leaders | 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

The Best Thing About Next Week? It's Infrastructure Week

Indeed, May 12 to 16th is officially Infrastructure Week. It’s a week built for talking about trains, planes, and automobiles and all the ways they get from point A to point B. If you’re in or around D.C., Infrastructure Week is already packed with events to collaborate and learn from industry leaders, and, of course, to raise the question – what’s next for infrastructure in the U.S.? If you’re elsewhere, check out the webinars and livestreamed events and feel free to join the Twitter traffic with #RebuildRenew. Yes, some might say it’s a bit wonky, but most people haven’t taken ten seconds to imagine their life without infrastructure. So, in honor of Infrastructure Week, let’s consider our lives if we erased the seamless, connected, and capable infrastructure systems we take advantage of every day:

If there was no road or transit, you’d be walking almost everywhere…. Yes, you…walking….everywhere.
If there were no pipes, you’d be trekking your water bucket to the nearest well or river. The “watering hole” would no longer be your local sports bar.
If there wasn’t electricity, let’s just say 99% of American entertainment vanishes, and please don’t mention the cringe-worthy threat of a summer without air conditioning.
If there weren’t airports, that international vacation you’ve been planning all year is going to take all your vacation days just to get there.

It wouldn’t hurt us to take a big step back and remind ourselves how infrastructure makes our lives possible. We even have an infographic here at ASCE that does just that. Wherever you are next week, we hope you’ll take a second to share on our Facebook page how the infrastructure in your community is working for you, or could use some TLC. Where to Find Us During Infrastructure Week Want to know more about Infrastructure Week 2014? Find out more here. We’re tweeting up an infrastructure storm @ascegovrel and following the conversation with #RebuildRenew Want to keep up to speed on infrastructure issues? Sign up here to get updates.