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Civil engineering group issues gloomy infrastructure report

Growing demand. Lean budgets. Aging infrastructure. Three converging storm fronts. One ominous cloud.

The Southern Idaho Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers presented a report card on Idaho’s infrastructure during a public news conference Thursday at the state capitol.

Wastewater received the highest grade of the 11 sectors reviewed in the report, at B-minus.

Idaho’s transportation-related systems didn’t fare as well, according to the ASCE report card. Rail freight received a C-plus, but passenger service was judged a half step above failing at a D-minus.

ASCE rated aviation average (C), local and state highways at C-minus and D-plus respectively; bridges at D-plus and public transit D.

“Idaho’s infrastructure has an ever increasing need for improvement …” according to the report. “Though many of the infrastructure categories showed areas of satisfactory performance, the vast majority indicated that Idaho’s infrastructure lacks funding, is not properly maintained, and is poorly equipped to deal with its increasing demands as Idaho continues to grow.

“As civil engineers in the state of Idaho, we have a responsibility to safeguard the life, health, property, and welfare of the public. We believe it is part of this responsibility to provide the public, including our elected leaders, with critical information about the current state of our infrastructure, which is the main goal of this report card.

“Our hope is that with this knowledge, the public will increase support for infrastructure improvement and maintenance and urge elected leaders to take action to prioritize funding so that our vital infrastructure meets the current and future needs of Idaho citizens.”

The executive summary indicates that 25 civil engineering experts spent the past 18 months compiling data and issued briefs for 11 infrastructure categories. Among the contributors to the transportation-specific reports were Bill Statham of the Idaho Division of Aeronautics, and former ITD engineers Stephen Loop (Full Circle Enterprises) and Ronald Kerr, retired ITD rail coordinator.

See individual summaries:

Aviation
Bridges
Local highways
State highways
Rail
Public transit