Thursday, August 30, 2007

America's Crumbling Infrastructure

It reads like 1990 all over again, yes?

The American Society of Civil Engineers in a 2005 report, however, said it will cost more than $9 billion a year for 20 years to eliminate all bridge deficiencies.

The total tab to lift all the nation's infrastructure to good condition is estimated at $1.6 trillion over five years.

The report gave a "C" to the bridges, while the the power grid, dams, roads, water systems and school buildings each got a "D" and infrastructure security an "incomplete."
On a personal note, I got laughed at when I suggested, post 9/11, that it was an opportunistic time to expand the number, capacity, and quality of US airports. (There was much debate about the measure of an economic stimulus package at that time that, as we know now, ended in dubious marginal income tax rate cuts ...).

With over half - half! - of all flights late this summer, that looks like a good idea, even with all the new security that was supposed to deter travel ...

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