Vermont has Tropical Storm Irene to thank for a modest improvement in infrastructure quality, as measured by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Vermont chapter of the national professional association (VTASCE) gave Vermont an overall grade to “C” in its 2014 report, presented Thursday in Montpelier to a room of civil engineers and agency officials.That’s up from the ”C-” given in 2011, the last time VTASCE undertook a comprehensive evaluation of roads, bridges, dams, and water and waste systems.
Vermont’s grade was better than the country’s overall grade of “D+” from 2013, but doesn’t show a lot of progress. Sue Minter, deputy secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, argued that Vermont’s score should be higher. But David Mears, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said he thought it was accurate, fair, and reflects the need for innovation in design and funding.
Both Minter and Mears, as well as VTASCE, attributed the slight improvement to the influx of federal relief funds following Tropical Storm Irene.
More than half the state’s transportation budget is paid for with federal dollars, Minter said. In 2014, the Legislature approved the state’s largest ever transportation spending plan, originally pegged at $686 million in the current fiscal year.
“The state’s development of an Infrastructure Bond Fund and its increase of the state gas tax, along with the state’s commitment to build more resilient infrastructure after Tropical Storm Irene damaged the state’s roads and bridges, led to this improvement in the grade,” the VTASCE press release said.
Transportation is only one aspect of a state’s infrastructure. Together with dams, drinking water systems, waste water systems and solid waste management, the components analyzed by the VTASCE comprise the “backbone” of the economy, said chapter president-elect Jessica Louisos.
She added that a healthy infrastructure is the foundation for job creation, personal income growth, gross domestic product and the state’s ability to attract and retain business.
In her speech to the audience, Minter said paying for transportation maintenance and repairs started getting harder in 2006, when deferred maintenance began piling up and revenues started to slip.
Post-Irene emergency funding afforded the chance to rebuild some assets stronger — improvements that helped lift the state’s overall score this year.
Vermont’s solid waste management system got the best grade, a “C+.” Bridges and dams both earned a “C,” roads and drinking water systems got a “C-,” and the state’s wastewater systems came in with a “D.”
It would cost about $1 billion annually for the immediate future to bring the state up to an “A,” according to the report. Louisos said the alternative — partial funding — would keep the infrastructure limping along or cripple it, depending on how much money is allocated to the weakest links in the chain.
“When we invest, we see results,” said Amanda Hanaway-Corrente, a VTASCE member and report card contributor.
The sentiment was echoed by Mears, but he added that progress is not just a matter of money. He pleaded for new approaches to raising money and more creative engineering to keep costs down.
Local governments have gotten used to massive infusions of federal dollars to pay for infrastructure needs, he said. But in the current national political climate, there is no appetite to continue that trend. Mears said infrastructure assets need to be better managed, their needs better planned for, and the funding sources re-designed.
“The longer we put it off, the more expensive it’s going to get,” Mears said.
He said conversations about designing and maintaining infrastructure need to be integrated with all development and land use considerations.
“We have not innovated the way we need to,” Mears said.
In an interview after the presentation, Louisos asserted that engineers are excited about opportunities for creative solutions. She said an infusion of young engineers to the profession will be particularly helpful to promote innovative solutions.
Alex Stewart and Ticer Pfeifer, two first-year civil engineering majors at Norwich University in Northfield, were likely the youngest people in attendance.
They said at such an early stage in their education, they’re more focused on learning the ropes than pushing the envelope.
What got them both thinking Thursday — their first time attending a professional meeting — was the political side of civil engineering.
So far they’ve been getting introduced to the technical side of engineering, Pfeifer said. Stewart added that Thursday’s meeting provided a look beyond the technical specifications of getting a project done, into the necessary work of getting projects approved and funded.
Neither were intimidated by the challenge.
“It mentally prepares me for it,” Pfeifer said.
THE GRADES
The VTASCE committee used eight criteria to evaluate six distinct arenas of infrastructure, described below. The committee analyzed existing conditions, capacity, operations and maintenance, public safety, risk and resilience, current funding, projected funding, and innovation. Since 2011:
Bridges inched up from a “C-” to a “C,” while roads improved from a “D+” to “C-.” Wastewater systems fell from “D+” to “D.”
Dams kept their “C” rating and drinking water systems remained at “C-.”
Solid waste management systems, evaluated for the first time, earned a “C+.”
More detail on the grades is available at the VTASCE website.
