Inside AGC President's Message
September/October 2007

Congress Must Act to Address Nation's Infrastructure Crisis

AGC supports House's bridge rehabilitation initiative

By AGC President Steve Massie

The collapse of a span of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis this summer brought national attention to the state of our nation's aging infrastructure. This tragedy was but one symptom of a deeper problem—a national infrastructure crisis.

We are facing a $65-billion funding shortfall for national bridge repairs alone. Let me give you some startling statistics: the nation spends about $11 billion annually on bridge repairs; approximately 26% of the nation's bridges are structurally deficient, and 13% are functionally obsolete; and many bridges are 50 years old or more and are carrying loads far beyond what they were designed to carry.

This crisis cuts across all modes of our transportation infrastructure and affects structural integrity, congestion and safety.

As the balance of the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund moves toward a deficit in fiscal year 2009, the ability of states to continue to meet pressing transportation needs, including structurally deficient bridges and other critical components of the system, is threatened.

A well-funded transportation infrastructure program is essential to keeping our roadways safe, managing congestion, financing repairs and rehabilitations and building new projects. Jack L. Massie Contractor, Williamsburg, Va., won the Virginia Dept. of Transportation's Construction Quality Award in 2000 for a $20.4-million portion of State Route 199 in Williamsburg.

That is compounded by the fact that, since 2003, we have witnessed a 46% increase in the cost of basic materials used in highway and bridge construction, including asphalt, steel, cement and aggregates and diesel fuel. There are no alternative products that can be substituted for these basic building materials, and with world demand at an all-time high, these costs are not likely to drop significantly.

We need Congress to act now to provide a necessary infusion of investment dollars to meet the immediate threat of bridge failures but, more importantly, to begin the process of addressing the overall transportation infrastructure crisis we face as a nation.

AGC supports the recent introduction of legislation by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) to create the National Highway System Bridge Reconstruction Initiative. This legislation would provide dedicated funding to states to repair, rehabilitate and replace structurally deficient bridges on the National Highway System.

We also support the introduction of legislation by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) authorizing the issuance of $50 billion in Build America Bonds over the next six years to finance roads, rail, bridge, water and other critical transportation infrastructure projects. The funding would provide a one-time boost in supplemental transportation infrastructure funding above the amount the Highway Trust Fund and other federal construction spending programs currently support.

As contractors, we are proud to build our nation's infrastructure. But Congress needs to understand the national imperative to invest in our roads, ports, aviation, rails, flood control, navigation, wastewater and drinking water to chart the course for the next 50 years. AGC members can contact their member of Congress and urge support for the Oberstar initiative and the Wyden Thune Bill through AGC's Legislative Action Center at www.agc.org/lac.