U.S. Gets D+ in Infrastructure

[chequita guevara]

Report blasts American infrastructure


- - - - - - - - - - - -
By LESLIE MILLER



Sept. 4, 2003 |

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that gives the nation's transportation, water and energy systems an overall grade of D-plus.

A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Thursday said the condition of 12 categories of infrastructure hasn't improved in the past two years. The report blamed 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."

Schools received the worst grade -- D-minus -- from the engineers, who 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 They estimate it will cost more than $127 billion to build new classrooms and modernize outdated schools.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, but 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.

The report gave roads a D-plus. "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 gave bridges a C, noting that 27.5 percent of U.S. bridges were structurally deficient or obsolete in 2000.

Transportation systems earned a C-minus, 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 grades included:

--D for aviation. "Little is being done to capitalize on the low growth period after 9/11 to address the nation's aviation infrastructure needs."

--D 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.

--D for dams, with the number of unsafe dams rising to nearly 2,600 and 21 dam failures in the past two years.

[Inverse Icarus]

the beginning of the end!

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers

That tells me to take this report with a grain of salt. So the people who's jobs depend on there being more construction feel we should do more construct? Shocking.

[GePap]

Even though I agree that these guys might be looking for more work, they are correct: we spend very little upkeeping what makes this country run..there has been little investment into infrastructure.

Finally in NYC they will get to a new subway line, though it will cost 12 billion.

[C0ckney]

interestingly (or not as the case may be) a similar report was issued a little while ago about the UK by the british equivelent of ASCE. basically saying that our roads and railways are crap, which is a bit like saying that the sky is blue and grass is green these days. although our lot blames a lot of it on local government, as well they might, if my local council is anything to go by.

[Ted Striker]

Our systems are old

The freeway systems are espcially busted up

[Asher]

We need to invest in steam trains

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Oerdin


That tells me to take this report with a grain of salt. So the people who's jobs depend on there being more construction feel we should do more construct? Shocking.

Maybe it's also because they're professionals with these issues, so they're um, oh I don't know . . . .



MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE??

[Nubclear]

Uhh, no...Obviously Oerdin is more knowledgable than all of them!

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that gives the nation's transportation, water and energy systems an overall grade of D-plus.

Who do these engineers think they are, experts or something?

[Jaguar]

If I were president, I would sooo try to abolish social security, spend its money on roads and schools, and then get voted out by a mob of angry senior citizens.

[Ned]

Well, Che, we have to start electing people who actually care about "infrastructure." It's not a sexy issue. But I personally would like us to invest in high speed railroads like they have in Japan - private companies who service is superb. Killing Amtrack wher ever a private company is willing to invest and providing them rights of way may be the way to go.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by GePap
Even though I agree that these guys might be looking for more work, they are correct: we spend very little upkeeping what makes this country run..there has been little investment into infrastructure.

Finally in NYC they will get to a new subway line, though it will cost 12 billion.

This may be area dependent. In the county where I live there is a fairly robust spending program. It is a fast growing area, but they are smart enough to upgrade old stuff when they build new. Incidently and amazingly, they are doing all this without taxing the crap out of us.

Congrats GePap on the new line. From where to where?

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by Ned
Well, Che, we have to start electing people who actually care about "infrastructure." It's not a sexy issue. But I personally would like us to invest in high speed railroads like they have in Japan - private companies who service is superb. Killing Amtrack wher ever a private company is willing to invest and providing them rights of way may be the way to go.

You're telling a communist that we need more private companies?

[Dis]

I would think a D- would mean we are living in a 3rd world country.

I don't trust their grading system

[st_swithin]

All we need now is a vineyard, a white picket fence, and an 'E'...

[Ned]

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior

You're telling a communist that we need more private companies?

Che is a ration man. He can see that the private railways in Japan are excellent. They provide cheap, high speed, quiet, polution-free service to millions. Even Che would have to agree that this is something to be desired for America which has publicly owned Amtrack that is a failure.

[Atahualpa]

Umm about private Railroads, why dont we talk about Britain

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Uhh, no...Obviously Oerdin is more knowledgable than all of them!

