The areas of infrastructure that improved benefited from vocal leadership, thoughtful policymaking and investments that garnered results. The grades remain a cause for concern and reflect the fact that America’s infrastructure bill is long overdue. In addition to dwindling federal funding, state and local governments often have limited resources available to change the trajectory of infrastructure investment. Perhaps, no infrastructure category better exemplifies these challenges than transit. Primarily a locally-owned and funded service, transit is often one of the first targets when budgets need to be trimmed. This mindset when facing tough choices has resulted in a $90 billion backlog across the nation and inadequate, unreliable service in many communities. Transit is not the only infrastructure challenge local governments are facing, given that they, often, are also the owners of roads and bridges, which, along with transit, account for the largest part of the overall investment gap, $1.1 trillion. Investment Needs for America’s Infrastructure In addition to grading the nation’s infrastructure, ASCE estimates the investment needed in each infrastructure category to maintain a state of good repair and earn a grade of B. The most recent analysis reveals the U.S. has only been paying about half of its infrastructure bill for some time, and failing to close that gap risks rising costs, falling business productivity, America’s Dams earned a “D” in the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card. To raise this grade, our nation’s dams require nearly $45 billion of investment. plummeting GDP, lost jobs, and ultimately, reduced disposable income for every American family. Even though the U.S. Congress and some states have recently made efforts to invest more in infrastructure, these efforts do not come close to the estimated $2.0 trillion in remaining infrastructure needs. To raise the overall infrastructure grade and maintain our global competitiveness, Congress and the states must invest an additional $206 billion each year to prevent the economic consequences to families, business, and the economy. Economic Impact of ‘D+’ Infrastructure The economic stakes of America’s infrastructure system are high because its condition can either help or hurt the productivity of the economy. In 2016, ASCE produced an economic study, Failure to Act: Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future, to quantify the ramifications of inadequate infrastructure. The report found that the low grades and infrastructure disruptions are not only inconveniences in our daily life, they have real economic impact. Our insufficient infrastructure is a drag on the economy, because every time goods are stuck in traffic, flights are cancelled or a water main breaks it sends ripples felt throughout the economy. Consequently, U.S. businesses will be more inefficient. As costs rise, business productivity falls, causing GDP to drop, cutting employment, and, ultimately, reducing personal income. Failure to Act assesses five sectors of infrastructure to evaluate the economic impact on business sales, gross domestic product (GDP), jobs and personal disposable income. Using the LIFT Economic Model, the report concludes that the underinvestment in infrastructure is a costly one to the U.S. economy, including: • $3.9 trillion in losses to the U.S. GDP by 2025 • $7 trillion in lost business sales by 2025 • 2.5 million lost American jobs in 2025 ASCE’s 2016 study, Failure to Act: Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future reports that there is currently a $2 trillion infrastructure investment gap. In addition to the macro-level losses, poor infrastructure also hurts every American’s bank account. The average American household loses $3,400 a year ($9 a day) due to our insufficient infrastructure. This underscores infrastructure’s critical role in the nation’s prosperity, in addition to the public’s health and welfare. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2018 • 15
