Midwest floods spotlight decrepit infrastructure...

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Midwest floods spotlight decrepit infrastructure
By Andrew Stern
2008/07/01 at 11:25 am EDT

CHICAGO, Jul. 1, 2008 (Reuters) ‹
The latest U.S. natural disaster is triggering fresh
rounds of concern and debate about how to repair
America's aging infrastructure.

The worst Midwest flooding since 1993 has
generated images of swamped towns, cracked roads,
washed-out bridges, overwhelmed dams, failed
levees, broken sewage systems, stunted crops and
water-logged refugees.

The losses are in the billions of dollars and still
mounting, as the costs of crop losses alone send
shocks through the inflation-wracked world food
system and threaten insurers.

The disaster has reminded policymakers of the
decrepit state of U.S. infrastructure, stirring concerns
similar to those following the deadly Minneapolis
bridge collapse in 2007 and the flooding of New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Even before the latest flooding, a group representing
engineers said the United States needed to spend
about $1 trillion more than it does now to bring
infrastructure up to par with modern needs and
standards.

"The patch-and-pray approach simply won't succeed,"
said David Mongan, head of the American Society of
Civil Engineers.

But the group also said its five-year cost estimate was
outdated and does not count the price of new roads,
rails, and sewers required by a growing population,
nor the cost to repair damage inflicted by the recent
Midwest floods.

President George W. Bush has asked Congress for
$1.8 billion to boost funds for flood recovery but it is
unclear how much of that money will end up in
infrastructure repair.

Presidential candidates vying to succeed him have
each promised quick action in Congress and offered
some ideas for the larger task of repairing
infrastructure.

Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama
has proposed creating a $60 billion fund for
infrastructure projects, funded by money saved by
a promised withdrawal from the war in Iraq.

"This can be the moment when we make a
generational commitment to rebuild our
infrastructure," Obama told business executives in
Pittsburgh last week.

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK

Each need sounds dire: new wastewater treatment so
sewage does not taint the same waterways that supply
drinking water; repairs or replacements for thousands
of corroded bridges; new and repaired dams and
levees that will not fail; and upgrades to airports and
air traffic control.

"We need profound changes," said engineer Kumares
Sinha of Purdue University. "We can't live in a fool's
paradise."

While rising economic powers China and India build
highways and other large projects, U.S. infrastructure
-- once the envy of the world -- has fallen into decline,
Sinha said.

Two federal commissions since Katrina have tackled
the issue and Congress is mulling proposals for a
full-scale assessment of the nation's infrastructure
needs and an infrastructure "bank" to loan money for
projects.

But Sinha and other experts said the analysis should
go deeper to reflect an economy likely to face higher
fuel prices for the foreseeable future. Policymakers
need to consider new methods of reducing road
congestion, for example, whether by charging more
to use them or exacting fees for entering city centers,
which will generate revenue for mass transit.

The nation also may have to reconsider its lukewarm
commitment to passenger rail service, experts said.

Government funding for some infrastructure needs
has declined, such as for wastewater plants.
Municipalities hike taxes or fees to repair ancient
pipes prone to bursting.

"Everybody is drinking somebody's waste water,"
said Susan Bruninga of the National Association of
Clean Water Agencies.

The state of Illinois is weighing its first capital
improvement project in a decade, hoping to back
$31 billion in bonds by leasing the lottery and
building a casino in Chicago.

More immediate priorities will emerge as Midwest
floodwaters recede. People in some small towns in
Indiana and Illinois are still virtually cut off because
of flooded or damaged roads, officials said.

Bridges that were already suspect received a
battering from surging floodwaters, requiring
thorough inspections. Scores of river levees were
overtopped or gave way, while others were
weakened and may need replacing, said Timothy
Musky, a flood expert at Saint Louis University.

A repeat of the flooding is likely because climate
change will make the Midwest wetter in the next
30 years, he said.

(Editing by Peter Bohan and Bill Trott)