by T.A. DeFeo
The Georgia Department of Transportation said it awarded 22 projects totaling $162 million in February.
The agency awarded 20 of the projects on March 3. Later in the month, it awarded another two projects originally deferred during February.
Nearly half of the funding (49 percent) went to 13 resurfacing projects, including $25 million for C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. to resurface more than 21.2 miles of Interstate 75 from south of U.S. Highway 411 in Bartow County to south of Dew Pond Road in Gordon County.
Two reconstruction projects represented (42 percent or $54 million) of the funds awarded.
Taxpayers fund Screven County Agricultural Center improvements
The amended fiscal 2023 budget includes $400,000 for Screven County Agricultural Center upgrades.
The funding is funneled via the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The agency helps preserve historic sites across Georgia.
“Agriculture is the backbone of Screven County’s economy, and this center has been at the heart of many agriculture events that bring our community together and highlight the vital role that agriculture plays in our area,” state House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said in an announcement. “Our agricultural education programs teach young learners how to carry on the tradition of farming and ranching, but our agriculture barn needs major upgrades to continue this important work for our citizens.”
FAA hands Georgia Tech $1.45 million
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded Georgia Tech more than $1.4 million for noise reduction initiatives.
It awarded the school $300,000 to examine “the potential noise reduction benefits of an over-wing jet engine design concept” and $300,000 to evaluate noise exposure from commercial and private Unmanned Aircraft Systems vehicles or drones. The feds also gave the school $850,000 to develop improved supersonic aircraft noise prediction approaches.
The money is part of $19 million in tax money the agency handed out to 14 universities nationwide as part of the Aviation Sustainability Center.
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T.A. DeFeo is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Georgia Tech” by Georgia Tech.
