Alabama’s Infrastructure Grades Are In
December 10th, 2015 | By: Becky Moylan
The inaugural Report Card for Alabama’s Infrastructure, released today, reveals that Alabama’s aging infrastructure needs attention, especially its dams. As the only state without a dam safety program, Alabama does not have a complete inventory of all the dams in the state. Without this, Alabama is unaware of its dam safety risk. At the last survey in the 1980s, 147 high hazard dams were found and do not have Emergency Action Plans. Because of the unknowns surrounding Alabama’s dams, the Report Card graded it an “Incomplete,” signified by a question mark to demonstrate the uncertainty caused by of a lack of inventory and dam safety program.
With a cumulative grade point average of “C-,”Alabama’s infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest link. All of the highest grades are linked to the lowest grades in the report, as infrastructure works as a system. Plans and funding to address the state’s aging infrastructure assets fall significantly short of needs. Of note:
- Only an estimated 2% of all known dams in Alabama are being inspected for safety, maintained, and have emergency action plans in place for use in the case of an incident or failure. Without a dam safety program, communities that live under dams may not be aware of their risk, and emergency action plans for high hazard dams may not be in place to mitigate property damage and save lives in the case of a breach or failure.
- The majority of the state’s drinking water infrastructure was installed from the 1960s to the 1980s and operating beyond their useful design life.
- 1 in 3 wastewater utility providers statewide report having inadequate rate structures to cover normal operating expenses.
- Septic systems are commonly used in more rural parts of Alabama; 25% of the estimated 850,000 on-site septic systems are in failing or failed condition and could be polluting the community’s groundwater.
- Alabama has 1,388 structurally deficient bridges, ranking 15th most in the country, with many of these being bridges funded and maintained locally.
- Nearly 50% of interstate and state highways are in fair, poor, or very poor condition. Driving on rough and congested roads costs the average Alabama driver at least $300 a year in extra vehicle repairs.
- Much of the inland waterway lock and dam infrastructure within the state is breaking down and has passed the 50 year design service life or is approaching it. As an example, Coffeeville Lock and Dam has a throughput of 10 million tons in spite of vessel delay rates and durations in excess of 90% and 150 hours.
- Finish the dams inventory and pass legislation to create a dam safety program, establish emergency action plans, and use periodic safety inspections to keep communities safe.
- Prioritize routine maintenance to save money and prevent emergency repairs across all infrastructure types.
- Increase replacement of structurally deficient bridges, which are mostly owned and operated locally.
- Create state funding strategies that recognize the importance of functional drinking water, stormwater, and sewer infrastructure to support the economic development of Alabama.
New York Infrastructure Receives C- Report Card
September 29th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
In the inaugural 2015 Report Card for New York’s Infrastructure released today, the state received an overall grade of “C-” from the New York Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Assessing nine categories, the report finds that the state’s roads and bridges are among the categories most in need of repair, receiving grades of “D-” and “D+” respectively because of their state of deterioration and lack of adequate funding to improve conditions. In addition, wastewater received a low grade of “D.” The category of parks and solid waste both earned the highest grade of “B-.”
New York’s infrastructure faces several challenges and, in its current condition, the infrastructure system is a drag on the state’s economy. These challenges are highlighted in the Report Card:
- The three airports servicing New York City account for a majority of the nation’s airport delays. By the year 2030, JFK is expected to exceed its current traveler capacity by 30%, and ten other commercial service airports in New York will also exceed 60% of the current capacities.
- Of New York’s more than 17,000 bridges, the majority were built in the 20th century, with over 50% of bridges over 75 years old. Nationally, the average age of a bridge is 42 years.
- The average New York City area commuter, which accounts for half the state’s population, wastes 53 hours per year sitting in traffic.
- Poor road conditions and traffic congestion cost motorists a total of $6.3 billion statewide—an average of $477 per Syracuse motorists.
- The State of New York is only spending 20% of what is needed to modernize the wastewater system.
- One in every four of New York’s wastewater facilities are operating beyond their 30-year useful life expectancy.
