John Hennessy III,
P.E.
Infrastructure 2010: Investment Imperative, the latest annual infrastructure report by Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young, focuses on water infra and urges decision-makers to view infrastructure as a long-term investment.
View this complete post...URBAN LAND INSTITUTE
Falling behind global competitors, the United States struggles to gain traction in planning and building the critical infrastructure investments that are necessary to ensure future economic growth and support a rapidly expanding population.
Recent federal stimulus spending addresses some pressing repair needs for transport- and water-related systems and provides seed funding for high-speed rail in important travel corridors, as well as new energy infrastructure. But recession-busted government budgets, entitlement and defense expenditures, and ballooning health care costs push infrastructure down most political priority lists—leaders continue to procrastinate when it comes to new investments as stressed taxpayers balk at more spending.
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According to a U.S. DOT Report on freight traffic, the number of trucks on our highways will more than double by 2035. Inland waterways, or “marine highways,” could reduce congestion by taking on some of the freight burden.
To make the port-and-waterway system more familiar, the U.S. Maritime Administration offers an interactive map, with information on current maritime infrastructure projects around the U.S. The map also shows inland waterways, interstate highways, railroads, and port locations around the country.
View this complete post...DESIGN OBSERVER GROUP
Overnight, Hurricane Katrina’s low barometric pressure and high winds sucked up a dome of gulf water and blew it north and northwestward into the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana deltaic plain. Shallow coastal depths reverberated the vertically churning water upward, further heightening the dome-shaped, landward-moving surge. Under natural conditions, hundreds of square miles of wetlands would have absorbed or spurned much of the intruding tide. But a century of coastal erosion had cost the region precious impedance, while a labyrinth of man-made navigation, oil, gas and drainage canals served as pathways for the surge to penetrate inland…
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND
Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy, but it comes at a high price for the environment and local communities. Moving freight creates traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic air pollution and noise in local communities. Without thoughtful infrastructure and operations improvements, projected increases in trade threaten to make these problems worse and place greater strains on the nation’s aging infrastructure.
UTAH DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
In order to meet all the future water demands in the Jordan River Basin, cooperative efforts will be needed to more fully and efficiently use existing water supplies. State and local leaders must work closely with water
suppliers in the Basin to continue to promote aggressive water conservation measures and additional innovative water management technologies. While this effort may delay the need for costly new water developments, these measures alone will not satisfy all future needs. The proposed Bear River Development Project will ultimately be needed. Exactly when this project will be constructed depends upon actual population growth as well as the ability of water conservation and other strategies to reduce water demand and the agreements within the basin to share resources.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Most people know that levees are structures built near rivers and lakes to reduce the risk of flooding. But what does it mean to live behind a levee? How much protection does a levee really provide? What do you need to know to remain as safe as possible?
NACE INTERNATIONAL
“By the year 2020, 45% of all water and wastewater systems will be in poor condition and/or exceeding their designed life span…”
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