Posts filed under 'Failing US Infrastructure'
The National Infrastructure Bank
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Leaders of “Building America’s Future” in their letter to President Obama commended him for his efforts and wrote in part:
“We write to ask for your continued leadership on the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, which will help rebuild our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, including our transportation, water and wastewater, broadband, power grid and other critical assets. As you know, the American Society of Civil Engineers identified more than $2.2 trillion in outstanding infrastructure needs. We cannot improve our infrastructure through the annual appropriations process alone.
We must renew our commitment to a National Infrastructure Bank that can help leverage public and private dollars, address regional and national needs and spur a rebirth in how our country invests in infrastructure. Building America’s Future, along with many other organizations, has educated the public about the outstanding needs throughout our country. Cities and states are struggling to find enough resources on their own.”
Critics are pontificating on the reasons why this will not work. One of their concern centers on the shortfall of the initial investment. Their thought is that we can’t find enough money to fully fund a trillion dollar need, so why fund with a “paltry” $60 billion? Secondly, critics are hung up on the term “bank.” Banks need to lend money and generate revenue, and therefore make investments that repay themselves. Since all infrastructure projects will not return large financial investment, then critics want the bank funding investment portfolio modified. Finally, the critics regard any federal organization as ineffective.
We cannot afford another eight years of inactivity and political battles.
These infrastructure repairs are desperately needed. This is our industry’s future and we support this initiative.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Add comment February 9, 2010
The Bridge Collapse…Two Years Later. What Do We Know?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
On August 2, 2007, the entire span of I-35W (officially known as Bridge 9340) in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River. Vehicles, concrete and metal crashed into the water below. Lives were lost and many more were changed that fateful day.
Immediately following the collapse, federal officials ordered an inspection of all steel deck truss bridges like the I-35W bridge. Investigative reporter, Bill Dedman reported the following:
“At first, officials thought there were 756 steel deck truss bridges like the one that fell. That’s how many they found in the official federal database of bridges, the National Bridge Inventory, which gets its records from the states. Then state engineers found 32 more to add to the list. But when states started the inspections, they found that 280 of the bridges weren’t steel deck trusses at all — including 13 bridges made of wood timbers. Another 16 no longer existed; a bridge in Pennsylvania had been closed in 1982. Another 11 were private bridges, not subject to federal inspection. One in New Mexico was a pedestrian bridge. And a bridge in Pennsylvania had been double counted; federal officials had placed an identical ghost bridge in Maryland. By the time the survey was finished, the count of bridges of the same type as the Minneapolis span was down to 479, or 277 fewer than initially reported, according to internal e-mails from the Federal Highway Administration received Thursday by msnbc.com under the Freedom of Information Act
.”
The Federal Highway Administration recommended framework for a bridge inspection QA/QC program is comprehensive. In 2008, they cite six (6) state DOTs that have “existing QC/QA procedures that address specific aspects of the “Recommended Framework” in a manner the FHWA considers commendable.” Six? Out of all of the DOTs in the US? I do realize that all states must have existing QC/QA procedures. But only six are “commendable?” What is the status of the remaining state inspection programs? Adequate? Average? Acceptable?
We know that bridge construction has changed over the years. Improvements in technology for use in bridge design, materials and construction have allowed engineers to project increased longevity of bridges. Structural engineers now describe bridge lifespan in terms of 100 years, instead of 20-50 years. Building new “improved” bridges, are we going to have 50 DOTs with commendable QA/QC inspection programs?
With the ability to build with an eye to sustainability, how do we fix what we have? Where does this leave us with our decaying bridges? Many of those bridges now require billions of dollars for rehabilitation or replacement. How can we financially repair them if we don’t even have an accurate count of where they are and what type of bridge they are? What do you think?
1 comment August 6, 2009
Is There A Future in Civil/Structural Shweebeneering?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Wooooo Hooooo! Let's Shweeb!
Well, you can thank this week’s blog to my new hobby of “tweeting.” One of the other professionals that I follow made a “tweet” that led to a way cool website whose idea is worth mentioning. The future of this “pod in the sky” is likely “pie in the sky,” but it makes one wonder what the future of transportation could look like.
