Report Blasts American Infrastructure
story.news.yahoo.com
By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and
holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that
concludes the nation's transportation, water and energy systems have
shown little improvement since they were given an overall grade of D-plus in
2001.
A report by the American Society of Civil
Engineers released Thursday assessed trends
over the last two years in the condition of 12
categories of infrastructure, including roadways,
bridges, drinking water and energy.
The report blamed the deteriorating infrastructure
on a weak economy, limited federal programs,
population growth and the threat of terrorism,
which diverted money to security.
"Americans' concerns about security threats are real, but so are the threats
posed by crumbling infrastructure," Thomas Jackson, ASCE president, said
in a statement. "It doesn't matter if the dam fails because cracks have never
been repaired or if it fails at the hands of a terrorist. The towns below the
dam will still be devastated."
There was no progress for schools, which received the worst grade -
D-minus - from the engineers in 2001. The report said three out of four
school buildings are inadequate. They estimate it will cost more than $127
billion to build new classrooms and modernize outdated schools.
Energy transmission earned a D-plus two years ago, and the engineers said
the trend is getting worse. Investment in transmission fell by $115 million
annually, to $2 billion a year in 2000 from $5 billion in 1975. Actual capacity
increased by only 7,000 megawatts a year, 30 percent less than needed to
keep up with power demand.
Roads didn't fare much better. "The nation is failing to even maintain the
substandard conditions we currently have," the report said, adding that the
average rush hour grew by more than 18 minutes between 1997 and 2000.
The engineers' report also saw no improvement on bridges, noting that 27.5
percent of U.S. bridges were structurally deficient or obsolete in 2000.
Transportation systems showed signs of decline, despite increased
spending over the past six years. "Efforts to maintain the systems are
outpaced by growth in ridership," the report said.
Dwayne Kalynchuk, president of the American Public Works Association,
said investing in the nation's infrastructure needs to be more of a priority.
"We're all certainly aware of issues, of emergencies, and investing in
emergencies immediately," Kalynchuk said. "But I think here we have an
emergency that is going to catch up to us in the next few years if we don't
deal with it today."
The Bush administration in May proposed spending $247 billion on roads,
bridges and mass transit, 13 percent more than the previous six-year plan.
Rep. Don Young , chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has proposed a $375 billion
spending plan, to be paid for by indexing the gasoline tax to inflation.
Young, R-Alaska, said in a statement that the report reinforced his serious
concerns about the state of the U.S. infrastructure.
"If we don't provide adequate investment in transportation and water
infrastructure, we will dearly regret it in the long run," Young said.
The report's other assessments of currents trends included:
_No improvement for aviation, which received a D in 2001. "Little is being
done to capitalize on the low growth period after 9/11 to address the nation's
aviation infrastructure needs."
_ Signs of decline for drinking water and wastewater. The nation's 54,000
drinking water systems are aging rapidly and some sewer systems are 100
years old, while federal funding remains flat.
_ Declining progress for dams, with the number of
unsafe dams rising to nearly 2,600 and 21 dam failures
in the past two years.
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On the Net:
The report card: asce.org |
