American Infrastructure-Now or Never
Because of the poor state of the economy the care American infrastructure has been ignored, which poses a danger to everyone that come in contact with it. Recent disasters have reminded many how important the care of American infrastructure is. America’s infrastructure gets a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which recommends that we spend $2.2 trillion on repairs and maintenance. “Much of America is held together by Scotch tape, bailing wire and prayers,” says director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. But with the country no longer swimming but drowning in debt the upkeep of things such as roads and bridges, which we use every
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ASCE gave U.S drinking water, inland waterways, levees, roads and wastewater infrastructures. The report they generated estimated that leaking pipes lose seven billion gallons of clean drinking water a day “Infrastructure is the four-syllable jawbreaker that governments use to describe the concrete, stone, steel, wires and wood that Americans rely on every day but barely notice until something goes awry (Kelderman).” Due to the state of the economy many lawmakers put the money need to keep infrastructure properly taken care of into things like defense. The federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which makes low interest loans to clean up or protect water supplies, has shrunk from more than $3 billion in 1990 to roughly $1 billion in 2007 (Kelderman). The report also suggests that there is an $11 billion dollar shortfall annually needed to bring facilities up to current federal water regulations. As stated in the article “ The State of the Union-Crumbling’, the nation is spending less than 40 percent of the $225 billion needed annually for the next 50 years to maintain the current system of roads, rails and bridges and build enough transportation capacity for a growing population.
In the past ten years there have been many infrastructure failures that make you wonder when the government will get serious about the issue at hand. Not paying attention to the condition of infrastructure has proven to
Evidence: According to official information straight from the White houses The President’s plan includes $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize an infrastructure that now receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers and putting hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job. Of the investments for highway and transit modernization projects, the President’s plan will make immediate investments of at least $1,578,600,000 in Florida that could support a minimum of
Between the costs of infrastructure repairs and medical assistance to those affected, the State of Michigan has a great financial burden that they are responsible for. Hundreds
Mike Parker is the US Infrastructure Advisory Leader of Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of Ernst & Young LLP. Based in Philadelphia, he advises on finance, procurement, business strategy and public-private partnerships (PPP) for large-scale infrastructure projects and programs. Selected as one of Mass Transit magazine’s “40 Under 40,” Mike has taught workshops, written articles and served as a speaker at numerous transportation, infrastructure and financial forums.
According Edmonton’s 2012 budget report, almost all municipalities across Canada face a significant infrastructure deficit. Neighborhood renewal occurred periodically with funding from other orders of government, yet it failed to address the full life-cycle requirements of preventative maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. Over time, the condition of roads, sidewalks and sewers deteriorated, resulting in more frequent collapsed sewers, increased sidewalk hazards, and dramatically increased maintenance like pothole repairs. The Office of Infrastructure and Funding Strategy highlighted the need for ongoing funding for neighborhood infrastructure to overcome an anticipated $2.2 billion funding gap in neighborhood roads and related infrastructure.
In this detailed report, essential actors such as the Transportation, Natural Resources, and California Environmental Protection Agency provide ongoing projects they are developing which collectively helps California attain an improved infrastructure plan. In recent events, Californians passed Measure M in 2016 by a 71.5% margin which will serve as sales tax to “improver freeway traffic flow/safety; repair potholes/sidewalks; repave local streets”(Metro). An unpopular decision that has affected commuters was the recent gas tax signed into effect by governor Jerry Brown on November 1st 2017. This increase in tax , formerly known as the Senate 1 Bill, increased gasoline prices by 12 cents to help fund the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Over the course of a decade, this legislative package aims to collects $54 Billion to fix roads, freeways and bridges. In terms of distribution, $200,000,000 of the funds will go into road maintenance, $100,000,000 of the funds will go to the Active Transportation Program, and $400,000 of the funds will go to maintenance and rehabilitation (State of California
In the United States, the available water resources is also under assault. Half of water collected and stored by existing infrastructure is usually used in the production of electricity. This forces the population to use and divide what little there is left. This has always been a “good enough” approach until now, when water prices and population is on the rise.(3) There are already calls for charging water resources in order to increase efficiency of use.(3) Water protection is already being carried out and has been for years, but there is still water pollution occurring within the United States. After the Civil war, America strived to provide its population with clean water
