The quality of your life depends on the water you drink, the air you breathe, the roads you drive, and the power you have.  Period.

In other words, the quality of your life depends on your access and availability of electricity, water, roads, bridges, and power or in other words your infrastructure.

The huge challenge in much of the world is infrastructure availability.  In the US and most of the developed world the challenge is  infrastructure sustainability.  Interestingly, infrastructure in most of the developed world is crumbling and crumbling fast.  What do the numbers show?  Not good!

The ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) released its 2013 Infrastructure Report Card on March 19 (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/). Every four years, the ASCE issues this Report Card on America’s Infrastructure. The report evaluates conditions and future investment needs for major sectors of infrastructure — including roads, bridges, drinking water systems, ports, mass transit, and the electric grid. This year’s Report Card covers 16 infrastructure categories, and now provides information for all 50 states.

ASCE noted America’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure “rose slightly to a D+.” And “the grades in 2013 ranged from a high of B- for solid waste to a low of D- for inland waterways and levees. Solid waste, drinking water, wastewater, roads, and bridges all saw incremental improvements, and rail jumped from a C- to a C+. No categories saw a decline in grade this year.”

The ASCE rates four Critical Infrastructure areas in the US: Dams, Water, Transportation Systems, Public Facilities.

CIP Area	Infrastructure	Grade
Dams	Dams	D
Water	Drinking Water	D
	Levees	D-
	Solid Waste	B-
	Wastewater	D
Transportation Systems	Aviation	D
	Bridges	C+
	Inland Waterways	D-
	Ports	C
	Rail	C+
	Roads	D
	Transit	D
Government Facilities	Public Parks	C-
	Schools	D
Energy	Energy	D+

ASCE recommends that to be most competitive in the world, the U.S. economy needs “a first class infrastructure system – transport systems that move people and goods efficiently and at reasonable cost by land, water, and air; transmission systems that deliver reliable, low-cost power from a wide range of energy sources; and water systems that drive industrial processes as well as the daily functions in our homes.” ASCE says that America’s infrastructure systems are “failing to keep pace with the current and expanding needs, and investment in infrastructure is faltering.”

Here is a recap from the Executive Summary of the critical infrastructure graded by the Report.

DAMS

Dams: Dams earned a grade of D, which was unchanged. The average age of the 84,000 dams in the US is 52 years old and many were built as low-hazard dams protecting undeveloped agricultural land; but with an increasing population and development of housing below dams, they now pose an increasing risk to public safety. The overall number of high-hazard dams increased to nearly 14,000 in 2012; the Association of State Dam Safety Officials has estimated that investment of $21 billion in necessary to repair the aging, critical, high-hazard dams.

WATER

Drinking Water: The grade for drinking water improved slightly to a D. Much of the US drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. The cost to replace every pipe could be more than $1 trillion, citing the American Water Works Association (AWWA). The quality of drinking water in the US remains universally high. While pipes and mains are frequently more than 100 years old, outbreaks of disease attributable to drinking water are rare.

Levees: Levees again earned a grade of D- in 2013. ASCE says there are an estimated 100,000 miles of levees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Many of the levees were originally used to protect farmland, but now are increasingly protecting developed communities, creating risk to public safety. The risk in many cases in unknown, and there is not yet a national safety program to mitigate risk. The National Committee on Levee Safety has said the cost to repair or rehabilitate these levees is roughly estimated to be $100 billion.

Solid Waste: Solid waste improved in 2013, and it earned the highest grade, B-. In 2010, Americans recycled or composted 34% of solid waste, compared to 14.5% in 1980. Per capita generation rates of waste have been steady over the past 20 years and have begun to show signs of decline in the past several years.

Wastewater: The grade for wastewater improved slightly to a D. The Report noted capital investment requirements are estimated to total $298 billion over the next 20 years. Pipes are the largest capital need, comprising 75% of the total. Fixing and expanding pipes will address several public health and safety risk issues: sanitary sewer overflows, combined sewer overflows, and other pipe-related issues. Capital needs for wastewater treatment comprise about 15%-20% of total needs, but will likely increase due to new regulatory requirements. Stormwater capital needs, while growing, are still small in comparison. Since 2007, the federal government has required cities to invest more than $15 billion in new pipes, plants, and equipment to eliminate combined sewer overflows.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

Aviation: Aviation again earned a D. There were about 33 million more Commercial flights in 2011 than in 2000, stretching the aviation system’s ability to meet the needs of the nation’s economy. The Report noted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates that the national cost of airport congestion and delays was almost $22 billion in 2012. And if current federal funding levels are maintained, the FAA anticipates that the cost of congestion and delays to the economy will rise from $34 billion in 2020 to $63 billion by 2040.

