America's Crumbling Infrastructure

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 1999 by Daniel S. Turner

It will take more than a trillion dollars to upgrade roads, bridges, mass transit, airports, schools, dams, water purity, and waste disposal facilities in the next century.

School Buildings literally are crumbling; more than half of U.S. roadways are in substandard condition; airports will face gridlock by 2004; and tens of thousands of people become ill each year from contaminated drinking water. Accordingly, it is fair to say the nation's infrastructure is in pretty bad shape. Without substantial help, the situation is not going to get any better.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has released a Report Card for America's Infrastructure, assigning letter grades for the nation's public infrastructure and environment. The ASCE gave the U.S. an average grade of "D," and said it will require more than one trillion dollars and a new national public-private partnership to fix it. The grades were determined by a panel of civil engineering experts who evaluated each category on the basis of condition and performance, capacity, and funding. The worst went to schools, which received an "F." The best grade was given to mass transit, which was rated a "C." Hazardous waste and roads got a "D-"; drinking water and dams a "D"; wastewater a "D "; and bridges, solid waste, and aviation a "C-." By comparison, when the National Council on Public Works Improvement graded the condition of America's infrastructure in 1988, the overall rating was "C."

The nation's public works are public assets. All Americans have a stake in their upkeep and operation, and share in the expense of construction and maintenance. Infrastructure often is paid for through tolls, utility bills, special taxes on gasoline and airline tickets, or other user fees. Since everyone depends on a strong infrastructure, a portion of the cost to maintain it comes from general tax revenues. While some needs are being funded already through Federal, state, and local programs and user fees, the current poor condition of the infrastructure indicates that investment levels are clearly inadequate.

Through the years, the Federal government has continued to shift the financial burden for maintaining the infrastructure to the states. However, voters have been reluctant to support new taxes or bond issues to build desperately needed community schools or water treatment plants.

While many infrastructure problems stem from limited funding at all levels of government, several other factors are involved. As a society, the nation continues merely to patch up outdated and fragmented transportation systems instead of investing in innovative technologies, establishing better links between traditional transportation and mass transit, and encouraging new behaviors. It also focuses efforts on "end-of-the-pipe" solutions--cleaning up the hazardous waste after it has contaminated the environment--instead of reducing it at the source.

To help address some of these issues, the ASCE's research arm, the Civil Engineering Research Foundation, has developed a partnership among industry, government, and the academic community. The Partnership for the Advancement of Infrastructure and Its Renewal is designed to foster and move research innovations into practice, as well as produce longer-lasting solutions to America's infrastructure crisis. The following are among the problems that must be addressed:

ROADS AND BRIDGES

While passenger and commercial travel on highways has increased dramatically in the past 10 years, the U.S. has been seriously underinvesting in needed road and bridge repairs, even failing to maintain the substandard conditions currently existing. This is a dangerous trend that is affecting highway safety as well as the health of the economy.

Road conditions. More than half of America's urban and rural roadways (59%) are in poor, mediocre, or fair condition, reports the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA). Although this is a slight improvement from previous years, conditions remain at substandard levels. The FHwA ranks "poor" those roads in need of immediate improvement. "Mediocre" roads need improvement in the near future to preserve usability; "fair" will likely need improvement; "good" are in decent condition and will not require improvement in the near future; and "very good" have new or almost new pavement.

Road performance. Substandard road and bridge design, pavement conditions, and outdated safety features are a factor in 30% of all fatal highway accidents, according to the FHwA. Personal and commercial highway travel continues to increase at a faster rate than highway capacity, and the nation's roads cannot sufficiently support current or projected travel needs. Between 1970 and 1995, passenger travel nearly doubled in the U.S., and road use is expected to increase by nearly two-thirds in the next 20 years. Growth can be attributed to changes in the labor force, income, makeup of metropolitan areas, and other factors.

More than 70% of peak-hour traffic occurs in congested conditions. The cost to the economy--in wasted time and fuel--in just the 10 most congested urban areas is $34,000,000,000 each year. In addition, poor highway conditions hinder effective transport of goods that help support the American economy.