Pollution, carbon emissions, global warming, traffic congestion, green cars…these are all the industry headlines that plaster the Internet and your favorite trade publications every week. Well, a group of engineers and designers in New Zealand have created a mode of transportation that eliminates nearly all of the environmental concerns that are under such scrutiny today. No, it’s not a magic carpet ( how sweet would that be?). And it’s more primitive and environmentally efficient than SkyTran. Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce to you…
The world’s first human powered monorail, The Shweeb is “the most efficient vehicle on earth, the most inexpensive infrastructure of any proposed urban transit and one of the highest capacity systems available – potentially delivering thousand’s of people per hour in a very small airspace. All this with zero carbon emissions and no parking worries or cost!”
Six years in the making, entrepreneur and design team leader Geoffrey Barnett finally constructed The Shweeb in 2007 ” in direct response to the transportation needs of today and the future.” As of today, The Shweeb concept is 
nothing more than a ride at an adventure park in New Zealand. But Barnett and his team are convinced that The Shweeb is the way of the future. This is definitely a very cool concept that on the surface would solve many of the traffic and congestion and environmental pollution problems that we face today. It would also be an emerging engineering concept that possibly would challenge and excite transportation engineers of all types.
Environmentally speaking, this is a great idea, but Clearly Geoffrey and his team have their work cut out for them as they continue to push this concept of a human powered monorail system. Personally speaking, I am skeptical at best. The “pod” itself that one drives in has little to be desired in the way of comfort and the issues are infinite- what happens if the chain or the pedals break – would Triple A (AAA) show up? How would one travel with family or clients? And what about ventilation? Plus, I have no desire to show up for work or a lunch meeting as a soaking wet sweat ball! We would need Xzibit and the crew from the MTV show Pimp My Ride to develop some nice custom Shweeb vehicles to better suit our needs 
!
Check out The Shweeb in action:
I read on Gizmodo.com, “Well, thank your lucky stars that the people who run our cities have at least some sense in their heads, because it would be highly doubtful for this to appear in the flesh anytime soon.”
Do you believe this engineering concept will ever come to fruition in any way, shape or form as an alternative form of transportation within our urban communities? Or is it merely a pipe dream that will never get beyond the gates of a Six Flags amusement park?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
4 comments July 29, 2009
Questions Of The Month – Final Tallies Revealed
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Each month at CivilEngineeringCentral.com we have a Question of the Month. This question is posted on our home page and is included in each issue of ”The LinkedIngineer“ as well as our monthly e-newsletter which is sent out to nearly 10,000 members of the civil engineering community (If you would like to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter please click HERE…sorry, couldn’t pass up that free plug). It’s been a while since we have posted the results, so in light of that (plus the fact that I have struggled to come up with anything else), check out the results below. If you see any surprising results in there or feel the urge to comment about any of the topics please feel free to do so.
MAY 2009
DID YOU SEE AN INCREASE IN PROJECTS IN YOUR COMPANY DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2009?
83.1% No
16.9% Yes
Just yesterday I was speaking with a colleague of mine who commented on a report he had just watched on MSNBC. They were discussing the question “where did all the stimulus go?” Most of it of course is going to construction; all those projects that we have come to love and know as…shovel ready. What seemed like a lot of money initially, when spread out over the entire United States, seems to be spread pretty thin.
APRIL 2009
HAS YOUR FIRM CUT IT’S BENEFITS PACKAGE AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE?
67.6% Yes
32.4% No
It’s expensive out there folks. Our health insurance has gone up 50% over the past four or five years…everyone is feeling the pinch here.
MARCH 2009
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT SEARCHING FOR A JOB?
42.9% Networking
25.0% Not Knowing Where To Start
17.9% Updating My Resume
14.3% Nailing The Interview
The way I see it, assuming you are a talented engineer, if you are able to effectively network throughout the course of your career, that, in-and-of-itself, takes care of the the remaining three obstacles. You see, if you are a great networker, you easily know where to start, and because you have networked so well and know so many people very well, there is no need to update your resume because they have seen you in action and your stellar reputation precedes you. Your noticeable performance within your industry over the course of your career has coincidentally been an ongoing interview. All that being said, a hand shake over a cocktail, beer, sparkling water or other beverage of your choice should be all that is needed to nail down your next job. A little tongue in cheek maybe, but there is some validity to my theory.
