What's
Right and Wrong About Infrastructure - Infrastructure:
Investing in our Quality of Life
What
is Infrastructure?
Look around. Infrastructure is everywhere you live, work and You use a
subway system, or drive to work each morning on roads and highways. You cross a bridge to
get to the grocery store. You turn on the kitchen faucet and clear water comes from
underground pipes. You swim in a sparkling lake kept clean by a wastewater treatment
plant. You fly to your family vacation or business meeting from a modern airport.
Infrastructure is often underground and out of sight, like pipes and
sewers. It's also above ground right before your eyes, like roads and bridges. You use
infrastructure everyday, often without realizing it. Infrastructure is that vast network
of structures and systems civil engineers design and build to improve everyone's quality
of life.
How
Infrastructure Benefits You
Infrastructure benefits nearly every aspect of our lives -- from our
nation's economy to our personal health to our environment. A sound infrastructure:
-
Creates jobs:
Every $1 billion of federal investment in infrastructure creates 47,000 construction and
service-related jobs, and nets local governments $80 million in vital tax revenues from
contractors, consultants and construction payrolls.
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Enhances public
health and safety: Well-maintained roads save lives. Poor roads are a factor in 30 percent
of all highway accidents. Modern water treatment plants make our water safe to drink.
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Helps protect
our environment: Water treatment plants also clean the wastewater that enters our rivers
and lakes. This helps keep our waterways clean for fish, wildlife and recreation.
-
Increases
productivity: Modernizing our highways, for example, lets businesses sell products faster
and at lower prices. This saves everyone money. In fact, modern highways also would save
Americans $39 billion in lost wages and wasted fuel each year. And, investing $40-billion
per year in highways will increase every American worker's productivity $250 per year in
the first five years (in 1990 dollars), and $3,200 annually within 20 years.
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Promotes
economic development: States and communities with strong infrastructure can better attract
businesses seeking to increase productivity and better compete in U.S. and world markets.
We are in danger of losing these and other important benefits because
too much of America's infrastructure is aging and decaying, and we neglect adequate
maintenance and upgrades.
What
are the Problems?
Portions of our infrastructure are decaying beneath our feet every day,
threatening our health, safety and economic growth.
Consider
these facts:
-
Nearly one of
every five miles (234,500 total) of interstate roads remains in poor condition.
-
The average
motorist spends more than $112 annually on wasted fuel, added tire wear and extra vehicle
repairs from driving on poor roads.
-
One of three
bridges needs serious repairs, and one in four bridges is at least 50 years old -- the
average lifespan of a bridge.
-
More than 45
million Americans drink water from public water plants that have contained
cryptosporidium, a microorganism that caused some 100 Milwaukee residents to die and more
than 400,000 others to become ill in 1993.
-
One of every
four of America's 800,000 miles of wastewater pipelines needs immediate repair or
replacement. Leaking water supply pipes cause some older cities to lose as much as a third
of their water each day.
-
Seventeen major
airports will be severely congested by 2002 unless we add new runways.
What
are the Causes?
Aging Infrastructure -- America's infrastructure is
well-built, but too much of it has aged well beyond its normal lifespan, or can no longer
the greater demands of our growing population.
Lack of Maintenance -- Many problems are caused by failure to
maintain and upgrade our infrastructure, which often suffers from "out of sight, out
of mind syndrome." Most of us don't think about watermains until they burst, or
bridges until they close or collapse.
Lack of Funding -- While our infrastructure silently but
dangerously decays, vital federal and state funding for infrastructure grows increasingly
scarce as more lawmakers seek to balance their tight budgets. States and communities often
must make tough budget choices -- sometimes between more police and school teachers, or
funding for basic water quality and bridge repair.
Neglect
Skyrockets Future Costs
Neglecting basic maintenance and upgrades today costs us all much more
tomorrow. It's much like buying a new car and not changing the oil regularly. Wouldn't you
rather spend a little money to change your oil regularly than hundreds of dollars to
replace your broken engine later?
In 1992, Chicago failed to invest $10,000 to repair a small underground
leak, which caused a rupture that cost taxpayers and companies more than $1 billion in
emergency response, lost business and property damage. More than 200,000 people were
evacuated when millions of gallons of water flooded a tunnel underneath the downtown
district.
New York City also suffers from pressure to save money in the short
term. The city can spend only about one-tenth of the $50 million it needs for annual
bridge maintenance, and last-ditch repairs of severely damaged bridges cost the city 3-4
times more than routine maintenance.
But even if we maintain the current condition of our infrastructure, it
will fail to support the growing population of many urban areas in the coming years. We
must modernize our infrastructure soon, or risk losing the benefits of safe water, bridges
and roads on which we all depend.
Developing
Workable Solutions
America's civil engineers believe rebuilding our infrastructure
requires smart spending. But, finding the funds takes creativity, cooperation and
commitment.
Shrinking federal budgets have encouraged community and state officials
to find innovative solutions such as having private companies invest in and sometimes
operate water utilities and toll roads. This appeals to private companies because
infrastructure facilities can yield high long term returns for investment dollars.
Some communities also have asked local residents who benefit the most
from modern roads and bridges or water systems to pay reasonable user fees to help fund
infrastructure renewal.
Civil engineers also are developing new technologies and materials to
make infrastructure safer, stronger and last longer.
Improving our quality of life through better infrastructure can happen
only with a strong partnership among the American people, civil engineers, lawmakers, and
businesses.
You
Can Make a Difference
Rebuilding our aging infrastructure is an immense challenge, but you
can make a difference.
-
Learn about
infrastructure needs in your area and share your concerns with the right people.
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Contact your
Department of Transportation and water boards to explore their plans for maintaining and
upgrading roads, bridges and water systems.
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Call or write
business groups such as your Chamber of Commerce to learn how infrastructure affects local
business and employment.
-
Share your
concerns with officials and your Congressional representatives. Ask how they plan to solve
the problems.
-
Inform your
community by writing letters to the editor of your local paper.
-
Support bond
issues to improve your infrastructure.
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The bottom line
is infrastructure affects you whether you are a consumer, business person or lawmaker.
With your help we can rebuild America.
Copyright © 1996, 1997 ASCE. All rights reserved.