In late May, the St. Louis Arch gateway project faded in the rearview mirror of our 1949 Hudson. For ENR’s “Low & Slow Across America’s Infrastructure” road-trippers, there were even more critical infrastructure projects ahead, from a $69 million U.S. 69 Missouri River Bridge, which provides a vital link to a huge industrial park in Kansas, to a $1.8-billion expansion of Salt Lake City airport. Large or not, these crucial community projects are all fueled by creative funding solutions and delivery methods.
Lon Schrader, director of public works for Abilene, Kan., oversees a small construction budget of $400,000. Somehow, he finds ways to raise millions of dollars for critical public-works projects for President Eisenhower’s fabled boyhood hometown.