FEBRUARY 2009
HOW OFTEN DO YOU VOLUNTEER IN YOUR COMMUNITY?
50.0% 8 or more times per year
23.1% Not at all
15.4% 1-3 times per year
11.5% 4-7 times per year
One half of our respondents give back to the community 8 or more time per year…that is AWESOME!
JANUARY 2009
HAVE YOU EVER MISLED OR EMBELLISHED EXPERIENCES ON YOUR RESUME?
77.8% No
22.2% Yes
One should always be truthful on their resume, that goes without saying. But sometimes resumes can be misleading as different titles mean different things to different companies and different people.
DECEMBER 2008
WHAT CONCEPT WILL MAKE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON SOLVING OUR ENERGY CRISIS?
40.0% Nuclear Energy
23.3% Wind Energy
20.0% Solar Energy
13.3% Bio-Fuels
3.3% U.S. Oil Digging
0.0% Coal
I think our economy will need to stabilize and re-establish itself for a while before we begin to see any of these technologies really begin to flourish.
NOVEMBER 2008
DOES YOUR MANAGER ALLOW FOR YOU TO WORK A 4/40 OR 9/80 WORK WEEK?
65.5% No
34.5% Yes
I think the civil engineering industry, prior to “The Great Recession,” had actually come accustomed to the 6/60 work week – that is Monday-Saturday/60 hours week!
OCTOBER 2008
WHICH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL YOU VOTE FOR ON NOVEMBER 4th?
49.4% Barack O’Bama
42.9% John McCain
6.0% Undecided
1.2% Other
0.6% Ralph Nader
Not bad, not bad. The final results in total votes for the Presidential election in November was Obama 53% / McCain 46%. Our participants were nearly dead on here…sorry I can’t say the same for the Question of the Month which we ran in August 2008; see below!
SEPTEMBER 2008
WITH HIGH GAS PRICES, HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR COMMUTING HABITS BY OPTING FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?
73.5% No
26.5% Yes
This poll was posted at the time when gas prices were averaging $3.74/gallon. We have come a long way over the years in mass transit, but you know what? People love their cars and it would take a lot more than higher gas prices for them to drop their keys and take to mass transit.
AUGUST 2008
WHEN DO YOU BELIEVE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT MARKET WILL BEGIN TO PICK UP?
30.6% 2nd Quarter of 2009
26.5% 2010 or Beyond
14.3% 3rd Quarter 2009
12.2% 4th Quarter 2008
10.2% 4th Quarter 2009
6.1% 1st Quarter 2009
As of today, just about 50% of our survey responders are wrong and there are another 26.5% who will likely end up on the wrong side of the fence as well by the end of this year. Seems to be an ol’ case of “if I only knew then what I know now.”
I would like to thank you all for answering our Questions of the Month and look forward to your continued participation.
Got Comments? Got Questions? Got Insight? Got Speculation? Got Inside Information? Let us know, we would love to hear from you on any of the subjects of our recent polls.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
1 comment June 4, 2009
The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC &
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
During my college years (long ago ) I can’t say that I ever thought of the science of civil engineering as “sexy.” As far as I knew, civil engineers built cement canoes for competition. While interesting, not “sexy.” I was obviously not well informed!
Fast forward 20 some years and I know MUCH more. The daily job of civil engineers hasn’t changed that much in two decades – specifically, in the sense of planning, designing, managing jobs, working with agencies, citizens and clients. What has changed is the manner and tools used to accomplish those daily responsibilites.
Technology and better textile/materials has catapulted our industry into a new realm. Environmental concerns with the multitude of regulations make the nuances of the job even more complex. Technology and sustainability will transform the civil engineering profession for years to come.
