As one of the greatest nations on the planet,
the United States excels in a number of areas, innovation and entrepreneurship
foremost among them. But something you might be hard-pressed to find at the top
of anyone’s best-of list is infrastructure—specifically roads, rail and mass
transit.
In this department at least, the U.S. has
some catching up to do with other parts of the globe. The World Economic
Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 ranks the U.S. 16th
in “quality of overall infrastructure”—15th in quality of its rail system and
16th in quality of its roads.
Heavy news indeed for the country known for
building the first-of-its-kind transcontinental railway and interstate highway
system.
But if you’ve been keeping up with current
events, this shouldn’t come as a shock. The recent and very tragic Amtrak
derailment in Philadelphia is a somber reminder that America needs stronger
infrastructure policies at every level of government. This will not only help
save lives but also create jobs, boost the economy and make transportation more
safe and efficient.
Civil engineers have been making this case
for years. Following its most recent assessment of all forms of infrastructure,
from energy to schools to drinking water, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the U.S. a
depressingly low overall grade of D+. Levees and inland waterways were the
worst offenders, both slapped with a D-. According to the group, which releases
its report every four years, a staggering $3.6 trillion will be necessary by
2020 to bring the nation’s infrastructure up to ideal conditions. Short of this
investment, the ASCE says, $1 trillion in U.S. business sales could be lost
every year, along with millions of jobs. The mayors of some of the largest U.S.
cities emphatically acknowledge the relationship between quality infrastructure
and strong economic growth. In a recent poll taken of several mayors, Politico
magazine found that infrastructure sits atop their list of concerns.
Thirty-five percent cited “better infrastructure” as the one thing that could
help their city’s economy grow the most; 31 percent said that “deteriorating
infrastructure” was the city’s greatest challenge.
Source:
mining.com