Experts continue to warn about the disrepair and imminent collapse of America’s infrastructure. In January 2008, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission recommended an investment of at least US$255 billion annually for the next 50 years in an effort to remedy infrastructure issues. This daunting value was re-affirmed by the American Society of Civil Engineers (“ASCE”) in 2009 stating that the United States is on the verge of failing in its infrastructure report card (go to www.asce.org) with an average grading of “D” on American bridges, roads, airports, water treatment and raw sewage. The ASCE indicates it would take a minimum of US$2.3 trillion dollars invested over the next five years to repair and sustain infrastructure.

The U.S. stands to suffer tremendous economic hardship as a result of its crumbling infrastructure. Countries remain competitive, in part, by maintaining adequate or superior infrastructure that serves as a medium for commerce.  Consider the economic impact of the collapse of the I-35W on Minneapolis. On August 1, 2007 the entire span of the I-35W Minneapolis bridge broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River resulting in 13 dead and 145 injured. The Department of Employment and Economic Development for Minneapolis reports that this incident resulted in an estimated net economic impact of US$60 million dollars from 2007 to 2008. Consider the magnitude of cost of failure on a national level. At present, the U.S. enjoys a vast infrastructure with more than 500 primary airports and 3.9 million miles of public roads, including nearly 43,000 miles of interstate highway and 594,470 bridges - all of which are presently age-deteriorating. In order for America’s economy to remain competitive on the world stage it must upgrade and maintain its infrastructure.

The icing on the cake is that infrastructure spending will put people back to work. A theoretical model-based assessment of the impact of infrastructure spending on employment concluded that US$1 billion spent on large projects in advanced countries generates approximately 28,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly in roughly equal proportions. If you consider a scenario where America spends US$2.3 trillion on infrastructure as recommended by the ASCE, it represents 64 million jobs offering work to nearly 21% of the entire U.S. population. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a job creation program that actually makes a difference?

The use of infrastructure spending to facilitate commerce and generate jobs is not a new theme. During the great depression of the 1930’s former President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned to infrastructure spending through a series of economic programs referred to as the “New Deal”. One of these programs, the Work Project Administration (“WPA”) was aimed at stimulating the economy by preserving the skills and self-respect of unemployed persons through useful work. Through this initiative, the WPA employed 8.5 million people in the construction of 650,000 miles of roads, 125,000 public buildings, 75,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, and 800 airports - simultaneously staving off financial ruin and modernizing the nation. Today some of America’s greatest structures like Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building and Grand Central Station stand as a legacy to this initiative.

The future is now and now is the time to act and put America back on track. Let’s put America back to work and build something to be proud of again in this great country. Infrastructure Materials Corp is planning for this future.