Our Failing Infrastructure

For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to dig into the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure too far beyond the grades and the key facts and figures, a great way to familiarize yourself with the ways we can make significant improvements to the nation’s infrastructure is through the Raising the Grades Case Studies offered for each category. The case studies feature communities all over the country who have solved infrastructure problems in unique and outstanding ways.

So outstanding are some of these examples, that ASCE recently named one of them, the Orange County, California Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System as its top award-winner for 2009. The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA) goes each year to the project that best employed creative and effective solutions to infrastructure challenges. Faced with severe water shortages in Southern California, the GWR treats wastewater through an advanced purification process and then returns it to the naturally occurring groundwater system – at a higher quality standard than that of drinking water. The GWR offers a sustainable solution to meeting long-term water needs in a traditionally drought-plagued region.

Before the GWR designers’ engineering peers elected it to receive the OCEA award, however, the system had already been featured as a Raising the Grades Case Study in the 2009 Report Card. The GWR meets many of the goals set by the Report Card’s 5 Key Solutions including sustainability and long-term planning. The Orange County GWR helps prove the point that with creative thinking, the problems we face are really solvable.

The Report Card also features case studies in other categories that range from simple safety modifications that have drastically reduced highway fatalities to community food waste recycling that that provides residents with environmentally friendly fertilizer, and everything in between. So next time you have a few minutes, check out the Report Card’s Raising the Grades Case Studies – and you might find out a solution to one of your problems.

 Click here to find ASCE’s Water Infrastructure video that features the Orange County GWR    

This blog generally explores the ways in which increased government funding for infrastructure improvement, expansion, and renewal. But I don’t believe that the answer is necessarily all tied up in just bricks and mortar – we can’t forget the importance of the little gray cells either. I’m talking of course about innovation, a.ka. Research and Development/R&D, and the need to make sure it gets the funding it needs to start dreaming up the solutions of tomorrow.

We know will be forced to deal with challenges in the future that we don’t today – like what will a transportation system not based on fossil fuels look like, or how do we supply enough water for future generations? All tough questions that researchers are trying to answer at labs and universities across the country. While federal dollars support important institutions where research is carried out, such as the National Science Foundation, the National Academies, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology, it is still not enough to keep pace with the growing need.

There is some hope that things are changing and that the government is interested in ramping up efforts to strengthen federal research programs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) invested billions of dollars in R&D efforts in many different sectors. Additionally, this week the House is expected to vote on a bill sponsored by Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), the  National Water Research and Development Initiative Act (H.R. 1145)  that would coordinate national research and development efforts on water and work to ensure adequate water supplies in the future. Click here for more information on ARRA investments.

Many of the problems facing infrastructure today can be fixed just by putting shovels in the ground, but we need to continue the trend of finding new and innovative solutions to both today and tomorrow’s problems. As the publisher of dozens of academic journals, books, and textbooks , ASCE is firmly committed to advancing the profession of civil engineering and encouraging life-long learning. With increased federal R&D investment, we can make it happen!

Let’s face it, there are some “show-stopper” categories on the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure . You’ve got your Roads, your Bridges, your Wastewater, that everyone wants to talk about, and they are important, but what about the other categories? They’re just as important, and in just as bad a shape, as the rest.

Earning just a D grade on the 2009 Report Card, Hazardous Waste grades the condition of the nations Brownfields and Superfund sites. Across the country, there are hundreds of thousands of contaminated, disused, or abandoned sites that once contained things like industrial plants or landfills and are now in need of remediation. Not only would cleaning up these sites help the environment, they have the ability to create much-needed economic activity.

As many of these sites are in urban areas, the nation’s mayors have long been leaders in educating the public (and at times the federal government) about the economic benefits of redeveloping brownfields. The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 2008 annual report on brownfields found that cities that invested in redevelopment realized a total of $408 million more in tax revenues and 191,338 new jobs were created as a result. Those figures were drawn from a survey of only 150 cities, just think of the possibilities if every city worked toward redeveloping its abandoned and disused areas.  

Despite the benefits of site remediation, the problem seems to be growing. Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the addition of nine sites to the National Priorities List – a list of sites so badly contaminated that they qualify for remediation funding under the federal Superfund program – and identified 13 more that could be added later. There are about 1200 sites on this list, and in 2008, the EPA only completed remediation on 28. Previously, there were special taxes levied on likely polluters, but they expired in 1995. Superfund taxes have not been reinstated and Congress has yet to create a dedicated funding source. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested $700 million in Superfund and Brownfields, but it’s a long way to go to cover the nearly $77 billion needed over five years to keep on schedule.

All around us, contaminated and abandoned sites sit waiting for the work to be done that will make them safe and economically viable. If we want to build infrastructure that will provide lasting benefits for years to come, there’s no better way to do it than by cleaning up the nation’s waste sites.

Chances are they have, but they need to hear about it from more people. We at ASCE have been busily getting the word out here on Capitol Hill. And while I like to think we do a great job, the endorsement of a constituent is always the most effective way to make sure a legislator supports an issue. This is where you, the blog reader and constituent of your local Congressman/Senator/State Assembly Member/Alderman – you name it, comes in. In order to spread the word about the need to save America’s infrastructure, we need you to let your elected officials know you care and want them to do something about it.

As it happens, Congress just left Washington for a two week Spring District Work Period.  Many Representatives and Senators will be spending some quality time with constituents back home.  Take advantage of these opportunities to visit with your lawmakers and share information about the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure without making a trip to Washington, D.C. 

Tips to get you started:

-           Check local media and/or your elected officials’ websites for Town Hall Meetings, local appearances and office hours - these are great opportunities to meet lawmakers in a casual setting and pose a few questions to start a dialog.

-           Gather a small group of fellow ASCE members or just your neighbors who care about infrastructure to request a meeting. Click here for more information or contact ASCE government relations for assistance at govwash@asce.org or 202-789-7850.

-                      For more tips and information, visit ASCE’s website.

Don’t forget your state and local officials! Now’s a great time to visit your federal representatives, but your state and local representatives also have a great deal of influence over infrastructure decisions, so make sure they know about the Report Card as well. Most likely, they are accessible to you more times out of the year, so try catching up with them in a few weeks after you’ve contacted your U.S. Congressman or Senator. You can find out state and local officials’ contact information through ASCE’s Click and Connect System.

Don’t have time to meet in person? Go to ASCE’s Report Card Action Center and send an email message in just a few seconds!