Modern Steel Construction • June 2021 • Topping Out

Infrastructure’s big moment has been years in the making—but maintaining it as a top priority requires a collective and ongoing effort.

Tom Smith (tsmith@asce.org) is the executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

IS 2021 THE YEAR our nation’s infrastructure will finally get the attention and resources it deserves?

At the very least, things appear to be starting off on the right foot. President Biden’s eight-year, $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan, proposed on March 31, outlined a plan for addressing a sweeping collection of infrastructure needs and priorities, including surface transportation maintenance, replacing lead drinking water pipes, transitioning to clean energy, 100% nationwide broadband access, maintenance at our nation’s ports, and much more.

The president sent a strong signal that his administration considers infrastructure investment to be not only the catalyst to jumpstart our nation’s economic recovery but also his top priority now that the relief bill has been passed. While the hard work has just begun, including debates on the plan’s scope and pay-fors, infrastructure is front and center, and the time is now for AISC and ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) members to mobilize and be heard—and with a sense of urgency and passion.

Positioning infrastructure as a top national priority has been years in the making. ASCE’s quadrennial Report Card for America’s Infrastructure has been underlining the issues our infrastructure systems face since 1998. The Report Card is designed to shine a light on the infrastructure beneath our feet—which is often out-of-sight, outof- mind for most Americans—and its gradually deteriorating conditions and chronic underinvestment. Many years of news stories and raising the profile of infrastructure led to stronger voter support across the country, ushering infrastructure into the national conversation. ASCE’s most recent 2021 Report Card (infrastructurereportcard.org) was highlighted in the American Jobs Plan, painting a picture of why such legislation is necessary, and more importantly, defining the investment and solutions required to maintain and modernize safe, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure.

How did we get here? How did our infrastructure systems reach such dire straits, and why is the price tag so high?

Infrastructure has long received bipartisan support, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have supported investment in the built environment over the years, yet other issues continued to take higher priority. As a result, many past administrations have been unable to move a comprehensive infrastructure bill forward, kicking the can farther down the road, while other countries moved swiftly ahead.

ASCE’s 2021 report first defines and then grades infrastructure, assigning 17 categories of infrastructure a cumulative grade of C-, which is the first time since the Report Card’s inception that the U.S. has received a grade outside of the D range. Nevertheless, this is not a score you’d want to take home to your parents, and there’s much work to be done. Eleven of the 17 categories still scored in the D range, with transit (D-) holding the lowest grade and bridges being the only grade to decline since the 2017 report (C+ in 2017 to C in 2021).

A major reason for the low grades is the rapidly growing investment gap, leading to a maintenance backlog among key sectors. The report estimates that the U.S. is set to underinvest in its infrastructure network by $2.59 trillion over the next ten years, up from the $2.1 trillion underinvestment estimated in the 2017 report. Our surface transportation network alone is expected to receive $1.2 trillion less than what is needed to adequately maintain our systems over the next ten years.

Federal investment across most infrastructure networks has stayed stagnant or decreased steadily over time, while the country continues to react to, instead of proactively prepare for, more extreme weather events. For example, the federal gas tax, which plays a major role in supporting road and bridge maintenance as well as transit, hasn’t been raised from 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. By not addressing necessary maintenance over the years, the cost of repairs has snowballed as systems age and deteriorate beyond their useful life, resulting in a daunting maintenance bill for the country to cover.

Underinvestment puts a stranglehold on the national and global economy, as rough roads, congested ports, and interruptions to energy and water services disrupt trade and manufacturing. The report indicates that without significant investment, the U.S. will lose $10 trillion in GDP and 3 million jobs over the next 20 years.

These costs have a trickle-down effect on Americans. Poorly maintained infrastructure will cost each American household $3,300 a year on average over the next 20 years if conditions don’t improve—a hidden tax we all pay, with no return on investment.

The manufacturing industry is especially vulnerable when infrastructure is not a priority. Not only do manufacturers produce the materials which build our bridges, roads, rail, and transit lines, but they also rely on an efficient transportation system to remain competitive in a global marketplace, where labor costs less virtually elsewhere else. Increasing the time and cost to make and transport goods will harm our ability to compete. In addition, when manufacturing plants suffer an electrical outage, machines are costly to stop and start, and productivity plummets as workers stand idly by.

ASCE’s 2021 report mobilized policymakers and industry leaders alike, including organizations like Nucor, which joined ASCE in the Report Card release alongside Members of Congress, U.S. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and a variety of infrastructure experts. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” Secretary Buttigieg said, referring to the C- grade, “but it also won’t change unless we make different choices, and that means a meaningful, generational investment in our country’s infrastructure.”

Federal, state, and local political leaders participated in the Report Card release, including Maryland Governor Larry Hogan; Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.); House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.); and Congressman John Garamendi (D-Calif.), all of whom echoed ASCE’s sentiments on the need to invest more wisely. A number of these same political leaders met with President Biden the next day to work on the administration’s infrastructure plan.

Decades of advocacy efforts across the industry, including members of AISC and ASCE using the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, have developed bipartisan Senate support and led to this moment where a historic bill finally feels possible. Although the American Jobs Plan is not official legislation and there is a great deal of work to be done, the proposal signals that bold and transformative action is possible.

Maintaining and modernizing resilient and sustainable systems of road networks, bridges, rail, and water pipes, which we all rely upon every day, have long been issues that politicians on both sides of the aisle could agree upon. But these core issues for our nation’s economy and the related job creation and global competitiveness have routinely been cast aside to address seemingly more urgent issues. With tools like the Report Card bringing these problems and solutions to the forefront and the collective voice of AISC and ASCE members, including engineers, fabricators, producers, contractors, developers, and suppliers, infrastructure can be a top federal priority once again.