Texans need to change their mindset regarding water conservation if they are going to overcome water shortage. In fact, San Antonio is the only sizable Texas metro area with an aggressive and effective water conservation program (McCormick). Austin has a decent water conservation program, but its per capita water use is still very high (second only to Dallas) and its reduction goals are weak. Houston’s current per capita water use is low, but the City of Houston is actively seeking new water rights and supplies to meet projected future water demands (McCormick). Houston could address those needs on a more cost-effective basis by implementing an aggressive water conservation program like San Antonio. The Texas State Water Plan also fails to address the fourteen percent water loss by water utilities from pipe leaks and water theft (Texas Living Waters Project). Houston is one of the biggest offenders regarding water loss. Texas needs to aggressively monitor water loss and make water loss reduction and the required use of leak detection equipment part of the water rights permitting process. The more than twenty six hundred water utilities who routinely fail to file their annual water loss reports as required by law should be penalized (Texas Living Waters Project). Clearly politics and public opinion regarding the need for conservation have made the current water plan less balanced and sustainable by
America faces an annual shortfall of $11 billion to replace aging facilities to comply with safe drinking water regulations, and yet as of 2005, federal funding for drinking water remained at less than 10 percent of this total. The National Park Service estimates (and underestimates) a maintenance backlog of $6.1 billion. In January 2007 dozens of beaches in California were closed when heavy rains caused an overflow that dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into the waters. The number of unsafe dams rose by 33 percent between 1998 and 2005. The number of non-federally-owned dams identified as unsafe is increasing at a faster rate than those being repaired. For all the non-federally-owned dams that pose a direct risk to human life if they should fail, the ASCE estimates that $10.1 billion is needed over the next twelve years to make them safe. In sum, the ASCE estimates that the country would need to spend $1.6 trillion in the next five years to bring the country's infrastructure to an acceptable minimum
This topic has a lot of correlation to what we have been discussing in class, and the assigned reading- in the sense that water is the basis of life on earth. Many people have the mindset (including myself before the tour) that we will never run out of water. This leads to an exaggeration of water being wasted whether it be from: washing dishes, taking long showers, running water when not using it. I learned from the treatment facility that they collect over 80 million gallons of wastewater a day! It also takes a lot of energy to be able to treat the water. I was surprised to learn the reclaimed water is used to feed parks, golf courses and even used agricultural purposes. This is important, and just like public transportation, should be funded and be labeled as high priority. The reason it should be funded more is because why waste the little fresh water we have left on places that don’t necessarily need them?
Throughout the course of history there have been many advances in the world of infrastructure, mostly occurring in the 1800’s and the 1900’s. Infrastructure is defined as the basic physical and organizational structure needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. This definition shows how important infrastructure is to people’s lives today. It affects how people live, travel, and communicate with one another. Three men who made huge contributions in the world of infrastructure were Robert Moses, Richard Ravitch and Othmar Hermann Ammann. All three of these men were involved in designing numerous landmarks, highways, bridges, tunnels, and other forms of infrastructure that today we take for granted. Although all of these men were involved in infrastructure in the New York metropolitan area, their contributions, personalities, and the public’s opinion of them were all different.
This magazine article will look into the financial implications of our infrastructure. Both the current need and our future spend will be broken down. This will show the possibility of national economic expansion by creating jobs in industries such as highways, bridges, waterways, and electric grids. Billions of dollars a year are spent in emergency costs. There is currently not enough man power to sustain that need.
The transportation system sectors are responsible for transporting their customers and good within and outside the United States safely. The last of the 16 critical infrastructures is the water and wastewater systems sector. This sector is responsible for providing safe drinking and bathing water to the economy. They treat and purify the water getting rid of bacteria for safe drinking and also prevent disease (Lewis, 2006). Each one of the 16-critical infrastructure is very important to the economy/environment. Each one of them play an essential role in attending to the need of our economy. Their destruction of these critical infrastructure would have a negative impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety,
Throughout the United States of America, our infrastructure demands to be repaired. Since the rapid expansion of our infrastructure in the early to mid 1900’s, the basis of our nation, the infrastructure we rely upon, has outlived its life. At this very moment, money, an item in high-demand, is lost due to a large quantity of failures within our infrastructure. Everyday, sewage lines leak, gas pipelines explode, roads crumble and form potholes, power outages occur, and many other infrastructure failures take place. As the United States of America seeks to expand its economy, the need to renew the rapidly aging infrastructure should not be neglected.
The government is pouring billions of dollars every year to sustain and attempt to fix the
Every day Americans depend on public water systems to treat and deliver over 44 billion gallons of water to homes daily (“Importance of Clean Water”). However, Americans