(Reston, VA, Friday, January 11, 2019) – Recent polling from POLITICO and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health said that increasing infrastructure spending is one of the top priorities for Americans for the new Congress. 79% of people polled said it is “extremely important.” Infrastructure spending ranks high for both parties, with 88 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans surveyed calling it “extremely important.”
President Trump and Speaker Pelosi have both signaled they want to work on infrastructure together – a rare opportunity for bipartisanship. With a new Congress coming in January, infrastructure investment must come first.
The American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession. It is the nation’s oldest engineering society, and stands at the forefront of a profession that plans, designs, constructs, and operates society’s economic and social engine – the built environment – while protecting and restoring the natural environment.
Across 16 infrastructure categories, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America’s infrastructure a “D+” on the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, which is the same grade the nation received in the 2013 Report Card. The nation’s infrastructure remains in poor condition.
Civil engineers design, build, and maintain the foundation for our modern society – our roads and bridges, drinking water and energy systems, sea ports and airports, and the infrastructure for a cleaner environment, to name just a few.
Civil engineering touches us throughout our day. Think of a civil engineer when you:
- Turn on your tap to take a shower or drink clean water
- Flick on your lights and open your refrigerator
- Drive to work on roads and bridges through synchronized traffic lights
- Take mass transit or take a flight for a vacation
- Toss your empty coffee cup in the recycling bin