To develop this Report Card, we assembled a panel of 24 of the nation's leading civil engineers, analyzed hundreds of studies, reports and other sources, and surveyed more than 2,000 engineers to determine what was happening in the field. We added three new categories to the 12 we graded in 2001, including one for infrastructure security.

 

Grades were assigned on the basis of condition and capacity, and funding versus need, generally following a traditional grading scale (e.g., if 77% of our roads are in good condition or better, that would earn a grade of C). Base grades were then reviewed by the Advisory Council and adjusted, usually with a plus or minus but sometimes as much a full letter grade, to reflect positive or negative trends or the critical consequences should a catastrophic failure occur. For example, the failure of a bridge or dam would have much more immediate and deadly consequences than a problem related to solid waste disposal.