The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has published the Infrastructure Report Card, which analyzes the overall ability of infrastructure to meet our needs, since 1988. In that time, the average grade has fallen from a C to a D. ASCE puts the dollar amount needed to improve that D to a B at $2.2 trillion dollars.
Highly publicized infrastructure failures only serve to underscore the point that we're failing in delivering and maintaining our infrastructure.
Examples include:
• The 2007 I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, resulting in loss of life
• The 2005 catastrophic flooding of New Orleans
• The 2008 fracture of a 66" water pipe in Bethesda, Maryland, resulting in helicopter rescues of stranded motorists
The World Bank cites the following startling statistics for the developing world:
• 1.6 billion people have no power
• 1.2 billion people lack access to safe and potable drinking water
• 2.4 billion people are affected by inadequate sanitation and the diseases it spreads
Conventionally provided infrastructure is not able to keep up. It just costs too much to procure, procurement takes longer due to current laws, or the public money to pay for it is just not there.
Areas of infrastructure need based on the ASCE Report Card are as follows:
• Transportation - $1.4 trillion
• Water - $255 billion
• Schools - $160 billion
Of the $1.8 trillion dollars of need listed above, the ASCE Report Card shows $824 billion as funded, leaving close to a trillion dollars needed for infrastructure maintenance and improvement.