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Collapsing bridges, overcrowded roadways, failing levees; it's all apart of the ever declining infrastructure. In August the media nationally broadcasted the collapse of the I-35W Minneapolis bridge and called it a disaster. Unfortunately, what the media fails to convey to the public is that for the past decade America's infrastructure has been failing on many levels.
Every few years the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes a report card rating the nation's infrastructure. The report card covers categories that include things such as modes of transportation, dams, schools, energy, security, drinking water, and waste (water, solid, hazardous). In the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the nation received an overall grade of a D, with no category receiving a grade better that a C+. The ASCE committee who organizes the report card estimated that 1.6 trillion dollars would need to be invested over a period of five years in order to see some type of improvements in the infrastructure.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) 2006 Status of Nation's Highways shows that of the 597,340 bridges in the country 73,784 of them are structurally deficient and a staggering 80, 317 are functionally obsolete, however many of them remain open to daily traffic. Following the I-35W bridge collapse, a CNN poll showed that 52% of Americans are either "very worried" or "somewhat worried" when they travel across bridges. The question now is who is to take responsibility. At a recent presentation at Manhattan College, Karl Koch, Manhattan alum and steel consultant, said "I don't think American people should be scared of their bridges...and it is the responsibility of the government to fix that." During his presentation Mr. Koch showed images of bridges that have collapsed over the decades, many of which have never been reported by the media.
The last time the media has extensively covered an infrastructure failure was the levees of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. This summer the ASCE Hurricane Katrina External Review Panel released The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why. The 84-page report covers topics that include geographical information, the hurricane protection system design, failures and the direct and contributing causes of the catastrophe. The report showed that most of the failures were due to engineering errors but also showed how the funding for the design and construction of the system was flawed. Due to Congressional limits on budgeting issues such as risk, redundancy and resilience were forced to have less of a priority in design thus compromising the safety of New Orleanians.
Aside from the infrastructure failures that the media presents to the public, there are other major problems that Americans encounter everyday. It is quite noticeable how congested the highway systems of the United States have become over the past decade. The Texas Transportation Institutes, an affiliate of Texas A&M University, recently released the 2007 Urban Mobility Report. Their report illustrates a detailed picture of how the congestion problem on US roads is growing. The report uses comparisons of data collected over a period from 1982 to 2005, and some of the results are shocking. Data collected for the New York - New Jersey - Connecticut area in 2005 shows that commuters spent 384,046 (in 1000 hours) in delays, ranking number 2 in the country with the Los Angeles area ranking first with 490,552 (in 1000 hours). As these problems worsen the US economy suffers an annual $78 billion deficit in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel.
In another area of transportation, commuters see the delays of air travel all across the country. In May, US News published an article that ranked 47 of the nation's largest airports and compared their on-time and delayed percentages. According to the article, from January to May 2007 only 71 percent of flights arrived on-time nationally. Three of the areas local airports did not fare so well in the rankings. JFK ranked 4th most miserable airport nationally and Newark Liberty International following in 5th. LaGuardia fares a little better coming in at 23rd.
As the population in the US increases and technology continues to boom the demand for energy is ever increasing. Unfortunately, as time progresses the utility infrastructure continues to age and become more outdated. Many of the electric transmission lines that are currently in service were constructed in the early parts of the 20th century and mostly consist of 138 kV or 200 kV lines. As the demand for energy increases most utility companies see a need for new transmission lines that will connect power stations to peoples homes and businesses, as well as power station to power station. PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the distribution of energy in parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Members of the organization include over 450 of the nation's power generators, transmission owners and electricity distributors; some of those members include companies such as Consolidated Edison of NY, Inc. and Public Service Electric & Gas of New Jersey. Recently, the PJM Interconnection Board approved a $2.1 billion budget for electric transmission additions and upgrades. Some of those upgrades include over 300 miles of new transmission lines.
Parts of the infrastructure that Americans don't realize have failing grades included areas such as drinking water and waste disposal. The Report Card for America's Infrastructure rates the drinking water in the US as a D- nationwide. The US Environmental Protection agency has estimated that it would take approximately 20 years to build and replace the nation's drinking water systems so that they meet the current standards. The Congressional Budget office has estimated that $10 to $20 billion would need to be invested over those 20 years. On the other hand, waste water is also failing with a grade of a D- nationwide. Since the enactment of the Clean Water Act of 1972, the government has provided $72 billion for the construction and maintenance of waste water treatment plants; however, many of the systems that were constructed as a result of the Clean Water Act now have reached their life expectancy. The same problem exists with disposal of solid waste. While the solid waste category received a grade of a C+ in the 2005 report, it is still reported that only a quarter of the solid waste produced is recycled or recovered.
As the world is expanding and technology is growing exponentially, America's infrastructure is declining. Whether the public sees it or not they are being faced with compromises to their safety and everyday conveniences. For years Karl Koch has brought an idea for a book about bridge collapses to publishers and has been told "good luck with your writing career." Mr. Koch's response to the publishers is, "I'm not interested in a writing career; I'm interested in saving lives." It is the role of engineers across the nation and investors, especially the government, to help provide a safer infrastructure that used by generations to come. The demand for engineers is rapidly increasing, unfortunately there seems to be a decline in engineering professionals. For those who have chosen to follow a life in engineering, their career will not only be recognized by the new roads and bridges they design and build, but also for providing safety and security for the American people and the generations to come.