Robert Mote asked a question on the CivilEngineeringCentral LINKEDIN Group. He asked for folks to name the most famous civil engineer in the US. Not unlike my understanding of civil engineering 20 years ago, I think most people may not be entirely clear on that subject. While, as a non civil engineer, I am not ready to give my answer to Robert’s question, I certainly DO know what a civil engineer does. Over the past 10 years the US has seen it’s share of infrastructure failings, crumblings, etc. I have witnessed countless numbers of civil engineers being called to speak to the press to explain in “plain talk” what happened in these tragedies and how to repair them. So, hopefully, if Robert asks his question in another 10 years, folks will be able to rattle off not only a famous US civil engineer, but they will actually understand what a civil engineer does!
The Institute of Civil Engineers put together an EXCELLENT video about “The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering“…..Take a look:
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
6 comments April 30, 2009
Civil Engineering & The Presidential Election
SO…. Earlier today we sent out an article to the civil engineering community highlighting the current stances of Barck Obama and John McCain on many of the infrastructure issues that directly effect the civil engineering industry. This was a non-partisan article that was aimed at providing our readership relevant information from reliable sources in respect to the profession that we are all apart of, in one way or another. The information that I was able to uncover included the opinions and policies of either Barack Obama or John McCain, one of which will become the next president of our great country. Obama or McCain may or may not be the right person for the job, but one of them will be elected. There are of course other candidates out there from the Boston Tea Party/Personal Choice Party, the Constitution Party, the Green Party, the American Independent Party, the Independent-Ecology Party, the Libertarian Party, the Prohibition Party, the Reform Party, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party; and though those candidates may have worthwhile infrastructure policy programs, my goal was to write an article, not a book. And quite frankly, none of them have a remote chance of being elected.
I’ve received a number of phone calls and emails bringing up valid points in response to my article, but I realized that there was no real open forum to discuss the beliefs and policies of the candidates in response to the article. Maybe you have more information to share with our readers, maybe you want to discuss one of the other candidates outside of Obama & McCain. Or maybe I failed to note some more specific areas, as noted by one of our readers, like Off Shore Oil Drilling. Whatever the case may be, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
HERE IS THE ARTICLE:
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed to effectively and adequately fund our infrastructure over the next five years. $1.6 trillion. A recent report from the National Surface Transportation Policy & Revenue Study Commission indicated that an investment of somewhere in the ballpark of $300 billion dollars PER YEAR for the next 50 years is required. $300 billion PER YEAR.
With our current economy tearing apart at the seams, oil and gas prices rising, and our continued war effort in Iraq, the issue of our existing and future infrastructure has taken a back seat with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. We are only another tragic bridge collapse or devastating hurricane away from making headlines again, and it is unfortunate that neither candidate has recently considered the issue of our infrastructure head on. With the help of some colleagues, I was able to scour the Internet for any information I could to provide you with the candidates’ current stances in relation to the United States infrastructure. Here is what we discovered:
In Relation to Bridges & Highways:
Popular Mechanics was unable to locate any policy reports from the McCain camp regarding infrastructure. McCain did address the Minnesota Bridge Collapse, stating that it was not a matter of not having the funding to commit to the backlog of bridge inspection, repair and construction, but rather a misallocation of the funds toward wasteful earmarks. Obama, on the other hand, supports creation of an independent entity referred to as the National Infrastructure Reinvestment bank, which plans to invest $60 billion in transportation infrastructure over the next 10 years. This allocation of funds is on top of other federal infrastructure financing (Sofge). The projects created by this funding will generate up to 2 million new jobs per year and will infuse $35 billion per year in economic activity (Obama).
AP reports that John McCain supports an $8 billion funding package for federal highway construction. Some of these projects include pork barrel spending, and McCain has stated time and time again that if he becomes president, he will veto any bill that is presented to him that includes earmarks. This may be a tough pill to swallow since many construction projects are promoted and supported by individual lawmakers. It is McCain’s goal to fight for highway funding that is not laden with pork (Espo). McCain did support a federal gas tax holiday to bring down gas prices, but critics believe that though it would lessen the financial burden on the people, it would take away the taxes that help fund highway and infrastructure projects (Crawley).
Obama proposes a $50 billion bill to fund infrastructure and emergency aid to state governments. One half of the total funds will be allocated per state government officials; the other $25 billion will go directly toward road, bridge and other public works projects. McCain believes this proposal to be a short-term answer, but indicated he would certainly consider signing any valid stimulus plan that Congress would set before him should he become president (Hall).
