Opinion: America's decaying infrastructure

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Alarming statistics have come to light regarding the vital need to upgrade America’s infrastructure network.

Neglected for decades, sheer apathy prevails as bridges, airports, highways and pipelines have fallen into disrepair. According to CNN: "Nearly 40 million Americans will kick off one of the busiest travel seasons in history this Memorial Day weekend, jarred by potholes on America's roads, crossing aging bridges, riding antiquated railways and taking off from airports that draw international scorn."

A US$1 trillion overhaul of the nation's roads and bridges is on the cards even though there is no indication on the modalities as yet.

Alarming statistics have come to light regarding the vital need to upgrade America’s infrastructure network. /Xinhua Photo

Comparing the state of American infrastructure with that of third world countries, President Donald Trump envisaged a 10-year development plan covering maintenance and upgrades.

Proposing to cover bridges and roads as well as the energy and water sectors, he told CBS News' John Dickerson in an interview: "We're going to do infrastructure very quickly. We've got the plan largely completed, and we'll be filing over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner."

On various occasions, President Trump held up the "slick new roads and airports" of China as an example of what he wants. According to the Washington Examiner, he said: "We're like a Third World nation," adding, "What China's done is incredible."

In the past few months, a presidential advisory council on infrastructure has been established which will present its findings by December 18. Considered a plan with great job-creating potential, as state and local governments can lease assets to the private sector and generate funding for more projects, it still awaits congressional support.

Notwithstanding the fact it has always been a matter of national pride, infrastructure maintenance in America fell into a critical state of disrepair as federal spending dwindled in the last decade.

Lagging behind international competitors, even airports in the US could do with major improvements. Kevin Burke, president and CEO of Airports Council International, said: "People are going through airports built in the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s."

China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CRRC) /CFP Photo

Requiring an initial investment of US$75 billion in the next five years, the airport sector needs a basic uplift just to begin to stay on par with the plush, luxury airports seen in the Middle East and Asia. The present airports require adjustments in order to accommodate aircraft like the A 380 or expanded 747.

Apparently even the air traffic control system could do with an upgrade in technology as the present system dates back to the 1960s. Pointing out that upgraded GPS locators could speed up the air traffic and facilitate arrivals, Doug Parker, the CEO of American Airlines, said: "It takes longer to fly from Point A to Point B in the United States than it should."

Telling more of the same story, at least 10 percent of American bridges need repair or replacement out of approximately 612,000 bridges in total. States with the worst bridges are in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Nebraska according to a recently released report.

US President Donald Trump (C) delivers remarks on healthcare during a lunch with members of Congress in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 19, 2017 in Washington DC. /VCG Photo

Alison Black, the transportation association's chief economist and author of the report, commented: "If the bridge is structurally deficient, one of the key elements is below four on a scale from 0 to 9. It doesn't mean the bridge is unsafe, but it does mean that it needs repair."

The report includes famous bridges such as the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge, also suffering from disrepair and neglect.

Recently, CNN sought access to inspect the crumbling Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington which carries 68,000 vehicles every day. Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles showed the corrosion in the original support beams from 1932 that have never been replaced.

Undoubtedly, the U.S. is in dire need of a modernized highway system while even the railway system faces shutdowns due to failing power cables.

Not only that, high-risk pipelines are carrying essential, but dangerous fuels like natural gas under the streets and buildings of dozens of major American cities.

Alongside everything else, even American shopping malls are said to be in a state of crisis, as recently one of the largest malls in Pennsylvania, the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, sold for just $100, while many others are struggling to stay afloat as store vacancies mount.

(This article was originally published in China.org.cn. The author is a foreign affairs journalist and lawyer based in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinion, not necessarily the views of CGTN.)

Source(s): China.org.cn