From energy to broadband, our nation has many categories of critical infrastructure that need to be strong and secure. Our infrastructure impacts every American, every community, and even every industrial process. Good, reliable, and resilient infrastructure has a positive impact on our lives, while weak infrastructure will certainly have dire consequences.
“America’s infrastructure is the foundation on which our national economy, global competitiveness, and quality of life depend,” says Darren Olson, chair of ASCE’s (American Society of Civil Engineers) committee on America’s Infrastructure, which is the committee that writes and advises on the Infrastructure Report Card. He is also a stormwater consultant for several municipalities in the Chicagoland area. “While infrastructure is often out of sight, out of mind, when there are deficiencies, we all feel the impact.”
What’s the Grade
Now, we see America’s infrastructure has received a cumulative GPA of a C, which is both a good and a bad thing. On The Peggy Smedley Show last week, I covered ASCE’s 2025 Infrastructure Report Card, highlighting the history of the report. The big takeaway here though is for the first time since 1998 the cumulative GPA is a C, which is up from 2021’s C- and is the highest it has ever been.
“I am sorry we are not A students yet, but at least things seem to be going in the right direction at long last and sometimes directionality matters in and of its own,” says keynote speaker Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
One of the things that has certainly helped raise the grade was the passing of the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) in 2021, which aims to grow the American economy while rebuilding infrastructure, and allocated $1.2 trillion for infrastructure spending.
What’s the Breakdown by Category
For the first time in 2025, no category received a D- grade. There were, however, plenty of categories in the D range. The category grades ranged from a B for ports to a D for stormwater and transit. Many other categories saw a D+ grade. Eight categories improved in 2025, and two categories received lower grades—energy and rail.
The 2025 Infrastructure Report Card scores 18 categories of infrastructure including broadband, which is new to the list this year.
“I think rail and energy remain real deficits and we need to continue our work in those areas,” says Whitehouse.
What’s Next?
It certainly is exciting to see the cumulative grade the highest it has ever been, but to be clear, there is still a lot of work to be done. The report projects an investment gap of $3.7 trillion between 2024 and 2033, up from the $2.59 trillion gap identified in the 2021 report card.
Infrastructure improvements rely on both private and public sectors and there must be cooperation across both. “Our infrastructure is a system of systems, interwoven and reliant upon one another for a proper function and performance,” says Olson.
While the solution to rebuilding our infrastructure is myriad and will require a concerted effort from government, scientists, technologists, academia, manufacturing, and the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) community, just to name a few, one thing I argue we need now more than ever is innovation. We need new technologies, new products, new materials, and even new processes. We need new ideas if we want to rebuild with vigor and resilience.
We are only as strong as our infrastructure. And we have already seen the havoc that Mother Nature can cause, let alone disruption of nefarious bad actors waiting to create destruction to any of our weakened infrastructures.
And, so, I call on all of us. Your industry can help. Your industry can help us think differently. Your industry can help us take action to ensure our critical infrastructure is strong for generations to come. If we work together, we can build a better tomorrow and invest in a stronger infrastructure.
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