In Relation to Energy:
McCain is an avid supporter of nuclear energy and the aggressive buildout of nuclear power plants across the country, proposing to build 45 new plants by 2030. McCain is also in support of clean-coal energy, offering up to $2 billion per year in research until the year 2024. He also supports other alternative energies. Obama believes in staunch investment in biofuels, renewable energy and clean coal plants, $150 billion worth over 10 years (Crawley).
In Relation to Rail & Mass Transit:
Though McCain opposes federal funding for Amtrak, he recognizes Amtrak’s importance in our country. With that, McCain did support legislation that would back long-term capital funding for passenger rail. Obama supports continued capital funding for Amtrak and is for the development of a high-speed corridor between major cities located within 500 miles of each other. Obama also calls for legislation for funding for freight rail and mass transit expansion (Crawley).
In Relation to Dams & Levees:
Obama has scribed a policy paper on rebuilding the hurricane-stricken gulf coast that highlights his plans to build out and repair a significant levee and pumping system. McCain, though clearly recognizing the dire situation in the gulf coast region, has not formally prepared a flood management plan of his own. Neither candidate has addressed a plan for the crumbling levee system in the Midwest (Sofge).
In Relation to Sustainable Communities:
Though neither candidate shows any real transparency on this topic, Obama wants to consider smart growth opportunities to build more livable and sustainable communities (Obama).
For years now we have been hearing about, reading about and witnessing firsthand the deterioration of our infrastructure across the country. It is time for the next president and Congress to take action.
Whatever your stance is on the issues, whatever party you are a member of, make sure you get out and vote on November 4th!
Works Cited:
Sofge, Erik. “Green Tech Plans Hide Obama-McCain Disparity on Infrastructure.” Popular Mechanics 25 September 2008. 27 September 2008 <http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/worst_case_scenarios/4284650.html?series=46>
Obama, Barack. “Urban Policy.” BarackObama.com. 27 September 2008 <http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/urban_policy/>
Espo, David. “McCain Supports Highway Bill.” Associated Press 12 September 2008. 27 September 2008 <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_u9vaRcJLaMSn-4Au8qNnnaO2NQD935D4PO1>
Hall, Kevin. “McCain, Obama Differ on Ways to Help Main Street.” The Kansas City Star 27 September 2008. 28 September 2008 <http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/816993.html>
Crawley, John. “FACTBOX: McCain, Obama Infrastructure Priorities.” Reuters 30 June 2008. 27 September 2008 <http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/816993.html>
2 comments October 7, 2008
More Nuclear Power Plants?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC www.themetznergroup.com
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Over the weekend, I was extolling the benefits of supposed environmentally friendly solar power or wind farms; telling my business minded 25 year old nephew that he should find a way to invest in those businesses. Alternatively, he suggested to me that it is critical to build new nuclear power plants throughout the US. I will say that whenever I hear “nuclear power plants” I think of the Three Mile Island incident. I can remember, during the accident in 1979, that my father made flight reservations for my family to fly to the West Coast and flee Maryland if a total meltdown was imminent. It was frightening. And then in 1986, the horrific meltdown at Chernobyl. The lives lost, the death and destruction. This could happen here in the US. Pennsylvania could have had a ghost town for at least 600 years if Three Mile Island had experienced the total meltdown.
So, as my nephew (a Democrat like myself), discusses the importance of nuclear power plants and as I read Sen. McCain’s proposal that he wants to build 45 more nuclear power plants, I am queasy. We can’t maintain our existing infrastructure. Have we completed all security and technical upgrades to existing plants? Nuclear power provides 20% of our nation’s power. While it may be environmentally friendly in that is does not emit greenhouse gases can we really live with the safety risks? Is my fear and my nephew’s lack of concern a generational difference? It could be. Last year musicians, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne, activist rock stars, reunited to battle the nuclear power industry on Capitol Hill. This new “NO NUKES CAMPAIGN” was created in part to stir up and educate those who weren’t around during the accidents; those who don’t know of the fear and horror of nuclear incidents.
