The report adds three new infrastructure categories — security, rail and parks and recreation — to the 12 it has reviewed since its first survey in 1998. Some categories have eked out a better rating since 2001, but others are edging down toward failure.
Two categories of transportation infrastructure worsened in 2005, with officials pointing to the snail’s pace of new federal transportation funding legislation moving through Congress. Roads declined to a D rating from D+ while transit dropped to D+ from C-. However, ASCE says bridges managed to hold a steady grade and aviation actually improved slightly with increased federal spending.
Officials worry about slipping grades for drinking water and energy infrastructure. The debut this year of security as a separate infrastructure category is a repercussion of the 9/11 terror attacks, ASCE reports. It received a grade of "incomplete" because of the still unfolding national response to security risks. The council expects a more detailed review of infrastructure security in ASCE’s interim report in 2007 and its next full-scale report card two years later.
The report card is based on assessments by 25 public and private sector infrastructure experts.
