President's Blog

Last week, I traveled to Chicago for the opening of ASCE's Me, Myself and Infrastructure: Private Lives and Public Works in America exhibit. I would like to thank Greg Dreicer from the Chicago Architectural Foundation for his partnership in bringing this exhibit to Chicago and putting the grand opening event together. The opening reception attracted a number of civil engineers and architects, in addition to others who were simply interested in learning more about the social impact of infrastructure. The relationship between civil engineers and architects is a special one. Engineers and architects are vested in the integrity of our infrastructure-both structurally and aesthetically. They depend on each other to make infrastructure sustainable and appealing for generations to come, which made the partnership on resurrecting this display very appropriate.

This display was originally conceived five years ago as part of ASCE's 150^th anniversary celebration. At the time, ASCE approached this display as an investigation of infrastructure as the public would see it. The re-introduction of this display is very timely as infrastructure has remained a hot topic in the years since the display was first introduced. The shocking bridge collapse in Minneapolis, and the failure of the levees in New Orleans have made Americans more aware of infrastructure issues, but the following questions still remain: How safe is our infrastructure? Who's responsible? And, how much will building and fixing it cost? The exhibit addresses these tough questions and encourages visitors to look at infrastructure as much more than just beams, pipes and roadways.

If you're in Chicago in the next several months, I encourage you to stop by and see the exhibit. It will be on display at the Chicago Architectural Foundation through November 16^th.

I recently attended a California levee conference sponsored by ASCE's Sacramento Section and the Society of American Military Engineers. While I was there, I spent a day riding around the Sacramento and San Joaquin delta areas. The levees along the Sacramento, American and San Joaquin Rivers were built by farmers and settlers more than 100 years ago and since then, have not been properly modernized or adequately maintained to protect the population in the area today. In light of the recently released Hurricane Katrina External Review Panel (ERP) final report, it is important to look at the situation in California and try to incorporate the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina to prevent a possible disaster in the California delta.

The ERP report found that many of the failings of the Hurricane Protection System (HPS) dealt with questionable decisions and management choices, along with inadequate communications between organizations in relation to the disaster. We learned that the HPS was constructed as individual pieces, not as an interconnected system. It also appeared to operate as such. These findings relate to the challenge that California faces today as they are going through a lot of the same organizational issues. Last year, ASCE members in California released a report that gave the state's levees and flood control system a failing grade. It is clear that more work needs to be done to prepare this system for a natural disaster, whenever it may strike. That's why I believe that the ERP report provides a guide for cities like Sacramento to recognize what went wrong and ensure that improvements will be made to understand risk and embrace safety, revamp management practices and demand engineering quality in their region.

What else can communities, such as Sacramento, learn from what happened during Hurricane Katrina? What can they do now in their systems to prevent another disaster?

On behalf of our 140,000 members, ASCE extends its deepest condolences to the victims, the injured, their families and all others affected by the catastrophic bridge collapse in Minneapolis on Aug 1. The I-35W bridge's main 458-foot span collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, sending dozens of vehicles and tons of concrete and twisted metal into the waters of the Mississippi River 64 feet below.

Across our country, the sustainability of our infrastructure continues to come into question. Only a week and a half ago the civil engineering community was faced with a steam pipe burst in New York City. Now the Midwest is suffering from a catastrophic event that further illustrates that action must be taken by both lawmakers and civil engineers in the community to call attention to this important issue.

ASCE periodically assesses the state of our nation's infrastructure, most recently through the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Our Infrastructure Action Plan spells out short term steps the U.S. Congress should take to improve our infrastructure. Together, we need to advocate for public policy action to make our country's infrastructure safer and sustainable for future generations. ASCE estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed over a five-year period to bring the nation's infrastructure to a good condition. Funds must be invested and significant steps must be made on the national level, as well as in state legislatures and local communities, to improve our nation's failing infrastructure.

What have you done, in your role as a civil engineer, to take action and influence how the government views the state of our infrastructure?