President's Memo
October 2007
It's Time to Invest
by David Darwin
You have a small leak in your roof. The best you can see, it's causing some damage to the ceiling. It's mainly an inconvenience. You'd like to ignore it. A week or so later, you notice another leak. The roof is pretty old and now you realize that you have to make a choice. You can patch the leaks. That won't cost much, but the roof will be unsightly and the patches may not last long. Or you can replace the roof, but now we're talking real money. What are you going to do?
Considering the importance of the roof in protecting the rest of the house, as a wise homeowner you decide to replace the roof. And because you plan to live there a long time, you decide to go with the newest, high-quality roofing materials so that you won't have to repair the roof again during your lifetime.
If you believe that a country's infrastructure is at least as important to its people and economy as a roof is to a house, then it's clear that, here in the U.S., we are facing such a decision. Over the years, our approach to infrastructure maintenance has been, in many ways, the equivalent of putting small patches on a roof because the cost of doing it right (so we won't have to do it again during our lifetime) is just too high, and we'd rather not put that much money into it. As funds become available, we may replace or repair significant portions of the infrastructure, but even then, we often won't spend the time or money needed to ensure the long-term durability of the replacement. Overall, our investment is far below what's needed, and we keep falling further behind.
On August 1, 2007, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN, collapsed. This disaster, at least in the short term, has resulted in a great deal of discussion about what's needed to maintain our nation's infrastructure. On August 6, the nationally syndicated Diane Rehm Show featured a discussion of the collapse and the need to increase infrastructure investment with Gene Corley, Structural Engineer and ACI Honorary Member; Tom Warne, Transportation Consultant and former President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO); and Casey Dinges, Managing Director for External Affairs of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Some key points were made, among them the reluctance on the part of our political leaders to spend the money needed to adequately maintain our nation's infrastructure. Reference was made to ASCE's 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, on which bridges received a grade of C- and bridges were the good news. No other area in the nation's infrastructure (except solid waste, which received a C+), including aviation, dams, drinking water, railroads, and schools, received a grade as high as C.
ASCE estimates that the cost to eliminate the bridge deficiencies alone will be $9.4 billion a year for 20 years, but funding that work will not be easy. Dinges pointed out that in 2005, when the last highway bill was under consideration, "Congress couldn't even stomach a debate" on the addition of six cents per gallon to the annual gasoline user fee, generating a total of $40 billion for highway construction at a cost to the average motorist of just $30 per year. At the time, the average cost of gasoline in the U.S. was $1.55 per gallon, but the conventional wisdom was that the economy couldn't handle the extra six cents per gallon. As a result, the fee wasn't added and the extra funding is not available. We know, of course, that the price of gas is now about twice what it was in 2005.
The one silver lining of the tragic bridge failure in Minneapolis may be the improved understanding by this nation of the state of its infrastructure, with bridges in the spotlight. With that understanding, we have a real opportunity to increase the usability and life of at least this one portion of our nation's infrastructure. But to fund such a program will take political will and grassroots support throughout the country. We should take advantage of this opportunity, support our politicians in making this tough decision, and then make sure that we invest our money wisely.
It's time to invest!
David Darwin
American Concrete Institute
daved@ku.edu
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