
Lead contamination in the drinking water of a Michigan city helped expose serious problems with America’s water infrastructure. So how bad is the country’s water crisis?
View this complete post...John Hennessy III,
P.E.
Lead contamination in the drinking water of a Michigan city helped expose serious problems with America’s water infrastructure. So how bad is the country’s water crisis?
View this complete post...ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS (AEM)
NORTHWESTERN ENGINEERING TRANSPORTATION CENTER
Supported by a grant from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Northwestern University’s Transportation Center undertook an exploration of the factors, needs, and opportunities facing U.S. transportation infrastructure in the next 35 years. The objective of the study was not to forecast the future, but to frame the possibilities and thus to inform the public and policy makers about future needs for transportation infrastructure.
Every 2.5 minutes, the American West loses a football field worth of natural area to human development. This project maps a rapidly changing landscape, explores what is being lost, and profiles a new movement for conservation that is gaining ground.
View this complete post...BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER
We have an extraordinary opportunity in America — to confront the pressure being placed on our nation’s roads, water systems, ports, airports, and energy grid with available private capital. This report establishes the framework to unite projects that need funding with private capital ready to invest in a transparent system that allocates risks and resources to the public’s benefit.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES
Most cities are limited in terms of the number and scope of infrastructure funding tools. Cities also face additional implementation hurdles like county administration overlays and voter approval requirements. Of course, cities are marrying the tools explored here with others, but a patchwork of tactics will only take them so far. Cities need a more deliberate approach that recognizes the central role of infrastructure in the success of our nation’s economic engines…This report presents a state-by-state analysis and comparison of the local tools to fund infrastructure, including local option taxes and fees, such as sales taxes, fuel taxes and motor vehicle fees, as well as emerging mechanisms like state infrastructure banks and public-private partnerships.
Janette Sadik-Khan recently published Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, an empowering road map for rethinking, reinvigorating, and redesigning our cities, from a pioneer in the movement for safer, more livable streets.
“What we’ve seen is that people really want to be in places, whether they’re young or old, that are safe, that are fun, where the quality of life is good and they’ve got lots of ways to get around that don’t involve driving…I think that what we need to do is also update our cities and update our streets to reflect the way that people want to use them.”
View this complete post...AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS (ASCE)
From 2016 to 2025, each household will lose $3,400 each year in disposable income due to infrastructure deficiencies; and if not addressed, the loss will grow to an average of $5,100 annually from 2026 to 2040, resulting in cumulative losses up to almost $34,000 per household from 2016 to 2025 and almost $111,000 from 2016 to 2040 (all dollars in 2015 value).
To keep parks open, we have to find a sustainable funding source for maintenance and operations. If Congress can’t approve more appropriations for the parks, the NPS will be forced to make systemic changes. The slope is already sliding toward private investment, but it’s up to the American people (and policymakers) to decide what will ultimately happen.
View this complete post...The U.S. Department of Transportation is working to expand access to opportunity for all Americans.
View this complete post...CG/LA INFRASTRUCTURE
As part of the Blueprint 2025 initiative focused on developing a roadmap for the U.S. presidential administration that will take office on January 20, 2017, CG/LA Infrastructure has just completed a survey of just over 120 infrastructure professionals, from both the public and private sectors, across the United States. The purpose of the survey was to identify how the professional U.S. infrastructure community – across all sectors, geographies and disciplines – views the current state of U.S. infrastructure.
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Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125