National Levee Safety Program Gets Some Love in the FY20 Minibus
June 21, 2019
Tis the season for appropriations! The fiscal year 2020 (FY20) appropriations process is well underway, and the House of Representatives passed the first minibus of FY20 spending bills, H.R. 2740, which contained a blockbuster win for ASCE: increased funding for the National Levee Safety Program (NLSP)! Although the minibus does not fund the program at......
Innovations in Seismology: Fiber Optics Help Maintain America’s Infrastructure
June 20, 2019
The Seismological Society of America hosted a briefing on June 17 on fiber optic analyses, proving that using fiber optic analyses could be instrumental to the maintenance and safety of America’s infrastructure. Panelists included Herb Wang from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and Nate Lindsay from the University of California, Berkley, and they focused on......
ASCE Says Farewell to Brian Pallasch After 20 Years
June 07, 2019
After two decades of energetic and skilled service to ASCE and the civil engineering profession, Brian Pallasch, who served as Managing Director of Government Relations and Infrastructure Initiatives, is leaving ASCE to take on his next professional challenge. His career journey takes him to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he will serve as the Executive Vice......
Massive, bipartisan transportation package approved in Illinois
June 07, 2019
Illinois has just made giant strides in modernizing the state’s surface transportation—it became the fourth state of 2019 to increase its gas tax. Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) signed into law a 19-cent per gallon gas tax increase, doubling the previous rate to a total of 38 cents per gallon, as part of a $45 billion......
Several High-Profile Disasters Bring A Renewed Focus on Resilient Infrastructure
June 04, 2019
The saying goes “April showers bring May flowers,” but here we are at the beginning of June – one day closer to summer vacation and the start of beach season, and the April showers haven’t stopped. Flooding, along with a plethora of other natural disasters across the country, from Hurricanes Michael and Florence to the......
New Bipartisan Report Stresses Investing in Nation’s Infrastructure is Common Sense
May 30, 2019
Last week’s meeting between President Trump, Speaker Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, and Democratic leaders that was supposed to turn the $2 trillion infrastructure bill discussions into policy and funding proposals was interfered by politics once again. Regardless of political drama in DC, the House and Senate are going full steam ahead in introducing infrastructure......
Infrastructure & Science Funding Bills Move Through House Committees
May 24, 2019
The House Appropriations Committee was hard at work addressing infrastructure and science education this week, which is perfect timing after last week’s nation-wide Infrastructure Week push. The committee passed bills to set aside funding for a number of infrastructure categories including water, energy, and national parks, while the House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development......
Congress and President Trump: Come together for #InfrastructureNow
May 21, 2019
President Eisenhower built the federal highway system. President Reagan and Congress later fixed it. Tomorrow, President Trump and Congress have a historic opportunity to revitalize America and bring our infrastructure into the 21st century. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) rated the overall condition of our nation’s infrastructure a cumulative grade of D+ on......
Infrastructure Week: #BuildForTomorrow
May 16, 2019
The mood this Infrastructure Week was optimistic, with the timing perfectly sandwiched between two important meetings: the April 30th discussion between Democratic leaders in Congress and President Trump to discuss a $2 trillion investment solution and a scheduled next week to discuss funding solutions for this plan. Excitement was in the air from the DMV to Texas,......
ASCE Gives California Infrastructure a C-
May 09, 2019
The 2019 Report Card for California’s Infrastructure, released this week, gave the golden state an overall grade of a “C-.” The state has made progress in recent years to close the infrastructure investment gap, but much work remains to prepare the infrastructure to support the state’s economy and preserve Californians quality of life. In 2017, California......
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