- Create a prioritization program to assess the state’s transportation infrastructure needs starting from existing bridge asset management programs and based on accepted standards.
- Develop more consistent funding sources of funding for dams and support the creation of dam rehabilitation funding legislation at the federal and state levels for public and private owners of high hazard and intermediate hazard dams.
- As infrastructure is being rebuilt, make it more resilient and sustainable.
View the full report here.
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 145,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, graded America’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure at a D+. The Report Card app for Apple and Android devices includes videos, interactive maps and info-graphics that tell the story behind the grades, as well as key facts for all 50 states.New Game Changers Report Identifies Top Trends Shaping Infrastructure
July 23rd, 2015 | By: Becky Moylan
The challenges our infrastructure faces are chronicled frequently on this blog and in the media. The Highway Trust Fund heading toward insolvency (again). Water main breaks occurring every two minutes. Congested roadways causing us each to lose time and waste gas.
But that’s only half the story. Today, we released our new Infrastructure #GameChangers report, which identifies the top trends in energy, freight, transportation and water that are transforming the way infrastructure is designed, planned, and built.
The communities that chose to make the investment across the country are reaping the benefits, by preparing for tomorrow’s challenges and positioning themselves for economic growth.
Here are some of the trends explored in the report:
Transportation
- Ridesharing and transit apps
- Robotic inspections
- Bus rapid transit
- Smart parking systems
- Accelerated bridge construction
- LiDAR and drone technology
- Integrating renewables
- Preparing for blackouts with resilience
- Extracting energy from waste
- Recycled and reclaimed water
- Desalinated water
- Public-private partnerships for inland waterways
- Preparing for the Panama Canal expansion
Infrastructure That’s Changing the Game
July 14th, 2015 | By: Becky Moylan
Our nation’s aging infrastructure is facing big challenges. But congested roadways and overflowing sewers are only half the story.
That’s why the American Society of Civil Engineers is releasing a new report about the innovative ways communities across the country are modernizing infrastructure. Infrastructure Game Changers highlights trends in energy, freight, transportation and water infrastructure that are changing the way we design, plan, and build projects.
The web-based report will be released on Thursday, July 23rd. Stay tuned so that you can be among the first to check it out, share it on social media using #GameChangers, and even submit your own game changing infrastructure trend.
EPA Finalizes WOTUS Rule
June 4th, 2015 | By: Whitford Remer
Last week the Obama Administration released a final rule setting new bounds on the reach of federal water jurisdiction. The “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule is more than 20 years in the making. Uncertainty stemming from three Supreme Court decisions left the two primary agencies responsible for implementing the rule—the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corp of Engineers—with no choice but to write new guidance on when the federal government could require a permit for projects that impact water they may eventually reach traditional jurisdictional waters. After years of reviewing and developing science to support the underlying rule the two agencies released a draft for public comment in April of 2014. Following significant backlash against the rule, the agencies twice extended the public comment period, eventually receiving more than one million public comments. ASCE held a special webinar on the proposed rule with top administration officials; one of nearly 300 stakeholder meetings the agencies undertook. ASCE submitted public comments urging key changes to the rule with input from technical committees. After nine months of reviewing comments and rewriting the rule, EPA and the Corps published a final rule last week.How the New Rule Stacks Up
EPA and the Corps received a lot of feedback (and criticism) on the draft rule. ASCE was among the commenters, striving to provide constructive feedback that would lead to a clearer rule for engineers working on water resources projects. The final rule addresses eight of the nine areas ASCE made recommendations, making significant and substantive changes urged by ASCE and other stakeholder groups. Here are a few of the changes:- The draft rule regulates all tributaries “without qualification,” in the agencies own words. ASCE urged a more refined definition of tributary that provides clarity on descriptive characteristics of upstream tributary features. The new rule underscores that jurisdictional water must demonstrate “volume, frequency, and duration of flow sufficient to create” a bed, bank and ordinary high water mark. References to flow were previously not included in the draft rule.
