10 Years After the I-35 Bridge Collapse: What’s Changed With the Nation’s Bridges?
August 01, 2017
It’s been 10 years since the I-35 bridge going west over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more. The eight-lane bridge was Minnesota’s third busiest, carrying 140,000 people a day. Its failure opened many people’s eyes to the danger of taking our infrastructure for granted and led leaders......
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......
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Transportation Spending Bill
July 28, 2017
The Senate Committee on Appropriations passed a bill yesterday to fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development for fiscal year 2018 (which according to the federal calendar begins October 1). The bill funds the Department of Transportation (DOT) at $79.6 billion for FY18 (a $1.5 billion increase from FY17). That total is $1.1......
Poll Says It All—Most Americans Willing to Pay More at the Pump
July 25, 2017
From structurally deficient bridges to dilapidated roads, there’s no question our infrastructure suffers from a lack of funding. Fortunately, most Americans are now willing to pay to reverse this trend. According to a recent Bloomberg national poll, 55 percent of Americans say they would pay a higher gas tax to repair their infrastructure. Even more......
Federal Infrastructure & Science Programs Receive House Appropriations
July 21, 2017
The House Appropriations Committee had a busy week, passing the remaining five (out of 12) appropriations bills this week, part of the process Congress goes through to create the federal budget. Here are the highlights of the bills affecting infrastructure and engineering. Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies National Science Foundation is funded at $7.3......
July 17, 2017
While all areas of infrastructure are important to address, with its “D-” grade—the lowest in the Report Card—transit would benefit from a little extra attention. For proof, look no further than two of our nation’s most prominent cities’ subway systems. Reliable transit systems are critical for thriving cities. Yet the subway systems in our nation’s......
July 11, 2017
Last week, the U.S. Water Alliance, of which ASCE is a member, held their annual One Water Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana. The summit’s themes included collaborating across and beyond water by leveraging effective partnerships across the water industry; financing and delivering water projects that maximize economic, environmental, and community benefits; communicating the value of......
Infrastructure in the News: Let’s Hear it for Investment
June 30, 2017
Our country’s underinvested infrastructure is not a secret—but some weeks it’s more obvious than others. This is one of those weeks. Transit failures of our nation’s largest subway systems and continued dissatisfaction with surface transportation infrastructure makes Americans more willing to invest. Tuesday’s derailment of the NYC subway was a brutal wakeup call for how......
Rural Transportation Facing a Rough Road
June 30, 2017
This week, TRIP, a national transportation research group, released a new report, Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Heartland. With the nation’s roads as a whole receiving a “D” grade in ASCE’s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the condition of rural roads is a major contributing factor to the low grade. TRIP’s new report outlines......
FAA Reauthorization Bills Released
June 23, 2017
With just over three months to go before the Federal Aviation Administration’s authorization expires, and a “D” grade for aviation in the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the House and Senate committees released their bills yesterday to reauthorize the agency. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s bill, H.R. 2997, will be the more controversial of the......
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