This Week in Washington

Special Edition -- March 8, 2001

This report is written by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Government Relations staff. If you have questions or comments about any items in this report, please contact Brian Pallasch, Michael Charles, Martin Hight, Austin Fulk, or Liz Hermsen at 202/789-2200 or by e-mail at govwash@asce.org.

ASCE Releases 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on March 8 released its 2001 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure in which the nation’s infrastructure received a cumulative grade of “D+” for twelve infrastructure areas. The Report Card assesses the conditions of the nation’s roads, bridges, transit, aviation, schools, drinking water, wastewater, dams, solid waste, hazardous waste, navigable waterways, and energy. This report card follows the highly successful 1998 Report Card that focused the nation’s attention on the need to maintain America’s vital public works.

*For more information:

Please visit ASCE’s Report Card Web site at http://www.asce.org/reportcard. Information available on the Web site includes examples of local infrastructure conditions and state statistics for many of the infrastructure areas cited in the 2001 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, a news room, fact sheets, policy recommendations, ASCE member resources, and a webcast of the press conference. To view the webcast you must first download and install free RealMedia software. The software is available at www.ConnectLive.com/events/asce . If you have not previously viewed RealMedia files on your computer and you wish to view the webcast from a network server protected by a firewall, you may need your system administrator to assist you.

*Some current news coverage on the Web:
CNN -- http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/08/crumbling.infrastructure/index.html

*Questions or comments:
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Report Card, please e-mail reportcard@asce.org.