America needs repair

[mellowtigger]

I missed this CNN article when it first came out. It talks about America's failing grade for its infrastructure.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/28/infrastructure.report.card/

The group doing the grading is the American Society of Civil Engineers. Their recent report cards are as follows: (i = incomplete or not graded):

category	2009	2005	2001	1998	1988
Aviation	D	D+	D	C-	B-
Bridges	C	C	C	C-	C+
Dams	D	D	D	D	i
Drinking Water	D-	D-	D	D	B-
Energy	D+	D	D+	i	i
Hazardous Waste	D	D	D+	D-	D
Inland Waterways	D-	D-	D+	i	i
Public Parks and Recreation	C-	C-	i	i	i
Rail	C-	C-	i	i	i
Roads	D-	D	D+	D-	C+
Schools	D	D	D-	F	i
Security	i	i	i	i	i
Solid Waste	C+	C+	C+	C-	C-
Transit	D	D+	C-	C	C-
Wastewater	D-	D-	D	D+	C
Levees	D-	i	i	i	i
estimated 5-year cost	$2.2 trillion	$1.6 trillion	$1.3 trillion	i	i

Note that the current estimated cost is 3X the massive spending bill passed by congress this month. As a solution, some people are proposing bringing back the Depression-era organization called the "Civilian Conservation Corps". In this program, people (men) lived in work camps and were housed, clothed, and fed by the government. They were required to send 80% of their earnings (which were small) back to their families. Their projects included forestry, roads, parks, phone lines, and flood control.

I think of it sort of as a homeland version of the Peace Corps but much bigger. The proposal this time is to include women in their ranks. If they recreate this group, then I hope they'll also consider old men like me. I think it's a project worth leaving home to join.

The conditions were harsh, and their unofficial motto was "We Can Take It".  Some people hoping to recreate this group have their own website with good history and other information.
http://www.wecantakeit.org/

The massive spending bill just passed is only a small part of what's needed to help America succeed.  For much too long, we've diverted precious resources from national investment into personal investment (war profiteering, house profiteering, etc), and it'll take a long time to get ourselves out of this problem.  We first have to muster the intention to do so.

You can help notify Washington DC of your support by signing the petition to recreate the Civilian Conservation Corps.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/national-petition-for-the-reactivation-of-the-us-civilian-conservation-corps

Comments

[dangerdhotrod.livejournal.com]

thanks for the link. i would probably do something like this too if the pay was decent. plus i think our country should periodically do programs like this as social experiments, it keeps people on their toes and creates a sense of adventure towards the future.

[mellowtigger]

Yes, adventure by getting people out of their familiar environment, plus education by teaching people practical construction skills. Seems like a great idea to me.

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

I think that the CCC is the perfect answer for the crumbling infrastructure, but bringing back AmeriCorps would be great too!

PS The bridge pic at the top of your post is the old Overseas Highway in the Keys where I grew up. I have sat on that edge and fished!

[mellowtigger]

*agree* AmeriCorps is also a good idea.

Oh, cool! The bottom bridge is the I-35W bridge that collapsed here in Minneapolis. Not pictured is the Lowry bridge that I started taking to work a year ago before it was closed down. The bridge still hasn't been repaired, but they've kept it closed for nearly a year to prevent another Minneapolis catastrophe as people plunge to their deaths into the Mississippi River on a falling bridge. (Doh!)

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

YIKES!

The US 1 bridge did NOT collapse, it was cut when the new bridge went through so sailboats could make it under the new one, and between the spurs of the old one!

It's actually fun to get out there, because you have to go to the southern end, swerve off at 5 mph just to get onto the little island that's the anchor, and then hike to the break in the middle!

WPA

[bearbarry.livejournal.com]

The sidewalk in front of the house where I was raised in WV was poured by the WPA in 1936. It was over 70 years old the last time I saw it, and it hadn't cracked yet. Let's hope if they do start up something like this again, that they have the same work ethic and attention to quality they had back then. I'd like to be optimistic, but I doubt that will be the case.

Re: WPA

[mellowtigger]

Works Progress Association? I hadn't heard of that one before either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration

Yeah, it's a long term problem that I see with our society. We've moved away from craftsmen to contracts. I saw it happen within my own job several years ago.

I was a programmer who was solely responsible for a particular system. There was nobody else. If users wanted a feature, they came to me. If something didn't work correctly, they came to me. I was the craftsman, and I could create new abilities for them if they came to me with hand-scribbled notes on wrinkled paper (and they did).

But then the legalese started. We wanted to become ISO certified, and that meant signatures and oversight and documents about terms of service and sign-offs by people who had no real contact with the system. I was a slave to contracts instead of being a craftsman. *sigh* I was not at all disappointed when they eventually shut down my system (after paying a 7-digit dollar figure to contractors to build a new system and then leave) and end my job.

I think craftsmen are better. Responsibility to go with skill. Leave people to do the things that they're good at, and they'll perform better than any micro-managing contract can require them to do.

[kroyd.livejournal.com]

This is a very sad state of affairs in deed! Why am am I not surprised?