References
1. American Society of Civil Engineers. "Report Card for America's Infrastructure." <http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005>
2. American Society of Civil Engineers. "The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why." August 2007
3. United States Department of Transportation. "2006 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance" <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2006cpr/>
4. Texas Transportation Institute. "2007 Urban Mobility Report." <http://mobility.tamu.edu/>
5. Newman, Rick. "Ranking the Largest Airports." US News & World Report. 30 May 2007
6. PJM. PJM Interconnection. 19 October 2007.<http://www.pjm.com/index.jsp>
Every few years the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes a report card rating the nation's infrastructure. The report card covers categories that include things such as modes of transportation, dams, schools, energy, security, drinking water, and waste (water, solid, hazardous). In the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the nation received an overall grade of a D, with no category receiving a grade better that a C+. The ASCE committee who organizes the report card estimated that 1.6 trillion dollars would need to be invested over a period of five years in order to see some type of improvements in the infrastructure.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) 2006 Status of Nation's Highways shows that of the 597,340 bridges in the country 73,784 of them are structurally deficient and a staggering 80, 317 are functionally obsolete, however many of them remain open to daily traffic. Following the I-35W bridge collapse, a CNN poll showed that 52% of Americans are either "very worried" or "somewhat worried" when they travel across bridges. The question now is who is to take responsibility. At a recent presentation at Manhattan College, Karl Koch, Manhattan alum and steel consultant, said "I don't think American people should be scared of their bridges...and it is the responsibility of the government to fix that." During his presentation Mr. Koch showed images of bridges that have collapsed over the decades, many of which have never been reported by the media.
The last time the media has extensively covered an infrastructure failure was the levees of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. This summer the ASCE Hurricane Katrina External Review Panel released The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why. The 84-page report covers topics that include geographical information, the hurricane protection system design, failures and the direct and contributing causes of the catastrophe. The report showed that most of the failures were due to engineering errors but also showed how the funding for the design and construction of the system was flawed. Due to Congressional limits on budgeting issues such as risk, redundancy and resilience were forced to have less of a priority in design thus compromising the safety of New Orleanians.
Aside from the infrastructure failures that the media presents to the public, there are other major problems that Americans encounter everyday. It is quite noticeable how congested the highway systems of the United States have become over the past decade. The Texas Transportation Institutes, an affiliate of Texas A&M University, recently released the 2007 Urban Mobility Report. Their report illustrates a detailed picture of how the congestion problem on US roads is growing. The report uses comparisons of data collected over a period from 1982 to 2005, and some of the results are shocking. Data collected for the New York - New Jersey - Connecticut area in 2005 shows that commuters spent 384,046 (in 1000 hours) in delays, ranking number 2 in the country with the Los Angeles area ranking first with 490,552 (in 1000 hours). As these problems worsen the US economy suffers an annual $78 billion deficit in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel.
In another area of transportation, commuters see the delays of air travel all across the country. In May, US News published an article that ranked 47 of the nation's largest airports and compared their on-time and delayed percentages. According to the article, from January to May 2007 only 71 percent of flights arrived on-time nationally. Three of the areas local airports did not fare so well in the rankings. JFK ranked 4th most miserable airport nationally and Newark Liberty International following in 5th. LaGuardia fares a little better coming in at 23rd.
As the population in the US increases and technology continues to boom the demand for energy is ever increasing. Unfortunately, as time progresses the utility infrastructure continues to age and become more outdated. Many of the electric transmission lines that are currently in service were constructed in the early parts of the 20th century and mostly consist of 138 kV or 200 kV lines. As the demand for energy increases most utility companies see a need for new transmission lines that will connect power stations to peoples homes and businesses, as well as power station to power station. PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the distribution of energy in parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Members of the organization include over 450 of the nation's power generators, transmission owners and electricity distributors; some of those members include companies such as Consolidated Edison of NY, Inc. and Public Service Electric & Gas of New Jersey. Recently, the PJM Interconnection Board approved a $2.1 billion budget for electric transmission additions and upgrades. Some of those upgrades include over 300 miles of new transmission lines.
Parts of the infrastructure that Americans don't realize have failing grades included areas such as drinking water and waste disposal. The Report Card for America's Infrastructure rates the drinking water in the US as a D- nationwide. The US Environmental Protection agency has estimated that it would take approximately 20 years to build and replace the nation's drinking water systems so that they meet the current standards. The Congressional Budget office has estimated that $10 to $20 billion would need to be invested over those 20 years. On the other hand, waste water is also failing with a grade of a D- nationwide. Since the enactment of the Clean Water Act of 1972, the government has provided $72 billion for the construction and maintenance of waste water treatment plants; however, many of the systems that were constructed as a result of the Clean Water Act now have reached their life expectancy. The same problem exists with disposal of solid waste. While the solid waste category received a grade of a C+ in the 2005 report, it is still reported that only a quarter of the solid waste produced is recycled or recovered.
As the world is expanding and technology is growing exponentially, America's infrastructure is declining. Whether the public sees it or not they are being faced with compromises to their safety and everyday conveniences. For years Karl Koch has brought an idea for a book about bridge collapses to publishers and has been told "good luck with your writing career." Mr. Koch's response to the publishers is, "I'm not interested in a writing career; I'm interested in saving lives." It is the role of engineers across the nation and investors, especially the government, to help provide a safer infrastructure that used by generations to come. The demand for engineers is rapidly increasing, unfortunately there seems to be a decline in engineering professionals. For those who have chosen to follow a life in engineering, their career will not only be recognized by the new roads and bridges they design and build, but also for providing safety and security for the American people and the generations to come.
References
1. American Society of Civil Engineers. "Report Card for America's Infrastructure." <http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005>
2. American Society of Civil Engineers. "The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why." August 2007
3. United States Department of Transportation. "2006 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance" <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2006cpr/>
4. Texas Transportation Institute. "2007 Urban Mobility Report." <http://mobility.tamu.edu/>
5. Newman, Rick. "Ranking the Largest Airports." US News & World Report. 30 May 2007
6. PJM. PJM Interconnection. 19 October 2007.<http://www.pjm.com/index.jsp>
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