- Under the draft rule “adjacent” waters were defined as those “bordering, contiguous or neighboring” traditional navigable waters. ASCE and other stakeholders expressed concern with the potentially broad definition of neighboring. The new rule sets bright-line rules on when an adjacent body of water is considered neighboring. The final rule provides that neighboring waters are those that are:
- Within 100 feet of the ordinary high water mark
- Located in the 100-year floodplain and not more than 1,500 feet from the ordinary high water mark
- Located within 1,500 feet of the high tide line
- Riparian Areas and Floodplains. The final rule spends multiple page recognizing concerns comments expressed over the terminology associated with riparian areas and floodplains. To clarify the final rule accepts the recommendation of ASCE to adopt the standard FEMA 100 year flood plain map widely used and recognized in the civil engineering practice.
- ASCE expressed concern with the term “uplands” used in the draft rule when referring to construction of ditches. The final rule eliminates the term “uplands.”
- Stormwater control features. Many ASCE members expressed concern that the new rule would bring under jurisdiction stormwater control features, such as municipal separate storm systems or green infrastructure features. The rule addresses at length the concern ASCE raised with regard to stormwater control features such retention ponds, gutters and rain gardens. The final rule specifically excludes “stormwater control features constructed to convey, treat or store stormwater that are created in dry land.” ASCE will continue to urge that EPA and the Corps continue to encourage the use green infrastructure.
Arizona’s Growth Makes Infrastructure a Smart Investment
May 14th, 2015 | By: Infrastructure Report Card
Arizona has been growing, and it’s going to keep growing. Today the state has about 6.6 million people, but Arizona’s population by 2035 could be as high as 10.5 million people which is a lot more people who will be using the water infrastructure and traveling on the same roads. With such explosive growth, comes opportunities and challenges to keep up. The opportunities – new businesses arriving, increased productivity, and new jobs for workers – are there, but so are the challenges – congestion, having to expand existing infrastructure, and keeping up with maintenance for new and old assets. Arizona’s benefited from keeping ahead of it’s growth challenges in the past by adding new aviation facilities, growing the interstate network, and adding transit options that have outperformed their ridership estimates. Look at what has happened in just Maricopa county as the greater Phoenix area has grown:
Investing in infrastructure has been well-timed and helped ease the growing pains of the state, especially in the Phoenix, but what about the future? To review the condition and needs of the state’s infrastructure both now and for the future, ASCE released the 2015 Report Card for Arizona’s Infrastructure on Wednesday as part of national Infrastructure Week. The Report Card assessed nine categories, giving the state an overall grade of “C.” While faring better than the nation’s infrastructure as a whole, the report reveals that the state’s infrastructure needs attention both for today and the future to keep up with growth. Here is a short video that explains the challenges facing Arizona’s infrastructure:
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The state anticipates a significant population increase in the coming decades, so maintaining and modernizing infrastructure will be crucial to meet the needs of Arizona’s communities in the future. The Report Card offers five key solutions to raise the grades and prepare Arizona for the future:
- We need infrastructure every day so we have to keep it working with good maintenance.
- Investing in infrastructure has allowed Arizona to grow, and investing in smart projects will keep it growing.
- Every community’s leaders should order an infrastructure health check-up.
- Borrowing from infrastructure funds just means you’ll pay more tomorrow.
- Planning for Arizona’s future starts today with sustainable choices, innovative investments, and resilience.
