Approved by the Infrastructure and Research Policy Committee on May 20, 2024
Approved by the Public Policy and Practice Committee on June 5, 2024
Adopted by the Board of Direction on July 18, 2024
Policy
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) supports a focused federal civil engineering research and development (R&D) program. R&D programs should enhance U.S. capabilities, improve efficiencies, and advance the practice of civil engineering to, improve the quality of life of individuals, increase the economic competitiveness of public and private sector organizations, and enhance the prosperity of communities.
ASCE encourages coordinated and integrated basic and applied civil engineering research that leverages federal R&D resources through government-university-industry partnerships. R&D programs foster research that will help maintain a steady flow of talent and technologies to organizations across the U.S (government, businesses, and not for profit). R&D programs should focus on research areas with higher potential to impact positive change across civil engineering. Overall, R&D programs should:
- Enhance public health, safety, and welfare.
- Enhance environmental quality.
- Support the goals of sustainable development and growth.
- Develop and improve test methods and standards for evaluating materials, processes, products, and systems.
- Improve public infrastructure systems.
- Improve global competitiveness of U.S. civil engineering products and processes.
- Enhance national security against natural and human induced threats and disasters.
- Ensure national energy security.
- Invest consistently in research and development.
- Integrate new technologies in the research and development process, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where appropriate.
Issue
Federal leadership is essential to fostering and advancing civil engineering R&D initiatives. Federal R&D funding has historically provided a significant portion of the total U.S. civilian R&D investments. However, since the turn of the 21st century, the federal share of R&D funding has declined significantly. Inadequate federal funding limits the ability to leverage the potential talents and resources across the U.S. to address pressing current, emerging, and long-term societal needs. In addition, inadequate funding hinders the ability to leverage R&D funds through government-university-industry partnerships.
Rationale
The 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave the nation’s infrastructure a grade of “C-”. To close the $2.58 trillion 10-year investment gap, meet future need, and restore our global competitive advantage, we must increase investment from all levels of government and the private sector from 2.5% to 3.5% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2029. There is great potential to reduce costs and improve the performance of the nation’s infrastructure by developing new technologies and processes. The federal government is a significant provider of funding for the nation’s infrastructure and as a result it has a vested interest in research and development to help reduce costs and improve efficiency and effectiveness of public infrastructure systems.
ASCE Policy Statement 444
First Approved in 1996