Interesting discussion about the deplorable state of infrastructure on the CNN web-site. You can be sure that the President, in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, will bring this up.
His fundamental flaw is what should be called "by-pass surgery." That means, he is by-passing critical repairs and maintenance on all US infrastructure in order to build the high-speed train. To push that metaphor even further, high-speed rail is cosmetic, plastic surgery. When the body is this ill, that's no time to get enhancements, if you see what I mean!
We can't afford both, especially given the space-rocket-costs of high-speed rail. Building high-speed rail is like putting icing on a cake when there is no cake. Fixing what is broken -- the article uses the leaky roof analogy -- should come first.
As we always put it, we are being foreclosed, we are unemployed, we are deeply in debt, but we want to borrow money to buy a Ferrari. What sense does that make?
Mr. President, shouldn't we fix what's broken first?
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/22/map.infrastructure/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/24/transportation.stateofunion/index.html?hpt=T2
State of Transportation is 'weak,' engineers say
By Tom Foreman
The amount of air travel in the U.S. increased by 7% last year, but an overhaul of the air travel infrastructure is long overdue, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The group gave the nation's aviation system a grade of D.
Compared with trucks, railways are much more efficient for moving goods: using about 20% less energy per mile if used properly. But comparatively little has been invested in expanding U.S. railroad capacity. Rail gets a C minus.
What is the state of your community?
Consider this: Although a steady drinking water supply is crucial to even the most basic success, water systems nationwide are so old and decrepit that the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates 7 billion gallons of drinking water are being lost through leaky pipes every day.
How can America save crumbling water delivery systems?
Inland shipping along canals and rivers keeps millions of American homes warm with coal and families fed with grains such as wheat and corn. But locks on canals and rivers, which were made to last only 50 years, are now on average 60 years old. Navigable waterways get a D minus from the civil engineers.
Public transit use grew 25 percent in the past 10 years, and yet fully half of all Americans have no access to commuter buses or trains; many more have sketchy access at best.
You get the picture. However, it may be a little harder to see the multiplying effect.
Experts at the American Society of Civil Engineers point out that for each year that these infrastructure problems are not addressed, they grow exponentially worse.
I
t's kind of like a leak in the roof. It may be painful to pay for new shingles when the leak is small, but if you wait until it expands and soaks the walls and floors below, the damage and cost will be much, much harder to bear.
In recent years, many politicians have started talking much more seriously about infrastructure problems, but when faced with a stumbling economy, they are finding it harder than ever before to lean into big-ticket repairs.
After all, until the day comes that a bridge falls down, it often looks just fine.
The problem is, no one really knows which day that will be.
© 2008 Cable News Network
