Murray Rowden | Source | Managing Director for the Americas & Global Head of Infrastructure at Turner...

Of the many things that governments at all different levels in the United States struggle to find consensus on, one subject that perennially finds high levels of support across the political and geographic spectrum is investing in infrastructure. We should formalize a national infrastructure plan, pick ‘shovel worthy’ not ‘shovel ready’ projects, boost public-private partnerships, leverage the stimulus to replenish and grow the skilled labor force, and meet the social and cultural moment through investments in local, small, minority and women-based enterprise contractors.

It’s encouraging to see the new construction numbers, with spending on government construction projects increasing after generally falling behind for months. However, the infrastructure sector still needs additional support after almost a year of revenue deterioration.

The wind energy market continues to move forward with policies promoting offshore wind as one of the next major opportunities for long-term industrial development. While opportunity exists, several challenges still need to be addressed and overcome including environmental and fishery impacts, grid connection and capacity, and federal permitting processes. In addition, the Jones Act, which regulates coastal shipping, demands that large construction and installation vessels operating out of U.S. ports will have to meet certain U.S. crewing and ownership requirements, effectively excluding European shipping assets. While issues like this will impact the ability to replicate European operating models, it does also open up the opportunity for innovative installation strategies.