Our Failing Infrastructure

A recent editorial in the

Washington Post  argued that the best way to fight global climate change is to reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use. In turn, the way to decrease fossil fuel emissions is to increase the user fee on motor fuels by so much that people will have no choice but to use alternative modes of travel.

The editorial missed the mark, however, on how to use the funds generated. Americans understand the importance of sound investments. We also understand the importance of good transportation systems. So why would we ever consider investing the money we all faithfully pay at the pump each week in anything other than improving the transportation systems it was generated by? Don’t we owe ourselves at least that much?

Fighting environmental problems at the gas pump is a good idea - we just have to remember that to achieve all the necessary steps of increased use of public transportation, congestion relief, and community livability, it’s going to take investment.

Read Blaine Leonard’s full letter here.

Our Failing Infrastructure is pleased to add a new site to our blog roll of all things infrastructure. InfrastructureUSA is a great resource for bringing people together to support infrastructure improvement.

While you’re visiting the site, make sure to check out the interview with ASCE’s own Executive Director, Pat Natale, P.E. F.ASCE, on ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and how we can all advocate for better infrastructure.

ASCE, the Building America’s Future coalition, and a host of other supporting organizations met in the U.S. Capitol this week to urge Congress to create a national infrastructure bank (NIB). The NIB would invest in large projects of national importance to help improve the quality of infrastructure across the country and create jobs.

ASCE’s treasurer and chairman of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure , Andrew Herrmann, P.E. SECB, F.ASCE, was on hand to lend his support. In a statement Herrmann said,

 “Whether we’re talking about billions of dollars lost as a result of traffic each year or billions of gallons of water lost through leaky pipes, failing infrastructure has a negative impact on the checkbook and quality of life of each and every American. Despite this, we have continued to woefully under-invest,”

Building America’s Future co-chairman Governor Edward Rendell (D-PA) was joined by congressional sponsors Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) as well as former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt   and former ambassador Felix Rohatyn to advocate on behalf of the NIB

President Barak Obama is a longtime supporter of the NIB and included a proposal to create one in his Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Unfortunately, it was not enacted by Congress. Supporters of the NIB are hopeful that it will be included in the 2011 budget due out in the beginning of February.

While ASCE is a strong supporter of the NIB, Herrmann was quick to point out that this new financing vehicle is not a replacement for increased funding and user fees for infrastructure.

“Creating an Infrastructure Bank, however, will provide a dedicated source of finance and funding tools we can use to support projects of regional and national significance. We’re all familiar with that concept from the work we’ve done to maintain our own homes or cars, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s going to take the same kind of long-term, sustained investment to improve the nation’s infrastructure.”

Andrew Herrmann, P.E. SECB, F.ASCE (3rd from left) stands with former Rep. Dick Gephard (D-MO), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Amb. Felix Rohatyn (l-r) at Infrastructure Bank event

“According to submissions that we received from states, metropolitan planning organizations, and public transit agencies, 8,587 highway and transit projects are under construction in all 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, totaling $19.7 billion, as of November 30, 2009. These projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs, with payroll expenditures of $1.3 billion.”

So said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in a joint statement this week responding to an Associated Press story that claimed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) had no affect on unemployment. Read the full statement on the committee’s website.

The claims made in the AP article have also prompted Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, others in the Obama administration, and the transportation industry to defend the investments and demonstrate the need ARRA is filling in state budgets across the country. With the recession hitting states harder than expected in 2009 and 2010, it is unpleasant to imagine what might be the current situation had the federal government not provided extra, no match funds for roads, transit, waterways, and water infrastructure.

The fact that the unemployment rate is still at 10 percent and much higher in the construction sector remains true. But much of that is the result of lagging private commercial and housing development – something in which government has not traditionally intervened. Additionally, less than 10 percent of ARRA went to infrastructure, making it hard for highways, transit, and water systems alone to cure our economic woes.

From ASCE’s perspective, we would have preferred ARRA to contain more new design opportunities for our members.  Based on time constraints and the seriousness of the problem, however, the Society strongly supported the measure as the most effective short-term course of action and provided a set of principles for determining projects.

So it seems a little unfair for the AP to criticize the entire infrastructure program because it did not do what it was not intended to do. Data collected by the T&I committee and the Recovery Board show that jobs were in fact created or saved directly from federal stimulus funds. It was, and still is, the hope of every supporter of ARRA that those new direct jobs would stimulate activity in the economy and in turn create “indirect” jobs. With thousands of projects in all types of infrastructure still waiting to begin and a natural winter construction slow-down, it is doubtless those jobs won’t come overnight.

ASCE estimates that there is about $2.2 trillion worth of infrastructure work that needs to be done over the next five years. So the $100 billion included in ARRA is hardly going to put a dent it that - but it’s a start. We can move forward from that start by making progress on needed policy changes such as a new six year authorization of the surface transportation system and reauthorization of the Clean Water Act. If we want our economy to regain the strength it once had, we will need a first class infrastructure as the foundation. It’s a mistake today to misinterpret incomplete data. It’s a greater disservice to our future if we abandon the path for improving infrastructure.

An interesting and thought-provoking op-ed piece ran in Sunday’s Washington Post, “On Issues Like Global Warming, Scientists Need to Speak Up”, by Chris Mooney.  Despite the title, the piece has very little to do with the question of whether global warming is happening, why it’s happening or any of the other hot-button issues surrounding this topic.  Rather, it addresses a problem that ASCE’s Government Relations staff is all too familiar with:  scientists and engineers not effectively engaging with mainstream media, and also with lawmakers who develop policies and laws related to scientific issues.

