Our New Video: The high price we pay for inadequate infrastructure
July 6th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
As we shared in May, underinvesting in infrastructure comes at a high cost. It costs each family $9 a day. That adds up to $3,400 a year, according to our Failure to Act economic study. Watch the video below to find out more about how inadequate infrastructure costs you. And, more importantly, what we can do about it.Infrastructure Week Events to Check Out
May 12th, 2016 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
There’s a great line up of events happening for Infrastructure Week! See what’s happening near you!Infrastructure Week Calendar of Events
The High Cost of Underinvesting in Infrastructure: $9 a day
May 10th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Today’s release of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Failure to Act: Closing the Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future reveals that inadequate infrastructure is costing every American family $3,400 a year in disposable income.
The economic study, an update to the initial series ASCE released prior to the 2013 Report Card, identifies the 10-year needs across 10 categories of infrastructure is $3.3 trillion, including a $1.4 trillion investment gap.
The $1.4 trillion investment gap comprises:
- $1.1 trillion throughout the surface transportation network including roads, bridges, transit, and commuter rail.
- Electricity infrastructure requires an additional $177 billion.
- The third highest investment gap is $105 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure.
- Airports, including the highly anticipated NextGen technology upgrade, require an added $42 billion.
- America’s inland waterways and ports need an additional $15 billion to close their funding gap.
- $3.9 trillion in GDP, more than the 2013 GDP of Germany
- $7 trillion of business sales
- 2.5 million job losses in the year 2025
- $3,400 in a family’s annual disposable income each year from 2016 to 2025, equal to $9.33 a day.
Infrastructure This Week
October 11th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The government shutdown continues to loom over our nation’s infrastructure, causing uncertainty, hurting key services, and further showing the costs of Congressional intransigence.
Much like the government itself, our infrastructure has to get out of the short-term mindset, and start planning for long-term growth. Only then will we find success.
The good news is businesses and local leaders are starting to feel the costs of under-investment, and are contemplating ways to plan for future growth.
Talk to you next week!
Tags: career development, congress, economics, infrastructure
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ASCE President: Our nation’s infrastructure depends on public and private investment to thrive
August 13th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
On August 5, 2013, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed that argued against the merits of public investment in infrastructure. The following is a response from ASCE President Greg DiLoreto: Our nation’s infrastructure depends on public and private investment to thrive Larry Schweikart and Burton Folsom’s editorial (Obama’s False History of Public Investment, Aug. 6, 2013, page A13) misses a critical point. While entrepreneurs can often drive infrastructure investment, we need both the private and public sectors to play key roles in building and maintaining America’s infrastructure. Our national highway system comprises just 4 percent of all U.S. roads, yet it revolutionized and created entire industries. Today, 40 percent of all highway traffic occurs on this system, 75 percent of heavy truck traffic and 90 percent of tourist traffic. Imagine Amazon or Coca-Cola unable to move goods easily across states. While much of this massive undertaking was planned and funded by the public sector, many private sector firms were hired to execute the work. This critical road system created jobs in the short-term and spurred long-term economic growth. Economic growth necessitates a well-functioning, well-connected infrastructure network. ASCE’s recent economic studies found that if the nation continues to invest at the same meager levels in infrastructure, we will see a drop of $3.1 trillion in GDP by 2020 due to the ripple effect deficient infrastructure has on our nation’s economy. Past generations recognized that infrastructure was essential to interstate commerce and a healthy economy. After World War II, Americans built the nation we know today by investing in their communities. Now that bill is coming due. We must modernize and maintain the system we have to keep America at the forefront in order to continue building a strong economic recovery. Gregory DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S, D.WRE President, American Society of Civil EngineersObama Proposes Plan for Infrastructure Funding
July 30th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
President Obama today gave another in his series of economic speeches at an Amazon distribution center in Tennessee to propose a cut in corporate tax rates in return for a commitment from Republicans to invest more in programs spurring middle-class jobs.
As stewards of our nation’s infrastructure, the ASCE is encouraged by President Obama’s proposal to direct money from a corporate tax overhaul to help fund America’s infrastructure projects. However, while emphasizing the need to reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance on highways, bridges, transit systems, and airports nationwide is an important message to come from the President, the message alone will not fix the nation’s infrastructure problems.
ASCE President, Gregory E. DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S, D.WRE, released the following statement in response to the President Obama’s remarks:
“As stewards of our nation’s infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers applauds President Obama’s proposal to direct money from a corporate tax overhaul to help fund America’s infrastructure projects, with an emphasis on reducing the backlog of deferred maintenance on highways, bridges, transit systems, and airports nationwide. Infrastructure is the foundation of our communities, and without it, our businesses, schools, and our everyday lives suffer.
“The time to act is now. It’s critical that the administration and congressional leaders put forth a clear, actionable road map with long-term funding solutions. Leaders from all parties must come together to invest in America’s future to assure we have a strong foundation for an ever-changing 21st century economy.
“The President has said on more than one occasion that we have an ‘aging infrastructure badly in need of repair.’ Despite this statement, little has been done since the president announced his ‘Fix-It-First’ plan to rebuild America in his State of the Union address earlier this year. Simply put, we must invest in our roads, bridges, ports, and water systems. This will help us build a 21st Century America to compete in an ever-changing global economy.
