The roads and bridges that connect American suburbs to cities are falling apart

http://ift.tt/2mtAuG9

The roads and bridges that connect American suburbs to cities are falling apart

http://ift.tt/2meCYIc

Skye Gould/Business Insider

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

The network of roads and bridges that connect American suburbs to metropolitan areas are in dire need of repairs.

Increased congestion and a lack of adequate maintenance are causing these structures to break down faster in urban areas than in rural ones and it's expected that the situation will only get worse if funding for improvements isn't increased. 

In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the US a D grade for its roads and a C grade for its bridges in its latest report on the state of American infrastructure. What's more, the US Department of Transportation estimates it could cost as much as $1 trillion just to bring the current Interstate and highways system in the US up to date. 

But it's not just the roads that are falling apart. The railways, dams, and levees are also aging and need a major facelift. 

This kind of failing infrastructure threatens not only people's safety, but also the American economy. 

For example, poor roads and bridges mean longer travel times, which translates to higher costs for businesses to produce and distribute their goods. That higher cost is then passed down to the masses. 

Here’s a closer look at how dire the state of our infrastructure has become and how it's impacting Americans. 

Since 2007, the US has been consistently lagging behind other nations when it comes to infrastructure development.

Eric Miller/Reuters

Out of 138 economies worldwide, the US ranks 11th when it comes to infrastructure competitiveness, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.

Roads in the US are particular bad. About one-third of US roads are in poor condition.

Getty Images/Photo by Justin Sullivan

There are about 4.2 million miles of public roadway in the US, according to the Federal Highway Administration. And in 2016 alone, there were 3.2 trillion miles driven on these roadways. All of this traffic is wearing on our roads. 

In fact, 32% or one-third of major urban roads in the US are in poor condition and in need of improvement, according to a November report by Trip, a national transportation research group. 

And of the more than 612,000 bridges in the US, more than 56,000 of them are structurally deficient.

M. Spencer Green/AP Photo

A structurally deficient bridge means that the bridge has at least one structural issue that needs to be addressed. According to the latest data from the Federal Highway Administration, about 1,900 of those 56,000 deficient bridges are on the Interstate Highway system.

Part of the problem stems simply from the fact that these structures are just old. 

In fact, about 41% os US bridges are more than 40 years old and have not had significant construction work for improvement, according to a February report by The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• The Ford Focus RS is almost ridiculously fun to drive
• These eerie photos of deserted golf courses reveal a new normal in America
• UBS predicts Tesla will need to spend $8 billion to expand its Supercharger network

SEE ALSO: The American suburbs as we know them are dying

Business

via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB

March 6, 2017 at 02:44AM