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Nation's Infrastructure Receives a
<br />D in ASCE's 2005 `Report Card'
<br />n the Cour years that have elapsed since
<br />nsce's last assessment oC the nation's
<br />infrastructure-which conferred an
<br />overall grade of D+-the nation has failed to
<br />heed the call.[ndeed,there has been further
<br />decline, as witnessed by the overall grade of D
<br />meted out in the 2005 Report Card forArncri-
<br />ca's lnfiastnicture. Released on March 9 at a
<br />press conference held in Washington, D.C., at
<br />the National Press Club, this latest assessment
<br />suggests chat the nation's infrastructure-
<br />pnncipally its roads, bridges, drinking water
<br />systems, mass transit systems, schools, and sys-
<br />tems for delivering energy-may soon fail to
<br />meet sonety's needs,
<br />This is the third full report nsce has issued
<br />on the nation's infrastructure The first was in
<br />1998. Additionally, the Pro~ress Report for
<br />Aniencn's Irrfraitrucuire, released in 2003, sur-
<br />veyed tievclopments in the hope of finding
<br />improvements.
<br />In part because of the effect of nsce's first
<br />assessment of national mfrastructure, the unpor-
<br />Lance of investing in this area has loomed larger
<br />in the deliberanons of legislators and govern-
<br />ment officals at the federal, state, and local lev-
<br />els. fn 2001 nscL estimated that it would take
<br />813 trillion and five years to bang the coun-
<br />try's infrastructure to a satisfactory level. Two
<br />years later, however, the Society's progress
<br />report gave scant grounds for optimism.
<br />The advisory council that helped nscE pre-
<br />pare dus latest assessment comprises 24 distin-
<br />guished dvil engineers whose specialties and
<br />areas of expernse cover a broad spectrum. The
<br />performance and condition of each category of
<br />mfrastructure were assessed on the basis of fed-
<br />eral sources, and these sources also were used in
<br />the forecasts.The capacity of infrastructure and
<br />the current and pending levels of sWte,local, and
<br />federal funding were weighed against need.
<br />"Grades were assignaed on the basis of con-
<br />dition and capaaty, the funding versus the
<br />needs, and generally following a traditional
<br />grading scale," said Patrick) Natale, PE., nsCL's
<br />executive director, during the press conference.
<br />"By that t mean chat if seventy-seven percent of
<br />our roads were in good condition or better, that
<br />would earn a grade oCC Base grades were then
<br />reviewed by dae advisory council and adjust-
<br />ed-usually with a plus or nunus but some-
<br />times by as much as a full letter grade to reflect
<br />posuive or negative trends or the cnncal conse-
<br />quences should a catastrophic failure occur"
<br />[n the report, avil enguaeenng professionals
<br />maintain that conditions have worsened. Of the
<br />14 mfrastnicmre categories assigned grades-
<br />aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy,
<br />hazardous waste, navigable waterways, public
<br />parks and recreation, rail, roads, schools, solid
<br />waste, mass transit, and wastewater-10 receive
<br />grades in the D range. Of those 10, 7 represent-
<br />ed declines since 2001. hazardous waste, roads,
<br />and energy fell from a D+ to a D; wastewater
<br />and drinking water dropped from a D to a D ;
<br />mass transit went from a C- to a D+; and navi-
<br />gable waterways sank from a D+ to a D-, nsce
<br />estimates that a total mvesunent of 8].6 trillion
<br />will be needed over the next five years to make
<br />the necessary improvements.
<br />According to recent assessments, nearly 50
<br />percent of the navigation locks on the more
<br />than ] 9,000 km of inland waterways operated
<br />by the U-S. Army Corps of Engineers are
<br />functionally obsolete. By 2020 analysts esti-
<br />mate that the percentage will have risen to 80.
<br />Yet despite the importance of U.S waterways
<br />to the global economy-the Height on these
<br />waterways amounting to (mntini+ed nu page 7J
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