JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A new report card grading Missouri’s infrastructure is not pulling any punches.
The 2018 Report Card for Missouri’s Infrastructure gives the state an overall GPA of C-.
For the report, civil engineers from the American Society of Civil Engineers Kansas City Section, as well engineers from the St. Louis section, studied 11 infrastructure categories: aviation, bridges, energy, inland waterways, levees, dams, drinking water, ports, rail, roads, and stormwater/wastewater.
The infrastructure was graded using eight criteria: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation.
Of those 11 areas, seven received grades of “C”, or a mediocre rating, while the other four were given a “D”, the equivalent of poor conditions.
Aviation, bridges, ports, and rails received the highest marks of a straight “C”. Receiving the lowest grade was Missouri dams.
To improve their rankings, the engineers suggested four steps that Missouri could take to address some of the concerns:
1. Increase state-level transportation investment
2. Provide a more systematic approach to flood prevention and improve coordination to mitigate flood risks
3. Eliminate regulation exemptions for high-hazard and significant-hazard dams
4. Invest in the freight infrastructure network
Summing up, the ASCE report card included a quote from Mark Twain.
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
View the full report below:
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Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
