Repairing America’s Infrastructure
It doesn’t take an engineer or politician to know how bad America’s infrastructure has become. In fact, anyone who regularly sits in traffic or rides a transit system on their daily commute can testify to how critical our aging transportation systems are. URETEK Holdings is one company that helps repair America’s roadways, bridges, runways, storm drains, railways, and ports to keep America running.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) says that America must invest $3.6 trillion in our infrastructure by 2020. Yet, between the Obama administration’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the 2013 Fix-It-First program, in the last four years only $71 billion has been allocated for repairs and upgrades to the nation’s highways, bridges, tunnels, overpasses and ports.
Every four years the ASCE analyzes America’s infrastructure and puts together a Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. They assign a grade in each area, for each state, and make suggestions on how to raise the grade. “Since 1998, the grades have averaged only Ds, due to delayed maintenance and underinvestment across most categories.” (ASCE, 2013)
When we consider that 70,000 bridges in the U.S. are in disrepair, it is a policy no-brainer that they should be fixed. Unfortunately, because of the current congressional dysfunction, coming up with a solution and the money to save America’s crumbling infrastructure seems next to impossible, yet is so clearly in the nation’s best interest.
Until Congress can come up with a long-term plan, the responsibility of employing a “fix-it-first approach” falls squarely on the shoulders of each state. There are many benefits to having each state determine which projects should get the highest priority for preventive maintenance and repair of the existing infrastructure, including:
- Ultimately reducing maintenance costs at a later date.
- Supporting investment in areas that are already served by the existing transportation infrastructure, preventing urban sprawl.
- Producing more jobs because a greater portion of the budget will be devoted to salaries for maintenance crews than for equipment and land acquisition.
URETEK Holdings is focused on the cost-effective approach of fixing and repairing pieces of infrastructure that are slipping and sliding and providing significant structural improvement while reducing the maintenance deficit. URETEK’s non-invasive method of soil stabilization and slab lifting, utilizing lightweight, expanding structural polymers, saves both time and money for the federal, state, and local departments tasked with maintaining our nation’s infrastructure.
Providing a safe infrastructure for families, businesses and communities that rely on these systems is URETEK’s priority. Minimizing long-term costs to taxpayers and inconvenience for every American is URETEK’s goal.
