GLOBAL
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Global
THE NEW PRESIDENT HAS A MAJOR JOB ON HIS HANDS TO OVERHAUL AMERICA’S CREAKING DAMS, ROADS AND RAILWAYS, WRITES ROD SWEET The US is paying only about half its bill for adequate infrastructure, with dams, schools, roads, airports and transit systems all getting ‘Ds’ in the latest quadrennial infrastructure ‘Report Card’ issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Releasing the report on 3 March, ASCE warned that the total investment gap has gone from $2.1tn (£1.51tn) over 10 years to nearly $2.59tn (£1.87tn), and that a failure to close it would cost $10tn (£7.21tn) in lost GDP and three million jobs by 2039. “When we fail to invest in our infrastructure, we pay the price,” ASCE said. “Poor roads and airports mean travel times increase. An ageing electric grid and inadequate water distribution make utilities unreliable. Problems like these translate into higher costs for businesses to manufacture and distribute goods and provide services. These higher costs, in turn, get passed along to workers and families.” The warning came as a subcommittee of the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform launched an investigation on 3 March into the operator of Texas’ power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), for its part in leaving millions of Texans without electricity during the February storm that left dozens dead. It demanded documents relating to ERCOT’s
Flooded intersection in Austin, Texas during the thaw following the February 2021 snowstorm
preparations for extreme weather events going back to 2010. ASCE defines a D grade as one up from F, which means unfit for purpose, with assets being “in fair to poor condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life”. “A large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration,” it says. “Condition and capacity are of serious concern with strong risk of failure.” There is some good news. For the first time in 20 years, US infrastructure’s grade point average hit C-, up from a D+ in the last report in 2017, helped by a B in rail and slight improvements in aviation, drinking water, energy, inland waterways and ports. But bridges went down, slipping to a C, while stormwater, graded for the first time, received a “disappointing D”. Overall, 11 of 17 categories were stuck in the D range, which ASCE said was “a clear signal that our overdue
“The number of high-hazardpotential dams has more than doubled in the past two decades as development encroaches on once-remote structures” bill on infrastructure is a long way from being paid off”. One of the most pronounced funding gaps concerns the country’s 91,000 dams, of which the number of high-hazard-potential dams has more than doubled in the past two decades as development encroaches on once-remote structures. ASCE cited the Association of State Dam Safety Officials’ estimation that the number of deficient high-hazardpotential dams now exceeds 2,300. ASCE said $93.6bn (£67.5bn) needed to be spent on dams this decade, while just $12.5bn (£9bn) had been earmarked for the period.
JNO.SKINNER
CAN BIDEN PLUG THE LEAKS IN US INFRASTRUCTURE?
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