Our Failing Infrastructure

The 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure graded the nation’s infrastructure at a D, but did you know that there is lots of information available about local infrastructure? It may sound scary that over a quarter of the nation’s bridges are deficient or that we need hundreds of billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment, but what does that really mean for communities across the country? In other words, what’s it like for you when you walk out the door?

ASCE has compiled detailed factsheets on each of the 50 states - all available online – that detail the conditions of the various infrastructure categories on a local level. Additionally, we have brought together a collection of case studies that examine the ways states and localities are solving infrastructure problems every day. Just click on any of the category factsheets and you’ll find a side bar that lists the case studies for each category.

Something on your mind, got any ideas? If you know of a unique solution to a problem, or want to share some information about your state, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the state pages so we can check it out.

Today the American Society of Civil Engineers released the full findings of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. The report includes a 150-page full color book that describes, in detail, the condition of each of the 15 categories graded. Additionally, each category chapter offers specific policy solutions to improve the poor grades.

Go to http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org to read the full report and watch new videos on the state of the nation’s infrastructure.

ASCE released the initial findings of the Report Card in January to coincide with the congressional debate on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At that time, the Society found that the nation still rates at an overall “D” grade and that it will take $2.2 trillion over five years to bring the condition up to an acceptable level. Also released in January were 5 Key Solutions that will help raise the grades in all categories.

Once you’ve checked out the stories behind all the grades, be sure to let your elected officials know you care about improving the nation’s infrastructure at the Report Card Action Center!   

**P.S. To celebrate the release of the full Report Card, ASCE held a forum at the U.S. Capitol “Raising the Grades: A Dialogue on Solutions”, bringing together some of the top experts on infrastructure across the country. Look out tomorrow for a full recap of this event here and on our website.

For all of you infrastructure lovers out there who are anxiously awaiting the release of the full findings of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure – the wait is almost over. One week from today, ASCE will release the rest of the story behind the D grade we rated the nation’s infrastructure at in January.

While we can’t share too much before the big day, here’s a list of things we’re debuting on March 25:

 

• A full-color, 158-page book that delves into the condition and background on each of the 15 categories we grade.

 

 

• In that book, each infrastructure chapter will feature specific policy recommendations that are designed to help raise the low grades.

 

 

• Case studies for each category of infrastructure that demonstrate how some communities are already taking the steps to implement infrastructure solutions and help raise the grades.

 

 

• A brand new website (same URL http://www.asce.org/reportcard ) that will assist average citizens make the connection between the national problems with infrastructure and what they can do in their own communities. Additionally, the entire book will be available to download for free.

 

Of course, Our Failing Infrastructure and our Facebook group Save America’s Infrastructure will still be around to fill your idle hours and provide you with up to the minute developments on the fight to improve the nation’s infrastructure.

See you all next week!

The U.S. is in undisputed need of an infrastructure facelift. The recently-passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  (ARRA) and President Obama’s promises to upgrade the nation’s failing infrastructure, however, are all encouraging signs that we’re making progress.

As we carry out these grand plans, we need first to sit back and think about what we want our infrastructure to look like and do for us in the coming years. Sure, what we have now got us this far, but what is the next step for future growth and prosperity?

The simplest answer would be through innovation. An opinion piece in Business Week

New SmartGrid technology will be implemented across the U.S. Electric Grid

As an example of new technologies for infrastructure, a feature in today’s Washington Post explores the coming revolution in electricity delivery, a.k.a the SmartGrid. Implementing this system will allow electric companies to monitor the flow of electricity across the grid, supply more energy when it’s most needed, and conserve during non-peak hours. ARRA invested $11 billion in this new technology, and private investment has grown significantly in the last few years, which means Energy was the only category on the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure to raise it’s grade this time.

Now don’t get too excited, the grade only went from a D to a D+, but it’s a start. America’s infrastructure still needs a lot of maintenance to bring what we already have up to a good condition, but it also needs some new thinking. Now is the time to lend the creativity that is bringing us new things like SmartGrid to the rest of the infrastructure. With thinking like that, maybe 2013’s overall grade will be a D+ too.

President Barack Obama addressed employees of the U.S. Department of Transportation this morning to outline the next steps for the transportation portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Citing the D- grade that Roads received on ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, Obama called poor road conditions a hazard to public safety and called repairing the nation’s infrastructure an important goal of the recently-passed economic stimulus.

Obama harkened back to other times in America’s history where infrastructure played an important role, and promised that the efforts today would be no less transformative. He reminded the DOT employees that the work they do is essential to the nation’s economy and safety: needing to rebuild after the Civil War, the U.S. undertook the massive Transcontinental Railroad that linked the two coasts and brought economic growth; when President Dwight D. Eisenhower began the Interstate Highway System, he saw it as essential to our national defense, and yet it has also eased commerce and travel for ordinary citizens ever since; perhaps most importantly, when the U.S. needed to recover from the Great Depression, the New Deal undertook thousands of projects to put people back to work – we still rely on many of those facilities today.

During his talk this morning, President Obama took pains to describe the unprecedented oversight and accountability aspects of the program – all good things, recommended by ASCE – but what really struck me was how he pointed out that all Americans will be able to share in this recovery program. Obama wants us all to remember that as these programs begin to take shape, drivers should realize their improved rides were the work of someone who needed a job and got one.

We may not all be impacted in the same way by the current recession, but we all deal with the headaches caused by poor infrastructure. The infrastructure funds included in the stimulus do not even come close to the funds needed for total improvement – but they are a good start. I’m excited to see how we will “remake the American landscape” – both in terms of our infrastructure and our lasting prosperity.

Read more about Obama’s speech at the U.S. DOT