National Infrastructure: What Needs to be Done and What are the Challenges We Face?
The strength of America’s infrastructure – bridges, roadways, energy, dams, drinking water, ports, levees, airports – is critical to our national economy, growth, and health. We can all agree on that. Yet in 2017, the nonpartisan American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave American’s infrastructure a D+ grade, down from a C in 1988. While its grade dropped, the estimated cost to improve our nation’s infrastructure rose from $1.3 trillion in 2001 (a year it was also rated D+) to $4.59 trillion in 2017. Our political leaders talk a lot about the nation’s failing infrastructure, but nothing seems to improve or change.
Kristina Swallow, President of the ASCE, will help us understand what the problems are from technical, policy, and political standpoints and what needs to be done to improve America’s infrastructure. Kristina has over 24 years of experience across the spectrum of civil engineering and analytics. She had led civil engineering projects in both private and public sectors, served as a transportation policy advisor for a U.S. Senator, and is currently the City of Las Vegas Civil Engineering Program Manager. She is a Nevada-licensed Professional Engineer (Civil), who holds a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Arizona and Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Kristina Swallow, President, American Society of Civil Engineers