The Colorado Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released its 2020 Report Card for Colorado’s Infrastructure, giving the state a C- grade after evaluating 14 categories.
“With our rapidly growing population, we must ensure our roads, transit networks, water systems, levees, schools, and more are equipped with adequate funding and maintenance,” said Colorado State Sen. and State Senate Transportation and Energy Committee Chair Faith Winters, said. “Here in the Centennial State, it’s unacceptable to have our school facilities sit at a ‘D+’ and see needs that exceed the available funding to create environments for our kids to learn and play. I’m grateful ASCE proposed tangible solutions to tackle these infrastructure challenges head-on.”
Engineers evaluated the following individual categories: aviation (B), bridges (C+), dams (C+), drinking water (C-), energy (C+), hazardous waste (C-), levees (D+), parks (C), rail (B-), roads (C-), schools (D+), solid waste (C-), transit (C-) and wastewater (C-), noting schools received one of the lowest grades (D+), exhibiting needs that far exceed the funding available for necessary replacements, repairs or upgrades.
ASCE recommendations include prioritizing infrastructure during state and local budget discussions and in elections; using life-cycle costs assessments to clearly distinguish a project’s true cost over its lifetime and to better evaluate the projects throughout the state that will provide the greatest benefit/cost ratio; and establishing performance standards for Colorado levees consistent with other hazards faced by state residents, rather than relying on the federal default protection for one in 100-year floods.
“We believe Colorado is the most beautiful state in the nation, which is evident in the numbers of people moving and visiting each day,” Peyton Gibson, EIT, 2020 ASCE Colorado Infrastructure Report Card chair, said. “However, our roads, water systems, school buildings, and more are being stress-tested by age, climate change, and lack of revenues for our transportation network. As we look at this legislative calendar, Colorado infrastructure should be at the top of our legislators’ minds, and I hope they pay close attention to these recommendations.”