“In ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s infrastructure across 16 sectors, the nation’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure received a grade of D+. The 2013 Report Card estimates total investment needs at $3.6 trillion by 2020 across all 16 sectors, leaving a funding shortfall of $1.6 trillion based on current funding levels.
“Private investment along with political leadership can help our nation grow and create much needed jobs. First class roads, bridges, and ports will lead to first class jobs, homes, and lives for American families. Yet rebuilding our nation’s roads, bridges, and water systems is not enough. We must have long-term plans for maintenance and repair, sustainable funding mechanisms that assure reliability, and the political leadership to invest in our own communities.”
Can-Do States Who Tackle Infrastructure Are Just What the U.S. Economy Needs
July 24th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. That’s the message some states seem to be sending as federal infrastructure bills like the Water Resources Development Act keep getting sidelined by Congress or only seeing short-term efforts like the MAP-21 Transportation Reauthorization. The Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings has called these states that have decidedly put forward a structure or action plan for infrastructure “Can-Do States” and highlighted these states’ efforts at a recent event. These “Can-Do States” have formed new structures that operate in ways that improve their state’s access to capital or work across departments to streamline and prioritize investments. What are these states doing differently? Start by looking at these models – the government-owned business enterprise model like Colorado’s High Performance Transportation Enterprise , or the offices for public private partnerships like Virginia that work to put together infrastructure financing deals, or initiatives like the NY Works Task Force that are used to streamline and strategically allocate New York’s capital investment dollars. According to a new report by McKinsey, infrastructure investment is one of five big “game changers” that could reboot the U.S. economy to quickly create jobs and deliver a substantial boost to GDP by 2020. They believe that increasing the U.S. annual infrastructure investment by one percentage point of GDP could erase the negative side effects of delayed maintenance, and create up to 1.8 million jobs by 2020. With states already taking the lead on reworking their infrastructure strategies to better select, deliver, and operate like McKinsey’s advising, that 1% of GDP investment could create $600 billion annually by 2030. Infrastructure may be just what every state and the whole U.S. economy needs to really grow again. What could your state do to get more infrastructure investment done with the same budget?Tags: career development, congress, economics, infrastructure, transportation
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The Panama Canal Expansion and Commerce
April 10th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing this afternoon on the expansion of the Panama Canal and the effects that the expansion will have on freight movement in the United States. The issue is one that ASCE has been discussing in depth over the past few months, because the economic impacts could be severe. During the hearing Chairman Jay Rockefeller strongly stated that the United States has “grown accustomed to an ad-hoc approach to maintaining our surface transportation network”. He went on further to state that “this lack of planning and shortsighted thinking doesn’t reflect what our country truly needs: A strategic, long-term vision for rebuilding our transportation system.” Rockefeller finished his opening remarks declaring that without a vision and the ability to make tough choices, that the U.S. will end up burdened with “inadequate infrastructure” as the rest of the world continues investing. With the scheduled expansion of the Panama Canal by 2015, the average size of container ships is likely to increase significantly, affecting the operations at most of the major U.S. ports that handle containerized cargo and requiring both sectors to modernize. Needed investment in marine ports includes harbor and channel dredging, while inland waterways require new or rehabilitated lock and dam facilities. To remain competitive on a global scale, U.S. marine ports and inland waterways will require investment in the coming decades beyond the $14.4 billion currently expected. ASCE reports that with an additional investment of $15.8 billion between now and 2020, the U.S. can eliminate this drag on economic growth and protect:- $270 billion in U.S. exports
- $697 billion in GDP
- 738,000 jobs in 2020
- $872 billion in personal income, or $770 per year for households
House and Senate Pass Budget Resolutions for 2014
April 2nd, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Capitol (Photo credit: rpongsaj)
Sections and Branches Lead the Way on the 2013 Report Card
March 29th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
This March, ASCE released the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure in a brand new format as a tablet and smart phone app during the annual Congressional Fly-In. ASCE members from all 50 states participated in taking the infrastructure message to Capitol Hill and shared the Report Card with their Members of Congress. Members have also been actively continuing to share the Report Card in their local areas by:- Assisting as spokespeople with TV and newspaper interviews like KARE in Minnesota and KIRO in Seattle
- Updating their State Report Cards in 19 states so that local information is available for policymakers and the public
- Working with ASCE to write op-eds and letters to the editor about local or state infrastructure like in the Tennessean and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Updating their websites to include links to the Report Card website and their State and Regional Report Cards
- At your next meeting, discuss how your Section can use the Report Card to highlight pressing issues in your state or region, and let us know how we can help. The ASCE team who puts together the Report Card is available to answer your questions and work with you on using the message to start conversations at the state and local level so email us at reportcard@asce.org.
- Ask your Board to share the Report Card with their professional networks like LinkedIn and social networks like Facebook with a short story about the infrastructure problems they tackle every day in their jobs.
- Hold an infrastructure solutions event with other infrastructure stakeholders in your area or have a Section program featuring one of the Report Card Success Story winners from your area; tips and best practices for these events are available on the Report Card Outreach Toolkit.
Tags: congress, economics, infrastructure report card
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