Public Infrastructure

U.S. Infrastructure: Stephen Flynn's Edge of Disaster

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I just finished reading Stephen Flynn’s 2007 book "The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation." For those who’ve been interested enough in infrastructure topics to find their way to the Operations Channel, I’d highly recommend this book. Flynn is more of a security expert than he is a construction specialist, but it is exactly this objective perspective which makes his focus on our infrastructure so valuable. He includes infrastructure shortfalls along with Jihadists and pandemics as major threats to our society. He sees our aging infrastructure beyond the bricks and mortar, as reducing our national flexibility, as vulnerable terrorist targets, and as economic liabilities for future generations. These add up to make our declining infrastructure a tangible national security issue that he’s rightly concerned about.

Watts It Matter to You? Electricity Distribution

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As stated in Watts it Matter to You? Electricity Transmission, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ ENERGY infrastructure a grade of “D+” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. “Electricity Distribution” explains the final step in the path of electricity from a power-generating facility to your home or business. It covers the electric utility business model, how the distribution infrastructure drives generation and transmission decisions, and metering electricity.

Watts It Matter to You? Electricity Transmission

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As stated in Watts it Matter to You? Electricity Generation, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ ENERGY infrastructure a grade of “D+” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Electricity transmission, which is the second of three installments on energy, covers transmission lines and grid networks, “green” power transmission, and "smart" grids. Electricity distribution will be covered in installment three as we follow the path of electricity from a power generating facility to your home or business.

Watts It Matter to You? Electricity Generation

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The Cost and Reliability of Electricity Service

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ ENERGY infrastructure a grade of “D+” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Electricity generation is the first of three installments on energy and covers nuclear, coal and natural gas, and hydro-electric power generating facilities. Electrical transmission and distribution will be covered in installments two and three as we follow the path of electricity from a power generating facility to your home or business. The goal is to provide an overview on how electrical power is delivered, including issues of current concern.

Pay Attention Span: Smart Bridges

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The various blogs I follow send me newsletters, and one article regarding new smart bridge technology caught my attention last Friday. A “smart bridge” is probably better labeled as a talking bridge – one that communicates its status to those who are listening for follow-on interpretation. Baseline measurements of critical strain, deflection, and corrosive conditions can be established with the structure following project completion, then monitored throughout the bridge’s service life.

Not Your Grandfather's Locomotive: High-Speed Rail

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In President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 27th, he mentioned Tampa’s upcoming high-speed rail (HSR) project and his subsequent trip there on January 28th. As was mentioned in his speech, Tampa’s new HSR line is not the only rail project addressed in the recent American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Several other states are slated to receive federal funding for rail line improvements, totaling $8 billion. The Florida project will receive $1.25 billion to connect Tampa to the Orlando International Airport. California will receive $2.25 billion to begin a HSR line between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

U.S. Infrastructure: Drinking Water

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This is the fifth article in Buildipedia's series on U.S. Infrastructure, following the January 8, 2010 feature on dams, "It’s About Dam Time!"

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ DRINKING WATER infrastructure a grade of “D-” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Easy access to fresh water is a modern convenience that we might take for granted in our daily lives.

It's About Dam Time!

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This is the fourth article in the series on U.S. infrastructure, following our bridges article, “A Bridge to Everywhere." The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ DAMS infrastructure a grade of “D” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

As discussed in the prior infrastructure article, the average age of a bridge in the United States is now 44 years. The average dam is an older sibling to the typical bridge, at 52 years old. Dams and bridges in the United States share many things in common. Being generous and assuming an average life span in parallel with human years, both these national systems are in the midst of a mid-life crisis.

A Bridge to Everywhere

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This is the third article in the series on U.S. infrastructure, following our aviation article, Three Square Miles of Concrete." The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ BRIDGES infrastructure a grade of “C” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

While a “C” denotes just average, the BRIDGES category actually has the highest grade of all fifteen infrastructure categories on the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

In the United States there are approximately 600,000 bridges which are catalogued and routinely inspected. This is encouraging from the perspective of someone who drives over many bridges during daily life, as most of us do.

U.S. Infrastructure – Obvious but Unnoticed

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One of my college friends, Lisa Starling, recently had an audition in Los Angeles for a new role in a daytime soap opera. She had been working in local theater on the East Coast for two years, and was really glad to have this fantastic opportunity in California.

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