Every four years the American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, grades the infrastructure in the United States, from water mains, sewer systems
and plants, power lines connected to homes and businesses and the electrical
grid spanning the U.S.; the neighborhood streets and the national highway
system, dams, rail roads, airports. Infrastructure is the foundation of our
economy, connecting businesses, communities, and people, making us a first
world country. For the U.S. economy to be competitive as a place of business,
we need a first class infrastructure system – transportation systems that move
people and goods efficiently and at reasonable cost by land, water, and air;
transmission systems that deliver reliable, low-cost power from a wide range of
energy sources; and water systems that deliver clean reliable water 24/7 and
remove wastewater for treatment and often reuse.
Yet much of our nation’s infrastructure was built during
the 20th century, expanded during the post-World War II period, and frankly
taken for granted by Baby Boomers. For some time our infrastructure systems have
failed to keep pace with the current and expanding needs, and investment in
infrastructure had faltered as an unseen way to cut costs- until the systems
fail. However, it seems the tide has begun to turn. The 2013 Report Card grades
are in, and America’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure rose slightly to a D+
from the D we received in 2009. The grades in 2013 ranged from a high of B- for
solid waste to a low of D- for inland waterways and levees. Solid waste,
drinking water, wastewater, roads, and bridges all saw incremental
improvements, and the rail systems due to an influx of private investment jumped
from a C- to a C+. No categories saw a decline in grade this year.
Highlights from the national report:
The grade for drinking water improved slightly to a D. In
many parts of the nation, much of the piping that delivers water to our homes
and businesses is almost a century old, nearing the end of its useful life.
There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the United States.
Assuming every pipe would need to be replaced, the cost over the coming decades
could reach more than $1 trillion, according to the American Water Works
Association (AWWA), though new technology is being demonstrated to extend the
life of older piping systems. The United States still has one of the safest
drinking water systems in the world, but in many communities the pace of water
main replacement will have to increase. Even though pipes and mains are
frequently more than 100 years old and in need of replacement, outbreaks of
disease attributable to drinking water are rare because of the good treatment
systems and positive pressure on the drinking water distribution systems.
The grade for wastewater improved slightly to a D. The
ASCE estimates that $298 billion will be required over the next 20 years to
maintain and upgrade the nation’s wastewater and stormwater systems. As in the
water delivery systems pipes represent the largest capital need, three quarters
of the costs. Fixing and expanding the network of pipes will reduce sanitary sewer overflows, combined sewer overflows, and other pipe-related issues like urban sinkholes. Investment in wastewater treatment plants will have to
increase due to new regulatory requirements as the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA, expands mandated nutrient and sediment management standards
and water recycling programs across in the nation. In the past five years EPA
regulations have required cities to invest more than $15 billion in new pipes,
plants, and equipment to eliminate combined sewer overflows. Stormwater management
is still small compared with sanitary pipes and treatment plants, and its
growth may be managed by Low Impact and Green Infrastructure strategies. Even
with these lower cost strategies, EPA programs like the Chesapeake Bay TMDL
will dramatically increase that investment in wastewater infrastructure during
the coming decades, but may maintain and improve water quality even with a growing
population.
The grade ASCE gave for solid waste was a big bright spot
improving in 2013 to a grade of B-, the highest grade for any category. In
2010, Americans generated 250 million tons of trash. Of that, 85 million tons
were recycled or composted. This represents a 34% recycling rate, a vast
improvement from the 14.5% recycling rate in 1980. Per capita generation rates
of waste have been steady over the past 20 years and have declined since 2006.
Though there is plenty of room for improvement, a generation raised on “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” seems to be having a big impact.
The grade for energy remained at a D+ despite the boom in
gas and oil due to weakness in the distribution systems. The weaknesses in the
electrical grid were highlighted in the extended outages during the storms that
pounded the east coast in the past two years especially in New Jersey and
Maryland. Investment in power transmission has increased in recent years, but
ongoing permitting issues, weather events, and limited maintenance have
contributed to an increasing number of failures and power interruptions. Use of electricity in the U.S, has yet to regain the peak reached in 2007, but the demand
for electricity, natural gas, and oil is forecast to increase in the next
decades as the population increases and efficiency savings are used up. Though,
recent booms in oil and gas production could supply the energy demand, regulation
on carbon generation from electrical generation plants requiring replacement of
a significant portion of the generation capacity and about 17,000 miles of
additional high-voltage transmission lines (to expand the power grid and connect
wind power generation farms and large solar power generation installations to
the power grid) and significant oil and gas pipelines are needed to meet the
demand for power and regulatory mandates. Growing permitting and siting issues threaten construction
of the generation and distribution systems needed.
Railroads are experiencing a resurgence in both freight
transportation and passenger service. As a result freight and passenger rail
have been investing heavily in their tracks, bridges, and tunnels as well as
adding new capacity spending more than $75 billion since 2009. Increasing
investment and utilization was highlighted by the purchase of Burlington
Northern Santa Fe LLC, the largest U.S. railroad, by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire
Hathaway. That company alone spent $400 million on terminals in 2012 while a
group of oil and gas pipeline operators, Plains All American Pipeline LP plans to
spend about $1 billion on rail depot projects to substitute for stalled
pipeline projects to move oil and gas from drilling sites to processing
locations. Private investment resulted in the grade for rail moving up to a C+
in 2013.
Much of the transportation infrastructure-bridges, inland
waterways, ports, roads, airports are far more visible and have a much higher
public awareness of the needs of the systems, but are primarily funded by
public monies. The nation’s infrastructure needs a strong representation for
budget allocations because it is our future. The maintenance of the power grid
and the water treatment and distribution systems have suffered from neglect due
to the way that utility rates are calculated from costs. Regulated monopolies
that supply electricity, water, sewage have been cutting maintenance capital
budgets to cut overhead while maintaining or increasing profits while limiting
rate increases.
Virginia’s 2013 report card has not yet been completed.
We received an overall grade of D+ in 2009, but I am hopeful that when the new
report is complete that we will have improved to match (or crush) the C- that
Maryland received. Maryland’s report
card appears below.
 |
| ASCE report card |
No comments:
Post a Comment