The writer, a fellow in science journalism at MIT, makes a point that cannot be disputed by anyone:  that the nation (and the world) stands to benefit from scientists (and, I would add, engineers) becoming more vocal on scientific questions in the mainstream media.  In fact, perhaps we are being held back by the lack of useful input from scientists on these topics.

But many scientists and engineers will surely say, “But we try!  And our voices are not heard!”  The writer’s point is not that scientists should speak louder, but that they need to change the way they speak.  Address the public’s real concerns with the issues, which often have little to do with scientific facts.  Instead of recoiling at the notion of letting other issues enter into the debate, embrace it and work with it, use it to your advantage to gain a voice in the real debate.

To me, the key passage in this piece is this:

“In other words, what’s needed is less ‘pure science’ on its own — although of course scientists must continue to speak in scientifically accurate terms — and more engagement with the concerns of nonscientific audiences. In response to that argument, many researchers will say: ‘Why target us? We’re the good guys. And if we become more media savvy, we’ll risk our credibility.’

There is only one answer to this objection: ‘Look all around you — at Climategate, at the unending evolution wars — and ask, are your efforts working?’ The answer, surely, is no.”

In other words, you don’t have to abandon the facts in the debate.  But you do have to acknowledge the importance and influence of other factors that may have little relation to facts.

To relate all of this back to infrastructure, if we know the answer to our infrastructure crisis is increased investment, which is shown by inadequate transportation, water, electric and other systems (supported by myriad data sources), yet the real issue is that nobody wants to pay the real cost of improving these systems (i.e. raising taxes), maybe we need to address that issue.  Why is it that we don’t want to pay taxes dedicated to improving infrastructure, something that could provide many of us with real, tangible benefits?  Is there a way to acknowledge and address these concerns other than continuing to squawk about the mounting needs?

ASCE’s efforts on this front took a big jump forward when we released the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure that not only laid out the nation’s needs (significant) but also what  ASCE saw as five critical solutions that would help raise the grades on future Report Cards.  We feel this has gained us a seat in the debate, but there is much more on this issue in the weeks and months and years to come…

On December 2nd President Obama declared the month ‘Critical Infrastructure Protection Month’ and pledged that his administration will keep our nation’s roads, bridges, water systems, and other critical infrastructure safe and resilient from natural disaster or attack. President Obama also drew attention to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan in the Department of Homeland Security, which is intended to secure the nation’s resources and maintain their resilience.

ASCE is excited that the President’s focus is on our nation’s critical infrastructure at this time since our 5 Key Solutions, which were included in the 2009 Report Card, find such leadership necessary to improving our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The outlined solutions include:

• Increasing Federal Leadership;
• Promoting Sustainability and Resilience;
• Developing National, State, and Regional Infrastructure Plans;
• Addressing Life Cycle Costs and Operations and Maintenance; and
• Increasing and Improving Infrastructure Investment.

ASCE will be hosting a series of five infrastructure roundtables in early January 2010 in order start a dialogue between ASCE members and high level political and policy leaders. Each roundtable will focus on one of the 5 Key Solutions and Civil Engineering magazine will publish a series of articles detailing the discussions.

Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman, James Oberstar (D-MN) held a press conference today addressing the need for Congress to create a jobs bill with a heavy infrastructure component before Congress adjourns for the holidays. At the event Chairman Oberstar and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman, Peter DeFazio (D-OR), received a new list of 9,500 “ready-to-go” transportation construction projects compiled by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). The projects from the AASHTO survey could all be started within 120 days of contract totaling $47.3 billion, while APTA’s survey reveals transit projects totaling $15 billion, that can be started within 90 days. Both Chairmen stressed the importance of the new list of projects as a means to continue a sustained impact on the American economy and keep those in the construction sector employed.

While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has resulted in nearly 7,900 highway and transit projects and created or sustained more than 210,000 direct, on-project jobs, as well as hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs, the momentum is not sustainable and will be waning by May 2010. Passing a new jobs bill with additional infrastructure funding will allow state departments of transportation to continue to plan for the future and fix the current deficient infrastructure in the country. With the current surface transportation law looking toward another extension, when the current extension expires on December 18, a jobs bill could alleviate the staggering unemployment rates in the construction industry.

Then take a look through this site’s blogroll for some good links and add them to your RSS reader.

Two just added and definitely worth checking out: The Infrastructure Show which features podcasts with Prof.  Joseph Schofer of Northwestern Univeristy and The Infrastructurist which does a really great round-up of all the day’s infrastructure news.

Action to help save our nation’s failing infrastructure won’t come from a couple of people here in Washington, so it’s great to see this topic growing online. You should get involved too!  Maybe starting your own infrastructure blog is a bit ambitious, but if you have a few minutes, you can help spread the word just by mentioning it on Facebook or Twitter (or whatever you use!).

And don’t forget - your representatives in Washington and the state capitals need to hear from you too. You can send them an instant message from ASCE’s Click and Connect with Congress Advocacy site and tell them you support improving the nation’s infrastructure.

If you have some time over the holiday weekend, check out this week’s series on National Public Radio on Road Safety. On the Road to Safety looks at road safety from a variety of angles: the commuter, the elderly, policy, and others, all get explored.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving from ASCE, and if you’re on the road remember to be safe!!