Am I the last of the generational group who would MUCH rather put the $50 billions of dollars targeted for new plants towards renewable energy sources not nuclear power plants?
Let’s hear what you think….and, if you are for nuclear power, were you alive during the aforementioned accidents and if you were, were you old enough to remember the fear, the destruction? Talk to me!
9 comments September 10, 2008
Ready For Gustav, But Ready For Another Katrina?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
In light of the recent hurricane that blasted through the Gulf Coast this past holiday weekend I would be remiss in doing my job if I did not comment on it as it specifically relates to the civil engineering industry. Three years ago Hurricane Katrina came through and absolutely devastated the Gulf Coast, New Orleans in particular. Not only was the government response (Federal, State & Local) a horrible failure, but it brought light upon the incomplete and failing levee system in that region. Earlier this year there was the tremendous flooding that took place in the Midwest, which really brought to the surface yet another instance of our failing infrastructure. Not only are our roads and bridges no longer meeting the needs of the population, but on top of that, and if it did not become evident following Katrina, it certainly became evident this spring, our levee system is is not capable of handling the potential devastating effects that mother nature can unleash. If you did not read our earlier newsletter or blog entry contributed by Adam Pitluk discussing this make sure you take a look, it is an interesting read.
This time around the City of New Orleans, the State of Louisianna, and FEMA seemed to have their act together as the coordination between the agencies and the level of preparedness was clearly the result of the Katrina debacle. After reading reports and watching the news coverage though there is still a long way to go in regards to the levee systems, at least down there in New Orleans, but progress is being made…slowly but surely. At the mouth of the Industrial Canal is where the biggest failure in the levee system exists and the Corps of Engineer hopes to have this $700 Million project completed by 2011. There was also another levee on the West Bank that is of major concern to the Corps of Engineers, as it is suspect at best, though it was able to withstand what Gustav had to offer…this time. Ownership of levees vary from Parrish to Parrish and the allocation of funds is a political process. I’m no politician, but this should be a pretty black and white issue. Protect your citizens and rebuild the city; this should be the top priority, and building and improving the current levee system needs to be the number one priority in this process. Gustav was no Katrina, and it certainly gave that Gulf Coast region a nice test, both on the levee system and the level of preparedness. The preparedness that we witnessed for Gustave should be commended and can be matched or exceeded with postive results when future hurricanes threaten, but will the current levee system in place be able to withstand another Katrina between now and 2011?
Add comment September 4, 2008
Bridge collapses, levee failures and water main breaks .. OH MY!
By Carol Metzner, President, The Metzner Group, LLC and Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
All around the Maryland/DC area, water main breaks should come as no surprise to residents; but, we are all amazed each time it happens! And…it is happening with alarming frequency.
In mid June water main breaks in the Maryland suburbs triggered several smaller breaks throughout the lines in the County leading to the loss of more than 100 million gallons of fresh water before repairs could be made. More than 700 restaurants and tens of thousands of residents were forced to boil drinking water as a precautionary measure. Many restaurants, already affected by the slowing economy, had to close their doors for a period of time. The agency responsible for oversight, inspection and repair, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) is the 8th largest water and wastewater utility in the country. As of July 15, they still cannot assess what caused the break.
This past week WSSC, echoing other public agencies across the US, discussed the need for more money. We heard the now familiar chant “We need more money….more funding”. WSSC reported that due to budget constraints, the line that broke in Maryland was never inspected prior to the break. It is reported that the line that broke was 38 years old, while some lines in the county are 90 years old. After the break, inspectors found four other sections nearby that needed reinforcement.
Here is where it gets dicey: it is documented that for the past two years WSSC has had the budget to replace 27 miles of water main a year, but it replaced only 16 miles of pipe in fiscal 2007 and is expected to fix 25 miles of pipe in fiscal 2008. What happened? They had the money….had the funding. Where did it go?
We are seeing increases in taxes, electric bills, gas, water. The war has cost more than anyone wants to wrap their minds around. Who is overseeing the money that the agencies are getting? Who is accountable? And, where are they now?
3 comments July 23, 2008
