October 09, 2013

Today, five leading stakeholders in the U.S. construction industry announced the formation of a new policy coalition to promote fair competition in federal transportation infrastructure contracting.  Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Partnership for Infrastructure Project Excellence (PIPE), www.pipepolicy.org, was founded by the Plastic Pipe Institute, Advanced Drainage Systems, Lane Systems, the National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association and Southeast Culvert Inc.

Today, senseless barriers exist to fair and open competition in the procurement of certain materials for federal transportation projects.  In particular, special rules related to the purchase of culvert pipe, an important component of highway construction projects, needlessly increase the cost of federal infrastructure projects.  As a result of these special interest rules enacted as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) legislation in 2012, today, federal highway projects are less likely to utilize more affordable, environmentally preferable alternatives to concrete.

The members of PIPE, and thousands of their employees, are infrastructure construction stakeholders who are negatively impacted by unfair competition for the transportation project contracts.  PIPE believes that achieving the best project outcome depends on open and fair competition, and is working hard to restore needed fairness to our infrastructure contracting process.

According to PIPE Executive Director Alex DelPizzo, “We are very excited to launch this important new coalition and plant the flag for fair competition for federal transportation infrastructure dollars.”  DelPizzo continued, “On behalf of thousands of employees in the flexible pipe industry, as well as the millions of American taxpayers who want their tax dollars spent wisely, we look forward to leading the fight for smart, fair, and sensible federal procurement policy for future highway construction. 

For more information, please contact Executive Director Alex DelPizzo at adp@pipepolicy.org.


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