Revitalized U.S. Infrastructure—A Key Element for Homeland Security

Abstract

The current aging and deteriorating condition of the U.S. infrastructure or lifelines, as the infrastructure is sometimes called has been periodically in the media headlines as intermittent failures or shortcomings have become manifest. Infrastructure is generally considered to include all of the nation’s facilities that provide for the underlying necessities of its population and commerce, such as power, water, heat, communications, and transportation. More specifically, it encompasses our power plants and electrical distribution grid, waterways and water supply, communication lines, highways, railroads, and respective bridges, airports, and harbors. Disruptions in any of these essential basic services will certainly cause immediate hardships to both individuals and businesses in the affected areas and could have a ripple effect elsewhere. For example, the extent of the widespread destructive aftermath from the levee flooding and emergency response failures during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 is still being determined. This past summer’s stunning Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis demonstrated the worsening conditions of our major highway bridges. The United States has experienced regularly recurring power blackouts, regional as well as local, and we have seen that not only can an isolated equipment failure in one state cause progressive power blackouts within a multistate region, but also that simply a few days of seasonal high or low temperatures will severely strain the power grid. Water supplies to some of our Western and Southern states have also become severely depleted and are quite often restricted. Heavy traffic, congestion, and repairs of our urban roads as well as airports have become the rule and not the exception, almost every hour of every day. Vehicular accidents can sometimes cause total closures of highways or bridges for hours, with little recourse to alternative bypasses. All of this shows that the entire infrastructure system in the country’s more densely populated areas is already overloaded, even under normal demands, and forced to operate at peak capacity with little or no reserve redundancies to handle any special circumstances or disruptions. This system has not only aged but also has not kept pace with the improvements necessary to meet the increasing needs of an ever-growing population. In light of these and related striking events, ASCE and other professional organizations have regularly recommended that national public policy commit serious attention and resources to revitalizing and modernizing our infrastructure for reasons of preserving public welfare. To vividly illustrate this point, ASCE has in recent years officially given the nation’s infrastructure nearly failing grades. What has not been duly highlighted in these discussions is the important role that a sound and robust infrastructure has relative to homeland security and basic safety.