Tags: Arizona, growth, infrastructure, invest, roads, smart, water
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2015 Report Card for Iowa’s Infrastructure Arrives Next Tuesday
February 19th, 2015 | By: Infrastructure Report Card
The Iowa Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will release the inaugural 2015 Report Card for Iowa’s Infrastructure on Tuesday, February 24. The report includes evaluations of Iowa aviation, rail, inland waterways, roads, bridges, dams, levees, drinking water, wastewater, electrical energy, and solid waste.News conference on release of the 2015 Report Card for Iowa’s Infrastructure
WHO: American Society of Civil Engineers – Iowa Section
Speakers:
- Joe Spradling, P.E., president, Iowa Section ASCE
- Aaron Granquist, P.E., author and member, Report Card Committee
- Director Debi Durham, Iowa Economic Development Authority
WHEN: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 10:30 am
WHERE: Wallace Building Auditorium, 502 E 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa
Tags: bridges, economy, infrastructure, Iowa, report card, roads, transportation, water
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Obama Budget Goes Big on Infrastructure
February 2nd, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Photo of the cover of President Obama’s FY16 Budget; photo credit: Twitter image via Jonathan Weisman, The New York Times economic policy reporter
Tags: energy, highway trust fund, infrastructure, transportation, water
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Virginia's Infrastructure Struggle for Status Quo
January 23rd, 2015 | By: Infrastructure Report Card
With a state that’s growing as fast as Virginia, you’re bound to have growing pains, but none are as striking or obvious as the traffic gridlock across the state. So, would you be surprised that the Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gave roads a D grade in their new 2015 Report Card for Virginia’s Infrastructure
? While some big steps were taken by the legislature in 2013 to bring renewed funding to transportation, may end up only keeping the status quo of transportation troubles across the state whether by car or transit. Another growing pain issue for Virginia is there are a lot of dams in the state (1,789 to be exact) and the number of people that now live behind old dams has increased with the growth of the state. The majority of dams were constructed between 1950 and 1975, making the average age more than 50 years old. With an increasing population, more houses and businesses are now below dams which means there’s more risk for damage and lives being lost if there was a failure. The good news is that Virginia has made a lot of progress in identifying and educating owners on how to fix dams that are considered high-hazard, but the bad news is that 141 of these high-hazard dams do not meet current dam safety standards, resulting in a grade of C for Virginia’s dams. Growth is also affecting schools as localities try to keep up with growing schools in some areas and older school maintenance in localities that seem to be losing students and residents.
Not only is Virginia growing, but its infrastructure is also starting to show its age with basic services like water, wastewater, and stormwater representing the old infrastructure bones of the cities. Virginia’s 2,830 public water systems providing drinking water to more than 7 million Virginians, and the Report Card found that many of these systems are 70 years or older and require significant asset renewal in the immediate future. The bad news is that funding is slim – from 2000 to 2012, the state only saw $200 million in Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which is less than 10% of the commonwealth’s total investment needs. Wastewater needs have jumped 45%, and best estimates show $1 billion is needed to control overflows that pollute local waters. Also, stormwater systems are equally old, and surveys show about one-third of the infrastructure is older than 50 years and much of the remainder was built 25 to 50 years ago. While every bit of funding helps, the reality is Virginia’s water systems are only getting older each day and each dollar available is being split between trying to fix yesterday’s problems and today’s.
Growth and age are like a one-two punch to Virginia’s infrastructure causing a real struggle to maintain an acceptable level of infrastructure service for the state. Virginia’s C- infrastructure shows the Commonwealth is barely maintaining the status quo, and without significant change, it will be a struggle to maintain even the current gridlock of roads and frequent water pipe breaks without new solutions. In the Report Card, they give 3 solutions to raise Virginia’s grades:
1. Increase Leadership in Infrastructure Renewal: Virginia’s infrastructure is the responsibility of all our leaders. We need bold leadership and a vision for how strategic infrastructure investment can improve the current status quo.
2. Promote Sustainability and Resilience: Today’s infrastructure must meet the state’s needs in the best and worst of times, and also protect and improve the environment and our quality of life.
3. Develop Comprehensive Strategies: Virginia should prioritize and execute infrastructure strategies that put our investments where they are needed most, according to well-conceived plans that focus on comprehensive solutions that provide a good return on investment.
The Virginia legislature is just getting started, and there is no better time for them to take a second look at the infrastructure they are responsible for than now with a fresh update from the civil engineers who work on the state’s infrastructure every day.
Tags: dams, infrastructure, resilience, schools, stormwater, sustainability, Virginia, wastewater, water
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This Week in Infrastructure: The Cascading Effect of Aging Infrastructure
December 19th, 2014 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
Photo credit: SnaPsi Сталкер
Tags: dams, highway trust fund, infrastructure, infrastructure report card, state report cards, water, water infrastructure
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