Louisiana

Louisiana has 56 significant public airports that contribute 56,581 jobs, $1.47 billion in household earnings and $5.86 billion in business revenues to the economy. The airports’ best grades were in capacity and adequacy of the runway system, pavement condition, resilience and navigational aids/allweather access. Areas that could use improvement include funding and terminals and facilities. ASCE recommends that Louisiana investigate additional funding sources to repair and maintain facilities and that the state Department of Transportation and Development update its eight-year-old Louisiana Aviation System Plan.

Louisiana has more than 15.4 million square feet of bridge deck (fourth highest in the country), yet it ranks in the bottom third of federal funding for bridge maintenance, repair and replacement. Federal and state transportation officials have classified almost 29 percent of Louisiana’s 13,361 bridges as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The number of deficient bridges in Louisiana is more than the total number of bridges in 10 other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and the situation is certain to worsen in the next several years as thousands of Louisiana bridges approach the end of their design lives. Louisiana needs substantial increases in revenue to fund improvements to its deteriorating bridge infrastructure.

It may come as a surprise to people that Louisiana has 555 dams, most of which are privately owned. Many owners of privately owned dams do not have resources to adequately maintain and repair those dams. Fortunately, most of the privately owned dams are categorized as having a low hazard potential.

Although Louisiana has an abundance of water for its domestic, industrial and agricultural needs, over-pumping and salt water intrusion are depleting ground water supplies. The aging and deteriorating water supply and treatment and distribution systems are not capable of providing potable water for future, and in some cases, current demands. Better planning and more funding are key elements to providingLouisiana with a safe supply of drinking water in the future.

In the six years since Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, no component of the state’s infrastructure has been more scrutinized than its levee system, which experienced a massive failure in the New Orleans area in 2005. Billions of dollars have been spent to rebuild the levee system in the greater New Orleans area to new standards, but some issues remain. The design level of protection for the levees, as authorized by Congress, is based on the 100 year storm event. Our report card grade for the levees is based on that standard. If a higher level of protection, such as a 500 year or 1000 year storm event, had been used for grading the levees, a lower grade would have resulted as significant “residual risks” remain for storms that exceed the current “100 year” level of protection in this important urban area with National Significance. In addition, local funds are not available and the Federal Government has not dedicated any resources to maintain the new system, which will deteriorate over time if not regularly monitored and maintained. And, many vulnerable, important areas in south Louisiana are not part of the new system and have poorly engineered systems that will not hold up to a tropical storm, much less a Category 3 hurricane. The successful performance of the vast riverine flood protection system in our state during the historic Mississippi River flood of 2011 helps to support the overall grade received by our levee systems.

Studies show that one in seven jobs in the State of Louisiana is waterways dependent. Louisiana ports appear to be treading water and competing well for their existing business, but they are not in a position to grow and create facilities for future business. The ports’ ability to compete for and handle future business is threatened by a lack of funding for future capital needs. This is particularly important with regard to the future expansion of the Panama Canal and Louisiana ports’ ability to compete nationally or regionally for business growth resulting from the widening.

Louisiana’s road system is congested, in poor condition and inadequate to meet the needs of a state competing to provide economic opportunities for businesses and citizens in the 21st Century. Nearly every deficiency noted in the road system is directly attributable to an inadequate and outdated funding model that forces transportation professionals to defer capacity, safety and maintenance projects. Although recent infusions of capital, through state sales tax surpluses and federal stimulus programs, have improved the road system, Louisiana lacks a long-term funding plan that addresses current and future needs. Unless the federal and state branches of government provide for a significant, long-term increase in funding for roads, the current model practically guarantees that congestion, safety, and road conditions in Louisiana will only get worse over the next several years.

Louisiana’s landfills are well-engineered facilities that are located, designed, operated and monitored to comply with regulations and to protect the environment. Efforts to protect our environment could be enhanced by a number of initiatives, including more public outreach and education on reducing the amount and toxicity of generated waste, wider utilization of sustainable practices in solid waste management, more community-based household hazardous waste collection programs and greater participation in residential and commercial recycling programs.

Louisiana has aging wastewater treatment and collection systems that pose dangers to our environment. Wastewater effluent that does not meet state and federal requirements can destroy the delicate ecosystem that helps makes Louisiana a unique place. In 2004, Louisiana had a $4.2 billion need for wastewater-related infrastructure improvement needs. The 2008 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey shows that number grew to $4.9 billion, a 16.6% increase in needs. Unless significant funding resources are dedicated to the treatment of wastewater in Louisiana, the need will surely grow, as will the likelihood that our environment will suffer irreparable harm