The long-running, renowned television news magazine 60 Minutes broadcast a report on American infrastructure on its 23 November 2014 episode. It has received a fair amount of attention for the more dire facts it shared with the public (but which are not all too surprising to the engineering community).
WATCH “Falling Apart: America’s Crumbling Infrastructure” and related extras
The story notes how Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has more than 4000 bridges and that 20% of them have been assessed as “structurally deficient.” The city’s Liberty Bridge was constructed in 1928 to serve 50 years; it is still in service and manages millions of vehicles per year.
Philadelphia has 900 structurally deficient bridges on which 9 million people pass each day. Of those bridges, 15 of them are along a 22-mile stretch of one of the country’s most important highways. It would cost more than USD $7 billion to correct just those 15 bridges.
Other items noted in the report:
- The Federal Highway Trust Fund is “almost insolvent” and that the fund will be broke mid-2015, without further investment–a hard possibility in Washington D.C.
- The 1997 Transportation Bill, which was substantial, has been extended in short-term measures 21 times since rather than a new, comprehensive transportation bill.
- Only 2 ports in the Eastern United States will be able to handle the new cargo ships that the Panama Canal has been expanded to accommodate
Much of the problem with the country’s infrastructure can rightfully be attached to the failure of the US Congress to pass timely legislation (or any legislation) in support of keeping infrastructure current, from roads to ports to bridges and tunnels, etc.
WHAT ABOUT GEOSYNTHETICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE?
Geosynthetics have played a strong role in improving infrastructure, in performance and economics.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has routinely rated Waste Management as the top area of infrastructure in the US; it is the only sector in which geosynthetic technologies are required.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has utilized geosynthetics in its highly touted Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil – Integrated Bridge System (GRS-IBS) and realized substantial savings and significantly shorter timelines for small bridges.
- See Gordon Keller’s 2-part article on “Smarter, Faster, Cheaper” bridge abutments
- GRS bridge abutments take center stage
Studies are increasingly showing the ROI on geosynthetics in subgrade stabilization
In 2014, the US Congress did pass the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) and specifically included a recognition of geosynthetics as an alternative technology the US Army Corps of Engineers must consider.
- “Persistence Pays Off” with WRRDA (Comments from John Henderson)
- Interview with Boyd Ramsey on WRRDA’s “7-Year Itch“
- WRRDA signed into law
Stories on geosynthetics in America’s and the global infrastructure will continue to be published on Geosynthetica.net.
