This Week in Infrastructure: The Need for Funding
February 14, 2014
Several states are responding to the impending reality that this fall the Highway Trust Fund “will have insufficient revenues to meet obligations” unless a sustainable revenue source is found. Among those voicing concerns is Tennessee. As a precaution, TDOT prepared two 2015 budgets: one with federal funding, budgeting $1.8 billion and another without, budgeting $900......
This Week in Infrastructure: What is the State of Our Union, Really?
February 02, 2014
The Super Bowl (or the first mass-transit bowl as we like to call it) wasn’t the only required TV viewing this week . The State of the Union drew more than 33 million viewers listening to President Obama’s agenda for the country. Here at ASCE, we were pleased that President Obama laid out goals of......
January 13, 2014
Georgia’s infrastructure has failed to improve over the last five years. In a new report, titled the 2014 Report Card for Georgia’s Infrastructure, the Georgia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded the state’s infrastructure a “C,” a grade unchanged from their 2009 Report Card. The lowest grade awarded was a “D-”,......
Georgia’s Infrastructure Is On Our Mind
January 08, 2014
The 2014 Report Card for Georgia’s Infrastructure will be released next Monday, January 13th, in the South Wing of the State Capitol on the very first day day of Georgia’s legislative session. Highlighting the infrastructure needs across the state, the Report Card will provide a new GPA for Georgia’s infrastructure as well as new grades......
Infrastructure Is the Missing Ingredient to Healthy School Lunches
December 30, 2013
The Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project lead by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report this December titled, Serving Healthy School Meals: U.S. Schools Need Updated Kitchen Equipment. They found that 55% of school food authorities (SFAs) need kitchen infrastructure changes at one or more schools to meet......
Meet IP3, the New P3 Where Citizens Are the Owners
December 19, 2013
If you follow the infrastructure financing debate about how America is going to fund our future infrastructure needs, you have probably heard the term P3 or public-private partnership discussed as an innovative financing structure to utilize private investment in public infrastructure. However, with the release of the American Enterprise Institute’s new report, Road Pricing and......
Lighting Airports Runways with LEDs Saves Big for Raleigh
December 09, 2013
America needs solutions to our infrastructure issues that can work today, and what if it’s as simple as switching out the lights? The replacement of the entire airfield electrical system at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) represents the first major air carrier airport in the United States to complete a full airfield conversion to FAA-certified LED......
Public Opinion Shows Americans Open to Bus Rapid Transit
November 12, 2013
Our friends at HNTB recently conducted their latest America THINKS survey, which polled a random nationwide sample of 1,127 Americans. The conclusion: Americans are open to new approaches to public transportation, such as bus rapid transit. But what is ‘bus rapid transit’? Simply, it is a new way of thinking about community bus service. According......
EPA Reports on the Importance of Water to the U.S. Economy
November 07, 2013
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new report titled “The Importance of Water to the U.S. Economy.” The report concludes that, as a nation, we do not currently reflect water’s true worth in the economy. A great example is the fact that communities across the country are low-balling the cost of clean, safe tap......
Infrastructure Investment Wins at the Ballot Box!
November 06, 2013
Yesterday voters in Maine and Texas both affirmed ballot resolutions resulting in increased investment in their local infrastructure. In Maine voters overwhelming approved Bond Question 3, 72% in favor to 28% opposed. Bond Question 3 gives permission to the State to borrow $100 million to fund transportation projects around the state which in turn would......