Engineers: Infrastructure Fails to Make the Grade
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With Congress debating President Obama’s plan to rebuild our infrastructure as a key part of an economic stimulus plan, civil engineers—the people who know our roads, bridges and dams best—give our infrastructure an overall grade of ”D” and say repairs and upgrades are desperately needed.
In a report issued this week, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) says the nation’s infrastructure is poorly maintained, unable to meet current and future demands and, in some cases, is simply unsafe.
ASCE’s new 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure assigns an overall grade of “D” to the nation as well as individual grades in 15 infrastructure categories. Since ASCE’s last assessment in 2005, there has been little change in the condition of America’s roads, bridges, drinking water systems and other public works.
