THE HISTORY CHANNEL: America’s Crumbling Infrastructure
THE HISTORY CHANNEL: America’s infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation’s highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.
Rebroadcasts:
Tuesday, October 06 10:00 AM
Tuesday, October 06 04:00 PM
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October 5th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
The American Society of Civil Engineers’ infrastructure report card:
2009 Grades
Aviation D
Bridges C
Dams D
Drinking Water D-
Energy D+
Hazardous Waste D
Inland Waterways D-
Levees D-
Public Parks and Recreation C-
Rail C-
Roads D-
Schools D
Solid Waste C+
Transit D
Wastewater D-
America’s Infrastructure GPA: D
Estimated 5 Year Investment Need: $2.2 Trillion
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
October 5th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
What? And put all that potential bailout/big pharma money to work on something useful? That would be S@cialism!!! Can’t have that here in UHmerica
October 5th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Apparently we need a couple more Katrinas and I-35 style bridge collapses before people wake up. There was a good article in Time several months back about how the US will eventually be forced into making these improvements to vast amounts of our 50+ year old infrastructure. Meanwhile, China will have spanking new infrastructure, which is still being built today, to drive commerce for the next 50 years. This is going to catch up with us; and Spanish owned toll roads aren’t the answer.
If anyone here knows of any jobs for a licensed civil engineer that doesn’t involve building more houses that we don’t need (which is what I pretend to do now), I’m all ears. I’ve been looking for new work for almost a year now, with no luck. Sooner or later it’s going to hit the fan around here. I can’t keep collecting a paycheck for doing nothing forever – so I’m trying to be prepared. All that stimulus money just kept other civils working and didn’t spur any new opportunities. The deadline to get the engineering on these “shovel ready” projects approved is coming up soon; so I expect another round of layoffs in the industry. In other words, when the common excuse of “we don’t have the talent trained in America to do it,” feel free to call BS on my behalf!
October 5th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
One of the problems we have is the crass opportunism of our political “leaders.” They’re mostly narcissists who want to see their name in the papers, being adored for what they’ve done “new” for their community. There is no glory or hype for leaders who attend to maintaining what we already have, only hype and glory for allocating money for something NEW.
Money invested in most types of infrastructure has long-term positive economic multipliers. Look at the economic multipliers for FDR’s REA and huge hydropower projects (many of which the radical greenies in the Democratic Party would even now like to destroy). Without those hydro dams, the US could never have won WWII. There would have been no Manhattan Project. Without rural electrification, a much larger segment of the population would have had to remained tied to farming.
Today, we see our “leaders” pissing money into the wind on projects and sectors popular with the press and their various constituencies, but which have mediocre or pathetic multipliers. Much of this spending on “green” power is complete mental masturbation and wastes both money and opportunities. Similarly, spending on new roads while the old ones crumble is also stupid.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Brendan,
see if this product http://terrakote.com/products.html#MasonryKote might be helpful in some of those, necessary, ‘Infrastructure Repairs’ that the Trailer, and F411, give rise to..to say nothing of simple Stucco app. for Housing/other Buildings.
also, this one http://terrakote.com/products.html#SteelKote can come in handy, as well..
note: the simple website shouldn’t lead one astray, these products have a long history of successfully meeting any, and all, claims made thereon..
October 5th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Two trillion dollars spent on two wars would have revitalized all of America. Instead, we blow up Iraq and Afghanistan, spend billions building the American Embassy in Bagdhad, send billions to Pakistan so that they can spend it on their army and the threat of terrorism still hangs over our head.
Too many politicians vote “no” on public works spending unless it is for a bug museum in their districts. Big government, bad, small government, good, until as noted, the bridges start falling, the levees break and tax breaks for ruling class.
Now we are bankrupt, still spending billions in the middle east, and some projects are getting done.
And no where do I see moves to right these problems. Just more of the same.