California’s Infrastructure. Why Was it Graded A C-?

One of the duties among the American Society of Civil Engineers is to grade infrastructure across the United States. Every couple of years, this organization grades the performance of infrastructure across the states and the United States as a whole.

In the most recent report card for California, the state was given a overall grade of C-. But what determines this grade?

There are many different categories that this infrastructure was graded on: Aviation, Bridges, Dams, Drinking Water, etcetera. None of the grades fell below a D-, but there was not a single grade above a C+. The California infrastructure was not recognized as terrible, but it definitely was not recognized as great. So what can engineers do to improve this infrastructure?

The American Society of Civil Engineers recommends a couple of solutions. One of these recommendations is to promote effective leadership. This can be improved in several ways, including connecting leaders of all levels to collaborate on projects. This includes non-profits, government organizations, and engineers. All of these different organizations should come together to maximize the usage of resources, while understanding the impacts a project may have on different groups.

Another suggestion is to increase funding. The lack of funding has led to a lack of updates on infrastructure, which has led to deterioration across the state of California. Creating incentives and investing in research will not only lead to infrastructure being updated more frequently, it also leads to the development of new materials that can modernize infrastructure and make it more sustainable.

Another suggestion, and possibly the most important one, is to inform the public of infrastructure efforts. This includes developing a program that will communicate to the public the need for strong infrastructure. Awareness of the importance of infrastructure will increase support towards new projects, and will increase the likelihood that citizens will vote for pro-infrastructure bills. Similar to this solution is to raise awareness with state and local legislators. Having engineers communicate with lawmakers will increase the likelihood of a new infrastructure bill to be signed, which will increase the funding towards construction.

California infrastructure still has a long way to go. In order to support an economy that is more productive than the United Kingdom’s, there is lots of room for improvement. It is the duty of civil engineers to increase awareness, work effectively with other organizations, and revitalize our infrastructure.