Sure, we need experts but maybe not from a trade group representing interested parties. I'd look for conformation from a few more sources before I take this report as god's word. Each year Farmer's groups coming out saying they need more subsidies, business groups come out claiming they need lower taxes, teachers' unions come out saying we need more in education, steel workers unions claim foreigners are dumping... The list goes on and on from interested parties who what the government to do something for them and they usually want a bigger subsidy or more government spending.

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by Ned
Che is a ration man. He can see that the private railways in Japan are excellent. They provide cheap, high speed, quiet, polution-free service to millions. Even Che would have to agree that this is something to be desired for America which has publicly owned Amtrack that is a failure.

A failure be Congressional design. When you make it illegal for them to cut service on unprofitable lines yet refuse to give them money to off set these loses then you are a big part of the problem.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by st_swithin
All we need now is a vineyard, a white picket fence, and an 'E'...

Would you be willing to accept an Incomplete?

[Bosh]

Originally posted by Ned
Well, Che, we have to start electing people who actually care about "infrastructure." It's not a sexy issue. But I personally would like us to invest in high speed railroads like they have in Japan - private companies who service is superb. Killing Amtrack wher ever a private company is willing to invest and providing them rights of way may be the way to go.

Not gunna work, the US doesn't have anywhere a population density anywhere near as high as Japan so I'd cost much more to set up a system with a comparable number of customers.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Oerdin


That tells me to take this report with a grain of salt. So the people who's jobs depend on there being more construction feel we should do more construct? Shocking.

You're right; it's absurd to have our infrastructure evaluated by a bunch of unqualified, self-serving hacks like civil engineers. Like you, I eagerly await the more informed input of Republican politicians, Corporate CEO's, and the staff of Fox News, and I look forward to being told that everything is Just Fine.

[Drake Tungsten]

Not gunna work, the US doesn't have anywhere a population density anywhere near as high as Japan so I'd cost much more to set up a system with a comparable number of customers.

Boshko is right on this. The only place in America where I can see a Japanese-style rail system working is in the east coast megalopolis. Trains (especially of the bullet variety) just aren't economically feasible in the more sparsely populated areas of the US.

[lightblue]

Trains aren't economically feasible period in most of the US. They work best in high density areas, which is why they work in Japan, Germany, France or the Netherlands. It doesn't work in the UK, because the system is too old, and as certain companies have regional/line monopolies they can charge what they want for crappy trains that are late and filthy.

[chequita guevara]

Actually, here in Florida, voters mandated (in 1998) that the state set up a high-speed rail system by 2006. The Republicans have basically ignored it, though it's part of our Constitution. (What do you do when the government ignores the Constitution and the Courts?) Personally, I don't think this should be part of the Constitution, but it is.

I think it could work in Florida because Florida's main industry is tourism, so people could vacation in one spot for a few days, then zip across to Orlando to see the Mouse, then zip off to Cape Canaveral . . . you get the idea.

I'd like it cuz then I could move outta Jax (maybe to Titusville or Orlando), and have access to jobs throughout the peninsula.

They are scheduled to start settnig up the first part of the line next year, between Tampa and Orlando.

Ned, though the high speed rail companies are private in Japan, AFAIK, they are public in France, and they work fine there. As well, I'm sure the Japanese companies received quite a lot of help from the government. Japan has never been a hands-off economy.

[st_swithin]

Yeah, sure - who needs a vineyard anyway? It's just one giant yeast farm anyway.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Report blasts American infrastructure


- - - - - - - - - - - -
By LESLIE MILLER



Sept. 4, 2003 |

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that gives the nation's transportation, water and energy systems an overall grade of D-plus.

A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Thursday said the condition of 12 categories of infrastructure hasn't improved in the past two years. The report blamed 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."

Schools received the worst grade -- D-minus -- from the engineers, who 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, but 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.

The report gave roads a D-plus. "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 gave bridges a C, noting that 27.5 percent of U.S. bridges were structurally deficient or obsolete in 2000.

Transportation systems earned a C-minus, 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 grades included:

--D for aviation. "Little is being done to capitalize on the low growth period after 9/11 to address the nation's aviation infrastructure needs."

--D 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.

--D for dams, with the number of unsafe dams rising to nearly 2,600 and 21 dam failures in the past two years.

What did Cuba get?
How about China?
North Korea? Hell. North Korea can't even build a single road.

Jackass.

[Sava]

intelligent response as always Sloww

[st_swithin]

Anything lower than a plain old 'D' is just spiteful, and often personal.