Friday, November 04, 2011

Infrastructure is the reason why the US is crumbling

The recent snowstorm in the Northeast highlighted our crumbling infrastructure. 50% of homes in CT without power four days later. Apparently, CT is three times as forested now as it was in 1985. So, if you insist on hanging power lines from poles, the likelihood of them being brought down by falling trees has gone up several times. Add to that a 20% reduction in work crews and a reduction in regular tree trimming (now done only once every five years) and power outages are inevitable. Add to that, reductions in maintenance of roads, bridges, railroad tracks and rolling stock, and the US is the only developed or developing country where infrastructure is getting worse, not better.

The inevitable conclusion, if maintenance and repair continues to fall behind is continued erosion of infrastructure. Thinking ahead, as we used to in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, would prevent this from happening.

4 comments:

Jonathan said...

Hm, I don't know how things work in the USA. If you're dissatisfied with your power supply, can you switch to a different supplier? If not, there's your problem...

Unknown said...

Different supplErs still use the same sistribution system, as in all countries, and that is what is crumbling.

Jonathan said...

I suppose whoever maintains the distribution system needs to be motivated to do a good job. If it's not being maintained adequately, that's presumably because there's a lack of motivation to spend the money to do it properly. Especially these days, people don't like spending money if they don't have to. That may be what's changed about the situation: people have become less willing to spend money.

Jonathan said...

Incidentally, is it really true that the US is the only developed country in which infrastructure is getting worse? I remember complaints about this in Britain too. For instance, the London Underground is possibly the oldest in the world, and it shows.