Support for InfrastructureUSA.org
has been provided by these organizations and individuals:

John Hennessy III,
P.E.

Archive for the ‘Aging Infrastructure’ Category

Lights Out? Storm Surge, Blackouts, and How Clean Energy Can Help

Monday, November 2nd, 2015
FIGURE 1. U.S. Electric Grid Disruptions

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
To maintain our present and future access to reliable electricity—and all the health, safety, and economic benefits such access allows—we must prepare our electric grid for increased coastal flooding. One necessary approach is adapting electricity infrastructure. However, it is also critical to simultaneously pursue solutions that go beyond intervening with specific pieces of equipment. For that, we can look to bolstering the overall electricity resilience of critical facilities and vulnerable populations.

View this complete post...

Oregon DOT: Rehabilitating the Historic Siskiyou Rail

Monday, November 2nd, 2015

How a 65 mile section of the historic and rugged Siskiyou rail line in southern Oregon and northern California was opened using a mix of public and private funds, including $7 million in federal TIGER funds. Rail construction reopened the line that had been closed since 2008.

View this complete post...

Beyond Repair? America’s Infrastructure Crisis Is Local

Friday, October 30th, 2015
Figure 1. Federal Aid vs. Nonfederal Aid Mileage

MANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH
While states own a large portion of highly traveled roads, such as interstate highways, local governments are responsible for the majority of roadway mileage. Counties and municipalities, including minor civil divisions such as townships, are responsible for 3.1 million miles of roads and streets. Only 430,000 miles (14 percent) of these are part of the federal aid system. The remaining 2.7 million (86 percent) are nonfederal aid. By contrast, 72 percent of the 780,000 miles of state-owned roads are in the federal aid system (Figure 1).

View this complete post...

Mississippi River Watershed Report Card

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015
The Report Card was built in the five basins

AMERICA’S WATERSHED INITIATIVE
The Mississippi River Watershed has diminished as a healthy and sustaining water resource over the last several decades. To raise the grade, we need integrated management to reflect the relationships between the different goals and basins, and increased participation by partners and stakeholders working together on specific actions to improve the watershed.

View this complete post...

Guest on The Infra Blog: Philip K. Howard, Founder & Chair, Common Good

Tuesday, October 20th, 2015
Philip K. Howard on The Infra Blog

Philip K. Howard is a well-known leader of government and legal reform in America. In 2002, he formed Common Good, a nonpartisan national coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America.

“…we’re at one of those points where lots of things have to change in our society, and one of them happens to be the legal infrastructure. You can’t have a democracy where the people you elect actually don’t have the authority that goes along with their responsibility…it’s kind of a form of legal mental illness. It’s bad for everybody. Bad for the environment, bad for costs, bad for everybody.”

View this complete post...

Rhode Island: The Economic Impact of RhodeWorks

Monday, October 19th, 2015
Scenario Key:

RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF REVENUEREGIONAL ECONOMIC MODELS, INC. Executive Summary Rhode Island ranks last in the nation for overall bridge condition. The RhodeWorks accelerated transportation plan seeks to achieve a goal of 90% structurally sufficient bridges, the federally mandated minimum, by 2025, with the intention of improving safety, making Rhode Island more attractive for businesses […]

View this complete post...

ARTBA 2015 Student Video Contest Submissions

Wednesday, October 14th, 2015

Hosted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, this video contest invites students around the US to submit short videos on the subject of transportation.

View this complete post...

Opportunities for Infrastructure Reform: Improving America’s Procurement System

Thursday, October 1st, 2015

BROOKINGS INSTITUTIONMETROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Infrastructure enables global trade, powers businesses, connects workers to their jobs, creates new opportunities for struggling communities, and protects America from an unpredictable natural environment. However, these critical systems are in a state of disrepair. Aging bridges, congested roads, outmoded storm and drinking water systems, and deteriorating public buildings are just […]

View this complete post...

Guest on The Infra Blog: David Raymond, President & CEO, American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015
David Raymond, President & CEO, American Council of Engineering Companies

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the voice of America’s engineering industry. David A. Raymond has been President of ACEC for the past 16 years, joining the Council in March 1999.

“Americans are very resilient people; they put up with a lot, their country is becoming more of a third-world country, and it’s very unfortunate and I hate to say, the only time Americans are really going to wake up to this is when stuff absolutely disappears…So we need leaders who can point to the areas where we need to make much greater progress and we don’t have those leaders. We need a public that is much better educated about infrastructure and other areas, and we don’t have that.”

View this complete post...

Detroit, MI: Green Infrastructure Pilot Project

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

University of Michigan landscape architect Joan Nassauer, a professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, leads a pilot project to design and build new forms of green infrastructure on vacant properties in Detroit’s far-west-side Cody Rouge neighborhood. Four “bioretention gardens” that capture and hold stormwater are under construction now on sites where abandoned homes were razed.

View this complete post...

Follow InfraUSA on Twitter Facebook YouTube Flickr

CATEGORIES


Show us your infra! Show us your infra!

Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra!  Upload and instantly share your message.

Polls Polls

Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!

Views

What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think.  Ask questions.  Share a different view.

Blog

The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.


Dear Friends,

 

It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.

 

Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.

 

We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.

 

We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.

 

Steve Anderson

Managing Director

 

SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org

917-940-7125

InfrastructureUSA: Citizen Dialogue About Civil Infrastructure