Bridges: The Report noted the overall number of structurally deficient bridges continued to trend downward, improving the grade to C+. ASCE rates one in nine of the US’s bridges as structurally deficient, with the average age of the nation’s 607,380 bridges at 42 years. Over two hundred million crossings occur daily across deficient bridges in the US’s 102 largest metropolitan regions. The Report states the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that to eliminate the nation’s bridge backlog by 2028, the US would need to invest $20.5 billion annually, while only $12.8 billion is being spent currently. The challenge for all levels of government is to increase bridge investments to address the identified $76 billion in needs for deficient bridges across the United States. Deficient bridges  pose risks to both public safety and economic activity.

Inland Waterways: Inland waterways repeated with a D- grade as ASCE noted conditions remain poor and investment levels remain stagnant. The Report states that inland waterways and rivers are the hidden backbone of the freight network – carrying the equivalent of about 51 million truck trips each year. In many cases, the inland waterways system has not been updated since the 1950s, and more than half of the locks are over 50 years old. Barges are stopped for hours each day with unscheduled delays, with an average of 52 service interruptions a day throughout the system. Projects to repair and replace aging locks and dredge channels take decades to approve and complete

Ports: This is a new category which debuted with a grade of C. The Report noted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that more than 95% (by volume) of overseas trade produced or consumed by the United States moves through ports. To sustain and serve a growing economy and compete internationally, the US’s ports need to be maintained, modernized, and expanded. Port authorities and their private sector partners have planned over $46 billion in capital improvements by 2016, but federal funding has declined for navigable waterways and the freight connections needed to move goods to and from the ports.

Rail: ASCE noted that with higher ridership and greater investment, the grade for rail made the largest improvement, moving up to a C+. The Report noted railroads are experiencing resurgence as both an energy-efficient freight transportation option and a viable city-to-city passenger service. In 2012, Amtrak recorded its highest year of ridership with 31.2 million passengers, nearly double its ridership in 2000. Both freight and passenger rail have been investing heavily in tracks, bridges, and tunnels and adding new capacity for freight and passengers. Since 2009, capital investment from both freight and passenger railroads has exceeded $75 billion, increasing investment during the recession when materials prices were lower and trains ran less frequently.

Roads: The Report stated that efforts to improve road conditions and significant reductions in highway fatalities resulted in a slight improvement in grade to a D. Forty-two percent of America’s major urban highways remain congested, costing the US economy an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually. While conditions have improved, and federal, state, and local capital investments increased to $91 billion annually, that level of investment is insufficient to prevent a decline in conditions and performance in the long term. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that $170 billion in capital investment would be needed on an annual basis to significantly improve conditions and performance.

Transit: The Report grade for transit remained at a D as transit agencies struggled to balance increasing ridership with declining funding. The Report noted that deficient and deteriorating transit systems cost the U.S. economy $90 billion in 2010. America’s public transit infrastructure plays a vital role, connecting millions of people with jobs, medical facilities, schools, shopping, and recreation, and it is critical for the one-third of Americans who do not drive cars. Unlike many U.S. infrastructure systems, the transit system is not comprehensive, as 45% of American households lack any access to transit, and millions more have inadequate service levels. Ridership increased 9.1% in the past decade, and that trend is expected to continue.

PUBLIC FACILITIES

Public Parks and Recreation: The grade for parks remained unchanged at a C-. The popularity of parks and outdoor recreation areas in the United States continues to grow, with over 140 million Americans making use of these facilities a part of their daily lives. These activities contribute $646 billion to the nation’s economy, supporting 6.1 million jobs. States and localities struggle to provide these benefits for parks amid flat and declining budgets, reporting an estimated $18.5 billion in unmet needs in 2011. The federal government is also facing a serious challenge as well since the National Park Service estimates its maintenance backlog at approximately $11 billion.

Schools: Schools received a D again this year. Almost half of America’s public school buildings were built to educate the baby boomers – a generation that is now retiring from the workforce. Public school enrollment is projected to gradually increase through 2019, yet state and local school construction funding continues to decline. Spending on school construction has diminished to approximately $10 billion in 2012, about half the level spent prior to the recession, while the condition of school facilities continues to be a significant concern for communities. Experts now estimate the investment needed to modernize and maintain our nation’s school facilities is at least $270 billion or more. But due to the absence of national data on school facilities for more than a decade, a complete picture of the condition of our nation’s schools remains mostly unknown.

ENERGY

Energy: The Report’s grade for energy remained a D+, just above failing. America relies on an aging electrical grid and pipeline distribution systems, some of which originated in the 1880s. Investment in power transmission increased since 2005, with about 17,000 miles of additional high-voltage transmission lines and significant oil and gas pipelines planned over the next five years. But ongoing permitting issues, weather events, and limited maintenance have contributed to an increasing number of failures and power interruptions. This disruption of the electric power system remains a real risk. While demand for electricity has remained level, the availability of energy in the form of electricity, natural gas, and oil will become a greater challenge after 2020 as the population increases.

So if you’re looking at the best and biggest infrastructure build out in the world, take a look at China, Middle East, Brazil, and Russia.

America needs to realize that the rest of the world is closing fast.

REFERENCES:

ASCE 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure Executive Summary: http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/overview/executive-summary