In October, Louis Berger, a global professional services corporation, announced the appointment of Leif Dormsjo as senior vice president for infrastructure asset management. The former District of Columbia Department of Transportation director, Dormsjo brings to the firm nearly 20 years of experience in the transportation industry. Before joining Louis Berger, the Harvard-educated Dormsjo was associated with such marquee projects as the D.C. Streetcar project and the Purple Line in Maryland. In an interview with Civil + Structural Engineer, he discussed Louis Berger’s growing role in the P3 industry, and the P3 industry in general.
“We want to deepen our involvement on the operations side of the busi- ness,” Dormsjo said. A major P3 the firm is now involved in is the once-troubled SH 130 in central Texas, a 41-mile highway linking Georgetown and San An- tonio. The toll road went bankrupt when revenue did not meet projec- tions, and emerged from Chapter 11 with new ownership, Strategic Value Partners. The firm hired Louis Berger to operate and maintain the roadway. While SH 130 had its problems, it is still representative of what Louis Berger and Dormsjo see on the long-term horizon — a healthy second- ary market in maturing infrastructure assets. As the original investors in P3s — infrastructure and construction companies — cycle out of the assets, new kinds of owners — pension funds and insurance companies — cycle in. “We find that market intriguing,” Dormsjo said. “We see that transition into long-term life cycle management as an opportunity to be helpful.” Here’s how it works. A P3 is built, and the original investors manage the asset through the high-risk period, say for the first seven to 10 years when the reward is also high. When, in Dorsmjo’s words, the asset is “de-risked,” the
Leif Dormsjo Infrastructure asset management, Louis Berger
Louis Berger has been involved with P3s for a while, primarily as an advisor on the front end, providing analytics, design-build, revenue analysis, and traffic forecasts. While the firm will continue to pro- vide those services, Dormsjo’s hire signals an expansion into the P3 universe. The firm will now undertake direct operation of assets and will expand from highways and toll roads into transit, aviation, and maritime.
19
january 2018
csengineermag.com
Made with FlippingBook Annual report