The American Society of Civil Engineers released their report on the state of America's infrastructure. They downgraded it from a D+ in 2001 to a D this year.
Here is the article Click Here
The entire report can be seen here: Click here


~Rob

 

"What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets



Where in the world are all those tax dollars going that we keep paying on fuel.

 

Around here, they go to run buses that nobody rides.

 

What's the curve set on?

I think all of the problems would be solved if we just adopted that whole 1776 thing, but oh well.

We're collapsing just like the Romans. If we're lucky, we might even last as long.

 

Might just have to sell the whole country to the Chinese so they can fix it up.

 

Wouldn't letting Wal*Mart take over be the same thing?

 

The entire "grade" system seems somewhat useless, don't you think? They didn't grade anybody else, and infrastructure-wise I think we are pretty good...

Sure, we're running out of water, have horrible gridlock and old bridges, but our infrastructure works and it is the most economical infrastructure possible. Yes, "most economical" equates to inefficient or polluting or a lack of maintenace, but our infrastructure WORKS.
It is the cheapest infrastructure we could possible have, and that is a good thing.
Capital is better spent on areas that can make a profit from.
The thing is that the SAE is grading the infrastructure on some theoretical quality-based scale, not a real world self-intrest based lets-get-the-most-out-of-our-money-scale.
Americans are only ever going to have the cheapest infrastructure that they can live with, and our quality of living isn't likely to change much. You see, if people were really bothered by congested freeways, the government would pour money into them. (read: democracy)
But if the government poured money into freeways that people weren't complaining about, than it would be a waste of money. The benefits wouldn't be worth the input. (Of course, if this happened we would get all "A's" from the SAE.)
It is political supply and demand. People demand a certain degree of quality from their infrastructure, and the government supplies that degree. The happy-balance-point is reached when the lowest-quality-possible infrastructure that can still shut people up is in place.
We have a capitalistic infrastructure, and we shan't pay more than we can live with. And in not paying extra, we are in the best shape we can be in. We can then put the money into something better.
Like guns and war with Mexico and imperialism.
But nooooooo, we don't want to do that...

 

I been in a lot of other countries and if ares is a "D" then what do they get? a K-

 

Society will just look to the mechanical engineers and ask us to solve their problem and make it idiot proof so society can dwendle down to the lowest common denomonator and resort to violence to keep from looking st00pid against the engineers they ask to protect them.

 

I don't see how mechanical engineers are involved... The report was made by civil engineers wanting to give their own projects D's and C's. Which doesn't make much sense.

"Look at this bridge we designed. This sucks. WE FAIL."

 

I wonder if Redistribution of wealth has anything to do with it?

 

Mechanical engineers are the ones that sign off on the machines in the buildings. Mechanical engineers are teh ones that are asked to come up with solutions to the problems. Civils build and design roads and commodes, they have some aspects of a constructing a building, but when it comes to doing something special in the building, its a mechanical.