This comes as no surprise to many engineers, but those interested in infrastructure are feeling quite a bit underwhelmed about the amount of stimulus money that has been allocated to the cause, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Private Equity Beat. The article mentions that $30 billion was allocated for infrastructure in the stimulus package, which certainly seems like a significant amount of money, but the need is calculated to be in the trillions of dollars in order to meet standards set by competing developed nations. In fact, from what I have experienced and heard, the stimulus money is being used in large part to make up for budget shortfalls in state and local governments. It seems clear that, in order to address our infrastructure issues, some other measure will have to be taken. Perhaps this is where the National Infrastructure Bank comes in?
Tags: ASCE, civil engineering, infrastructure, Wall Street Journal
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