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Repairing the Fragile Foundations
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18738 |
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Section : |
SPECIAL SECTION
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1991 |
4,952 Words |
| Author
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Joseph M. Giglio
Joseph M. Giglio was chairman of the National Council on
Public Works Improvement, which in 1988 made a comprehensive
report to the president and Congress on the state of the
nation's infrastructure. Giglio has had a distinguished public
finance career in both the private and public sectors. He has
headed up public finance activities for the Chase Manhattan
Corporation and for Bear, Stearns & Co. He has had a series of
major policy-level positions in state and local government. He
is now managing director of public finance at Smith, Barney,
Harris and Upham. |
Don't look now. But our underpinnings are coming unpinned. Forget about natural disasters like the San Francisco earthquake. How can we keep the potholes filled? What about the unsound bridges and the unsafe drinking water? Where are we going to put our garbage? How are we going to land our planes?
We're talking about America's infrastructure--the life support of our nation's economy.
Three years ago, the National Council on Public Works Improvement, which I chaired, reported to the president and Congress on the state of this country's infrastructure.
This bipartisan council was created to study the current condition of America's infrastructure and make recommendations for the future. The council's final report was titled Fragile Foundations: A Report on America's Public Works. This document, the most complete analysis of public works undertaken in this generation, found that America's infrastructure is barely adequate to meet the current demands of our economy and insufficient to meet the demands of future economic growth.
Grading public works
The council analyzed and assigned an academic grade to eight categories of public works. These infrastructure categories represent a capital investment of about $1.4 trillion dollars and constitute almost 20 percent of the nation's total capital stock. Annual public spending on these facilities exceeds $100 billion. Some seven million people--about 6 percent of all those employed in the United States--work in public works construction, operation, and maintenance. Nearly 7 percent of government spending at all levels is devoted to these activities.
The council gave aviation a grade of B-, concluding that the system generally handles rapid increases in demand safely and effectively. But there are danger signs ahead. Service is plummeting in the face of increasing airport and airway congestion. Also, the air traffic control system urgently needs upgrading to maintain safety.
Highways received a worse grade, a C+, due to a decline in overall service. Although federal and state gas taxes have injected new capital into the system, spending for expansion has fallen short of need in high-growth suburban and urban areas. Many roadways and bridges are aging and need major work, and the needs of most rural and
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