Engineers Encouraged by President’s Focus on Infrastructure During State of Union Address
January 30, 2018
The following is a statement by Kristina Swallow, PE, President, American Society of Civil Engineers on President Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress on Jan. 30, 2018: “A year into his Presidency, the American Society of Civil Engineers is pleased that President Trump has focused national attention on improving our roads, bridges, and......
Public-Private Partnerships, A Tool in the Toolbox
January 23, 2018
Partnerships between public agencies – federal, state, and local – and private companies are an increasingly popular infrastructure financing policy tool. As public budgets continue to be squeezed; public-private partnerships (P3s) allow planners and policymakers more breathing room to invest. P3s can be an effective financing mechanism through tools such as municipal and private activity......
Federal Investment in Infrastructure: A Mutually Beneficial Relationship
January 12, 2018
America’s infrastructure network is the backbone of our economy. Every day, our roads, bridges, rails, inland waterways, transit systems and more move millions of people and goods from origin to destination. Infrastructure enables us to get to work, school, and leisure activities, and facilitates trade. The role infrastructure plays in supporting the economy and preserving......
Must Haves for a Federal Infrastructure Bill
January 10, 2018
The anticipation for the Administration’s Infrastructure Proposal is mounting, as reports indicate Republicans discussed it at a retreat at Camp David and the White House hosted a bipartisan meeting to share more about what they will release. To address our nation’s infrastructure needs, we need an additional $2 trillion worth of investment across all levels......
Legislation Advocates for Resilient Re-Building
December 13, 2017
The Safe Building Codes Act, which has been introduced in various of forms in the past several Congresses, has become particularly relevant because of the hazard events of 2017. The goal of the legislation is to amend the Stafford Act to enhance existing mitigation programs by encouraging states to voluntarily adopt and enforce nationally-recognized model......
Congressman Larson Introduces the “America Wins Act”
November 14, 2017
Earlier this month, Congressman John Larson (D-CT) introduced H.R.4209, the America Wins Act – a bill which would invest $1 trillion, through taxing harmful pollution, in our infrastructure over a decade. Under this legislation, $400 billion will be invested in existing federal highway programs and eliminate the $138 billion Highway Trust Fund (HTF) shortfall; $100......
Kelly Barnes Dam Failure: Dam Safety Then and Now
November 06, 2017
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Kelly Barnes Dam failure: an event that acted as a catalyst for improvement in dam safety. On November 6, 1977, Toccoa Falls Bible College was nearly swept away as high water erupted through the defects in the Kelly Barnes Dam, sending 25-foot waves through the campus. This tragedy......
September 27, 2017
Within the past month, major hurricanes hit Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, two earthquakes only days apart, led to the loss of over 100 lives and the destruction of massive amounts of infrastructure in Mexico, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land have burned in the Pacific Northwest from wildfires. These events coincided with......
Texas Report Card Gives Infrastructure a “C-“
September 20, 2017
Texas’ infrastructure has received a lot of attention in the past few weeks following Hurricane Harvey. Today, weeks the cities of Port Aransas and Rockport were destroyed and Houston and South Texas flooded, the Texas section of the ASCE released the Report Card for Texas’ Infrastructure, and the report finds there is work to be......
Advocating on the Hill for Funding of Critical Dam Programs
July 31, 2017
In an effort to raise the Dams grade, which received a “D” in the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, ASCE and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) spent two days on Capitol Hill last week advocating for funding the High Hazard Potential Dam Rehabilitation Program and the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) – programs......