ASSESSMENTS

The Cracks in Trump's Infrastructure Plan

Feb 14, 2018 | 20:39 GMT

One group says that there are now nearly 56,000 bridges nationwide that are structurally deficient.

The Manhattan Bridge rises from a park in Brooklyn in New York City. A report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association notes that there are now nearly 56,000 bridges nationwide that are structurally deficient. The report revealed that over one in four bridges (173,919) are at least 50 years old and have never had major reconstruction work.

(SPENCER PLATT/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The Trump administration's recently released infrastructure plan emphasizes private-public partnerships, but such areas as water infrastructure will struggle to attract the private sector. 
  • The plan's proposal to increase state and local funding will be difficult given the trend of decreased state spending.
  • The plan is unlikely to be implemented as written, because a two-year federal budget has already been put in place.

For several years now, concerns about the United States' crumbling infrastructure have garnered cross-party support within the country's government. There is no question that U.S. roads, bridges, airports and water pipes all need fixing, but how to do that is a different story. On Feb. 12, the White House put forward its much anticipated $1.5 trillion plan to revitalize the country's infrastructure. It specifies that $200 billion will come from the federal government, with the rest of the money coming from a combination of state and local funding and the incentivization of private-public partnerships. A strong infrastructure is essential to the economic well-being of the country, providing jobs and supporting supply chains, and there is potential for the administration's strategy to succeed in some areas. However the plan will struggle to prevent further deterioration of some of the most deficient areas of infrastructure, such as drinking and wastewater treatment....

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