached an agreement to consider 30 amendments in an effort to pass S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21stCentury Act. In addition, U.S. House
With their February 24, 2012, formal issuance of Bureau of Highway Instructional Memorandum (BOHIM) 2012-03 Processing Contract Modifications, MDOT has put into place internal procedures that will significantly expedite the processing and approval of contract modifications on all MDOT let construction projects. The development and implementation of these procedures was the
As a result of widespread confusion related to DBE information at time of bid submittal in the February lettings, MDOT has suspended the following DBE initiatives for the March 2nd and March 16th lettings. Capacity Targeted Projects The requirement that bidders submit DBE information at the time of bid has been
MITA members have been busy discussing the issue of infrastructure funding with their elected officials, family and friends. With the recent introduction of 30 bills between both the House and the Senate, it is expected that more and more questions will come up during these meetings. To help navigate through
The House Congressional Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday, February 3, 2012, where discussions are anticipated to be held on whether to exempt water projects from state bond caps. The benefit of exempting water projects from the state bond cap would be to help cash-strapped communities
MITA has been informed that MDOT will be revising their restriction on the use of crushed concrete for projects in the March 2nd letting. MDOT plans to issue an addendum for the impacted projects that will revise the current prohibition (use of crushed concrete is prohibited within 500’ of any watercourse)
On Tuesday, January 31, MDOT published a special provision that prohibited the use of crushed concrete within 500 feet of any watercourse. MDOT added the Special Provision for Crushed Concrete Near Water to projects to be let this Friday, February 3, by addendum, and they plan to incorporate it into existing contracts
During last week’s State of the State message Governor Rick Snyder referenced a comprehensive package of bills that would be introduced in the near future to address the inadequate infrastructure needs of Michigan. Through Governor Snyder’s leadership and many months of determined effort by MITA staff and MITA members, a
Since 2007, the state prevailing wage rules pertaining to truck drivers have changed multiple times as the State of Michigan Wage and Hour Division (W&HD) issued new interpretations of the law which progressively made compliance more inclusive. Under the current W&HD interpretation (issued in 2009) only bona fide owner-operators and
