The American Society of Civil Engineers (“ASCE”) today released its 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure-assigning a cumulative grade of “D” to the nation's infrastructure and noting a five-year investment need of $2.2 trillion from all levels of government and the private sector. That letter grade means that our nation's infrastructure may not be able to support our economy and facilitate our way of life in the future. In short, we need some help repairing and rebuilding our country’s infrastructure.
Since ASCE's last assessment in 2005 there has been little change in the condition of the nation's roads, bridges, drinking water systems and other public works, and the cost of improvement has increased by more than half a trillion dollars. The report is at: http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2009/grades.html
I believe the grade of a "D" is a bit too generous considering the current state of our national infrastrucuture. I would award our federal government a "failing grade" for failing to maintain our country's infrastructure, but that grade may be the result of driving over the Brence Spence Bridge on a daily basis, and seeing first hand the terrible degradation of this critical transportation link for I-71 and I-75. The Brence Spence Bridge needs to be replaced before there is a catastophic failure of this vital tranportation link between north and south.
Interstate 75 connects the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region with Detroit, Michigan to the north and Miami, Florida to the south. It also connects with I-74 and US 50 to the east and west. I-75 and the railroads that run parallel to it through this region are among the nations busiest. This transportation system is the backbone of commerce and travel through the region.
According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates, I-75 is one of the busiest trucking routes in North America with truck traffic approaching six billion miles annually. In addition, more than 250 freight trains per day pass through or have destinations within the I-75 corridor. The interstate portions of this transportation system are nearly 50 years old and significant safety and capacity problems exist.
The National Bridge Inventory lists the Brent Spence Bridge as functionally obsolete due to the capacity, sight distance, and safety concerns associated with its current configuration. These concerns have led to this project being considered a top priority by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments and the cities of Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.
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